“No. They’re gone.” He lifted his hand to press against his side. Brigette could smell the blood of his open wound. “It’s all gone.”
“Listen to me.” Brigette cautiously moved forward. Then, when he didn’t shift into his wolf and tear her to shreds, she placed a hand on his arm. “You can prevent the massacre. All you have to do is lie down.”
He released a low growl as she steadily pulled him toward the altar. In the grips of Zella’s power, he stiffly climbed onto the flat rock and lay down. Brigette shuddered as the musk of his wolf filled the air. It was muted. A caged, wild animal who was furiously trying to get free.
Just like her own…
Another burst of anger flared through her. So much sacrifice.
She held the dagger over her head, needing a means to release her fury.
“Shall I do the honors?” she demanded.
Zella moved with remarkable speed, pushing Brigette to the ground. “Don’t be an idiot,” she snarled.
“What the hell?” Brigette surged upright, trying to dust the new layer of filth from her robe.
“His blood is the key to unlocking the door.”
Brigette squashed a crazed impulse to slam the dagger in the woman’s throat. Nothing could kill Zella as far as she knew—the spirit was impervious to weapons.
Besides, she needed the woman. At least until she got the powers she’d been promised.
After that? All bets were off.
“That’s what I just offered,” she snapped.
Zella moved forward, ripping off Ulric’s shirt to reveal the deep gashes. Blood sluggishly dripped down his side, hitting the altar with a loud sizzle.
“We can’t kill him until the spell has been destroyed.”
“How long will it take?”
“As long as it takes.”
Brigette glared at Zella. Dammit, she was tired of waiting. For over five hundred years she’d been told to do as she was commanded. To be patient. To wait for her ultimate prize.
It was one excuse after another.
She was done, done, done.
“And then?”
“And then what?”
Brigette hissed with rage. “You’ve promised that once the doorway was opened, I would be given the power to rule my own pack.”
Zella shrugged. “In time.”
“No, I’m tired of waiting.” Brigette held the dagger over Ulric’s chest. “I want to be away from this place.”
Flames danced in Zella’s eyes. But even as Brigette braced herself for her inevitable punishment, the woman’s head swiveled toward the cleared tunnel.
“Perhaps you’re right,” she murmured.
Brigette lowered the dagger. “You’re going to give me the magic?”
“Yes.”
“Seriously?”
“Don’t you trust me?” Zella taunted.
Brigette laughed. Was that a joke? “No, I don’t trust you. Why now?”
Zella waved a gnarled hand. “We’re no longer alone.”
Brigette stiffened, tilting back her head as she drew in a deep breath. “The zephyr,” she rasped. “How did she get here so fast? You said she couldn’t create a portal.”
Zella closed her eyes, no doubt reaching out with her senses. “She isn’t alone.”
She wasn’t. Brigette finally caught the scents of the approaching demons.
“A vampire.” Her stomach twisted with dread. “And something else.” She frowned. The smell was…salty rather than fruity. “Another sprite?”
An emotion that might have been genuine fear darkened Zella’s eyes. “A mermaid.”
Mermaids were real? And more amazing, Zella was obviously afraid of them.
Damn. Why hadn’t she known about the fishy demons? Any creature that had the power to unnerve Zella was worthy of her interest. After all, she’d been desperate to find some sort of leverage over the woman for centuries. Just to ensure that she wasn’t cheated.
“You can deal with the intruders,” Zella announced.
“Me?” Brigette jerked in shock. “Alone?”
“It should be simple enough once I’ve given you the power you’ve been so eager to acquire.”
Brigette stared at the woman in outrage. She knew the woman was evil. That had been obvious from the day they’d first met. But now she was beginning to suspect that she was also a total whack job.
“I’ll be able to defeat a vampire, a zephyr, and a mermaid?” she demanded, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “At the same time?”
The woman shrugged. “That’s what I just said.”
Brigette snorted. “When I agreed to this partnership, I accepted the sacrifice of my family. I even accepted the endless years of searching for the pack mate who’d escaped. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to become cannon fodder just so you can escape your prison.”
Zella looked confused. “Cannon fodder?”
“An expendable casualty in your personal war.”
Zella waved her hand in a dismissive motion. “Don’t be stupid. Why would I allow you to be killed now? I still have need of you.”
Brigette faltered. “I’ll be able to defeat three powerful demons at the same time?” she pressed.
“There will be nothing you can’t destroy.”
She should be thrilled. Hell, she should be doing cartwheels. Zella had promised her power, but the old woman had never said that she could turn Brigette into a killing machine.
Instead raw fear pounded through her.
She wanted power. Desperately. But she didn’t want to be turned into some sort of freak show. Hey, she might be a demon, but she had her standards.
“I…” Brigette stopped and licked her lips. How did they get so dry?
Zella’s creepy laugh echoed through the cavern. “You’re not going to chicken out, are you? After waiting so long for your reward?”
Brigette backed away. “What’s this power going to do to me?”
“Ah.” Zella reached out. “A question you should have asked a long time ago.”
“Wait.” Brigette held up her hands, but they were no protection against the wave of flames that rose from the ground. She cursed as they encircled her, spinning faster and faster. The heat seared her skin, making it feel as if she was melting. And the smell. It was like having her face shoved in a cesspit.
But none of that compared to the agony of having her insides ripped apart as a molten lava poured through her veins.
Brigette tilted back her head and screamed.
* * * *
Rainn stopped in her tracks as the sound of a scream penetrated the fog. It was filled with a pure agony that raised the hairs on the nape of her neck. It sounded like a dog in its death throes.
Tarak stood at her side, trying to peer through the gray mist. “What the hell?”
“Brigette,” Rainn breathed. She didn’t know how she could be so certain. But she was.
Tarak frowned. “I thought she was working with the spirit?”
“Maybe she hit her expiration date,” Rainn said.
The screams abruptly ended, leaving behind a heavy silence. Then, an unexpected howl vibrated through the air.
“Or maybe she’s just pissed off,” Tarak muttered.
Rainn grimaced. As much as she might want to personally kill the treacherous female for betraying Ulric, she couldn’t deny that her destiny would be considerably easier without having to worry about the female Were.
“The burrow is this way,” she muttered, leading her companions toward the center of the fog.
Their feet crunched over the brittle ground, sending up puffs of smothering dust. Around them an occasional tree could be glimpsed through the miasma, the trunks twisted and the branches rotting. Even the puddles of water were green and brackish.
“Dammit,” Tarak ground out. “This is worse than I imagined. How could one creature create such damage?”
Rainn felt an icy breeze brush over her as Tarak took in the broken landscape. But it was swiftly smothered by the claustrophobic heat.
“She’s much more than just a creature,” Rainn reminded him.
“It has to be stopped,” Waverly said, her voice thick with disgust.
Tarak reached to grab his mate’s hand, tugging her closer to his tense body. “Agreed.”
“First we rescue Ulric, and then I’ll deal with the spirit,” Rainn assured them.
“Wait.” Tarak reached out to halt Rainn’s brisk jog. “Is that Brigette?”
It took Rainn a second to make out the form that had suddenly appeared. She didn’t have vampire-vision, but as the mist swirled, she could make out the tall, muscular form and the brilliant red hair.
“Yes,” she said, her eyes narrowing. What was pulsating around the female Were? “Something’s different about her,” she muttered.
“You mean the fact that she’s glowing?” Tarak demanded.
Rainn shook her head. Brigette wasn’t glowing. Instead there seemed to be a living force that moved and crawled over her skin.
“It’s an aura,” she at last said.
Tarak sent her a confused frown. “Magic?”
“Darkness.” Rainn had a bad taste in her mouth. As if the taint in the air was becoming a tangible force. “I’ve never felt anything like it.”
“Stay back,” Tarak commanded. “I’ll get rid of her.”
Rainn ignored his arrogant assumption that he should be the one to take charge. It wasn’t because he was male. It was because he was a vampire. They were almost as bad as Weres. She was far more concerned that he was about to do something idiotic.
Before she could protest, however, Waverly had moved to stand directly in front of her mate. “No, Tarak.” She placed her hands flat on his chest. “You can’t touch her.”
The vampire was instantly offended. “I can handle a Were. Even if she is glowing.”
Waverly glanced over her shoulder, her expression troubled. “I think the darkness around her is…”
Tarak pulled back his lips, revealing his massive fangs. “What?”
“Poison,” Rainn answered.
Tarak shrugged. “I’m impervious.”
Rainn shook her head. “Not to this. It’s not just a poison, it’s…” She struggled for a way to explain the evil she could feel surrounding Brigette. “It’s a mystical toxin.”
“She’s right,” Waverly insisted, clearly capable of sensing the same darkness as Rainn. “You can’t touch her.”
Tarak glanced toward Rainn. “What is it?”
“I don’t know, but it feels the same as whatever is annihilating this land,” she said.
“How is that possible? A Were doesn’t possess magic.” Tarak’s features twisted with disgust. “Or toxic auras.”
It was the same question nagging at Rainn. Brigette might have been a smug bitch when they’d been trapped in the burrow, but she hadn’t been coated in evil.
“I have no idea,” she confessed. “She wasn’t like this earlier.”
Waverly looked worried. “Maybe we’re too late.”
“No.” The denial burst out of her with shocking force, echoing eerily through the thick air. With an effort, Rainn regained her composure. “Ulric is still alive,” she insisted, her voice low. “The spirit must have some method of sharing her power with Brigette.”
Rainn was making a wild guess, but it was the only thing that made sense.
Tarak hissed in annoyance. “Great. If we can’t touch her, how are we supposed to kill her?”
Rainn considered the question. If she was right, and the aura was a result of Zella’s powers, then there seemed only one logical way to get rid of her.
“The aura should disappear if we destroy the spirit,” she told her companions.
Yeah, yeah. It was a lot of guessing and finger-crossing that she wasn’t making a terrible mistake. But what choice did she have at this point?
“Right, and I could walk in the daylight if only I could get rid of the pesky sun,” Tarak said in dry tones. “How do you intend to destroy the spirit?”
“There has to be away,” she hedged.
“The first thing we need is reinforcements,” the vampire announced. Waverly sent him a startled glance. Rainn assumed that Tarak was the sort of male who never asked for help. The vampire pointed toward a nearby bush that had shriveled to a brittle, charred pile of sticks. “Anything that can create this sort of devastation is too powerful for us to defeat without assistance,” he said. “Cyn can gather his clan and Fallon can bring them here.”
“I’m sure my people will help as well,” Waverly added.
Rainn waved away their offers. “No. We can’t wait.”
“Rainn, I know you’re worried about Ulric. We all are.” Tarak’s expression was somber. “It will destroy Chiron if something happens to his favorite wolf.”
“This isn’t about Ulric.” Rainn held up a hand as Tarak’s lips parted to argue. “Or at least, not entirely,” she conceded. “I have to stop the spirit from fully entering the world.”
Waverly stepped toward her, her luminous beauty oddly muted in the fog. As if her fey blood was being weakened by the dark magic. “You don’t have to do it alone,” the mermaid assured her. “We’re in this together.”
Rainn’s lips twisted into a humorless smile. “Actually, it’s my destiny to confront the evil.”
“Destiny?” Tarak studied her, as if trying to decide if she was being sincere or just melodramatic.
Rainn swallowed a sigh. So much for her hope to keep her obligation a secret.
“The Oracles chose me at birth,” she reluctantly admitted, holding out her arm to reveal the mark. “It’s my duty to bring an end to the evil.”
Tarak didn’t bother to hide his surprise as his gaze flicked over her. No doubt he was wondering how a tiny sprite with little magic and no weapons intended to battle the most powerful creature on earth.
It was exactly what she was wondering.
“So you know how to kill the spirit?” he demanded.
She wrinkled her nose. “Not exactly. The Oracles didn’t give me instructions.”
“Typical,” Tarak snapped. “From what little I know about the all-powerful beings, they tend to be—”
He bit off his words and glanced around. Almost as if he was afraid one of them might be hiding in the fog.
“Yeah,” she agreed, equally reluctant to say anything bad. At least not out loud. Inside her head she was cursing the omniscient creatures for sending her to fight a war without a clue how to survive.
It was one thing if she died. But this wasn’t about her. Or Ulric. If she failed, she didn’t doubt that the darkness would consume the world.
“What do you want from us?” Waverly asked, thankfully interrupting her grim thoughts.
Rainn reached out to lay her hand on the female’s shoulder. She hadn’t been alone in her journey. She’d had her family. And then Chiron. And, of course, Ulric. But still, she’d carried a burden that she hadn’t been able to share.
Now she realized it felt good to ask for help.
“I need you to distract Brigette long enough for me to get into the burrow,” she said.
The vampire frowned, clearly intending to insist that they all stay together. Then, Waverly firmly grabbed his arm and tugged him away.
“We’ll take care of her,” she promised Rainn. “Good luck.”
Rainn shivered. She didn’t need luck.
She needed a miracle.
Chapter 15
As the two demons jogged away, Rainn captured what little wind could penetrate the fog and wrapped it tightly around her. Instantl
y, she regretted the need. Yuck. It was like being cocooned in filth.
How had Brigette endured spending endless centuries in this place? It would drive anyone mad.
She clenched her teeth, refusing to give in to her primitive urge to release her magic. Right now, she had to concentrate on disguising her presence. Once this was over she’d take a long, hot shower. For a decade. Maybe two.
Once she was hidden by the air, she watched as Tarak and Waverly headed directly toward Brigette. The female Were sniffed the air as they neared, howling in anticipation. But strangely, she didn’t shift into her wolf.
Why not? Had the spirit done something to the animal inside her? The thought made Rainn’s stomach clench in horror.
She had to get to Ulric.
Now.
On cue, Brigette charged forward, the creepy darkness swirling around her. She moved with the powerful grace of all Weres. And, as if she wasn’t dangerous enough, she had a dagger clenched in her hand that had a blade that shimmered like pure silver despite the fog.
Raising the dagger over her head, Brigette prepared to strike. But with blinding speed Tarak and Waverly abruptly veered away, heading toward the destroyed village.
Brigette turned to follow, before she abruptly hesitated. Why? Did she sense Rainn hiding in the distance? Or did she fear she was being led into a trap? Whatever the cause, she at last tilted back her head to release a howl and chased after the intruders.
Rainn hissed out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding.
It’d worked. Brigette was gone. Which meant that there was nothing between her and the burrow.
She didn’t know whether to be happy or horrified.
“This is it, Rainn,” she muttered. “Do or die.”
Grimacing at the unfortunate choice of words, Rainn crossed the chalky ground. Then, slipping through the entrance of the burrow, she released her magic that hid her presence. In the cramped quarters, there would be no way to make herself invisible. Besides, she was going to need her magic for more important things.
Saving Ulric. Killing an unkillable spirit. And preventing Armageddon.
No biggie.
Rainn swallowed the hysterical urge to laugh and forced herself to concentrate on the stairs crumbling beneath her feet. The cave-in had caused even more damage than she’d expected. The floor was shattered, and the walls were scarred and gouged from the rocks that had collapsed from the ceiling.
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