“You’re still injured,” she breathed.
About to assure her that he would eventually heal, Ulric was interrupted by the mysterious female voice.
“Can we postpone this touching reunion until we have some space between us and the pissed-off beast?”
Ulric tightened his arms around Rainn even as there was another tingle of magic and Chaaya appeared.
He didn’t know what he’d expected. A gnarled old woman with a hunchback. Or a walking skeleton that rattled with every step. Instead there was a tiny female who didn’t look more than twenty-one in human years.
Astonished, he allowed his gaze to roam over her slender body, which was covered by a pair of leather pants and a matching leather jacket. She had a perfect oval face with large dark eyes and soft pink lips. Her skin was a rich shade of bronze and her dark hair was cut short, almost buzzed to the skull. He assumed it was to reveal the Celtic tattoos that started behind her ears and ran down the sides of her neck.
She could have walked into his casino and he wouldn’t have batted an eye. Well, except for the short spear she had belted around her waist.
“Who are you?” Rainn demanded in confusion.
“Not now,” the girl snapped. “Follow me.”
Rainn sent him a searching gaze. “Ulric?”
Ulric hesitated. None of this made sense. The young woman who claimed to be human was striding away without bothering to glance back at them. How had she brought them to this place?
More important, what was this place?
Then he gave a sharp shake of his head. He wasn’t stupid. He knew that they’d fallen down the rabbit hole. Still, they were out of the burrow. And the fog was gone.
For now, he was going to take that as a win.
“She calls herself Chaaya. I think we have to trust her,” he muttered. “For now.”
“Okay.”
Something inside Ulric melted at Rainn’s ready willingness to follow his lead. She might not accept him as a mate, but…
No. He slammed the door on that painful thought.
He wasn’t going to dwell on Rainn’s rejection. Not now. Hopefully not ever.
Keeping his arm wrapped around the sprite’s shoulders, Ulric followed Chaaya. He was careful to keep a reasonable distance between them. If this was a trap, he wanted time to react.
They traveled over the empty landscape, the dull ground absorbing the sound of their footsteps. Everything here was muffled. As if they were stuffed in some gigantic closet.
Then the girl in front of them gave a wave of her hand. “In there.”
Ulric blinked. Just ahead of them was a small, thatch-roofed cottage. Had that been there before? No. Surely, he would have noticed it?
Perhaps it was an illusion.
Giving a shake of his head, he slowly approached the structure. The white paint was peeling off the sides of the cottage, and the narrow windows were clouded with age. Even the front door was weathered.
“Is this real?”
Chaaya shrugged. “As far as I can tell. It’s the one place in this hellhole that the beast can’t enter.”
“The beast.” Rainn glanced at the girl in confusion. “Is that Zella?”
“It has a thousand names and a thousand faces,” the girl said.
Ulric grimaced. He was beginning to suspect he’d seriously underestimated the scope of Zella’s immense power.
“What is it?” Rainn demanded.
Chaaya paused, as if not sure how to explain.
“Corruption,” she at last said.
“I don’t understand what that means.” Rainn furrowed her brow. “Is it a demon? A spirit?”
“It’s the darkness that corrupts the soul and taints the magic,” Chaaya tried to clarify.
“Evil?” Rainn pressed.
“It gave birth to evil,” Chaaya said.
That was a conversation ender. Nothing like the knowledge they were being chased by the mother of all evil, to terrify them into silence.
At last Ulric forced himself to clear the lump from his throat.
“And this place is its lair?” he asked.
“No.” Chaaya glanced around. “It’s more like a foyer to our world.”
Ulric didn’t entirely understand, but he stored away the information and moved on. “And who are you?”
“The Gatekeeper.”
“You keep using that word,” Ulric complained. “What does it mean?”
The girl’s features abruptly hardened. “It was my death that created the barrier.”
Ulric heard Rainn suck in a sharp breath as she realized who this girl must be. Or at least who she had been.
“You were the one sacrificed,” she said.
Chaaya pressed her lips together. “Yep.”
“How did you end up in that burrow?” Ulric demanded.
“The witches came to my village, demanding a sacrifice. I was chosen.” Something that looked like pain smoldered in her eyes before her snarky defiance returned. “Lucky me.”
Rainn made a soft sound of sympathy. The zephyr no doubt understood Chaaya’s sense of betrayal better than anyone. She might not have been offered up by her tribe as a sacrifice, but her duty to the Oracles might easily be a death sentence.
Even Ulric couldn’t deny a small amount of pity. “When?”
Chaaya squared her shoulders, as if slamming the door on her painful memories. “I don’t have an exact date. Long before you were born.”
Long before? That meant she had to be well over a thousand years old. Probably several thousand. “So if you’re the skeleton—”
“Rude,” Chaaya scolded.
Ulric plowed ahead. “Then what are you now?”
“I don’t know. I suppose I must be a ghost. After I was…well, you know.” She ran a finger across her neck, indicating someone slicing her throat. “I woke up in this place. Thankfully, I’m able to glimpse the world.” She moved her hand from her throat to wave it above her head. Instantly a small square appeared. It looked like a window, and Ulric had a glimpse of a busy city street. New York? Paris? Maybe London. “I’ve watched generations come and go.” She lowered her hand and the window disappeared. “It relieves the tedium.”
Ulric glanced around. This strange place just kept getting stranger.
And Chaaya…
He’d never encountered anything like her.
Right now, however, he needed to focus on protecting Rainn. A job that would have been a lot easier if he wasn’t weak, bleeding, and incapable of shifting into his wolf. “You’re here alone?”
“Just me and the beast.” She glanced around the empty landscape. “The other demons battled against the darkness, but I was the only one actually sacrificed. Again”—a humorless smile twisted her lips—“lucky me.”
“What other demons?” Ulric demanded.
“All of them.” Chaaya waved a hand in an inclusive motion. “The fey, the Weres. Even the dragons. Everyone except the vampires.”
“Dragons?” Ulric arched his brows in surprise.
The dragons had retreated from this world a very long time ago. Although he’d heard rumors that they’d started to return. At least for short visits.
Chaaya nodded. “They used their fire to seal shut the door that the mermaids created.”
Ulric exchanged a confused glance with Rainn.
“There were mermaids in the burrow?” he demanded, returning his attention to Chaaya.
The girl sent him a frown that implied she couldn’t believe he was so stupid. “The doorway isn’t in the burrow.”
Ulric blinked. Okay. That was a shock. After all, everything connected to Zella had been happening in the cavern beneath his old village.
“Then why is your skeleton there?”
Chaaya narrowed her eyes, but
she didn’t reprimand him again. Clearly, she was touchy about the whole skeleton thing.
“My blood was used to provide a barrier in case the door was somehow damaged,” Chaaya told him. “You could say I’m the backup plan.”
“And the scrolls that were in the burrow?” he pressed.
“They were placed there on the day I was sacrificed. They were part of the barrier,” Chaaya told him. “The magic is a mystical blockade. It didn’t physically have to be next to the doorway.” She held up a hand. “And before you ask, I have no idea why that precise spot was chosen.”
Rainn leaned against Ulric, clearly weary from her battle with Zella. “Why have a doorway at all?”
This time it was Rainn who got the Are you stupid? glare.
“Because there was a gaping hole from where the beast clawed its way into the world the first time. They couldn’t repair the damage, so they had to put a patch over it.” Chaaya paused, sucking in a deep breath as if trying to keep control of her temper. Obviously, spending so many years alone in this place did nothing to improve her people skills. “Then they created a second layer of protection.”
Rainn appeared indifferent to the girl’s mounting impatience. “With all that protection, how did Zella manage to get through?”
Chaaya took another deep breath, but she answered the question.
“It started with the Dark Lord,” she said, referring to the godlike creature the vampires had destroyed only a few years ago. “His disciples released his evil into the world. The beast used them as anchors to sneak small portions of itself through the doorway,” she explained, nodding toward Ulric. “It was your father who recognized the danger. He tried to stop her with a new layer of magic, but…”
“He was too late,” Ulric breathed, suddenly understanding why his father had been so obsessed with the burrow. He’d known something was wrong.
The girl nodded. “Yes.”
Ulric felt a pang of self-loathing. Why had he so childishly run off to London? He should have been here helping his father. And even if they couldn’t have halted Zella, at least he wouldn’t have come bumbling back here, allowing his blood to destroy the barrier.
Damn.
Chapter 16
Brigette snarled in frustration. How long had she been chasing the intruders? A half hour? More? It felt like an eternity.
And still they managed to elude her.
She needed her wolf. In her animal form nothing could outrun her. But no matter how hard she strained, she couldn’t reach the elusive creature.
Damn Zella.
For centuries the old woman had kept Brigette as her personal slave. Over and over she’d promised that Brigette would have her rewards, but each passing year she’d found some excuse to keep Brigette trapped.
Now, at last, she had her power. It coursed through her like a river of fire. But it didn’t make her faster or stronger. In fact, she didn’t know what it was doing beyond causing her wolf to retreat even deeper inside her. As if it was terrified of the evil magic flowing through her veins.
She wanted to howl in misery.
Once she received her gift, she was supposed to flee this rotting pile of crap. She would have a new home. And her awesome powers would attract the strongest of Weres to form her new pack. And, in time, she’d intended to challenge Salvatore, the current King of Weres. Why not dream big?
Instead she was stuck chasing a vampire and mermaid across the barren landscape. She didn’t know where the zephyr was, and she didn’t care. She didn’t even care that she was being led away from the burrow.
It was as if she was being compelled to finish the hunt.
And perhaps she was. Zella had possessed control over her since the first day they’d met. Brigette might have been vain and hungry for power, but she would never have agreed to the atrocities that’d destroyed her family. And certainly she wouldn’t have wasted the past centuries, either scouring the world for her missing pack mate or stuck in this disgusting fog.
But now it was more than the mental prodding that had urged her to give in to her worst impulses. It was a ruthless compulsion that she couldn’t battle against.
Dammit. She’d leaped from the frying pan directly into the fire.
Maybe Ulric would kill the bitch, she told herself. Now that she realized the power she’d been promised was a hoax, she was even more eager to see the woman destroyed.
She wanted to be free.
A grim smile twisted her lips as she recalled her brief visit to Vegas. She hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself, but she’d savored the glitz and glamour of Ulric’s life. It’d been a stark contrast to her own barren existence.
Unfortunately, right now she had no choice but to give in to the brutal demand that she hunt down her prey.
Jogging over the rocky ground, Brigette scanned the empty landscape. She could still smell the mermaid, but the vampire had disappeared. Not totally unexpected. Vampires didn’t leave a trail. Even a Were had to be within a few feet to actually catch their icy scent.
Which meant there was always the danger that he could circle around and attack her from behind.
Remaining on high alert, she continued along the edge of the cliff. She was not only worried about the vampire and mermaid, but there was a strange sensation starting to ripple through her.
As if…
Stumbling to a halt, Brigette concentrated on the power that was churning inside her. What was happening? It didn’t feel the same as when Zella had shoved the magic inside her. That had been like swallowing lava. This was more a wavering in the power. Like a loose light bulb that was flickering on and off.
Was it possible that Ulric had shaken off the mind control around him and was battling against Zella? Or was it the zephyr?
Maybe something else.
Fear shot down Brigette’s spine. It was one thing to fantasize about Zella’s death and another to consider it a reality.
Not that she cared about the bitch. Her only concern was for herself.
As always.
What happened to her if Zella was somehow killed? Or even if her physical form was destroyed? Could their connection somehow pull Brigette into the evil cesspit Zella had crawled out of?
That would be disappointing as hell. Literally.
And even if her bond with Zella was broken, she was far too close to Ulric and his bizarre collection of friends. She didn’t doubt for a second that killing her would be on top of his to-do list.
She needed to get away from there. ASAP.
Busy struggling against Zella’s lingering compulsion, Brigette failed to pay attention to the scent of salt. Not entirely her fault—she assumed it was coming from the ocean breeze. It wasn’t until she heard the sound of footsteps that she recognized the danger. Stiffening, she watched the mermaid appear out of the darkness.
Why wasn’t she still running away?
Did the fey creature sense that Brigette was losing the dark power she’d been given?
Clutching the dagger, Brigette muttered a string of curses. She wasn’t scared of the mermaid. She didn’t need extra powers to kill a fey creature, although she would prefer to do it as a wolf. But she wanted to disappear before Ulric could come looking for her.
“Go away, mermaid.” She made a warning gesture with the dagger. “Or die. Your choice.”
She expected the female to dart away. She had to know that she was no match for a pureblooded Were. Instead, she stood her ground.
“Do you think you’re scary?”
Brigette stepped forward. She could rip the tiny female to shreds, but she didn’t want to waste the energy. “Obviously I am,” she growled. “You’re the one who has been running away from me.”
“Not running,” the mermaid denied. Then she smiled. “Leading.”
Brigette tried to laugh. The female was bluffing. She
had to be. But the laugh stuck in her throat.
“Leading me to what?” she demanded.
“Away from the fog.”
Any fear that had started to form in the pit of Brigette’s stomach disappeared. The mermaid was an idiot if she thought the fog provided her power.
“Why? I can kill you as easily here as surrounded by Zella’s magic.” Brigette took another step forward. “Perhaps easier.”
“Ah. But I couldn’t do this.” The mermaid lifted her hand.
Brigette braced herself. She didn’t know what kind of magic the mermaid might have. Most fey creatures were prey, not predators, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t hurt other demons.
When nothing happened, Brigette frowned. Then, suddenly she felt herself being tugged forward.
“What the hell—” Her words were cut off as she watched a gaping portal being opened directly in front of her. Oh shit. She dug in her heels even when she knew it was futile. “No.”
* * * *
Rainn studied Chaaya, her heart heavy with sympathy. The girl looked like she’d barely been more than a teenager when she’d been sacrificed. And if that hadn’t been awful enough, she’d been trapped in this skeevy foyer between dimensions. It was no wonder she was a little…short-tempered.
Rainn might have resented the Oracles and the knowledge that she would eventually be called to fulfill her destiny, but at least she hadn’t had her throat slit and her bones hung in a dirty burrow.
“Where is the beast?” Ulric demanded, breaking into her dark thoughts.
Chaaya tilted back her head, as if she was sniffing the stale air. With a grimace, she glared at Ulric.
“She followed you here,” she said.
Ulric countered her glare with one of his own. The two obviously weren’t about to become BFFs anytime soon. “She’s here?”
Chaaya pointed toward Ulric’s wound. “She still needs your blood.”
Ulric scowled, pressing his hand over the scratches. “How do we stop her?”
“You have to heal,” the girl insisted.
A flare of heat pulsed through the air. Ulric was always hot-tempered. After everything they’d just endured, his mood was set to volcanic.
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