“Warlocks and witches,” I whispered.
Chang nodded. “Recognizing their great gift, we taught them magic.”
“No,” I cried, shaking my head in denial.
The dragon ignored my outburst and continued his story while watching the sky: “We taught them to control the weather, the seasons, life and death. We showed them how to extend their lives and how to heal nearly any injury. In the end, they were more like dragons than humans, but there was never enough power. We showed them how to stop time, steal souls, and scorch the sky, but it was never enough.”
“Why?”
Chang paused and finally dropped his gaze to me. “Because they were always afraid that we knew more.”
“So they killed you . . .”
“Yes,” he hissed.
“I’m sorry.”
I don’t know whether Chang heard me. He’d lifted his head back toward the sky, his eyes following a brilliant blue-and-green dragon as it streaked across the heavens. “It has been more than a century since I saw another of my kind. Will you kill me now, warlock?”
“No!” I shouted. Digging my heels into the earth, I pushed back to my feet. Of course, standing didn’t really make me feel better since the dragon towered over me. “Why the hell would I even think that? I don’t give a damn what you are and you know it. My only concern is stopping this lunatic. Are you helping him?”
“No.”
“Then why would I kill you? Not that I could. We both know I couldn’t hurt you, Chang, so the question isn’t fucking funny.”
“I am a dragon.”
“Yeah, and I’m a freaking warlock and a member of the goddamn Towers! You gonna kill me now?” At this point, anger was starting to overwhelm the fear I felt. Or maybe I was just shouting at the dragon because I was scared out of my mind. It wasn’t the wisest course, but the past few days had succeeded in pushing me to my breaking point and I was a little beyond rational thought.
“Maybe.”
“Damn it, Chang! I’ve had enough games!”
Magic crackled in the air and there was a low rumble of something like thunder even though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. One of the dragons roared as it passed overhead, as though it sensed the sudden surge in magic.
Trixie was right. I was losing control of the magic; my anger and frustration was overpowering my control.
Taking a couple steps closer to Chang, I held my hands out and open toward him. “I’m a warlock, Chang, but you know I wouldn’t hurt you,” I said in a low voice. “We’ve known each other for too long. You’ve helped me out of too many bad scrapes. I think we’re as close to being friends as the two of us are capable of being.” I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, savoring the smell of lavender hanging on the air. I’m sorry about your people and the Towers. I’m sorry—”
A hand landed on my shoulder and my eyes jumped open to find Chang, the human version of Chang, standing beside me in the little kitchenette in the warehouse below the earth. Worry drew deep lines in his wrinkled face and I couldn’t remember him ever having that expression when he looked at me. “The fate of my people is not your fault.”
“So you don’t hate the Towers?”
A small smile pushed away some of the concern in his eyes. “No, I hate them and would like to see them gone after their betrayal, but taking that hatred out on you will not bring back my lost people.” The old man eased back into his chair as if his body was suddenly plagued with aches and pains, but there was a mischievousness glinting in his brown eyes. “But that’s not to say that I didn’t think of using you a time or two in hopes of causing the Towers problems. Of course, you’ve managed that on your own over the years. You didn’t need any nudging from me.”
“Are you helping this person working the Death Magic?”
Chang frowned at me and I knew I’d insulted him. “No.”
“Do you know who this is?”
“No. I don’t know him personally.”
I clenched my teeth. He was evading my question with that little addition. Getting the truth out of Chang was sometimes like nailing Jell-O to the wall. The bastard hoarded information like he hoarded his other treasures and only willingly gave something away when he thought he could get something more valuable in return.
“Do you think this person is also a dragon?”
“No,” he said quickly, the word jumping from his tongue sharp and clipped. I was afraid that he ruled out this person being a dragon because his actions were so tasteless and reprehensible. He simply didn’t want to be related to this creature in any way.
“Then what in the world is doing this? It’s not like I can make a list of likely enemies. Everyone hates the fucking Towers.”
“You can. There are not many races who are old enough to know about Death Magic and powerful enough to control it.”
Closing my eyes, I rifled through the lists of creatures I had learned about while living in the Towers. When it came to magical powers, there weren’t a lot of races that were a big threat. Most of the races that could use magic had only very specific and limited abilities. That’s not to say those abilities couldn’t be really fucking nasty, but there were limitations. Elves were great magic users, but they were limited specific nature-related abilities. Summer Court elves were into plant growth and weather magic, while Winter Court elves worked in glamour and illusions as well as weather magic. Dark elves were nasty, but even they weren’t powerful enough for Death Magic.
In fact, warlocks and witches were the ones with the most scope and depth to their magic use. As far as I knew, our limitations were only a lack of knowledge and a lack of power to control the spell. The only other ones I had ever heard of who had that kind of magical range were dragons and . . . fuck.
My eyes popped open and I stumbled away from Chang. I paced as far as I could from him, but I think I was really just trying to get away from the idea in my head. Gideon had floated the notion days ago, but I knew that neither one of us actually thought it was possible. I couldn’t accept it.
“No, Chang!” I snapped, turning around to point at the old man.
A smug smile rose on his lips. “Not liking the answer doesn’t change it.”
“No, they’re dead.”
“You thought all my people were dead.”
“Fuck!” I shouted, half tempted to just sit down in the middle of the floor and stay there until the world crashed down around me. Unfortunately, that was looking a lot closer than it had just a few days ago. “What the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Kill him.”
My head jerked up and glared at Chang. “Really? Kill a unicorn? You want a warlock to slaughter what is likely the last unicorn. I can’t even begin to count all the things wrong with that statement.”
“He is the last if he truly is a unicorn.” Chang nodded and then continued, dashing the little hope that had burst forth that he could be wrong. “I would know if this person was a dragon. I can sense when there are others near. This is not a dragon. A warlock?”
I shook my head. “No. He may have looked human, but the feel of him was off. There was nothing human in him, and certainly nothing human in his magic.”
“Was his hair like liquid starlight?”
I nodded, remembering thinking those exact words while the man was swinging.
“And in his eyes were the whole of the heavens?”
“Yeah.”
Chang looked at me and the pity was obvious now. “Dragons are of fire and earth. Legends say that is why we like gold, silver, and gems so much—they are woven into our souls. I think we just like collecting things,” he said with a wink. But he soon sobered from his bit of playfulness. “The unicorns were of the heavens. They are the purest form of magic, but only its lighter forms. They can control life and the mind. Their powers harness the purity of the
soul and the movement of the planets. I’ve never heard of one using Death Magic—never would have thought it possible.”
“That’s why he struggled,” I murmured, talking mostly to myself. “Because it’s counter to his own instinctive magic.”
“He’s succeeded in mastering it.”
But at what cost? The creature I glimpsed last night was not sane, not by a long shot. Had the Death Magic destroyed his mind? Or would outliving every single member of your race do that? Would watching all the unicorns get slaughtered by the Towers over too many long years drive you absolutely insane?
In the end, it didn’t matter what drove the unicorn insane.
I stared at Chang across the open space of the kitchenette and there was a new distance between us that I had never felt before. For the first time, I felt like I was standing before him not as a tattoo artist but as a warlock, and he was sitting there not as a black-market dealer but as a dragon. Lines had been crossed today that were never meant to be crossed and I didn’t think we’d ever be able to go back.
There was a part of me that wanted to ask him if he had any little magical relic or trinket that could help me—particularly if it meant that I could stop the unicorn without killing him—but I couldn’t say the words. Chang shook his head as if he’d read my mind, and maybe he had. He was a dragon.
“I have nothing that would help you.”
“Would you tell me if you actually did?”
Chang gave me a little smirk. “I would. There is no love lost between unicorns and dragons. This plan is a bad one for him. Too much death. And if the Towers realize they’ve missed a unicorn, they might start looking for dragons again.”
A ghost of a smile returned to my lips for a moment. Chang was a very shrewd man . . . err . . . dragon. It was much easier to hide when someone wasn’t actively looking for you.
“Do you think he’s trying to free Lilith? He’s gathering and perfecting Death Magic. It’s the only reason I could think of for him doing this.”
Chang’s brow furrowed as he stared at me, his quick mind turning over my suggestion. “I think such a thing is possible with Death Magic, but I do not believe that is his goal. I find it hard to believe he would put trust in such a creature.”
“He’s insane,” I said with a shrug.
“That may be true, but I still do not think he would take such steps to put power in the hands of another.”
“Then what’s the purpose?”
“I’m sorry,” Chang said, shaking his head. “I cannot even begin to guess.”
I nodded, accepting his answer. Chang had given me more information than I’d been able to discover on my own. I’d keep digging and hunting this bastard until it was finally over.
Getting up, Chang grabbed my untouched orange and carried it over to where I stood. The old man took my wrist and placed the orange into my open palm. “Two things,” he started, the smirk gone from his expression. “First, I think you have a way to defeat this unicorn, but it means making a difficult choice.” He paused and stared up into my eyes, as if he were trying to read something written on my soul, and then he lightly sniffed the air. “You’re nearly there. I think you will make the right decision at the right time.”
“How do you know?”
Chang chuckled and released my wrist. “I am a dragon. We know these things.”
“And second?”
“Please, don’t come back.”
His words weren’t a surprise, but that didn’t stop the slash of pain that cut through my chest. I’d been visiting Chang for years for random magical items and words of advice. It hurt that I was no longer welcome in his underground domain. “Ever?”
The old man tilted his head slightly to the side in thought, his face scrunched up in a mass of wrinkles. “No. Just wait a long time.”
“Should I ask what a long time is to a dragon?”
The old man chuckled. “You’ll know.”
Nodding, I could accept his wishes. I might not like them, but I could certainly understand them. I clutched the sanguinello in my left hand and extended my right hand to him, not really expecting him to take it. “I’ve appreciated all the help you’ve given me over the years and I promise I won’t tell anyone your secret.”
Chang hesitated, staring at my hand for a second before he finally shook it. “And I have appreciated the entertainment you have given me over the years. I am also disappointed that I never got the other two rivers from you.”
A bark of unexpected laughter jumped from me, knocking my head back as I released his hand. Chang was always so damn practical. He’d had his heart set on getting the complete collection of water samples from the five rivers of the underworld. So far, he’d earned only three from me and I suspected that I was the only living person in this existence who possessed the other two.
“I guess I’ll just have to use that as an excuse to gain entrance into your warehouse again.”
Chang shook his head at me, a rueful expression on his face, as I turned and walked slowly back to the elevator. Being banned from Chang’s hurt, but I liked to think that he was only keeping me out until the world was quiet again. Then he’d let me return. Of course, that was all assuming that I found a way to defeat an insane unicorn. My hopes were not high.
Chapter 9
I wished I could blame Chang. Or maybe Trixie, Serah, and everyone who had dropped chaos into my life. But in the end, I was to blame for not paying attention to my surroundings as I stepped back out on the street. My mind reeled from too much information and too few answers. Shuffling down the sidewalk with my hands shoved in my pockets, not watching my surroundings, I found my way back to my battered SUV. He was waiting for me. The white-haired lunatic leaned against the grille, smiling at me. I was in trouble. I just didn’t realize how much, until pain exploded in the back of my head, sending me down into the darkness. See, kids, it’s important to pay attention to what the fuck you’re doing.
When I awoke, I was half frozen and my head was throbbing in time with my heart. I blinked, trying to open my eyes, but instantly wished I hadn’t. Dirty light streamed in through some nearby windows, magnifying the pain in my head. I was surprised that I hadn’t been bound, but then the unicorn had proven that he didn’t need to bind me. He was more powerful than me and I didn’t have a chance of escape unless he allowed it.
A groan rose from my lips as I pushed onto my forearms so I could look around the place. A warehouse. An abandoned warehouse. Why the hell did every asshole with an evil scheme have to hide out in an abandoned warehouse? Why couldn’t I be kidnapped and taken to a nice B and B or a hotel that offered room service? No, it was always a warehouse filled with rusting equipment, broken wooden skids, and rats irritated at having their domain invaded by bleeding humans.
And did Low Town really have that many abandoned warehouses? The city council needed to do something about the job situation in this town.
“I told you I didn’t hit him too hard,” said an unknown woman in a petulant voice.
“You’re right, Missy. I guess our young warlock has a harder head than I initially thought,” responded her companion. This voice I recognized, sending a chill through me. It was the unicorn.
I didn’t raise my eyes to them yet, but concentrated on looking around my surroundings as I slowly sat up. They were going to give me only a few more seconds to myself and I needed to know as much as I could about where I was if I was going to have any hope of escape. There was no benefit in attacking them. While I was sure that I could take out the human woman, there was no chance of defeating the unicorn, despite Chang’s words of encouragement. I needed more time. A plan to retreat to Simon’s rooms in the Towers had started to form in my mind before I was attacked near my car. I had thought that I would do some more research, formulate a plan, but now my only focus was surviving the next few minutes.
With no brilliant ideas forthcoming, I planted my hands on the dirty concrete floor and raised my gaze to my kidnappers, preparing to get to my feet. But my heart stopped in my chest when my eyes fell on Trixie. The lovely elf was seated on the floor with her arms bound behind her around a pole. Blood matted her blonde hair on one side of her head. The worry I briefly glimpsed in her wide green eyes subsided the moment I met her gaze and then it was replaced by anger. Now that she was sure that I was alive, my dear girlfriend was pissed and ready to do some damage of her own.
The unicorn and the woman leaned against the pole on either side of Trixie, wide maniacal grins stretched across their faces as if they were waiting for me to start laughing at this wonderful surprise. Equal parts fear and rage swirled in my stomach and pumped through my veins.
It took some effort, but I managed to pull my eyes from Trixie and restart my heart as I stood. The world bobbed and swayed beneath me. The bitch had likely given me a concussion, but I didn’t risk calling forth any magic to heal it. I didn’t need to give these assholes any reason to attack me just yet. I’d survive a concussion. They weren’t going to survive the shitstorm I was looking to drop on their heads now that I knew that it wasn’t just me they were threatening.
“Who the fuck are you and what do you want?” I growled, rubbing my temple with the heel of my left hand.
“Oh my! Direct, isn’t he?” the unicorn mocked with a high-pitched laugh. “I figured that old dragon would have told you.”
“Just told me what you are,” I muttered. No reason to deny it, since he already knew who, or rather, what, Chang was.
The unicorn gave a little push away from the pole and stepped forward so that he was standing between me and Trixie. “The name is Vincent, not that it really matters,” he said with an elegant little bow and a smirk. With a flourish of his hand, he waved at the woman who remained at Trixie’s side. “And this enchanting creature is Missy. She’s the nymph who has been ridding your city of its human infestation, but then I’m sure you already guessed that.”
Inner Demon Page 9
