Midnight Falls (The Order of Shadows Book 2)

by Kit Hallows

  "Well I don't know about you," Sindaub said, "but I'm tiring of this game. It's about to rain, and let me tell you, the rain in this place is no fun at all. It's like the sting of a thousand furious wasps and it will make you suffer. Badly."

  "Then finish me."

  Sindaub raised an eyebrow. "You concede defeat?"

  "Yes."

  "A shame, but I've got things to do. Things far more important than you. Places to go, demons to defeat." He seized me by the throat and lifted me.

  I didn't resist. "Do it."

  "Okay." Sindaub drew back his head, his horns bowed for the killing blow.

  I gave him it.

  "No!" Sindaub screamed as I plunged Samuel's dagger into the pulsing knot below his arm. He dropped me. I tumbled to the ground, scrambled to my feet and backed away as he fell, striking the earth like a chunk of fallen star.

  He grasped the dagger and pulled it out with a terrible hoarse scream. "I..." he looked at me, his face creased in confusion. He clasped a hand to the wound, but it did little to stem the torrent of blood that flowed between his fingers.

  "You don't have long," I said.

  A slow, pained smile spread across his face. "So it seems. I'll die. But you'll die here with me."

  "That's one option." I leaned over so that we were eye to eye, just like he'd done. "But if you let me live, I'll avenge your family."

  Blood trickled from his lips and his eyes swam then focused back on me. "You'd do that?" His voice was little more than a hoarse whisper.

  "The moment the demon crosses my path. I swear it."

  Sindaub nodded. "I believe you. Or a part of you at least. Her name's Maladee De' Nix. If you find her, end her."

  "I give you my word."

  "Then we have made our pact." He spat a gob of blood on the ground between us. "A pact forged in blood." Sindaub shuddered and stuck a finger in his wound before leaning up and tracing it through the air. The red lines formed a small scarlet square. He thrust his finger in the center and a door knob appeared. "Go then, little man. Fulfill your promise."

  I nodded as I sheathed the dagger and the sword of intention.

  Sindaub shivered as he pulled the door open and the warm fiery glow of the Embersens' drawing room spilled out upon his dark, dead homeland.

  I climbed through, glad to get back to my adopted world. But I couldn't help but flinch as the door slammed shut behind me.

  55

  I stood in the drawing room, gazing down at Lily and Sebastian Embersen, the madness of their lives clear and present in their wide, dead eyes. I had no idea how long I'd been in that other place, but the fire in the hearth had burned itself out but a few embers still glowed amongst the ash below the grate. I winced as I leaned down to stir the coals, desperate to warm my frozen bones.

  My body was riddled with aches, bruises and cuts. I longed for my bag of tricks, namely the salves and ointments. They were back in the cabin but somehow that seemed like a million miles away.

  I hunched over the fire but it offered no heat so I rose and turned to leave.

  "So long," I muttered as I took one last look into Lily's crystalline blue eyes. How had I missed her darkness? How had she cast a spell over me, a woman with less magic in her than the fallen poker that rested beside her on the flagstone floor?

  I wrenched open the front door and stumbled down the steps. The world beyond the lamps lining the driveway was a solid black mass. I climbed into my car and was about to start it up when exhaustion and a sense of despair washed over me. I gripped the steering wheel and placed my head against the soft cool padding. And then I released the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding on to so tightly.

  The scene beyond the window seemed frozen in time as I rested back, just me, my thoughts and a world of pain.

  A fiery red and orange glow flickered through the forest. I slowed the car and turned onto the driveway that led to the country club, stopping just short of the blazing car. The old building behind it was also burning, the bright light almost too painful to gaze upon amid the darkness.

  I climbed out and stood near the burning vehicle. The one that had brought Elsbeth Wyght here was gone.

  "I'm coming for you," I said. The heat of the conflagration, coupled with my was enough to rekindle a spark within me. It seemed Sindab was right, that which had been stolen from me would return, in time. I spat into the flames. "I'll find you, Elsbeth, I swear it."

  I rushed back to my car and took off amid the distant discordant wail of sirens. As I sped down the highway, a fleet of police cars and fire engines roared past, the glow of their red and blue lights illuminating the limbs of the trees. I recovered my things from the cabin and packed the car as the thundering falls roared. Maybe it was my imagination but the din seemed lesser somehow, and the menacing darkness of the forest seemed to have receded as well.

  Not that I cared either way. I had no fear now. Only straight cold resolve.

  I called the front desk to check out, left the key on the nightstand and locked the cabin door.

  And as I sped over the bridge and out of the valley, leaving Copperwood Falls and the forest behind me, a bright golden dawn lit the sky before me.

  56

  I barely remembered the journey home and I'd been half asleep when I'd thrown a weak invisibility spell over myself and crept past Mrs. Fitz's apartment. Somehow I'd managed to get though my front door and make it bed.

  By the time I woke it was night once more and my apartment was filled with thick, shifting shadows. I sat up, wincing as a series of short explosive aches tore through me.

  I stumbled into the living room, grabbed a beer from the fridge and put the stereo on. Slow piano and acoustic guitars chimed and jangled like the perfect soundtrack for the mother of all comedowns.

  My phone rested by the coffee maker, its face grey and lifeless. I'd switched it off as I drove home. I should have used that time to update Erland so he could dispatch a clean-up team to Copperwood Falls. But I hadn't. I was too distracted and had had only one thing on my mind; Elsbeth Wyght.

  I took a swig of beer and was about to reach for the phone when something tapped on the pane of glass behind me.

  A cold shiver passed through me.

  ... when I'm good and ready, I'll come a tap-tap-tapping upon your window ...

  "He's dead." I strode toward the window, filling myself with a bravery and strength I didn't quite own. At that moment, at least.

  Storm, the only feral amongst my feline visitors, was sitting outside. He gazed up at me, his hard grey face like granite and the scars of his victorious battles visible even through the gloom.

  I slid the window open and a cold breeze swept into the room. Storm glanced down to the dead rat resting at his paws. A gift.

  "Thanks." I stood back and waited for him to come in but he continued to stare until I picked up his present and dropped it into the pocket of my bath robe.

  Storm leaped down onto the carpet and waited as I closed the window.

  "I suppose you want something other than rat meat and fleas for dinner." I almost smiled, as I opened a can of tuna and set it on the floor. "There, a feast fit for a warrior." He took a few tentative bites then stood back and watched me as I changed the music to something a little more upbeat.

  A faint light twinkled as I passed the mirror. The glow from Hellwyn's necklace. I gazed up to my grizzled reflection. "I hope you're safe out there," I said, raising my beer to Astrid, and then to Samuel. His dagger still rested upon the table where I'd left it. "I owe you."

  I picked up Willow's photo and kissed the cold glass as I carried her with me to the sofa.

  Storm leaped up onto the arm rest and watched me in silence, before doing something he'd never done before. He nestled up right beside me, and for a moment I was almost sure I heard a faint purr. "You got your rat," I said. "And I'm going to get mine. No matter what it takes." I raised my glass. "To the hunt." I looked down as Hellwyn's necklace gleamed once more. "And to new beginn
ings."

  THE END

  HOW TO KILL A WITCH

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  Afterword

  Thank you so much for reading Midnight Falls - I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider leaving a review on Amazon and Goodreads, and spread the word to friends and fellow urban fantasy fans!

  Thank you & kind wishes,

  Kit Hallows

  About the Author

  Kit Hallows loves urban & dark fantasy, occult horror and magical adventures in strange other worlds. Currently Kit is plotting out further adventures with Morgan Rook, and dreaming up the darkest of dreams.

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