He thought he sensed a flicker of amusement, but put it down to an adrenaline-fueled imagination as he accelerated on a straight stretch, trying to put as much distance as possible between them and the witches they’d left behind.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Raze
The ambulance appeared out of the fog like a rumbling wraith. It drove to the far side of the grocery store parking lot and pulled to a stop, lights killed immediately. There were no accompanying cars. Raze, from her vantage point on the roof, turned her head to face Ben’s frowning profile.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“I think it’s got to be a trap. He must have backup somewhere. At the very least you should expect the ambulance to be full of his people.”
“I agree. Trap it is, then.” Raze took a deep breath, preparing herself. “Right. I’m going. Be careful when you follow, okay? Remember what Alex said: Jude is a tech genius. He’s bound to have found a way to hack into the store’s security feed. Don’t go and show up on any cameras.”
Ben raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been doing this since I was a kid. I think I can handle a few security cameras.”
“Yeah. Sorry. It’s just…”
He gave her arm a light squeeze. “It’s your family in there. I know. Now go. Alex is in position. So am I. You worry about your grandparents, we’ll worry about getting the sword back.”
Raze straightened from her crouch. Night Blade in hand, she ran lightly to the edge of the rooftop. The sword still felt like cold, dead metal under her fingers, but she could swear she saw darkness ripple up and down the arm that gripped it. Tendrils of black, blacker even than the clothes she wore, a shadow so absolute it was like night made real and alive.
She shivered. She’d been hoping that this was the wrong sword — that Baroness Reis’intel was wrong and they’d stolen a fake. But she could no longer ignore that strange alien presence in her mind. She could feel it right now, if she tried: a sense of smug amusement and excitement which was definitely not her own. It looked like they’d found the Blade, after all. And now she had to hand it over to Jude Raven, of all people.
When Raze reached the metal maintenance ladder leading to the ground, she tucked the sword into her belt. The shadows remained, though, writhing up and down her arm. Black on black, she sensed more than saw them, brushing against her like the tail of a cat.
Walking across the empty parking lot was the hardest thing she’d ever done. She itched all over from being so exposed, knowing that ahead of her, in the ambulance with the tinted windows, the demons awaited. She paused by a garish artificial Christmas tree, all silver tinsel, its multi-colored lights a splash of cheer in the fog. She knew she wasn’t alone. Ben was behind her somewhere, perhaps still on the rooftop, and Alex was among the trees — with Del, apparently — though she still had no idea what Del was doing here, of all places. Right now, though, it was as if she were the only living thing in the night. She steeled herself and continued her approach.
As she reached the ambulance, the passenger door opened and Jude stepped out. He was closely followed by a tall guy in a leather jacket, and Raze’s lips twitched at the sight. So Jude was going with the stereotypical henchman theme, was he? Except the man’s aura was all wrong. Raze frowned. What was Jude doing with a vampire at his side?
The back of the ambulance opened and three more leather-clad figures stepped out. There were two more vampires: one a man, shorter than the first, with a shaved head, and the other a hard-faced woman. Following close on their heels was a werewolf, her long blonde hair glinting white in the dark. As the wolf turned to close the doors behind her, Raze caught a glimpse of a logo stenciled on the back of her jacket. A gang — Jude had hired a gang for this. She stopped. Something was off about the whole thing.
“Rose, good of you to join us.” Jude, as always, sounded amused, as though the whole universe was one big joke to him. Raze didn’t answer. Her gaze flitted between Jude and what was clearly hired muscle, and suddenly she saw right though his cocky smile to the quiet tension beneath. She tapped into her shifter senses and smelled fear. It was controlled, and well buried, but it was there. And it came from Jude. Now it was Raze’s turn to smile wickedly.
“Jude. Lovely evening for a betrayal, isn’t it?”
“Good to see you’re enjoying your part in all of this,” he replied.
“Oh, I wasn’t talking about my own betrayal. I was talking about yours. Shade has no idea you’re doing this, does she? Where does she think you are right now, hmm? What pretty lies have you told her, Jude? I like the hired help. Very impressive. Nice leathers.”
Surprise flashed across the demon’s face. His one human eye widened slightly, though his silver demon eye remained weirdly impassive. He smirked, regaining his poise. “Oh, you’re good. But you can’t prove anything. And you won’t even try. You have too many secrets of your own. Do you want Reis to know your part in this? And even if you approached Shade, do you really think she’d let you live, knowing this of her Master of the Hunt?”
“Vanity, Jude. It’ll be your downfall. You’re too damn full of yourself,” she said, trying to pretend her heart wasn’t beating as fast as a hummingbird’s wings in her chest. “Vanity, and greed. You want it for yourself, the Night Blade? What use could you possibly have for it?”
Jude didn’t bother replying. He gestured at the ambulance and the two Leathers near the back opened the doors again with a flourish and moved away. “There. Go and meet your grandparents. I’ve kept my word.”
Raze walked to the doors, keeping her eyes on Jude. When she got there, she realized she would have to turn away from him to look inside. She’d be exposed. All her senses screamed to leave — to take the Night Blade and run. But she’d come this far, she couldn’t turn back now. Before tearing her eyes away she jabbed a finger toward the two nearest Leathers.
“Over there. With Jude.”
Jude bowed his head in assent, and Raze waited until she was all alone at the back of the ambulance. Then, finally, she peered inside. The elderly woman she’d seen in the video stared back at her, back straight and proud, wrists bound together with warded metal cuffs. She looked just like her passport photo.
“Agatha?”
The woman nodded. Her face was as stiff as her posture, but her eyes betrayed her. They roamed Raze’s face hungrily, searching. “You look like him. Jonathan. And the wolf, too. You should not have come.”
“I came for my blood,” Raze answered. “You’re mine to claim, not his to take.”
This seemed to satisfy Agatha, and Raze glanced at the man strapped onto the gurney beside her, face partially concealed by an oxygen mask. “My grandfather, I presume?”
She didn’t wait for Agatha’s answer. She turned back to Jude, drawing the sword from where it hung at her belt. She held it up, her hand clasped around the middle of the scabbard. “You’ve fulfilled your side of the bargain. Free them both, set the gurney with my grandfather out in the parking lot, and you can have it. You can choke on it, for all I care.”
Raze moved away, keeping distance between her and the ambulance as the same two Leathers — the vampire with the shaved head and the werewolf — helped her grandmother out and then unloaded the gurney, carefully settling a canister of oxygen on the ground beside it. They closed the doors, returning to Jude’s side.
“The handcuffs,” Raze said. “Where’s the key?”
“No key. Your grandmother is a powerful woman. You can break the locks once I’m gone. Acceptable?”
Raze didn’t like it. But it was to be expected. Jude wouldn’t want to risk a coven leader’s fury. “Acceptable.”
“Your turn, Rose.” The demon’s cocky smile was gone. His expression was all business. “The sword.”
Raze looked down at the Night Blade. Don’t worry, she told it in her mind. I’m not abandoning you. She could almost feel the sword laughing at her. It certainly didn’t seem worried. She took a few steps toward Jude, and threw
him the sword. He caught it neatly, drawing it from its scabbard.
“It certainly follows all the descriptions,” he said.
“Satisfied?” Raze glanced at her grandparents, torn between wanting to go to them and not daring to take her eyes off Jude.
Jude stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a chunk of stone. “Alexandrite,” he said. “Ah, I see you’re familiar with it? Useful little gem. Sees right through magic spells and glamours.” He looked at the sword through the alexandrite. “Well, now. It looks like a duck, and it swims like a duck… but this most certainly isn’t a duck.”
“It’s the Night Blade,” Raze answered confidently. “I’m sure of it. It was the only sword in the Baron’s vault.” And it talks to me, she added silently.
“No, my dear. I think not. I think we’ll just have to take back that merchandise I handed to you so nicely.”
“No!” Raze shouted. She leaped for her grandparents, shifting as she moved to land as a snarling wolf in front of them. The werewolf woman shifted, too. Raze suddenly found herself facing a full-grown wolf, flanked by the vampires, with Jude at their back. She lifted her head and howled.
At the signal, a blast of green came from the edge of the parking lot, catching one of the vampires in full and sending him flying. A glimmer of red appeared from the mist-drenched woods: Alex, Redemption glowing in his hand.
“Treachery,” Jude spat out.
Then the werewolf went for Raze’s throat and all hell broke loose.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Del
Del watched from the cover of the trees as Alex and the witch, Ben, threw themselves into the fray. Rose was a furious hurricane of fur and muscle, both wolves tearing into each other as they struggled for dominance. Del waited until the fight moved to the far side of the ambulance, and then crept forward.
She had her part to play in this, and it wasn’t in the battle going on in the parking lot.
Del ran lightly to the ambulance. Keeping to the cover it provided, she advanced until she got to the rear. She peered around the corner. The two wolves were still at it, their fur matted with streaks of what looked like black in the amber parking lot lights, but that Del knew was blood. The smaller wolf was limping. Del tensed as she realized that was Rose. But Rose didn’t back down; her next attack was brutal, and the opposing wolf whimpered out in pain.
Alex was fighting two of the vampires at once, Redemption a red blur as he cut and parried. One of the vampires had a sword, too, a long curved thing that gleamed viciously as it swept in, and was blocked and turned aside time and time again. The other one was armed with a baseball bat, and although Alex easily held his own, it was clear he was struggling to gain an advantage.
The vampire that had caught the green witch-blast was still down. That left Jude to Ben. They appeared to be playing some deadly form of tag, where the witch kept trying to score a hit while the demon used his speed to dart out of the way. As she watched, Jude touched a hand to his chest and drew his demon soul blade, dodging easily when Ben sent another stream of magic his way. Del wasn’t sure how long Ben could keep up the green blasts.
She abandoned stealth and ran for the gurney. The old woman, Rose’s grandmother, was trying to lift the heavy oxygen canister so she could move the gurney away from trouble. She jumped as Del approached.
“It’s okay,” Del murmured. “I’m a friend of Rose’s.”
“Then help me get him out of here.” Despite her age, the old woman’s voice was steel, her face stone.
Together they managed to lift the oxygen and settle it on the side of the gurney, by the old man’s frail legs. He didn’t open his eyes, and Del could feel the Heart Blade mourning him. Too far, too gone, it whispered to her. He had a day or two, at most. It was his time, and nothing would reverse that. But perhaps she could heal him enough to regain consciousness, so he could slip away knowing he was a free man.
First things first. They wheeled the gurney into the shelter of the trees, away from the fighting. Then Del set a hand on the man’s chest and called the power of the Blade. “Your names?” she asked, sensing the wonder in the woman’s eyes even though her own were closed. She knew she must be glowing with the Heart Blade’s pale green light.
“Oskar. And Agatha.” The woman’s voice was a quiet tremor. “Can you save him?”
“No. I’m so sorry. He would have… Even if Jude hadn’t…” This was too hard. Agatha’s emotions were a feral living thing that twisted in the air between them, crying out, ragged and furious. She took a deep, shuddering breath. “What I can do is ease his pain, and bring his mind back for a while. Long enough to see this through and get to safety, long enough for him to say his farewells.” Del reached out, seeking the hurt inside, coaxing it to relent a little, to give Oskar space to breathe and to be. “Oskar. Can you hear me? Return. You can rest, soon. But first you need to return. Agatha is waiting.”
There he was. She took the thin beat of life and fanned the flame. It sparked; not a blazing fire, but a wan trickle of candlelight. It was all he had left. It would have to be enough. She pulled back, opening her eyes but keeping one hand on his arm, steadying his pulse with the Heart Blade’s presence. He opened his eyes, too, and smiled.
“So lovely. I never thought I’d live to be touched by one of the Blades.” His voice was so weak it was barely a whisper. His eyes moved to his wife’s face. “Agatha. Are we free?”
“Almost.” Agatha shook her handcuffs. “Jonathan’s girl is here.”
“Our granddaughter. Is she beautiful? Is she fierce?” Hushed as his voice was, Del could hear the longing in it.
His wife bowed her head briefly before answering. “She is both. A lioness, like her father. But she’s not one of us. She’s a wolf, not our granddaughter.”
“Agatha. She is Jon’s. So she is ours. Soon you will be alone, the last of our direct line. You need her.” He stopped to breathe, his voice wheezing painfully. “And she needs you. Do this, for me?”
Agatha set her manacled hands upon one of his, holding it tight. “Very well.”
“I’d like to see her.” Before I die. The words went unspoken, but Del knew they hung there, a heavy presence between them.
Agatha turned to her. “Is he stable enough to do without you?”
Del closed her eyes again, once more feeding the Blade’s warmth into the old man’s frail bones. She let go of him. “I’ve done all I can.”
“Then go and get my granddaughter. Please.”
Del took Alex’s gun from her pocket. He’d made her take it before he left to join the fight. “Here. It’s loaded. Can you use it?”
In answer, Agatha took it from her and ran experienced fingers over the weapon. Even handcuffed, she handled it well. She clearly knew what she was doing. “I may be a witch, but I’m not stupid. I have weapons training. Those who rely solely on their magic are idiots.”
Del flashed her a smile, and then headed back out of the trees for a clearer view of what was going on. She was just in time to see Rose shift out of her wolf form and aim a hard kick at the downed werewolf beside her.
Alex was a blur of movement as he fought his opponent. The vampire with the baseball bat lay sprawled on the ground, dead. And Ben…
Del barely had a moment to register Ben on the ground, dragging himself backward, hand clasped to a bleeding shoulder, when she sensed movement to her right. She whirled around, ducking, and drawing the Heart Blade as she spun.
Her sword rang out sweetly against the silver gleam of Jude’s soul blade. She panicked as her eyes met his cool gaze. She was useless at sword fighting. Her best bet was to try and keep moving, and stay out of Jude’s way.
“Very nice,” he taunted as she danced out of range. “But are you quick enough? Strong enough? You’re no longer a demon…”
He moved in close, the blows coming too fast for her to do more than weakly parry. “I don’t want to kill you, you know. But since you’ve been so kind as to drop by, I may as w
ell take you along for the ride. A Blade for a Blade. Rose has failed to deliver the Night, so I’ll have the Heart instead. And its Bearer with it.”
“Never,” she ground out between clenched teeth, dodging yet another of the demon’s strikes, putting a tree between them. “You didn’t win before, and you won’t take me now.”
Jude pressed his attack, pushing her farther from the parking lot and from any help she might get.
Del managed to block a sneaky side cut, and ducked out of the way, once again swerving to put a tree trunk between her and Jude. “Do you really think you can beat us?” she taunted, trying to distract him long enough for one of the others to arrive. “You’re nothing, Jude, a washed up Hunter who betrayed his own Liege Lady. I heard what you told Rose. Do you really think Shade won’t guess what you’re up to?” Her eyes narrowed. “What are you up to, anyway? You can’t use the Blades. Only their chosen Bearer can. Are you planning on selling them? Using them for leverage?”
“Really?” Jude backed off, circling. “You want to have this conversation now? Shall I put on the kettle, and we can have a little tea party while we chat?”
His eyes flickered to the gurney where Agatha stood guard. Del suddenly realized they had been his target all along. Not her. She ran for Rose’s grandparents, but Jude was quicker. As he reached them, a tawny shape barreled into his legs. Rose had arrived.
Jude slammed into the ground as a shot rang out. With the intended target knocked out of the way, Agatha’s shot went wide. Del felt a searing pain at her temple. All the noise and agony cut out, and she plunged headfirst into a pool of pale green light.
***
Del had no idea how long she’d been suspended, weightless, in the beautiful glow. Eventually, the light faded enough for her to look around. She realized she was standing on springy turf, in a shallow valley full of wiry grass and daisies. Overhead, the sun shone dimly through a thin layer of cloud. Birdsong trilled from a nearby copse. It was very peaceful.
Night Blade: Blade Hunt Chronicles Book Two Page 26
