Haunted Blade (Colbana Files Book 6)

by J. C. Daniels

  Nearly fifteen hours after we’d hit the road, he came to a stop. The lulling, rocking motion of the vehicle jarred me out of the semi-twilight state I’d been in and I sat up, every muscle in my body protesting.

  “Where are we?”

  “Deep Lake,” he said, voice rough. He had a heavy growth of stubble on his face but when he glanced over at me, his eyes were as alert as they’d been yesterday. “You’ve spent most of the past fifteen hours sleeping, you know.”

  “Yeah.” Rubbing the back of my neck, I grimaced. “Easiest way to not think.”

  “Not thinking about him won’t make him disappear.”

  “Hey, making him disappear is an idea with possibilities,” I said, rolling my head on the back of the seat so I could meet his eyes.

  The storm cloud gray lightened briefly, a smile twitching his lips. “I bet Justin would help us find the right kind of hole.” Then he shrugged and gestured out the front of the big, sturdy SUV. “That hole there might work. Deep Lake was formed out of a sinkhole. It’s a damned deep hole.”

  Under most circumstances, the sinkhole would have interested me.

  But little interested me right then.

  “I’m scared, Damon.”

  His hand came up, curving over the back of my neck. A moment later, he had me curled up against him. “What do you want, Kit? Want him dead? Just say the word and I’ll deliver his heart to you on a silver platter.”

  “Head.”

  Damon nuzzled my neck. “What?”

  “It’s a head, not a heart. John the Baptist had his head delivered to Herod on a silver platter.” I wiggled in closer, sealing my body to his, but I still felt cold.

  “Never thought you for a church-going girl, kitten.” He stroked a hand up my back, then down, long strokes that were both soothing and arousing.

  Only Damon had ever managed to do that, calm me and energize me, eroticize and comfort in this manner. Not that there’d been many others, but even if I’d slept with a dozen other men, he’d be unique.

  A dozen.

  A hundred.

  Only Damon.

  Turning my face into his neck, I breathed in his scent.

  “You’re distracting me, baby girl,” he rumbled. “And I want an answer.”

  “You can’t kill him.” Huffing out a breath, I leaned back to study his face. The steering controls of his vehicle, something designed with newer technology that looked like it could take us to the moon and back, dug into my spine so I wiggled around and shifted until I could straddle him—that was distracting me now. But I made myself focus. Cupping his face in my hands, I leaned in and pressed my brow to his. “They’d know it was you. They’d find out. Right now, they need him. The city is suffering because of this mess with the vampires.”

  “Fuck the city,” he said succinctly. Then he sighed. Reaching out, he opened the door.

  He had both of us out of the SUV with an easy grace I’d never manage in a hundred years.

  He leaned against me then, his mouth taking mine as he grabbed the waistband of my jeans and tore the buttons open. “Let’s distract each other for a little while, Kit.”

  ⸸

  My bones were loose, my body limp and warm as melted wax sometime later. Heat lightening rippled in the distance—and, briefly, I imagined I could feel it licking inside me, following the trail Damon’s hands and mouth had taken.

  Next to me, I heard a low, rumbling noise—something that sounded like both purr and growl.

  Turning my head, I caught sight of him as he stretched and arched, muscles moving under his golden skin and drawing the eye. “You stay away from me, you horny son of a bitch,” I said when he smiled, then slid his eyes to linger on my breasts.

  “You weren’t saying that a few minutes ago.”

  He could still make me blush.

  I had no idea how he could still make me blush. Grunting under my breath, I shoved off the SUV and paced a few steps away before pulling on my shirt. It was, thankfully, still in one piece. Surprisingly, all of my clothes were. I might have made a comment about it, but for all I knew, he’d take it as a dare.

  I’d just managed to smooth the Def Leopard T-shirt down when his arms came around me, pulling me back up against him. Sighing, I leaned into him. He smelled of me and him—I smelled of him and me. Slowly, I turned and slid my arms around his waist, tucking my head against his chest.

  “Keep rubbing up against me like that, I’m going to have to do something about it,” he whispered against my ear. But the words were teasing and light.

  I was tempted to do just that, rub against him, taunt him into doing what he’d teased me with so I could just keep…forgetting.

  “It won’t work,” I said, speaking out loud although it was directed towards myself.

  “It just did.” Damon caught my right hip and tugged me in close, rocking against me.

  “Not talking to you, big guy.” Pressing a kiss to his chin, I twisted out of his grasp and walked away until the scent of him—us—didn’t fill my head. “I could let you distract me for…hell, for as long as you wanted, but what would it solve?”

  A boot scuffed against the ground and sent a rock scuttling until it stopped close to my right foot. Covering it with my toe, I kicked it back at him, but it went flying past. “What are you trying to solve, baby girl? Thinking about that rocket launcher? Want me to dig a hole, line it with silver and toss his miserable ass inside?” He came closer, stopping just a few paces away.

  “Want?” I laughed wearily. “Yes. But that’s not what you’re going to do. As to a rocket launcher…” Sighing, I turned away and started to walk. I had no destination in mind. I just knew I needed to walk, to move.

  “I can help you get a rocket launcher. You can fire it into a silver lined pit until you hear him scream…then until you hear him stop screaming.”

  Damon’s low, menacing voice sent a shiver down my voice and I knew if I wasn’t careful, he’d take action on that plan.

  “We need to get the city under control.” Ahead of me, there was a low wall and I leaped on it, landing on the balls of my feet. Once there, I rose slowly and looked around. The low, half wall was actually all that remained of one, I realized. There were other structures out there, many of them more complete than this one. “What is this place?”

  Damon paced over to stand next to me, his hands spread wide on the pocked surface of rock. “It was a prison once, a long time ago. Then a park. But the war, weather, time…” He shrugged, eyes studying the stone walls, ravaged by time. “Nature is taking over again. Can’t say I blame her.”

  His words rolled over me, not really connecting though. None of it mattered right now. I was too busy processing what I’d dealt with, what was happening.

  Maybe that was why the prickle along my spine went unnoticed until I heard a hissing noise.

  I swayed and twisted out of instinct, my gut twisting as adrenaline spiked and surged.

  I landed behind the wall on the balls of my feet, but when I went to straighten, Damon grabbed me and shoved me to the ground.

  Chapter Thirty

  A low, furious growl hissed out of him, one of his hands pressed between my shoulder blades. “Stay still…” Lips pressed to my ear, he spoke softly.

  I was one hundred perfect certain that he wanted me to obey.

  I was equally certain that I wasn’t going to.

  The moment he lifted up, I twisted and rolled, coming out from under him.

  Damon swore and swiped out, grabbing for my ankle but we’d practiced that very move and I reacted on cue, striking down and kicking out. My foot connected with his brow, leaving my heel bruised and him swearing.

  I immediately rolled forward and came up in a crouch. I had my blade in one hand, my shield in another as I peered over the low wall. “Don’t try it again,” I warned him.

  “Did you see what it was you dodged?” He went to all fours, slinking toward me like the cat he was. He might be wearing his human skin, but i
t was little more than a costume right now. His eyes blazed green-gold and energy, fury, they beat off him like the sun shed its rays. “Take a look behind you, baby girl.”

  I did just that.

  That uneasy prickle washed over me as I did so, even before I saw the thing that rested just inches behind where I’d been standing.

  If I hadn’t moved to the side, if I hadn’t leaped…If Damon hadn’t came from me and shoved me farther to the side…

  The net was made of copper wire.

  My skin immediately prickled, then went red-hot as a nauseating, sick understanding washed over me. Somebody knew who I was, what I was…enough to know my weaknesses at least.

  Tightening my grip on my sword, I shot Damon a look.

  He wasn’t looking at me though.

  He had his head tipped back, mouth open as he dragged in deep draughts of air. Nostrils flared wide, he sniffed, tasted, rolled the scents in the air on the back of his tongue as he picked apart every individual thread he picked up. I hadn’t seen him do this before—not quite like this.

  “Vampire,” he mouthed after what felt like forever. “All I smell is vampire…and some humans. But those scents are days old.”

  “Vampire.” My gut iced over and I pressed my back to the wall, easing higher until I could look over the wall.

  “Hello, darling Kit.”

  That familiar, low voice drifted my way.

  The ice in my gut spread higher, sank its claws deeper into me.

  “You really must not have an interest in living,” Damon said, voice calm and level as he sat down on the ground. “Don’t you have a house to bring to order?”

  I watched as he casually began to strip naked.

  “Fuck the house. What good did they do me? Tell me, have you started to shift yet, Lee?” Jude called out. “I hope so. I’ve got plans for you—they involve that pelt of yours. I’m going to skin you and have that fur treated, turned into a rug. Then I’ll take that bitch on it every day until I tire of her.”

  Nausea warred with anger.

  Anger won.

  “What happened to you when you were a little boy to make you hate women so much, Jude? Didn’t your mum love you enough?”

  “She loved me about as much as your grandmother loves you,” Jude said with a mean chuckle.

  “So…about as much love as I have for you then.” I eyed my sword for a moment, then banished both it and the shield, calling another weapon simultaneously. The blackwood bow came to me, his drumbeat echoing deep in my soul. “You remember how it felt to have wooden arrows buried inside that black heart of yours? Ready to do it again?”

  “You have no bow, darling Kit.”

  Huh. He didn't know…

  Sliding Damon a look, I grinned with wicked, hot delight. “Oh, honey,” I murmured. “Just one…”

  “Kit,” he growled.

  But I was already on my feet. I didn’t bother seeking out the direction of his voice. It wouldn’t do any good. He wasn’t going to be standing out in the open. Instead, I used the mental image I’d pulled up and focused, already locked on a target.

  It was a tall tree, dead and rotting, lightning strike, most likely.

  The arrow hadn’t even buried itself before I was on the ground again, my back pressed to the wall. “No bow, you pathetic prick?” I said.

  “Well. Aren’t you full of surprises?” Jude’s voice was flat. “But…so am I.”

  The ground shuddered under us, followed by a rippling roll that made my guts clench.

  Damon growled and grabbed me. The next few seconds became a twisted blur of speed, fur, rock and earth as he shifted and grabbed me. I knew he was running—then jumping. I knew he was swearing, then growling. He shouted in my ear. “Get rid of the bow—going for a swim!”

  I barely had to time to process that, much less do it before he plunged the two of us into the icy waters of Deep Lake. Waves crashed around us and I choked, gagging on a rush of water.

  Damon’s hand was a manacle on my wrist. He was swimming, dragging me along when I didn’t move fast enough.

  My entire head spun, trying to keep up with what was happening, but I hadn’t even figured out the very first thing that had happened, much less started to catch up.

  We swam farther and the water started to calm.

  Damon eventually let my wrist go and we kept swimming.

  Finally, somewhere near the middle of the lake, we stopped to tread water, turning to look back at the shore.

  “Earthquake,” Damon said shortly. “Localized. He’s either got an earth witch with him or somebody else who has an elemental power. Whichever it is, the bastard’s gift doesn’t spread to water or the witch isn’t strong enough to reach this far.”

  “That’s not it.” Uneasy, I stared out over the water, although I couldn’t see much beyond one spot—eerie as hell. It was like at that one spot, everything stopped, all the chaos, the madness, the churning water and the waves. As I watched, they came crashing up—then ceased. Bit by bit, that line receded, too.

  “We need to get out of line of sight,” I said.

  Damon didn’t question what I meant—neither did I. I didn’t question any of these weird gut instincts I had. “How long can you hold your breath?”

  That uneasy feeling took on a different turn, but I shoved it down. “A couple of minutes if I have to.” I began to gulp in oxygen as I swam away, not asking what he had in mind. I had a feeling I knew.

  “You might have to—those waves are getting smaller. I think he’s looking for us.”

  “He is.” I could feel it, like ants crawling over my skin, that searching gaze. I gulped more air, expanding my lungs even though it hurt and I was getting lightheaded.

  Next to me, I could hear Damon doing the same.

  “Get ready. I’m taking you under and we’ll swim like mad. If you have to come up, let me know.” He drew even with me and our eyes met.

  I took one more deep breath, then nodded.

  This was going to suck.

  ⸸

  “Ever noticed I seem to spend a lot of time hiding in the woods with you?”

  He bit my chin.

  We were water-logged and moving in line with the shore, just behind the barrier of the trees. From here, we could see the spot where we’d been—or at least what had been the spot where we’d been.

  Damon had also seen Jude.

  We both sensed somebody else—I sensed the magic. He scented somebody else beside the vampire we both knew and abhorred.

  “I want you to get to the road,” Damon said. He shoved his phone into my hand. “Call the Lair.”

  I eyed the phone. It was dripping water.

  “It will work.” He tapped the screen and it flared to life.

  “Huh. Nice. But…no.” I pushed the phone at him. “I’m not leaving you here alone.”

  “Kit…” The growl rumbled out of his throat and I stopped behind a huge, twisted giant of a tree, one that stabbed into the air with branches that spread down and around us in a sheltering embrace. He stopped as well and bent down over me, one arm braced on the trunk behind my back. “We’re not doing this.”

  “No.” I smiled at him blithely. “We’re not. I’ve already made it clear what I’m not doing, but feel free to keep talking. Maybe one of them will hear you.”

  “One already did…”

  The whisper came from everywhere. The trees around us. The ground beneath us. The very air itself, or so it seemed. “You…you think to hide from me in the forest. Don’t you know the forest is mine?”

  Overhead, the branches of the tree began to rustle.

  Move—

  I shoved Damon back. It was a sign of his trust that he went, rolling backward and using the power of his lower body to propel me with him. I went flying through the air just as a roar erupted from him.

  “Heh, heh, heh…you are…very good. Almost as good as she was.” The voice came again, but it sounded more solid now, more…corporeal. And localized.<
br />
  Springing to my feet, I braced myself, my eyes drawn, almost mesmerizingly so, to a spot of shade just behind the tree. I went to look for Damon, but that one spot tugged my gaze right back to it.

  A shady circle—a perfect circle—where the sun shone down through dappled branches, so the shade shouldn’t be there.

  The shadow spread upward, moving forward.

  When the walking stick became visible, I spat on the ground.

  “Malcolm.”

  He was laughing as he finishing forming—or appearing—revealing himself. Whatever it was he was doing.

  “You’re a sharp one, Kitasa. I’m so impressed. Your mum would be proud.”

  Curling my lip at him, I said, “Please. Have some originality. You and Jude seem to love throwing relatives up at me. Is there a reason for that?”

  A low noise caught my ears, but I didn’t dare look to find the source.

  The smile faded from Malcolm’s face and he inclined his head. “You’re not as soft as they said you were, are you? Or did you grow spikes after dealing with Jude? I heard he was…rough with you.”

  “Fuck off.” That low, tortured sound came again and something slid by my feet. I looked down, ready to see a snake—I didn’t like snakes.

  It was a branch—a tree branch slithering around on the ground like it was a snake, clearly seeking.

  Those noises grew louder. This time, I couldn’t not look. Horror gutted me and I went to rush forward.

  Immediately, that snaking branch along the ground caught me around the waist. “Not so fast,” Malcolm said, wagging a finger at me. “My partner wants a word with your lover, Kit. And you…well…we should chat. We have a great deal of catching up to do.”

  Quivering in place, I stared at Damon.

  He’d been speared in three different places, but his heart had been avoided, either by design or by his determined struggles. Although how he could struggle…Blinking back tears at the sight of a branch piercing his throat like a pike, I looked at Malcolm. “Let him go.”

  He clicked his tongue. “But I worked so hard to get him in just that position. Wearing him out in the water, then putting him on the run here…it’s not easy to take an alpha level shifter by surprise. And these woods of yours…” A look of distaste twisted his features. “Whatever happened to good, old English oak?”