Blackbird Rising (The Witch King's Crown Book 1)

by Keri Arthur

  “Only the stone one.”

  “Then that’ll have to do. It might be wise in the future to start carrying Nex and Vita whenever you’re out on any sort of investigation—until all this shit is sorted out, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

  “The only way we’re going to sort shit out is by finding and stopping the murderous heir. How long do you want?”

  “I’ll shift shape behind our cars so it’s less noticeable. Give me a minute after that.”

  She waited until a car had rumbled past and then hobbled across the road. Once she’d taken blackbird form, she flew up the building and disappeared. I flicked my knife down into my hand, waited the allotted minute, then shoved the key into the lock and opened the door.

  The small bell chimed merrily into the silence and I silently cursed the thing. On the floor above, all movement ceased, but the air now crackled with energy. It wasn’t a spell; it was more a gathering of power—a whip ready to strike.

  I studied the bookstore, but there was no movement and no evidence of anything being tampered with down here. Whatever they were doing or were after, it involved the upper floors.

  A loud crash had my gaze snapping toward the stairs. It was glass shattering. Mo had obviously forgone spelling and just broken through the window.

  I raced across the room. Saw a shadow move at the top of the stairs and heard a slight whistle as energy cracked toward me. I dropped instinctively and the dark whip that would have taken off my head sheered instead through the top rail and split the balustrade underneath it.

  As sparks and splinters flew, I pushed upright and lunged up the stairs. The dark-skinned man standing at the top was huge—a great hulking figure whose head and trunk were partially wrapped in shadows but whose arms and legs were the size of trees. My stone knife looked wholly inadequate, and I wasn’t entirely sure I was up to combating the monster, either.

  The air whistled another warning. I had nowhere to go, so I simply raised the blade to counter the invisible force of energy. The two met in a shower of sparks, but the knife not only held, it sliced straight into the whip. I twisted the blade around and cut down hard. As the knife’s edge severed the thin stream of energy, I shifted shape and flew straight at the gigantic figure. He raised the severed whip to strike again, but I shot through his legs and quickly shifted back to human form. As he lumbered around, I shoved him hard toward the stairs. He bellowed and windmilled one arm, trying to balance even as he struck at me. The severed end of the dark whip caught the edge of the backpack and the smell of burning canvas filled the air. Fire leapt down my side as the ragged edge skimmed my flesh, but I ignored it and slashed with my knife. The blade caught several reaching fingers and severed them. As they plopped to the floor and his blood spurted across my body, I twisted around and kicked, with as much force as I could muster, at his knee. There was a loud pop and then his leg buckled underneath him. Another shove had him tumbling down the stairs, but I didn’t wait to see if the fall killed him. I followed him down and made damn sure of it.

  Only then did I take a deep, somewhat shaky breath.

  Only then did I become aware of the fighting still happening upstairs.

  I swore and raced back up. Saw, in one quick glance, Mo with Einar in hand, trading knife blows with a tall, thin woman. I raised my knife, screamed hard, and charged.

  It was enough to momentarily distract the woman; rather surprisingly, Mo didn’t finish her off. She simply knocked the woman out and let her fall in a heap onto the floor.

  “You okay?” I stopped beside Mo and studied the unconscious woman. She was pale-skinned, with long black hair and human features. Only the slight point to her ears hinted at her darker ancestry.

  “Yeah, but the bitch is immune to magic so I had to do things the hard way. Go grab the silver rope out of the bottom of my wardrobe, will you?”

  I nodded and sheathed my knife as I walked across the room. The rope was made up of three slender silver chains woven around thin, high-tensile wire, which gave it strength while prohibiting any possibility of spell casting or shifting shape when bound by it. I’d never seen Mo use it before now, but that didn’t really mean anything, given she was centuries old … I shook my head, still unable to comprehend that fact, and walked back. Mo had dragged the woman onto one of the wooden chairs and bound her hands with some old cable ties.

  She accepted the rope with a grunt of thanks. “Go grab your daggers and take care of that pile of shit at the base of our stairs. I’ll bind this bitch and then go grab the blessed water.”

  I ran up to the next floor and discovered chaos. My room had been turned upside down—drawers were open, and my clothes and shoes scattered everywhere. Even the damn mattress had been torn from the base and slashed open. What the hell had they been searching for?

  It surely couldn’t be the crown. Luc had taken out the men who’d come to the cave, and they wouldn’t have had the time to get any more people back there. Even if they had, it’d still take hours to remove all that debris. So why— The thought stalled as I remembered the stuff I’d taken from Jackie’s. That had to be it—we had nothing else here that could interest Darkside. And given both halflings had still been here when we’d arrived, there was a good chance they hadn’t found the family tree or the book I’d shoved it in—but I’d nevertheless better check when I got back down there.

  I poured some holy water over the area that had been lashed by the whip, then changed into fresh clothes and searched through the mess to find Nex and Vita. By the time I’d ashed the man mountain and returned to the living area, Mo had stripped off the woman’s leather armor and bound her with the silver rope.

  I skirted them and went to the coffee table. The book remained; the papers I’d tucked inside had gone.

  I swore softly. Mo glanced around sharply. “What?”

  “The family tree I found at Jackie’s is gone. I don’t suppose you found it on her, did you?”

  “No.”

  “So either the man mountain had it, or there was a third person here.”

  “Given someone got them through our spells, I’d vote the second option. It does make me wonder how the hell they knew we had them.” She paused. “Did you tell Tris?”

  “No, but it’s possible he spotted them the night he snuck up here—we did sit on the sofa and share a drink.”

  “I can’t see how he could have picked out one old book with notes from all the others sitting there.”

  Neither could I. Especially when he wouldn’t have been able to see what little of the notes had been visible from where he’d been sitting. “I did tell Max about the list, but I didn’t mention where it was hidden—and I still won’t believe he’d betray us.”

  “He was willing to work with Tris to get the relevant information from the Okoro family bible, remember, so maybe Tris’s controller contacted him direct. Max rarely sees the bigger picture—he’s all about the immediate deal and what it can do for him.” She shrugged. “But let’s sort out one problem at a time.”

  She unscrewed the bottle of blessed water and poured it over the woman’s head. Her response was instant—her scream was a high, piercing, and inhuman sound that sent chills skittering down my spine.

  “That,” Mo said, casually placing the empty bottle on the table before reaching for another. “Was only quarter strength. You can expect increasing increments if you do not answer my questions.”

  The woman hissed and opened her eyes. They were a weird red-brown, and filled with hate and fury. “You’ll get nothing from me, witch.”

  “Oh, I think I will. You’re human enough to want life over death, halfling.” She poured the second bottle over the woman’s head.

  Another scream, and deeper anger. The woman’s pale skin gained a slightly pink sheen.

  “We’re both aware that even full-strength blessed water won’t actually kill you.” Mo’s voice remained conversational. “But it will erase the imprint of ash and darkness from your skin, and make it im
possible for you to ever return to the nest.”

  “There will be no return. We both know this also.”

  Mo raised an eyebrow. “Not necessarily. If you answer my questions, I will release you.”

  My gaze shot to Mo, but she didn’t acknowledge it. Her attention was wholly on the halfling.

  The woman’s laugh was sharp and disbelieving. “I am not so foolish as to trust the word of a witch.”

  “It is the truth, halfling.”

  “Those who live in light know not the meaning of that word.”

  “Those of us who are mages are bound by certain rules. If I swear that you will, indeed, leave this place alive, then I’m bound by the rules of my order and my gods to do so.”

  Something flickered in the woman’s red-brown eyes. Uncertainty, and perhaps even hope. “And do you so swear?”

  “Yes.”

  The uncertainty remained, but the woman nevertheless took a deep breath. “I am nothing but a menik. I do as I’m told, nothing more.”

  “Even foot soldiers such as yourself have those who they report to. I want a name.”

  “It will do you no good.”

  “Then you should have no fear of telling me, should you?”

  The woman contemplated Mo for several seconds. “Is this all you want?”

  “That, and where she resides. I also want the name of the person who let you into this place.”

  “And I can leave after I tell you this? You do not lie?”

  “You can go.”

  Cunning flickered through her eyes. She was going to give us information, all right, but it wasn’t likely to be the truth.

  “My control is Orika. She resides in Nottingham.”

  That raised my eyebrows. I doubted it was a coincidence that she mentioned the town where Tris was shot; I also doubted this Orika was actually her boss or even the shooter. It was more than likely to be the name of another halfling like her.

  “Address?”

  The woman gave it to us. “I do not know the name of the person who let us in. But he was a witch.”

  “What type of witch?”

  The woman shrugged. “You all emit the same stench. It is hard to tell.”

  “So he used a key to get in here?” I asked.

  “Key and then magic,” she replied. “I know not what kind.”

  “Can you describe him?” Mo said.

  “It would do no good. He was using a shield that altered his appearance.”

  The man Tris had met at McDonald’s had been using a similar shield, and I doubted it was a coincidence. Perhaps as well as receiving his orders from the stranger, Tris had given him a copy of our key. Just because I’d gotten one off him didn’t mean it was the only one he’d had.

  But how could he have woven exceptions into the magic protecting this place? Only a very strong witch who was familiar with Mo’s magic could have done something like that without leaving some sort of tell behind.

  Mo released the rope and then cut the cable ties. “You may leave the same way you entered, halfling.”

  The woman’s gaze darted between the two of us then she rose and fled—not out through Max’s broken window, but rather down the stairs and out the front door.

  I quickly sent Luc the information we’d gleaned from the menik, then scurried after Mo as she snapped a quick “Come along” at me and strode toward the stairs.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Following her, of course.” Mo looked over her shoulder. “You didn’t actually think I was releasing a dark spawn, did you?”

  “I figured you had some sort of plan, but she’s stripped down to her underclothes and immune to magic—where the hell did you hide the tracker?”

  “I didn’t. I called Ginny for help. She does this sort of thing for a living. Might as well make use of her.”

  “Did you tell her it could be dangerous?”

  “Indeed. That only made her doubly eager to help. She should be waiting for us out the front.”

  Ginny’s racy-red Audi sat across the road in our parking area. She climbed out of the driver side as we ran across and handed me the keys. “Be gentle with her, or I will get cross.”

  I grinned. To say Ginny loved her car was something of an understatement. “I promise not to mash the gears more than once or twice.”

  She patted the car’s hood lightly. “It’s okay, baby, we’ll get through this together.”

  “Ladies, we need to move.” Mo pushed the passenger seat forward and climbed into the back. It was a tight fit for someone of her height.

  “We won’t lose her—I got a good feel for her when she left the building. And can I just say, I’ve never seen anyone whose radiating energy is such a weird, murky gray.”

  I shoved the seat belt on and started the car. The soft rumble of the engine filled the air, and anticipation shot through me. I might thoroughly love my Mini, but it was a rare treat to be driving the Audi.

  “That’s because she’s a halfling,” I said. “Which way?”

  “She’s moving east but still on foot at this point.” Ginny glanced at me. “What the hell is a halfling?”

  “You know all those bedtime stories your mom used to tell you about demons coming to steal you from your bed?”

  Ginny shuddered. “I used to have damn nightmares. Not entirely sure what Mom’s point was, other than to have me too afraid to get out of bed during the night.”

  “That,” Mo said, amusement evident, “was entirely the point.”

  “Well, it worked. Left here. She’s at the end.” Ginny paused. “Look’s like she just picked up transport.”

  “Which car? There’re three up ahead.”

  “Green one. And she can’t be a demon—she’s out in the middle of the day.”

  “She’s a half-demon,” Mo said. “Born of a stolen human and dark elf father.”

  Ginny swung around, her expression one of horror as she stared at Mo for several seconds. “Seriously?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Well, fuck, I’ll be locking my windows from here on in.”

  “They don’t come after witches,” Mo said. “Not strong, opinionated ones, anyway.”

  “That does not comfort me in the least.”

  We were soon out of the old town and motoring toward Clifton. I glanced at Mo through the rearview mirror. “Where do you think she’s going?”

  “Back to base.”

  I frowned. “How is that going to help us? Other than revealing another dark gate?”

  “She won’t be heading to a dark gate. Not when she still reeks of holy water.” She shrugged. “She’s a menik—”

  “Which is?” Ginny cut in.

  “A foot soldier. They have little free will and are trained to return to their temporary base and report if a mission goes sour. Given the number of halflings that have been in play, we’ve obviously got a clutch of them somewhere near Ainslyn.”

  “Wouldn’t them all hanging out together be dangerous? They’re not exactly human identical.” And the man mountain I’d killed would certainly have been hard to miss.

  “They’ll be somewhere out of general sight, probably in an abandoned house surrounded by trees and with few neighbors.” She paused. “I would also think that there are ‘human identical’ halflings living unnoticed within various communities.”

  “Not witch communities,” I said. “Their stink would give the game away.”

  “Not necessarily. The one who almost brought down Uhtric’s reign certainly didn’t smell like a demon.”

  “Do you think the woman Tris met is a halfling?” Ginny asked.

  “I’d say it’s highly likely,” Mo said. “I’d truly love to know what he received in exchange for that woman in the hecatomb.”

  “A whole damn lot has happened since we last talked, hasn’t it?” Ginny said, exasperation in her voice. “What the hell is a hecatomb?”

  I explained, and her face went white. “I didn’t know such things even exi
sted.”

  “They used to be everywhere before Uhtric locked Hell’s Gill down,” Mo said. “Unfortunately, it could happen again if the wrong person claims the sword.”

  “Next right,” Ginny said. “And wasn’t the sword created to combat darkness?”

  “Yes and no. It was designed to combine and draw on the power of all four elements, thereby creating a weapon Darkside had no answer to.”

  “So that’s why they’re running around killing people—they’re trying to prevent anyone raising the sword against them?”

  “I think what’s happening is far darker than that. I think we’ve got an heir who’s been seduced by Darkside running around killing rival heirs so that he might claim the power for himself and his dark masters.”

  Ginny sucked in a breath. “Surely no one would be that foolish. Not in this day and age.”

  “Power has always been a dangerous lure for the weak willed,” Mo said.

  I glanced at Mo through the rearview mirror. “Do you think this woman will lead us to the one Tris met?”

  “Maybe, though she’s further up the chain of command and unlikely to be stationed at the menik’s base.”

  “What about the name she gave us? Do you think that has any value?”

  “It’s likely to be someone involved on a peripheral level. She wouldn’t be foolish enough to attempt a total lie—she’d be wary of me sensing it.”

  “Just as well I passed the info on to Luc, then. At least he can get someone to check the address straight away.”

  We drove out of the old town toward Clifton Springs. Ginny directed me through a number of smaller streets and we eventually found ourselves in a tree-lined lane.

  “She’s stopped at that chapel down the far end, by the look of it,” Ginny said.

  I pulled over to the side of the road. “Isn’t a chapel a rather odd place for half-blood demons to be hiding out?”

  “It would have been deconsecrated when it was decommissioned,” Mo said. “So whatever protections the religious blessing gave it no longer apply.”

  “Whatever blessings?” Ginny said. “I thought it was an undisputed fact that no demon could step across holy ground?”