by Linsey Hall
I sprinted out of the house, determined to catch that bastard Declan. He had a lead on me, but he wouldn’t keep it.
Thankfully, the dock didn't give me any trouble as I ran for the shore. I made my way toward the main collection of houseboats, then cut toward land. It was still quiet out on the water—too early for most—and I made it onto solid ground without seeing a single soul.
The first road leading up the mountains was narrow but paved, lined on either side with beautiful houses made of metal and glass. Magic vibrated from them, indicating supernatural residents, but it was hard to say what species.
I’d nearly reached the more rural forest path when a dark spot in the sky caught my attention. I looked up, breath heaving, and squinted into the darkness. A faint glow had started coming from the horizon, and the rising sun gleamed off of silver wingtips.
Declan.
He was flying up the mountain.
Fast bastard.
But no. I squinted harder. That wasn’t just him.
The dark blob in the sky was way too big.
A moment later, with the sun just slightly closer to the horizon, I was able to make out the figure in the sky. It was Declan, wrestling with a huge dark shadow. It looked kind of like a bird, with claws and a beak protruding from a shadowy form. The creature was twice as big as him.
Another shadow bird hurtled from the left, approaching them. Lightning pierced the sky as thunder cracked, hitting the shadowy form. It was a shriek of joy rather than pain, and the creature flew faster.
Declan was too busy fighting the closest monster to notice, his silver sword flashing in the sky. He landed a blow to the creature’s chest, and it hissed as black smoke poofed up from the wound.
Black magic.
A guard spell just like the giant squid, no doubt intended to protect the sky route. I grinned as I sprinted faster, determined to make up for lost time. These black magic bird-like creatures were the first good thing to happen today, and I wouldn’t waste the advantage.
As Declan fought in the sky, I sprinted up the forest path. I couldn’t help but peek upward every few seconds, keeping track of the battle.
Declan was fast and fierce, a vicious fighter who moved with a skill and grace that rivaled even mine. He dodged the claws and beaks while swiftly striking out with his blade.
But there were too many of them. Five of them were driving him toward the ground. I caught sight of his face, illuminated in the light of the rising sun, at the exact moment he looked at me.
He grinned.
The bastard grinned!
Annoyance pushed me faster up the mountain. The path had become rough dirt, narrow and twisty as it wound upward through the brush.
A half second later, Declan landed about twenty yards in front of me. He had a few bloody wounds—one seeping blood from his upper arm and another at his neck—but it didn't slow him down.
“Nice to see you catching up,” he said.
Then he turned and raced up the mountain.
I pushed myself harder, managing not to pant as I shouted, “I think you should keep flying.”
“Didn’t work like I’d hoped.”
I could hear the smile in his voice.
The birds left him alone once he was on the ground. As I’d thought, they were sky guardians, meant to block the quicker, safer path toward the pool at the top.
I sprinter faster, using my unnatural speed, and was nearly to him when I spotted a nice big rock.
I grinned and swooped down to grab it, then hurled it at his back. I could have aimed for the head, but I’d heard a story once about how there was a spot there that would kill you instantly if it was hit.
As much as I wanted to beat him, I didn’t want to kill him. He annoyed me, but that wasn’t really a killing crime. I might want it to be, but it wasn’t.
My rock hurtled through the air and slammed into his back. He went down hard, and I leapt over him, shouting, “See you later!”
Actually, this was pretty fun.
And if I wasn’t wrong, I heard him chuckle.
What the hell?
I turned back to see him grinning as he stood.
Insane.
The dude was insane.
Maybe as nuts as me.
I picked up the pace, spotting a divergence in the path up ahead. It split into two, each path looking nearly identical as it snaked up the mountain. Prickly bushes separated them. The one on the left looked maybe a little better, so I took that one, racing upward.
I glanced back to see Declan already on his feet. He chose the path on the right.
Shit. Did he know something I didn’t?
No time for regret.
I pushed myself harder, sprinting as fast as I could. I was about twice the speed of a normal person, my blood able to deliver the oxygen and energy needed for such speed. Declan was fast, too. Maybe it was his angel powers. I had no idea.
“You’re not a normal Blood Sorceress,” he shouted. “Even with a spell, you’re way too fast.”
“I’m not a normal anything, buddy.” I grinned. “I’m freaking fantastic.”
He laughed.
I was still ahead, but barely.
When the first boulder began to roll toward me, I glared at it. Damn it.
I timed it perfectly, leaping over the huge rock as it threatened to crush me.
Next to me, Declan jumped his own boulder.
There was no time to watch him, though, not with more boulders headed my way. They bounced down the mountain, crushing plants and leaving pits in the dirt.
Soon, they were coming so fast I was jumping every ten feet. It was like the hurdles of death, an Olympic sport that I would actually watch. I was sweating and out of breath by the time the boulders stopped coming. I’d nearly been flattened a few times, and Declan was in the lead.
He was approaching a section of the path lined by tall skinny pine trees, and I swore I could feel magic spark in the air. When the first tree limb reached out to smack him, I grinned.
But only for a second.
Because there were pine trees by my path, too.
As soon as I neared them, they struck like whips. I ducked and dived, trying to avoid them in this living video game from hell. It was a race against Declan with obstacles that could behead me.
Pretty fun, actually.
Call me crazy, but I liked a good adventure. And a guy who could keep up with me.
Until one of the tree limbs swiped me across the cheek. Pain flared and blood dripped. I smacked a hand to my cheek and scowled, ducking beneath another as it threatened to take my head off.
Cuts to the face were difficult, because I didn’t want anyone knowing about my white blood. My ghost suit was enchanted so any of my blood that landed on it turned red, but I didn’t have that luxury with my face.
As I ran, I used the blood on my face to do a bit of healing magic, envisioning the cut closing. The pain faded.
By the time I got past the worst of the trees, Declan and I were neck and neck. Our paths were only about twenty feet apart, and I could see a swipe of blood across his cheek.
The race was too close. Up ahead, I spotted the tunnel that Marie had mentioned. But at this rate, there was no way I would beat him.
My gaze snagged on the small copse of trees ahead of Declan. Most of them were between him and me, and if I could just get them to all blow over at once…
Declan wasn’t looking at me, so I acted immediately, slicing my fingertip with my thumbnail. I raised my hand to my mouth so my bleeding fingertip was right in front of my lips, and I blew, envisioning wind.
Just a little bit. One gust. Not permanent magic or anything.
As if a hurricane had burst from my lungs, the wind whipped toward Declan. I jerked my hand down just as the trees bowled over in front of him. He skidded to a stop, staring at the mountain of trees that was piled right in his way.
He wouldn’t pause long, that was for sure. I sprinted ahead, almost immediately r
egretting my actions.
Sure, it’d gotten me the lead and he hadn’t seen me.
But I was supposed to be more sparing with this magic.
I shook away the regret and sprinted forward, feeling the burn in my lungs and my muscles. The tunnel was just ahead, a gaping black mouth in the middle of the soaring cliff face.
Right before I reached it, I glanced back at Declan. He was just now leaping off the giant pile of trees, his gaze glued to me.
I hurtled into the darkness of the tunnel, grinning. I’d only gone about ten yards in when magic sparked on the air. It prickled against my skin like bee stings.
“Oh, crap!”
Protective magic. And in a tunnel like this, all kinds of Indiana Jones shit could go down. I was still a good hundred yards from the exit, which glowed in the distance with a faint white light.
When the rumbling started, my skin chilled. I froze, searching the interior of the tunnel. By the time I finally looked up, the ceiling of the tunnel was nearly to my head.
I flung my hands upward, bracing them against the ceiling that was slowly grinding down upon me. The whole top of the tunnel was lowering, and I had a damned strong feeling that it wouldn’t quit until I was a pancake in the dirt.
Sweat broke out on my brow as I strained to keep the roof in position. I was crouched down to about seventy-five percent of my normal height, and the thing seemed to have stopped moving. My muscles burned, but I was strong enough to keep it up.
“Having a bit of trouble there?” Declan’s voice echoed down the tunnel.
“Crap. You already?”
“You know you’re glad to see me.”
“Fortunately, I’m facing the other direction.” Also fortunate, the tunnel was narrow enough that he couldn’t sneak around me while I held up the ceiling.
I tried inching forward while holding up the tunnel roof. It’d be slow going, but maybe I could beat him there, if only by an inch.
I managed it, but the tunnel roof squeaked down another fraction of an inch. Every step forward meant that the roof lowered, and there was no way I’d make it all the way to the end. At best, I could get back out to the entrance, but that would do me no good.
Shit.
“I think you know what this means, right?” Declan asked.
I nearly groaned. “You’re going to try to squeeze past me? Because I’m warning you, it’s tight in here, and there’s no way I’m letting you by.”
“I wouldn’t object to sharing some tight spaces with you.”
I whipped my head around to look at him. From the tiny half smile on his face, he meant that in the way it sounded.
Dirty.
“But now isn’t the time,” he said. “The only way to get out of this is teamwork.”
“Ugh.” But since my muscles ached more with every second… “Fine, what’s your plan?”
“I’ll hold this up while you run through. On the other end, you hold it up for me.”
“You trust me not to ditch you.” You shouldn’t. But I was smart enough to keep that bit to myself.
“Yeah.”
Right. I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
“Give me your word, first.”
My word was only good when given to Mari. And maybe to a few of my friends, who were relatively new additions to my life. But with this guy? Nah.
“Sure, you’ve got my word.” I glanced back to see if he believed me, but it was impossible to read his expression.
He reached up to support the roof, though.
I grinned. “Thanks.”
“Thank me by keeping your end of the bargain.”
I nodded and lowered my hands, bracing myself. The roof didn’t lower. I turned and raced away, crouched low to avoid hitting my head. The light at the end of the tunnel grew nearer, and my heart beat faster.
I was so going to ditch his ass.
I raced out into the sunlight.
“Hey!” Declan shouted.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
Shit.
I turned back to him, debating. For most of my life, breaking my word had been easy. Mari and I looked out for each other and each other only. But now…
It was harder.
Maybe it was age. Maybe I liked him.
I scowled, stomping back toward the tunnel, pissed as hell with myself but unable to stop. I crouched down and braced my hands against the stone overhead. “All right, come on!”
He gave me one long look—I couldn’t see his face from this distance, but damn, I could feel it—then he ran.
Fast.
Like a freaking bullet.
Probably didn’t want me to drop the roof on him when he was only halfway across. He’d be squished before he could work his way out.
Just because I was trying to be a decent person didn’t mean I had to play completely fair. Once he was about ten feet from the exit, I let go of the roof.
He stopped dead, propping his hands on the ceiling to stop if from descending.
“What the hell?” he growled.
“You can get out. It’ll be a bit slow, but you’ll make it to the end. It’s not far.”
His scowl deepened, and damned if he didn’t look good like that. He started forward, slowly inching along as he held up the ceiling. Every time he shifted his hands along the rock, it dropped another inch. He was nearly to the end though.
I grinned at him. “Eat my dust.”
I turned and ran, leaving him to get himself the rest of the way out.
The other side of the tunnel was a massive forest. The trees were huge—like great redwoods or something, towering hundreds of feet in the sky. Morning sunlight filtered through the leaves, falling in dappled rays over the forest floor. It would be beautiful if not for the creepy feeling in the air.
I followed the slope upward, alert for anything out of the ordinary.
At first, there was nothing.
By the time the black cloud darted out from behind a tree and surged toward me, it was almost too late. The thing was about a foot taller than me and twice as wide, a creature surrounded by a haze of black smoke. A lot like the birds that had attacked Declan, but no wings.
The monster was nearly to me when I dived left, skidding on the dead leaves as I barely avoided a swipe of the monster’s claws.
Panting, I scrambled upright and turned to face my prey, drawing my mace from the ether as I did so. I hefted the comforting weight as I studied my opponent.
Definitely some kind of smoke demon, with razor-sharp claws of obsidian and fangs that gleamed a bright silver against its hazy form. Another one crept out from behind the trees to my left, and my hair stood on end.
There had to be more of them.
But how many?
No time to wonder. Instead, I swung my mace, getting ready for a big hit, and charged.
The smoke monster came right for me, claws raised. I swung my mace, using so much strength that it tore off the beast’s arm. Black blood burst from the wound, and it hissed, slicing out with the other arm. I ducked, narrowly avoiding the silver claws that would have taken a piece out of my cheek.
I whirled to face him again, but he disappeared in a poof of smoke.
Crap.
He wasn’t gone for good.
Instinct had me spinning once more, my mace whirling. He’d already appeared behind me. He swiped out with his claws, narrowly missing my neck. I lunged backward, gaining some distance.
He disappeared again.
Behind me.
I spun around, gripping the mace chain with both hands and swinging it in a wide arc. The steel slammed into the demon’s middle, and its fiery red eyes widened as it looked at me.
I waved. “Bye-bye.”
The creature’s entire abdomen was crushed, half the flesh missing and blood spurting. With the life sucked away, the smoke faded, leaving behind a skinny body the color of ash.
I could probably use the blood in some potions,
but there was no time. I spun around, searching for the second demon.
Instead, I found three.
They approached as a pack, a leader in the front. Three sets of blazing red eyes stared at me as they raised their claws.
Part of me wished I hadn’t trapped Declan back there, but it was such a tiny part it was barely audible. I could get myself out of this.
I charged. Fast as smoke, they disappeared. A moment later, they surrounded me.
I lunged right, swinging my mace. The smoke demon disappeared.
I sensed a figure coming from my right more than I saw it, and I swung my arm toward it, my mace an extension of myself. The steel ball slammed into the smoke monster’s head, and it collapsed.
I spun again, finding one right behind me, so close that its claws made contact with my arm. Pain flared, blood dripping, and I stumbled away. I was quick on my feet, though, lunging back toward him as I raised my mace and slammed it against his head.
The third demon was standing close enough that I got lucky. I swung my mace and took him down, using a two-handed swing to cut him right through the middle. It took a hell of a lot of strength, but these guys were skinny enough that it was possible.
“There’s more.” Declan’s voice cut through the sound of my heaving breaths.
I almost groaned at the sound—I’d lost my lead—but I spotted the demons he was talking about.
A dozen of them, all surrounding us. They disappeared and reappeared at will, clearly trying to psych us out.
Ha.
As if that would work.
Declan drew his blade from the ether, his gaze serious as he scanned the group.
I edged toward him. “How do you feel about a bit more teamwork?”
“I think it’s the only way we’ll survive.”
8
I moved toward Declan, lining myself up so we stood with our backs to each other. I stashed my mace in the ether and drew a sword. Back to back combat was best with swords, considering that the backswing on my mace could kill Declan.
That would be poor form. Poor form indeed.
The demons flashed in and out of the space around us, getting closer and closer.
I lunged toward one of them, slicing my blade toward its neck. The steel cut through the monster like it was made of butter, and the head toppled to the ground. The body followed.
