Trick of Shadows (The Duskhunter Saga Book 2)

by Sara C. Roethle

  Before long we heard a fourth voice, though I hadn’t noticed any footsteps.

  I peered around the corner. I didn’t dare go close enough to look inside the room, but the smell let me know who had arrived. I smelled rich, turned earth, and a prickling sensation danced up and down my skin. The new addition was a vampire. That’s why we hadn’t heard any footsteps.

  If he was here for the girl, we could wait no longer.

  I nodded to Steifan in the near darkness, then drew my blade and started forward, leaving our lantern where I had set it. It would be out of oil soon regardless.

  I listened for my sword’s warning as I tiptoed toward the doorway, but none came. They hadn’t noticed us yet, so they didn’t mean us harm.

  That would soon change.

  I stepped into the open doorway, not bothering to sneak in as the vampire would hear me coming long before he spotted me.

  He was the first one to turn toward me. He must have only been sixteen when he died, but he was so old his presence felt heavy in my mind. These stupid men were working with an ancient, one who had amassed much coin judging by his fine brocade tunic and velvet pants. Black boots encased his legs up to his knees.

  Beyond him were two men I didn’t recognize, but judging by their soft bellies and oiled beards, they were middle-aged nobility. They were both near the girl’s new cage, one on either side, about to open it.

  She trembled in the corner, her face obscured by long, strawberry-blonde hair.

  I held my sword at the ready. “You may as well finish opening that cage. I’ll be taking her with me.”

  The vampire’s dark eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement, or maybe it was just the torchlight. He flicked a strand of chin length brown hair away from his soft-featured face. “Where is your master, girl? Why has he let you so far off your leash?”

  “I needed enough length in my cord to use it to strangle you,” I snarled. I stepped further into the room. “Take care of the men,” I said to Steifan. “The monster is mine.”

  “So bold,” the vampire said as Steifan moved past my back with his sword drawn. Neither of the men had visible weapons, so he should be fine.

  “Where are the other missing people?” I asked the vampire.

  The vampire splayed his hands. “I do not require the death of my food. If you cannot find them, it has nothing to do with me.”

  I edged closer. If I could catch him off guard, I might be able to remove his head before he could attack. If Markus was capable of slaying ancients, then so was I. “You’re paying these men to bring you victims so you can live unnoticed within the city. I can hardly believe you would let them go.”

  “Some I keep, some become my servants, but others have disappeared. If you could help me find them, I’d be most grateful.” He smiled at his own jest. He obviously hadn’t realized that Steifan and I were both hunters, and I would use that to my advantage.

  I stepped closer. The men behind me were muttering to Steifan that none of this was their fault. That they were just doing the vampire’s will so he wouldn’t kill them.

  “Too many have gone missing for just your needs,” I said to the vampire. “How many others are involved?”

  “That is a question you should ask our friends.” He lifted one hand toward the men behind me. “It is none of my concern.”

  So it wasn’t just him involved, and it probably wasn’t just these two men. I could kill them all, and the operation might continue.

  I tightened my grip on my sword. At least it would be a start.

  I launched myself at the vampire, swinging my sword through the air. He evaded me, just barely, and my sword came to life, singing through my mind.

  The vampire grabbed for me, and I whirled away, slashing at his belly as I went, but missing again.

  “You do not fight like a mercenary,” he said, dodging another strike.

  Our movements had put me in the corner, with the vampire’s back to Steifan and the two men. Steifan had his sword aimed one-handed at the men while he tried to open the girl’s cage with the other.

  The vampire grabbed for me again, regaining my full attention. “You don’t fight like a soldier either. You are something else.”

  I slashed at him again. He now knew my skills, I may as well tell him. “I am a hunter of the Helius Order, and I have come here for your head.”

  My hood fell back as I evaded his next lunge. My braid whipped out, following my movements.

  “Such red hair,” he said, taking a step back. “I have heard of a red-haired hunter being servant to another of my status. To what master do you belong?”

  I slashed toward his belly again, and he hopped back. It was more difficult to get close when he wasn’t attacking me. All he had to do was stay out of reach. “What does it matter?” I growled.

  He took another step back, placing himself near the doorway. “I would not kill the servant of another ancient, lest I bring the rest down upon me. I know our laws.”

  Curse it all, he was about to run. The Seeing Sword echoed through my mind, urging me to throw it. I obeyed before I could even register the vampire’s movements. If I was wrong, and he still intended to attack, he could easily end me.

  My sword sailed true, landing with a meaty thunk in the middle of his back. He had been turning to run. It was a good thing. I hated to be wrong.

  Not sparing a glance for Steifan and the others, I hurried toward the vampire, withdrew my sword, and took his head.

  Blood splattered across my cheeks. I lifted my sword, then turned toward the men. Steifan had managed to get the cage open, but the girl was still in it. She appeared to have fainted.

  I took a slow step toward the men, depending on my bloody sword and splattered clothing to scare them. Scared men would tell a multitude of secrets.

  “Who are you working for?” I asked. “How many others are there?”

  Both men lifted their hands, pressing their backs against the wall. “It wasn’t our fault. The vampire bespelled us. We had to do what he wanted.”

  I neared the men, then extended my bloody sword, poking at the fat coin pouch on one man’s belt. “If he bespelled you. Why did he feel the need to pay you?”

  The man’s eyes bulged.

  I shifted my sword beneath his belt, pointing the tip at his groin. “If I were you, I would not lie again.”

  He gasped, plastering himself against the wall. “Please, I’ll tell you everything. I’m not the man in charge. I’ll give you the man in charge.”

  I smiled. “Now that’s more like it.”

  I lowered my sword a fraction, then my smile faded. I sensed something else down here, something near. My thoughts went muddy and I nearly dropped my sword as the glamour closed in around my mind like an iron trap.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I pushed against the magic cloud in my mind, maintaining my tenuous grasp on reality. Steifan’s blank expression let me know Ryllae’s ointment wasn’t strong enough to withstand Egar’s magic. The two men we had been questioning stared off at nothing, and the girl was still unconscious. I was on my own.

  I sensed Egar as he entered the room. I chanted the ancient words Ryllae had taught me in my head, and visualized myself pulling free of Egar’s glamour. I was able to take two steps, turning around to face him, but that was it.

  He lifted his blue eyes from the vampire’s corpse to observe me. “I see you have learned a new trick. Does this mean you have located the one I hunt?”

  The force of his magic lessened, allowing me to speak. “Even if I had, I would not give you what you want. How did you find me down here?”

  The corner of his mouth ticked up. “These canals begin in the highlands, bringing water down throughout the entire city. I kept sensing fresh blood beneath my feet, and eventually I found an entrance. It is so easy to find a meal when your prey is already locked up in a cage.”

  I remembered the ancient saying some of his victims had disappeared. “This was your clue on how to solve my
murder. This was what you refused to tell me. How long have you been stealing the vampire’s victims?”

  He shrugged, stepping around the vampire’s corpse to approach me. “Not long. Weak mortals are not my preferred prey, but the vampires will eat anything.”

  I thought he would come to stand before me, but instead he stepped around me. I was able to shuffle my feet enough to follow him with my eyes. He stood before one of the men, looking him up and down.

  Faster than I could follow, he shoved his hand through the man’s chest, then ripped out his still-beating heart, cradling it in fingers turned to claws. The man slumped to the ground, dead. He never even screamed.

  My heart pounded in my head as I willed myself to move. I chanted Ryllae’s words and imagined myself drawing my sword. At the thought of my sword, I finally sensed its presence.

  Egar tossed the heart onto the ground, then stepped toward the second man.

  “No!” I gasped, but I still couldn’t move.

  Cast away your fear, a voice said in my mind.

  At first I thought I had imagined it, but then it spoke again. Your fear feeds the creature’s magic. Cast it aside.

  I closed my eyes, trying to push away my fear, then a wet sound hit my ears. I opened my eyes to find Egar had killed the second man the same way as the first. He stepped toward Steifan, watching me with a cruel smile. “I think you will tell me what I want to know now.” He extended one clawed, bloody hand toward Steifan’s chest.

  I chanted Ryllae’s words over and over again in my head, but beneath them were my own words, or maybe they came from the Seeing Sword. I am not afraid.

  The words melded in my mind, the ancient words giving strength to the new, which were no less powerful.

  Slowly, I reached one trembling hand to my sword. The moment my fingers closed around the hilt, it gave me strength. I drew it, facing the Nattmara. “Touch him and you die.”

  Egar laughed, stepping away from Steifan. “Do you truly believe you have the strength of will to best me? I have proven time and again that I can crush your mind with a single thought.”

  My confidence wavered, and fear came crashing through. My grip loosened on my sword hilt.

  “I am not afraid,” I spoke out loud, echoing my sword’s voice in my mind.

  My words wiped the grin from Egar’s face. “You will bring me to the Sidhe. She cannot hide forever.”

  So he knew what Ryllae was. I tightened my grip on my sword and took a step toward him. “She will not have to hide once you are dead.”

  Egar licked lips thinner than they were just a moment before. His face elongated, making room for rows of pin-sharp teeth. He clicked his long claws together, then charged at me.

  My lingering fear fell away as long-honed battle instinct kicked in. All that I knew were his movements and mine. I swung my sword, slashing across his belly.

  He reared away with an unearthly shriek, clutching at the deep gash.

  I advanced, sword at the ready.

  He staggered away from me, his chest heaving, clawed hands gripping at his wound. His words came out warped by long teeth, “Once I find the Sidhe, I will come for you.”

  He stumbled toward the doorway.

  I charged after him, but his glamour hit me like a war horse, making my mind go momentarily black. When I recovered my senses, he was gone.

  Trembling, I turned to Steifan.

  He blinked a few times, looked down at the two dead men, then back to me. “What in the Light just happened, Lyss?”

  I fell to my knees, maintaining my grip on my sword. Without its help, I would have been dead. “The Nattmara. We cannot let him find Ryllae. If he drinks her blood, he will kill us all.”

  Sensing another presence, I looked back to the doorway to find Asher standing there. “Took you long enough,” I muttered, feeling like I might be sick.

  He stepped into the room, taking in the scene. He was the only one of us not covered in blood. Steifan had the worst of it. He’d been standing close to the two men when they were killed.

  Asher offered me a hand up. “What happened here?”

  I ignored his hand and stood on my own. “We figured out what has been happening to the missing people. They are being sold to vampires for blood. We followed the two men bringing the girl down here, then the Nattmara came.”

  Asher looked me over, lingering on the blood staining my shirt and cloak. “And the dead vampire? He was here to buy the girl?”

  I nodded, then frowned, remembering the vampire’s words. “He said he had heard of me, and that he couldn’t kill me because I belong to another ancient. He tried to run.”

  Asher’s expression gave nothing away. “He surrendered, and you killed him as he fled.”

  If he wanted an apology, he wasn’t going to get one from me. “He was buying this girl. He would have kept her like a slave.”

  “I did not ask for justification.”

  I sighed, feeling like my knees were about to give out. I had just faced the Nattmara, and here we were discussing a vampire’s death. “You may not have asked for justification, but you wanted me to know that you disapproved. Well, I know it, and I stand by what I did.”

  Asher lowered his chin, draping his white hair across his high cheekbones. “I would expect no less from you.”

  There were one-hundred different ways to interpret his words, so I didn’t try. I turned to Steifan as he retrieved his fallen sword and sheathed it. “Can you carry the girl? I want to get out of here before Egar decides to come back.”

  Steifan nodded, then knelt by the cage, gently pulling the unconscious girl into his arms.

  I was ready to go, but Asher was still looking at the two dead men.

  “Hungry?” I asked, then instantly regretted it. I had used all of my energy breaking the Nattmara’s glamour. I was getting cranky.

  “The Nattmara killed them where they stood,” he observed, ignoring my foulness. “They did not struggle.” He looked to me. “His glamour is this strong, and you managed to break it?”

  Suddenly I was uncomfortable. In truth, I was just as surprised as he. “My sword helped,” I muttered.

  He observed me closely, probably wondering if I was joking, though he knew the sword was sentient. Whatever conclusion he reached, he did not question me further. “I found another entrance near the old keep. Perhaps we should go that way.”

  “Lead on.” I gestured toward the doorway with my bloody sword. For some reason, I didn’t feel quite ready to put it away.

  I followed behind Asher, and Steifan behind me. We found our lantern with just enough oil to see us out. The girl never woke as we walked, and I hoped she would not until morning. I didn’t want her to wake screaming in the night. Better to wake when she could see her surroundings and know that she was safe.

  We would take her back to where she belonged, and she would be safe. It was more than I could say for the rest of us.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The entrance Asher had found let out just south of the old keep. It was another old cellar, like the one behind the guild hall. As we climbed out into the moonlight, I wondered if there was another entrance near where we had found Jeramy’s body.

  With Steifan still carrying the unconscious girl, we searched for a private area in the keep. We would need to watch her until she woke. Unfortunately, dawn was still well off. I was hungry and cold, more cold than the weather permitted. It was like pushing Egar out of my mind had taken the very warmth from my veins.

  Asher found a small alcove, protected on three sides by ruined walls still tall enough to conceal us.

  I helped Steifan remove his cloak, then spread it on the ground for him to set the girl upon it. We tugged the edges of the cloak around her, leaving her to rest.

  Asher watched us silently.

  I glanced at him as I stood. “I appreciate you escorting us out of the canals, but there is no reason for you to stay here any longer.”

  He didn’t move. He just stood there li
ke a tall, brooding statue. “We need to speak about the ancient you killed, and the Nattmara.”

  Steifan looked back and forth between the two of us. “I think I’ll go see if I can find a bit of wood for a fire.” He retreated from the alcove, though he probably wanted sleep even worse than I did.

  I bundled my cloak around me, suppressing a shiver. My sword had remained silent at my back after it helped me with the Nattmara. “What else is there to talk about?”

  Asher stepped close, looming over me. “You are my servant, and you killed an ancient.”

  I hiked one shoulder in a small half shrug. “Three other ancients were killed the night Karpov died, why is this one any different?”

  Ire flickered through his silver eyes, making me suddenly nervous. “Those who had joined Karpov had turned against us. The vampire you killed tonight tried to leave you in peace. He respected our laws.”

  Anger prickled my skin. “He was trying to buy that girl.” I gestured to the small, cloak-wrapped bundle behind me. “And he had bought others. If I left him alive, more would have been kidnapped. I can only hope his death will set an example for the other vampires in the city.”

  Asher lifted his chin. “My kind must feed, Lyssandra, it is what we are. Many are not strong enough to bespell victims and not take too much blood.”

  I stepped closer, my indignance making me bold. “If vampires kill, I hunt them. That is what I am.”

  “I am well aware, but your self-righteous attitude has furthered Karpov’s plan. One ancient was already killed several nights ago. And now another has perished. Soon there will be too few of us to control the young ones.”

  My back hunched. He was right, I had helped Karpov from beyond the grave. But it could have been no other way. The kidnappings had to stop.

  Asher watched me. “Your expression hints that you have seen reason, though experience tells me that cannot be the case.”

  I rubbed my eyes, slowly shaking my head. “I do see the reason behind your words, but you cannot ask me to forsake my oaths. I am sworn to protect innocents.”