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Taylor wanted me dead, and to do that he had to get me up into the umbra. He had no idea how skilled or not I was at astral traveling, so he was using the fog not only to disguise his movements, but to hide which level we were on.
I swished my sword back and forth. The fog boiled away from her flames, and I caught a glimpse of Taylor moving to my left. I imagined standing behind him, unseen, unheard. Moved in an instant, and swept Amaya left to right. Made contact, though where or what I hit I couldn’t say. It could have been Taylor; it could have been his staff. He made no sound to give me any indication either way.
Yet the smell of blood suddenly seemed to permeate the air.
His or mine?
And how was something like that even possible, given that Azriel had said a soul could be killed only in the umbra?
Killed, yes, a voice inside me whispered—a voice that sounded suspiciously like Azriel’s—but remember Adeline’s warning. What happens to you on the plane can become reality if the illusion is powerful enough.
Taylor’s illusion was certainly powerful enough.
To repeat a favorite phrase, fuck, fuck, fuck!
Which meant it really was time to stop playing the game his way. I needed to start moving up the levels, but I doubted he’d follow easily. He wanted to play, and I very much suspected he’d want me far weaker—bloodied and bleeding and on the edge of exhaustion—before he stepped onto the umbra and attempted to finish me off.
I had to convince him that I’d reached that state—that I was scared and on the run—long before I actually reached that point. And that meant I had to take far more blows than I already had.
Not something I really wanted to do, but I had little choice.
I gripped Amaya a bit tighter. Her hissing ramped up a couple of notches, an echo of the tension that gripped me. I swung her back and forth and watched the recoiling fog, trying to catch another glimpse of Taylor. For several heartbeats there was nothing; then air caressed my skin.
Once again, the bastard was behind me.
I waited until the last possible moment—until my nerves were a mess and the need to move so fierce it felt like every piece of me quivered—then twisted around and lashed out with Amaya.
She hit something solid and screamed in pain. I jumped back, releasing her from the ash, and heard the whip of air coming in from the right. I bit my lip, and once again waited until the very last moment to jump out of the way.
Something thin and leather-like snapped across my spine and bit deep. A scream was torn from me and blood flowed, on the field and no doubt in real life.
And while the wounds might be nothing more than a product of imagination and Taylor’s will—here on the astral plane, at least—they damn well felt real.
But I couldn’t do much about any of the wounds that were appearing on my flesh, either here or in reality, simply because I needed to make Taylor believe I was scared enough to run. No hard task, as it was becoming the truth.
But I wasn’t hurt enough yet. Taylor had nicknamed me huntress, and he wasn’t likely to believe I’d be panicked into running so quickly. I had to take at least one more serious hit.
I watched the fog roll away from Amaya’s point, feeling the backwash that was the plane reacting to Taylor’s movements, but not actually reacting to them myself. The coward was coming in from behind again. My skin crawled as he drew closer and closer, until the itch was so bad I could have sworn I’d have to react or go crazy.
Staff! Amaya screamed. Up!
I didn’t move, didn’t obey. I just waited, my body tense, as the whoosh of air came down hard and fast. Amaya hissed and spat her fury. The flames that roiled from her steel crawled upward, as if seeking to incinerate the staff before it reached us. As her lilac fire began to wrap itself around the oncoming weapon and her screaming ramped up to fever pitch, I threw myself sideways.
The blow that was meant to split my head hit my shoulder instead, and once again it bit deep. I yelped in pain and there was nothing false or forced about it. As an odd weakness began to wash through my astral being, I closed my eyes and imagined myself on the second layer of the plane.
I opened my eyes, registered the lack of the enveloping grayness, then heard the air snap with sound. The whip slicing toward me again.
I imagined my fingers wrapping around the thin end of the leather weapon. Imagined it coiling around my hand as I stepped onto the next level of the astral plane. Felt the sudden shift in the air, and opened my eyes to see a beach that was far darker and more faded than before, and one that remained free of Taylor’s fog. The third level, if all had gone according to plan. All I had do now was hope Taylor took the bait and followed. He should, since he actually wanted me in the umbra as much I wanted him there, but the insane often don’t do the predictable.
Pain rippled across my fingers. I glanced down and realized I was still holding the whip in my hand. It was long and wicked-looking, and it was eating into my flesh with needle-sharp teeth.
I yelped again and flung it away without thought, then realized leather couldn’t actually do that. It was Taylor, altering reality as I saw it. Which meant he was here, somewhere.
I did a slow turn and scanned the darkened beach. No Taylor, no creepy, oily shadow, but that didn’t mean much. He was here somewhere—the quiver in the air told me that, even if it didn’t seem to be giving away his location. Maybe he’d worked out that I was using it to track him.
I swung Amaya back and forth, and imagined her flames wrapping around the unseen and revealing their presence.
Fingers of lilac fire immediately swept across the empty beach, the arc wide at first, then gradually narrowing, until they formed a fist around emptiness.
Only it wasn’t empty.
Very few people have such control on the plane, huntress, he said, as he reappeared. The flames cast an odd purple light across his skin, and made it look like he was wearing a bejeweled death mask.
It was a death mask that held no features.
I shivered—an action that reverberated across the faded beach. Taylor smiled. I smell your fear, huntress. It is a fine scent.
Him so pleasant, Amaya commented.
Amusement ran through me, though it did little to lessen the tension. My sword seemed to be gaining a sense of humor, and though I wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not, it was certainly better than her continual screaming for a kill.
Kill good.
Maybe her bloodthirstiness was rubbing off on me, because I could only wholeheartedly agree that killing Taylor would be good. But it could happen only in the umbra, and we weren’t there yet.
Fear is a useful tool, I commented. It sharpens the reflexes.
I wondered if Amaya’s fire was capable of dragging Taylor onto the next level, if only because it would be a whole lot easier—not to mention less painful—if I could. I briefly imagined her flames dragging him closer, and though they rippled and moved, nothing changed—certainly not Taylor’s position.
Which in turn meant her flames might not actually have him contained. Maybe he was simply pretending to be so in an attempt to lure me into a false sense of security.
God, the bastard had me second-guessing everything I did.
But is it so useful? he said. Perhaps we should test this theory of yours, huntress.
He threw something into the air, but I ignored the instinct to follow the movement and see what it was. I wasn’t that green.
He chuckled, the sound grating down my spine. I shifted my feet, readying for an attack, but for several seconds nothing happened. His eyeless features just stared at me through the glow of his lilac cage.
Without warning, something hit me side on and threw me into the air. I twisted around, landing in a rolling tumble, then bounced back to my feet.
There was nothing there. Nothing I could see or feel, anyway.
Amaya?
Something, she replied. Hides.
Obviously. Where?
Everywhere.
Oh, great.
I swished her back and forth, but her flames didn’t reveal anything—sinister or not—hiding.
I glanced over my shoulder at Taylor. He was still encaged, but an odd sense of satisfaction oozed from him. Bastard, I thought, and imagined myself standing next to him. The minute I was, I lashed out with a clenched fist. I should have hit nothing but air, but his head snapped back, as if I had hit him.
Then he disappeared again, and the lilac flames fell to the ground, landing in tight coils that writhed and burned.
Seems you could do with a little fear yourself, I said.
It was certainly a blow that should never have hit. I shall endeavor to restrain my confidence a little bit longer.
His voice was so close to me I felt the brush of air past my cheek. I spun around and lashed out with my sword, but hit nothing.
Then something hit me again.
I staggered sideways, then caught my balance and swung around, sweeping Amaya from left to right. Still nothing but air.
Another blow, this time to my right side. I twisted, lashed out. Caught nothing.
What the fuck were these things?
A growl rolled across the silence. I swallowed heavily. Damn if that didn’t sound like a hellhound . . .
This time I felt the stir of air. I leapt up, twisted around, and stabbed downward. Hit something so hard my whole body shuddered with the impact. Amaya’s flames fanned outward, encasing a hound-like shape.
Whether it was actually was from hell or just another product of Taylor’s twisted mind, I had no idea—and right now it wasn’t important. I pulled Amaya free and slashed at the hound’s neck. It exploded, sending me tumbling through the grayness.
They come! Amaya’s shriek was so fierce and loud I could have sworn it echoed across the plane, not just in my head.
Oh, fuck! I had no time to think or do anything else, because they were on me. Invisible beasts that snarled and slashed and tore at skin that didn’t exist on this plane. Pain burned through me on all levels and blood flowed, until I was slick with it. I fought, god how I fought, but there were too many of them. Far too many, even for Amaya.
Run! the voice that sounded so much like Azriel screamed.
Instantly, I reached for the level that divided earth and the astral plane from the gray fields. Imagined myself there, free from the teeth and claws that rent my skin. Felt the plane shift, and then blessed silence. I didn’t immediately move. I just lay on my back, panting madly, desperate to regain equilibrium and strength.