Trillian clasped my shoulders, forcing me to focus on him. “Delilah, did you see the man? We have to stop him. We’ve killed one of the demons and Smoky’s on the other, but the man got away.” He didn’t apologize, that wasn’t his way. Instead, he gave me a slight shake, speaking firmly. “We need you strong and fighting. None of us will be okay if we don’t stop him.”
Suppressing my panic, I nodded. I knew the routine by now. No matter what, keep going. Deal with the aftermath after everything was done.
I forced myself to calm down. “Right. I didn’t see where he went. Camille and Morio are out back, taking care of the last demon.”
Trillian pushed past me, slipping out the back door. I heard a thud and made for the foyer, where I saw Menolly, her eyes crimson and her fangs dripping with blood.
At that moment, I heard Camille’s voice from out front. We raced through the door just in time to see the man who had stabbed Shade flicker out of sight, vanishing as Camille and Morio descended on him. He was there one moment, then poof—disappeared.
I staggered back, intent on searching for Shade, but something caught my attention. Smell. There was a smell I recognized.
“Crap, fire!” I hurried toward the kitchen, where Iris was frantically trying to quench a massive flame that licked through the door from the back porch. She had summoned an ice storm, aiming it toward the crackling flames that had overtaken the porch. They were licking at the walls of the kitchen.
I suddenly remembered the gas range as the fire blew through the door, knocking Iris back into the kitchen. She landed in the slimy remains of the demon, letting out a shout as I hurried to her side. The flames had caught hold of the curtains and were headed directly for the stove. I dragged the house sprite off the floor and headed toward the front door with her, even though she was struggling.
“I can put it out—”
“Stop fighting me. The gas—the fire’s going to reach the gas!”
I shoved her through the door onto the front porch as a massive ice storm engulfed the entire house and yard. Smoky was standing to one side, focusing on the kitchen as he brought the storm to bear. Iris pushed out of my arms and joined him, adding her powers as the temperature around us plunged at least forty degrees and a blizzard obscured everything, blanketing the house.
Nerissa joined me, tugging on my arm.
“Shade! I found Shade,” she said, and I realized she was carrying him over her shoulder. The werepuma, like most Weres, was incredibly strong. She was covered in blood and I suspected it wasn’t her own. I helped her ease him down the steps and over to the car.
“I called Mallen. We’re going to need him. And the fire department.” She was panting, shivering in the icy chill of the sudden snowstorm.
We stretched out Shade on the hood of my Jeep. He was slick with blood, the scent cloying and metallic, and he wasn’t moving. He didn’t even moan.
“Shade! Shade!” I leaned down, pressing my ear to his chest. I could still detect a faint rise and fall. He was breathing, and his heart was still beating. But if he hadn’t been part dragon, he’d have been a goner. The gash in his side was a good eight inches long.
Camille was by my side then, and she took one look at Shade and turned to hurry over to Iris and Smoky. She whispered something to Iris, who nodded. Smoky paused, then swept up Iris and in a blur, was gone.
Camille returned to my side. “It looks like the fire is out. Smoky’s taken Iris to fetch the Duchess. She’s skilled at healing.” She glanced around. “The demons are dead but we have no clue who was with them, or where he went. He just—”
“Vanished,” I said. “I saw.” I stared at Shade, mute for a moment. Then, feeling as though I was running on autopilot, I turned back to her. “The gas? In the kitchen?”
“Morio managed to turn off the valve. Smoky and Iris extinguished the flames, but I don’t think there’s much left of the kitchen and back porch.” She shook her head. “The guards are hunting for the man, though my personal guards refuse to let me out of their sight.” She pointed to the men who were standing by the car, keeping a close watch on her.
“Shade’s… Shade is…” I couldn’t get the words out. He was hurt, I knew that much. “He won’t wake up. He can’t hear me. Camille, what if he dies?”
She brushed back his hair. “He’s hurt, but the bleeding has slowed. Remember, he’s part dragon and part Stradolan. He’s got the blood of his ancestors in him. We’ll get him through this. I promise you that.”
At that moment, Vanzir jogged into the yard. Smoky appeared, stepping out of the Ionyc Seas, carrying Iris and the Duchess, who was holding a first-aid kit.
“Where’s the dragon?” She went straight to the point.
Iris pointed toward Shade and I moved, giving the Duchess room to work. She lithely crawled up on the hood of my Jeep alongside Shade and began to examine him.
Vanzir was scanning the yard. “Roz is staying with Bruce and the twins, along with Hanna and Maggie. What the fuck happened?” He froze when he saw Shade. “Crap.”
“We’re still sorting things out. A man and four demons showed up at the door and…then this,” Camille said, pointing to the house where the smoke was still rising. “Iris and Smoky managed to extinguish the flames, but we have no idea who he was, or why they were here.” She paused as a familiar truck came screeching up the driveway, an old beat-up pickup. “Just who we need. Wilbur’s here.”
Wilbur, our neighbor who resembled the scragglier members of ZZ Top, hopped out. He was managing his artificial leg fairly well now, and had only the smallest of limps as he hurried over to us. He was human and a powerful necromancer, but sleazy as hell, and he kept his brother’s corpse around as a ghoul, out of survivor’s guilt.
“What the hell?” He stared at the carnage. “That must have been some party.”
“Demons.”
Wilbur let out a grunt, then glanced at Shade. “Where are the medics?”
“Coming,” Camille said.
“I’m going to take a look around.” Wilbur headed off around back. “I’ll let you know if I find anything.”
Camille watched him go, then quietly said, “I have to admit, even though he’s a pain at times, Wilbur’s all right.”
Menolly joined us at that moment. “Whoever the fuck was leading those demons, he’s the one who set the porch on fire. I saw him before he ran around front.”
“Who the hell was he? What did he want?” I reached for Shade’s hand, unable to take my eyes off of him. I was trying to keep it together, but it wasn’t easy.
“There could be any number of reasons. It’s not like we don’t have our share of enemies.” Menolly suddenly took a big step back, her eyes widening as she glanced at Shade. “I’m on edge enough as it is. I’d better back off. Too much blood in the air.”
I gave her an absent nod. “Go on.” Menolly knew her limitations, and she always erred on the side of caution when family and friends were in the way. As she moved off, I leaned against the car, feeling bleak, hugging myself. “I wish Chase was still the head of the FH-CSI.”
The Faerie-Human Crime Scene Investigations unit had been Chase’s brainchild, but during Camille’s coronation in June, he had been swept into the Keraastar Knights, and now his right-hand man had taken over. Yugi was good, but he wasn’t Chase.
“Chase wouldn’t be able to do anything.” Camille shaded her eyes, staring at the house. “We were always the ones he called in for attacks like this.” She sounded slightly defensive and I realized she might be thinking that I blamed her.
“I know that destiny played itself out. I know you weren’t responsible for Chase’s transformation. I just… Damn it. I thought I was acclimating to all of the changes. I felt like I was finally on board with the way our lives were turning. Now I’m terrified again.” I wanted nothing more than to turn into Tabby and leap into Camille’s arms and huddle against her.
She took my hand, squeezing ti
ght. “I know. I’m frightened too. Until we know who’s behind this, we can’t figure out how to proceed.” She paused as Wilbur returned.
“All right, girls,” he said, his tone devoid of his usual lecherous insinuations, “I found some things that might be helpful. For one thing, I discovered a weird energy signature over by two trees near the driveway.” Wilbur was a necromancer who understood all about magic.
“A rogue portal? I saw it too,” I said.
“I think it was temporary because it’s not there now. The trees are fried—they look scorched. You might ask someone to check it out. Second, the demons? I recognize the type, even as splattered as you left them. I have to say, when you throw it down, you throw it down. Some of the sorcerers I’ve known over the years have attempted to summon them and I had the misfortune to witness what happened when one of the bastards was successful. I told him not to try it, but oh no, he didn’t want to listen to me.”
“What happened? And where did the demons come from?” I stiffened. I had the feeling we were about to hear something we really didn’t want to hear.
“You already know what I’m about to say, Pussycat. These demons were from hell. The Sub-Realms, as you call them. And what happened? The demon appeared through the gate and promptly ripped off the sorcerer’s head. Literally. Blood everywhere. It was a nasty business, and the only way that I escaped is that I happened to be near the door. Since there was a lock on the outside, I was able to lock the demon in and hightail it out of there before it could break through to attack me. I never went back. Grapevine has it the demon disappeared somewhere into the hills and for all I know, he’s still out there. Meanwhile, Juan’s head stayed separated from his body and that was the end of that.”
“Lovely.” I pressed my lips together for a moment, then asked, “So, the temporary portal. Did you sense any sort of sorcerer’s energy off of it?” I glanced at Camille, not wanting to remind her that Shamas, our cousin, had studied with a rogue group of sorcerers before he first came Earthside. The fact that he had returned from the dead only a month ago, however, was something we couldn’t overlook. I was fairly certain that he knew how to summon demons. I wasn’t going to outright accuse him of doing this, but I didn’t trust him.
Wilbur shook his head. “That’s the odd thing. No, Pussycat, I didn’t. I could feel the demonic energy thick around it, but nothing else.” He stiffened. “Who’s that?”
We turned to see another figure jogging from around back. He looked like a crazed Keanu Reeves, with longer dark hair and pale skin, and just enough mayhem in his eyes to make him feel dangerous.
“Trytian,” Camille said, stiffening. “What’s he doing here?”
Trytian was the son of the daemon general who was at war against Shadow Wing. He was always making a play for my sister, even though her husbands had threatened to gut him several times. If they weren’t around, there was no way we’d trust him alone with her. But right now, we were on the same side, and we needed to work together.
“I just came through the portal,” he said, sounding slightly winded. He glanced at Shade, then back at the house. “Fuck. I’m too late.”
“What? Too late for what?” I froze.
Trytian let out a long breath, then shrugged. “I came to warn you. Shadow Wing found a way to transport Yerghan the Blade out of the Sub-Realms. He sent him here to kill you.”
And with that, we knew who our enemy was.
Chapter 3
WE STARED AT him. Trytian wasn’t smiling.
“Oh, crap. Are you for real?” I let out a slow breath.
Yerghan the Blade was a nightmare straight out of the pages of a history book. During the Scorching Wars in Otherworld, he had ridden at Telazhar’s side as they razed city after city, creating the vast desert known as the Southern Wastes. By the time they were stopped, they had changed the face of our homeland forever. Both were sent to the Sub-Realms rather than executed, one of the biggest mistakes ever made. Back in June, we had gotten word that Yerghan had aligned himself with Shadow Wing.
“While Telazhar was still alive, Shadow Wing kept him and Yerghan apart. He was probably afraid they might pair up against him. But now that Telazhar is dead, Shadow Wing apparently no longer considers Yerghan much of a threat. Rumor has it that he promised Yerghan his freedom once he completes his mission over here. And that mission is to destroy the three of you.” Trytian’s expression was dark. “My father still considers us to be in your debt, and we still owe you a favor. So he bade me come warn you.” He glanced around the yard. “Apparently, I arrived too late.”
I glanced down at Shade, still holding onto his hand. He was breathing shallowly, but at least the bleeding had slowed. “Can you stay and help us find him? We killed the demons who came with him, but Yerghan got away.” I nodded to the house. “If it hadn’t been for Smoky and Iris, he would have destroyed the house.”
For once, Trytian didn’t joke around, or hit on Camille, or anything like that. He just stared somberly at the house, then looked at Shade. “Is he going to be all right?”
“I don’t know. We’re waiting for the medics to arrive. They’re…” I paused as sirens wailed from down the drive. Within seconds, the FH-CSI medic unit appeared, followed by Yugi in a sleek, black Ford Taurus.
Trytian moved out of the way as Mallen leapt out of the medic unit, along with a med-tech I hadn’t seen before. She was Svartan, unusual considering they didn’t visit Earthside frequently. They hurried across the yard, carrying their gear. Mallen took one look at Shade and motioned to the other tech.
“We need to get him to the FH-CSI as soon as possible. Where’s Smoky?” He looked around. “I want him to bring Shade via the Ionyc Seas.” He looked closer at the wound. “I smell something odd. Who stabbed him? Do you have the weapon? I need to find out if it was poisoned.”
“No, he got away. It was Yerghan the Blade,” I added. Mallen would understand the reference. Anybody who grew up in Otherworld would.
Mallen stiffened. “Yerghan the Blade? He’s still alive after all these thousands of years?”
“Yeah. Apparently he’s been hunkering down in the Sub-Realms, and now he’s here, Earthside, targeting us.” I rubbed my forehead. I had a splitting headache.
Trytian joined us. “Speaking of Yerghan, I have another piece of information, one I almost forgot.” He glanced at Mallen. “You must get Shade into treatment. Yerghan carries a soul-stealer blade.”
And with that, my world crashed down as everything sped into fast-forward.
I had heard of soul-stealer blades, but had never seen one. Unlike sentient blades that could trap souls within themselves, or drain off life force, the soul-stealer blades were able to send a soul out of the body, deep into one of the outer realms, where it would wander forever unless brought back by an experienced shaman.
“Then Shade’s not even in his body—” I started to say, but my mouth couldn’t finish the sentence. Camille slipped over to my side and wrapped her arm around my shoulders as I stared down at Shade’s unmoving form, realizing that he couldn’t hear me, probably wasn’t even aware of what was going on.
“We’ll find him,” she whispered. “We’ll get him back.”
Mallen tapped Camille on the shoulder. “Get Smoky now, please.”
“I’ll be back in a minute,” she said, taking off around the side of the house.
Mallen pulled out his cell phone and called the FH-CSI. “Get one of the psitechs to come in as soon as possible—emergency situation. Willow, if possible. She’s the strongest of the lot.” He paused, then added. “No, we’re dealing with a soul-stealer blade.” Holding the phone away from his mouth, he asked me, “What are Shade’s heritages again?”
“Shadow dragon and Stradolan, but he’s lost a lot of his Stradolan abilities.”
He nodded, returning to his phone call. Meanwhile, while he was talking, his assistant was busy packing Shade’s wounds with some sort of powder. It stanched t
he last of the bleeding. She gave Mallen a nod, stepping back. At that moment, Camille came running up with Smoky.
Mallen pocketed his phone. “No questions, now. I need you to take Shade to the FH-CSI, pronto. You’ll have to take him through the Ionyc Seas. I’m afraid that the ride in the ambulance might make things worse than they already are.” He motioned to me. “Delilah, come with us. And Vanzir, if he’s around.”
“I’ll go through the Ionyc Seas with Smoky and Shade.” I turned to Camille. “Tell Vanzir to meet us there?”
She gently pushed me toward Smoky. “I will. Don’t worry about us. I’m going to call in some more of my guards from Talamh Lonrach Oll. Get moving.”
Smoky said nothing, lifting Shade in his arms. I hooked my arm through the crook of his elbow, leaning close so that I would be within the protective bubble that surrounded him. Without a word, we shifted into the Ionyc Seas.
THE IONYC SEAS were made up of the current that flowed between the worlds. It both held together the different realms, yet kept them apart. The currents were almost alive, electric and flowing. Some creatures could travel through the Ionyc Seas without a problem—like dragons and other creatures of their kind. Humans and Fae could only pass through when protected by one of the creatures who could journey there naturally. If we stayed out on the Sea too long, even under the protection of a dragon, we would fall into a stupor and sleep in long cycles until we crossed off of the seas. I wasn’t sure what would happen if we were somehow transported there without protection, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be good.
I leaned my head against Smoky’s arm, taking the opportunity to close my eyes and try to rest. Although it would only take us seconds in the outer world, here it felt like we were traveling for a long, long time, and it gave me the time I needed to regroup. I pushed all thoughts out of my mind and dozed.
When we finally stepped off the Sea and into the parking lot of the FH-CSI, I let out a long breath, relieved to be away from the house and all the chaos and mayhem. Smoky began to jog toward the building, and I followed him.