Darkness Unbound
Page 33

“Probably. But she won’t tell me what.”
“Then get Riley on it.”
“Oh, I’m about to. You’d better call your mom and warn her we’re coming in fast and could have trouble on our heels.”
“She hasn’t even said we’re welcome—”
“My mom said get there, so get there we will.”
Ilianna looked dubious, but she nevertheless dialed her mom. I called Aunt Riley.
The first words out of her mouth were, “Fuck, Risa, I’m going to kill you for scaring me like that.”
I laughed, although the sound had an edge that almost sounded like hysteria. “It’s not like I actually planned to get kidnapped or anything.”
“But going to a meeting without backup? That was stupid.”
Yeah, it was, and I’d do it again if it meant getting answers—not that I’d ever admit that to her. She’d lock me up and throw away the key. “It was my father, he had answers, and if I didn’t go alone, he wouldn’t have appeared. You would have done exactly the same thing.”
“That is not the point.”
It was the point, and we both knew it. “The name of the witch raising the soul stealers is Margaret Trilby. Her brother is one of the men behind the consortium threatening the shop owners, then buying up their property.”
“Stane got this for you?” she said, surprise in her voice. “If so, maybe he needs to work for the Directorate. They can always use a decent hacker.”
Stane snorted softly. “Yeah, like I’m ever going to work for someone like the Directorate when I’ve spent half my life hacking places like that.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Riley said, half smiling. “Where are you now? Not going after that consortium or the witch, I hope.”
“We’re running for the Brindle. It seems the safest place right now given we’re not sure if the Aedh are going to come after me again.”
“What’s the Brindle?”
I blinked. Aunt Riley always seemed to know everything, so it was a surprise that she didn’t know about the Brindle. “It’s the witch repository, and the most magically protected place in Melbourne.”
“Then running there sounds like a good plan,” she said. “It’s better to leave cleaning up this mess to Rhoan. And maybe Quinn can sort out something to help with the Aedh.”
I hoped he could, but I wasn’t about to hold my breath waiting. “Look, I’m still worried about Mom. I don’t suppose you could go visit her tonight, and keep her company until I can sort out something else?”
“Sure,” she said, “but she was pretty strong with her assurances that nothing untoward was about to happen.”
“She’s lying. She mentioned having accepted this a long time ago. That sounds ominous to me.”
“Oh,” she said. Then, “Oh!”
Again, alarm rose. “What?”
“Nothing,” she said, and this time she was lying. “I’ll head over there now.”
“Please be careful. I have a really bad feeling about this.”
“Just what I need,” she muttered. “You and your mother could scare half a lifetime out of a person with your bad feelings.”
I smiled, as she’d no doubt intended. “Well, according to Uncle Quinn, you’ve got plenty of lifetime left in you, so that’s not going to be a problem.”
She snorted softly. “He’s another one who seems intent on scaring me half to death. Did you know he’s taken up skydiving? What the hell is that all about?”
This time I laughed. “He wants to know what it’s like to fly.”
“He owns planes and spaceships and he’s half Aedh. He flies all the time.”
“It’s not the same.”
She grunted, and the amusement faded from her face. “Send Rhoan the information on the names you found ASAP, and let me know when you get to the Brindle. I’d hate to have to raid them for no reason.”
“I will. And thanks.”
She gave me a smile then hit the DISCONNECT button. I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. The sick fear twisting my stomach hadn’t eased any. In fact, it had probably gotten worse. By asking Riley to go over to Mom’s, I’d put her in the path of whatever was about to hit Mom.
But she’d cope. She was the one person in this world—besides my mom—whom I had complete and utter faith in. She was a guardian, and a whole lot more. If there was anyone who had any hope of saving my mom—and herself—then it was Riley.
“Feeling better?” Tao said, his gaze meeting mine in the rearview mirror.
I grimaced. “I’ll feel a whole lot better when morning comes and everyone is fit, healthy, and in one piece.”
“Amen to that,” Ilianna said as she hung up the phone. “Mom said there’s no official approval for us taking sanctuary at the Brindle, but if we happen to turn up on the doorstep, the Brindle’s perimeter magic will at least give us some protection until we get a yea or a nay.”
And that was better than nothing. I pulled up Uncle Rhoan’s number, then glanced at Stane. “Could you send all the information you have about the consortium and Margaret Trilby to this number?”
Stane said, “You’re going to be sensible and let the Directorate handle it? Color me surprised.”
I elbowed him. “It’s the safest thing to do.”
“It is, which is why I’m surprised. I had the distinct feeling that you wanted a finger or two in that particular pie.”
“She does,” Tao said before I could. “Which is why you and I will be keeping a close eye on her until the Directorate has cleaned up the mess.”
Exasperation ran through me. “I’m not going—”
“I can taste how much you want to be a part of the resolution, Ris, and I’m more than a little acquainted with your determination.” His gaze met mine in the mirror again. “But even if the Aedh weren’t out there hunting you, you’re not trained for that sort of work.”
“Nor would you really want to witness it,” Ilianna murmured. “Death is never a pleasant sight, and execution even less so.”
I stared at her for a minute, then said, “You’ve seen someone executed?” God, we were closer than sisters, and yet this was something she’d never, ever even hinted at.
She shrugged, like it was nothing, but the flash of horror in her gaze gave the game away. “It’s the reason I walked away from the Brindle, but this isn’t really the time to get into it.”
Wow, I thought, surprised. Who’d have thought the Brindle would have such a bloody skeleton in its closet—especially given the witch creed and threefold rule?
“Okay,” Stane said, “Information sent—”
The rest of his words were lost under the sudden squeal of tires. The Jeep slewed sideways, skidding on the wet roads as Tao battled for control. We half spun, then came to a rest hard up against the side of the truck that had rocketed out of a side street.
“Fucking idiot!” Tao yelled, hanging out the window. “Watch where you’re going next time.”
The man in the truck gave us a one-finger salute. Tao flung open the door and was half out by the time I lurched forward and grabbed his arm.
“Don’t,” I said, voice urgent with the fear that was growing inside. “It doesn’t matter. We need to keep moving.”
“But that idiot could have killed us!” He ripped his arm free from my grip, but nevertheless climbed back into the car. “Get his license plate. The least I can do is report his stupid driving.”
“I will. Just get mov—”
The rest of the sentence died in my throat as I stared through the windshield. There were things coming at us. Half-human, half-animal things.
“Oh f**k,” Ilianna said. “Tao, move!”
He didn’t answer, simply threw the Jeep into reverse and planted his foot on the accelerator. The wheels spun slightly on the wet roads, then gripped, and the Jeep lurched backward. We were fast, but those things were faster.
“Stane, get down,” I said as I leaned over the front seat and shoved Ilianna down into the front foot well.
“I can fight,” he said. “I won’t cower behind a seat while you and Tao make a stand.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but I simply didn’t have the time. Despite our speed, those things were on us. Two of them landed on the roof, denting it alarmingly as their half-claw hands scrabbled for the doors.
Stane and I moved as one, slamming the door locks down. Tao spun the wheel and the car swung sideways, riding up on two wheels briefly before dropping and lurching forward. One of the shifters on top of the car tumbled backward, hitting the roadside hard but scrambling to his feet almost immediately. A heartbeat later he was back on top of the Jeep, his claws tearing into the metal and barely missing Stane’s head.
A third shifter hit the front of the car, its fist smashing into the windshield, cracking the glass. Tao swore and braked hard. The creature grabbed the wipers, trying to hold on, but the abruptness of the halt sent him flying, the wiper going with him.
Again, Tao planted his foot, cutting across a traffic island then hurtling down the wrong way of the road. Ahead, horns blew and cars swerved out of the way. But the things on top of the Jeep clung like glue.
The creature’s claws tore deeper, peeling back the car’s roof. Stane swore and twisted around, kicking upward at the talons. The creature snarled and lashed out, his claws raking Stane’s leg. The metallic tang of blood tainted the air.
Tao swore and stomped on the brakes. As the Jeep slid to a halt, he threw the car into neutral and twisted around. Flames leapt from his fingers into the hole created by the creature, and there was a whoosh of sound followed by a gargled scream.
Then the driver’s door was wrenched open and Tao was hauled from the car.
“No!” I flung off my seat belt and scrambled across the seat after him. Tao was aflame, his whole body burning with fire—flames that would not hurt him but should have consumed the creature holding him.
Only they didn’t.
Instead the fire swirled inches from the creature’s skin, not touching him even though the maelstrom of energy heated the air around us and blasted my skin.
As Tao struggled to free himself from the creature’s massive arms, I launched myself at the two of them. Tao saw me in time and doused the flames but, in that instant, there was a bright flash of light, accompanied by a surge of power that echoed with evil and wrongness. In the space that the two of them had occupied, there was nothing.
I hit the ground, rolled to my feet, and twisted around, frantically looking for the pair of them.
But both Tao and the creatures had disappeared.
Chapter Thirteen
I JUMPED INTO THE JEEP AND THREW THE GEARS into drive, slamming my foot on the accelerator.
“What are you doing?” Ilianna said, fear in her voice. “Tao is out there—”
“He’s gone,” I said grimly, not looking at her as I concentrated on getting us on the right side of the road. “I don’t actually know where he is, but it’s not out there.”
“They went after him,” Stane said. “Not you, not me, but him.”
“Yes.” I swerved around a too-slow motorist and gunned the Jeep through an amber light. “Which suggests the consortium is behind this attack, not the Aedh.”
“But why take him when they simply killed the others to get the signatures they needed?”
“I don’t know.” But I knew that killing was still an option. Knew that maybe they’d just taken him elsewhere to do the deed.
I swung onto Lansdowne Street then right into Treasury Place. The repository was situated in the white, four-story building that had once been a part of the Old Treasury complex. The minute we neared the building, I felt the veil of its power—a tingling caress of energy that seemed to burn.
I stopped and flung open the door. Stane and Ilianna were right behind me, Ilianna taking the lead as we ran—or in my case, limped—for the main entrance.
They were waiting for us. Three witches, their hands clasped in front of their tunic-clad bodies and their faces serene.
“You cannot enter here,” the oldest of the three said. An almost unearthly halo of blue seemed to shimmer around her—meaning she was a teacher, a nurturer, a caretaker.
So why was she turning us away?
“Kiandra,” Ilianna said, her face emotionless as she stopped and bowed slightly. “We are in dire need of your help. One of our party has been taken, and—”
“I know what you need,” the older woman said, “and you will not find it here. To provide you with protection will endanger the lives of all those within.”
“And yet by turning us away,” I said softly, “do you not break one of the very basic rules of your order?”
Her gaze swept to me. The sheer level of power evident behind her gray eyes had the instinctive part of me shivering. “We are not turning you away. We are simply saying you cannot enter this building. This is a center of learning and a safe place for historical documents. What chases you could jeopardize all that we hold within.”
“But you have no objection to us staying within the halo of the Brindle’s outer ring of protection?” Ilianna asked.
Kiandra’s gaze briefly left mine, and I couldn’t help feeling a slight sense of relief. It was short-lived.
“You may stay,” she said, her gaze back on mine. “And if the dark witch attacks, you will be protected. However, the halo was never designed to protect you from what now hunts Risa.”