Someone fired up the engine, the truck coughing once into the night before roaring to life. I heard others doing the same around us as I settled into the sagging seat jerry-rigged to the covered bed of the truck. My companion perched beside me on the curve of metal over the back wheel, thigh pressed to mine, one arm around the back of my seat while Raoul crouched, in perfect balance despite the roughness of the ride, his eyes glowing in wolfish intensity as the beast within him kept him stable."You're wondering who we are," Blondie said as casually as though we sat over a cup of coffee, not bouncing our way down a rutted track through the dark forest in a rattling death trap so loud he had to almost shout to be heard. I peeked out the open back, missing the light of the moon, even as a pair of headlights flared to life right in my eyes from a following vehicle. I looked away, squinting, catching the smile on the young sorcerer's face, the speculation.The nearness of his lips.Want
The large, stone house looked like someone's ancestral farm, just this side of an estate, really, outbuildings and fences leading off into the darkness. A single light burned over the red-painted front door. I followed Piers as he led the way, others closing in around me from the other two vehicles. The faces of the sorcerers Piers brought with him were young, two girls, two guys, though the werewolves were all older and few in number, considering the horde I'd met at Yure's palace.Outnumbered and outgunned? Story of my life.The warm interior hit me like a blow, hot air almost as big a shock to my system as the drug they'd used to subdue me. The place smelled of wood smoke and meat, my stomach growling at the latter.Oppressive dark-paneled walls pushed down on me as I walked the narrow hall, a few doors on either side closed to view. My hands clenched in my pockets as we turned through the last doorway at the end of the corridor and into a large study.A massive fire blazed in a
Quiet settled over the room, the air so thick with oppression my chest felt tight."My friend, Galleytrot, was able to free Raoul." I met the werewolf's eyes. "And Charlotte and some of her friends. I know he can help the rest of you."Oleksander nodded, sitting forward again, hunger flaring in the wolf that rose to his face for a moment. A grizzled muzzle and fiery eyes transformed him from a man to a were and back again. "He did, you are correct. But the bond he destroyed was the one to the Dumont family. We are still created from the sorcerers, and once the Czar had possession of Raoul and the others again, he was able to reestablish his hold.""Is it like the bond?" I really had no freaking clue. But if I could free them all permanently, I would."No," Oleksander said. "The bond is something entirely different. Done on purpose, with purpose, by the werewolf to one he or she chooses to protect out of love or duty." He growled softly under his breath in Ukrainian before going on.
The air beside Piers shuddered with shadow only a moment before Isabelle appeared. I almost jumped out of my seat, a meep of shock escaping at her sudden arrival and, for a heartbeat, I was afraid the gig was up and Gwendolyn and Finlay would arrive right behind her.But the lack of werewolf reaction to her appearance, the way Oleksander greeted the vampire with a nod of welcome, made my stomach squirm with suspicion."You've been working with them all along." Came out as an accusation and I meant it as one.Isabelle nodded, biting her bottom lip. "I'm sorry, Sydlynn," she said. "I'm the reason the werewolves and Steam Union knew where to find you.""Sunny will be thrilled to know you're not faithful to your blood clan." Not fair, really. After all, this bunch proved themselves trustworthy, at least so far. And we had the same goal, to free Charlotte. But my jab had the desired effect, Isabelle's face crumpling in upset as she wrung her slim, white hands."I swear that's not true.
We didn't return to the study, but retreated back toward the front of the house and through another doorway, into a wide foyer. I saw an open pair of doors on the far side, more light reaching us, and realized we'd only been in one wing of the big house. I pulled my hand free of Piers's as we entered what looked like a dining room. But there was no food on the table, much to my stomach's displeasure. Instead, a large map of the countryside spread over its surface, the palace in the center.It was even bigger than I thought, if I was reading the scale of the map correctly. Had to be larger than a couple of football fields. Who lived in such opulence?As much as I loved Charlotte and everything, part of me had to agree with the revolution, which brought down the Romanovs, if this was their idea of a country house.A short, narrow-shouldered sorcerer, his red hair and freckles making him seem younger than he probably was squinted at Piers through his round glasses, a glare of light ref
I walked back down the hall to the bedroom I'd found, grateful Raoul was long gone. The door snicked shut behind me as I used a little magic to lock it.Reasonably sure now I wouldn't be disturbed, I reached for the veil and tore it open. Ahbi's power poured out toward me, my demon grandmother's spirit now part of the Node keeping Demonicon's multiple planes stable. I held back as she tried to draw me into the veil, instead allowing my demon ego to connect with her."Grandmother." I felt her power ripple, pause, listen. "I need a favor."Her magic shuddered, hugged me."My friend Charlotte has been kidnapped." I let Ahbi feel Charlotte as a reminder, but she shoved that aside with impatience. Okay then, she got the message, knew exactly who I was talking about. The flashing image of my werefriend as a freaky creature with black scales and oddly jointed legs made me shudder. "Right," I said. "Exactly."Her magic prodded me, now impatient. Nice to know some things never changed. Ahb
The moment I landed back in the bedroom, I knew I was too late. The touch of werewolf and sorcery was gone. I jerked the door open after swearing at the lock I myself engaged, racing down the hall and into the foyer, reaching for Piers even though I knew he was gone.They all were. Didn't take them long to clear out, either. I stood in the empty dining room, maps still spread out, and knew I'd pushed the young sorcerer to act impetuously by denying his request for help.Damn it, he was going to get them all killed.I spun, reaching for the veil, ready to chase them down and stop them.Only to slam into a flare of blue magic that sent me flying backward. Stars burst in my vision as I impacted the doorjamb, body going limp. I sagged to the floor, spine on fire as Finlay and Gwendolyn appeared in the foyer in that same flare of magic.The young witch ran to my side, falling to her knees beside me as I fought to stay conscious. My head rang, the clunk to my skull enough to shake my fo
Ahbi dumped me out of the veil just inside the tree line, within sight of the front entry to the palace, but out of the fight. I let out a shriek from the sudden cold, forgetting, in my dash for freedom, I'd lost my jacket back at the farmhouse. Ahbi snarled, her power surging around me. A film of heat pushed back the icy winter night and cocooned me in warmth. I hugged her and let her go, feeling her anxiety for me, but knowing I had to act.Damn Piers Southway for needing me to rescue him.I locked onto his sorcery, only beginning to be able to differentiate between gaping holes of nothing. His had the same subtle taste of mint around the edges. I brushed two others, could only guess they were his friends and not his enemies, and threw up all the shielding I could before making a dash for his position.Bullets ricocheted from my wards, bouncing free in showers of sparks. It was my sorcery's idea to absorb the energy from the bullets, pumping up the power it had available with ever