Darkness Falls (DA 7) (44 page)

His gaze flicked from me to Azriel, and it lingered long enough to make me wonder if some sort of communication was happening between them.

“So be it,” he said eventually. “But be warned. It is said that Hunter’s true lair in the Directorate lies not on the top floor, but in hidden recesses deep underground—and that it is so well protected, not even ghosts can get in—or get out.”

Then
that
was probably where Jack had been killed. And I wondered whether I’d find his ghost there.

Riley swung around to face Quinn, her expression a mix of surprise and anger. “You cannot be serious—”

“There are some things that simply
have
to be. This, my love, is one of them.”

“But—” She glanced at Azriel for a moment. “What did you say to him?”

“That we are at a crossroads,” he replied. “What path our futures take very much depends on all our actions over the next hour.”

Her face paled. It was a threat of death. She knew it; I knew it. Whose death was now the question—and one we would all get an answer to soon enough.

“Look, we don’t have the time to stand here and argue.” I tugged off the ring I’d gotten from Rhoan and offered it to her. “Please, just get Rhoan out from whatever net Hunter has around him, and let us deal with her.”

“It would appear that I have little other choice.” She accepted the ring, then stepped forward and gave me a fierce hug. “Don’t let Hunter win. I want to be a grandmother; I want to spoil your son as rotten as I did his mother.”

Tears filled my eyes. I blinked them rapidly away, pulled from her grasp, and held out my hand to Azriel. Three seconds later, we were standing outside the Directorate. I raised my gaze, studying the upper levels of the green-glass building. Somewhere up there was Hunter’s office. Or at least the public face of it.

This was it. This was the endgame.

I spun, wrapped my arms around Azriel’s neck, and kissed him fiercely.

“Just in case,” I said.

He didn’t reply. He didn’t need to. I could feel his emotions flow through the inner reaches of my soul, and they were even more turbulent than my own.

After all, he knew in full the paths that lay before us, thanks to the fates.

I swung back around and marched into the Directorate’s foyer. The security guard glanced up as we entered, and an odd sort of expression—one that was part fear, part pity—crossed his face before he managed to compose himself.

“Risa Jones, I believe,” he said, voice neutral.

“That I am,” I replied. “I’m here to see Director Hunter.”

“She is expecting you.” He glanced at Azriel. “I’m afraid you’ll have to hand in your weapons.”

Azriel crossed his arms and simply said, “No.”

The guard blinked. “I’m sorry, but I have been ordered not—”

“I will not relinquish my sword,” Azriel said, “but even if I did, it would do Hunter no good, as the sword has a mind of its own and will follow me into her lair regardless. And heaven help those who try to stop her.”

The guard hesitated, and an odd sort of blankness came into his eyes. Communicating with the boss, I realized. Obviously, Hunter had stacked the decks with
her
people, rather than people who were loyal to the Directorate itself.

Life returned to the guard’s eyes. “You’ve been cleared to carry within the building.” He paused to hand us both a pass. “Please use elevator five—it will take you express up to the director’s suites.”

“Thank you.”

I turned and headed for the elevator. Number five opened as we approached, but my steps slowed as I was hit with a vision of the doors closing and the elevator plunging to unknown depths, killing us both. It would certainly be the easy option when it came to getting the key.

“Hunter knows I can transport us both out in such an event.” Azriel’s fingers lightly pressed against my spine, urging me on. “And she is so arrogantly sure of her own superiority that she would prefer to kill us herself rather than employ a third-party means of doing so.”

“If she was so sure of defeating us, she wouldn’t be meeting us in one of the securest buildings in Melbourne.”

I swiped the pass across the scanner. The doors closed
and the elevator rose rather than dropped. Relief still swam through me. Azriel might have been certain of this outcome, but Hunter never did the expected. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she
had
chosen the smashing-elevator option.

I watched the numbers climb on the softly lit floor-level indicator above the doorway, and with each level that passed, my tension grew. When the elevator finally stopped on the tenth floor, I was wound up so tight it felt like the slightest touch would shatter me.

I licked my lips and forced my feet forward as the doors opened. Azriel was at my back, his calm exterior belying the tension and readiness within him. Once in the foyer, I paused and glanced around, wanting to get an idea of the layout before I went any farther. The only way on or off this floor was via the elevator we’d used. Where the other elevator doors should have been there was solid concrete, and directly in front of us was a reinforced security area that practically bristled with all sorts of scanners and weapons. Hunter was taking no chances. There was also no fire exit, and apparently no bathrooms. Hunter, old vampire or not, still had to use the loo like the rest of us, but if she was this paranoid about her safety in a place that was filled with guardians, then it would make sense that she’d have a private bathroom.

The guard beyond the security barrier had one hand on a rather nasty-looking weapon as we approached. He nodded his head toward the scanners. I stepped through first, stopped when he motioned me to do so, and watched as several lights, some blue, some red, scanned me. No alarms or lights went off. I was motioned through into what looked like a glass cage and held there while Azriel went through the scanning process. Again no alarms sounded.

“Weapons in the box,” the guard said, shoving a clear plastic container into our little cell.

“I will not relinquish my sword, and Hunter is well aware of this fact. And,” he added, glancing up at the discreetly placed camera in one corner, “she would be well advised to stop playing these games or I will simply transport into her chambers and kill her. I care nothing for Rhoan Jenson’s safety myself, remember.”

The guard’s eyebrows rose, but before he could say anything, a light flashed; then Hunter said, voice cool and amused, “Let them in, Walter, swords and all.”

He pressed a button and one section of the glass cell retracted. The walls and ceiling had been covered with thick but plush soundproofing, and it gave the corridor an ominous, almost forbidding feel.

“Second door on the right,” he said.

We moved forward. Our footsteps made no sound; in fact, the only sound to be heard in this place was the squeak of the guard’s chair as he settled back into position, and my somewhat rapid breathing.

The second door slightly clicked open as we neared it. I wouldn’t have been surprised if some black-hooded creature suddenly appeared and bade us entry into hell itself, but imagination and reality were two different beasts. There was no one at the door, or even in the large conference room beyond it.

“Welcome to my humble home away from home,” Hunter said, her voice coming from everywhere and yet nowhere. I looked around for speakers but couldn’t immediately find them; nor could I find any cameras. They had to be hidden in the walls. “I am glad to see that you are punctual. Or rather, Jenson will undoubtedly be glad that you are punctual.”

“Enough with the word games,” I said, keeping my voice even. I wished I could so easily control the tension. “Tell me where he is and how to free him from whatever trap you may have wrapped around him.”

“As you wish. There is, however, one small
complication—
you
can’t rescue him.” The amusement in Hunter’s voice was stronger. “And it is the reason I have allowed your lover to keep his sword. You see, the magic that secures Jenson can only be bypassed by a full-energy being such as your reaper. Your uncle, as a half-breed, will only succeed in killing both Jenson and himself if he undertakes the rescue attempt.”

“Meaning Azriel has to make the choice—me or my uncle.” I wasn’t surprised, because I’d suspected all along it would come down to me and Hunter, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t pissed off.

“Precisely,” Hunter all but purred. “And we all know what your decision will be given what such a death would do to his sister.”

In that she was right. “Where is he?”

“In a secure depot just outside Melbourne.” She gave us the address. “I suggest you go, reaper. Jenson’s situation is somewhat precarious.”

She didn’t explain what she meant, and I didn’t ask. I simply swung around and gave Azriel a hug.
Be careful. This barrier might well be set to kill both you and Rhoan.

Undoubtedly,
he replied, unfazed.
But your uncle and aunt are already on the way to that location, and between the three of us, we shall unpick the trap. Then I will return to help you.

She won’t let you return.
I forced myself to step away from him, though all I wanted to do was cling tight. I’d see him again. I had to believe that, if nothing else.

She will undoubtedly ban me from her offices, but she is not in her office. She is deep underground, where she believes she is safe from me.

And she is. You can’t track a soul underground unless they are due for death.

Perhaps, but I
can
find you.
Out loud, he added, “Hunter, if anything happens to her, my vengeance will be brutal.”

“Reaper, we both know that murder is beyond the realm of your charter here on Earth, so do not—”

“It has nothing to do with my orders and everything to do with desire. Trust me, neither your flesh nor your soul will enjoy the spoils of your kill for long if you decide to take that path.”

And with that warning lingering in the air, he left.

Hunter’s laugh was low and soft. “I never knew reapers could be so overly dramatic. But then, he
has
been associating with you for a while now.” The huge double doors on the other side of the room silently began to open. “Risa, please, do come in.”

Said the spider to the fly.
I flexed my fingers and resisted the urge to draw Amaya. Hunter hadn’t actually mentioned her yet, and I wasn’t about to remind her—though I very much doubted she’d actually
forgotten
her.

I walked around the table and warily entered the large room beyond it. A large black desk dominated the room, with several comfortable-looking chairs in front of it and a wall of windows behind it. There was very little else in the room; no wall art and nothing personal.

Hunter, as Azriel had said, wasn’t here.

“What game are you playing now, Director?” I stopped in the middle of the room and looked around. Though there didn’t appear to be any other exits, there obviously had to be. Whether they were concealed by magic or simply brilliant workmanship was the question.

Magic here,
Amaya said.
Active not.

I frowned. If there was magic here, why wasn’t it active? What was she waiting for?

Even as those questions crossed my mind, Hunter said, “I’ve just received word that your reaper, Quinn, and Riley have all appeared at the depot. Time to ensure none of them can interfere with our little tête-à-tête.”

Energy surged through the room, a short, sharp caress that was both electronic and magical in feel.

Now active,
Amaya said, rather unnecessarily.

“I’m afraid it’s just you and me now. The barrier that is now in place will repel any sort of energy being entry. Unfortunately for you, it will also prevent your becoming Aedh.” Hunter’s tones were smug. “Please, come on down to my true office, and let’s discuss this key matter.”

“More than happy to,” I said easily, despite the fact that I wanted to flee so badly that the Aedh magic surged unasked, causing my extremities to fade in and out of being without actually progressing to a full change.

“Excellent.” There was a slight hiss of air—like that of an airlock being released. Then one section of the wall moved forward and slid to the left, while a second door stepped back and retreated to the right. Beyond it was a small black elevator. “The elevator will bring you down to me. Oh, I believe you have an invisible sword—leave it behind. And I want to hear it hitting the floor—no faking.”

“No.” Silently, I added,
Amaya, make a lot of noise but remain invisible, and get into my flesh, fast.

And then I crossed mental fingers that Myer
hadn’t
reported this trick to Hunter.

She sighed. “Do I really have to kill your aunt and uncle?”

“Fine,” I said, through gritted teeth. I made a show of drawing Amaya from her sheath, then released her. She hit the ground hard, her steel tip smacking against the leg of the nearby chair, the sound ringing across the silence. But almost immediately, she bounced up to my chest. I crossed my arms, holding her in place as her steel melted into my body and became one with me once more.

“Excellent,” Hunter purred. “Now the key. Hold it up so I can be sure you have it.”

I reached behind me, pulled out the key fragment, then held it up. I had no idea where the camera actually was, but I had no doubt Hunter could see the sharp bit of concrete.

“That,” she said, “is not quite what I was expecting.”

“It’s a piece of the shield on a coat of arms,” I said. “It
is
the key.”

“Of course, I only have your word on that.”

“Ask Myer what was at the last location before I attacked her. She’ll confirm we were inspecting a coat of arms.”

Hunter was silent for a moment, then said, “Very well, please proceed into the elevator.”

I did so. The twin doors closed with a hiss, and darkness settled like a cloak around me. I had no doubt it was meant to unnerve me—and in that, it was succeeding. But in the utter blackness, the Dušan shifted the knife, her sharp nails digging into my skin as she slithered up my arm, around my shoulder, then down my spine. As the elevator began its descent, the knife’s cold stone pressed against my skin and the Dušan’s tail whipped back and forth.