Darkness Splintered (DA 6) (37 page)

It took a moment to register that my skin was
actually
crawling. Or at least part of it was. I glanced down. The wingless, serpentlike dragon tattoo on my left forearm was on the move, twisting around like a wild thing trapped. Anger gleamed in its dark eyes, and its scales glowed a rich, vibrant lilac in the half-light of the room.

Of course, it wasn’t an ordinary tattoo. It was a Dušan, a creature of magic that had been designed to protect us when we walked the fields. It was a gift from my father, and one of the few decent things he’d actually done for me since this whole key saga had begun.

Unfortunately, the Dušan was of little use here on Earth. It shouldn’t even have been able to move on this plane, let alone partially disengage from my skin, as it had in the past.

“What’s wrong now?”

I glanced at Ilianna – my best friend, flatmate, and a powerful witch in her own right. Her warm tones were rich with concern, and not without reason. After all, she’d only
just
managed to save the life of her mate, Mirri, from my father’s foul magic, and here I was again, threatening not just Mirri’s life, but Ilianna’s, her mom’s, and everyone else’s who currently stood within the walls of this place. Because not even the magic of the Brindle, as powerful as it was, would stop the Raziq. It had been designed to protect the witches from the evil of
this
world. It was never meant to be a defense against the evils from the gray fields.

“The Raziq hunt us.” Azriel’s reply was flat. Matter-of-fact. Yet his anger reverberated through every inch of my being, as fierce as anything I could feel from the Raziq. But it wasn’t just anger; it was anticipation, and
that
was possibly scarier. He drew his sword and met my gaze. If the ominous blue-black fire that flickered down the sides of Valdis – which was the name of the demon locked within the metal of his sword, who imbued it with a life and power of its own – was anything to go by, she was as ready to fight as her master. “We need to leave.
Now
.”

Ilianna frowned. “Then go home —”

“We can’t,” I cut in. “Home’s gone.”

It had been blown to smithereens when I’d thrust the black steel of my own demon sword into my father’s flesh and had allowed her to consume him. And it was an action I didn’t regret, not after everything the bastard had done.

“Yes,” Ilianna replied. “But the wards your father gave us should still be active. I placed a spell on them that prevents anything or anyone other than us from moving them.”

Azriel’s gaze met mine again. “If they
aren’t
active, then we stand and fight. They still need you, no matter how furious they might currently be.”

Yes, but they didn’t need
him
. And they would destroy him, if they could. Still, what other choice did we have? No matter where we went, either here or on the gray fields, others would pay the price. I swallowed, then stepped toward Azriel.

“Good luck,” Ilianna said.

I didn’t reply. I couldn’t. Azriel’s energy had already ripped through us, swiftly transporting us across the fields. We reappeared in the blackened ruins of the home I’d once shared with Ilianna and Tao – although to call them “ruins” was something of a misnomer. “Ruins” implied there was some form of basic structure left. There was nothing here. No walls, no ceiling, not even a basement. Just a big black hole that had once held a building we’d all loved.

I stepped away from Azriel and glanced up. The faintest touch of pink was beginning to invade the black of the sky; dawn wasn’t that far off.

Time appeared
. The familiar, somewhat harsh tone that ran through my thoughts was heavy with displeasure.
Alone should not be
.

Sorry
. I felt vaguely absurd for even issuing an apology. I mean, when it was all said and done, Amaya was a
sword
. But somewhere in the past few days, she had become more of a friend, more than merely a means of protection.

And in this case, she certainly deserved an apology. In my desperation to see whether Mirri had lived, I hadn’t given Amaya a second thought. Obviously, neither had Azriel; otherwise, I’m sure he would have collected her. I picked my way through the rubble and found her half-wedged in the blackened soil. I pulled her free, and felt a whole lot safer with her weight in my hand.

“The Raziq have split,” Azriel commented.

Confusion – and a deepening sense of dread – ran through me. “Meaning what?”

The ferocity that roiled through the connection between us gave his blue eyes a hard, icy edge. “Half of them chase us here. The rest continue toward the Brindle.”

“Oh, fuck!”

“They plan to demonstrate the cost of misdirection, and there is nothing we can do to prevent it.” His expression hardened further, and I hadn’t thought that was possible. “And before you say it, I will
not
let you endanger yourself for them.”

“And I will
not
stand here and let others pay the price for decisions I’ve made!”

“We have no other choice.”

“There’s
always
a fucking choice, Azriel. Standing here while others die in my place is
not
one of them.”

“Making a stand at the Brindle will not alter the fate of the Brindle.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” I thrust a hand through my short hair and began to pace. There
had
to be an answer. Damn it, if only Ilianna had had the time to create more protection stones… The thought stuttered to a halt. “Oh my god, the
protection
stones.”

Azriel frowned. “They are still active. I can feel their presence.”

“Exactly!” I swung around to face him. “You need to get them to the Brindle. It’s the only chance they have against the Raziq.”

“I will not —”

“For god’s sake, stop arguing and just do as I ask!”

He crossed his arms and glared at me. His expression was so fierce my insides quaked, even though I knew he would never, ever hurt me.

“My task here is to protect you. No one else.
You
. I cannot and
will
not leave you unprotected, especially not
now
.”

Not when there is life and love yet to be explored between us. Not when you carry our child.
The words spun through my thoughts, as fierce as his expression and yet filled with such passion my heart damn near melted. I walked back to him and touched his arm. His skin twitched, but the muscles beneath were like steel. My warrior was ready for battle.

“I know it goes against every instinct, Azriel, but I couldn’t live with myself if anyone at the Brindle died because of me.”

“And I would not want to live without you. There
is
nowhere that is safe from the wrath of the Raziq.”

“Maybe not —” I hesitated, suddenly remembering what he’d said about the Aedh temples and the remnants of the priests who still haunted that place. They weren’t ghosts, as such, more like echoes of the beings they’d once been, but they were nevertheless damn dangerous. I’d briefly encountered one of them when I’d chased the sorceress to hell’s gate, and it had left me in no doubt that he could destroy me without a second’s hesitation.

“
That
is not a true option,” Azriel said, obviously following my thoughts. “And there is certainly no guarantee that the priests will even acknowledge you again, let alone provide any sort of assistance.”

“That’s a chance I’m willing to take.” And it was certainly a better option than letting the Brindle pay the price for my deceit. “Those who haunt that place weren’t aware of the Raziq’s duplicity, Azriel, but I think they might be now. And you’re the one who told me that if they decide you’re an intruder, they can cause great harm.”

“But the Raziq were once priests —”

“
And
they’re also the reason the Aedh no longer exist to guard the gates,” I cut in. “This might be the only way both of us are going to survive the confrontation with the Raziq, and we
have
to take it.”

He stared at me for several heartbeats, then swore viciously. Not in my language, in his. I blinked at the realization I’d understood it, but let it slide. Right now it didn’t matter a damn how or when
that
had happened. All that did matter was surviving the next few minutes.

Because the Raziq were getting closer. They’d breached the barrier between the fields and Earth and were closing in even as we stood here.

Azriel sheathed his sword, then caught my hand and tugged me toward him. “If we’re going to do this, then we do it somewhere your body is going to be safe while you’re on the fields.”

“Not the Brindle —”

“No.”

The word was barely out of his mouth when his energy ripped through us again. We appeared in a room that was dark but not unoccupied. The scents in the air told me exactly where we were – my aunt Riley’s, who was the very last person I wanted to endanger in
any
way. I wasn’t actually related by blood to Riley, but after my mom’s death, she and her pack were the only family I had left.

But before I could make any objection about being there, she said, “I’m gathering there’s a good reason behind your sudden appearance in our bedroom at this ungodly hour of the morning.”

Her tone was wry, and she didn’t sound the slightest bit sleepy. But then, she’d not only once been a guardian, but one of their best. I guess old habits – like sleeping light – die hard.

“The Raziq hunt us,” Azriel said, his voice tight. He didn’t like doing this any more than I did, although I suspected our reasons were very different. “I need you both to keep Risa’s body safe while she’s on the gray fields.”

And with that, he kissed me – fiercely, but all too briefly – then disappeared. Leaving me reeling, battling for breath, and more frightened than I’d ever been. Because I was about to face the wrath of the Raziq alone, even if only for a few minutes.

Not alone,
Amaya grumbled.
Here am
.

Yes, she was. But even a demon sword with a thirst for bloodshed might not be enough to counter the fury I could feel in the Raziq.

And why the hell could I even feel that? Had it something to do with whatever Malin – the woman in charge of the Raziq, and my father’s pissed-off ex – had done to me that time she’d tortured me? I didn’t know, because Malin had also erased the knowledge of the procedure from my mind to prevent my father from uncovering what she’d done. But with him dead, maybe it was time to find out.

“Risa?” This time it was Riley’s mate, Quinn, who spoke.

And he was the reason Azriel had brought me here. While Riley might once have been a guardian, Quinn was a whole lot more. Not only was he a vampire who’d once been a Cazador, which was basically a hit man for the high vampire council, but he was also what I was – a half-breed Aedh. One who’d undergone priest training. If there was anyone on Earth who could stand against the wrath of the Raziq for more than a second, it would be him.

I swallowed heavily, but it didn’t do a whole lot to ease the dryness in my throat. “There’s no time to explain,” I said. “I have to get onto the fields immediately. People will die if I don’t.”

“Then, do it.” Quinn climbed out of bed and walked to the wardrobes that lined one wall of their bedroom. “No one will get past us.”

I hoped he was right, but it wasn’t like I was going to be around to find out. I sat cross-legged on the thick, cushiony carpet, saw Quinn open a door and reach for the weapons within, then closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

As I slowly exhaled, I released awareness of everything around me, concentrating on nothing other than slowing the frantic beat of my heart so I could free my psyche, my soul – or whatever else people liked to call it – from the constraints of my flesh.
That
was what the Raziq were following; not my flesh, but my spirit. Hopefully, they would follow me onto the fields and not wreak hell on the two people I cared most about in this world.

As the awareness of everything around me began to fade, warmth throbbed at my neck – a sign that the charm Ilianna had given me when we’d both still been teenagers was at work, protecting me as my psyche pulled free and stepped onto the gray fields. There the real world was little more than a shadow, a place where those things that could not be seen on the living plane became visible. It was also the land between life and death, a place through which souls journeyed to whatever gateway was their next destination, be it heaven or hell.

But it was far from uninhabited. The reapers lived here, and so did the Raziq who remained.

And right now it was a dangerous place for me to be. The Raziq could move far faster here than I could. My only hope was reaching the Aedh temples that surrounded and protected the gates.

I turned and ran. The Dušan immediately exploded from my arm, her energy flowing through me, around me, as her lilac form gained flesh and shape, became real and solid. She swirled around me, the wind of her body buffeting mine as her sharp ebony gaze scanned the fields around us. Looking for trouble. Looking to fight.

The Raziq were coming. The thunder of their approach shook the very air around us.

Fear surged, and it lent me the strength to go faster. But running seemed a hideously slow method of movement, even if everything around me was little more than a blur. I wished I could transport myself to the temples instantaneously, as Azriel had in the past, but I wasn’t yet of this world, even if I was destined to become a Mijai upon death.

The Dušan’s movements were becoming more and more frantic. I swore and reached for every ounce of energy I had left, until it felt as if I were flying through the fields of gray.

But even when I reached the temples, I felt no safer. This place was as ghostly and surreal as the rest of the fields, but it was also a place filled with impossible shapes, high, soaring arches, and honeycombed domes sitting atop floating towers. And yet it no longer felt as empty as it had the first time I’d come here. There was an awareness – an anger – now, and it filled the temple grounds with a watchful energy that stung my skin and sent chills through my being.