Lies Ripped Open (29 page)

I nodded. “She said something about it just before you hit me with your spear.”

Corath’s forehead wrinkled in a look of amusement. “We were told to kill you at first, Nathan, something public. But then as it became apparent that we were unsure if you or Alan was the key to finding Felix, it was decided to follow you. Turned out we didn’t need Alan either, Fiona’s mind was cracked. And now you all get to die.

“But before all of that, I decided to go pay a visit to a friend of yours. I wanted to make sure that you understood how angry you’d made me.” He threw the bag up, and I immediately knew whose head had left its confines, before it struck the floor a foot away from me and rolled to a stop.

Lir’s blank expression stared up at me.

“He was a very stubborn man for a drugged-up drunk. I was surprised he put up much of a fight at all, but eventually he was overcome. Refused to tell us anything, although by the time we’d been working on him for a few hours, it was evident that he knew nothing of note. Still, some people are so worthless that they deserve to die. I thought you’d like to see him again before you died. You were friends, yes?”

I ignored him and took a step back, closer to my comrades. There were too many enemies, too many ways in which people could get hurt. The humans, Felix, all of them needed to be away from here. I couldn’t ensure their safety.

“You can’t hide in the shadows,” Corath said.

“Alan, I want you to take Felix into the room behind us,” I whispered, using my air magic to carry my words to them. “Remy and Ellie, go with them. Keep the humans safe, get them away from here. Kill anyone who tries to stop you.”

“You can’t seriously think you can take on a dozen people alone,” Alan said.

He was right; I had exactly zero chance of surviving such an encounter. “Let me worry about that. Get those people to safety, and then get back here to help. I’m going to keep the
Reavers busy.”

“By dying?” Ellie asked. “It’s a suicide run, Nate. You’re tired, and beaten. You need time to heal, you can’t do this.”

I shook my head. “I’ll be fine. Just please . . . when I tell you to go, go. Don’t argue.”

Remy placed his paw in my hand and squeezed slightly. “Give them hell.”

“I’m not going to be able to keep my promise, Alan,” I said, and without waiting for a reply, I told them all to run. The four of them moved as quickly as possible into the room behind me. There was a scream, a thud, and then silence. I guessed Sophie was no longer an issue.

“Have you lost your mind?” Corath asked me. “Your only allies have run away. We’ll just kill you and then kill everyone in there too. If they’ve escaped that makes the hunt much more fun. Either way they’ll be dead.”

I remained silent, standing in the shadows that concealed my face, and tried something I’d never attempted before. I internally contacted my nightmare.
Erebus, can you hear me?

“
Yes, Nathan.
” The voice inside my head said. “
Your use of magic has placed me closer to the surface of your consciousness than would normally be possible. I told you, if you kept using magic, that either I would need to come out, or you would pass out from
exhaustion
. In your current condition, this would probably result in your death.
”

There was a pause between us, while Corath continued talking, although I wasn’t paying much attention to his words.

“You’re still concerned that I will try to take control of your body. You know I cannot do that. Those blood curse marks stop it from
happening
. I am not the monster you believe. I’ve helped you before. I’ve kept you alive. That is my only desire; to keep you alive
.
”

Then I willingly free you to do what I cannot.

“This will render you unconscious afterwards, maybe for several hours. I can keep your body alive with magic, but it will be weak. You may not feel all that well upon waking
.
”

It was a risk I had to take. We had to get to Avalon, had to warn Elaine about what was happening. I couldn’t risk dying; I couldn’t risk my friends dying. I had to do what needed to be done to ensure we all survived.
Do it.

“It will be my pleasure
.
”

If I’d been able to see Erebus I was certain he’d have been smiling, and a shiver went through me.

CHAPTER
29

H
aving a nightmare take control of your body is an odd expe
rience. I still maintained a conscious awareness of what was
happening
, but it was as if I were looking through eyes that were no longer my own.

“I’m sorry, did you say something?” Erebus asked.

The last time the nightmare had taken control of my body was over a century earlier. His voice had sounded almost alien back then, but now just sounded like a lower version of my own. It was still uncomfortable to listen to though.

“I said, it’s time to give up,” Corath said, glancing to the men who were moving slowly toward me.

“I’d tell them to stop, if I were you,” Erebus said.

“You don’t sound like Nathan,” Corath said, and motioned for the men to stop.

“Nathan can’t be here right now. He would very much like to be, but he’s trusted me to finish the job. He’s quite angry that you killed Lir. He liked him. You should be grateful that you’ll be dead before Mac gets hold of you. I don’t think you’d enjoy that meeting very much.”

“And who are you?” Corath asked.

Erebus stepped forward, showing the darkness that now covered my face.

“A nightmare,” one of the men gasped, immediately stepping back, fear on his face.

“My name is Erebus,” he said. “You should not have killed Lir. You should not have attacked Felix. You should not b
e here.”

Corath pointed to the Reavers close to the Minster doors. “You four go after the others,” Corath told them before leveling the tip of his spear at Erebus. “The rest of you. Kill him.”

Only the four Reavers moved as they ran from the building.

“It it helps facilitate matters, I’m not a full . . .
nightmare
,”
Erebus
said, almost sighing the final word. “I probably will be easier to kill than someone who had complete control over thei
r host.”

Violence sounded from outside of the church. But inside, no one moved.

“Cowards,” Erebus sighed and flung a whip of flame at the nearest man, it wrapped around his head as the victim struggled, burning himself every time he tried to grab hold of the fiery whip. Erebus yanked the man forward with all of his strength, pulling the Reaver from his feet and straight into a flaming blade that cut his head from his shoulders in one movement.

The next few seconds were a whirlwind of brutal efficiency. Nightmares showed sorcerers just what they could do, the very best they could be. It was why nightmares were so seductive; the power they held up for you to see was an addictive substance. Combine that with an ability to heal that even a werewolf would be impressed with, and immense strength, and you have a being that is lethally dangerous.

Erebus caught one Reaver—one of the men who’d arrived with Sophie—in the chest with a blade of air, which quickly changed to engulf and crush the man. His broken body dropped to the floor alongside the corpse of his brethren.

Erebus turned and blasted a third Reaver through the double doors, destroying them, along with a large portion of the pews that sat in front of them. Three Reavers down in less than two minutes, and Corath hadn’t even moved.

“It’s true, these new Reavers are nothing more than
useless
muscle,” Erebus said. “These are not people who took the
Harbinger
trials. These are not warriors. They’re thugs.” He
pointed at Corath. “And you are their leader.”

“Kill him,” Corath screamed.

Earth exploded from beneath Erebus’s feet, throwing him back toward the pulpit, but he used air magic to land upright.

“You have an earth elemental,” Erebus said, almost
absentmindedly
.

The earth elemental tore chunks free from the Minster wall and threw them at Erebus as if it were nothing. He dodged them, but was forced into the reach of a werewolf, who hit Erebus in the side of the head before grabbing him and throwing him across the room, where he slammed into the wall.

Pain rocketed through his mind, although Erebus gave no outward sign of feeling anything as he crashed back to the floor. Before he could move, a fourth man sprinted toward him, enveloping him in massive arms, and running through the stone wall without even stopping.

The man was a siphon, and from the agony that raged through Erebus’s mind, it was draining his power at an alarming rate.

The siphon stopped running and released his grip on
Erebus
,
who took a step back, removing the blade of lightning from the siphon’s chest. The siphon crashed to his knees and with one sweep of the nagamaki, Erebus severed his head from his
shoulders
.

The remaining Reavers piled out of the church into the cool nighttime air of Doncaster. It was fortunate that the field they stood on was both badly lit and far enough away from any populated areas that no one noticed, otherwise having the police turn up could have turned a difficult fight into an impossible one.

Erebus didn’t pause; he sprinted right at the Reavers, throwing balls of flame at them to force them apart. The earth
elemental
created a shield of rock, but a sphere of air magic in Erebus’s hand destroyed it and a moment later the earth elemental was dead as a second sphere, this one of lightning, tore into his chest. The release of magic threw him back into the church as the magic ripped him apart. Erebus didn’t wait to see if it worked, he already knew it would. These people weren’t soldiers, hardened by years of battle; they were idiots who believed that their power meant they were better than others.

A werewolf charged toward Erebus. It barreled into him, tackling him to the ground and tearing into his chest with razor sharp claws. Erebus reached up and grabbed the werewolf under the neck, letting loose with a blast of fire magic that tore out the throat of the werewolf. He pushed the screaming wolf off him and paused, breathing heavily, as his wounds healed. He looked around to find dead Reavers all around the church; Remy, Alan, or Ellie had killed some as they’d taken Felix and the humans to safety. Mortimer and Corath were all that remained.
Mortimer
drew two blades and walked toward Erebus, while Corath
hovered
just behind.

Erebus feinted attacking Mortimer—who dodged aside—and then threw the nagamaki at Corath. The blade pierced one of the griffin’s wings, tearing part of it, and he crashed back to the ground with a blood-curdling scream. Erebus’s attention was still on the writhing griffin when Mortimer darted forward and slashed one of his blades up toward Erebus’s face. The nightmare moved quickly, avoiding being blinded, but Mortimer’s second blade whipped around quicker, catching Erebus across the chest.

Mortimer stepped back and smiled. “You got the upper hand last time, but jumping out of that window had taken a lot out of me. I won’t make that mistake again.”

He dashed toward Erebus, his knives a blur of motion. One cut across Erebus’s arm, and a blast of magic sent Mortimer
spinning
away from him. More pain went through Erebus’s head; the knives were silver.

Erebus threw a plume of flame at Mortimer, who didn’t move until the last second and then darkness appeared in front of him and the flame just vanished. For a second Mortimer looked weaker, but his wicked smile soon returned.

“Fae,” Erebus rumbled.

Mortimer tore his shirt off, casting it aside. “I was a
Harbinger
,” he said. “I was one of the elite warriors of Avalon. Until I was on a mission and someone tore my wings off.”

He moved back and to the side, so that Erebus could see the horrific wounds on his back. Parts of the wings remained, but they were far too small to allow him to fly.

“Do you know what happened when I returned to
Avalon
?” Mortimer screamed. “Those in charge cast me out of the
Harbingers
. They said I was ‘too damaged,’ that I was no longer able to function at such a high level. And then Kelly came to me, told me I could help Avalon still, that I could join the Reavers. And I jumped at the chance. I’m going to take this all the way to Elaine, and then I’m going to skewer her and ask her how well I’m
functioning
.”

Erebus remained passive.

“And you,” Mortimer continued. “You were given everything by Avalon, and you threw it away. You are everything I should have been. Given every opportunity to change things in Avalon, given every advantage, and you squandered it all because your ethics got in the way.”

“You can’t use your full fae abilities without your wings,”
Erebus
said. “That’s a shame.”

Mortimer’s anger appeared to bubble over and he charged Erebus, who threw a ball of flame at him, which after a foot just hovered in the air between them. Mortimer dodged to one side, trying to come around the ball just as it exploded, throwing out flame for several feet on either side. I’d never even considered using my fire magic in such a way, the possibility of being able to wield the power that Erebus used was intoxicating. I had to remind myself that Erebus would take control of my body if given the chance.

Mortimer threw himself under the explosion, putting him directly in line with Erebus, who kicked out at his ribs,
lifting
hi
m fro
m the ground and dumping him several feet back.
Mortimer
was quickly on his feet, his knives slashing out at
Erebus
, who dodged and weaved, using air magic to push
Mortimer’s
arms aside. But even so, Mortimer managed to get in a few good cuts with his silver knives, leaving Erebus bleeding from the arms an
d chest.

Another ball of fire thrown by Erebus was swallowed by more darkness. Erebus struck out with a blade of lightning, but
Mortimer
dodged it, swiping under the blade, and cutting through Erebus’s side. No matter what Erebus did,
Mortimer
was too fast to catch, and any magic that got close was absorbed by the
darkness
that Mortimer could control. I could sense Erebus’s frustration at the matter, as he sought a way to stop
Mortimer
, while Corath was still unable to fly.

At the thought of Corath’s name, Erebus glanced over at the griffin. He was on his knees, trying to stop the massive amount of blood that was pouring from his ruined wing. He wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The memory of fighting Mortimer outside of the Williamses’ home flashed to the front of my mind. He’d been considerably weaker then, unable to use his fae powers, nor fast enough to stop mine.

“That does not help me, Nathan,” Erebus said aloud, and then smiled slightly. He moved back toward the ruined church wall, and sent out six tendrils of air, each one invisible to
Mortimer
as they snaked along the wall. When they were in the correct place, Erebus sent out another plume of flame, which Mortimer easily avoided on his way to another attack.

Erebus snapped the tendrils tight, hardening the air as they wrapped around large chunks of stone that were hurled toward Mortimer at high speed. He dodged the first three skull-sized stones, but the fourth hit him on his knee, dropping him to the ground, where another slammed into the side of his skull.

Erebus glanced up as Remy sprinted across the open ground to where Corath was getting back to his feet. The griffin never saw the smaller man until Remy was too close for him to do anything. Remy’s sabre struck the griffin and they went down fighting.

“Your skull is probably fractured,” Erebus told Mortimer. “You certainly won’t be moving quickly for a while. But just to make sure.” Erebus used air magic to lift another of the stones and bring it down on Mortimer’s knee with a loud crack.

Mortimer screamed in pain, as Erebus did the same with the other knee.

“I only do this to ensure that Nathan is safe. Your continued movements do not permit that.”

Erebus looked over at the fight between Remy and Corath to discover that Ellie was also helping. Corath was missing a wing and was on his knees as Remy stabbed his sabre into his head.

“I guess I’m done here,” Erebus told Mortimer. “Please do tell Nathan’s friends that you’re to be kept alive. I believe he’d like to talk to you.” Erebus brought the stone down on Mortimer’s head once more, knocking him out, before he sat down on the wet grass and allowed me control once again. I was conscious for a moment and then passed out.