Priceless (31 page)

It was my turn to be silent. But then, hell, it wasn
’
t like he didn
’
t know anything about the supernatural. I could tell him, I just didn
’
t want to.

“
I was watching her for our parents. Berget loved the park, loved being outside. So I took her to the biggest park in the city
late in the afternoon, close to dusk
.
”
My fingers found the collar of his shirt and I fiddled with it
;
of course he already knew all this, it was in the files on me and the case
,
no doubt.
“
Anyway, when we got there, I had this strange sensation of something not being right. I didn
’
t know what it was, but I told Berget to keep close.
”

We slid down a few more feet while I gathered myself. Much as I hated talking about this, I suddenly wanted O
’
Shea to know completely and
irrevocably
that it wasn
’
t me
who
’
d
killed Berget. But I wasn
’
t going to analyze why it was important to me, as my fingers brushed along the back of his neck.

“
There are some people who have blood pulsing through them that is . . .
““
I
tried
to find the right word.
“
Exotic
and tantalizing to
the
supernaturals who drink blood to live.
”

He kept shifting us lower
,
but still managed to sound as if we were just going for a walk in the park.
“
You mean like vampires?
”

I nodded, though he couldn
’
t see it.
“
Yes, and daywalkers
,
and a slew of other creatures too. I found out after she
went missing
that Berget had that kind of blood. It sings to the supernaturals, almost demands to be taken in a way. I don
’
t fully understand because it
’
s not something that
’
s a part of me
, nor is it a common
occurrence
. What I know is there are very few people with this kind of blood
who
make it to adulthood. Very few.
”
And that was the hardest truth about my job as a Tracker. So few of the children were brought home
to their families
alive
.

“
So what took her?
”

“
A pair of
vampires
.
”
I thought about Doran, how he
’
d wanted a taste of my blood
,
and I shivered.
Although I had no doubt my blood was tasty, I never would have made it to where I was now if I
’
d carried the same blood as Berget. I
’
d have been stolen and drained years ago.

“
So these
vampires
took your sister and you couldn
’
t stop them?
”
His words sliced
through me as if it had been only moments since Berget had been killed instead of years.

“
I was young and had no training
;
I didn
’
t know I was a Tracker. It was
after
Berget
went missing that my
abilities
awakened
.
”
And that was the crux of it. If she hadn
’
t been killed, I wouldn
’
t be able to help these other kids.
Yet,
I
’
d give them all up to have her back in my life, to have had a family that was whole and not shattered into pieces.
It was also a line Giselle had drilled into me as she
’
d trained me and Milly. I couldn
’
t change the past, but I had to use what it had given me in order to keep Berget
’
s death from being wasted.

Tears traced down my face in the
pitch-
black darkness
,
and
even though
O
’
Shea kept asking me questions, I couldn
’
t answer them. Not that it mattered anyway
.
I couldn
’
t change the past, and it was India
’
s life that now lay in the balance.

22

The bottom of the mineshaft was lit, the walls studded with sconces filled with a brilliant purple and red flame.

“
What the hell is that?
”
O
’
Shea
’
s
voice
was
hushed as he unhooked from the harness.

“
Witchlight. It
’
ll last until the maker of it is killed or chooses to extinguish the light for some reason.
”
I pulled out a sword a
nd
scanned the area
, flicking the flashlight on even though there was plenty of light
. The mine itself was good size, tall enough that I couldn
’
t see the ceiling and wider than a four lane highway.
Unfortunately
, I could just imagine all the nasty creatures need
ing
so
much room to
maneuver
.

First, we had to find the
actual crossing point to make it to the other side of the veil. I glanced over to O
’
Shea, then handed him the other sword.
“
Here, you
’
d better take this.
”

He took a few practice swings
;
his form was pretty good. In fact,
his
last swipe was a move only some who trained with blades would know. I frowned at him, and he shrugged.

“
I started to take lessons once I realized you only carried knives and swords. Figured I might have to fight you one day.
”

Damn, his foresight
was going to serve me well. Even if he
’
d only learned so he could kick
my
ass. For some reason, th
e
thought made me smile.

There were three options as to which direction to take, but only one tunnel was lit with
Witchlight
. I pointed with my sword.
“
Follow the freaky purple light.
”

O
’
Shea followed me, letting me lead without an argument. Which was good
,
all things considered. We needed to be quiet, subtle
,
and ideally break in and out with India without being noticed. If I could have crossed my fingers I would have, but as it was
,
I kept my hopes high and my eyes wide open.

From a distance, I picked up the sounds o
f voices
—arguing
voices carr
ying
through the cavern as though they were much closer than they actually were.

“
You said we could be together this way
,
”
a
woman said, her voice cracking.
“
I left my family
’
s
Coven
for you!
”

“
It
’
s temporary. We have to see how this
Coven
operates. Stop being so fucking whiny.
It
’
s your
goddamned
fault we got kicked out of the circle and stuck on guard duty. Stupid bitch.
”
Her male companion snapped at her.

“
Nice guy.
”
I muttered.

There was nowhere to hide, so we stepped back
behind
the
slight curve we
’
d just come around. Again, I didn
’
t need to say anything, O
’
Shea just followed my lead. Maybe he wasn
’
t Milly, but he did seem to have some redeeming points.

We crouched against the rough cut wall
. The
cool water dripp
ing
down the sides slipped along my arm to drop off the edge of my hand
, which
gripped my sword. I motioned slightly to O
’
Shea. He was to go high, I
’
d go low. The barest flicker of his eyelids told me he understood.

Flowing green robes spun into view and I struck hard and fast, the borrowed blade slicing through the flesh of the female
Coven
member
’
s stomach
and
pinning her to the ground. I heard a grunt above me to see O
’
Shea dispatch the other
Coven
member, a man dressed in a red silk shirt and black pants that had been stuffed into tall boots.

The woman whimpered and lifted her hands
—
I knew a spell prep when I saw it. Dropping to my knees, I straddled her chest and pinned her hands above her head.
“
Hold these for me, would you?
”
I
turned to look
over my shoulder. O
’
Shea
’
s face was grim, but he nodded and stepped around us to put his hands over the woman
’
s wrists.

I ignored O
’
Shea
’
s frown.
“
Where is the entrance?
”
’’

She shook her head.
“
I can
’
t tell you.
”

I let out a sigh.
“
Your man is dead and you
’
re going to follow in his nasty
-
ass footsteps if you don
’
t tell us how to get across the veil. Now where
’
s the entrance?
”

She blinked large blue eyes up at me, as if she could con me into letting her go with a few bats of her eyelashes
—
no doubt
,
it had worked for her in the past
.
Reaching down, I pulled the sword out of her stomach and she let out a gasp. Before she could say anything, O
’
Shea
’
s hand clamped over her mouth. I didn
’
t know whether to be happy or freaked out that he knew what was going to happen. Steeling myself, I
pulled a short knife from my boot and
jammed
it into the wound,
push
ing until I could feel the resistance of
one of her internal
organ
s
, a kidney by the location of it
.
“
Tell me now where the entrance is.
”
I bank
ed on the notion
she wasn
’
t accustomed to torture
.

She struggle
d
, her eyes full of fear and pain. I had a hard time feeling bad for her when I thought of how many kids this
Coven
had stolen. No, I wouldn
’
t feel bad
.
I
forced myself to push harder
, popping through the organ
’
s walls,
until her eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out.

“
Now what?
”
O
’
Shea
’
s
eyes bor
ed
into mine.

I refused to look away.
“
We wait for her to come around
, and
then ask again. We need the exact entrance or we
’
ll walk right past it
.
”
I
wasn
’
t
yet ready to explain what crossing the veil entailed. Nor did I want to try and explain that he probably couldn
’
t cross with me
and
would be left behind.