Seduced by Magic (40 page)

“What was she doing?” he said aloud. And then he saw something that made his blood chill. Beside a boulder her shoe prints slid off the ledge. She had fallen.

“Shit!” Tiernan threw himself into the hole, feathers sleeked back, and arrowed into the darkness. “Wait for my instructions,” he called back over his shoulder.

With his night vision, he saw the bottom and that Copper was nowhere in sight. Before he hit, he unfurled his wings, and brought himself to a soft landing.

Tiernan crouched and examined the dirt around him. Copper had landed on her backside, and the deep indentation indicated she had also landed on her wand. And was that the tip imprinted in an awkward position? Had it broken? At the thought of her losing one of her defenses, Tiernan's blood chilled.

He could make out where she had fallen back and where her head had struck dirt, and even the imprint of her braid. There was a little scuffling, as if she had crossed her legs at the ankles and had sat before getting up and starting down the tunnel.

“Clear,” Tiernan shouted, and moved out of the way so that his brethren could follow. While the other D'Danann silently flew down the enormous tunnel, Tiernan walked along the passageway, following Copper's prints for a few feet. The tunnel was large enough to fly in. He spread his wings and flew as fast as he could through the darkness.

When they reached a massive chamber he came to a light landing at its opening and heard his brethren touch
down behind him. By the markings on the walls, the enormous prints on the dirt floor, and the huge shield and club, this place belonged to the giants.

“How did such creatures make it into Otherworld?” Hawk asked, obviously noting what Tiernan had.

“I have no doubt the Dark Elves have been delving too far below the surface,” Tiernan said.

Congealed and drying blood lay thick and heavy on the floor of the chamber, and arrows littered the dirt. He saw Copper's shoe prints cross the great room, and then they appeared smudged, as if she were running—and a pair of giant footprints were following hers

Tiernan flapped his wings and darted across the chamber, following Copper's shoe prints to another large tunnel, and then he resumed flying. Often the giant's prints obliterated Copper's, but at times he saw hers.

Long before he reached it, he caught the smell of rotting garbage. He hurried even faster until he reached the giant that lay sprawled on the dirt floor of the passageway—motionless, stiff, obviously dead.

Tiernan landed, folded back his wings, and held his hand up to indicate to his comrades that they should halt. “Wait here.”

The tunnel was still large enough for him to fly, and his wings carried him from the feet to the head of the giant where he touched down just inches from its matted, mosslike hair. Its eyes were open, its expression one of excruciating pain. Its face had swollen so that its head looked three times larger than that of the giant he and the Drow had slain.

That was when he noticed the red marks all over the giant's face. “Bee stings,” he said aloud. “It had to have been Zephyr.” The giant had obviously been allergic to bee stings, and had died from them.

“Clear.” Tiernan motioned for the other warriors to follow, then continued down the passageway.

He hadn't gone far when he heard a distressed buzzing noise. Puzzled, he halted and listened. He followed the sound until he came to a large spiderweb. The buzzing was louder now, and as his gaze raked the web, he saw a honeybee caught in its strands. There was no reason for a honeybee to be down below the surface. It had to be Zephyr.

“Halt.” Tiernan held up his hand again to indicate the others were to wait for his orders.

“Hello, old man,” Tiernan murmured, turning his attention to the bee. “How did you get yourself into this mess?”

Zephyr gave an angry yet urgent buzz. A movement just to the side caught Tiernan's attention and he saw a very large, very wicked-looking spider headed toward the bee.

It was one of the most poisonous spiders known to Otherworld, a spider that even wasps and bees feared.

With a quick movement of his hand and a flick of his wrist, Tiernan had the spider pinned to the wall with his dagger. The creature waggled its legs against its own web as poisonous green fluid drained from its body. After a few moments the creature went still.

Not one to take a chance that the fluid might burn through his scabbard, Tiernan plucked the blade free of the spider, knelt, and wiped each side of the metal on the dirt floor, making sure the poison had been cleared from the blade. When he finished, he rose, wiped the blade on his leather breeches, and sheathed it again.

Zephyr gave a buzzing sound like a sigh and Tiernan almost smiled before he realized that Copper was without her familiar and he was certain her wand had broken. Trusting that the bee wouldn't sting him, he lifted his fingers to the web and worked to free Zephyr. The sticky web stuck to his hands, and even as his urgency increased to help the familiar, that urgency also rose at the thought that this was holding him back from reaching Copper.

Finally the bee was separated from the web. Bits still
clung to his tiny body, but he was able to climb onto Tiernan's hand and then fly to his shoulder. He moved slowly, as if exhausted, then gave a tired buzz when he landed.

“You will be all right once you catch your breath.” Tiernan turned back toward the direction that Copper had gone and motioned for the other warriors to follow. “Now we have to find that fool witch.”

In the darkness he could see that Copper had still been running, probably to put as much distance as possible between her and the giant. He followed at a jog and saw by the look of her footprints that she had come to a stop, and then begun a slow walk.

His gut lurched when he saw something that Copper obviously hadn't—a hole in the middle of the tunnel's floor. “Damnation!” With the warriors behind him, he hurried to the hole. Her footprints disappeared, only the heel of one shoe catching the edge.

Tiernan knelt beside the hole, judging its width and its depth. He could see the bottom—a far drop—but no sign of Copper. He had to thank the gods for at least that. It meant she was still alive and moving.

“Too narrow to fly.” Hawk knelt beside Tiernan.

He nodded and looked at his comrade. “We can jump.”

D'Danann had the ability to jump great distances without injury. Tiernan boosted himself into the hole and dropped. When he reached the floor of the small tunnel he landed in a crouch, bracing himself with one hand in the dirt.

In just that moment, as he quickly scanned the ground, he saw that Copper had been injured. By the way she moved along through the tunnel, he could see that she was limping and favoring one leg.

“Damnation.” It was bad enough that she was down here alone, that she was without her familiar, and her wand was probably damaged. But now she was injured, as well.

Zephyr gave an angry buzz and shot down the passageway ahead of Tiernan.

Copper blinked, unable to focus her eyes for a few long seconds. Stalactites glowing like red rubies came into view. Confusion slipped through her mind for only a fraction of a moment before she remembered all that had happened. How long had she been unconscious?

Her ankle screamed with pain, making the aches in her body feel like nothing in comparison. To no surprise she was spread-eagle on the stone floor as her sister had been. She tugged her arms even though she knew she'd be bound. She tried her good leg and it had been secured, as well. She didn't dare test her bad ankle.

She felt weak beyond the pain. Light-headed. As if her life force were being drained from her.

She glanced at first one wrist, then the other. Both had small slits in them, and her blood dribbled into the runes as Silver's had. And from what she could see by slightly raising her head the blood was moving along more freely now, filling the interlocked runes.

Her vision was hazy again. She blinked. Then blinked once more. Her face was turned so that she saw her sister sprawled where she'd been left before Copper had passed out. But hadn't she been lying in a different position? Could she have moved on her own?

Grimacing from the pain, Copper turned her head to the other side, looked toward the door, and squinted. The red light was becoming brighter now. The door was open a fraction more. She couldn't have been unconscious for long.

To the side of the door stood Darkwolf with the glowing eye of Balor around his neck.

On one side of him was Sara, who had her hands on her hips and her back to Copper as she stared at the door. On his other side squatted the large blue beast that Copper knew to be Junga in her demon form. Apparently she had shifted while Copper was out of it. Junga had her back to Copper, too.

Copper kept her eyes shuttered, not wanting them to know she was awake if they looked at her. Not that it mattered. How was she going to get out of this mess?

“Slice her wrists so that blood spills from her body faster,” came Junga's rough demon voice. She cut her gaze to Copper who went completely still. “We need the Balor-damned door open, now.”

“I don't like repeating myself.” Darkwolf scowled at her and they both turned their attention back to the door. “Balor insists this must be done slowly, or we will fail.”

Hopelessness flooded Copper, a feeling she didn't like at all. She turned her head in the other direction and saw Silver still lying on her side—only her position had changed again. A low moan came from her sister. Copper's heart rate picked up. Silver was waking!

A scraping sound brought Copper's attention back to the door.
Shit
. It was opening wider! Not wide enough to let anything through, but now she could hear growls and snorts coming through the crack and a rank stench like rotting meat. And barking—like the hounds of Underworld.

As blood continued to trickle from the cuts at her wrists, Copper fought to keep tension from her body. Tensing up would only cause the blood to flow faster. She took a deep breath, tried to focus, tried to come up with a plan.

She almost laughed. Sure, a plan. Spread-eagle in the middle of a sacrificial circle, bound, blood being squeezed from her body. Where was the cavalry when you needed it? Goddess. If only her Coven had been able to join her. If only the D'Danann hadn't been blocked from traveling to Otherworld, as well. If only the Paranormal Special Forces could travel worlds.

The scrape of stone was harsh to her ears as the door opened another fraction. The pounding of her heart doubled. She looked to her wrist and raised her head as best she could to see that the flow of blood was steady and the runes were filling, blood snaking from one rune line to the next.

“Soon,” Darkwolf said in a voice unlike his own, a voice so deep and evil that it resonated through the room. It was as if the voice were being channeled through him, as if Balor himself spoke through the warlock. “Soon I will bring together all my children and rule them once more.”

Copper rested her head back against the stone and willed her heart to slow its beating. She had never been allowed by the D'Anu to donate blood to the Red Cross because of her witch heritage, so she didn't have that experience. But she couldn't imagine that more than a pint had been drained from her so far in this circle. No doubt it wouldn't be long until she'd be too weak to do anything. Already she felt as if she'd had the crap beaten out of her—which she more or less had.

Another scrunch of stone against stone had Copper's teeth grinding and her focus moving toward the door. The red glow was brighter. This time claws crept around the stone, and snouts of what were sure to be hideous beasts were visible—Fomorii. More growls, snorts, and roars met her ears. The stench coming from the door mingled with the smell of blood, dirt, and stone from the cavern.

Copper felt sudden warmth at her right arm and she cut her gaze to it.

Silver was on her knees, her hands held over Copper's wrist.

Copper's heart leaped to see her sister awake. Dark circles were apparent under Silver's eyes and she looked beyond exhausted, but she was alive.

Silver's blue magic poured from her fingertips, healing the cut in Copper's wrist almost instantly. Copper started to open her mouth, but she snapped it shut when her sister held one finger to her lips.

Silver looked even more bleary eyed and as if she might faint again, but she crawled over to Copper's other wrist.
Before she could do anything, the door scraped a fraction more and this time bodies squirmed in the opening. More Fomorii! They were trying to get out but the opening just wasn't big enough for them.

“We'll get out of this,” Silver whispered. Again her blue glow eased from her fingertips and the slice in Copper's wrist closed and healed.

Silver's strength gave out and she crumpled to the stone floor, her eyes closed.

Wounds healed, Copper found the strength to struggle against her bonds. Even though no more blood dripped from her veins, what had already left her body was still moving slowly through the etchings.