Shadow Rising (30 page)

Gavin brushed the sticky black hair from Julian’s forehead. He didn’t like the delirious gleam in Julian’s eyes or the sickly hue of his normally tan skin. “Kara is not here. But I will bring her to you one day. I promise.”

“I must give her the blood. It’s all she’s asked of me.”

“No, brother. Your blood is going to stay right where it is. The blood of the Aniliáre in the wrong hands causes nothing but grief. You did the right thing. We will find another way to help her friend.”

Aiden rose with the book in his hands. “Get out of the mark, Gavin. And Julian, lie still. It will only be a minute longer.”

Just then, footsteps padded up the stones to the front entrance of the palace. Liel entered with two women in tow, one a buxom blonde camp companion and the other, a wrinkled witch who lived on the outskirts of the village. She’d been old when they’d moved her here twenty-six years ago. Now she looked ancient.

“Sarah,” Gavin greeted the witch. “Thank you for coming.” He didn’t know the human’s name.

“Anything for Julian. He’s like a son to me.”

Seeing as he was asking for her blood, Gavin didn’t feel it was the right time to point out that Julian was nine hundred years Sarah’s senior. She’d always been helpful and kind to the clan as the head sorceress in residence.

The young, flaxen-haired female was frightened and edged away from the mark when Liel released her elbow. “Do you need me here?” Liel asked. “Olivia’s labor isn’t progressing as easily as we’d hoped, and with you lords occupied, I would like to stay with her.”

Aiden cursed and glanced at Gavin. “Our first clan birth. I’m supposed to be there.” Then he turned to Liel. “Hold her off if I’m not back yet. I will deliver that child.”

Liel’s eyebrows inched up. “I…eh…I will do my best, my lord.”

Gavin shook his head. They had no time to lose. “Go, Liel. May the wind lift your wings.”

Liel paused. “Will he be all right…the black-wing?”

“He’s Julian,” Aiden told him. “He may not have the same essence, but it’s there, under the surface. This is your lord returned from the grave.”

Liel bowed his head in respect as he backed away, but his expression showed he wasn’t fully convinced. He turned and left quickly through the entrance hall.

“What is your name?” Aiden asked the human woman.

“Mia,” she answered, her voice a tiny squeak.

“Mia.” When Aiden approached her, Gavin felt the power of his will extending. “We’re not going to hurt you. Well…not much. But it’s a very worthy cause. Will you help us?”

“Yes.” She shook back her long blond hair and began to lift her shirt over her breasts.

Aiden caught her hand and smoothed her shirt down. “Not that kind of help. Not now, anyway.”

Julian moaned again and wrapped his hands around his chest. Gavin’s heart almost skipped a beat when the edges of Julian’s form went misty. “Julian,” he bellowed. “Don’t let go. Fight it.”

“Hurry,” Aiden said to the women. “Mia, stand here at the left corner, and Sarah, the right. Gavin, you take his feet.”

Gavin quickly readjusted Julian’s hands, then went to stand in his appointed spot. With his book open, Aiden withdrew a knife from his belt and walked to Mia. “Hold out your hand.”

She held her hand out to him as he read from the book. “Maker of the skies, creator of the realms and the creatures within, hear our plea.”

Aiden ran the blade across the woman’s palm, cutting deep enough that blood ran freely. He grasped her wrist and thrust her hand over Julian’s, so the blood dripped onto him and the corner of the triangle. “Quickly, Mia, read the first verse.”

He held the book out to her, and she began with a tremulous voice, “In the name of the Children of the Sun, we welcome you to this realm and grant you quarter.”

Sweat broke out on Gavin’s forehead. Julian’s eyes seemed to be rolling restlessly in their sockets as he fought to hold on.

Aiden walked to the other corner of the triangle and smiled reassuringly at Sarah. “Your hand?”

After he cut her palm, she held it out, dripping blood from her corner of the triangle to Julian’s curled fingers. Without glancing at the pages, she continued, “Julian Mercés, in the name of the People of the Earth, we surround you with nature’s light and seal your body.”

Then Aiden came to Gavin and without a word, swiped the blade over his hand. Gavin allowed the blood to drain over Julian’s feet.

“In the name of the Sons of the Sky, we ask for strength for your journey,” Aiden said, his voice strong and sure.

As soon as the final word left Aiden’s mouth, Julian’s body started, as if he’d been dropped from the heavens. His eyes flashed open, still looking confused, but his outline was once again a sharp and substantial contrast against the pale stones.

Aiden closed the book. “It’s finished. This won’t buy him long, but if it worked, he’ll be strengthened for the journey to his new home.”

“How do we know if it worked?” Gavin asked.

Aiden smiled, the pale stubble on his chin catching the light. “Well, he’s still here, which must be a good sign.”

Kara curled against the passenger side of Tray’s car, her hand folded against her cheek. Once Abbey was safe, Kara was going to devote the rest of her days to figuring out how she could get to Julian. She refused to think that this was the end. At least her blood had allowed Gavin to get to him in time. And if Aiden’s special ceremony worked liked Gavin thought it would, Julian was probably already halfway to the Shadowland by now. She had to believe that just to draw the next breath. Otherwise…what was the point?

Tray was quiet on the ride to Jamul, and he hadn’t even been a smart-ass once. “Thanks again,” she said quietly. “I don’t deserve you being such a good friend to me. I know we were never close before, but it’s been nice having you on my team this week.”

“It’s fine.”

He wasn’t smiling, and Kara could feel the unease in him. It was weird. Usually she could feel simple emotion only from those she was closest to, like Abbey and Jaxon, but for some reason, she’d always gotten stronger vibes from Tray than the average person, even though she’d never really considered them friends until recently.

His grip tightened on the wheel, and Kara frowned. “What’s bothering you?”

“Nothing,” he answered. “Just…uh…be careful tonight.”

“Are you getting a bad feeling or something?”

His jaw flexed. “Yeah. Something like that. I’m getting a bad feeling.”

Kara raised her brows and looked out the window down the long, gently winding road leading to Jamul. It was dark, but the way was still beautiful in its simplicity—rolling hills and chaparral that stretched on and on.

Tray’s car slowly rounded the corner, nearing the coven ground. “This is what’s gonna happen tonight—I’m going with you, and I’m taking my gun.”

“Oh, jeez, Tray. Dramatic much? This is Abbey’s uncle. He’s taking the blood to heal the woman you love, remember?”

He rubbed a hand over his short blond hair and mumbled under his breath, “Fuck.” Then he pulled into the lot and parked under the sprawling canopy of an oak, parking on the opposite side from the other three cars already there.

Kara’s skin prickled. “You don’t get premonitions, do you?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

“Just fucking trust me, okay? That’s all I’m saying.”

Kara’s nostrils flared. She didn’t like Tray’s attitude, and she couldn’t figure out why he was being such a jerk all of a sudden. “Okay, Detective, why don’t you stand behind your car door and
cover me
? I’m sure Claudius will love that.”

He shook his head, not even cracking a smile. Kara shrugged and got out of the car. The night wasn’t the only thing that was dark, even the air seemed heavy and oppressive. She scanned the dim lot for Claudius and saw him standing near the first car. When she started toward him, she heard Tray get out and follow.

“Kara,” Claudius greeted her. He was leaning slightly against the frame of the black sedan, as though he’d been there for a while. “I’m glad you’re a woman of your word and took our agreement seriously.”

She forced her lips into a semblance of a smile. “I would do anything for Abbey. I told you that.” Kara felt Tray standing at her shoulder. The tension in him reached out to her, filtering through her skin.

“I didn’t ask you to bring anyone.”

“He’s a friend of Abbey’s.”

Claudius glanced behind Kara to where Tray was standing, and his voice dropped to a new degree of cold. “I know who he is.”

Kara fished the vial out of her pocket, and Claudius’s eyes tracked her movement. He stood upright and stepped away from the car. “Is that it?”

“Yes. The blood of a black-wing.”

“I’m honestly amazed. How did you get it?”

“A friend.”

“Well, you made the right decision. I’ll take it now.” When Kara dropped the vial into his extended hand, Claudius’s smile stretched ear to ear. “You know, I would have been satisfied to have you indebted to me. I never believed you’d get the blood.”

“Indebted wouldn’t help Abbey, would it?”

Tray tensed, and Kara felt the same sense of wrongness she’d felt on her first visit to the Jamul coven. Then witches began filtering out from the mouth of the cave and from behind the thick trunks of the oaks surrounding them.

Kara stared at Claudius, not needing to look around the lot to know that at least a dozen witches had surrounded her and Tray. “What’s this all about, Claude? One last display of what a scary warlock you are? You think beating us up is going to help? You have the blood.”

His eyes glinting in the light of the moon, Claudius pulled the jeweled stopper from the vial and tilted his head back, draining the contents into his mouth.

Chapter Nineteen

Kara gasped. “What are you doing? That was for Abbey!”

As Kara’s jaw was dropping, Tray kicked into motion behind her, pulling the gun and aiming it at the high priest’s heart. “Don’t move!” he shouted. “You’re under arrest.”

Claudius laughed, and then from behind Kara, she heard a sickening thunk and Tray fell at her side, clutching his head. Blood stained his fingers and ran over his knuckles.

Claudius nudged the gun to his left with his foot, and Sage bent to retrieve it. She cast the gun into the scrub and twined her arm around his.

He chuckled, seeming truly delighted. “You know, Kara, if Tray’s people hadn’t been tracking you, we might never have known you had a weak Aniliáre within your reach.”

So many questions went through her head. The first was why he wanted the blood for himself, and the second was, who in the hell were “Tray’s people”? But before she could ask, two burly men grabbed her arms and wrestled them behind her back. She fought it, but they twisted so hard, she knew they were on the verge of dislocating her shoulders. When they had her hands where they wanted them, she felt some kind of sharp strip cinch her wrists together.

“Why are you doing this?” Her brain couldn’t keep up with what was happening around her. Tray was hurt and bleeding. The vial was empty, lying in the dirt near Claudius’s feet. And Claudius and Sage were smiling like someone had strapped birthday hats on their heads and yelled, “Surprise!” This was Abbey’s flippin’
uncle
, for fuck’s sake.

He didn’t answer Kara’s question but simply took two steps forward and tugged the cords from around her neck. “Which one is the black-wing’s charm?”

“I don’t have it.”

His smile grew dangerous. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I swear I don’t.”

Sage sidled up to him and stared at the charms. “Are you sure you can work them?”

Claudius glanced sideways at her. “Of course. I’ve been studying
nex veneficus
since I was old enough to drive a car. But we need to get into position before we summon the Fallen.”

The next thing Kara knew, they were tweaking her arms behind her back, using them to steer her into the cave. Tray still wasn’t alert enough to walk, so they carried him, grumbling about how much he weighed and how he’d be much lighter if they cut him into pieces. It was crystal clear that Claudius had never wanted to use the blood to help Abbey, but the rest was a murky mess.

Kara recognized the tunnel at first and the red markings on the walls, but instead of turning left this time to go to the room with the sparkling stalactites, they veered off to the right, going deeper into the mountain. When they got to a heavy metal door, the already bleak atmosphere around her changed for the worse. Evil pushed out from beyond the frame of the door like skeletal fingers raking down her face.

When they pushed her inside, it looked like the set of a medieval movie. It couldn’t be real. Shackles hung from the walls, anchored to jagged gray stones. Different contraptions made of metal and wood were set about the large room, for uses she wouldn’t even begin to contemplate. Was that a…
guillotine
? It was no comfort that most of the apparatuses looked as if they hadn’t been used in years.

Her gaze caught on something in the center of the room. It was a clean, black sheet of plastic surrounded by a white triangle, and it wasn’t even dusty yet from the dirt floor. Witch magic always used circles.