Summon (37 page)

“No.” The green hand thrusting a blade to my throat
was rock steady. “I know this won’t kill you, but it’ll require time to heal
you can’t afford in this battle.”

I twisted my head an inch to coolly study the tall
female catching me at a disadvantage. “You’re familiar.”

Her slanted eyes squinted at the innermost corners.
I realised it took a considerable amount of control for her not to slice me
open.

She hates
me. For whatever reason she hates Gwendolyn more.

“I’m called Wasp.”

A memory tickled the crowded borders of my mind. It
clicked. “You came to my city with the old High Lord.”

“Devlin was mine,” she choked, “and you took him
from me.
Tortured
him.”

The grief of this female beat against my
conscience, and left not a dent. “I didn’t kill him.” I held her gaze. “I’m not
saying I wouldn’t have if he challenged me. He was my enemy. Devlin chose to
attack a creature,” my fingers in Gwendolyn’s ringlets tightened, “of lesser
honour.”

“The one you’re about to destroy killed him. I know
that. I’ve waited and waited, and I no longer bide time. I want vengeance. Now.
You stole my love but will not steal my retribution. Release her.”

“I make it look easy. She’s powerful.”

The blade bit deeper into the scarred flesh of my
throat.

“
Release her
.”
Wasp’s eyes were dead, an apt counterpart for her hollow tone. “I’m not afraid
to die. I ran once, but not this time. This time I fight.”

“As you wish.” I shoved Gwendolyn away. “She’s
yours.”

The vampire Queen twisted in the dirt, snarling.
Her attention shifted solely to the dreadlocked fairy hissing at her. Both
their expressions were intense with hatred, and both capable of destroying the
other.

Wasp circled Gwendolyn, waiting for her to stand.
“Now, bitch Queen,
you die
.”

No longer interested, I snagged a passing zonbi,
and ripped its limbs off as I scanned the battle.

Damballah was caught in the middle of a skirmish.
Two werecats, a werewolf, three zonbi and a vampire surrounded him. He fought
all with equal fervour, confusing them into attacking as one.

“Pointless,” I muttered. “There’s cosmic
equilibrium, and there is stupidity.”

I tossed the limbless zonbi torso. It bounced and
rolled towards a werecat mauling the carcass of a werewolf. The blood-crazed
shifter fell on the moaning zombie with frenzied desperation.

I trudged through the mounting rush of muddy water
flooding the streets.
The riverbanks have
broken.
The water lapped at my shins. It drenched the end of my cloak,
soaking the material to mid back, and churned into rapids where piles of rubble
disturbed the flow.

Still the winds howled. Cold rain fell in wet
slashes. The clouds broke apart to expose a blood-misted moon then covered the
starry sky in a roiling mass of grey.

While I desired to end the rain and improve
visibility, my affect on the weather was nominal at best.

A tempest this wild was endured until it raged
itself into submission.

Raising my arm, ready to begin a fight that would
cost my life, I paused as Conall rushed into the fray and engaged Damballah in
combat.

A ragged scream ripped through the clamour.

Startled by the suffering in the cry, I twisted and
clucked in exasperation.

Gwendolyn bent Wasp over her arm and tore into her
throat.

If you
want something done….

I conjured a particularly nasty spell that would
wrap Gwendolyn in agonizing pain before she burst into ash.

A pale hand batted mine aside as the spear of power
leapt from my palm. It decapitated an unnamed vampire darting past the wrong
place at the right time. Annoying since the splendid effect of the spell ended
up wasted on a headless corpse.

Hell, this
so called Queen will live forever if fate has its way.

The dark-haired creature stood before me jabbed a
finger at Gwendolyn. “Not by you.”

Puzzled, I cocked my head, fascinated by his
defiance. It took a moment for me to recognize who he was. “Gwendolyn’s consort
and Marinette’s distraction.” My memory of him deepened. As did my
understanding of why he’d shown up with my sister. “You do know Rae is in love
with Breandan.”

The phantom’s eyes were unreadable. “I’m aware.”

“So where do you fit in?”

“Nowhere. I never have.” He stared past me, but
when he looked back he seemed at peace with something. “Breandan has Rae. He
will see her safely from the city.”

Gwendolyn dumped Wasp’s lifeless body and swiped a
hand over her mouth. “To think I loved you, Tomas. Grieved for you. Yearned for
the blood tie to bind us.”

“Help your kin retreat,” the phantom told me. “I
shall deal with mine.” To an unobservant eye, Tomas remained unaffected by the
vitriol his former lover spewed. I glimpsed a flicker of pain within his
deadened eyes. “I’m inclined to think your grief was selfish and short lived,”
he said to her.

“Indeed. I got right back up and carried on.”
Liar.
She tittered. “I’ve moved on, but
you’re decidedly stuck. Where is she, Tomas? Your precious fairy.”

The phantom jerked towards her then stilled. He
scrutinized her pleased expression. “What do you know, Gwen?”

“Other than you were a fool to choose her over me?
Much.” She tapped her temple. “I
see
,”
she giggled, “a distinct lack of air.”

Bored of what was to become a bitter dispute, I
sought Conall, curious as to how he fared with the godling. I cut a bloody path
in their direction all the while marvelling at my Elder’s proficiency with
magics and a blade.

Skilled as he was, Conall was getting his ass
handed to him.

Damballah fought with his bare hands and feet. He
evaded Conall’s every move, staying low, rolling and ducking. He moved with
ethereal grace, swaying from side to side as if dancing to drums. He whistled
tauntingly only stopping to holler when he landed a blow with the knobby end of
his bone cane.

Conall’s reaction to the soft hits were staggering.

Plum-coloured bruises formed on his flesh. The
blotchy patches mottling his skin looked painful. Not a hint of pain creased
his expression, but his movements were sluggish, wooden.

He needed help.

Will he
accept mine?

Damballah raised his arm to land a blow across
Conall’s face that would likely render him unconscious.

Sneaking up behind, I grabbed the cane and yanked
it from Damballah’s grip.

Power zinged up my arm.

Imparting
power into an object. It’s how those cursed amulets locked the grimoire.
Foolish
Vodoun. His greatest weapon is his greatest weakness.

With relish, I twirled the cane, clasped each end
then snapped it across my knee. I tossed the blackening pieces at the godlings
feet. “Are you healing, Conall?”

Expression curdling, he mumbled a reluctant,
“Thank–”

I threw him a withering look. “Spare me the
awkwardness.” My brows mashed together noticing the bruises faded too slowly.
“Your body nears the brink of collapse.” I slammed my hand to his chest and
pushed healing magics from my palm.

Jolting at the bang of energy that leapt from me to
him, Conall grunted. “Your touch is rough. You force the flow of healing rather
than coaxing the body’s natural reserves into quickening.”

“Terribly sorry.” I kept Damballah in sight. “My
method may not feel pleasant, but it’s effective.”

Conall and I warily circled the godling.

Magics thrummed around my forearms, wrapping them
in swirls of icy radiance. Sparks crackled from my fingertips when I snapped
them impatiently.

Damballah pressed his lids closed, and his lustrous
brows drew close. He shuddered then opened solid white eyes. “Marinette and Ti
Malis exist,” he boomed. “I
must
endure.”

Conall and I exchanged a look. I asked, “And why is
that?”

“We are triad. I balance the paths they tread.”

“What is he talking about?” Conall demanded.

Studying the godling’s impassive face, I knew what
I had to do. “Then we shall destroy your vessel. Your spirit may leave. If one
of the other two die hunt the survivor. If they’re both destroyed you remain
neutral.”

Damballah turned pensive. Body relaxing, his eyes
cleared. He opened his arms and lowered his head. “Agreed.”

A shower of flames ignited from my hands. They
consumed his still form then froze. Conall swung his sword and shattered the
pillar of flesh and ice.

Hovering a few feet from the ground was a humming
ball of pure energy that levitated into the sky.

We stared at the glowing light.

“He watched as members of my Coven were mauled.” I
created a sparkling sphere of power. “I don’t feel he suffered enough.”

“I concur.” Conall conjured a glassy ball of
red-hot fire. “He killed innocent Knights.”

 
We
both hauled back and tossed our magics at the retreating nebulous.

The impact knocked us off our feet. The demons
fighting around us suffered the same fate.

Ripples of heat and light blasted through the
streets.

The all-consuming curiosity innate to fairykind ran
through me strongly, and I shielded myself with a bubble of magics. I watched,
enraptured, as colour-tinted winds fanned from the collision of raw energy.

Nature is
ugly at times, but right now, it’s beautiful.

Energized, I gained my feet dusting off my tattered
clothes. “He’s too powerful to destroy, but he’ll think twice before
challenging us in future.”

Conall sat up. He rested his wrists on his knees,
breathing heavily. “Perhaps.”

“Damballah prizes balance. If Rae defeats
Marinette, he won’t return until new evil rises.” I brushed rubble from my
shoulder. “I’ll await his arrival with bated breath to see which path he
picks.”

“Until new evil rises.” Conall smiled grimly. “
Until
.”

“Without evil good ceases to exist.”

“Is that how you justify the wickedness you inflict
on others?”

I cut my eye at him. “Think what you wish.”

“Give me time, Cael.” He lifted his head. “I cannot
change the way I feel within a matter of days. My guilt is vast. Give me time.”

My heart pounded.

He sees
me.

I plastered a disinterested pall over my features.
“How hard that must have been to admit.”

Conall chuckled. “I begin to understand you.”
 

I held out a hand, face slack in mock outrage. “No,
never that.”

He clasped it, and I yanked him up.

The ground shook in a tumult and light arced out
over our heads. Screeches of misery sliced through the pandemonium. The
angst-ridden noises originated from the direction of the river bisecting my
war-torn city.

Conall’s startled eyes met my bemused ones. “Bet
you a hex Rae’s in trouble.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Rae

Falling
is nothing like dying. Death is peaceful. As you die there comes a moment when
pain and fear extinguishes. After the numbing cold is reviving warmth. It
carries you over life’s reach and into oblivion’s paradise. Falling is
terrifying. The world rotates out of control as you tumble. Your gut ends up
lodged in your throat making your shrieks sound funny. Or maybe that’s because
you can’t drag in enough air to scream.

The force of downward thrust trapped my wings to my
back.

I plummeted towards a stretch of restless blue I
realised was a winding ribbon of river. As the gushing channel rushed to meet
me, I felt giddy relief.
Water is way
better than concrete.
Dread bit it cleanly in half.
I can’t even paddle.
Impact. Thousands of needles stabbed through
layers of my skin. Millions of lead weighted water droplets rolled over my
limbs.

I sunk under into crushing darkness.

My face broke the surface, and I gurgled.
Spluttered as my hands thrashed, splashing the water into my mouth and nose.
The river was covered in sludge. The oil slicking my skin was unpleasant, but
the pungent stench curdled my stomach, and the sour taste made me heave.

Plants dying on the riverbed tangled around my
ankles. Drew me closer to bask in my power. Mindlessly towing me to death.

The river swallowed me whole.

For a terrifying stretch of time, I sank aimlessly.
The sheer terror of being submerged in so much water forced me to kick and move
my arms in a downward thrust.