Another blink of my eyes and I no longer stood on the knoll. Without taking a step, I’d appeared in the valley below, standing face-to-face with a woman I recognized and yet didn’t know.
This was the woman who’d run from the charging Enphigmalé in my dream. She had the same thick raven hair, same peaches-and-cream skin, and the exact same sapphire eyes. She looked my age, maybe a little younger, but I realized with certainty there was no mistaking the kinship between her, the child who’d warned me about “the Man,” and the adolescent girl who’d brought me here the first time. Sisters? Mother and daughters? Did I really have time to wonder?
She smiled. Again it struck me as familiar-not an openly hostile expression, but not exactly warm either. It didn’t suit her. A gentle breeze stirred her hair, and she looked to the sky, her smile fading into something more serious. When her eyes met mine again, there was a depth of sadness there. “I must speak with you,” she said.
“Whatever you have to say, make it fast.” The sound thumping in my ears now was not the passage of time but my own racing heart. “The last time I wound up here, a few minutes cost me two days. What the hell is going on? Who are you?”
“I’m nothing but a humble servant. A priestess and caretaker. And you are the Guardian. You must protect the Key and the natural order. You must give assistance if I call upon you.”
Lovely.
“I have to go,” I said.
“He will deceive you,” she said, taking my hand in hers. “You have to be strong.”
“I really, really do not have time for this.” I pulled my hand from hers. How long had I been standing here? A minute? Ninety seconds? “I have to get back home before someone notices I’m gone. I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, and I’m not a damned Guardian. You got that?”
“Please, Darian,” she said, too calmly. “You have no choice.”
“I’m not sure what you think I’m responsible for guarding, but I don’t even own a key to my own apartment. As for giving you assistance…this looks like a nice, calm place. I doubt you have anything to worry about.” I held out the emerald, trying again to return it, but she took a step back and shook her head.
A couple of minutes gone? A day-or more? I had to leave. Now. “I can’t help you,” I said. “I’m sorry. I’ve got my own shit to deal with. Find someone else to guard your keys, and quit bringing me here.” I let the pendulum fall from my hand, and it drifted as if it were a feather. “I have to go. I can’t stay here.” I turned my back to her, and the green landscape melted away as I heard the pendulum land in the grass.
“Look out! Move out of the way!” someone shouted before a horn blared. My eyes flew open just in time to see the bus barreling toward me. I jumped, falling back against someone as I tripped on the sidewalk, the bus whooshing past me to turn the corner. Late afternoon. The sun was just about to sink into the western sky. How long had I been gone this time? I had to get back to Tyler fast, but becoming incorporeal on a street packed with humans wasn’t an option. Of course, no one had seemed to notice that I’d just popped out of thin air, so maybe no one would notice if I did it again. Above the din of engines, horns, and people, a high-pitched keen raised my hackles. The falcon swooped down; silver glinted in its talons as it released its cargo just above my head before spinning in midair and flying away.
With preternatural speed, I reached out, catching the pendulum before it hit the ground. I looked at the emerald in my hand and could almost hear a woman’s calm voice saying, “You forgot something.” Pulling back my fist, I prepared to fling the damned thing into traffic, but before I let it fly, the emerald warmed my palm, absorbing the sound of time and delivering peace to my soul. Damn it. Instead, I shoved the pendulum in my pocket and watched as the falcon made its ascent into the sky.
“You’re a pain in the ass-you know that?” I shouted. A few people stopped to gape, though I was only one of several people on this street talking or shouting to themselves. I meandered through the pedestrians, fighting to appear unruffled until I could find a hidden place to leave my solid form behind.
On the plus side, I had less time to kill before nightfall, which meant less time until I could track Reaver. But I was terrified I’d lost more than seven or eight hours. What if it had been seven or eight days? I hurried toward my apartment, all the while racking my brain for a decent excuse for where I’d been, when I heard the scurrying sound of insects close behind me.
I rolled my eyes to the heavens. Just what I needed. I fought the urge to turn and stamp their shiny little bodies into the pavement. In the light of day, a Lyhtan could choose to take the corporeal form of an unassuming insect. At night, they were formidable fighters, nearly seven feet tall and with sharp, venomous teeth that could turn their prey’s insides into a slurpable goo. I’d once seen one of them partaking of a liquid meal. In a word: Disgusting.
Rather than flee like a coward, I stayed my course, waiting for the right time and the right place to turn and fight. I sensed the approach of sunset, my skin prickling with each passing second. Until the sun slipped completely away, the Lyhtans would be shielded from human eyes by their incorporeal forms. They could attack me right here and now if they wanted to. But I assumed they hadn’t attacked me already simply because they were worried that they’d run out of time and would be forced to regain their solid forms before they could kill me. I needed to find cover, and fast. Good thing dangerous, abandoned alleys were plentiful. Gotta love the city.
The evening sun plunged beneath the horizon, and I felt its passage as a rumble that traveled the length of my body. Quickening my pace, I ducked into the darkest, dankest, most abandoned alleyway I could find-and I turned to fight.
Son of a bitch, there were five of the fuckers. I could easily have taken two or three. But five? Fate really had it out for me. I drew my katana, thankful I wouldn’t be hindered by my corporeal form. Post-sunset, the Lyhtans would be trapped in their bodies, but it didn’t make them any less deadly. Any one of them would be capable of ripping my head from my shoulders if I made one careless move. But if I could take their heads first…the better for me.
I assessed the situation as quickly as I could. None of them appeared armed, though their taloned hands could deliver a poisonous slice or two. I wasn’t taking any chances as I backed deeper into the alley, drawing them away from the hapless public. “I’m having a serious self-esteem moment,” I said. “I mean, five against one? You guys must think I’m pretty damned tough.”
One of them laughed, and I shivered at the sound. No matter how many years I lived, I knew I’d never get used to the many facets of sound that made up a single Lyhtan voice. “We’re going to enjoy eating you.” As a collective body, my five attackers took a step closer, greenish drool leaking from their gaping mouths.
“You’ll make a decent meal,” another said. “A savory morsel, indeed. The world will owe us a debt of gratitude once we’ve finished with you. You are Other. Worse than you were when simply another Shaede scum.”
Nothing I hadn’t heard before. Lyhtans bore a hatred and jealousy toward Shaedes for as long as their species had lived. And since my transformation into something more than both of them…let’s just say they wouldn’t be inviting me to any family functions any time soon. “Okay, you hate me. And might I add, maybe you’re just a little jealous that I can do what you can do-but better.” I swung my sword in a swirling pattern. “I might be outnumbered, but you’re outweaponed, and outskilled. Leave now and I won’t harbor any ill feelings.”
They laughed, the sound of a thousand mirthful voices. “She’s brave,” one of them said to his buddies.
“She’s not smart, though. Oh no, she is not smart at all.”
Their little conversation was grating on my last nerve. Again they advanced, and again I retreated deeper into the alley. Gray twilight melted away into darkening night as they talked-I assumed-in an attempt to scare me.
“I’m not smart?” Hmm. That pissed me off. I considered myself pretty damned smart. Reason enough to kill my attackers, fair fight or not. “Fuck you.”
I spun the katana high over my head as I leapt into the air, cutting down with speed and precision. Two of the Lyhtans stumbled back, but the other three charged, converging on me so as to give me no escape. I jabbed with my sword and then cut down. Without pause, I swept the blade back in an upward arc. One of my assailants stumbled backward before falling to its knees, clutching its bleeding torso, while the other died before its body hit the ground. Two down. The one I’d missed lunged toward me, teeth bared and poised to bite. Dissolving into dusk, I left my body just in time to miss becoming a Lyhtan predinner smoothie.
Unfortunately, now I had one enemy at my back and two before me. I drew a throwing knife from my belt and turned to the side. With a sweeping throw, I launched the knife and struck one of my three remaining opponents square in the middle of its forehead. One more down, two to go. It toppled over like a felled tree, landing on the pavement with a sickening crack. I pointed the katana at attackers four and five and waited for them to make a move.
Lyhtans are skilled hunters and adept at hiding. The bastards can literally run up walls, and so I crouched, sword ready, my free hand hovering near my knives. In a blink, one of them moved fast. Like a character straight out of a video game, it scaled the wall, running up and sideways, and then flipped as it came to the ground on the other side of me.
Two against one. Piece of cake. I went for another knife, drew it, and let it fly. It grazed the Lyhtan standing at the back of the alley, the damage barely classifying as a scratch. Great. Way to hit your mark, dipshit. Raif would’ve died if he’d been there to see me make such a rookie mistake.
While I was distracted by my utter lack of skill, assassin number five jumped me. We tumbled to the ground in a tangle of long insect limbs before I dissolved from the Lyhtan’s grasp and reappeared above it. Gripping the katana in both hands, I aimed the sword for the bastard’s heart and stabbed down. It jerked, arching its long, lean back, and died, leaving me man to man-well, woman to thing-with the last remaining Lyhtan. I abandoned the throwing knives-my aim was shit-and went for my dagger instead. Swinging the sword and stabbing with the long dagger, I fought the creature that had nothing more than its talons and sharp teeth to use against me.
The alley was narrow and our quarters close. It damned well might have been blind fucking luck that I’d beaten the other four because, as I grappled with the remaining Lyhtan, it seemed the walls of the alley were closing in on us. It pushed me back, and I slammed against a wall, the katana clanging to the pavement at my feet. The Lyhtan moved in a blur of speed, its long jagged teeth sinking into the flesh of my arm.
Motherfucker! I thought I’d pass out from the pain. Searing venom pulsed through my veins, and had I been a more helpless soul, my insides would have begun to melt within a matter of seconds. It didn’t take long for the burning to subside as my otherworldly body took over, expelling the venom from the wound. What had once been a raw, open tear began to close, the skin knitting back together with amazing speed. Desperate, the Lyhtan lunged at me again, and I met its advance in a strange battle dance that put me within gutting distance. I jabbed hard with the long dagger, careful not to make a killing blow. Aiming high above the waist, but just below the ribs, I stabbed, feeling the sharp metal penetrate flesh, meat, and muscle, gouging the Lyhtan’s midsection. I tugged hard, withdrew the blade, and wrapped my free hand around the bastard’s shoulder. I’d have grabbed a hank of its corn silk hair for leverage, but, damn, it was tall. With speed and unnatural strength, I threw my attacker to the ground, stomping my boot on its shoulder to keep it down.
I smiled into the Lyhtan’s seething face. Yeah, that’s right. Nobody fucks with this girl. “Okay,” I said, feeling my badassedness. “Who sent you after me? And if you tell me you don’t know…I’m going to take you apart, starting with your fingers”-I pointed the dagger between the Lyhtan’s thighs-“and ending with whatever it is you’re hiding under that nasty tuft of fur.”
The Lyhtan cackled as it strained for breath. “I answer to no one and need no reason to kill you beyond your mere existence. You are favored by that bastard king and his warrior brother. What a blow to them it would be when I delivered your body to their doorstep.”
So…what? This had nothing to do with me, personally. I was just a pawn in the eternal Lyhtan/Shaede strife. Wonderful. I didn’t have time for this petty bullshit. “What’s your name?”
“Mengoth.”
Good Lord, couldn’t one of them be named Sam or Brad? Mengoth? Give me a break. “Well, then, you’re not worth keeping alive.” I bent over him. “Wouldn’t you agree? I mean, if I don’t take care of you right now, who’s to say the next Shaede you cross will walk away to tell the tale.”
“If you think I’d be stupid enough to beg a creature no better than me to spare my life, you aren’t worthy to do the deed,” he said. “You seem to be under the misassumption that I find you worth my respect.” He coughed, and greenish spittle splattered on the toe of my boot. “You may have the privilege of joining with the light, but make no mistake. You are nothing more than a common Shaede. And you deserve nothing better than a slow, painful death.”
Mengoth kicked his legs and grabbed my foot with both his taloned hands, giving my ankle a sound twist. I hit the pavement headfirst, white light exploding in my cracked skull. Dazed, I tried to shake the fog from my brain as Mengoth fumbled in the haze of encroaching night for my sword. Metal scraped against asphalt, and the sound of it echoed in the alley, an eerie prelude to my impending death. I lay still, my fingers creeping to my belt as I waited for Mengoth to strike. Through lowered lids, I watched the bastard take up my sword and raise it high above me. He poised to strike, lifted his head toward the sky, and took a deep breath. It was now or never. I pulled the last throwing knife from my belt and launched it at Mengoth’s head. The silver buried itself to the hilt in the Lyhtan’s neck, and it looked down on me, amber eyes wide with surprise. I rolled back and kicked, propelling myself upward, and delivered a roundhouse to his stomach. He slammed against the wall, dropping the katana, which I caught in midfall. With a sweeping upward cut, I ran the blade through his neck, just above the knife hilt, and the Lyhtan’s head rolled deep into the alley before his body crumpled to the ground at my feet.
Just my luck to end an evening on a bloody note.
I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed Raif’s number before retrieving my knives from the Lyhtan bodies that were already beginning to dissolve into shimmering light. For all intents and purposes, I had to admire the Lyhtan form; they were perfectly designed for stealth. They could travel invisibly or virtually unnoticed during the day, and they were fully capable of staying hidden at night. Plus, no messy bodies to scare the shit out of the police when they died. Perfect, really.
On the fifth ring, Raif finally answered. “Where have you been all day?”
All day. I could almost sigh in relief. I’d been gone less than twenty-four hours this time. “Out.”
“You sound out of breath. What trouble have you found now?”
I wished he’d give it a rest already. Like Tyler, Raif was beginning to sound like a broken record. “Oh, you know, just an evening jog to get the heart pumping. How’s Tyler?”
“Not better, but not worse either. Whatever ails him has certainly weakened him. Dimitri has been checking in on him, and your Jinn is growing tired of having a babysitter. It took a bit to calm him down. Sounds like your protector doesn’t like to wake up and find his charge missing.”
Shit. Night had barely fallen, and I still needed to find Reaver. “Can Dimitri keep an eye on my apartment for a few more hours? I have an errand to run.”
“Tyler’s not a prisoner, Darian. Or helpless. I don’t expect Dimitri to follow your Jinn, should he leave. What sort of errands do you have?”
“Just scoping out a new hot spot.” My endeavors to find Raif’s daughter, cure Tyler of his magical ailment, and steal a mysterious hourglass would be a hell of a lot easier without everyone’s noses up my ass. Raif sighed into the phone, obviously onto me. “I’m going to talk to Levi about a lead,” I said, lying through my teeth. “Just looking for some help on the Tyler front.”
His pregnant pause made me cringe. Raif sure wasn’t helping me to help him. The deception had begun to wear on me. I needed help; I couldn’t do everything on my own. I didn’t want Raif to be a party to my acts of thievery unless it was absolutely necessary. I knew I could count on him. He’d finally allowed himself to consider the possibility that his daughter was still alive. But until I had the leverage I needed, I wanted Raif to know as little as possible about what I was up to. He was much too honorable to participate in a criminal act, and I wanted it to stay that way.
“Dimitri can keep an eye on things,” Raif said. “For a while longer. But, Darian, you’ll have Anya to contend with if you keep her husband much longer.”
Anya. Yeah, that’s all I needed. “I’ll be home by dawn. Thanks, Raif.”
“Darian,” he said in a tone too big brother for my taste, “when you’re done with your…errands…we need to have a talk.”
Sure. Why not? Pile it on! “Fine,” I said, and hung up.