Shadow's Light (24 page)

Michel edged closer to me and wrapped an arm around my waist. He didn't take his eyes off the Queen or the room at large. I could feel the tension in his entire body as he stood snug against my side. He was as solid, as unforgiving, as the black stone that formed the
Dökkálfa
fort.

Do you trust her?
I asked in his mind, voicing it here seemed ill advised.

No, but we had no choice.

Is this my fault? Should I not have tried to bargain with her?
I was worried that I had played this all wrong. That when trying to cover for Michel's obvious weakness, I had walked us into a trap.

Not at all, ma douce. We needed to bargain for our escape and this was all we had to bargain with.

Knowing Michel, he had already surmised that this would be the outcome. But part of me knew, he was not pleased with the charm.

Can you stop the portals from closing? And what is this job the Champion has offered?
I asked, a million thoughts and questions running through my mind. It was a miracle that Michel could hear my projected questions in amongst the cacophony of noise in my head right now.

Do you remember when I visited Paris before Amicus was killed?
he asked, his eyes still roaming the room for threats.

I did remember his visit to the
Iunctio's Palais
and his meeting with the Champion. I had somehow managed to come to him, being pulled by his need for my support through the Bond we shared. We had never had that happen before and I could only think it did because I can Dream Walk. On that occasion, Michel could see me, so could the human donor he fed from at the time, but the Champion had appeared to not notice me materialise in her office while she chatted with Michel. Of course, knowing her, it had been a ruse. She probably had known I was there all along and chose to ignore me. The Champion and I do not get along.

But, I was there long enough for her to demand that Michel give her an answer to her offer by the end of the week. I never heard what that offer was. And Michel never made it to the end of the week. Amicus 'killed' him and the
Dökkálfa
captured him when he 'died'.

What offer did she make?
I asked, scanning the crowd like him. Sofiq was still in deep conversation with her brother Terrin and the two younger looking, but equally as god-like fey men at her side.

The Iunctio Council has taken a hammering recently. They lost the Creator and the Tempest in the attempt on the Champion's life.
Yes, I remembered that, I had been there trying to protect the Champion. The Creator, a vampire who had originally replaced Michel in that role when he left, died defending her and the Tempest died because of a stake through his heart. My stake, placed by me through his heart. He had been trying to kill the Champion and was trying to kill me. But still, I was intricately involved in their demises. Michel went on,
They also lost the Pandora when she came to New Zealan
d. And oops, that was by my hand too. No wonder the Champion was not my favourite fan. Two of three recent losses to her council members, members who had been around for centuries, died because of me.
The Enforcer although not dead, has all but been lost to her too.
Yes, Gregor was now the Master of Wellington City. Once again due to me. The Champion had sent him our way to fill a gap, but chosen him because she wanted to mess with my head. At the time, Gregor had been chasing me, trying to steal me from Michel. She had known just what a hornets nest she was creating, when she sent him to New Zealand.
The Champion thought it fitting that I replace one of the members on the Council. A payback for our involvement, so to speak.

I thought about that for a minute. It made sense, it was exactly how the Champion worked. And she had probably threatened my safety to get him to comply and then he went and got himself 'killed'. Now, I wondered if the position had already been filled. If it had, we were going to be in trouble. Michel needed to be back on the
Iunctio's
Council for him to have any chance at stopping the portals from being closed.

Was it the Creator position again?
I asked, thinking it would be the obvious choice, he had been the Creator once before, he had experience in that role. Unfortunately though, it was an easy position to fill and as such no doubt no longer available.

Michel shifted slightly beside me. The first movement he had made in the past ten minutes, other than to continue to scan the environment for threats. I chanced a glance at his face to see what had made him uncomfortable, but his mask was in place. The one that said very little at all.

Michel?
I encouraged softly. He sighed.

Ma douce, it was a unique position the Champion would only want me to fill. But, it will be a powerful one. One that allows me access to many tiers of the Iunctio's strengths.
He looked at me then, ignoring, or so it would seem, the rest of the room. But, this was Michel and I was sure he was still very much aware of where every single fey stood. When I looked back at him though, his eyes were only for me.
She asked that I become her personal spy and assassin. The title of which is the Emissary.

Gregor had been her Enforcer. His role was to punish when Nosferatu broke the rules to such an extent that the final death was the only option left. Of course, most of the time Nosferatins did that for her, but the odd vampire would slip through the cracks and then Gregor would be called in. He was also called the Scout, but that role was only to scout out news of the Prophesy. The Prophesy I am part of. It has all but become defunct as the Prophesy has been realised and there is no further hidden objectives to be found. The Champion has never had a spy or assassin though. The description alone leads you to believe the deaths Michel would have to inflict, may not always be warranted.

A spy could provide intelligence, but not necessarily the truth, yet she could instruct him to kill despite the legalities. I was sure the Champion was above all laws. The position would indeed be a powerful one. And a shocking one. To think the
Iunctio
, or more to the point, the Champion, had a killer at her beck and call. Someone old and powerful and quite capable of blending into the shadows and never being seen at all, was downright scary.

And then there was Michel. How would he cope with that role?

His hand came up and brushed my cheek. I'd obviously failed to hide my reaction on my face, or I was projecting thoughts again. Or maybe, he just knew what I would think.

I can handle the Champion, ma douce. We have no choice.

I wasn't so sure that he could handle her and he wouldn't be playing by her rules. The extent of how dangerous this all was left me numb with shock and fear. I was more scared of the
Iunctio
than I had ever been of the Fey. And considering what had happened over the past few days, that was saying something.

We didn't get a chance to discuss it further, because the Queen had finished her discussions with her Grey Lords. I was guessing that was what the god-like merry men were called. She'd referred to one of her Grey Lords accompanying me on our return home. I saw the young one, the one who could quite easily have been her son, walk towards us.

“Aliath will accompany you, human. He will ensure your compliance with the accord.” Sofiq's voice rang out crystal clear across the space between us. Although an accord between vampires requires a sharing of blood, I was picking the Fey considered the sharing of a charm equally as binding as a vampire's accord. It did nothing for my nerves that she had called our agreement such a thing. There was no escaping one of those.

The silver haired younger version of Sofiq came to stand beside me, his vivid green eyes hard as they assessed my face. I was picking he didn't like the bargain we had struck with his Queen. I was picking that was why she was sending
him
as my guard. There didn't look to be an ounce of interest in his gaze. It was all hatred and mistrust. I noticed then, a power coming from him. I had not been able to recognise fey magic before, but I had always known when it was there. Aliath, as Sofiq had called him, was one extremely, super-powerful fey.

I rubbed my naked arm absently against the sting of all that magic and he reached out in lightning speed and took hold of my wrist, right above Lutin's silver bracelet. He held on tight and turned to the Queen and bowed. She nodded slowly in return and then before I knew it we were standing on a concrete paved street in the middle of a hot afternoon.

I noticed four things at once.

One, the silver bracelet was gone and my Light had returned.

Two, I was on the pavement outside my apartment building in Rio de Janeiro, but I had no idea how much time had passed.

Three, Aliath still held my now naked wrist.

And four, Michel was nowhere to be seen.

The first thing I did was wrap my Light around me as a shield. It was natural, instinctive and it felt so damn good. I almost laughed out loud at the feel of that familiar warmth and Light. But, then I thought of Michel. What was the Queen playing at? Had she kept him in
Álfheimr
? Was I that gullible to have believed her?

But, it was an accord. She couldn't back out of it. She had said we would both be returned to our world. But, she hadn't said we would be returned together.

“Where's Michel?” I demanded the fairy still gripping my wrist and looking around us with wide, frightened eyes. Huh? Who would have thought the super-powerful fairy at my side would be overwhelmed by a busy street in Copacabana?

“I have no idea,” he bit out between clenched teeth, his head whipping one way and then the other taking in all the sights. He seemed particularly interested in the skimpily clad bikini wearing young girls who were skipping along together on the other side of the street.

I studied him for a moment and noticed he hadn't bothered to hide his fairy-ness. His hair was still a pure silver, not a natural tone, even dyed, in this realm. I sighed and dragged him off the pavement into my apartment building and out of sight of the ogling teenage girls across the street.

The door swung closed behind us and he jumped at the sound. So much for his tough Grey Lord exterior back at the
Dökkálfa
fort.

“How much time has passed here while I've been in
Álfheimr
?” Surely he had some sort of inner fey time sense that would at least tell me that.

Aliath looked at me, his vivid green eyes still a little too wide to be natural. He didn't say anything, I might as well have been mute for all the good my questions were doing. The poor man was suffering from culture shock. I tugged him up the stairs to my apartment. There was just no telling how much time had passed, I had to hope my spare key was still hidden on the landing and that my landlord hadn't let my room out yet. Chances were I was about to break into someone else's home, but I needed a couple of things and there was no getting past it. I had to perform a little B & E.

Although, it would only be E as I wasn't actually having to B, what with the key I had just found in its hidey-hole on the landing to my old apartment. Bingo! Now to check if the place was inhabited.

No one answered the soft knock to the door, so I took a deep breath in and inserted the key pushing the door open when the lock unlatched. My apartment was exactly how I had left it. Memories of Avery and me back in this small space came flooding into my head. I resolutely pushed them aside. I had no idea if Avery had survived that little encounter with Lutin. I could only hope that my intervention in São Paulo had worked.

I closed the door behind us and flicked the lock. Not that it would do much good against any fey trying to chase me down, but the vampires would be all out for the count, hiding from the sun right now. Time though, was still of the essence. I needed to grab my stash and get us the hell outta Dodge. 

I flicked a glance at Aliath, he was taking in the sparse furnishings in my little flat, totally unimpressed. It certainly didn't compare to the plush surroundings of the
Dökkálfa
Court. I shrugged and headed toward the bed, getting down on my hands and knees to shimmy underneath it and pry loose the floorboard above my emergency cache of goodies.

My two silver stakes and silver knife were with Avery in São Paulo. Or at least I hoped he still had them, they cost a bomb and replacing stakes was not an easy activity. But, I was taught to be prepared. Nero, my former Nosferatin trainer, had insisted on back-ups. Not that I think he had ever envisaged me hiding out in South America on the run from the
Iunctio
and the Fey.

The floorboard finally came loose and I reached awkwardly inside fishing out a spare silver stake, silver dagger and my dancing dragon necklace. I reached back in and found the two hundred US dollars I had also hidden and the cheap pre-paid cellphone I had stashed there as a last thought. I backed out from under the bed, aware that I now had dust all over my
Dökkálfa
dress, but it wasn't something I was particularly worried about. The dress was about to be lost for good.

I sat down on the edge of my bed and looked at my hidden hoard of precious life-saving equipment. The stake and dagger were invaluable. I had picked them up in my travels. Not Egyptian made, like my usual gear, but fairly well constructed all the same. They would to the job anyway and that's all that mattered. If I made it back to New Zealand I could restock with the real deal. I'd been surprised to find the stake in Lima. Who knew Peru would have an underground vampire staking business? No Nosferatins, but very aware and cautious Norms. Their folklore was eerily correct and I had spent longer with the group of frighteningly cognizant humans in that city than I had intended. It was through them that most of my diversions were established. Somehow they had known a little of what I was and were determined to help me out.

I had made a mental note to send a care parcel back to them one day with good quality silverware, but the thought of involving more Norms in the underworld battle with the Nosferatu was a little scary. Then again, who else was here to keep their loved ones safe? South America was a black hole on the
Iunctio's
map and Nosferatins were non-existent in these lands.

I switched the cellphone on and waited for a signal. While it booted up I fingered Michel's dancing dragon necklace. I hadn't worn it since I had left New Zealand. Too painful a reminder of what I had lost. A small smile played on the edges of my lips as my finger ran over the lightning bolt of diamonds across the dragon's heart. Michel was alive. There could be no better emotion than what I felt at that knowledge.

Avery had once said to me, at the moment of Michel's death in fact, when I had been wrought with grief, that:
For there to be shadows, there must also be Light
. I had not believed him, of course, too deep in a pit of shadowy despair. But, the Light was shining brightly in this small apartment on
Rua Duvivier
today. Very brightly indeed.

The cellphone chirped and I picked it up and checked the date and time. I'd been in
Álfheimr
for close to one week. My cellphone screen told me that three weeks had actually passed in this realm. My last paid rent was about to run out in the next day or so. Luck had been on my side. I looked up at Aliath, who stood very still, not touching a single thing. The look on his face was hostile. He wasn't happy to be here and I don't think he had appreciated my brief side trip down memory lane.

“You're going to have to use some glamour if you want to blend in,” I offered, punching in a number on the cellphone as I spoke.

“Why?” he asked.

“Silver is not a common colour for hair and you're a little too pretty for the average male in this realm. Tone it all down a bit.” I waved a hand at him indicating a downward motion as I spoke that last. His lips quirked ever so slightly at the edges. Maybe he did have an emotional response, other than 'nasty', somewhere deep within after all?

The phone rang twice before it was answered at the other end. The crisp English accent of my favourite vampire full of my Light came over the line.

“Who is this?” Samson demanded.

For a moment I couldn't say a thing. I swallowed twice and finally managed a croaky, “Hey.”

There was pause and then a long breath out. “Mistress?” He sounded so hopeful, I let my own breath of air out in a slight sob and covered it with a laugh.

“Who else would be phoning this number, Samson? Or have you been giving out your private line more generously since I left?” Samson was a very private vampire. He kept this particular phone number for only a select few. That's how I had known I'd find him, no matter where he was now in the world.

“Luce,” he said softly and I heard the rustle of sheets in the background.

“Did I wake you up?” I asked and looked at the clock on the wall above the kitchen sink. It said 3 pm, but I had no idea where Samson was. “What time is it where you are?”

“It's seven in the morning. I was having a sleep in, if you must know.”

“Where are you, Samson? Are you still in Auckland?”

“Of course. This is my home and I had hoped you would return here when you got your wander-lust out of your system.” He paused for a second. “You are returning here aren't you, Luce?”

“Ah, yeah.” My mind was reeling, there was just so much to tell him.

Plus, there was obviously a hell of a lot for him to tell me, for starters, where was he staying in Auckland? When Michel 'died', all of his assets were handed over to the line. As Jett was set to take over the line, he would have also taken over the assets. Including our house in St Helier's Bay. There had been no provision for the kindred Nosferatin left behind. Simply because I was not meant to have been left behind at all. I had known that I and my line would have to move out of the house eventually, I just hadn't stuck around to face it.

“Where are you staying?” I asked. First things first, was he safe and cared for? I may have abandoned them, but I still felt responsible for them. Guilt was starting its evil trek back into my heart.

“At home,” he replied, then must have understood where I was coming from, because he added, “Jett wrote the house in St. Helier's over to you. As well as a Land Rover and your car. They are all in your name. Sergei and Nataliya and I have been staying here. Oh, and Marcus and Matthias haven't shifted out either. They were hoping you would return too. The house in Taupo was signed over to Matthew and Kathleen as well. As was the house in London to Christopher. Jett offered us all more, but we just took what we thought you would have wanted.”

Wow. Jett hadn't needed to do that. But then, that was Jett. Scary as hell in person, but underneath all that stark and lethal threat was a marshmallow. He had looked after the people I should have looked after. He had taken care of my business, while I had been AWOL. I'd have to thank him and then I thought of the problems about to surface with Michel's return. Jett was now the official Master of Auckland City. Theoretically you couldn't stand down from that role. You couldn't simply hand it over to another. To lose it, you had to die.

First things first. “OK, that's great, glad to hear you haven't been turfed out on your arse.” I took a deep breath. “Samson, Michel's alive.”

There was a soft sound in the background, from down the line. I have excellent hearing. I can hear conversations carried out in the room of the person I am talking to on the phone. There hadn't been one now, but I had heard an intact of soft air. Not Samson's, but someone else's. Samson had a bed mate with him. My face broke into a smile. Samson rarely shared his bed. Or if he did, he kept it very private. I don't think he'd had an open liaison since I had known him.

I decided not to call him out on his companion, but until I knew who it was, I wanted to be cautious. I placed the phone on mute and looked back over at Aliath. He was still in the same position, not touching a thing. But his eyes were all on me. He had taken my advice and down shifted the Fey visionary magnetism, his hair a soft silvery blonde, his features handsome but not overly done. His eyes a soft green, no longer as bright. He looked almost human. To a Norm, he'd just seem scrummy, but believably so. I tried to break the glamour. I had thought having known it was there and known what he looked like before hand, it would be easier. But, I couldn't even tell he was expending any effort or fey magic at all. He still looked like Aliath, but just not as omnipresent.

“Can you shift through space? You know, take us anywhere in the world we want to go like Lutin can?” I asked, still holding the phone in my hand, but knowing Samson would not be able to hear my conversation now.

“Of course I can.” I just nodded at his supercilious expression. I guess he didn't like the idea that I had questioned whether he could do something the
Ljósálfar
Prince had been able to do.

I un-muted the phone and brought it to my ear. Samson had been talking, but I'd missed it all. I didn't bother to get him to repeat it, I just said, “I'll be there soon. I can't feel Michel, we're no longer connected, but he is somewhere back in this realm.” I'd tried to talk to him in my head, but he hadn't answered. Whether that was because we were too far away or our talking ability was not as strong as it used to be, I didn't know. Part of me was concerned though. Michel had talked in my mind from
Álfheimr
, that would indicate our mind talking ability was fairly strong. The fact that we couldn't now was definitely a worry. Was he actually in this world or not? “See if you can locate him. I'll explain everything when I return. Oh, you better let Jett know. I'll be there as soon as I can.”

I ended the call mid-way through Samson's frantic questions. It was a little unfair of me. I'd dropped an atomic sized bomb on him and run the other way. But, I couldn't spare the time. I wanted to get out of this apartment as quickly as I could. Although I wanted Lutin to find me, I didn't want to be unprepared and my life here in Copacabana had been compromised. I was done hiding and I was ready to use the resources I had. That included Samson and the Russian siblings, Sergei and Nataliya, of my line. And by the sound of it, Marcus and Matthias, my two personal bodyguards. They hadn't been of my line, they were Michel's. But, they had been part of my family anyway. I was remarkably happy to hear they had stuck around.