The Mage in Black (18 page)

For the first time since I’d known him, I saw real fear in Giguhl’s eyes. He nodded. “He’s right, Sabina. There’s no way I can beat him. He’s too strong.”

I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath. No way was I going down like this—killed on a subway platform by a demon wearing a kilt. “Bullshit. We can do this together.”

Giguhl shook his head sadly. “There’s no way.”

“Listen to your minion, Chosen. Accept your fate.”

“Like hell.” I narrowed my eyes and crouched low, ready to fight for our lives. The familiar surge of adrenaline coursed through me. I might die tonight, but I’d die doing something I loved. Before I could take two steps, Eurynome hit me with a ball of something that short-circuited my brain and left every nerve ending on fire. I collapsed into a heap on the ground, totally helpless.

“Sabina, no!” Giguhl’s voice sounded far away, like he was speaking through a tin can attached to a string. I tried to open my eyes, but I didn’t have the power. I felt like millions of fire ants swarmed over my skin. They burrowed into my brain, my stomach, my throat.

Vaguely, I heard the sounds of a struggle. An enraged roar broke through the haze. Through the pain, I felt the air shift. A blast of heat and energy washed over my sensitive skin. I curled up against the onslaught of sensation. I raised my hands to block out what sounded like two freight trains colliding nearby.

Lost in my own agony, I didn’t notice when the tunnel went silent. I groaned as the world shifted. A rhythmic rocking motion followed. The movement intensified the pain, but I was helpless to stop it. A panicked voice yelled at me to hold on.

S
o this is death.

“Sabina?” That voice. Vaguely familiar, yet echoed as if the owner spoke through a tunnel.

“Wake up.”

Can’t. I’m dead
.

“Open your eyes, dammit!” A sting on my cheek.

I swatted at the annoying prickle of pain. I didn’t want to feel anything anymore. I prayed for numbness to wrap me in its ambivalent arms.

“Get her some blood.”

Mmmm, yes. Blood
.

“Stick it under her nose.”

Pour it in my mouth
.

The ferric scent of blood tickled my nose. My gums throbbed. My fangs pricked my tongue, followed by the coppery taste of my own blood.

“She’s coming around.”

My face scrunched against light coming through my eyelids. For a moment, I saw the pink spiderweb veins there. Someone wrenched my lid open. I jerked away, hissing at the unholy bright light.

“C’mon, open up for me.”

Fingers dug into my jaw, forcing my mouth open. Then my throat filled with a pool of blood. Choking, I fought against my captor. “Swallow!”

The mass of liquid forged a painful path down my throat. Once it cleared my airway, I jerked up, coughing and sputtering. My eyes flew open. At first all I saw was a wall of white light. I blinked against the pain. Then, slowly, I could make out shadowed figures leaning over me.

Consciousness was a blessing and a curse. Blessing because I knew I was alive. Curse because I wished I were dead. My skin sizzled with pain, like I’d bathed in acid. Someone screamed. Me? Must have been, because my throat suddenly burned along with the rest of me.

“Is there anything you can do to stop it?” A male voice. Orpheus?

“No,” the first voice said. “The spell he used was meant to paralyze her. It won’t kill her, but right about now she probably wishes it would.”

“Can you ease her pain?” Despite my pain and confusion, I recognized this voice was Maisie’s. Something clicked in my fevered brain, and I tried to speak, to beg Maisie for help, but no words came out.

“The best thing I can do for her right now is knock her out again,” the first female said—Rhea. “The blood we just gave her will help her body fight off the spell, but it will work faster if she’s not also fighting the pain. When she wakes up, I can give her something to regain her strength, but until then we have to just wait for it to run its course.”

Maisie sighed. “Okay.”

I tried to struggle. Not because I didn’t want an end to the pain, but because there was one voice I hadn’t heard. Where was Giguhl?

But my struggles were useless. My body had become my prison. A new, intense pinch of pain came from somewhere near my elbow. Blessed unconsciousness descended.

“You’re one lucky lady,” Rhea said cheerfully.

I glared at her, feeling anything but. My extremities still prickled like they’d fallen asleep. My skin was sensitive even to the slightest breeze. I was so weak I couldn’t lift my arms, and my head hurt so bad even the slightest light made my eyes feel like they would explode.

Rhea sat on the edge of the bed. Her smooth, cool hands picked up my wrist to check my pulse. She kept her eyes on her watch for a moment and then set my hand down again with a nod. “You’ll be up and around in no time.” She gave my arm a little pat.

I gritted my teeth together. My fangs were throbbing. “I need blood.”

Rhea patiently smiled, as if she was used to dealing with surly patients. “We’re having some delivered.”

“Not the bagged shit. I need fresh.”

“Not possible. Even if we’d allow it, you’re too weak to subdue anyone long enough to bite them. Besides, bagged blood is just as nutritious as the fresh stuff.”

I wanted to yell, but I didn’t have the energy for a losing battle. As much as I hated the taste of Maisie’s bagged blood, it was more important that I regain my energy fast. But since I had to wait for even that, I figured I’d get some answers.

“Where’s Giguhl?”

“He’s resting. The fight with Eurynome took a lot out of him.”

I digested this. Relief he was alive flooded me, followed by awe. Somehow, Giguhl had managed to defeat Eurynome and carried my body out of harm’s way despite his own injuries. I owed that demon my life. “Is he wounded?”

“Yes. But not gravely. He just needs rest.”

“He killed Eurynome.” Not a question. I figured that was the only way Giguhl could have gotten us out of there in one piece.

Rhea shook her head. “No. He threw him in front of a train and hauled ass before Eurynome could untangle himself from the wreckage.”

A prickle of fear skittered down my back. “He’s still on the loose?”

“I don’t think so. Whoever summoned him probably sent him back to Irkalla after he failed.”

I swallowed and asked the question I’d been avoiding. “A mage sent him?”

Rhea paused, her expression grave. “Yes. Only a powerful mage could summon a demon of that magnitude and control him outside a circle.”

I tamped down the emotions this revelation brought up—anger, frustration, fear. “Any idea who?” I tried to keep my tone casual, but it broke on the last word.

Rhea sat down again, her demeanor reassuring. “Not yet. But Maisie and Orpheus have the Guards investigating. We’ll find whoever did this, and they will be punished.”

We both knew her words were hollow. Any mage powerful enough to pull off something like this would also be smart enough to cover their tracks. But they sounded nice.

“Do you have any idea why a mage would be out to get you?” Rhea asked evenly.

I snorted. “I could ask you the same question. I have a long list of enemies, but I didn’t think I’d been here long enough to actively recruit any mages to it.”

Rhea opened her mouth to respond, but Maisie ducked her head inside the door with Damara behind her carrying a cooler.

“You’re awake. How are you feeling?” Maisie asked, rushing to my side.

“Shitty, but I’ll live.”

Maisie smiled, but worry hovered behind her eyes. “Thank the goddess for that.”

“Sabina and I were just discussing the whys of the situation,” Rhea said.

Maisie grimaced. “Sabina, don’t worry about all that right now. You need to focus on getting better.”

I knew she was just worried, but her don’t-worry-your-little-head demeanor bugged me. “Maisie, I’m fine.”

She shot me a look that implied otherwise.

I frowned at her. “Fine, I’m a little weak. Once I get some blood in me I’ll be good as new.” I shot a significant glance at the cooler in Damara’s hands. The girl stood so quietly I’d almost forgotten about her, but I hadn’t forgotten about the blood.

“Regardless, you have to believe we’re doing everything in our power to find out who’s responsible.” As she spoke, Maisie motioned Damara forward. The girl handed Maisie two pints of blood. I watched her movements eagerly even as I steeled myself to argue with Maisie.

“Thanks, Damara,” I said. The girl nodded curtly as she set down the cooler.

“Damara, will you please go check on Giguhl?” Rhea said.

The girl hesitated. “Are you sure you don’t need my help here? I could clean up this mess.” She motioned to medical supplies and potion bottles littering the room.

Rhea shook her head. “I have it under control. Make sure Giguhl has plenty of ice, please.” I’m not sure if Damara understood why Rhea wanted her to go, but I did. No doubt my discussion with Maisie was about to get pretty heated, and the fewer witnesses to that, the better.

The girl paused, looking like she wanted to argue more, but under Rhea’s decisive gaze she finally nodded.

“Tell Giguhl I’ll be in to check on him soon,” I said as she made her way to the door. She didn’t look at me as she jerked her head in the affirmative and left.

Once she was gone, I turned back to Maisie. “No offense, Maisie, but someone sent that demon to kill
me
. In case you’ve forgotten, killing is my game. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit on the sidelines.”

Maisie paused in the process of pouring a pint into a glass. She looked at me for a few moments. I stayed silent as she weighed her options. I’d stated my case, and arguing further would lessen its impact. Maisie might not have known me as well as she’d like, but she knew my background. The mage who sent Eurynome after me fucked up big-time. If they’d been smart, they’d have sent someone who didn’t hesitate to kill. Someone who didn’t play games with their victims. You want to kill an assassin? You get the job done. The fact I’d escaped death meant only one thing: I wouldn’t rest until the mage who tried to kill me was killed. And if that mage was as good as Rhea claimed, they had to know that. Which meant Eurynome’s attack wouldn’t be an isolated incident.

Finally, Maisie sighed and stuck a straw into the glass. I grabbed it and pulled out the straw. Then I tipped back the glass. I was ravenous. So hungry the cold, tinny taste barely registered. While I’d drained the glass, Maisie started talking.

“Sabina, I know you’re angry. I know you want revenge. But the situation is complicated. You have to understand. We have laws and protocol we have to follow. Besides attempting to murder the sister of the council’s leader, this mage is also responsible for the death of dozens of humans who died on the train that crashed into Eurynome. We managed to cover up the incident so the mortal authorities didn’t catch on to the supernatural aspects of the wreck. But the council wants to bring this mage to justice. You can’t just run out and start shooting my people. We’ll investigate, track down the responsible party, and then make sure justice is served. And we’ll do so without more innocents getting caught in the cross-fire.”

I lowered the glass and heaved a big sigh. Goddess save me from the mage moral code. For them, everything had the gray tinge of moral relativism. But I’d grown up in a world of black-and-white. An eye for an eye, a bullet for a bullet. Plus, back in L.A., a few dead mortals wouldn’t have warranted a discussion. To vampires, that was no different than flies lying dead on sticky paper.

But here was the rub: I had zero clue who was after me. I didn’t even know more than a handful of mages, and those not very well. I needed the council’s resources, but to use them, I had to play by the council’s rules.

Maisie held out a hand for the empty glass, ready to refill it. Frustrated, I shook my head and grabbed the bag of blood from her hand. My fangs ripped into the bag’s silicone walls. I squeezed with my hand, forcing the blood to spray into my mouth. The cold liquid filled my gut, making it feel slushy, but soon enough my cells would go to work. They’d work as hard as my brain was trying to find a way to get around the council.

“If I might make a suggestion?” Rhea said quietly.

Maisie and I turned to her. She came forward, looking thoughtful. “Let the Guards do their job.” I opened my mouth to argue, but she held up a hand. “In the meantime, use this. Harness all that restless anger and need for action and channel it into your magic lessons.”

I tossed the empty bag on the table with a huff. “If I’m going to work off my restless anger, as you call it, I’d be better off entering Slade’s fight club. At least then I’d be able to punch something.”

Rhea cocked an eyebrow. “Child, you haven’t even begun to know the physicality of harnessing serious magic. Summoning demons? Child’s play compared to what you’ll be able to do once you tap into your Chthonic powers.”

I narrowed my gaze and watched Rhea. She looked convinced of what she was saying. If she was right, I might be able to fight fire with fire the next time the mysterious mage came after me. I had to admit the idea appealed.