vampires mage 02 - witch hunter (6 page)

“That’s exactly what Orcus said.” She took a deep breath, sadness tightening her chest. “You should know that Hunter bullets killed him during the ker attack. I’d tried to pull him away, but he wasn’t listening to me.”

Caine sucked in a long breath, something dark flickering across his features. “He’s in the shadow hell now.”

“I’m sorry.” She tucked the gun into the back of her pants again, then pointed to Drew. “He did save my life.”

“He’s still breathing, but only because you stopped me with that gun of yours.”

She exhaled. “So what happened at the keres attack? I know you were there. I felt Miranda there, too.”

“I was hunting around the Chambers for your sister when a powerful aura drew me in, and I felt the demons drawing closer. You can’t possibly believe that I was behind the attack.” His voice dripped with disdain.

She studied his stunning face. Firelight bathed his skin in gold, sparking off his gray eyes, and the flickering light danced over the beautiful planes of his face. In the V of his black T-shirt, she could see smooth, unblemished skin, marked only by his tattoos. His seductive, loamy scent drew her in. “No, of course I don’t believe that. Drew was just confused. And I’m a little on edge. I haven’t been sleeping.”

“You were hurt? Why did he need to save your life?”

“I was shot by a Hunter.” Outside, helicopters beat overhead, and she could her someone speaking into a megaphone, but she ignored it. “I just don’t understand. How can you be so old? I thought Malphus was your brother, and I remember him as a little boy.”
Half-brothers, perhaps.

“It’s not important right now.” He paused, listening to the rotors. “But you know what is important? There are armed helicopters flying overhead. And you’re wondering why I can’t knock them off course like I did before. That’s because they’re laden with bombs—small ones, granted, but large enough to destroy a house like the one we’re in. So we can let them bomb this house while we’re in it, or we could teleport out first. Those are our options.”

Shit shit shit.
Adrenaline blared through her veins. From above, the projected voice blared something about evacuating the area.

“Okay, let’s go to Lilinor.” She nodded at Drew’s unconscious body. “But I don’t want to leave him to die in a fire. Can we take him?”

“You must be joking.”

“This isn’t the sort of time I’d choose to joke.”

“You do realize he tried to kill me? He wasn’t good at it, mind you, but that was his intention. I’m not protecting him in Lilinor.”

“It was a misunderstanding. You have a bad reputation, apparently.”

“He’s an idiot, and he should burn in a fire, though really he deserves to be conscious for that.” A muscle tightened in his jaw. “Fine. If it will get you out of here.” He glared at her before leaning down and picking up Drew’s limp body. In a blur of silver and black, he flung open the glass doors and carried Drew outside. Within a few seconds, he was back, wiping off his hands.

“Thank you.”

He held out his hand, and she crossed to him.

He pulled her closer, sliding a hand around her back. “Will you chant the spell with me?” She felt his muscled chest through his shirt, and breathed in his alluring, earthy scent. “As I get to the end of the spell, you should hold your breath.”

She pulled off her ring, handing it to Caine. A green aura danced in her skull, scented of hawthorn groves and moss.

As they chanted together, Caine’s strong arms enveloped her, his thrilling magic mingling with Cleo’s—hungry vines intertwining with shadows. She held her breath, and in the next moment icy water pulled her under.

Chapter 7

Caine’s strong arms held her close, but the shock of icy water froze her completely. Deep beneath the frigid water, she was dimly aware of Caine slipping the ring back on her finger. Instinctively, she pushed her way out of Caine’s grasp and kicked her way to the surface. As she got to the top, she gasped. Her lungs felt frozen; her entire body shook with the cold.

She grasped for the fountain’s edge, glancing around at Lilinor’s dark esplanade. The sharp spires of Ninlil Castle towered over the empty town square, and its obsidian walls gleamed in the moonlight. The last time she’d come here, she’d been completely alone and with no idea what she was getting into. At least she was a little better informed now.

She hoisted herself over the fountain’s edge, leaping into the rain-slicked cobblestone street. Caine followed—along with his raven, who cawed and flapped into the air.

Rosalind shivered, her drenched clothes clinging to her body.

Caine pushed his wet hair off his face, his black clothes melding to his muscled body like a second skin.

Rosalind’s teeth chattered. “Orcus said you didn’t need me to transport between worlds.”

“I don’t
need
you. But it requires an awful lot of energy without you.”

She squeezed some of the water from her shirt. “What about Tammi?”

“Oh—her. I’ll send someone for her when we get inside.”

“Good.” Shivering, she crossed her arms, walking alongside him. “I have some questions for you.”

“Of course you do. You’re a trained interrogator.”

“
I just want to know why you locked me in the cemetery. Like you said, I’m the one who can sense Miranda’s magic. And she was just outside the ward you put up around me. I could have found her myself.”

He shot her an irritated look. “What are you talking about? I never locked you anywhere.”

She shook her head, still dizzy from the portal. “You locked me in the cemetery, with the ward.”

He narrowed his eyes, looking at her like she was insane.

He really doesn’t know what I’m talking about, does he
? “One evening when Orcus and I awoke, a warding spell had been put up. I couldn’t get much further than the sphinx outside the mansion. Orcus said there was a note from you, with your seal and everything. And there was a sigil that had trapped me in.”

He stopped walking, fixing his glacial gaze on her. “And what did the note say?”

“It said you’d locked me in there for my own safety. Orcus wasn’t allowed to tamper with the spell.”

“You
should
probably be locked up for your own safety, but I didn’t do it. I need you to help me, and I’m pretty sure I’d never hear the end of your complaints about being imprisoned.”

“But the note said that you took Tammi—”
Oh, gods. If he didn’t take Tammi…
“You didn’t take Tammi to a safe house, did you?”

“Abduxiel Mansion
was
the safe house.”

“Shit.” Panic sank into her chest. “She hasn’t been there in weeks.”
If anyone hurts her I will hunt them down and make them suffer.

“Who would bother abducting an ordinary, pedestrian human?”

“The Brotherhood would. They want her dead for escaping one of their prisons. And they want me dead. They could use her to lure me in.”

“That’s a fair point. They’ll use your loyalty against you. It’s an unfortunate vulnerability.”

She shot him a sharp look. “They probably want to stage a big PR coup and lure me into the light. But their entire reason for being is to stamp out the existence of magic. And whoever took Tammi put up a magical ward to keep me in the house. So basically, I have no idea who took her.”

“What about your little boyfriend Drew? I don’t trust him.”

“It could be…” She shook her head. “But he’s the one who gave me a clue to getting free from the ward. Find a sigil, he said. Is that right?”

“I suppose.”

“A lot of mages came to Abduxiel Mansion while I was there. Not just Drew. Orcus had me selling mushrooms, herbs, and potions the whole time.” Tammi had been kidnapped, and Rosalind felt like she wanted to throw up. “And I’m certain Miranda was there briefly. I felt her watery aura wash over my skin, tasted the salt of her magic. I have no idea what she was doing around the mansion. Her mind has been warped, as far as I can tell. She might have taken Tammi.” She took a long breath. “You didn’t have any luck finding my sister?”

“I’ve been searching for her, using scrying spells. But the images are clouded.”

Rosalind’s forehead wrinkled. “Like she’s shielded herself?”

“Either that, or she’s flitting between dimensions.”

Dread snaked up Rosalind’s spine. “Do you think she took Tammi to another dimension? Like Maremount?”

“Perhaps. But I’m not going back into that city unless it’s absolutely necessary, and I know exactly where I’m going.” Steel underscored his voice.

“Right. You’ve got a bit of a history there, with all the regicide.”

They approached the towering, arched portcullis, its silver bars gleaming like metal teeth. Menacing stone gargoyles leered above, and Rosalind was almost certain she saw one of them blink. No guards stood before the gates. A fortress this forbidding hardly needed extra fortification.

Tammi…
Her throat tightened. If Miranda had taken her friend, there was no telling what she might do.
Hard to predict the actions of a complete lunatic.

At the fortress’s entrance, Caine whispered a spell, and his magic rush over her skin. As the gate rose, it revealing a steep-peaked, blood-red hall. Bileth’s enormous painted image hung at one end. The high demon had tried to kill her more than once, and his image only reminded her that this was enemy territory.

Caine’s gaze slid to her. “Why, exactly, was Drew so certain I was behind the attacks?”

“He saw you there, and he thinks you’re a monster.” She hugged herself. Maybe Drew
did
have something to do with all this. She wasn’t ruling anything out, nor was she taking anything at face value anymore.

Caine’s footsteps echoed from the flagstones. “And who, exactly, is Drew?”

“Just a mage from Maremount, as far as I know.” She shot a glance at Caine’s perfect profile—his straight nose, strong jaw, icy eyes, and sharp black eyebrows. He certainly didn’t look like a monster. He looked too beautiful to be real.

In Drew’s opinion, Caine was only keeping Rosalind alive because he wanted to use her for something. But she just didn’t believe that. He had the ability to control her mind, and he’d never used it.
That has to mean something, right?

As they neared the end of the hall, an imposing set of black doors opened. In a stream of silvery light, a woman stepped forward, descending down the stairs as the doors closed behind her.

Caine’s hand shot out, as if to block Rosalind.
Obviously, this chick is bad news.
Rosalind’s muscles tensed, fingers reaching for the gun in her pants—but it was gone. It must have been sucked out in her portal trip.

A lump rose in her throat as she stared at the overwhelmingly beautiful woman before her. She stood nearly six feet tall, her skin the color of desert sand. Powerful, ancient magic swirled from her—a dark, shimmering silver, just like Caine’s.

The woman’s midnight hair tumbled over a delicate pearly gown cut in a deep V down to her belly. Only her eyes were wrong. There was something about her deep, amber eyes that seemed unfocused, hungry—almost like she’d been drugged. And was it Rosalind’s imagination, or were there hints of other colors playing about the edges of her aura?

The woman flashed a brilliant, cold smile. “Welcome, Rosalind. My husband, Lord Ambrose, has sent me to greet you. I am Queen Erish.”

Demons are hierarchical. Play along, Rosalind.
She bowed deeply. “Thank you for welcoming me here.”

“I’ll have a servant show you to your room.”

“I’m taking her to her room,” Caine cut in.

The queen’s nails dug into her own forearms, and her eyes flashed. “You’re the son of the shadow prince and the leader of an army. Showing a human girl to her room is a servant’s job,” she hissed.

“I said I’m taking her to her room,” he growled.

Rosalind frowned.
What is going on with these two?

The queen prowled closer, heels clacking over the stones, and began to circle Rosalind, like she was inspecting a farm animal. The woman’s hair began to snake from her head, undulating in the air, and Rosalind’s blood turned to ice.

“
This
is her?” Erish said, her voice dripping with disdain. “One of the two girls who are supposed to defend Lilinor? I’d expected someone a little more… epic. She looks like a drowned rabbit who hasn’t eaten in weeks.”

Rosalind opened her mouth to speak, but Caine cut her off with a flick of his hand.
Oh right. The hierarchical thing.

“She’s been imprisoned in a cemetery and attacked by shadow demons,” Caine growled. “Speaking of which, you wouldn’t happen to know about an army of keres attacking Cambridge, would you?”

Erish’s eyes widened. “Honestly, Caine. As if I don’t have better things to do than meddle with keres. They are grotesque and traitorous creatures.” She turned, climbing the stairs, and the large black doors opened just wide enough to let her through. She cast a final glance back at Rosalind before disappearing. “I’m sure you’ll want to bathe, girl. You have that human stench.”

After watching humans being eaten by demons tonight, a little insult about bathing was hardly going to rile her up. Plus, the queen seemed slightly mad.

“Follow me,” Caine said. Instead of climbing the steps after Erish, he led Rosalind to a smaller oak door to the left and pushed it open to reveal a narrow, curving stairwell.

Rosalind’s mind churned with visions of Tammi bound to a chair in a dungeon, and she tried to push the images under the surface. She’d need to keep a level head if she wanted to figure everything out.

Dim candles lit the dark stairwell, and she traced her fingers over the damp stones as they climbed. “What did you see at the keres massacre? You were there before me. I felt your magic as I approached.”

“You could feel my magic before you even got there?”

“You’re extremely powerful.”

He turned, arching an eyebrow as if she’d said something filthy. “Am I now?”

She ignored him. “And I felt Miranda’s, too.”

Caine’s footsteps echoed around the hall. “I knew Miranda was there. It was the first time a scrying spell had worked, and I caught a glimpse of her in Harvard Square. But when I got there, the atmosphere rippled with magic. I can’t see it like you can, but I can feel the auras. I transformed and flew above the city. I saw the keres, and I was fairly certain Nyxobas hadn’t sent them.” Irritation laced his voice. “They shouldn’t have been there.”