Darkness Unmasked

Ground, not floor, not concrete. Wherever the hell we were, it wasn’t back at his apartment, as I’d half expected.

He threw me off, then scrambled to his feet. “What the fuck are you playing—”

I didn’t give him a chance to finish. I just attacked. Amaya was little more than a blur of my hands, and her steel spat flames that sprayed all around us. Lucian swore and parried every blow with his long knife, retreating slowly but surely, his expression intent but not unduly worried.

When energy surged around me, I realized why. By reacting without thinking, I’d very neatly stepped into his trap.

He lowered his weapon and shook his head, his expression somewhat bemused. “This cage was not meant for you, but I’m damn glad I set it up, all the same.”

I slammed Amaya against the wall of power that surrounded me. Spidery veins of red spread for several inches from the impact point, then faded away, and Amaya hissed in fury.

Break can, she said. Time needed.

“That cage was designed to hold a sorcerer,” Lucian said, amusement in his voice. “Neither you nor your sword have the power to break it.”

“Why did you do it, Lucian?” I growled, hitting the wall again. This time, I left Amaya against it. She hissed and spat, her steel throbbing as she sucked at the power of the cage. “Just tell me that.”

He frowned and held his hands wide, as if pleading his innocence. For the first time it actually registered that we were underground. Both the walls and ceiling that soared high above us were stone, and the air was thick with the scents of moisture and damp earth.

“I didn’t steal the key, Risa. Indeed, I was hoping to trap the thief in the cage that now surrounds you.”

“I’m not talking about the fucking key, Lucian, and you know it.”

His frown deepened. For half a second I honestly believed he had no idea what I was talking about; then I remembered what a consummate actor he was. What a liar he was.

“Trust me—”

Never again. “I’m talking about my mother. You killed her.”

“Ah.” His voice was soft. “That.”

Rage exploded, and I leapt at him without thinking. The cage bowed under the force of my impact but it didn’t break, and I was flung backward, landing in an inelegant heap on the floor.

“That,” I hissed. “That’s all you’ve got to say about my mother’s murder.”

He shrugged. “She died well, with great grace, if that is of any consequence.”

“But you killed her.”

Amusement touched his lips. “Yes, I believe we’ve already established that fact.”

“But why?” The word was torn from me. “What the hell did my mother ever do to you?”

“Nothing, of course. But without her presence, without her advice, you were infinitely more alone and vulnerable.”

So he’d killed her merely to make me more accepting of his advances?

“You bastard.” Bastard, bastard, soon-to-be-dead fucking bastard.

“Another fact we have already established.” His amusement was stronger this time. “It’s not as if I have taken her from you for all eternity, Risa, so please cut the dramatics. You and she will meet again on another plane.”

“That is beside the point!”

“No, it is not, because I could have done otherwise.”

A chill went through me. “What do you mean?”

He smiled, but this time, there was nothing pleasant or amused about it. “I may be one of the fallen, but I still retain my power over souls. I could have stopped her from moving on, if I’d so desired. You should be grateful that I left you the chance to meet her again in another lifetime.”

“Grateful? Grateful?”

He tsked. “Enough with the dramatics, Risa. It is time to concentrate on things we can still do something about. Like retrieving the key.”

Amaya, I hope you’re going to get that fucking wall down soon.

Trying, she growled. Patience must.

Coming from my sword, that was almost amusing. I rolled my shoulders, trying to ease the tension. It didn’t do much, but I suspected little would. Not until the Aedh in front of me was in bits all over the floor.

“So are you intending to enlighten me on who stole the damn thing? Because it’s very obvious you know them and are maybe even working with them.”

“Working is not quite the right term to use,” he replied. “Let’s just say we have a somewhat fluid agreement.”

I snorted. “Meaning you’re both doing your utmost to stab the other in the back.”

“It does add a degree of excitement to the proceedings,” he said, voice droll. “Much like fucking you, really.”

I snorted. “Only in that you’re betraying us both.”

“And fucking you both.”

I blinked. “The person who took the key was a man—”

“So? As I have said before, it is pleasure that matters, not source.”

“So you’re fooling around with two dark sorcerers?” I asked incredulously.

“Perhaps,” he replied. “Perhaps not. I am hardly likely to give you such information, my dear, when I still need cards to play if I am to survive this encounter.”

“And we both know you’re not going to survive; otherwise you wouldn’t have been such a busy little beaver trying to impregnate any woman you could get your grubby little paws on.”

“That was merely a precaution.” He glanced at his watch, and I suddenly remembered Ilianna.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Had she been rescued, or had the whole thing gone ass up?

“A precaution?” I bit back, relief filling me when he didn’t immediately dig out his phone. We obviously still had some time left before he needed to make his next call. “Another lie. Aedh breed only when their death is imminent.”

“As your father only bred?” He shook his head. “Like him, I have a few years left before I am forced to leave this world permanently.”

Amaya’s steel was getting heavier in my hand, her hissing more strident in my mind. I hoped that meant the wall was weakening rather than her.

“Is the person who stole all the weapons out of that display case,” I growled, “the same person who stole the first key?”

He considered me for a moment, expression a mix of amusement and condescension. “It was.”

“And is that person a dark sorcerer who is also a shape-shifter?”

God, it felt like we were playing twenty questions. But this wasn’t a game, and I had to get as much information out of him as I could while I was still trapped, because there wasn’t going to be any talking once I was free. Not by me, anyway.

Amaya, on the other hand, was a whole different story.

“I believe that might also be correct.” The amusement got stronger. “You will never guess their identity, Risa, but you are most welcome to try for as long as you like. However, it will not get us that key back.”

“Is it even possible to get the key back, given what happened to the first one?”

“The difference that time and this,” he said, “is that it wasn’t only the key stolen, but rather a whole bunch of weapons in which the key is just one. Our thief has not the capability to find it himself and will need our help.”

Relief slipped through me. We may have momentarily lost the key, but it still was within the realms of possibility that it could be retrieved. That was something, at least.

“Our help, or yours? You can sense the key when you’re close, can’t you?”

“Yes, but I need you to pin down its location. Which is why I suggest an agreement would be in order—”

I snorted. “The only agreement you’re going to get from me is one at the end of a sword.”

He tsked again. “Now, let’s not forget Ilianna here. I would hate to have to kill her after all the effort I’ve put into snatching and seeding her.”

Amaya—

Close, she growled. Close.

“What sort of agreement?” I spat. “And why the hell would you even expect me to believe you’d actually uphold your end of it?”

“I don’t expect trust,” he said. “But I do expect that you’ll remember I hold your friend’s life in my hands and that you’ll control not only your own need to kill me, but that of your reaper’s.”

“In exchange for what?” I spat.

“In exchange for the key, of course. What else matters?”

Indeed, what else did? For him, my father, the Raziq, and even Azriel, there was nothing else. And if Lucian thought I could control the actions of any of them, then he was seriously insane.

“I can speak only for myself and Azriel, but we both know there are other players in the mix who want the key just as much as you.”

Ready soon, Amaya said.

Anger—and the need to kill, to rent and tear—surged, and I could almost taste his death on my tongue. And I knew that this time, it wasn’t Amaya’s need, but my own. I wanted his blood on my hands, wanted to feel his life slipping away, wanted to watch the realization of defeat dawn in his eyes.

“With the keys in my possession, neither your father nor the Raziq will be a problem,” he said. “Because they will not move against me until they are sure of the keys’ location.”

I pushed to my feet but made no other move to give away my readiness to react the minute I got the all clear from both Amaya and Uncle Quinn. God, please, let him contact me soon.

“You’re overconfident, Lucian, and that’s never a good thing.”

“I have lived many lives in this world in that state, and I have always surpassed my own expectations.” He glanced at his watch again. “And now, I believe, a phone call is required.”

Amaya!

Through, she screamed back. Attack!

At the same time, Uncle Quinn’s lilting tones said, We have her. She’s safe and well.