Darkness Unmasked

“I’m gathering it’s not key related, given your determination not to involve any of us in that search.” Her voice was wry. “Which, by the way, is neither warranted nor necessary. We have faced far worse in our lifetimes than rogue Aedh.”

“Which is precisely why I don’t want you involved.” And she knew that. “But this is related. Sort of.”

“Go on.”

She crossed her arms and regarded me steadily. A rock I could always depend on, no matter what, I thought with a half smile.

“Lucian has kidnapped Ilianna and is holding her hostage against my good behavior at a warehouse in Link Court, Brooklyn. According to the Brindle witches, she’s protected by magic that will allow neither Aedh nor reaper entry.”

“Then I’m surprised Lucian is still alive. In a similar situation, I would have killed the bastard.”

“A sentiment I totally agree with,” Azriel said.

I gave him a look over my shoulder, but he merely raised an eyebrow at me.

“Then why isn’t he dead?” Riley said. “It would solve the problem of being forced to do what you do not wish to.”

“If he doesn’t report in every hour, the men holding her have orders to kill her.”

“Ah.”

“Also, I do not think those men are human.”

She shrugged. “Non-human I can deal with.”

“Yeah, but these are non-human and Razan.”

“Meaning the fight will be infinitely more exciting.” She grinned and cracked her knuckles. “I haven’t had a good fight in quite a while.”

“That is because you’re supposed to be settling down to a quiet life.” Uncle Quinn’s gently lilting tones seemed to come out of the air itself. “And you were intending to call me in on this, weren’t you?”

He re-formed next to Riley, his expression a mix of love and amusement. Like me, he was half Aedh, and was, in fact, the man who had taught me all of my skills.

“Of course,” she replied, a smile on her lips and her eyes sparkling. “I wouldn’t want you to miss out on the excitement.”

Quinn rolled his eyes and glanced at me. “What do we face?”

“Magic, electronic security, and more than likely Raziq.” I hesitated. “Tao and Carwyn—Ilianna’s potential mate—want in on the action.”

Quinn frowned. “Given we face an unknown number of combatants, I don’t think it wise to involve anyone who isn’t fight trained.”

“Maybe, but the magic is aimed at those who are energy or half-energy beings, so it’ll prevent you from getting in.” I switched my gaze to Riley. “I know you’re one of the best, but I don’t want you going in there alone. I couldn’t stand to see you hurt.” Or worse. I didn’t say it, but it hovered in the air, regardless.

“I won’t be alone. I have a twin, remember, and he loves a fight even more than I do.” She smiled, walked over to gather me in her arms, and hugged me fiercely. “It’ll be all right, Risa,” she added softly. “It always is.”

Tears stung my eyes, and I blinked them away rapidly. And wished, with all my heart, that I could believe her. But deep down I knew it wasn’t going to be all right, that it was never going to be all right. All right had long ago passed me by, and I was sliding faster and faster into the darkness that my mother had foreseen wrapped around me all those years ago.

“What we need,” Quinn said, “is eyes on the situation. Once we know what we face, we can plan our attack.”

“Stane can hook into all the security cams in the area—”

“So can the Directorate,” Riley said. “And it’ll be easier and faster. I’ll get Rhoan on it immediately.”

I frowned. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea—”

She waved my objection away as she picked up her phone. “Jack owes me more than one favor. Besides, if this goes sideways, it’s better that the Directorate be involved.”

Please, God, don’t let it go sideways. I licked my lips, then nodded. As Riley made the call, I glanced at Quinn. “I’m meeting Lucian at eleven thirty. I know that doesn’t leave much time to plan anything, but I can delay him for at least an hour.”

He said, “The longer you can delay, the better it will be. We’ll ring—”

“You can’t. My phone is dead and I left it home.”

“Then I will shoot you a telepathic message when we’ve freed her.”

“But I’m wearing nano microcells—”

“Which have not the capacity to stop me, no more than they could Riley.” Quinn glanced at her as she got off the phone. “All set?”

“Rhoan is gearing up surveillance as we speak, and Jack has approved full Directorate participation.” Her gaze met mine. “He said he owed you a favor. Care to explain that?”

I kept my expression—and thoughts—carefully neutral. “I was asked for advice on some demon-related killings Rhoan’s investigating. Couldn’t do a whole lot to help, though.”

“Hmm.” Her expression suggested she very much didn’t believe my reply, even though it was the truth as far as it went. “We’re not going to need your friends, so tell Tao and Carwyn to cool their jets. We’ll contact them the minute we can.”

If they are not going to help free Ilianna, perhaps we should bring them in on the key—

No, I said, before he could finish. Definitely not.

Risa, I do not trust the Aedh, and it might be wiser—

I won’t risk my friends again, Azriel. I’ve already done enough damage to them. Out loud, I said, “You’ll let me know the minute you have her? And you’ll both be careful?”

“We will, on both counts.” Quinn glanced at his watch. “If you were planning to scout the area before you met Lucian, you had better hurry. It’s almost eleven now.”

We left.

But not without a prayer to the fates and whatever gods were listening that everything went as planned and everyone got out alive.

And that included me and Azriel.

Because the shit, I suspected, was about to hit the fan big-time.

Chapter 13

The Arms and Militaria Exhibition was being held in a beautiful redbrick building that had once been a post office. It sat on one corner of a street that was a mix of old architecture and more modern—but infinitely uglier—concrete buildings, a grand old lady that time had not diminished.

The street itself wasn’t crowded, although the parking lot across from the old post office was full, and I doubted they were all here for the nearby florist or the computer shop.

A roundabout was situated at the right end of the old building, but to the left there was a small metal gate and a green covered pathway that led—presumably—around to the back. Handy, given I had to set up the ward somewhere it wouldn’t be noticed—presuming it was a ward in the box my father had sent, and not something else.

“Whatever lies in the box,” Azriel said, “it certainly involves some form of magic. It crawls over my skin.”

I frowned. “Why would it have that reaction? It’s supposed to keep the Aedh out, not you.”

Azriel’s smile was tight, without humor. “Your father does not want me in possession of the keys any more than he does anyone else.”

I rubbed my head wearily. “You know, I hadn’t even thought of that possibility.”

He shrugged. “It is better to have us all locked out than none of us.”

“You can bet my father won’t be locked out. Or the Razan.” Not to mention the dark sorcerer. I doubted he was going to miss out on the action, given his success stealing the first key.

And then there was Lucian, the joker in the mix.

My gaze dropped to the box Azriel still held. “Should we use it, then?”

“Yes.” He handed it to me. “I can patrol the perimeter and cut any off who attempt to breach the wards.”

“What about my father?”

“Your father can’t gain flesh form, so even if he has created a back door in the ward’s magic, he still needs you to actually find and retrieve the key.”

“He needs me to find it,” I said darkly. “But he has Razan to retrieve it.”

“And if any do get past me, the Aedh will be beside you to stop them.”

I gave him a surprised look. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“I would rather Tao be in there beside you, but it is an inescapable truth that the Aedh wants the keys for himself. He will fight anyone who gets in his way.” He regarded me steadily. “Do not turn your back on him.”

Definitely not. The bastard was just as likely to fuck me as kill me. I glanced down at the box in my hand, then took a deep breath and, with slightly shaking fingers, opened it. Inside were four small stones in varying shades of gray and a note. I tucked the box under my arm and opened the note.

Place these wards on each corner of the building, it said. Activate them in sequence, light to dark, with a drop of your blood.

Losing more blood, even if it was only a couple of drops, wasn’t exactly what I needed right now. Especially to activate damn wards. Still, if it kept the hordes out, then I guessed it was worth it.

I rolled the stones out onto my hand. They felt extraordinarily light and yet oddly warm. I couldn’t sense any magic in them, but my skin still crawled at their touch. I forced my fingers closed around them, then glanced up at the building again. Placing stones on three sides of the building would be easy enough, but the last side was right on the intersection corner, with only a small strip of pavement between it and the roundabout. Placing a stone there, however close to the building, was risking it either being kicked away or picked up by some curious kid. Not that there were actually kids in the street at the moment, but knowing my luck, they’d flood the place the minute I started activating the wards.