“Oh, baby…” Sasha said, covering her mouth and rocking. She finally allowed her hands to fall away. “ ’Rissa, who did this to you?” she whispered.
The spirit slowly lowered herself to the ground, and scratched out the letter K into the dirt.
“It was a specific hit,” Hunter said toward his grandfather.
Silver Hawk nodded. “Kiagehul went after the weakest target… She was psychically open in here; the others were not, save me, but he could not attack around my Shadow Wolf’s silver aura. But the human woman was vulnerable… and he knew that that would hurt us all.”
“He was going after Bradley,” Sasha said through her teeth and almost went to Clarissa when her body started thrashing about in unnatural ways on the ground.
Sasha turned away as Silver Hawk and Hunter gripped her hands tightly. Clarissa’s head spun upside down as her limbs cracked backward, making her twist into a human, crab-walking monstrosity that peered at them through vacant, black holes.
“Yes,” Silver Hawk said in a tight voice, controlling his rage. “The backlash was sent against the one who figured out how to break the evil spell-that would have been Bradley… and the best way to shatter him would be to sacrifice her.”
“Seal her in the protective circle, Grandfather,” Hunter said with a snarl. “I know one way to break this spell is to behead the little bastard that cast it.”
“We have laid down light-prayer sealants to keep her from being drawn into demon doors or being lost as a wraith in the shadow lands,” Silver Hawk reported in a sad tone. “We called for the ancient spirit healers of all time and higher realms to come into the circle to stand with her and to heal her of this nightmare condition.”
“We surrounded the circle with brick dust, sea salt, holy water, you name it,” Sasha said, touching Bradley’s arm. “This way nothing else can attack her, and it buys us a little time to figure out how we can undo this really bad thing that’s happened to her.”
“Not much time, though, I’m afraid,” Doc said, glancing around the group. “Her MRI and her CAT scan came back with lesions forming in her brain, her eyes, her throat, and her lungs. There’s a black mass also forming around her heart… It’s like hematomas and embolisms are just ripping this girl apart from the inside.” Doc let out a long breath of anguish. “The closer it gets to sunset, the worse her vitals become… We may have to move her onto a respirator soon and even begin dialysis. Her toxin levels are off the charts and her kidneys aren’t doing their job.”
Bradley held his head in his hands as Winters hugged himself and rocked in a chair across the room. Bear Shadow and Crow Shadow just hung their heads, thoroughly dejected.
“I should have never, ever, ever have suggested that she go into that level of darkness… I intellectually understood this stuff… but never had direct combat contact with it. I was always your researcher-the man with his stupid nose in dusty books. I put her on the front line, let the one person who truly believed in me down,” Bradley said, looking up at everyone with bloodshot eyes. “I promised to keep her safe, and I didn’t.”
“You did everything you could,” Sasha said, encircling Bradley with her arms and hugging him hard from behind. “You saved an entire team and the Seelie Fae nation… Now let us go to the UCE and see what help we can get for her, all right?” She walked around Bradley and held on to his upper arms, squatting down to face him. “We are not going to just roll over and allow her to die. I promise you, that is not the way of the wolf.”
“No, it definitely is not,” Hunter said, landing a strong hand on Bradley’s shoulder. “We will bring your mate back to wholeness.” His open, wolf gaze held no guile as the two men stared at each other. “I saw my Sasha, my grandfather, and my men all demon corrupted… I know the pain of witnessing such a tragedy. You have given me my family back… I will fight to the death to restore yours.”
A nurse came through the door and hailed Doc, making everyone look toward her. “Sir, there’s a Lieutenant Woods on the phone who says it’s an emergency and that he needs to speak to a Captain Trudeau.”
Doc headed to the door with Sasha and Hunter. “My cell was off in the ICU… pray to God nothing else terrible has happened. The general already wants a meeting with the White House, specifically the president.”
Sasha gave Doc a look but didn’t comment. She couldn’t even begin to process that issue right now.
“Bear, Crow, you stay with Silver Hawk to guard the patient. Three strong Shadows… Doc will be here with a man who knows the dark arts and one who is adept in human technology.” Hunter followed Sasha out of the door, his instincts twitching as they dashed down the hall to Dr. Williams’s office.
By the time Sasha got to the telephone, she was out of breath. “Yo, Woods, talk to me.”
“Major evac going down,” Woods said. “Unseelie Fae spotted in the area; Vampires are pissed-as we knew they would be. We’ve got to get a prisoner to court under hostile circumstances, but also have to get Seelie civvies behind garrison walls before sundown. We’re in position down in the French Quarter as we speak.”
“Roger that,” Sasha said, circling the desk as she spoke. “Have any humans been attacked since that last attempt on Winters?”
“That’s a negative, Captain.”
“All right, hold your position. We’ll meet you down there. But that’s a tightrope walk in that area, because the blood clubs share turf and will be opening up within the hour.”
“Affirmative. That’s why we’re moving like greased lightning, Cap. We’re at Aurelia’s Ale Alley down on Bourbon; it’s an underground little Fae pub, and that’s where we’ve been able to get the word out. Most of these folks already know the way to Sir Rodney’s camp and are gone, but for the slower-moving ones or the seriously frightened, we need to give them an escort.”
“Are Sir Rodney’s troops in the area already?” Sasha rubbed the nape of her neck, her eyes on Hunter and Doc.
“Affirmative.”
CHAPTER 24
It was great to be able to shadow jump again and get where she needed to go without delay or discovery. She held the returned amulet in her fist and said a quiet prayer of thanks as she jogged alongside Hunter and emerged in the pub. Nervous Fae archers were milling about. Woods and Fisher stood the moment they saw her.
“Damn, you guys are a sight for sore eyes,” she said, just having killed their demon spirits with rapid machine-gun fire.
“Missed you, too, Cap,” Woods said in a confused but good-natured tone. “How’s everybody back at Tulane?”
Hunter shook his head as Fisher stepped closer. “What happened?” Fisher glanced around their small group.
“Clarissa is in critical condition,” she said in a tight voice. “I need to talk to Sir Rodney’s advisors to see how to break the dark spell.”
“Son of a bitch,” Fisher said, spitting out the wad of gum he’d been chewing. “I knew we should have smoked that little weasel the moment we saw him-right between the eyes.”
Hunter nodded as Sasha rubbed Fisher’s shoulder. “Have you seen Shogun? It’s getting dark; there’s trouble brewing… The hair is standing up on my neck.”
“He’s cool. He’s on patrol outside with his men,” Woods said. “He’s-”
A huge crash shattered the plate-glass window, as a body fell through it. Everyone stopped, ducked, and took cover as patrons screamed and ran. Tables overturned, and patrons bailed over the bar. Wolf howls rent the air. Sasha and Hunter were a blur.
The body was human; she could smell the blood as she passed it. Sulfur hung thick in the air, but oddly it wasn’t a typical Vampire signature. whatever it was had used a human as bait, trying to draw the wolves out since they would never be able to find them behind Sir Rodney’s fortress walls. Cowards! This would only add to the heat from the NOPD.