Of course, reapers weren’t actually flesh beings – although they could certainly attain that form whenever they wished – but rather beings made of energy who lived on the gray fields, the area that divided Earth from heaven and hell. While I was part werewolf and therefore flesh, I was also part Aedh, who were the energy beings who’d once lived on the fields like the reapers and who were the traditional guardians of the gates. My father had been one of the Raziq – a group of rebel Aedh who were responsible for not only the destruction of the Aedh, but for the creation of the three keys to the gates – and he was also the reason they were currently lost.
Or rather, only one key was still lost. I’d found the first two, but both had been stolen from under my nose by the dark sorceress who’d subsequently opened two of hell’s gates.
Things hadn’t quite gone according to plan for her when she’d opened the second one, however, because she’d been captured by demons and dragged into the pits of hell. I was keeping everything crossed that that’s exactly where she’d remain, but given the way luck had been treating us of late, it was an even-money bet she wouldn’t.
“Risa,” Azriel said when I didn’t immediately answer him. “We must not stay here.”
“I know.”
But where were we going to go that was safe from the wrath of the Raziq?
I closed my eyes briefly and tried to control the panic surging through me. And yet that approaching wave of anger filled every recess of my mind, making thought, let alone calm, near impossible. If they got hold of me… My skin crawled.
It took a moment to register that my skin was actually crawling. Or at least part of it was. I glanced down. The wingless, serpentlike dragon tattoo on my left forearm was on the move, twisting around like a wild thing trapped. Anger gleamed in its dark eyes, and its scales glowed a rich, vibrant lilac in the half-light of the room.
Of course, it wasn’t an ordinary tattoo. It was a Dušan, a creature of magic that had been designed to protect us when we walked the fields. It was a gift from my father, and one of the few decent things he’d actually done for me since this whole key saga had begun.
Unfortunately, the Dušan was of little use here on Earth. It shouldn’t even have been able to move on this plane, let alone partially disengage from my skin, as it had in the past.
“What’s wrong now?”
I glanced at Ilianna – my best friend, flatmate, and a powerful witch in her own right. Her warm tones were rich with concern, and not without reason. After all, she’d only just managed to save the life of her mate, Mirri, from my father’s foul magic, and here I was again, threatening not just Mirri’s life, but Ilianna’s, her mom’s, and everyone else’s who currently stood within the walls of this place. Because not even the magic of the Brindle, as powerful as it was, would stop the Raziq. It had been designed to protect the witches from the evil of this world. It was never meant to be a defense against the evils from the gray fields.
“The Raziq hunt us.” Azriel’s reply was flat. Matter-of-fact. Yet his anger reverberated through every inch of my being, as fierce as anything I could feel from the Raziq. But it wasn’t just anger; it was anticipation, and that was possibly scarier. He drew his sword and met my gaze. If the ominous blue-black fire that flickered down the sides of Valdis – which was the name of the demon locked within the metal of his sword, who imbued it with a life and power of its own – was anything to go by, she was as ready to fight as her master. “We need to leave. Now.”
Ilianna frowned. “Then go home —”
“We can’t,” I cut in. “Home’s gone.”
It had been blown to smithereens when I’d thrust the black steel of my own demon sword into my father’s flesh and had allowed her to consume him. And it was an action I didn’t regret, not after everything the bastard had done.
“Yes,” Ilianna replied. “But the wards your father gave us should still be active. I placed a spell on them that prevents anything or anyone other than us from moving them.”
Azriel’s gaze met mine again. “If they aren’t active, then we stand and fight. They still need you, no matter how furious they might currently be.”
Yes, but they didn’t need him. And they would destroy him, if they could. Still, what other choice did we have? No matter where we went, either here or on the gray fields, others would pay the price. I swallowed, then stepped toward Azriel.
“Good luck,” Ilianna said.
I didn’t reply. I couldn’t. Azriel’s energy had already ripped through us, swiftly transporting us across the fields. We reappeared in the blackened ruins of the home I’d once shared with Ilianna and Tao – although to call them “ruins” was something of a misnomer. “Ruins” implied there was some form of basic structure left. There was nothing here. No walls, no ceiling, not even a basement. Just a big black hole that had once held a building we’d all loved.
I stepped away from Azriel and glanced up. The faintest touch of pink was beginning to invade the black of the sky; dawn wasn’t that far off.
Time appeared. The familiar, somewhat harsh tone that ran through my thoughts was heavy with displeasure. Alone should not be.
Sorry. I felt vaguely absurd for even issuing an apology. I mean, when it was all said and done, Amaya was a sword. But somewhere in the past few days, she had become more of a friend, more than merely a means of protection.
And in this case, she certainly deserved an apology. In my desperation to see whether Mirri had lived, I hadn’t given Amaya a second thought. Obviously, neither had Azriel; otherwise, I’m sure he would have collected her. I picked my way through the rubble and found her half-wedged in the blackened soil. I pulled her free, and felt a whole lot safer with her weight in my hand.
“The Raziq have split,” Azriel commented.
Confusion – and a deepening sense of dread – ran through me. “Meaning what?”
The ferocity that roiled through the connection between us gave his blue eyes a hard, icy edge. “Half of them chase us here. The rest continue toward the Brindle.”
“Oh, fuck!”
“They plan to demonstrate the cost of misdirection, and there is nothing we can do to prevent it.” His expression hardened further, and I hadn’t thought that was possible. “And before you say it, I will not let you endanger yourself for them.”
“And I will not stand here and let others pay the price for decisions I’ve made!”
“We have no other choice.”
“There’s always a fucking choice, Azriel. Standing here while others die in my place is not one of them.”
“Making a stand at the Brindle will not alter the fate of the Brindle.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” I thrust a hand through my short hair and began to pace. There had to be an answer. Damn it, if only Ilianna had had the time to create more protection stones… The thought stuttered to a halt. “Oh my god, the protection stones.”
Azriel frowned. “They are still active. I can feel their presence.”
“Exactly!” I swung around to face him. “You need to get them to the Brindle. It’s the only chance they have against the Raziq.”