Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MADOC
D ead Rock is exactly what I thought it would be—a dirt road town in the middle of The Underworld. A pile of rubble sits where Meri’s home used to be. I study the pitiful stack of wood planks and guesstimate this hellhole was roughly eight by eight. How the hell did it fit two people?
She raises her hands and sifts through the boards, but there’s nothing of Leandra’s here. “Damn it. This is useless. She’s a paranoid bitch on her best day.”
I reach over to pat her shoulder, but she’s already turning toward Cormal and his outstretched arms. Hot wind blows across my face, and I pivot to block it. “Let’s go.”
My gut tightens when I step out of the portal this time and find Callyx standing in front of it. “What are you doing here?”
He dismisses me with one look and turns to Meri. After giving her a hug, he blasts Cormal. “What the hell are you thinking bringing Meri to The Slag?”
“We’re searching for anything Leandra might have left behind. We need a scent for Aamon to follow,” Cormal admits in a low tone. “This is our last stop today. How the hell did you find us?”
Kavi, along with several other large demons, step away from the side of the building. “Sorry. Forgot he hides in the shadows. Bastard followed us.”
Cormal shrugs. “We can use the back-up while we’re here.” Dark blue eyes dart suspiciously from one end of the alley to the other. “We need to get in and out.”
“What the hell is this place?” I ask as I look from one tense face to another.
“Lesser Demons trade unscrupulous services to Higher Demons in exchange for power,” Cormal states tersely. “It’s a brutal, lawless place.”
Dirt and grime cover every surface, but you can barely see it in the near dark. “Is that why there aren’t any lights?”
“Lights attract attention,” Meri inserts quietly. “One of the first rules you learn here. Never bring a light to The Slag.”
She lived in this forsaken place. Ripples of anger build inside me. No wonder her first instinct was to duck the knife coming at her. I throw Cormal a murderous look, and he nods in agreement.
Moving closer to me, he murmurs, “It took me a week to find out Meri was here. I almost killed Leandra over it. Instead, I gave her money to get them out of here.” All these years haven’t dimmed his fury.
“Why didn’t you?” I ask, furious at him for not doing something permanent to save her.
He raises a finger to his lips. “We’re here.”
I store the anger away for later.
Cormal opens the door to the stairs and points up. Silently, we follow him in single file all the way to the roof. Once we’re at the top, he points to a metal shed nestled into one of the corners.
Made of flimsy corrugated metal, this structure is tiny. Five feet long, eight feet wide. The screech of metal makes me wince, and I see Kavi motion for his men to fan out over the roof.
Cormal steps in first, then motions for Meri to join him. I move in closer but hesitate at the doorway. There’s an underlying current here. Like a predator, it waits.
“Be careful,” I whisper harshly. “There’s something wrong with this place.”
Meri snorts. “There’s a lot wrong with this place.”
For the first time, I hear a hint of fear in her voice. This place frightens her. My anger at Leandra increases for making her live in this hellhole.
Cormal sends his magic out. It streams across the walls of the shed without interruption. “I don’t feel anything.”
Frustrated, I step farther into the room and send my magic to probe the same walls. Alarm bells ring violently in my head, and I instinctively clamp my hands across my ears to stop the sound. Excruciating pain drives me to my knees, but I silently tell Cormal to get her the hell out of here.
For a second, he tilts his head in confusion.
Does he not hear it? I look from him to Meri. Neither of them are holding their heads. I push the word out through clenched teeth. “Attack.”
Cormal immediately moves in front of Meri and orders her to make her way to the door. “Out. Now.”
The words are barely out of his mouth when the room shifts and a gigantic monster peels itself from the walls. Cormal’s the closest. It grabs him and flings him back and forth like a rag doll. Meri jumps forward to help him. Hairless beasts erupt from the monster and begin stalking her.
Dark magic leaves Cormal’s hands and wraps around the grotesque beast, but it dissipates the second it lands on its target.
Cormal curses and shouts something unintelligible to Kavi.
Meri cuts off a large piece of the shed with her magic, lights it on fire, then swings at the smaller beasts, but it doesn’t deter them.
Callyx crams his body into the small space and starts swearing. “Fucking hell, it’s a shade.” Pulling his sword, he raises it high and slashes down and across the creature, but the sword passes straight through its now transparent body. He rears back. “This sword is infused with Lucifer’s magic and should easily kill a shade.”
Meri screams and slashes at the clawed hand on her arm. “Not if Leandra created it.” Faery fire erupts from her hand and turns the creature to ash. She stares at her arm in wonder. “I did it.”
Callyx steps in to take care of the other two. Apparently, the sword works on these beasts, easily cutting them down.
“Watch out!” I yell, lurching to my feet.
I shove Meri back, then step into her spot. Brutal strength wraps around my body and squeezes. Dark Fae power flows out of me and into the creature, but instead of killing it, the damn thing grows bigger.
“Fuck!” I roar when it cracks a couple of my ribs.
I release the faery fire inside me and it singes the fur on its arms but doesn’t turn it to ash. Astonished, I stare up at the creature. “Shade. Phantom. Whatever the hell it is, the usual rules don’t apply.” Jerking my arms out from under his, I grab him around the waist and throw him against the shed.
It doesn’t faze him.
Cormal jumps on its back and plunges his fingers into its eye sockets. Magic as dark as sludge slides into the empty spaces, filling them up.
With a roar, it stumbles backward, blindly swiping at Cormal. One of its claws happens to catch on his neck, almost decapitating him. He falls to the floor in a heap.
Meri screams and screams. Before either Callyx or I can stop her, she throws herself at the monster and begins slashing at him with all her strength. Deep gashes appear across its chest as it roars and shakes in agony. Relentless in her attack, she continues to shred the outer layer until a cavity opens.
The monster stumbles again, and she shoves forward, plunging her hand into the dark hole and removing a black, withered heart. I still. Phantoms don’t have hearts, and I’m willing to bet shades don’t either.
She drops it to the ground and turns it to ash. The monster falls and begins fading into the shadows, but not before it sends a pulse of magic out into the night. A warning to its maker.
I move forward to help Cormal, but Meri turns her head and snarls at me. Freezing, I stare in horror at the sight before me. Her eyes are gone. Replaced with white sockets and the faint image of a skull. She points a bony finger at me, stripped of its flesh and muscles, and opens her mouth. Dread pours into me, filling me from head to toe. This is why Denir and Leandra are after Meri.
“Stop. If you say the wrong words, it could kill everyone here. Permanently,” I interject. Hands up, I show her I’m not a threat. “Callyx, get out.”
He starts to protest until he gets a good look at her face. Backing away slowly, he takes up a stance in front of the entrance but continues to watch the scene in the shed unfold.
Meri tilts her head side to side, the power inside her studying me.
I point to the floor where Cormal is laying. “I need to help him, but I can’t do that with you standing between us.”
Her eyes narrow, but then she follows my finger to Cormal.
Some part of her is hearing me. “Take a deep breath. Move a little to the right. That’s it.”
I slide past her and pull out a healing potion. It will speed up his recovery. Wake up, you bastard. We desperately need to show her he’s alive.
Meri sways and crashes to her knees, but her eyes never leave Cormal.
Finally, he stirs, blue eyes blinking rapidly. He frantically looks around until he spots her, then yanks her into his arms.
I throw up a shield around them. A second later, she sags against him and loses consciousness. Thank the goddess.
Cormal shakes her, but I stop him. “She’ll be out for days. I’ll explain after we get to The Abbey. There are too many ears around here.”
He tries to stand with her in his arms, but he’s weaker than he realizes and almost drops her. I take her from him and cradle her tightly in my arms. She feels good. Tiny, but full of curves. I look down at her beautiful face. It all makes sense now. I was first drawn to the darkness inside her. How did I not realize it was my power?
“Where’s the monster?” Cormal asks, his eyes darting around the shed.
“Dead,” I say flatly.
Callyx comes striding in the door, his brows lowered in a thunderous scowl. “I assume it’s safe now that she’s out?”
Cormal tenses. “What the fuck does that mean?”
With a hiss, I zap the two of them. “Not here. We need to return to The Abbey.”
Callyx swings an arm around Cormal to help him walk, but the snarl he receives has him backing off. “Fine. Fall on your damn face. Let’s go.” Within minutes, he has everyone mobilized and moving toward the portal with Cormal’s team protecting us from the rear.
The derelict citizens of The Slag slither out of the shadows to watch us pass, whispering about the monster’s death and Leandra’s anger.
“Where’s Kavi?” I ask Cormal.
“He went to get Lux,” Cormal replies with a hard laugh. “He’s the last resort when things go sideways.” He picks up the phone and calls his second in command. “Stand down. It’s dead.” He narrows his eyes and looks at me. “I’m not sure. Will touch base later.”
“Before it died, it sent out a warning to its maker,” I murmur to Cormal. “Leandra knows we’re actively hunting her.”