Chapter 21 #2
Kraven’s humorous laugh echoed off the barren stone walls.
“Who do you think the pixies came to with their little Lunar Brotherhood problem? Who gave them the knowledge to fashion such a weapon?” He caressed the smooth wood, his thumb brushing over the interlocking circles carved into it.
“I’ve been alive much longer than you and lived through darker times than you could ever imagine. ”
He stopped mere inches from her, the Whisper’s staff between them. The double-edged staff seemed to purr in his hands.
“My kind are rare because we’ve been alive since the gods and goddess who made this realm created us.
We were the first they forged from the shadows—the incubi and, unfortunately, our female equivalent.
” He pursed his lips, a darkness washing out the blue of his eyes, as if the mention of the succubi drew up a memory he would rather forget.
“Our kind were too… deviant. Too needy, they deemed us. And so they vanquished us just to start again.”
Zera sucked in a breath. This wasn’t what she’d been taught in school. In fact, the knowledge of the ancients was shadowed in mystery, but Kraven, he actually knew. Because he’d lived it.
“They didn’t know that I still breathed,” he said, his eyes distant.
“That my heart kept beating, holding on to that magic they left behind. They created every kind of beast from the blood of our kind but separated our power—kept you broken so that your magic remained diminished. They would never let those with my power live, so I hid until they deserted our realm, leaving their new creations to their own devices.”
The age of the thousand-year war. She’d read the accounts that had been recorded in history books during a required course she’d never finished but she was certain hadn’t covered the incubi.
Perhaps she would go back to school after all, if only to find out what knowledge she might be missing. But faeology still called to her, and if she couldn’t kill Kraven tonight, then she knew she would need that degree more than ever.
“Where did they go?” It was the only question she could manage.
He gave a simple shrug. “They grew bored of you. Perhaps they left to start anew. Whatever it was, I thank the bloody fae that they left. It allowed me to come out of the shadows, only to find out that darkness had taken over this realm. An insatiable greed that couldn’t be quenched until it took claim to everything and everyone.
But fortunately for me, I was the one thing it couldn’t claim.
“I kept the darkness leashed, and when your ancestors came to me, begging for a way to stop being the prey because the gods had given them the short end of the stick, I happily obliged.”
He pointedly eyed the staff he caressed in his outstretched hand. “It’s yours. Take it.”
The gray fox watched her take the staff back like a predator watching its prey fall into its trap.
“Why?” She couldn’t keep the question from tumbling out as the staff shuddered and moaned, as though it wanted to be back in the hands of the incubus who’d stepped out of her reach.
She ground her teeth, regretting that she hadn’t taken the shot when she’d had it, but there was something about him beyond his persuasion that had kept her from killing him. Perhaps it was the extent of his power, which absolutely terrified the shit out of her.
“Because equilibrium is important to survival.” His jaw twitched. “And when the gods and goddesses of old realize I’m alive and return for me, I want power on my side. All of it.”
“But—” She took a step toward him but froze when his body started to billow into a mist of gray that hadn’t been there before.
“Don’t forget our agreement, my dear.” He winked as he withered into gray smoke and vanished.
She whirled around in search of him, her hand clutching the Whisper’s staff that hummed with ancient power, but he was gone, as if he’d been sucked into the smoke itself. Her gaze settled on the spot where he’d stood, cold and empty. Kraven was gone.
“Damn it,” Zera muttered under her breath, disappointment souring her mouth when her eyes darted around the room in search of him, but there was nothing.
Her one shot at getting out of this mess had vanished.
But how? That wasn’t his power. At least it wasn’t one that had been recorded as belonging to an incubus, no matter how powerful the incubus was known to be.
But if he was one of the few who had lived as long as he claimed, then she supposed he could’ve written whatever information existed about his kind.
It was a question that meant nothing now, though. She raced across the debris and skidded to a stop in front of her sister.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” She checked her sister for any injuries. The only ones she could see were the bruises caused by the gag. She carefully untied the piece of cloth, and Jade sputtered, gripping her jaw with her free hand.
“Thanks. Just a bit bruised. I think Sloane hurt her ankle, though,” she said with a grunt as she flexed her jaw, now free from the gag.
Zera glanced down at Sloane’s ankle and the skin that swelled around the shackle.
Jade carefully removed her wife’s gag. Tears welled in Sloane’s eyes, but she nodded in answer to an unspoken question from Jade. The moment was intimate but fleeting as Jade turned back to Zera. “We need the key. Our powers won’t work to wake up Cole until we have our lovely accessories removed.”
“Right.” Zera stood and glanced around the mass of broken tables and limbs.
Jade joined her to help sift through the bodies for the red key ring, stumbling once on the chain that connected the shackles at her ankles. “Zera, I’m so sorry this happened. I don’t know how they found us. We were so careful. Even stayed at an inn.”
Zera clamped down on the side of her cheek to keep the tears at bay. It pained her to think Jade thought that any of this was her fault. If it was anyone’s, it was her own. “It’s okay. We had a mole, but I took care of it.”
She caught the shocked blink from her half sister and smirked. “You didn’t think I had it in me?”
“Of course I did,” Jade said with a shocked laugh. “You’ve had to deal with your share of close encounters at the tavern. I just didn’t think you’d have to.”
Zera nodded in understanding. Then her heart clenched when she caught her son’s reflection in a broken piece of glass. “Is he… safe?”
“The safest one of us all,” Jade said, and Zera’s nerves eased. “Luckily, Sloane sensed the danger before they crashed into our motel room. Placed the spell that kept Cole fed, nourished, alive, and untouchable. Thoroughly fae-proofed the baby.”
“Yeah, and it wasn’t easy either,” Sloane added from where she finally rose to stretch her limbs. “Took most of my magic to do so. Not that it mattered because as soon as Gareth’s men arrived, they siphoned our powers.”
“Same here,” Zera said, waggling her wrist. The red loop hummed.
“It’s weird that it didn’t shatter when the fae was killed,” Jade said with a frown.
“Or maybe he’s not dead yet,” Zera said, picking up an overturned chair, her eyes locking on bloodred eyes. “You.”
She gripped the fae by the collar and yanked him to his feet. Blood oozed from a gouge at his side. He snickered. His teeth were speckled with even more blood. His laugh was cut short when he reached toward her shoulder, where Cole was still safely snuggled in a wrap and strapped to her back.
The fae rasped, eyes wide. He looked down at the knife jabbed into his other side.
“Wanted to ensure they matched,” Zera said snidely and watched as the fae’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. He sagged against her, and she shoved him to the floor.
“What?” she asked when she caught Jade staring at her, jaw practically rolling on the floor.
“You really are vicious. You know that, right?” A hint of pride touched her sister’s eyes.
Zera shrugged. “When my family’s threatened, you know I’ll do whatever it takes. Even if it means being trained by an arrogant faeboy.”
She grabbed the glowing key ring, making quick work of removing it from the dead elven’s belt, and freed Jade from her magical restraints. Not that they did much, since Jade’s pixie gland hadn’t ever developed, much like the rest of their pixie kind.
“Where is that spy anyway?” Jade asked, rubbing her wrists. “And who was that other guy? The gray-haired one?”
Zera rolled her eyes. “The faeboy got himself locked in the cell. Guess we’ll have to go save him after this. And that other guy… That’s a problem for another time. Come on, let’s free Sloane so I can finally see Cole again.”
They turned to head back to where Jade’s wife sat, but Jade placed a hand on Zera’s shoulder as she asked, “What’s that?”
She followed her sister’s line of sight to the exact spot where the gray fox had stood. There, perched on top of splintered wood and rotting meat, was a satchel that had definitely not been there before.
Zera frowned. “I don’t know.”
She stepped over the dead fae and picked up the small bag, the rough leather creaking in her grip. It was surprisingly heavier than expected. She untied the strings, revealing a single envelope, an iron key, and a small box.
“It’s a letter,” Zera said, her tone a mix of curiosity and alarm.
She removed the letter and quickly read it, gleaning that Kraven had given her the keys to the stronghold and an address to a safe lab to reproduce the synthetic pixie dust she’d promised him.
It was also a warning that if she didn’t live up to her part of the bargain, there would be consequences.
She shuddered. She didn’t want to find out what those were.