Chapter Thirty #2
A gasp went up through the crowd. Dealing with humans was tantamount to working with the enemy. After all, this was a group of the Men of Valor, who believed that monsters were above humans. Anything but food or cattle or employees was beneath them.
Lorcan snorted. “He’s doing what he does best.”
“Provoking and shaming him into action?”
“Pissing people off.”
“Or should I mention the human woman that you bought an apartment for in that new area of Tribeca, too?” Graves kicked him in the face, sending his head back hard.
Another stutter of disbelief from the crowd.
But Ithra and Hunder had marginally recovered, and they came forward, Ithra catching him with a punch to the stomach that sent him hurtling back a half-dozen feet, colliding with the metal barrier of the balcony. He slumped forward with a controlled cough before rising slowly to his feet.
Brix was still down, but another figure appeared then. This one Kierse recognized as the shifter Fury. He couldn’t shift at this moment, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to get his licks in.
“Fury,” Graves said, running the back of his hand across his split lip. The blood smeared down his chin, and he looked practically sinister as his gray eyes smoldered. “What a lovely surprise.”
“Your days are over, warlock,” Fury said. His body bristled as if he thought he might be able to fight the amulet. Might be able to shift then and there into a leopard and attack him with teeth and claws and not just fists and feet.
“That’s a bold statement from a shifter who can’t even shift.” Graves smiled then, and it was dangerous. “And who has to use an entire room of people to try to get me while my magic is down.”
“You have nothing to throw against me,” Fury said, stalking forward. He prowled like a cat, but Graves just stood there and waited with that terrifying look on his face.
Fury launched at him, and Graves dodged.
They did that for a minute, playing cat and mouse.
Only Fury surely thought he was the cat in this situation.
Kierse could see that Graves played chess, moving them away from the edge of the balcony and toward the tables.
Then he smashed Fury backward into the table, the glass shattering as Fury’s body took the brunt of it.
Then Graves’s fists collided with Fury’s face. “You’ll never shift again when I’m done with you,” he snarled.
Fury roared then, shoving Graves to the side and rolling back to his feet. Blood ran from Fury’s mouth. He spit to the side. “Empty promises.”
“You’re certainly one to talk,” Graves said with a raised eyebrow. “Considering the bastard child you have stashed in Washington Heights that you think no one knows about.”
Fury froze. His eyes rounded. His body bristled. If he could shift, he absolutely would have. But there was nothing to be done, and instead he looked afraid. Exactly what Graves wanted.
“See the problem,” Graves said not just to Fury, but to the entire assembled audience, “is that when you go up against me, you go up against all of your own secrets. All your hypocrisies. So come get your licks in. Let the whole world know about your indiscretions.”
The rest of the crowd visibly shook at the words, looking amongst themselves and wondering who was going to next go up against someone like that. And for a moment, Kierse thought he had it in hand. That she’d worried for nothing. Who could take him down?
But then they moved together. Ithra, Brix, and Fury rushed him from different parts of the balcony, and they collided in a tangle of angry limbs.
Graves fought them off the best he could, but with the different angles, they swept him over, burying him into the floor, beating down his perfect limbs like they meant to crush him into paste.
Kierse jerked forward, but Lorcan grabbed her arms. “Not yet, love.”
Amberdash whistled, and his guards rushed in, pulling Graves to his feet. His assailants retreated with death in their eyes as the guards wrangled Graves back into position for everyone to see.
He lifted his head, the midnight blue of his hair falling into his eyes, the dangerous glint more powerful than ever. He was a little bloodier, but that defiance still lay there for everyone to see.
Then Nova stepped forward, sliding brass knuckles onto her hand in lieu of the claws she had when she could shift into a wolf.
Graves laughed. “This the best you can do?” he asked, spitting at her feet.
“These are runed, darling,” Nova said.
Lorcan hissed behind her.
“What does that mean?”
“They’re going to hurt.”
“Yeah, got that for myself.”
“I can’t see them well enough. I’d guess Norse. Those are the most common. Some are supposed to feel like getting hit with Thor’s hammer.”
“THOR Thor?” she asked.
A few more people peeled off for the exit. She watched Maya tug on Jason’s shirt.
“Come on. I don’t want to watch this. Don’t you want to come with me?”
“Don’t try that shit on me,” Jason snapped as he threw her aside.
“I can’t do anything right now.” She gestured forward toward the balcony. “But I’m not going to stay to watch it.”
“Then leave.”
Maya lifted her chin and defiantly pushed her way out of the crowd. Good for her.
Kierse wanted to do the same. She wanted to get all of her people out of here. Nova with runic brass knuckles would not be good. She needed to stop this.
And then Nova threw the punch. If the guards hadn’t held him up, he would have gone flying again. Instead, his head cracked to the side, and a new trail of blood ran from temple to jaw.
His head hung low as the guards wrestled to hold him up. He spit more blood at Nova’s feet. “Can’t shift. Can’t punch.” His dark eyes looked up at her through the blood. “Couldn’t make alpha.”
“I killed Nate O’Connor. I am the alpha.”
“Surprise attack instead of a challenge?” Graves asked with a distressed laugh. “Looks like his second is still commanding the wolves. Not you.”
Nova hit him again.
The other monsters may thirst for Graves’s blood, but even they had a level of honor. Yeah, beating him up felt good. It wasn’t as fun when he could point out all their flaws and held all their secrets.
Graves’s blood splattered across the balcony. He wasn’t healing as fast as he normally would. His magic was so low.
She couldn’t watch any more of this. The only way to fix this was to get Graves out of here. And the only way to get him out was to get his magic back.
Kierse zeroed in on Amberdash. He sat cross-legged on the bullshit throne. His attendants fluttered at his feet, reminiscent of the women lying before King Louis in Third Floor. The Amulet of Hermeria glowed around his neck, feeding off the fight.
She couldn’t touch it. Lorcan had made that much clear. It would suck her own vitality, and she was too close to death for that. She needed another way to stop it.
The droop of Graves’s shoulders as his legs buckled out from under him made her knuckles clench in fury. Nova hit him again, and the guards let him fall, broken, to the ground. The crack of the knuckles hitting him over and over and over again made up her mind for her.
“I’m going to put an end to this. Don’t try to stop me.”
“Kierse!”
Kierse took a deep breath and pushed through the crowd. “Enough,” she gasped.
Nova pulled back the brass knuckles at her approach. “Watch out or I’ll use these on you.”
Graves jostled uneasily to his feet. “Kierse, don’t…”
But Kierse pushed past Nova, shoving the wolf out of the way and put her hands on Graves’s face. “You look terrible.”
“Thanks,” he said weakly. She leaned in lower, barely audible with everyone with such advanced hearing. Her magic came to the tip of her fingers, and wildflowers blossomed in the air as she told Graves, “Hold out for another minute for me, okay?”
“Wren…” he gasped.
“One more minute.”
Nova grasped her by the back of her hair and tossed her down onto the ground. Strands ripped loose from the back of her head, her knees and elbows scraped against the hard ground, and she dramatically threw her head back onto the hard balcony cement.
“Get out of my way, bitch!”
Kierse put the water works on. Her head throbbed, and her knee was bloody. It wasn’t that difficult, after all.
Amberdash came to his feet.
Check.
“Enough, Nova,” he intoned. “Focus on your directive.”
“The bitch interfered.”
Kierse pushed to her elbow, swiping at tears from her eyes. “You think you’re so tough. You never would have taken me on if I had my magic. I’d destroy you. We all know that you’re an embarrassment trying to suck up to Daddy.”
“What did you say?” she snarled.
“Kierse,” Graves warned.
Nova took a step toward her, and Amberdash stepped off of his throne.
And mate.
“Leave Kierse out of this.” Amberdash came to her side, offering her a cold, pale hand.
She sniffled dramatically for her rapt audience and then took his hand in hers. She let him pull her to her feet. Away from his attendants. Away from his guards. Away from the stone.
“Thank you,” she said, barely suppressing her thieving smile.
Then she grasped the chain of the amulet, snapping it in half and tossing it hard to the ground.
“Kierse, no!” Graves said at the same time Amberdash reached for her wrist.
If he got it, he could feed on her soul. A risk she always took in his presence. But that wasn’t her only play.
The amulet landed at her feet, still glowing faintly. She dodged Amberdash’s grip, backhanding him across the face as the rest of his guards rushed forward.
But they were all too late.
She dug her heel into the amulet, and the whole crowd heard the pop as it cracked in half. And then a shock wave blasted through the party. Kierse fell to the ground as the rest of the attendees were blown over. She gasped, as whatever was in that amulet seemed to pass through her.
Her magic should have returned in force, but instead it felt like the price for breaking the amulet had been the rest of her magic. She was back at zero, and she fell over as the whole thing seemed to collapse all around her.
The rest of the crowd of monsters all got their transformations back, but that meant Graves got his magic back, too. The partygoers rushed for the exit in a burst.
Amberdash yelled at the attendees, but his guards immediately rushed to him and the throne—subsequently the stone—for safety. Their eyes met for a moment, and Amberdash nodded at her. Was he…proud?
A second later, steady arms helped her to her feet. “I’ve got you,” Lorcan said. “That was reckless and brilliant. Let’s get out of here.”
“Magic is gone.”
“We’ll figure it out when we’re free.”
“Graves,” Kierse said, reaching for him.
He’d struggled back to his feet. “Here.”
“Do we…go after the stone?” she asked as she pushed away from Lorcan’s helpful arms.
It was the question. But none of them were in top form. Graves could barely stand. Kierse’s magic was completely shot. Lorcan had his magic back, but even he looked worse for wear as if that shock wave had injured everyone.
“Another day,” he said. “We’ll take the tunnels.”