Black Moon Rising (DarkLife Saga) (28 page)

“Empty them,” the Banshee ordered.

“This means nothing,” Carrie spat as she slid a hand into her shirt and pulled out the silver pendant.  “I would never betray you.”

“Your life is forfeit,” the Banshee growled, and reached for her sword as she took a step toward Carrie.

“You can’t be serious,” Carrie replied and lifted a hand.  “You’ll never get near me with that sword.  Put it away and think about what you’re doing.”

Bingo, mission accomplished.  Turning them against each other was almost too easy.  But with one dud plan after another, who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth.  I dropped my shield and threw a bubble of energy at Carrie.

“Hate to be a party pooper, but I need her alive, what with gramps wanting to see her and all.”  I snapped my wings forward and flew backward, dragging Carrie along for the ride.  The Banshee didn’t hesitate and unleashed a wail so strong that it uprooted small trees.  I jerked, pulling Carrie in her protective bubble, in front of me.  The blast shoved Carrie into me and carried us both through the portal faster than I intended.

I flew through the doorway and hit the ground hard enough to knock a tooth loose.  I heard the thump of another body and groaned.  That would be Carrie.  I rolled to a stop, clutching my throbbing jaw and shaking a hand at the portal. “Ire!”

Irulan and Constantine were at my side, pulling me to feet before I could finish my sentence. “Close it, close the portal,” I managed to choke out as I tried to catch my breath.

“But what about?” Constantine started, but I pushed him away from me and grabbed Irulan by the shoulders.

“Trust me; she’s plenty pissed enough to find us without the portal.  We need to find somewhere to set up.”  Irulan lifted a hand and the blinding light disappeared.

“There, it’s done.”

“You’re prolonging the inevitable,” Carrie grunted as she climbed to her feet.  “You can’t change the course of destiny, no matter how hard you try…Isn’t that right, Irulan.”

I pushed Irulan behind me and spun around to face her.  “No one has to die today, not you, me, the Banshee.  This is the last time I’m giving you an out.  Go home and leave is alone.  Never come back to this realm.”

“No, I think I’ll take my chances here,” she said.  There was an ebb of power in her voice that grew with each word.  “Most fae hate Tir Nam Beo.  The stink of iron is everywhere.  I think it’s growing on me.”

I tapped into the fae in me, ready to fight her with everything I had, then glanced back to see how many fighters I had at my disposal.  Instead of vampires and weres, I saw tall buildings, vehicles parked along the sidewalk, and shops.  There were lights everywhere and people running, being herded by wolves.  I’ll be damned if we weren’t uptown.

Chapter 24

“
U
ptown!  You opened the portal in the heart of Center City!” I screeched.  Dear Lord, this was a PR nightmare, waiting for the cameras to start flashing.  I pulled back the burst of power that was waiting to be released.  There was no way I could use it and not bring down a ton of metal and concrete on our heads.  It was too unpredictable. 

“It was the only place I could think of.  I had no choice,” Irulan huffed over the growing rattling of metal.

“There’s always a choice, Nightingale,” Carrie barked.  “Unfortunately, you always choose wrong!”

Carrie tensed her fingers and the rattling became the crunching and screeching of metal being torn.  I saw movement from the corner of my eye and then the air was filled with the floating, twisted remains of the vehicles that lined the street.  Each car was being disassembled, sheared into slivers, until we were surrounded by thousands of razor sharp projectiles.

“Carrie, look around you.  Innocent people are going to get hurt if you do this!” Irulan yelled as she pushed by me.

“What do I care about your hollow, finite-mortals?”  Carrie laughed. “They break so easily…watch.”

“NO!” Ire screamed, but it was too late.  Hunks of metal were flying in every direction, barreling toward groups of fleeing humans.  Valerian reacted first, jumping into the air, snatching as many of the projectiles as he could.  I slipped into a flash, throwing up a shield to block some, while grabbing others out of the air.  I felt multiple auras as I worked, and knew that the others had joined me.

We raced back and forth, fighting the coming storm and Carrie’s handiwork. But in a city filled with metal, trying to out-maneuver a Metal Mage was an uphill battle.  I threw my aura ahead of me, searching for Marcus but instead found Thade and Tamerlane, “The humans?”

“They’re clear for two blocks up to Trade.  Marcus is on two feet and bringing in Sentinels to block off a perimeter.  Val, we’ve gotta keep this contained.”

At the risk of sounding like a prick, I kept my ‘duh’ to myself.  The next voice I heard in my head was Tino’s.  “Listen, sis, I’ve got a clear shot.  That should buy you a few minutes.  As soon as she falls, you guys hit it.”

I resisted the urge to turn around and look for my older brother.  Instead, I released my shield, letting the bits of metal clang to the ground.  “The humans are safe, so boohoo to you,” I huffed.  “Tamerlane is here,” I called out to everyone, “he’s going to keep Carrie busy while we dip.”

“Keep her busy, how?” Ire huffed.

“Does it matter?” Vedo shot back, not caring that we knew he’d been listening to our conversation.  The first shot went off with a loud ‘kapow’. Carrie’s reflexes were every bit as fast as my own. She threw a hand in front of her face, pulling her power.  The round froze inches away and hung in the air before her.  Two more quick pops sounded off, and Carrie stopped them both.  But I knew my brother.  This wasn’t the distraction he was planning.  I tilted my head and closed my eyes.  There underneath the repeated firing of one gun, I heard another being gently cocked.

As I was the only person listening for it, I heard the small pop of a round leaving a silencer.  His aim was dead on.  Carrie jerked and stumbled with a hand pressed to her chest.  Two more rounds stuck her in the legs, and she dropped to her knees.  Irulan took a step toward her and stopped.  I could feel her confusion through our link.  Despite all that she’d done, Ire still cared.  Carrie lifted her bloody hand and frowned at the circle of blood that soaked her shirt.  “Irulan, you helped them do this to me?”  She managed to say before falling to her knees.

Ire looked to me for answers and in return I shrugged a shoulder.  A bullet to the chest is pretty self-explanatory.   So is one to the temple.  Tam’s next shot hit her in the side of the head and knocked her flat on her back.  Irulan screamed and started for her.  Fazion and Stryfe appeared from out of nowhere, blocking her path.  Fazion sighed and took Irulan by the arm.

“Come, S
ister,” Fazion whispered.  Irulan took a second to scowl at me before turning to follow them.  For a brief moment, all I could do was stare and try not to explode.

“Val, she’s down but not out.  Those slugs are already working their way out.  What are you waiting for?” Tamerlane barked.  Shit.  This is why you don’t work with your significant other.  I got a grip on my emotions and looked for a street sign, College Street.  I think I knew where to go.

While Center City wasn’t the ideal setting, I wasn’t about to drop our plans for fear of a little property damage, even if it was going to piss Daddy off in the long run.  That’s what disaster insurance was for, right.  I led the way, running through uptown Charlotte looking for the structure that would suit our needs. 

We made it a block away when I felt the Banshee’s cold aura wash over me.  She’d found us, and she was pissed.  I ignored it and kept running.  She unleashed a wail and a pair of wolves flew by me, knocked senseless by her blast.  That’s when Tam opened fire.  I heard the rapid fire pops of his weapon and her wail became a scream.

“She’s hit, woolybooger, but I don’t think it’s gonna count for much,” Tam said.  “The bitch heals faster than we do…and I think she’s found my hiding spot, gotta jet.”

The next wail was aimed high.  The windows above us exploded, forcing us to slow down as we began dodging the hail of broken glass.  I heard the whimper of a wolf as it was hit, and Ire grunted her pain when a shard sliced open her arm.  Damn it all to hell.  I wanted to stop, to turn and make a stand.  Running wasn’t part of my makeup.

“There, Princess,” Stryfe yelled from behind me.  “That building is perfect.”  I cut my eyes to see what he was pointing at and almost cut a cartwheel.  It was latest client of our fledgling construction department, the newly renovated convention center.  It was the first building the city chose to be redesigned with Extras, and our various strengths and abilities in mind.  The steel was endowed with rune magic.  There were psi-dampeners at every entrance.  The windows and doors were made with the latest, Trumaine ballistic glass.  The place was a magic-proof, Fort Knox.

“Alright, people, this is it,” I called out to my crew as we headed for the large, steel and glass dome that made up the front entrance.

I was inches from the door when Tamerlane dropped to the ground in front of me, with a lopsided frown plastered to his face, “Thought you’d never get here.”

“Can we do this later?  You need to override the dampeners on this door,” I huffed as I pulled open the door, waving everyone inside.

Tamerlane went right to a hidden panel and set to work.  Fazion stepped beside me and sighed.  His head darted back and forth as he took in our surroundings.  “Good choice.  Ire, we need to prepare.”

“Better hurry,” I said as I looked up at the darkened, cloud-filled, sky.  There was a slender form floating through the air, heading in our direction; the Banshee, no doubt.  “We’ve got company.”  I slammed the door closed and threw out my arms, channeling fae energy and forcing it into a shield.   The energy spread, fanning out until the entire area was protected.  It was the biggest shield I had erected on my own, but to say it was the strongest, remained to be seen.

“You do know that your efforts are useless,” the Banshee drawled as she descended from the darkened sky.  I looked into her face and shuddered.  For as dark as the sky had become, her hollow eyes were darker.  She raked them across the front of the building and clicked her tongue.  “For all your bravado, all your efforts to prevent it, your demise is inevitable.” 

“You’re very sure of yourself,” Stryfe answered, waving Fazion and Irulan, away.  They backed away, leaving me with the Manticore.  The Banshee paused and narrowed her eyes at Stryfe before she shrugged a shoulder.  “My quarrel was never with you and yours, brother.  You could have taken your men and returned home when I gave you the opportunity.  Yet here you stand, siding with them.  So with them you shall die.”

“I stand in service to the royal family,” Stryfe announced.  “If that calls for my life, it’s a price I’m willing to pay.”

“You’re a bigger fool than I thought,” she whispered, “as you wish it.”  She lifted a palm
toward the glass and my stomach lurched with the surge of power she fed my shield.  Without help it wasn’t going to hold for long.  I could feel Irulan’s magic wash over me as she began her spell.  My mind began to race as I tried to remember everything she tried to teach me about using fae glamour.  I tried to ignore the doubts that were running through my mind, but it was harder than I thought. 

Together, Carrie and the Banshee had outsmarted, or overpowered us at every turn.  Now we were placing our hopes on me being able to keep Carrie at bay, while they took care of the other.  I looked at Thade and his wolves standing with my family’s deadborns that refused to leave when they had the chance.  They were all pursed, waiting for the Banshee to begin her worst.  Our odds at victory were a wild-shot at best and everyone here knew it.  But taking the wild-shot was a better than the alternative…war in the FaeLands and an icy death for my home.  Everyone held their ground, everyone except for Constantine.

My brother has fought and suffered in self-imposed silence, never addressing the fact that the Banshee was responsible for his love’s death.  So you can imagine my surprise when he pushed his way to the front of the crowd and pressed his hand against the glass.

Constantine tilted his head and sighed as he gazed into the hollows where her eyes should be.  I felt Valerian and Tamerlane’s apprehension as they watched our older brother.  They were afraid of what he might do, that he’d finally reached his breaking point.  That was the least of our worries.  My shield would contain him if it came to that.  What the Banshee could do to him was much worse.

I had experienced the Banshee’s gaze, the black emptiness that filled me.  I never wanted to feel that again, and Constantine damn sure didn’t need that on top of everything else.  I jumped into his thoughts; ready to act the moment it appeared the Banshee’s doom gaze was beginning to have an effect on him.  It never came.  Instead he shook his head and pressed a hand to his heart.

“I can feel you.  Sorry, your trick isn’t going to work on me.  You can’t take what’s already gone,” he whispered to the Banshee.  “Fee was my light, my hope, and you took that.”

“I needed to look into her eyes,” he projected walked away from the glass.  “Now it’s time for her to pay for what she did to my Fee.”

Irulan’s voice took the place of Constantine’s.  “Just a few more minutes,” she said.  “Once Fazion and I are linked, I’ll use our connection to bond with you.”

I nodded and blocked out everything except the sound of Irulan breathing.  In spite of everything with Carrie, in the middle of all the chaos, she was my center.  As long as I had her by my side, I could ignore the nagging doubts and focus on what needed to be done.

“Almost there,” Fazion said, moments later.  The wolves lowered their heads and began to growl, their hackles rising on their necks.  My family’s vampires nodded and spread across the room as my brothers moved to my side.  Fazion pointed and Irulan took position.   

“Mark my words, you will die today if you attack me, Your Highness,” the Harbinger growled.  She flexed her fingers and another jolt of energy flooded my shield.  I flinched under the added strain, praying that I didn’t have to hold on for much longer.

“We shall see,” Fazion frowned.  “We’re ready,” he whispered a moment later.

“I can’t do this anymore,” I croaked, my arms shaking.  “I’m tired of running, and putting off the inevitable.”  The Banshee drew her sword and twisted it through the air before bringing it to the ready.  This was it.  I sighed and dropped my arms, releasing my shield.  “If you want me, come and get me.”

She was inside before I finished my sentence, rushing toward me with incredible speed.  I dropped my shields and backpedaled, eager to put as much distance between the two of us as I could.  A group of vampires flashed into her path, buying me a few precious seconds.  “You’re going to have through us first,” a deadborn announced.  She didn’t slow down.

The Banshee flicked her wrist, swinging her sword with deadly precision, cutting down two vampires with one stroke.  The deadborns hit the ground screaming, their skin blistering and turning to black ash where the fae blade cut.  The next vampire managed to land a blow to her midsection, but he made the mistake of turning his back to her, and almost paid with his life.  The Banshee unleashed a wail so tangible that it punched through his flesh as if the bone, muscle, and sinew were no stronger than a wet paper towel.  The vampire fell to his knees, clutching the basketball-sized hole that was now in his stomach.  The injury wouldn’t kill him, but it was gonna hurt like a bitch until it healed.