Calm Before the Storm (23 page)

The female pulled Irina out of the cage and
into Choronzon’s arms. She locked the door and as she did Cassi charged toward
her, grabbed her throat and rammed her head into the bars. Irina watched in
horror as the woman collapsed with Cassi’s hands still clawing at her.

Choronzon sighed heavily. “You really can’t
get the staff these days,” he lamented, holding on to Irina’s arm tightly.
“Morana! Clean up this mess!”

Irina caught one last look of fear in
Cassi’s eyes as he whisked her from the room followed by the rest of his
entourage.

Tyr woke up in chains, his brain fuzzy and
clogged in a foggy haze. He was lying on a hard, flat surface, wrists and
ankles restrained. His torso bound in thick bandage, chest aching and sore, not
from where the blade had sliced into his flesh, but where his heart beat
anxiously over the absence of Irina from his side. Where was she? And why was
he not dead?

The two thoughts echoed in his head as his
body gradually solidified back to the reality of his situation.He
shifted his head sideways, and his vision became more focused as he took in the
space that enclosed him. The walls were stained crimson, blotches of darker
almost black-red scumbled in patches across the surface. The red patches spread
over onto the ceiling and as he gazed up at the intense color, his nose scented
the smell of dry, coppery blood and reality hit him. The walls
were
painted in blood. Probably the blood of past inmates and victims. As he
contemplated that sobering fact, a creak to his left had him shifting to see a
tall lean man enter the room. He had blue-green hair cut in choppy spikes
around a visage of the palest white. The absence of blood in those cheeks
enhanced the scarlet glow of his eyes, which were deep-set under arching brows
of white-gray. His blue-veined lips opened to expose two sharp canine fangs,
revealing the man’s sanguini lineage. The smile extended, exposing more teeth
as he acknowledged Tyr’s consciousness.

“So you are awake at last,” he said, his
voice a crisp, clear bell ringing in Tyr’s ears. Tyr tried to move his wrists
but the restraints were too tight.

“As you can see. Are these really
necessary?” He inclined his head toward the offending chains.

The sanguini healer smiled again.
“According to Abrasax, yes.”

Tyr’s lips were dry. “How long have I been
here?” he asked.

“Two days.” Two days. Where was Irina? Tyr’s
heart lurched, energy fanning out to conduct a search party, striving to make a
connection. Agitated until he felt the faint sizzle of a familiar electrical
pulse, a magnetic draw on his soul. Relief. She was in the vicinity. Somewhere.

The healer began to undress Tyr’s wounds,
removing the bandages carefully with long, elegant fingers. “I am Zagan,” he
said as he worked. “You are in the city of Serpens on Ophiuchus. I have heard
that you are Earthani, which I find hard to believe as you have healed so
quickly. Your cell tissue began reconstruction barely hours after you received
the wound.”

“I also have Lyrani blood,” Tyr informed
him, remembering for a moment what he had learned about his mother and considering
the effect that might have had on his body and strength.

“Ah!” said Zagan, “that accounts for it.
Lyrani have that capacity, particularly if they are saevici.” He stopped the
motion of his fingers for a moment to inspect Tyr’s injury. “It is good that
you are awake,” he continued. “Choronzon, Lord of the Abyss, has been awaiting
you and he was getting impatient. We
really
don’t want him impatient!”

The bandages were off and Tyr could see the
faint red scar, a vivid reminder of the slicing blade wielded by the dark
warrior. Why had he stabbed Tyr if he hadn’t meant to kill him? He recalled his
shock and the horror of Irina’s pain as that blade ripped into his chest, heard
again her choking cry of anguish as she fell to her knees cradling him in her arms.
He would never forget her strength, her bravery. How she had fought to keep him
alive.

It was her energy that had held him in
place, sustained his body as his organs went into shock. It was her
determination that had jerked his heart back into action, urged his body to
counterattack and defend itself. She was the sole reason for his existence and
he would fight to the death for her. Tyr’s whole body vibrated with the primal
need to ensure her safety, the magnetic draw between them repeatedly insisting he
forge a path to her side. To get to her, he would have to bide his time and see
how this game played out.

“Then you need to unchain me if he’s so
eager to see me and take me to him,” he told Zagan.

Zagan laughed at that, a tinkling
high-pitched giggle that grated on Tyr’s ears. “I can take you to him, but I
think we’ll keep the chains.”

Zagan opened the doors and signaled to
someone outside. A familiar person entered. Unfortunately, one he had hoped
never to see again. Her blonde tresses were braided in array of dreads that
created a Medusa-like effect, almost a halo of snakes that bobbed and bounced
seductively as she walked, and Tyr wondered again, what the hell she was.

Rusalka strode in and immediately slapped
him hard across the jaw. Leaning over him she hissed, “I bet you never thought
you’d see me again!” The venom in her voice slid over his flesh like crawling
insects. “But look at you. Now you are the one in chains and I finally get to
play with you. This is how I like my men—helpless at my feet.”

“Rusalka, it’s a pleasure as always. The
last time I saw you, you were a little entangled,” said Tyr licking the blood
from his lips, aware that Zagan was looking at him, his eyes dark with an
almost feverish glow.
Bloodthirst
? Rusalka’s eyes flashed red and she
whipped her hand back over his cheek again, this time letting her nails dig
into the surface of his skin.

“Keep your thoughts to yourself,” she
hissed, withdrawing a leather strap from her waistband and grabbing Tyr by the
hair. She lifted his neck to clip the band around it. Two shedu guards in their
beast form entered to unchain his hands and feet from the bed but they made
sure his hands were bound, his feet shackled as they pulled him up. One of them
attached a chain to the leather collar, which Rusalka grasped, wrenching Tyr
forward onto his knees, pleasure evident on her face with every tug of the
leash.

* * * * *

Cassi tamped down a sharp spike of panic
that heaved in her chest as Irina disappeared with Choronzon. She needed to
keep a clear head. Realizing she was not alone, she stopped staring at the
unconscious female and turned her gaze to the one he called Morana.

She watched as Morana walked cautiously
over to stare at the fallen female, remarking, “I could have told her you might
do something like that. She’s not very bright.”

Cassi studied the Discordant female. Morana
obviously wasn’t stupid. She was very tall, probably nearly six feet. Her long,
tawny hair hung loose with two small braided strands on each side of a
heart-shaped face that supported slanted eyes of an unusual turquoise blue. It
was a beautiful face but as Cassi well knew that beauty was only surface deep.
Morana was hard as nails. Turquoise eyes scanned her intently. “I know you have
her key,” she finally said.

Cassi tried to hide her dismay. This Morana
missed nothing and had apparently seen Cassi deftly palm the fallen female’s
key as she slid to the floor unconscious. “I do?”

“Don’t play games, Cassiopeia. I know a lot
about you and we have a mutual friend.”

“Oh yeah? Who’s that then?”

Morana tilted her head appraisingly. “The
one you call the dark warrior.”

“He’s no friend of mine,” replied Cassi
coolly.

“Really?” queried Morana. “He seemed rather
upset that Choronzon has claimed you. I think he wanted to claim you for himself.”

“Well he can go hang!” Cassi said heatedly,
ignoring the stutter in her chest. “I belong to no one and anyway he stabbed
friend of mine. Oh and he cheats!”

“Maybe you protest too much.” Morana looked
coy. “But enough of him. I can help you—but first I would like to know of
another of your Eunomi warriors.”

“Why would you help me?” asked Cassi
suspiciously.

“I have helped the Eunomi many times,”
answered Morana. “They pay well.”

Cassi knew there were Eunomi informants on
Ophiuchus and it was very possible that Morana was one. She didn’t seem eager
to stop Cassi from escaping, considering she knew Cassi had a key.

“I can tell you where the pendants are,”
continued Morana. “Without them they cannot perform the ceremony and your
friend will survive a little longer.”

“I won’t tell you anything about the Eunomi
that might harm them.”

“Do you know Ziad the healer?”

Cassi hesitated. “I do,” she said
cautiously.

“What’s he like?”

The question surprised her. This Morana was
a strange creature. Why the interest in Ziad? “He’s a nice guy.”

“Tell me what he does apart from healing.
Does he have family, a female?”

“This is getting personal,” said Cassi,
confused by her inquiries. Did this Morana have a crush on Ziad?

“Tell me if he has a female and I will tell
you where the pendants are.”

“As far as I know Ziad is young, well not
that young, a few hundred years or so, free and single. He does like girls
though but tends to get caught up in his work. He’s a bit of a geek that way,
oh and he likes plants and animals. A lot. There, does that help? Next time I
see him if you like I’ll give him your number, how’s that?”

“Perfect.” Morana smiled. “That’s perfect.”

“Pendants?” prompted Cassi.

“Oh, Abrasax has them.” Morana seemed to
lose interest in Cassi as she hauled up the still-unconscious female and threw
her effortlessly over her shoulder.

“But where?” insisted Cassi.

“Oh, he keeps them close, somewhere on his
person.” Morana was nearly out the door.

“That’s not much help.” Cassi was
irritated.

“If you want to find him, go to the Gilded
Lily. It’s a brothel in the main square. That’s all I can give you. I have to
get this silly bitch out of here or Choronzon will be after me. By the way,
wait five minutes before leaving. The guards will be doing a check in a minute.
And take the stairs down.” With that she was gone.

Cassi paused, waiting a few minutes until
she heard the heavy footsteps of the guards passing by the room. Sliding her
hand around the bars she unlocked the door of the cage. Her first thought was
of Irina and the danger she was in. Choronzon could be killing her right now,
but Morana had seemed sure that Abrasax had the pendants and that he was having
a wild time in a brothel so it was to the brothel she needed to go. Choronzon
wouldn’t kill Irina without first trying to take her essence in order to use it
to control The Balance, and for that he needed the pendants. He might already
have control of Tyr but if Tyr was dead, then being able to use the essence of
Peace to screw things up was the next best alternative. Either way, if she
could get her hands on the pendants, it would help ensure Irina’s safety.

Cassi made her way stealthily along the
dark corridor. She was in some kind of palace with columns running along each
side of the space, supporting ornate Discordant-inspired carvings showing
bodies twisted in grotesque scenes of torture and debauchery. At the end of the
corridor the stairs went both up and down. Following Morana’s advice she went
down to find herself in the area that contained the kitchen. There was a foul
staleness in the air and Cassi made a note never to accept an invitation to
dine with Choronzon.

Slipping past the weary kitchen slaves via
the darkness of the shadows, Cassi eventually made her way outside into the
dark-purple light of an Ophiuchus dusk. She recognized the city of Serpens down
below, spread out like a black pit of hell, its streets a labyrinth of
alleyways that were home to ruthless cutthroats and thieves. She saw that the
palace she had been held in was familiar to her. It was the palace of a Chthoni
warlord called Phenex. He was a savage brute with a bloodthirsty reputation and
for the last hundred years had ruled Serpens with an iron fist. Another
Discordant she didn’t want to be within ten feet of.

Making her way on silent feet, keeping to
the shadows, Cassi navigated the streets. All was quiet. No one traveled late
at night through Serpens without good reason. She cut down an alleyway to avoid
some of Phenex’s guards who were making the rounds, when suddenly a gloved hand
punched its way out of the darkness beside her and grabbed her hard around the
mouth. At the same time, another arm clamped her around the waist and dragged
her backward into the shadows. Cassi tried to struggle.

“Don’t move!” A heated whisper. A recognizable
voice. Cassi went still. The hand on her mouth relaxed. “Tani, is that you?”
Cassi whispered back.

“Yes and Ziad.” Another solid form emerged
from behind as Tani let go of her and Cassi spun around. She was so happy to
see them that she grabbed them both into a tight embrace.

“Cassi, you’re choking me!” gasped Tani.

“I’m so glad you’re here!”

“We’re not the only ones,” said Ziad
calmly. “There are squads of Eunomi all over the city.”

“Okay, great. So what’s the plan?”

“We’re awaiting orders,” said Tani. “The
wiccani scried and found both Tyr and Irina’s auras in Phenex’s palace.”

“That’s where I’ve just come from,” said
Cassi. “So Tyr is alive?”

“Why wouldn’t he be?” asked Ziad.

“Long story. Later. I was pretty sure they
wouldn’t let him die but Choronzon is there and he has Irina, so what are we
going to do about it?”

“Borealis is awaiting an informant. She’s
going to give us a way into the palace. Ziad and I were checking access routes
and were just about to return when we saw you.”

“Take me to Borealis,” said Cassi urgently.
“I know where both the pendants are.”

Tani and Ziad led Cassi through the tangle
of streets to a house near the center of the city, not far from the square that
Cassi had been directed to by Morana. Borealis and Merak were relieved to see
her, Merak’s expression grave as his gray eyes scanned her for injuries.
“Cassiopeia. I don’t need to say it, do I?”

Cassi tried to look contrite. “Nah. I just
couldn’t help myself, Merak—I had to try.” He sighed shaking his head and gave
her a big hug. “It’s good to have you back in one piece. Now give us details of
what you know.”