Destroyer Rising (27 page)

Jonathan rubbed his hands together and nodded. I
scooted closer to Alexandra when she sat down again so the vampire
had room to join us on the couch.

“What did you find out about Vassili?” Hugh asked,
pulling everyone’s attention to him as he sipped on a small cup of
tea. He raised his eyebrows slightly. “I am not that
interesting.”

A small smile crossed Jonathan’s face and he relaxed
a fraction. “He’s been sighted twice in twenty-four hours. Near
Rivercene last night, and again at the southern towers of Falias
this morning.”

“Who saw him?” Sam asked.

Foster slowly sheathed his sword. “Do we trust
them?”

“To say the least,” Jonathan said with a sharp
incline of his head. “The innkeeper called Vik late last
night.”

“Why there?” Beth asked.

“The Seal,” Alexandra said. “When the Seal was
damaged, the dark-touched could have come through any of the
gateways. But why would Vassili suspect Rivercene? The legend of
its Guardian is well known.”

“It is an ancient path,” Hugh said, “capable of
transporting great numbers. It was not coincidence that Philip and
Ezekiel made their way to Rivercene. The power in that place is
substantial, and there is much reward to be had with that
risk.”

“The dark-touched have been sighted in the southern
and northern parts of the state,” Ashley said, her hand flexing
near her hip where the nine-tails usually hung. “We may be ready
here, but one of the covens near Kansas City …” She glanced down
before raising her head with murder in her eyes. “They’re all dead
but two of the witches.”

“They are under the watch of the Wichita Pack now,”
Hugh said. “They will not have a representative at the gathering
tonight because of it. A small group of dark-touched was sighted
near Piedmont, as well. It sounds as though Camazotz and Zola’s
predictions were correct.”

“Why don’t we have Edgar roast them all?” Sam asked.
“He
is
Ra, for fuck’s sake.”

“It is not the same,” Alexandra said. “Edgar can
certainly destroy some of them with a direct attack, but they will
not die merely by being exposed to the light of his arts.”

“Edgar is Ra?” Beth asked, leaning forward. “Like,
literally, Ra? The sun god?”

“How else could you explain the sheer pompousness of
that man?” Ashley asked.

“I just think it’s funny that Ra wears a bowler,” I
said.

Beth huffed out a quick breath. She pulled down the
waistband of her jeans and revealed an impossibly intricate tattoo
on her outer hip that stretched up to her ribcage. I stared at the
eye of Ra. Beth’s scars traced the symbol, and the alternating
patterns of scars and ink were mesmerizing.

“That is a beautiful design,” Alexandra said. “You do
not strike me as a follower of the old religions.”

Beth shook her head.

“You wear it as a symbol of destruction.” Alexandra
frowned slightly. “It is an apt thing for your art. You cannot use
your power without destroying your flesh.”

Ashley ran her fingers over Beth’s tattoo and pulled
her shirt down to cover it. “It’s beautiful.”

“There are many followers of Ra still in the world
today,” Alexandra said. “I do wonder what they would think if they
knew he watched over them in a more traditional sense than as a
long-absent deity.”

“Who else saw Vassili?” Sam asked, turning her focus
to the other vampire.

“The green men outside Falias,” Jonathan said.

I choked on my yawn. “Green men? Here?” I’d heard of
their legend, but I’d never met one. They were the highest order of
Fae warriors.

“It may have been a mistake to bring them here,”
Alexandra said. “Glenn may have overestimated their loyalty. The
green men are fierce warriors, but they are philosophers at heart.
We may be able to use that to our advantage. Nixie would know more
about them.”

“I need to call her,” I said. Alexandra’s reminder
had been stuck in my head for the last several minutes, and the
mention of Nixie’s name had me distracted again.

“Use the old well at the edge of the woods,” the
undine said. “So long as Ashley does not mind. It is the closest
body of water connected to the river.”

“The river isn’t that far,” Ashley said. “Goddess
knows Damian could use the exercise with the crap he eats.”

I looked at everyone in turn. “No one’s going to
argue that? No one?”

“I once saw you live off beef jerky for a week
straight,” Sam said. “Oh, and I remember when we were kids, you
coated a stick of butter in brown sugar and started eating it.”

I could
feel
the eyebrows go up around me.

Hugh nodded and released a slow laugh. “The freezer
at Howell Island is half filled with chimichangas.”

“That’s for emergencies!” I frowned at the werewolf.
“What if we had to live there? Besides, you’re exaggerating. It’s a
quarter full, at most.”

Hugh smiled and sipped his tea.

I headed out into the backyard once the food shaming
was done. I breathed in the warm, muggy air. It still felt cool
after I’d so recently spent time in the Burning Lands. As I
approached the well, a deer stood still, finally sprinting away
when I undid the latch on the ancient stone and lifted the cover
with a metallic squeal.

The Wasser-Münzen felt cold in my hands. I tightened
my backpack before throwing a leg over the edge of the well. The
stone was smooth, almost polished. For a moment, I saw only the
black obsidian walls of the Burning Lands fortress.

I squeezed my eyes shut to banish the vision and made
my way down the ladder rungs set into the walls. It wasn’t until my
feet splashed down that I realized I probably should have taken my
shoes off. Darkness waited at the bottom of the well, even with the
sun lighting the curve of the wall far above. I slid the disc into
the water and waited.

Something scampered up the wall, diving in and out of
the narrow shadows between the bricks. Still, nothing moved in the
water. I’d almost given up when the surface started bubbling.
Nixie’s form rose up, a beautiful translucent shadow.

“Why did you not come to Faerie with Gaia as soon as
you returned?”

Her question was more blunt than I was used to
hearing. “Is everything okay?”

She looked away before nodding. “I was only worried
about you. I did not enjoy learning of your return from my witches
rather than you.”

“Noted,” I said with a smile.

She turned to me, and I could just make out the
narrowing of her eyes. “Why aren’t you here?”

I took a deep breath. “We’re at Ashley’s, as you
probably knew already.”

She nodded. “I have spoken to Alexandra here many
times.”

“We freed Vicky, Nixie. We did it, but the price …” I
shook my head. “They’re gone, Nixie.” My lips trembled in the
shadows of that well, and I finally let the loss break me. “Cara’s
dead. Carter and Maggie and Jimmy … I didn’t even fucking like
Jimmy, but now he’s dead.” I raised a hand to my eyes when the
tears started.

“I’m sorry,” Nixie said.

I tried to speak, but only a choking sob passed my
lips. I punched the stone wall of the well and felt my knuckles
split. Nixie didn’t argue that the wolves were already dead. She
understood, on some level. I remembered the realization she’d had
at Ashley’s, how her killings had brought great sadness into the
world.

“You saved the child.”

I smashed the palms of my hands against my eyes and
rubbed the tears away.

“Vicky will live, and Sam will live. You will have
the chance to save more people, Damian. Cara was proud of you.”

“Glenn has to die,” I whispered. “Cara’s dead because
of him.”

Nixie stared at me in silence for a time. “There are
some things we should not discuss over the Wasser-Münzen. Tell me
of the Burning Lands, Damian. I have heard they have a cold
beauty.”

I sniffed and blew out a breath. “More like a hot,
muggy beauty. A lot like Missouri in the dead of summer.

“I do enjoy the heat, though I still have no desire
to visit the Burning Lands.”

“They aren’t exactly friendly,” I said.

“You only saw the circles, Damian. That is like
visiting this realm and only seeing a castle’s dungeon and its
grandest hall.”

“No one uses dungeons any more.”

Nixie gave me a flat look.

“Point taken,” I said. “I saw an Utukku there.”

“They still speak fondly of you here. Did they try to
kill you in the Burning Lands?”

“Yes …” I said, drawing out the word and crossing my
arms. “I know it wasn’t an actual Utukku. I mean, it wasn’t the
Utukku I know.” I frowned. “You know what I mean. It was an
imposter.”

“A geryon,” Nixie said.

I nodded.

Her form rose slightly and she glanced over her
shoulder. “They were formidable adversaries before they were
banished to the Burning Lands. I once saw a geryon create a false
Atlantis in the Wandering War. She trapped many that day. What did
the geryon trick you with?”

“She killed a dark-touched for us, in a hall made to
look something like the Royal Court in Faerie.”

Nixie frowned. “Was it an actual vampire? Or only a
simulacra?”

I thought about that. “I have no idea. Some of the
dark-touched pieced themselves back together even after we
dismembered them.”

Nixie nodded. “They are resilient, but I do not
believe they are resilient to that degree. They are powerful, and
incredibly fast.”

I grimaced at the thought. What if those hadn’t been
actual dark-touched? What if the dark-touched we’d face had been
geryon all along? What if there was something worse waiting for us?
“Wouldn’t Mike know?”

Nixie shrugged. “It is possible, but he may have been
pre-occupied with his lover.”

I cursed and leaned against the stone wall. “Yeah, he
definitely was. Either way, they’re gone and we’re here.”

“That does make it a better day.”

“Did you know about the strikes against the military
here? By water witches?”

“What?” Nixie snapped. “What do you mean?”

I told her about Sergeant Park and the poisoned
blade. I told her how Aideen had saved him, and how I had been
worried when the first undine—at least the first of our allies—I
had seen here was Alexandra. Nixie finally cut me off.

“It was not Alexandra. She would never touch a poison
blade. She has lost too much to them. Do not speak of this further.
I will talk to my people here, though I doubt your suspicions are
wrong.”

She turned away and her image started fading into the
well. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Nix. Be safe.”

And then she was gone.

***

My phone rang as I walked back into Ashley’s. I
stopped at the door and wiped the grime from my face before sliding
off my wet shoes and socks and finally answering.

“Hello?”

“You could have at least spared this old woman a text
message,” Zola said, biting off the last couple words.

It was good to hear her voice again. The screen door
squeaked as I entered the house. I paused in the front room where
Ashley had a plush couch and a bookshelf filled with old
photos.

“We’re back.” The smile on my face faded. “Cara
didn’t … she’s …”

“Ah know, Damian. Ah’m sorry for that, truly, but our
work is not done yet. We need to meet.”

The conversation in the other room died. You never
really got to have a private conversation when there were vampires
and werewolves around. I paced back to the couch and sat down.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Who is there?”

“A lot of people. We’re at Ashley’s with Hugh and Sam
and—”

“Ah don’t need a roll call, boy, though that is
convenient. Go south to the cabin. Ah’ll meet you there.”

“Alone?”

“No, boy, bring Hugh and Samantha. The fairies too,
and your staff.”

“I cannot,” Hugh said. “Tonight we say goodbye to
Maggie and Carter, and I must prepare. There are many packs from
many places set to join us. I would like you to attend.”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” I said. “We’ll head straight
there after we finish up at the cabin.”

Hugh nodded with a slow incline of his head. “It will
be a good thing for you to witness. You must understand the lives
they have touched, even after their mortal forms were long
lost.”

“Is Cornelius’s apprentice with you?” Zola asked.

“Beth? Yeah, she’s here.”

“Bring her.”

“Why?” Ashley asked.

I was surprised Ashley picked up on the conversation.
Either I had the volume turned up way too high, or she was getting
some side effects from training in her non-traditional witch
arts.

Zola sighed. “Bring Ashley too. She’ll know soon
enough.”

The line went dead.

“What does she want us all at the farm for?” Ashley
asked. “And why not just tell us over the phone?”

I shrugged. “You know as much as I do. I have no
idea.”

“Will we all fit in my car?” Sam asked. “Or do we
need to take separate cars?”

“Who all’s going?” Beth asked.

“Me,” I said. “Sam, Foster, you, Ashley …
Alexandra?”

The water witch shook her head. “I am traveling to
Howell Island with Hugh. There is much to be done in preparation
for the ceremony. I am here in Nixie’s stead, unless you wish to
walk the Abyss with her.”

As tempting as it was, I already knew water watches
had a tentative relationship with the Abyss. Any realm without
water was a threat to their very being.

I shook my head. “I won’t put her through that, even
if she wanted to risk being away from Faerie.”

“She will be there in a sending. She will be there in
heart.”

“And that is all she need do,” Hugh said, smiling at
Alexandra. “I appreciate you both making an appearance. It says
much for the changes in our world, and the future we must
embrace.”