On a Razor's Edge (11 page)

Tim and the
Mata
were my friends.

I would not fail.

Decided, I sucked power into myself, feeling the darkness as it warred with the daylight, drawing it into myself and feeling my limbs heat. Jonas flinched, trying to hold on, but was unable to as my body electrified to his touch.

He jumped and released me suddenly,
leaving me sprawled on the ground.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he asked savagely, reaching down to me with a giant hand. “Do you want to die?”

I scrambled away, ready with a blast of magic. I raised my palm and registered the widening of his eyes just as Adnan burst through the trees ahead of us, his blade glowing red, his throwing star in his hand.

“I knew it, Jonas! Trying to
steal away Sasha? You failed last time so you wanted to do it in person this time?”

Darla stepped through the trees next
. Sinewy and graceful, she held two deceptively delicate-looking daggers, each glowing deep red. Her confident gaze took in Jonas and she shook her head and tsk’d. “The Boss’s childhood friend. But then, we all saw this coming. Didn’t we, Adnan?”

“Why are you helping me?” I blurted, focused on Darla.

Her gaze never left Jonas, as she worked with Adnan to block Jonas and myself from continuing on our path.

“I’m not helping
you,
I’m helping the Boss.
You
are just a stupid human. If I save you, I save the day.”

“What is it you think you’re saving her from?” Jonas growled. “I’m going to the underground safe house to cut off her magic from the
Dulcha.
”

“Would that work?” I
asked of no one, which was exactly who paid attention to me.

Chapter
9

Stefan walked through the south-end corridor on the third floor, his focus on the turmoil within the link. With Sasha as far away as she was, he couldn’t feel much, but what he did had him disconcerted. She’d been in some state of unhappiness since she left, but this was altogether different.

He saw two flesh covered forms writhing against the wall, one between the legs of the other, thrusting in great swings.
Stefan’s balls tightened, the three weeks of abstinence playing hell on his concentration.

“Knock it off,”
Stefan snarled as he passed, stopping the figures in a tight embrace.

The
young male looked up with the fervor of lust. He wouldn’t dare question orders, but the blank stare said he obviously didn’t know why he should refrain.

“There is a ban on sex in this area. We house a pregnant female and her offs
pring. She does not want her children seeing fornication when they wander out of their rooms.”

A
red hue suffused the youth’s face, the female looking down to hide her embarrassment. They muttered apologies as they disengaged, then hurried away. Shaking his head, Stefan knocked politely, waiting for one of the Shape Changer children to open the door.

Esmine waited inside, lounging on a sofa, rubbing her belly. She looked up at
Stefan’s entrance, smiling a greeting.

“I came to ensure your
continued comfort,” Stefan stated, looking over the room to make sure it had been cleaned regularly. He’d stopped by once every few days just to check on her. Seeing all was well, he returned his gaze to the female.

“Yes, thanks,” she replied demurely, the lupine gaze he sometimes saw retracted now. “Your people have been kind and gracious.”

“You have everything you need?”

“Again, yes, thank you.”

A small child bounded over to her, looking at him through the shyness of youth.

“They are enamored with your people,” Esmine said with a laugh as she put a comforting hand on the female child’s head. “They stare and gawk, only to squeal and giggle when one of the helpers assigned to us plays. I had no idea everyone here was so good with children.”

Stefan lounged so as not to appear impatient. “We cherish children here. We try hard for them, and are only rewarded occasionally. We protect them with every fiber of our being.”

Esmine nodded.
“Continuing the line. We know something of that.”

A fast rapping interrupted them, the door swinging open and Jameson marching in. “Boss, we need you.”

“What is it?” Esmine asked, rising onto her elbows, her pregnant belly awkward and hindering. “Are we in danger?”

“I assure you, you are not in danger. I will send someone in shortly to fill you in on whatever is happening. We are safe within these walls.”
Stefan bowed to her. “Excuse me.”

“They are planning to attack Sasha’s location,” Jameson said as soon as they were out of earshot. “For the last three weeks we haven’t seen one
Dulcha
. Not one. We’ve seen increased numbers crossing our borders, but we only engage in skirmishes.”

They nearly flew down the stairs, heading to their strategy room where
Dominicous would be waiting. “We knew something was up, but couldn’t find out what. Then our spy overheard Trek and Andris speaking. They have someone on the inside.”

Stefan
burst into the strategy room, accounting for each member of their battle council, noting the presence of Rich, Tim's Beta, then taking a seat at the head of the table. Dominicous stood just off to the side, allowing Stefan the authority to preside by removing himself. It was an incredibly helpful gesture of good faith. Not many in the chain of command would relinquish power to one lesser. Stefan understood, however, that it wasn’t permanent by any means. Simply expeditious.

“What are their plans?”
Stefan asked, focusing on a map in the center of the table.

“They’
re putting all their efforts into what appears to be Sasha’s location. They plan to create one hell of a distraction, killing anyone they can, while a small group spirits Sasha out the back. We should receive a small scale attack here, keeping us busy, and them under the impression they are the only ones with a spy. Andris and Trek will be heading the distraction, though. They do not think they will fail.”

“They never thin
k they’ll fail. It’s their greatest downfall.” Stefan considered a minute, the room silent as he weighed the options. “Send a team in right now. We may be too late, but we need to at least warn the Shape Changers. We’ll leave a group here to defend the mansion, but we need to gear up and meet Trek head on.”

“Another team, you mean?” Andrew asked
, his face screwed up in puzzlement.

“What do you mean
another
team?” Stefan shot back as Dominicous straightened.

Andrew shook his head in jerky movements. “Maybe I’m wrong, but Adnan, a student of mine, mentioned he wouldn’t be around because he was personally asked to help warn Sasha of a spy. He said it was a test of his skills so
that he might make the Watch Command. He went with Darla and someone else. I thought him a little young for the assignment, but he has great rapport with Sasha, so I didn’t question your judgment—else I would have asked you about it.”

“Darla?”
Stefan asked in controlled fury. “When did they leave?”  And how the hell had Darla known Sasha's location when even he had not been told?

“About two weeks ago, if I’m not mistaken.”

“I haven’t seen Darla around,” another council member added thoughtfully.

Fear froze
Stefan’s insides. “We haven’t any time to lose. Get Esmine and the children to a safe location. Rally everyone else.”

*****

The ground shook with an explosion, the telltale sign I’d be caught up in yet another battle. What had happened to my quiet life of boredom and
hoping
for some action? I missed those days.

“C’mon, Sasha, come over here,” Adnan said, his sword pointing at Jonas’s face.

“You two are under the impression you can take me, is that it? Did anyone happen to mention she shoots black?” Jonas asked in his scary voice.

“I wasn’t planning to deal with you myself.” Darla laughed.

“You were planning to let a child handle me, then?” Jonas stepped forward slowly, experienced and lethal. Adnan was good for his age, but Jonas had many years on him with the added bonus of unparalleled viciousness.

“Not at all.
I brought the child to appear legit. He was too stupid to realize what was going on, unlike my other lackey. She had to be put down.”

She must have been talking about Mira! Sasha felt a
rush of fury at the cruel injustice.

Darla looked over her shoulder at six men
at arms stepping through the foliage.

“Shit,” Jonas swore, taking another step, this time in front of me.

“You see, I come prepared,” Darla continued. “Thanks for getting her this far, though. Underground was a great idea, but short lived.”

Adnan blinked, his sword lowering, his
attention bouncing back and forth between Darla, the new additions—which apparently didn’t belong to Stefan’s clan—and Jonas. I was doing the same thing. Darla had always been a bitch, but never a double-crossing bitch. Jonas, on the other hand, had never struck me as trustworthy.

As if hearing my thoughts
, and desperate to disband them, Jonas shouted, “Sasha,
run
!” He launched his body forward, bypassing Adnan and aiming directly for the first man through the trees.

“Grab her!” Dar
la shouted, propelling toward me.

Adnan, finally catching on, stepped in front of her, his blade whirling.

That’s all I saw. Afraid to do magic lest I accidentally blow up the good guys, I ran. No destination in mind, just
away.
I would not be captured again. Trek and Andris knew what I was now. I was sure of it. If they were coming for me again, they didn’t plan to let me go once they got me.

A blind panic
ked run later I heard the first screech of an animal in pain. That sorrowful dog’s wail, so much worse, somehow, than a human screaming or crying. The wail cut off abruptly.

M
y every instinct urged me to find a place to hide and wait all this out. But if I did that, I would forever be a coward. No matter if I made up for it later by somehow winning the whole war single-handedly, I would always remember that first battle where I skulked away and let other people die on my behalf.

The caped moron
and his minions had come to this place because of me. Andris fought these people to acquire me as a prize. People were dying and screaming on my behalf.

To save me.
In what world could I live with that knowledge, without helping them fight back?

No world I wanted to live in, that
was for sure.

“Damn it!” I sprinted toward
my cabin, darted through the door and pawed through my possessions. One thing was for certain, I had to have my trusty rape whistle. It had always been good luck in these sorts of things, and by God, it would see me through. Obviously I grabbed my dagger, too. I wasn’t a complete idiot.

With that
, I sprinted back out, my chest throbbing with the magic in the air, proof the
Dulcha
were in the area. I might as well just call the damn things. They’d seek me out anyway.

At a jog I aimed for the heart of the most noise, the night flickering bright with explosions or blasts of spells. Looming trees illuminated with
a rainbow of glows for seconds at a time, serious spells and charms zinging around the place. Apparently the caped white mage had found the non-caped variety. I had no doubt Toa was winning.

Until I got closer.

Dodging in between the trees with the agility born of someone I wasn’t, I saw a blast of white leave the fingers of a glowing blond ghost, his hair flying in the breeze like feathers, so like the vampires in the stories, with his graceful elegance and ethereal beauty, I nearly recoiled thinking another magical kind of person had shown up. As a huge wolf bounded in front of me, teeth bared in a drool-flinging snarl, I properly saw what Toa was up against. How
many
Toa was up against.

Trek stood some distance away on a rock outcropping, blasting spell after attack spell Toa’s way.
Those, Toa seemed to block without too much concern, wiping them aside with a defensive spell, and then throwing his own in return. The problem was the
Dulcha.
There were dozens aiming for Toa, giant beasts with fangs and claws, hurling magic or flailing razor-sharp claws. Some even created other representations of themselves, spinning charms and spells as if they were human.

A sickening realization hit me. They
were
human—at least the essence of them. The body long since dead, their blood and Trek’s magic had created these disgusting monsters. Toa didn’t have any
Dulcha
because he wasn’t a murderer of innocent people. The very thought of it was as revolting as it was rage inspiring.

Toa had to cast three spells to Trek’s one
. Stefan had sent less than half a dozen warriors. The
Mata
, for their part, fought fiercely, tooth and claw biting and scratching beast or man, able to cut through monsters like magically coated blades. So, we had some brawn, but not a lot of magic throwers.

No pressure.

Here we go, let’s add some of my own monsters to the mix!

I pulled up the sleeves of my hoodie and let the magic fill me. Calling the elements, I drew in so much fire my face felt hot.

Three wolves surrounded me, facing out, snarling and growling as one. Now two
Dulcha
noticed me on the scene. That, of course, drew enemy eyes. One even pointed.

Howdy boys and girls
! Wanna see a magic show?

I sent a blast of orange toward a tree way behind enemy lines, my power going up in an arc and falling like a star. I always made the absolute best monsters with orange. In the dark distance I could see a tree burst into magical fire, orange flame licking up the side into the top, the whole thing shimmering until a huge foot yanked out of the ground.

I sent another. They would come toward me, trampling and killing anything in their path. That would get Trek looking.

I tried to take off toward Toa
, but a snarling wolf cut me off, the three—now four guard wolves—trying to herd me out of harm’s way.

“Do you want to die?
Because without me you have no chance unless you run!” I raised my voice high, trying to throw it over the sounds of howling from my tree creations.

“Move!”
I yelled.