Sin's Dark Caress (25 page)

50

Blood and Water

M
cManus tried to suck oxygen into his chest as he worked on the knots Bianca had loosened. Breathing became excruciatingly difficult and he suspected his left lung had collapsed. Sweat beaded on his brow and his vision swam as his withdrawal meltdown crept ever closer. But he couldn't take his eyes off the most breathtaking spectacle he'd ever witnessed.

Bianca stood in magnificent splendor with the small dragon on her shoulder, his wings stretched out behind her head. White hair whipped around her head, arms held out at her sides, and smoky blue energy snaked around her entire body. Such a terrifyingly beautiful figure, his heart ached. He couldn't see her face, but he was certain her eyes would be just like Kedrax's molten gold ones.

The witches had finally noticed her. Astrid placed a naked baby back in the carry basket and said something to the others, who did the same before linking hands again and beginning to chant.

All except Astrid, who smiled and with a flick of her wrist lifted Bianca off the ground. She hung in midair, arms stretched out to her sides, completely immobilized, and so was Kedrax. Astrid picked up the sword she'd used to torture the dragon and advanced.

“Now,” she said, approaching Lord Sagen. “Time for you to die.”

McManus worked the knots faster. Ripping at them, even though the rough surface bit painfully into his wrist, he continued to tug his bonds. They loosened a fraction.

Astrid raised the black sword. McManus felt his bonds slip. The dragon lifted his head, his remaining eye filled with the certainty of his death, and he looked at McManus as Astrid thrust the sword deep in his side. She pulled the sword from the dragon's chest and captured the flow of dark blood in a challis.

Pain tore through McManus's heart, paralyzing him as his bonds finally gave way.

Don't grieve, I give you a gift,
Sagen's voice sang in his head.

“No.” McManus crawled to his knees. He couldn't breathe. The air rushed out of his lungs but he couldn't replace it.

He dropped to his knees, his chest heaving as he tried to draw breath. The pain subsided. Lord Sagen's chest constricted for the last time and a glowing ball of energy left with his final breath. Astrid hadn't noticed McManus was free, and the frenzied hunger twisted her deranged expression as she moved into the path of the dragon spark.

He'd be fucked if he was going to let her have it. His lungs burning with the need for oxygen, he drew on the last of his reserves to stumble to his feet and pushed the witch out of the way. The ball of light hit him square in the chest, lifting him into the air and surrounding him in a brilliant glow.

“Nooooo . . .” Astrid's scream slowed.

Time and space froze around him. A radiant light illumined the cavern. He felt safe and calm. The desire for Neon Tears left him, his wounds closed, his eyes opened, and the taste of blood left his mouth.

For the first time in his life he felt whole. Everything became clear. He could feel Lord Sagen's presence. Fragments of the dragon's mind seeped through his consciousness, just beyond his grasp of understanding, but he didn't need to, not just yet anyway.

Everything came back into focus with a whoosh.

“ . . . ooooo,” Astrid's cry finished, and she hit the ground.

Normal time resumed. His transformation had taken less than a fraction of a second. He ripped open his shirt and looked down at the beating glow in his chest.

Astrid rolled to snatch up the challis from where she'd placed it and ran toward the crimson pool.

He had to stop her. “Astrid!” he yelled, reaching out for her, several feet ahead of him.

Flames shot along his arm and pooled in his hand.
Cool
.

She glanced over her shoulder and almost stumbled in surprise, but quickly regained her feet and threw the challis into the pool.

“BLOOD OF THE DRAGON!”
she screamed.

McManus flung the ball of fire.

51

Ground Zero

B
ianca couldn't move as she hung suspended above the ground, and Kedrax seemed just as helpless. The witches continued to chant as a mist flowed out of thin air to form a white robed figure. It advanced, raised a pale white hand, and pointed a pale white finger at her. Fear skittered up her spine as she looked at the four witches holding hands. For the first time she really looked at each of them, and stopped at the most familiar face.

Hate fired the rage, swelling the energy inside her. It rose up like a tidal wave, filling her with more power than she'd ever felt, and this time she didn't shy away. This time she gave into it. All of it.

Ursula.

She
killed her own sister.
She
left Amy and Hannah homeless and orphaned.
She
had to pay.

Kedrax moved slightly and the spell broke. Bianca dropped to the ground just as Astrid ran past, screaming a curse and throwing something at the pool.

“Stop her!” McManus yelled as a ball of fire sailed past Astrid's head and shattered against the wall behind the pool, showering the ground with sparks.

The challis Astrid had thrown hit the crimson water, turning it black. Howling cries rose from inside the now shiny tarlike pool. The ground shook beneath their feet, everything trembled, and the babies screamed.

Then it stopped.

Just like that.

Five translucent figures emerged from the black pool, each different from the next but all the most ethereally beautiful beings she'd ever seen. Yet, their vileness corrupted the air until she almost choked. The portal was open and . . .

The Dark Brethren are free.

The mist figure melted away as all attention turned to the beings floating a few feet above the pool. An angelic form with disturbing azure eyes, waist length golden hair, and flowing pale robes floated toward Bianca.

“WE MEET AGAIN, YOUNG WITCH.”

She'd never forget that voice. “Ealund.”

He bowed with mock chivalry, and his smile chilled her deeply.
“IF YOU HAD JOINED ME, YOU WOULD HAVE LIVED. NOW YOU WILL DIE WITH THE REST.”

Cold foreboding iced her blood. She gathered strands of thaumaturgic energy, wove them into a lightning ball, and threw it at Ealund. The energy passed ineffectually through him, just as she suspected it might.

It was worth a try anyway.

A fireball flew from behind, passing through another of the Dark Brethren to shatter in a rain of sparks on the floor. She glanced over her shoulder.

McManus ran to her side, his shirt in tatters, and a heart of light beat strongly in the center of his chest, just like Rudolf. Heat radiated off him, warming her face. Fire flowed from his shoulder to form a ball on the palm of his hand, and he threw it at another of the floating Brethren.

“Wow,” she said, laying her fingers on his chest. They almost sizzled.

“Tell me about it,” he said with a frown, then turned his attention back to the Brethren.

McManus glanced over his shoulder at the large dragon's still and stone colored body. “Lord Sagen is dead.”

The anger turned bitter on her tongue. “We must stop them.”

Kedrax climbed higher on her shoulder. “The Dark Brethren had to leave their corporeal bodies behind. We can't touch them until they take human form.”

“And how do they do that?” McManus asked.

Ealund hovered over the basket close to where Astrid stood to perform her part of the ritual. The baby howled loudly, the newborn's arms and legs flailing with distress. The Brethren descended, quickly entering through her nose and mouth. The infant became unnaturally quiet, blinking calm, and strangely ancient eyes, as she looked around.

Azure eyes. Ealund's eyes.

“That's why Lord Sagen told us to kill the kids,” McManus whispered. “They're the way the Brethren enters the world as corporeal beings. But how can we murder babies?”

Another of the Brethren followed Ealund's example and entered the small dark baby girl. The voodoo priest beside the basket, probably Nanette's father or uncle, scooped up the basket and disappeared into nothingness as soon as the baby's cry stopped.

The other three Brethren forms approached the remaining infants. Ursula stood over the baby that must have come from Lucinda, almost drooling with anticipation. Bianca set off at a dead run and slammed into her, knocking the witch backward, and snatched up the baby.

“McManus, save the others,” she yelled as the nearest Dark Brethren screeched in frustration.

He ran to the closest child and lifted the little bundle from the basket while a third Brethren entered the other infant before they could stop it.

“Take them both and go,” Astrid screeched at a Druid, and pointed to the baby Ealund had entered.

The Druid nodded and picked up both baskets before disappearing like the voodoo priest.

Astrid tore Kedrax from Bianca's shoulder with a spell and smashed him into the far wall. The dragon's tiny form fell to the ground, his wings twisted and broken, his body unmoving.

Astrid laughed from where she stood over the two guards Bianca had disabled earlier. Their blood soaked the stone floor from their cut throats. Astrid must've killed them for the power.

The insane witch cackled. “Now what're you going to do without your little pet?”

Still holding the squalling babe to her chest, Bianca backed up until she hit Sagen's cold dead body. It felt like stone as she leaned against it.

“Bianca,” McManus yelled, and placed his baby on the ground.

Ursula came up behind him, knife high above her head.

“Look out!” Bianca shouted.

He turned and Ursula buried the knife. Surprise rounded his eyes as he looked at the hilt protruding from his chest. Blood ran down his naked skin and his pierced, glowing heartbeat faltered.

“McManus!” Bianca screamed.

52

A Hero's Heart

T
he air in Bianca's lungs hardened like stone as McManus's body crumpled to the floor. She didn't know what to do. Ursula had killed him. Kedrax could also be dead. She looked at the baby McManus had been trying to save. It was too late, the Dark Brethren had already entered it. A terrified witch scuttled out of the shadows, lifted the baby from the ground and disappeared, just like the others.

Astrid touched the two dead men's heads and they rose. Bianca's legs slid out from under her and she clung to Lucinda's screaming child. She'd failed. The Dark Brethren had escaped and now four of them had successfully taken over the infant's bodies.

Lucinda's child was the last one, and when they took her, all would be lost. It was futile. She and McManus had lost, and she felt her resistance ebb. Then her hand fell on something warm and metal. She lifted a black-bladed sword that lay on the ground beside her. The sword that killed Sagen—a dragon slayer. She'd heard of them in legends. They could defeat anything.

A Dark Brethren form descended on her, and she lifted the sword to meet it.

“Back off bitch.” Bianca got the impression it was a she, though she couldn't tell. “You're not having this child.”

The Brethren smiled, reminding her a little of agent Roberts.
“YES I AM,”
it said coldly.

As it reached out for her, the black blade brushed the Dark Brethren's arm and it hissed, drawing back with surprised fear as it rubbed the spot on its wrist.

The blade hurt it.

It might not be corporeal, but somehow the blade's touch had caused pain. Bianca carefully placed the baby on the ground beside her and rose to her feet, keeping the blade pointed at the translucent being. She advanced, forcing the Brethren to retreat.

“So you thought you were invincible too,” she said.

Kedrax stirred.
Thank the Goddess.
He was still alive. He staggered to his feet, shook his funny little head and stretched out his wings, which popped back into place. Then the little dragon lifted off the ground and flew to her, landing lightly on her shoulder.

Bianca's happiness cooled as she looked at McManus's crumpled form.

“Get her,” Astrid ordered her animated corpses.

They lumbered forward, and Bianca drew on thaumaturgic energy, pushing the force against Astrid's dead goons. They flew off their feet and landed on top of Astrid who screamed her frustration as she struggled under their dead weight.

Ursula tried to sneak in from the side.

“Don't you dare,” Bianca said.

What now?

Maybe if she could just force this Dark Brethren back into the pool, she could somehow seal it there.
Only a few feet to go.

The Brethren realized what she was doing and laughed at her.
“YOU CAN'T SEND ME BACK LITTLE GIRL.”

It lunged at her. The blade entered the creature's stomach, making it scream with an unholy sound, and she shoved backward, trying to get the creature into the pool behind.

As soon as the sword entered the pool, the black water hardened around the blade. Pinned by the blade, the Dark Brethren flailed wildly. The tarlike surface solidified into a black diamondlike finish, starting from the blade and rippling outward. Suddenly the Dark Brethren exploded with a pop, leaving nothing but a faint oily smudge behind.

The blade was stuck fast, buried deep in the shiny black surface.

“NO!”
Ursula screamed as she pulled the knife from McManus's chest and raced at Bianca.

A shot rang out and Ursula crumpled.

Rudolf stepped over Sagen's stone tail with a gun in his hand. “Sorry it took so long to get here,” he said. “It's harder to find when you don't have a dragon to guide you in.”

53

Winners and Losers

“W
hat happened?” Bianca asked, looking down at the smudge marring the surface.

Rudolf joined her. “I'd say, being cut off from its corporeal form before it had a chance to take another destroyed it. Too bad we didn't work it out earlier.”

Bianca looked at him, then threw her arms around his ancient frame, never more happy to see anyone in her life.

“You think you've won,” Astrid said with an insane cackle as the two dead goons helped her to her feet. “But we still have four of the Dark Brethren children.”

“It's going to be sixteen years before they're of any real use to you, though,” Rudolf said. “You can't speed up their growth now, magic will no longer work on them. You'll have to wait for them to reach the age of enlightenment on their own.”

Astrid's eyes darted and she frowned. “What's sixteen years, when we've waited centuries? But you won't need to worry about that, old man.” She turned to her walking corpses. “Kill them.”

The two dead men shuffled forward. Rudolf fired three shots into the head of the first but it barely even flinched.

Astrid's cackle filled the cavern. “You can't kill what is already dead.”

Bianca wove the lightning spell and let it loose, missing the one in front and hitting the one behind just as a fireball exploded against the first.

McManus stood a few feet away, fire coursing along his arm and looking pale as he clutched his chest. The flame extinguished.

Bianca ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I thought you were dead.”

“Careful, you might kill me yet,” he said wrapping his arm around her waist.

“A normal blade can't kill one blessed by a dragon,” Rudolf said. “But that doesn't stop it from hurting like a bastard.”

“You're right there, old man,” McManus croaked.

Rudolf nodded. “I knew you were of warrior blood, only they can be gifted with dragon fire.”

Bianca looked at the bodies of the two dead men writhing on the floor as one burned to ashes and the other just shuddered and stilled.

Astrid howled in frustration and raised her hand to the ceiling, building energy around her. “If I'm going to die,” she screamed, “then I'm taking you all with me!”

Rocks rained down from above and the earth shook beneath their feet. She was going to collapse the cave on them. A large chunk of rock fell from the ceiling, crushing Astrid, but the quake continued. Smaller rocks gave way to larger ones. A cloud of debris rose from the floor as the ceiling came down.

“We have to get out of here now,” he yelled.

“I have to get the baby!” Bianca screamed.

“See if you can't slow this,” Rudolf shouted above the din a moment before a heavy bolder crashed down from above and landed on the now solid black pond. “I'll get the child.” And he disappeared into the swirling dust.

More rocks and debris rained down. Some larger chunks of ceiling landed with enough force to knock them off their feet and cover them in dust.

Kedrax shifted to Bianca's right shoulder, as she held up her arms and formed a protective bubble over them, then moved it up and outward. The rocks bounced harmlessly off the invisible dome she'd made.

Then everything settled. The rumbling stopped. No more debris fell and the cavern seemed stable. McManus helped her to her feet, grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her on the lips. “You did it.”

She smiled at him, exhaustion infusing every single muscle, bone, and fiber of her being, but all that fell away when she heard Lucinda's baby crying and Rudolf appeared, holding the tiny bundle in his arms.

“Please,” she said, holding her arms out to him.

The old man placed the babe in her arms, and she looked down at the tiny face. The child was perfect. McManus leaned in as she opened her eyes, stared unblinking at him, then clutched his finger as he rubbed against her cheek. His eyes met Bianca's and a funny soft smile lit up his whole face.

“Come on,” Rudolf said. “It's a long way back to the surface.”