I smiled. At least Mirri’s mom had accepted her relationship with Ilianna. The same couldn’t be said of Ilianna’s parents – although I personally thought they would come round if they actually knew about it. But Ilianna refused to even tell them she was gay.
Sable collected her coat and bag from the back of one of the chairs; then she and the two women retreated out the glass sliding door.
I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Mirri. “That felt like a deliberate retreat.”
Mirri grabbed a couple of tea towels and rose. “I told them you and Ilianna need some alone time for a war council when you woke up.”
“War council? Sorry, but whatever I do next —”
“You’re not doing alone.” Ilianna began setting the table for the three of us. “Azriel may be gone, but Tao and I are still here. And we’re a part of this now, Risa, whether you like it or not.”
I didn’t like. Not at all. She and Tao had been through enough because of me and this damn quest. I wasn’t about to put them through anything else. But I also knew that tone of voice. It was no use arguing – not that that ever stopped me from trying.
“The first thing I have to do is find the damn sorcerer who stole the key, and that’s not something I want you involved with. It’s too dangerous, Ilianna.”
“Maybe.” Ilianna gave me a somewhat severe look. “But the Brindle is more than capable of taking care of a dark sorcerer. There aren’t that many in Melbourne, you know, and they’d be aware of all of them.”
The Brindle was the home of all witch knowledge, both ancient and new. Ilianna’s mom was one of the custodians there, and Ilianna was powerful enough to have become one – and in fact had started the training when she was younger. She’d walked away for reasons she refused to discuss, but if the predictions of the head witch, Kiandra, were to be believed, Ilianna would one day not only finish that training, but her daughter would save the Brindle itself.
“Yeah,” I said, “but given Lucian was probably working with him, he’ll know about my connection to both you and the Brindle.” I grimaced, then added, “I’d bet my ass he’s taken steps to ensure you – and they – can’t find him.”
“But it would take major magic to achieve something like that, and it would create a ‘hot spot’ that could be traced.”
Maybe that sort of ruling would apply to Earth-based magic, but would it apply to magic that was Aedh sourced? And even if it did, that still meant dragging more people into the search, and I really didn’t want to do that unless absolutely necessary. It was just too damn dangerous.
“It’s an option.” I sat down. “But it wouldn’t be my first.”
Ilianna placed the hot bread on the table. “Why not? There’s no easier way to find a sorcerer than to trace his magic.”
“A normal sorcerer, perhaps. But this one has been working with an Aedh, remember, and has probably acquired much of his knowledge.” Which was another reason to be glad Lucian was dead. At least the bastard couldn’t pass anything else on to our ever-elusive sorcerer. “Besides, our best option right now is to go through Lucian’s things and see if he left any clues behind.”
Mirri snorted as she began dishing out the huge chunks of curried vegetables – which wasn’t normally a favorite of mine, but it smelled incredible. “Forgive me for stating the obvious, but you’ve been on a bender for three days. That would have given our sorcerer plenty of time to go through Lucian’s things and ditch whatever evidence there might have been.”
“Lucian was clever enough not to leave such information in easy reach. If there is incriminating evidence to be found, then it would be somewhere ultimately safe from everyone but him.”
And that, I realized suddenly, could mean the gray fields. They might be the unseen division between worlds, but they were as filled with life as anyplace in this world. And given Lucian had once been an Aedh priest under my father’s tutelage, then maybe the first place I should look was in temples near the gates of heaven and hell. I had no idea whether they still stood now that the priests had all but disappeared – or if someone like me would even be able to see them – but what better place would there be to secure information? It was doubtful whether the reapers or the Raziq would bother to look through ruins in an effort to find information on a dark sorcerer.
Of course, that was presuming Lucian could get onto the fields. The ability to attain full Aedh form had apparently been ripped from him by the Raziq, but that hadn’t stopped him from shoving his fist into my mother’s chest and blowing her apart.
Which is exactly how I’d killed him.
I’d had my revenge, but its taste wasn’t as sweet as I’d expected.
I swallowed heavily and added, “The bastard was more cunning that a basketful of foxes.”
Ilianna’s smile was grim. “But not cunning enough in the end.”
“No.” I tore off a chunk of bread as Mirri slid a plate of curry my way. “I’ll search his place first, then I’ll do the same to his lover’s place.”
“And if you find nothing either there or on the fields?”
Then we were in trouble, because I honestly didn’t think the Brindle would be able to help us. Not in this. Not when Aedh magic was involved. And there had to be: The ancient cuneiform that gave the magic to the transport pillars we’d found – pillars both the dark sorcerers and Lucian had been using to move around undetected – could have come only from Lucian.
“If I find nothing,” I muttered, as I dipped a chunk of bread into the curry, “we’re up shit creek without a paddle.”
“Then,” she said, “talking to Kiandra can’t hurt. At least she’ll be able to tell us if there is some sort of hot spot near the intersection. Until we know that, we can’t make any other plans.”
“We?” My gaze shot to hers. “There’s no damn we —”
“Oh yes there is,” she cut in, voice fierce. “You can’t do this on your own anymore, Ris.”
I snorted. “I was never doing it on my own, and look where it’s gotten —”
I cut the words off as awareness ran through me. Something approached the house.
Something that wasn’t human, or in human form. An invader that was as silent as a ghost, and yet accompanied by such a wash of heat and power that the hairs on my arms stood on end.
It was a sensation with which I was more than a little familiar.
An Aedh approached the house, and he was in energy form rather than physical.
Only it wasn’t any old Aedh.
It was my father. And he was not happy.
Having to face a parent as prone to violence as mine certainly wasn’t what I needed right now – especially when I didn’t have Azriel at my back.
I closed my eyes, trying to remain calm, trying to contain the fear that galloped away at the thought of another confrontation. The desire to reach out to Azriel, to tell him that I needed him, that I wanted him back in my life, was fierce. But that was just a reaction born of fear. After all, the last time my father and I had met face-to-face, he’d just about killed me – and that was with Azriel present.
But if it was my father approaching, why hadn’t the Raziq device woven into my heart reacted? It had been designed to summon them the minute my father appeared in my presence, and when it activated, it felt as if someone had shoved their hand into my chest and was intent on squeezing every ounce of life out of my heart. Painful didn’t even come close to describing the experience.
This time, however, there was nothing. And while it was curious, I wasn’t about to complain. I might not want to confront my father, but I sure as hell had no desire to be caught in the middle of a battle between him and the Raziq.
He hurt not, Amaya commented. We stronger. Fight.
I snorted. Fighting was my sword’s answer to every problem.
Not every, she said. But kill better.
I ignored her and said, “Ilianna, Mirri, get upstairs. Now.”
Ilianna opened her mouth to protest, then took one look at my face, grabbed Mirri, and got the hell out of the kitchen.
And not a moment too soon.
An instant later I was hit by a blow of energy so fierce it smashed the chair and flung me backward. I was thrust along the floor with such force that I crashed into one of the cupboards, sending jagged pieces of wood and china flying. Then a band of iron settled around my neck and hauled me upright.
“Where is the second key?” The voice was a deeper, angrier version of mine, and so thunderous it rattled the remaining crockery in the cupboard.
I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came out. No air was getting in, either, but it was anger rather than panic that bloomed through my body.
Damn it, I was getting rather tired of being thrown about by all and sundry. My father, the Raziq, Hunter – they all needed my help, and it was about time they started remembering it.
Even as the thought crossed my mind, energy surged through my body and Amaya was suddenly in my hand. I gripped her hilt tight and swung at the invisible band of steel wrapped around my neck. She screamed in pleasure and anticipation, eager to kill.
No, I warned. Not yet.
Fun not, she bit back.
Then shadowed steel met Aedh force. Lilac fire flared down her length, leaping from the tip of her steel to race along the cord that was my father’s energy. He roared, the sound one of fury and pain combined, and released me so suddenly I hit the ground knees first. Pain shot up my legs, but I ignored it and held Amaya in front of me. Her fire flared out from the sides of her blade, forming a curved circle that completely encased my body. And just in time.
Energy hit the barrier, and once again pushed me back into the cupboard. Amaya screamed her fury, her shield burning bright where my father’s energy flayed her. But she held firm.
“Try to remember you need my fucking help,” I said, my voice surprisingly devoid of the fury and fear that tumbled through me.