I let out a long sigh. "Amber, there's a lot to explain, but you have to trust us. As long as that necklace is around your neck and you stay here, you're in far greater danger than just from the coyote shifters. There's a demon general out there looking for the spirit seals. And a demon lord in the Subterranean Realms looking for them."
She gasped and cringed back in her seat. "I had no idea."
"My sisters and I--and our friends--are on the forefront of a war even your brother doesn't know about. We're trying to stop Shadow Wing and his army from taking over Earth, and eventual y--Otherworld. And that pendant you wear around your neck is an ancient artifact that wil make his quest a whole lot easier if he gets hold of you."
Amber was silent the rest of the way to the FH-CSI building. We let her be--she'd been hit by far too much to take in over the past few days, and she needed a little while to just rest after her captivity.
At least now we knew why the coyote shifters hadn't kil ed her. On one hand, the fact that the spirit seal had bonded itself to her had saved her life. On the other hand, I had the queasy feeling there was nothing we could do except hustle her over to the Elfin Queen, whether Amber wanted to go or not. We couldn't let her run around with one of the seals around her neck.
"So, do we go back and take down the rest of the Koyanni?" Roz leaned back against the seat and folded his arms.
"I'd like to put them out of commission. I'd also like to find out where that little gem of a weapon came from and see if we can do anything about getting them banned. That's fucking dangerous to any Supe out there, and I have the nasty feeling it would kil an FBH."
"Ten to one, our answers are going to be found at the Energy Exchange." Menol y leaned forward and peeked over my shoulder. "And that's Camil e's department if it's a magical club."
"Maybe, but she's been beat up a lot the past few days from the Wolf Briar." My cel phone jangled, and I flipped it on, adjusting the Blue Tooth in my ear.
I hated the damned thing, but it was the law, and it made sense. "Delilah here. Speak to me."
"Delilah, get your ass back home now. We've got trouble." Iris's voice sounded muffled.
"What's wrong?" I punched the button to put her on speaker.
"Something broke through the wards, and by the way the alarm is sounding, it's big and bad. This isn't any ghoul or zombie meandering through the woods. I put Maggie in Menol y's lair, and I've cal ed Wilbur. He's on his way over." Her voice was trembling. Iris was powerful--far more powerful than we'd original y thought--but she also was a single house sprite alone in the house.
"Crap! We're on our way. You get down in Menol y's lair, too--"
"No time, I hear them breaking in. I'm heading outside--Maggie should be safe where she is. But hurry."
The line went dead. I looked at Amber. "I hope you aren't hurting too much, because we're making a detour. Roz--cal Camil e and tel them to get a move on toward home."
And then, flooring the gas, I made a U-turn and headed toward Bel es-Faire. We were about fifteen minutes away, thanks to it being late at night with little traffic. I planned to make it in ten at the most.
As we came racing up the driveway, I was terrified what we'd find. The house on fire? Maggie and Iris in the ashes? A horde of Demonkin? Or was it somebody else--had the shifters figured out where we lived and that we'd taken down their operations?
Roz had cal ed Camil e, and Morio's SUV was right behind us. Then he'd placed a cal to Chase, asking him to send Shamas home. We wanted every hand on deck. Chase had promised to come with him.
I turned off the motor. It was obvious we were here, so no use being sneaky. But for a moment--just a moment--we sat, surveying the house. Roz said,
"I'l go in through the Ionyc Sea--they won't be expecting that. I told Camil e to have Smoky do the same. We can come in from the top floor and surprise whoever it is that way."
"Good idea." I closed my eyes, reaching for my inner light, reaching to push past the fear so I could be effective. "I need to get out of the car and shift into my panther form. The rest of you--head in. Amber, damn it, we don't dare let you near there--and we can't leave you alone. Vanzir, you have to protect her. With your life. We can't let that spirit seal fal into the wrong hands. So . . . I guess, Menol y--you go in with Camil e, Morio, and Tril ian."
Speaking of, the three of them were passing by the Jeep. Menol y silently joined them as I turned to look at Amber. "Whatever you do, don't get caught.
Run like hel if you have to, but don't let anybody take that necklace. In fact, Vanzir--can you drive?"
He grinned. "I can probably manage it. I don't promise how wel ."
"This is no laughing matter. Drive her to Grandmother Coyote's portal and hide with her there. If we don't come along within an hour or so, take her over to Queen Asteria."
"Queen who? Portal? You mean send me to Otherworld?" Amber was beginning to look a little panicked.
"Better than let the demons get hold of you," Vanzir said. "I know. Trust me." He slipped behind the wheel, and I showed him how to start the ignition and which were the brake and gas pedals.
"Just try not to get in an accident, okay? You know the way to get there?"
"Yeah," he said, then softly reached up to cup my chin. "You're getting braver, pussycat. And harder. Like a good soldier must be." And with that, he put the Jeep in reverse and--sputtering in a fit of stop-starts, backed away out of the driveway.
I watched as he went, then inhaled a sharp breath and shifted into panther form. The world looked different as I transformed, and I felt my inner predator rise to the top. Oh, I loved this form, loved prowling the night in panther shape.
Taking a deep breath, I wondered how to summon Arial, and then I knew. Apparently Greta had left me with a residual memory to reach out to Haseofon.
Because the next thing I knew, I was walking into the hal s in panther form. The others looked at me, but apparently they recognized me even in my Were shape, because they just waved. I glanced around until I found Arial. She was sitting on a pil ow, reading a book. I bounded over and nuzzled her.
I need your help. The thought was clear, and she nodded.
"As always. I'm here to help you." She dropped the book and stood, shaking out her sable hair, and then she stepped back and shimmered. I watched transfixed. I'd seen Nerissa change before, and I knew what it was like to transform, but watching my sister was another matter altogether. Within seconds, a golden leopard stood there, her spots the color of her hair.
What's wrong?
Somebody's invaded our house--possibly the demons. I need you to go in on the astral and see what you can find out.
Lead me.
I turned and bounded out of Haseofon, Arial on my heels. We raced through the mist and landed right where I'd been standing, in front of the house. I turned to Arial, who gazed up at the house in her ghostly presence.
Can you go in--find out what's going on? I'm going to creep around back.
I'll meet you shortly. She vanished again, quicksilver as a shadow in the night. I gazed after her, wondering what it would have been like if she'd lived.
There would have been four of us--and maybe things would be different. Who knew what turns our lives may have taken? But that was conjecture. We were who we were, and at least we knew she was happy and we could contact her. And right now, Iris was in danger, and we had enemies on every side.
I padded through the grass, trying to catch a whiff of our enemies. A sudden cry from the back of the house sliced through the night, and I broke into a run, racing around the corner. Camil e and Morio were weaving some sort of spel against--oh crap, a bloatworgle. Hadn't we fought enough of these over the past few months?
It opened its mouth and sent a searing flame their way, and they broke apart, dodging left and right, disrupting the spel they'd been conjuring. Morio scrambled for his bag and pul ed out a tiny coffin, about thirteen inches in length. Fuck. Rodney, the misogynistic bone golem he'd been given by Grandmother Coyote. But we needed al the help we could get, I thought.
Camil e leapt to her feet and sent a blast of lightning toward the bloatworgle. It let out a shriek as the strike hit its distended bel y, and its arms, too long for its body, flailed. But it did not fal . The buggers were dangerous because they were so hard to kil --and because of that mouthful of fire they had going for them.
I circled around, using the brush and weeds for cover, and then leapt on it from behind, my paws encircling its neck. I raked a paw ful of claws across the demon's throat as Morio set Rodney loose to grow to ful height. At the same time, the youkai-kitsune began to grow to ful height. He could do far more damage in his ful demonic form than he could in human form.
He lunged forward and raked at the bloatworgle's bel y with long, black nails. I pul ed back on the demon's neck as he did so, and the creature lost his footing, sliding to the ground on his back. Morio leapt on him, finishing the job as I looked around, trying to pick up Iris's scent.
Another noise startled me, and I turned to see Arial's ghostly shape racing toward me. I touched her nose.
What did you see?
There, in the house, snakes and a group of men tearing the place apart. And Menolly, and your friends the dragon and the incubus are fighting them. They need help.
Tregarts! Snakes . . . Damn--Stacia Bonecrusher's crew. We need all the help we can get.
I'll do what I can on the astral. She turned and vanished.
I shifted into my two-legged form so fast it hurt. Even as I let out a yowl, I was standing there in front of Camil e and Morio and the dead bloatworgle.
"Tregarts in the house, and snakes. Fighting Menol y, Smoky, and Roz. Come on!"
We raced to the back porch. I took the steps two at a time and slammed open the back door, Camil e and Morio hot on my heels. We burst into the kitchen, where the place had been trashed. Not stopping to ascertain how much damage there was, we raced on. By the time we made it to the foyer, the kitchen, where the place had been trashed. Not stopping to ascertain how much damage there was, we raced on. By the time we made it to the foyer, the fight had spil ed out onto the front porch. A group of biker look-alikes with chains and swords were holding their own.
Menol y was engaging two of them at the end of the porch, and one of them was holding a wooden stake behind his back.
"Get the fuck out of there! He's got a stake!"
Menol y didn't respond but instead leapt nimbly up on the railing and then over the side. The demons fol owed her, vaulting over the railing to meet her on the ground. Meanwhile, Smoky had dropped two Tregarts already, but three surrounded him as he fought his way down the front steps. Roz was grappling with a bloatworgle over by Camil e's herb garden.
I waded into the fray, taking a running leap to bound over the railing and land on the ground near Menol y. Before he could turn around, I ran my dagger through the back of the Tregart carrying the wooden stake. He let out a yelp. As I pul ed Lysanthra out, I twisted her, and that did the trick--he dropped the stake and fel to his knees, struggling to get up. Menol y gave him a kick to the jaw, and he went over, moaning. The other demon stared at us, looking for al the world like a Hel s Angel with bad hair, but beneath that leather jacket there beat the heart and the soul of Demonkin.
Camil e disappeared into the house, and I wondered where she was going, but I couldn't focus on what she was doing. There were stil too many demons, too much danger standing beside me.
Smoky took one down, and then Roz final y got on top of his bloatworgle by stuffing one of his magical bombs down the creature's throat when he opened his mouth to breathe fire. The resulting inferno caught a nearby rosebush on fire, and Smoky swung around and let out a long breath, and an icy mist settled down over the flames, calming them.
In the dark of the night, il uminated by the lights from inside the house, al was chaos. I caught my breath and turned to help Menol y with the remaining demon she was facing. Together, we managed to corner him, and she ripped at him with her fangs while I sliced him cleanly between two ribs.
There was another noise, and I turned in time to see Wilbur, racing around the house, chasing two bloatworgles who were running for their lives. Whoa.
Whatever he'd done had put the fear of magic in them--rare, because bloatworgles usual y didn't scare easily--and they raced right toward us, their shouts echoing through the night. Rozurial dove out of their way as Smoky let loose with his talons and Morio engaged the other. They raged away while Menol y and I turned on the last Tregart.
I ducked in back of him, and when Menol y gave him a good kick that sent him flying toward me, I held out Lysanthra, and he landed right on the tip of her blade. His weight sent me reeling, and I landed hard on a rock in the crook of my lower back, with him on top of me. He was stil , and I felt the flow of his blood spil ing over me from the wound.
A moment later, al was quiet. I grunted as Menol y yanked the body off me and helped me up. As I wiped my blade in the grass and turned, I realized our front yard looked like a war zone. It was hard to count how many bodies there were in the dark, but the smel of blood, thick and metal ic, rose to choke my lungs.
"Crap, that was nasty. Iris was right--we have to post guards here now. I hate this, but we can't leave the place unprotected. Speaking of . . ." I stood up and looked around. "Where is Iris?"
"She's not in the house," Camil e said, slowly coming onto the porch. She was holding Maggie, who rested against her shoulder. "I looked everywhere, and she's not in there, guys."
"Fuck--turn on al the outside lights."
"I'l check the studio." Roz raced like Hel herself was on his heels, over to the studio. He adored Iris. We al did.