CHAPTER 20
“I feel that after all you’ve sacrificed, I have no right to even be here asking you to possibly sacrifice more.” Amy turned her wedding band around and around on her finger as she spoke quietly, keeping her eyes averted from the pretty, sightless woman who’d not long ago given up her eyes to find her.
“This is more for me than it is for you,” Esmeralda said, lifting her chin. “Sir Rodney means the world to me, always has. and when he came to me with a just case, I could not refuse him. And now. now that the empress has taken my eyes in an act of pure cruelty, any opportunity to foil her—even if it means my life—gives me more joy than you can imagine.”
“This could be dangerous,” Sasha warned, looking around Garth’s magick room at the others.
“You have guards who are adepts,” Esmeralda said calmly. “This room is full.”
“Aye,” Garth said, placing a gnarled hand on her shoulder. “The shaman of the wolves is here, Silver Hawk, as well as the one they call Doc. and I am no novice. Shogun and Hunter, two warrior wolf brothers, are here with their enforcers. Sasha’s team: the dark arts specialist, Bradley, and her seer, Clarissa, plus two familiars—Woods and Fisher—and the young computer adept, Winters. And of course my wizards are all here to guide you.”
“Thank you for letting me know who was in the room with me,” Esmeralda said, and then reached over her shoulder to squeeze Garth’s hand. “You always try to casually slip it in and to treat me as though I’m not blind, but I am. However, I have strengthened my other senses since the accident.”
Garth gave her a kiss on the cheek and touched her hair. “I understand why Rodney will always love you so.”
Silence hung in the room as Garth drew away from the young woman.
“So let us begin and call Lady Jung Suk’s spirit from beyond the other side of the veil.”
Garth swirled his wand over the gleaming round crystal table as Esmeralda grasped Amy’s hands. Others in the room formed a tight circle around Garth, Amy, and Esmeralda. Garth’s wizards lit the stone walls, ceiling, and floor with strange-moving protective Celtic symbols and then nodded to Garth.
“Anything that comes in here from the darkness will not escape should it be so foolish to manifest and attack,” Garth said. “We begin.”
“And what if the Erinyes return while she’s in trance or if Lady Jung Suk comes forward?” Shogun asked, glancing around the room at the warriors present.
“Then I have something for that bitch, just in case the white magick doesn’t work,” Sasha said, patting an Uzi that was packed with silver shells. “I am so tired of her, you have no idea.”
Hunter offered his brother a half smile and a shrug. “She woke up like that this morning, man. What can I say?”
“My queen,” Elder Futhark said, going down on one knee before Queen Cerridwen in the castle war room. “A missive from the Unseelie provinces that Vampires are poised for tunnel deployment coming in from overseas,” he added breathlessly as the garrison leaders and Sir Rodney listened intently. “Our sources from gnome underground camps say they’ve felt rumblings coming as far away as the old-country maps—Romania, Bosnia, Croatia, the old Czech Republic, Russia, and of course Transylvania.”
“Thank you, Futhark. You have done well. Are my forces in place?”
“Yes,” he said, still kneeling. “But suffering terribly in the heat of the swamp.”
“As are all of Sir Rodney’s men,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Rise and please await further instructions from our monarch.”
Elder Futhark stood slowly, sharing confused glances with the Seelie leadership who were present.
Sir Rodney nodded and stood and then began walking around his massive round table. “The Scots, are ye ready? Sir Gordon, I trust you with my life.”
“Aye,” a ruddy brunette said, glancing around the table and gaining nods from his fellow dragon riders. “Till the last man stands.”
“Good man.” Sir Rodney went to him and exchanged a hearty warrior handshake. “Glad to have ye with us, Cousin.”
“Muldane,” Sir Rodney said, turning to a bulky warrior with a thick red beard. “The fighting Irish be with us?”
“Indeed, sire. Wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
“Nor I,” Sir Rodney said, chuckling as he patted Muldane on the back.
“Do not count out the Welsh,” a sinewy fighter said, his gaze intense despite his jaunty smile.
“Nor the Brits!” another called out, each receiving a personal handshake of recognition from Sir Rodney.
“Good,” Sir Rodney said, after making the rounds. “Seelie ground forces will work with Unseelie Gnomes in the underground ambushes. Gnomes dig up; my infantrymen slash and burn on the surface. Anything that goes airborne gets shot with Unseelie ice to make it fall, and as it’s hurtling earth bound our aerial squadrons scorch it. Archers remain in the trees, focus on keeping gargoyles grounded. I want all forces poised to bring the battle to the bayou, not over human populations. Draw the Vampires out and into battle near the UCE courthouse, deep within the swamps, we clear? You wait for my signal. Any questions?”
Nervous glances passed around the room and finally Muldane cleared his throat.
“The Bonnie Isles are with you all the way, sire, but we must confess this is a bit unusual in two ways.” Muldane looked around the table. “No disrespect, but me and my men never expected to be fighting side by side with Unseelie forces. I think I speak for the men present when we say this somewhat. I don’t know what to call it.”
Queen Cerridwen lifted her chin and Sir Rodney thrust his shoulders back.
“Whot is to know is that demons and Vampires threaten our collective Fae way of life. Is it not the Fae way to fend off the enemy first, and then sort out our differences behind our own Sidhe walls?”
“Aye,” Gordon said, casting a frown toward Muldane. “That is enough of an explanation for me.”
Muldane smiled and gave Sir Rodney a curt nod. “Then that be enough for me—no feathers need to fly.”
“You said you had a second question,” Sir Rodney said, slowly circling the table. “Get them all out before we commence to battle!”
“The timing, sire,” Muldane said, nonplussed. “Why wait for nightfall when we can catch these bastards in their lairs asleep?”
“Because we are waiting on séance information—it is not just the Vampires we are dealing with, but also the Erinyes.”
“Colonel Madison, sir, we have to get Sasha Trudeau on the line. We’ve got local authorities blowing up our phones. Over a hundred and fifty civilians have been abducted since about oh four hundred hours. The base is still going crazy from what we saw last night and we still don’t have any clearer answer for the Joint Chiefs this morning than we did last night.”
“Tell the local law enforcement to stand down, Commander,” Colonel Madison said, wiping the sleep deprivation and tension away from his face. He stared at Captain Davis, totally understanding the commander’s quiet panic. “Sometimes Trudeau has to go dark in order to bring us back valuable intel. If a hundred and fifty of New Orleans’ citizens have disappeared, the last thing we want to do is get them slaughtered by a misstep.”
Esmeralda slumped forward suddenly as Amy’s eyes flew open, glowing red. Amy quickly released Esmeralda’s hands as Garth held up the semi-conscious psychic. Slowly, Amy’s jaw cracked, thickening, contorting as Were Leopard fangs lengthened in her mouth. Digging into the table, Amy’s claws scored the crystal, and her voice bottomed out in a demonic rasp.
“Who dares to look into my past dealings with the underworld?” Amy growled.
“We do!” Garth shouted, leveling his wand at Amy as Bradley took over the task of keeping Esmeralda upright.
“By what right?” Amy replied, smiling as she looked around the room.
“By the right of the Fae,” Garth said, holding the demon within his ancient gaze.
“One would have thought you had learned by now,” the voice from within Amy replied, snarling. “One pair of eyes was not enough of a loss?”
“You do not frighten us, demon,” Silver Hawk said, entering the fray and making Amy’s head pivot. “You cannot enter a silver aura. But now we know that you live.”
“Yesssss. ,” Amy said, and then laughed a horrible, screeching cackle.
“Which means you cut a side deal,” Sasha said, making the demon completely revolve Amy’s head to look at her.
Hunter caught Shogun by the arm to hold him back as Sasha engaged Lady Jung Suk’s evil spirit.
“Oh, how fortunate for me,” the thing inside Amy said, and then she spun to lunge at Sasha.
A quickly thrown plume of shamanic white sage and silver shavings left Silver Hawk’s hands as Hunter body-blocked Sasha. Garth threw up a silver shield between Sasha and Hunter and the now-screeching demon.
“I thought you’d brought me an innocent,” Amy said, growling, as she returned to the table, chuckling under her breath.
“That’s it—I want Sasha out of this room,” Hunter said, panicked. “Right now, séance is over!”
“Too late,” Lady Jung Suk cooed, making lewd tongue gestures at Hunter.
“Oh, just let her come on out of Amy’s body,” Sasha said, sneering. “I wouldn’t leave this room if you tried to drag me out by my hair.”
“She doesn’t know, does she, wolf?”
Sasha gave Hunter a look, but his eyes went from Amy’s misshapen body to his grandfather.
“You promised me she’d be protected.”
Silver Hawk nodded. “She is. This is just the demon trying to find your soft spot.”
“And I found it, Hunter.. How do you know these old men are right? What if I get inside Sasha and—”
“No!” Hunter shouted, transforming into his wolf and baring fangs at Amy.
“What are you doing, Brother!” Shogun said, body-blocking Hunter from Amy’s body. “Come back to your human!”
“Grandson, come back,” Silver Hawk said, slowly moving Shogun aside. He blew a plume of shamanic powder on Hunter and waited. “It is the way of the demon to divide and conquer and to get two brothers to battle while she slips from the room.”
Hunter transformed instantly and quickly returned to the circle holding Sasha, but Silver Hawk was too close to Amy’s body. She pounced on him, deeply raking his back; however, the old man simply flipped her and pressed her face to the floor on one of the sacred symbols.
Twisting, screaming, Amy screeched out foul invectives while Silver Hawk struggled with her, yelling for Shogun and the others to stay back. Garth was instantly at Silver Hawk’s side, torturing the demon inside Amy with silver-threaded white light until Amy collapsed and a long stream of black smoke exited her nose.
Wizards immediately wrapped Amy’s, Sasha’s, and Esmeralda’s bodies with silver cloaks as the black smoke ricocheted off the walls, screaming.
“Cover all humans,” Garth ordered his men, tossing cloaks at Clarissa and Doc, then to Winters and Bradley, who’d kept the demon away from them with liberal plumes of brick dust and holy water.
The moment the demon headed toward Woods and Fisher, Garth hit her with a fistful of silver dust and then tossed them a cloak. Shogun went to Amy’s limp, scarred body as Hunter helped his badly ravaged grandfather from the floor. But within the seconds of pandemonium in the room the demon found host in Shogun’s body. She threw his head back and laughed, turning his eyes red.
“Oh, now you have a problem, gentlemen,” she said, speaking through Shogun’s vocal cords. “You forgot, he’s a Were, not a Shadow, and owns no silver in his aura. I will live and always wanted this bastard dead. and his body is sooo much stronger than Amy’s. Go ahead and try to kill me.”
Shogun lunged at Hunter, but Garth caught him mid-air in a silver mesh energy net with his wizards straining to hold it down. Shogun twisted and yelled, the silver burning his Werewolf body.
“You’ll kill him!” Hunter shouted.
“Fight the beast within, Shogun,” Silver Hawk said weakly. “Fight her and make her tell you her bargain. Look on the floor at your wife and summon strength.”
Two voices yelled beneath the net: one Shogun’s, one Lady Jung Suk’s.
“I will die for her, you evil bitch!” Shogun shouted. “There is no pain too great for her. I will burn to death in silver and make my brother hold the net—know that!”
“What was the deal?” Sasha said, coming to the net, circling it. “I’ll hold the net. True love never dies. You can’t stay in there long. The man will give his life for Amy. You know it; I know it.”
“The Erinyes!” the voice of Lady Jung Suk screeched as burning flesh stung Sasha’s nose.
“What about the Erinyes, body stealer?” Hunter shouted, holding the edge of the net as he stared into his brother’s eyes. “I will allow my brother to die. Believe it. I am Shadow Wolf and I am no liar. I know that is what Shogun is prepared to do.”
Shogun’s wails escalated. “Tell Amy I love her!”
“I will also hold the net,” Silver Hawk said, struggling to touch a section of it. “I am an ancient Shadow. Feel my silver aura; know that I will let one man die the way he so chooses to stop evil and to stop your bargain with the beasts!”
“Tell us!” Sasha shouted, leveling the Uzi at Shogun’s head. “And know that I will put this man out of his misery with you in his body, because he’s my family and because Amy is his wife.”
“The spell of possession was my deal!” Lady Jung Suk’s voice screeched. “The Erinyes were promised a virgin by Vlad, but I gave them something better—Fae bodies, if killed by Vampire hands.. They want the war, they shall have the war. Fae will die and the Erinyes, like me, will be free!”
“Get that man out of the net!” Garth shouted, making everyone pull back.
Shogun collapsed, unconscious, as the black smoke poured out of his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, leaving a trail of black blood.
“The demon is weak,” Silver Hawk said, collapsing into Hunter’s arms. “Finish her now.”
Garth and his wizards sent silver tracers from the tips of their wands, gathering up the screaming smoke into a long silver tube and then sending it crashing through the floor. Working quickly, they sealed the floor with white light and then turned to the injured and Doc.
“All able hands, get them to our healing stations!”
Guards drew swords and then lowered them as Sasha burst through the huge double doors of Sir Rodney’s war room led by Rupert. All that had been seated at the round table were on their feet, their expectant eyes on her.
“It’s a double cross,” Sasha said breathlessly. “Queen Cerridwen was right. Lady Jung Suk entered into a stronger, secondary deal with the demons—but the goal is to make the Vampires kill as many Fae as possible by causing what seems like unprovoked Fae attacks. For every Fae killed, Seelie and Unseelie alike, the Erinyes get to possess your bodies so they can roam free of the pit.”
“And whot of the Vampires?” Muldane called out, looking around at his countrymen.
“Pawns. Just pawns that the Erinyes could care less about. If they can get the Vamps to do the slaughtering for them, then they could care less how many graves the Fae open to the sun.”
“And where’s the rest of your team?” Sir Rodney said. “And Hunter and Shogun, all the others?”
“There were a lot of injuries down in that magick room,” Sasha said, and then raked her hair. “Silver Hawk was badly mauled. Amy and Esmeralda have internal injuries from being body inhabited. but the worst is Shogun. We had to silver net him to get the demon out of him.”
Queen Cerridwen began running with Sir Rodney, heading for the healing room. Sasha was right behind them.
“Don’t worry, lassie!” a big redheaded Dragon rider shouted behind them. “If our monarchs be on it, all will be well!”