Dark Flight (The Shadow Slayers) (29 page)

“You aren’t worthy to even occupy the same realm as my mother,” Jaxon answered. “She is a great woman, and I love her. You will never know the love and devotion of a child, because you are broken at the deepest level. You are empty and miserable, Brakken. A waste of space. One Hexa, hair and all, is worth ten thousand of you.”

Brakken removed his sandal and Jaxon rolled to his side, gasping for air, almost rolling on top of Becky’s still form in his writhing pain. But before Brakken even gave him a chance to catch his breath, he curled his hand in the air and lifted, and Jaxon’s body rose off the ground like a limp mouse dangling from a cat’s mouth.

Brakken held Jaxon suspended without even touching him, and Jaxon was helpless to escape. It seemed when a black-wing had a silver-wing under his control, flashing was no longer an option.

Brakken brought Jaxon’s face closer to his and began to squeeze. “I will not mourn you when you are gone, my son. You are an abomination, just like your mother.”

When Jaxon couldn’t even get a breath out this time, Abbey knew he was really in trouble. “No!” she shouted at Brakken, unable to think what she could do to save him beyond taking down the circle. But with Jaxon in Brakken’s grasp, would it even matter? He wouldn’t be able to flash.

Brakken met her eyes and smiled. “Every once in a while I have to cull my offspring to keep the lines strong. Don’t be dismayed, redhead. I generally produce stronger and more appreciative sons than this one. Maybe with your Kara I’ll have better luck?”

With only the movement of his eyes to give him away, Jaxon pulled back his fist and let something fly. A brown suede bag sailed through the perimeter of the circle, straight into a witch’s ready hands.

As Brakken dropped Jaxon and strode toward the circle, the witch was already beginning to chant and Abbey was reaching out with her powers. Energy seethed through her, wanting not to simply bind this man but to destroy him.

“Angel fallen from grace… Cursed to walk in the land of the Shadows…” the witch rushed out quickly, squeezing the bag in his fist to mix the ingredients.

But Brakken was already pounding on the wall of the circle, making it quake so hard, Abbey thought he might break through at any moment. From behind him, Jaxon lifted his sword.

“In the name of the Children of the Earth, we cast you back whence you came and seal this land evermore from your presence.”

Just as Jaxon thrust the blade through Brakken’s back, the stormy skies above them opened up and a blinding flash of lightning streaked through the sky, straight into Brakken. As the energy burned through him, it followed the path up the blade, straight into Jaxon’s extended arm. He went stiff then fell limp to his side as Brakken roared and started to go misty.

“No!” he bellowed, but the energy was already pushing him from the earth, back to the other realm.

When the last of his outline vanished, Abbey and the other witches dropped the circle, and Abbey rushed to Jaxon’s side. “Jaxon!” she cried, falling to her knees beside him.

Kara rushed over and took Jaxon’s cheeks in her hands. “He’s okay, Abbs. I mean, I don’t know how long he’ll be out, it could be a while. But he’ll regenerate. He’s going to be okay. And I’m so, so sorry about Becky.”

Abbey couldn’t hold back her fear and horror any longer. She broke down, running her hands over Jaxon’s silky hair and weeping like a baby.

“Kara,” Julian barked. “We have him trapped in the Shadowland now. Let’s take advantage of this.”

When Kara met Abbey’s eyes, Abbey whispered, “Go.” But as Kara and her ex-lover flashed, it occurred to Abbey that “trapping” Brakken in the Shadowland was almost the same as trapping a shark in a cove and then diving in.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Kara trailed Julian’s energy back into the Shadowland, and as she opened her eyes, she was so thankful that it didn’t hurt to travel anymore like it had before the bony wings.

She looked around, but they weren’t anywhere she recognized. “Where are we? And more importantly, where’s Brakken?”

“Well, we know where he’s not. Escaping to the surface won’t be an option for him anymore. Tell your witch friend ‘well done’ on my behalf.”

“I feel so bad for Jaxon. What he and his mother have been through…it’s just not fair.”

Julian smiled. “Jaxon was incredibly brave. He brought honor to his mother and was instrumental in casting Brakken from the earth. When he wakes, he won’t need anyone to feel sorry for him, Kara. He can hold his head high.”

She stopped and thought about that. “Yes, he can.”

“I can’t sense Brakken’s energy trail. We’d better head back to the battle and hope he’s cocky enough to have returned.”

Kara snorted. “Oh, trust me. He’s cocky enough. I don’t think he’ll worry about you and me until he sees the door of the Abyss hitting him in the ass.”

Julian extended his hand. “Come.”

When Kara placed her fingers in his, a surge of emotion wound through her. “Julian,” she said quickly, and when he paused, she wrapped her arms around his ribs and squeezed.

His body was rigid for a moment, but then he laced his arms over her back and held her fiercely. “Are you sure you want to follow through on this next step? There’s no shame in staying on the surface. He can’t touch you there now.”

It had been so long since Kara had felt truly safe. There was a part of her that relished the idea of going home, putting on some fuzzy slippers and heating up some hot chocolate, maybe catching up on her favorite shows. But she knew that she had a destiny to fulfill. Being the only female in Demiáre history to manifest wings had to mean something.

When she’d been training for this, seeing the other females watching from the sidelines, she’d felt different. But now she understood. She
was
different. And it didn’t matter anymore if that was good or bad. It was simply meant to be.

She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek to his chest. “When this is over, I’m going to have you and Gavin over for a game night, okay?”

Julian sounded utterly confused. “A game night? What’s that?”

She grinned and glanced up, staring into his dark eyes. “You know, we can play board games, or maybe cards, and I’ll make some special dessert. Just the three of us. It’ll be nice.” The image of the three of them together felt so right it hit her like a nine-pound hammer to the heart.

“I’m a black-wing, Kara.”

She nodded. “I know. I bet those reflexes would make you really good at Slapjack. Plus, you wouldn’t have to talk a lot.”

He laughed. “And I thought my being able to travel to the surface would be a good thing. I had no idea what I was in for.”

Despite his words, he held her tight. It made her wonder if he was more worried about what was to come than he let on. “Back to the battle?”

He released her but kept a grip on her hand. “Yes. I pray to the Maker I have what it takes to do this, Kara. I would not want your last memory of me to be disappointing to you.”

“What? Never. Just you being here when you didn’t have to be is all I ever hoped for. You have nothing else to prove.”

“Well, maybe one more thing.” He cupped his hand around her cheek and leaned down to kiss her. “That I love you and haven’t given up on us.”

She wanted to tell him that she was glad, but a moment later, they arrived back at the scene of carnage and it stole any sweet words from her mind.

In the time it had taken them to help the witches and limit Brakken’s flight plan, what had looked like chaos before had deteriorated even more. The warriors were much more spread out and there were fewer, making Kara panic, wondering where the rest had gone. Those who were still exchanging blows with their swords and dodging arrows were in much worse shape than the last time Kara had seen them. Most were bloodied and beaten, some were very seriously injured.

“Oh my God! That’s Ted!” Kara pointed to the warrior.

One of his arms was barely hanging on by a thread and his head had a deep gash in it. His movements were slowing and Kara knew he was just minutes, or even seconds, away from losing so much blood that he would go unconscious. And if that happened, there would be nothing to keep one of Brakken’s men from returning the favor of lopping off Ted’s head.

With her wings involuntarily spreading wide, Kara drew her weapon and streaked across the sky, replacing Ted’s sword with hers when Brakken’s warrior brought his arcing down. She held steady, not giving an inch even though the man was probably twice as strong as Kara.

“Lady K,” Ted said, but his words were slow and slurred. “No, lady. Stay back.”

Screw that, Kara thought, yanking her sword back and swinging it around hard, catching the other warrior in the side. She hadn’t hit him hard enough to do serious damage, but he backed away a few feet. It was enough distance for her to grab Ted and make for the island. A second later, Ted was moaning from the pain of flashing in his state, but Kara was completely unaffected.

As soon as his feet hit the ground in the square of Mercury Island, he dropped his sword and grasped his arm, as if pinning it to his side would make it any less mangled. “Help, somebody!” Kara called, and several demibreed warriors came rushing from the infirmary.

“He’s badly injured. He needs a healer,” she said.

“My lady, it’s wall-to-wall warriors in there and not to be insensitive, but the others are worse.”

Holy shit. They were worse? “And Lord Gavin? Where is he?”

“No one has seen him. Lord Aiden was injured but was able to repair the damage and return to the Shadowland. I was hoping he’d come here soon to help with the worst of the wounded.”

“Okay. I’ll look for him and Gavin when I get there.”

“We’ll take care of Tedadianthus, my lady. Do you need another silver-wing to take you back?”

She was confused for a moment, wondering how he thought she got here in the first place, then she realized he would have thought Ted brought her. “No, I have it covered. See?”

Her wings had been folded against her back, but she stretched them out and had the temporary delight of seeing the demibreed’s eyes go wide.

A moment later, she was back in Brakken’s territory, and when Julian saw her, he flashed to her side. If his flared nostrils were any indication, he was fuming mad. “Don’t you dare do that again,” he told her.

“Did you see Ted? He wasn’t going to last another minute.”

“Let the Mercury Lords worry about their men. We have a job to do.”

“Have you found Brakken?” she asked.

He frowned. “No. And…I haven’t found Gavin either.”

Kara tried to understand the correlation between those two statements, and then her stomach dropped. “No. No, no, no. Do you think Brakken has him?”

“I think it’s a possibility.”

“And how do we find them? Shit! Why did Aiden ever take those charms from me? I could have tracked Gavin that way. If you find Aiden, tell him I need those back.”

“There are other ways.” Julian flashed then returned a minute later with a warrior on the end of a tether. The warrior’s wings had been clipped, something Kara hadn’t seen since the first night she’d met the risen Julian.

The warrior bared his fangs at Kara, and with the way Julian had him tied, he looked like a feral dog on a leash.

“Where’s your master?” Kara asked him.

“Brakken is not my master. He’s a monster. A true devil. Some of us thought Prince Gavine would be a better man, but no. Your clan isn’t any better.” With that, he spit, and Julian gave a quick tug on the tether.

Kara blinked, then she looked around at the bodies strewn across the desert. At least two thirds of them were Brakken’s men. “I can see why you would think that, but Gavin is a good man. He’s kind, he’s fair and he’s loyal. But he can’t allow Brakken to continue on as he has. We mean to send him to the Abyss.”

The warrior’s eyes went wide. “And then what becomes of us if you succeed? You hunt us down one by one?”

Julian met her eyes, as if he hadn’t considered that angle. “There are some who’ll need to be punished for what they’ve done,” she answered, the image of Rachel’s keeper coming to mind. “But the others…you can go free. Start over.”

He narrowed his eyes, as if unsure if she was toying with him. “Where?”

“Wherever you want. Here. The surface. It’s up to you.”

“Do you give me your word that when the fighting ends here, we can go free?”

“Uh…” Her word? Did she have the authority to do that? “I’m not the head of the Mercury Clan, but I promise you that I will do whatever I can to make that happen—for the warriors who didn’t have a choice but to fight.”

The man smiled, and he looked kind of rusty at pulling up the corners of his lips. “I believe you.”

Kara’s brows rose. “You do?”

“Yes. If you were trying to deceive me, you would have crafted a much better promise than that pathetic vow.”

Well, there you go.
“So will you help us find Brakken? Will you help us end this violence while you still have friends out there to save?”

“Yes.”

“Julian.” She shook her head and gestured to the leash.

“What?” He looked like a little boy who’d had his favorite toy confiscated by his mother. “Really?”