He gave her a frosty stare. aYou would have to pa.s.s some security examinations and competency tests to be registered as one of my operatives. Itas a bad idea. I would be more worried about you than about the mission.a She smiled. He didnat say no. aI suppose Iall just have to learn to be good enough so you donat worry so much. I hope youare a good teacher.a aYouare an impossible woman,a he growled.
aHey, I didnat show up at your house demanding you challenge me. You were the knucklehead who picked me, so you only have yourself to blame.a They halted in unison. They stood at the edge of a narrow meadow. The Wood beyond it had lost its vibrant color. The trunks stood bare and grim, and the underbrush had shriveled to a limp tangle of wilted leaves.
The magic was gone. The forest lay dead and oddly preserved, as if mummified. A taint of foul magic, alien and sharp, stained the dead trunks and withered gra.s.s. If it had color, it would drip from the Wood like purple putrid slime. The evidence of the houndsa presence.
aItas frightening what they do,a Rose said.
Declanas arms closed about her for a brief moment and crushed her to him. He let her go almost Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( immediately, but head packed so much into that one fierce hug: want, need, worry, rea.s.surance . . . Head protect her with his life. Strangely, it made her indignant.
n.o.body should have to be in the position of having another person give up their life for them. She didnat want the weight of Declanas death. The fear took a backseat, and cold anger started driving. Ca.s.shorn. If she had any hope for the future with Declan, or even without him, she had to destroy Ca.s.shorn and the hounds. That was the only way.
Declan would be there, fighting to the last. She had to do the same.
Together they walked into the blighted Wood.
TWENTY minutes later, Rose lay next to Declan on the edge of a ravine. Below them, the ground dropped off sharply. A strange contraption sat in the center of the ravineas floor, a tangled mess of gears and moving parts, as if an enormous clock had gotten violently sick and vomited all of its insides before turning inside out. In the center of the device hung an oblong cl.u.s.ter of pale silvery glow, like a large batch of cotton candy woven of luminescent fog.
Around the device, hounds lay side by side, packed tight like matches into a box. Rose tried to count them.
Hundred and twelve. Hundred and thirteen. Hundred and . .
. too many. If they see us, we will be torn to pieces.
The magic rising from the ravine nearly made her gag. It filled the gap, crawling along the ground and up the slope, as if it were too heavy to dissipate. She felt the mere traces of it, but when they slithered past, her whole body recoiled from the contact. She wanted to jump to her feet and run back into the Wood, to jump into a lake or to grab a handful of mud and scrub herself just to sc.r.a.pe the slimy patina off.
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( She clenched her teeth and lay absolutely still, afraid to breathe. Her mind painted a horde of hounds streaming up the wall of the ravine. She imagined wicked dagger teeth ripping into Declan, tearing flesh off his bones. All of what they were, all their fears, worries, happiness, all that made them human, didnat matter. To hounds, they were just magic-infused meat. Cold descended on her, locking her muscles. Her heart hammered.
Declanas hand came to rest on her shoulder. She looked at him, wide-eyed, and saw calm, steadying strength in his eyes. He didnat lose his head. He didnat seem afraid. She held on to his courage like a crutch and exhaled her panic in tiny, silent breaths.
Something stirred on the floor of the ravine.
Declan focused on the movement. His eyes turned gla cially cold.
A clump of the hounds parted, and a tall figure rose, swaddled in a long cloak.
Ca.s.shorn.
There he was. They finally found the sonovab.i.t.c.h. Triumph filled her. Thought he could hide, did he?
Ca.s.shorn swayed, as if woozy, but righted himself. He flicked his fingers, and the hounds parted before him, clearing a path. Slowly he dragged himself to the device.
She stared at his back and wished him dead. If they were within flashing distance, she might have tried frying him.
The device emitted a screech of metal rubbing against metal.
Gears whirled.
Ca.s.shorn crouched down and picked something off the ground.
The glowing cone in the center of the device split open. A dark object slid out, wrapped in a membrane Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( laced with thick purple and yellow veins. The object fell to the ground with a wet thump and squirmed, stretching the membrane.
Ca.s.shorn approached it and pulled a large, wicked-looking hook into the light. A thick chain stretched from the hook, disappearing into a dead tree to the left.
The thing in the membrane wriggled. With a brutal strike, Ca.s.shorn stabbed the hook into the membrane and kicked a lever protruding from the wooden block next to him. The chain snapped taut, dragging the membrane sack across the ground and jerking it in the air, to the tree, where it hung suspended three feet from the ground.
Ca.s.shorn scratched at the membrane, brushing it away, revealing a fully formed hound writhing upside down on the hook. He grasped the beast by the head, and she saw Ca.s.shornas hand. His fingers had grown very long, and on top of each one sat a two-inch black claw.
Those claws dug into the beastas neck, but the hound did nothing to resist.
Ca.s.shorn struck. His claws sliced the houndas throat. A stream of gray spilled from the wound. Ca.s.shorn picked up a cup from the ground and held it under the stream. The liquid splashed into the cup and onto his hands. A few seconds later, the hound stopped jerking.
The stream of fluid died. Ca.s.shorn wiped his hand on the beastas back and brought the cup to his lips.
Her stomach clenched. Rose clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from vomiting.
As Ca.s.shorn lifted the cup, the cloak slid off his shoulders.
He was nude underneath it. He was very tall with broad shoulders and a large chest, but inhumanly thin and corded with tight muscle like a greyhound.
Splotches of yellow and purple stained his skin. His arms and legs were disproportionately long.
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( Ca.s.shorn tipped the gla.s.s, turning, and she saw his face. He must have been a handsome man at some point. She still glimpsed echoes of it: the large hooded eyes, the square line of the jaw, the shadow of what had once been a broad, strong, masculine face. He mustave looked similar to Declan in the past, but no longer. A network of veins stood out on his temples, like rope threaded under his skin. His long hair, still golden blond, had thinned and now dripped from his scalp in isolated clumps to his chest. His face sagged and wrinkled, and when he opened his mouth to swallow the contents of the gla.s.s, she caught sight of his teeth. His mouth was filled with bloodred fangs.
Ca.s.shorn emptied the gla.s.s. So thatas how he did it. He paid for the immunity to the houndsa magic with his mind and his body.
Declanas strong fingers pressed on her arm. She glanced at him. His gaze was fixed on a point well above Ca.s.shorn, on the other side of the ravine. She looked and bit back a gasp before it had a chance to escape.
A wolf lay in the brush, solid black and huge, like a nightmare come to life. In her memory, head been enormous. Shead thought fear had played tricks on her, making him larger than he really was, but no, he really was that huge.
Declanas lips moved, and he mouthed a silent word. William.
The wolf shifted his gaze and saw her. His eyes flared with amber. His black lips rose in a silent snarl, and William showed them a mouth full of fangs. Rose shivered.
Something wasnat right. If William was in league with Ca.s.shorn, then what in the world was he doing hiding in the bushes?
A crash made them glance down. Ca.s.shorn had hurled his cup at the device, and it bounced off. He leaned Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( back, dragged his clawed hands through his thinning mane, and began braiding it in a mechanical fashion, the way he mustave done a thousand times. Head managed to plait a couple of inches when the entire thing slid off his head, leaving him bald. Ca.s.shorn stared at the hair in his hand in disbelief and flung it from him.
It caught on one of the gears and hung there.
They couldnat have asked for a better opportunity. Rose grabbed Declanas arm, clenching her fingers until he looked at her and whispered so quietly she could barely hear herself. aHair. His hair.a Ca.s.shorn sank into the dirt. The sea of hounds brushed against him. He hugged one and put his cheek against the pale hide. The beast lay down on its side, and Ca.s.shorn lay atop it.
Declan nodded and reached to the pack next to him.
Carefully they unwrapped the crows. Rose prayed George would see the hair. Shead stressed what he had to look for: clothes, a brush with hair on it, personal items, silverware . . . Hair, that much hair, just fresh off the body, was any curseras dream. Only blood was better and only short-terma"it rotted too quickly.
The wolfas gaze burned her as they worked. The ravine ran almost two miles in every direction of tough wooded terrain. She knew William wouldnat be able to get to them, but the way he stared at them made her want to scream.
Rose clenched her bird. By now George would feel them handling the crows and would be paying attention.
She pointed the bird so the hair was directly in front of it and whispered over and over, aHair, hair, hair, hair, hair . . .a Declan released his bird. A moment later she let hers go. The crows swooped down like two black rocks.
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( Declanas crow plunged and came up, its claws caught in the fabric of Ca.s.shornas cloak. aNo,a she whispered.
aNo, no, Georgie . . .a A hound snapped up its head, then another. A dark body lunged up, and the crow went down.
The second bird made a slow circle above the hounds, turned, veered lefta"he was going after the cup.
Roseas heart hammered. She squeezed her hands into fists, willing the bird to turn right.
At the last moment, the crow dropped right and snagged the braid off the gears.
A tendril of dark magic snapped from the device, stinging the birdas wings. Rose held her breath. Come on, George, come on, you can do it.
The crow faltered, jerked, beating its wings furiously, and flew up, higher and higher, disappearing beyond the trees heading back to East Laporte.
Rose dropped her head facedown into the dirt. He did it. Her brother did it.
Declanas hand gripped her shoulder and jerked her up, hard.
In the ravine below them, the hounds were rising. Declanas face was dark. At the other end of the ravine, William retreated, crawling away.
They slithered from the cliff. Ten feet. Twelve. Fifteen.
Twenty. Declan hauled her upright and breathed one word.
aRun!a They dashed through the woods, running as fast as the terrain would allow. The tree trunks flew by. She leapt over the branches and crashed through the brush.
aFaster,a Declan called directly behind her.
Rose squeezed out a burst of speed. The air seared her lungs.
Her side began to hurt. She kept running. The woods blended into a blur, punctuated by her hoa.r.s.e breaths.
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( They burst into a small glade. Declan caught her arm and spun her around. aWe make a stand.a She doubled over, trying not to vomit. He didnat even look winded.
Declan pulled a sword from the sheath on his back and turned it over once. aUse short-range flash,a he said.
aThe less noise we make, the better.a The first hound padded out of the bushes into the open. It tensed, the muscles along its long limbs contracted, and it leapt into the air.
Declan swung. The blade cleaved the hound in two, and he sank flash into the ruin of the body. Acrid fumes surged from the houndas carca.s.s. Rose coughed and moved away from him. Short-range flash. She could do that.
A hound burst through the shriveled brush. It made for her, jumping in great leaps, maw gaping, bloodred fangs ready to rip. The four eyes glared at her with luminescent gray. The hound lunged, and Rose flashed.
Her short, controlled burst of magic cleaved across the creatureas shoulder all the way deep through the chest. The top half of the beast slid aside, betraying a glimpse of soft purplish innards filled with gray slime, and crashed to the side.
Another hound dashed at her from the right. Rose flashed again and watched its head roll through the dead gra.s.s.
A dark flood of the beasts came loping through the Wood, stark against the dull, magic-drained trees. It headed straight for them. In a moment they would be overwhelmed.
Rose leaned back and took a deep breath. A line of magic thrust from her, curving to the ground. It split into three and began to circle her.
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( The foremost beast sprinted, muscle flexing under the bruise-colored pelt, legs pumping, horrible teeth bared. It leaped at her and fell aside, cut in three pieces.
They made right for her. With her flash blazing bright, she made an irresistible target. She concentrated on rotating the arches as fast as she could, slicing through the hideous bodies until the ground grew wet with their gray sluice. To the left, Declan struck at the stream of hounds, his blade a lethal whirl. He cut with deadly precision, fast and unstoppable. Every time his sword sliced, something died. He was absolutely beautiful.
The last hound paused on the edge of the clearing. Rose dropped her flash and sent a single sharp bolt of blinding white at it. Declan flashed at the same time, the two flashes connected, and the hound went down.
The clearing was wet with gray blood and littered with smoking bodies.
Declan looked her over. aUnhurt?a She nodded.
aHow many did we kill?a he asked.
She surveyed the carnage. aFifty?a aTwenty-two.a He wiped his sword and slid it back into his sheath.
aOnly twenty-two?a She couldnat believe it. It seemed like many more . . .
aTwenty-two.a He took her by the arm. aRun. Before the rest get here.a They ran through the woods.
aI donat think Williamas helping Ca.s.shorn,a she said.
aI donat think so either.a aThen what is he doing here?a ah.e.l.l if I know.a If William had been in league with Ca.s.shorn, he had only to make a noise, and the entire swarm wouldave Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( been on them.
aWhat was that?a Declan asked.
aWhat?a aThe sphere of flash you did back there?a aItas a modified Atamanas defense,a she told him. aWhen I saw William for the first time, I got scared head get through and split the arch into three. For some reason, I can rotate them a lot faster this way. Why, you never saw something like this before?a aI donat think anyone has ever seen anything like this before,a he told her. aKeep running.a THEY reached the palisade in record time. Grandma waited inside by the gates.
Declan did a little bow. aMadame.a aYes, yes,a she told him with a sour face. aTom wants to see you inside.a Declan nodded.
aDid you get the hair?a Rose asked.
aWe have it.a Declan disappeared into the building. Rose collapsed on the ground. She lay on her back, her arms and legs flung wide. Her body felt like wet cotton put through a washing machine.
aAre you all right?a lonoreas face blocked the sky.
aFine,a she said, breathless. aIall just lie here for a bit. Heas made of iron: he runs very fast and never gets tired.a aThe hooligans escaped,a lonore said.
aWhat?a aJeremiah called me on your phone. He took them and Leanne with her boy out into the Broken, just as agreed. They sat all quiet and nice, until he stopped to make a right onto the freeway at the gas station, and then they threw the truckas door open and bolted.a Rose closed her eyes and groaned. Why me?
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( aJeremiah and Leanne tried to catch them, but theyare gone.a aThey went back to the house.a Rose pushed off the ground and sat. She felt a thousand years old. Where else would they go? aItas Jackas fault. Heas convinced weall all fail to fight Ca.s.shorn without his help, and he mustave talked Georgie into it. Iall get them and take them out to Leanne. I doubt theyall come out for anyone but family, so itas either you or me, and it will have to be me, since youall be cursing Ca.s.shorn.a aHurry,a Grandma said.
aAll right.a Rose pushed herself to her feet.
aGo!a lonore waved.
Rose headed for the gates. She briefly considered getting Declan but decided against it. Head need to protect the palisade while they cast their curse, and she knew the Wood like the back of her hand. Shead be back in a couple of hours, after she dropped the boys with Leanne.
The boys had to be taken to safety, and the faster she managed it, the better it was for everyone involved.