Blood Before Sunrise

Like a character straight out of a video game, it scaled the wall, running up and sideways, and then flipped as it came to the ground on the other side of me.

Two against one. Piece of cake. I went for another knife, drew it, and let it fly. It grazed the Lyhtan standing at the back of the alley, the damage barely classifying as a scratch. Great. Way to hit your mark, dipshit. Raif would’ve died if he’d been there to see me make such a rookie mistake.

While I was distracted by my utter lack of skill, assassin number five jumped me. We tumbled to the ground in a tangle of long insect limbs before I dissolved from the Lyhtan’s grasp and reappeared above it. Gripping the katana in both hands, I aimed the sword for the bastard’s heart and stabbed down. It jerked, arching its long, lean back, and died, leaving me man to man-well, woman to thing-with the last remaining Lyhtan. I abandoned the throwing knives-my aim was shit-and went for my dagger instead. Swinging the sword and stabbing with the long dagger, I fought the creature that had nothing more than its talons and sharp teeth to use against me.

The alley was narrow and our quarters close. It damned well might have been blind fucking luck that I’d beaten the other four because, as I grappled with the remaining Lyhtan, it seemed the walls of the alley were closing in on us. It pushed me back, and I slammed against a wall, the katana clanging to the pavement at my feet. The Lyhtan moved in a blur of speed, its long jagged teeth sinking into the flesh of my arm.

Motherfucker! I thought I’d pass out from the pain. Searing venom pulsed through my veins, and had I been a more helpless soul, my insides would have begun to melt within a matter of seconds. It didn’t take long for the burning to subside as my otherworldly body took over, expelling the venom from the wound. What had once been a raw, open tear began to close, the skin knitting back together with amazing speed. Desperate, the Lyhtan lunged at me again, and I met its advance in a strange battle dance that put me within gutting distance. I jabbed hard with the long dagger, careful not to make a killing blow. Aiming high above the waist, but just below the ribs, I stabbed, feeling the sharp metal penetrate flesh, meat, and muscle, gouging the Lyhtan’s midsection. I tugged hard, withdrew the blade, and wrapped my free hand around the bastard’s shoulder. I’d have grabbed a hank of its corn silk hair for leverage, but, damn, it was tall. With speed and unnatural strength, I threw my attacker to the ground, stomping my boot on its shoulder to keep it down.

I smiled into the Lyhtan’s seething face. Yeah, that’s right. Nobody fucks with this girl. “Okay,” I said, feeling my badassedness. “Who sent you after me? And if you tell me you don’t know…I’m going to take you apart, starting with your fingers”-I pointed the dagger between the Lyhtan’s thighs-“and ending with whatever it is you’re hiding under that nasty tuft of fur.”

The Lyhtan cackled as it strained for breath. “I answer to no one and need no reason to kill you beyond your mere existence. You are favored by that bastard king and his warrior brother. What a blow to them it would be when I delivered your body to their doorstep.”

So…what? This had nothing to do with me, personally. I was just a pawn in the eternal Lyhtan/Shaede strife. Wonderful. I didn’t have time for this petty bullshit. “What’s your name?”

“Mengoth.”

Good Lord, couldn’t one of them be named Sam or Brad? Mengoth? Give me a break. “Well, then, you’re not worth keeping alive.” I bent over him. “Wouldn’t you agree? I mean, if I don’t take care of you right now, who’s to say the next Shaede you cross will walk away to tell the tale.”

“If you think I’d be stupid enough to beg a creature no better than me to spare my life, you aren’t worthy to do the deed,” he said. “You seem to be under the misassumption that I find you worth my respect.” He coughed, and greenish spittle splattered on the toe of my boot. “You may have the privilege of joining with the light, but make no mistake. You are nothing more than a common Shaede. And you deserve nothing better than a slow, painful death.”

Mengoth kicked his legs and grabbed my foot with both his taloned hands, giving my ankle a sound twist. I hit the pavement headfirst, white light exploding in my cracked skull. Dazed, I tried to shake the fog from my brain as Mengoth fumbled in the haze of encroaching night for my sword. Metal scraped against asphalt, and the sound of it echoed in the alley, an eerie prelude to my impending death. I lay still, my fingers creeping to my belt as I waited for Mengoth to strike. Through lowered lids, I watched the bastard take up my sword and raise it high above me. He poised to strike, lifted his head toward the sky, and took a deep breath. It was now or never. I pulled the last throwing knife from my belt and launched it at Mengoth’s head. The silver buried itself to the hilt in the Lyhtan’s neck, and it looked down on me, amber eyes wide with surprise. I rolled back and kicked, propelling myself upward, and delivered a roundhouse to his stomach. He slammed against the wall, dropping the katana, which I caught in midfall. With a sweeping upward cut, I ran the blade through his neck, just above the knife hilt, and the Lyhtan’s head rolled deep into the alley before his body crumpled to the ground at my feet.

Just my luck to end an evening on a bloody note.

I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed Raif’s number before retrieving my knives from the Lyhtan bodies that were already beginning to dissolve into shimmering light. For all intents and purposes, I had to admire the Lyhtan form; they were perfectly designed for stealth. They could travel invisibly or virtually unnoticed during the day, and they were fully capable of staying hidden at night. Plus, no messy bodies to scare the shit out of the police when they died. Perfect, really.

On the fifth ring, Raif finally answered. “Where have you been all day?”

All day. I could almost sigh in relief. I’d been gone less than twenty-four hours this time. “Out.”

“You sound out of breath. What trouble have you found now?”

I wished he’d give it a rest already. Like Tyler, Raif was beginning to sound like a broken record. “Oh, you know, just an evening jog to get the heart pumping. How’s Tyler?”

“Not better, but not worse either. Whatever ails him has certainly weakened him. Dimitri has been checking in on him, and your Jinn is growing tired of having a babysitter. It took a bit to calm him down. Sounds like your protector doesn’t like to wake up and find his charge missing.”

Shit. Night had barely fallen, and I still needed to find Reaver. “Can Dimitri keep an eye on my apartment for a few more hours? I have an errand to run.”

“Tyler’s not a prisoner, Darian. Or helpless. I don’t expect Dimitri to follow your Jinn, should he leave. What sort of errands do you have?”

“Just scoping out a new hot spot.” My endeavors to find Raif’s daughter, cure Tyler of his magical ailment, and steal a mysterious hourglass would be a hell of a lot easier without everyone’s noses up my ass. Raif sighed into the phone, obviously onto me. “I’m going to talk to Levi about a lead,” I said, lying through my teeth. “Just looking for some help on the Tyler front.”

His pregnant pause made me cringe. Raif sure wasn’t helping me to help him. The deception had begun to wear on me. I needed help; I couldn’t do everything on my own. I didn’t want Raif to be a party to my acts of thievery unless it was absolutely necessary. I knew I could count on him. He’d finally allowed himself to consider the possibility that his daughter was still alive. But until I had the leverage I needed, I wanted Raif to know as little as possible about what I was up to. He was much too honorable to participate in a criminal act, and I wanted it to stay that way.

“Dimitri can keep an eye on things,” Raif said. “For a while longer. But, Darian, you’ll have Anya to contend with if you keep her husband much longer.”

Anya. Yeah, that’s all I needed. “I’ll be home by dawn. Thanks, Raif.”

“Darian,” he said in a tone too big brother for my taste, “when you’re done with your… errands…we need to have a talk.”

Sure. Why not? Pile it on! “Fine,” I said, and hung up.

Chapter 16

I wandered the Industrial District with one thought: Find Reaver. I was through playing fuck-around. Time to locate Raif’s daughter and wrap this shit up. Something was seriously wrong with Tyler, and it was getting worse by the day, for all I knew. And the faster I found Brakae, the faster I could focus my attention on the Man from The Ring and the shit storm his mysterious presence had brought into my life.

Shortly after midnight, the flow of traffic increased significantly, and the vehicles became more ostentatious. The supernatural loved their money. And they flaunted their wealth like an oil baron on holiday. BMWs, Ferraris,