Chapter 31

FlyingRonan Airlines was indeed a very smooth ride. I made a mental note never to say that sentence aloud when Sean or Malcolm might overhear it.

Instead of an out-of-control tumble through an airless magical riptide, we caught what felt like an ocean current and followed it past dark regions that might have been other worlds, or just my brain playing tricks on me. I wasn't entirely sure if I was actually seeing anything while we were inside the current. I certainly couldn't see Ronan, though I felt his arms around me holding tight. I might have even dozed a bit, since the journey was so tranquil.

The landing, on the other hand, was another thing altogether.

In Ronan's defense, I'd made it clear I wanted the vamps to think I'd come out of the mirror, and mirror travelers did not land gracefully or smoothly when they arrived on the other side.

With no warning, and absolutely no control over what my body was doing, I shot out of the peaceful ocean current into familiar-smelling air. I dropped like a rock and landed face-first on what felt like a very expensive rug covering a stone floor. Ow.

With a groan, I rolled to my side. I knew before I opened my eyes that I was home. The ambient magic of my world was unmistakable. Home, home, home. My magic, partially tuned to the Broken World, surged and re-tuned itself. I exhaled in a long sigh and unbuckled my backpack. Sean would sense my return through our bond, I hoped, and know I was alive and home.

The knot of death magic twinged sharply. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, opened my eyes, and stared.

I'd expected to land in the same room I'd departed from in the lower level of Northbourne. Clearly they'd moved the mirror to a room I'd never been in before.

From my vantage point on the floor, I saw stone walls bare except for alcoves where candles burned, a low ceiling, and a tall bed. Over the bed, the ceiling was painted with a mural of two dark-haired women sitting at a table holding cups of wine. An arched doorway to my left led to what looked like a closet filled with dresses and evening gowns. Another led to a bathroom as large as this room, with a small swimming pool in the middle. Or maybe that was the tub.

Other than the elaborate bathroom, the suite was very plain and smelled of a hundred ancient scents I'd recognized instinctively even before my eyes and brain processed the room and its contents. Valas.

They'd moved the mirror to Valas's rooms. That told me a lot—most especially that she wanted to be waiting if and when I returned with the scroll. I didn't see or sense Ronan or Esme anywhere, but I had to assume they were here, hidden by some kind of glamour.

A familiar man wearing enforcer black leaned over me. "Ms. Worth?"

I coughed and struggled to sit up. "Matthias."

He surprised me by offering his hand. I waved him back and staggered to my feet, making no effort to hide how difficult it was for me to rise. I looked like hell, so it should be easy to fool them into thinking I was in bad shape. Okay, worse shape. I might need all the advantages I could get.

As it turned out, I was in far, far better shape than the woman on the bed.

"Oh, shit," I breathed.

At first, I saw only Valas's lower torso, legs, and arms, since her shoulders and head were hidden by the woman whose throat she was drinking from. Though she faced away from me, I recognized Niara, another member of the Vampire Court, from her signature brightly colored dress and elaborately styled hair. She was leaning over Valas, almost lying across her upper body, presumably because Valas could not lift her own head from her pillow to drink.

Valas's body was covered by her dress, but her hands and forearms were visible—or what was left of them. Most of her hands and part of her arms had turned to ash, and the flesh that remained was black. The way the dress lay flat on the bed indicated parts of her legs and torso had crumbled to ash as well. She was dying slowly, an inch at a time. Probably the only reason she'd lasted until I came back was by drinking from the other members of the Court. If we'd taken just a day or two more—or our net time in the Underworld had been longer than two weeks—I would have been too late.

Despite everything Valas had done to me, my stomach contracted. Our relationship had always been difficult. From the moment I'd realized she'd allowed Mira? to kidnap and torture me and use me as his puppet, I'd felt little more than hate and fury. And when she trapped me in the Broken World, I'd decided enough was most definitely enough.

That anger didn't go away, but my plan for what to do now had to change.

Matthias stepped between me and the bed. "Give her a moment," he said in an undertone.

I turned away and reached for the familiar buzzing of Malcolm's magic in my arm cuff. "Release," I murmured.

Malcolm appeared next to me. He drifted back and forth and looked down at himself. His face fell at the sight of his translucent body. My heart ached for him.

He touched my arm. Damn, it's good to be home, but I'm going to miss being a real boy, he said in my head. And this is so not what we expected to find waiting for us.

We figured something wasn't right and she needed the scroll badly,I reminded him. I just didn't think it was this bad.

So what's your plan now?he asked.

I'm rethinking things a bit, but bottom line, I'm still here to settle a score. In the meantime, I need you to jump to Sean and tell him we're home, where I am, and that I'll get home to him as soon as I'm done here.

Malcolm frowned. I don't want you to face Valas by yourself.

I'm not by myself.

He raised his eyebrows and looked around again. Our feathery friend is here somewhere?

Yes, he's here. Please go to Sean. I need him to know I'm here and I'm safe and I'm coming home. Tell him I'm sorry I didn't tell him where we went and I'll tell him everything when I get home. Then go see Liam.

Are you sure?He plainly didn't like the idea of leaving me here.

I'm sure. I have a score to settle.

I have a score to settle too,he reminded me.

I know. I'll get justice for us both.

He glanced at my abdomen. And what about that?

Later. First things first: Sean and Liam, and Valas. Then I'll deal with this mess.

He didn't look happy. Okay. Summon me if you need me.

I will,I promised.

He vanished.

My stomach twinged again—this time, with hunger. I had some protein bars left from the last way station stop I'd made with Ronan before we got to the portal home. Valas was still drinking from Niara, so I got two bars from my backpack and ate them quickly. Normally seeing a vampire feed would have taken away any appetite I had, but this wasn't just any hunger gnawing at my insides.

I washed the bars down with the last of the water in my Hawthorne's bottle. The metal bottle had collected a few dents on its travels, but it was quite a souvenir. I stuck it back in the bag.

Niara's dark skin had developed a gray tone. Valas had drunk more from her than was safe—far more.

Niara started to pull away and flinched. I heard a sibilant hiss. Valas wasn't letting her go. Niara would have to tear herself free of Valas's enormous fangs unless Valas would retract them.

"Valas, I'm here," I said, hoping she could hear me. "I'm back with the scroll. Let Niara go. I can heal you."

Valas hissed again. Niara finally moved back and slid to the edge of the bed. Her throat was badly torn. "Thank you," she said hoarsely. In her desperate need for life-sustaining blood, Valas had damaged Niara's vocal cords.

I barely heard Niara. Half of Valas's face and one eye were gone, leaving only grayish-white bone and an empty socket. Most of her lips were gone, and one cheek, revealing her teeth and extended fangs. Blood streaked her skull, jaw, and remaining skin.

No way in hell Valas was moving from that bed, but she still had power and magic. How much she could wield in this condition, I wasn't sure.

Somewhere, Malcolm was talking to Sean and reassuring him we'd returned. I hadn't realized how much strength that knowledge would give me until right now, as I stood in Valas's room, facing the grim reality of her condition and that I had no scroll with which to heal her. I could deal with this as long as Sean knew I was back.

Niara made her way unsteadily to the door. Matthias opened it and ushered her into the hall, where her head of security, Nadya, waited. He closed the door behind her. Wards buzzed on my skin.

"Ver isssss it?" Valas hissed. "I do not sense the sssss…scroll."

"I'm here, and you locked the door so I couldn't get back without it," I pointed out, dodging the question. "Help me understand what's happening to you."

"Do not need…to under…stand." Every word was difficult for her to say. "Bring…scroll."

"We need to talk about a couple of things first." I took a step toward the bed.

Matthias moved to intercept me. At the same time, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye near the doorway to the closet: a flash of a dark figure, part solid and part smoke. A familiar terrible odor hit my nose. Vlad. I might have known he'd be here to protect Valas when she was this vulnerable. He snarled at me.

And then he vanished into thin air. Yay, Ronan.

Matthias's head whipped around when Vlad disappeared. I took advantage of the distraction and touched his hand. "Sleep," I commanded.

Matthias had a little bit of magic, but only a trace—not enough to resist my spell. He hit the floor in a heap, unconscious.

Valas's remaining eye silvered. Dark magic rose, but only a fraction of what I'd felt from her before.

I pushed blood magic edged with death magic from my fingertips to form a blade and held it to her throat. Some of it had turned to ash, and I could see part of her spine.

"Don't call for reinforcements, or you'll die right here and now," I told her. "I'm not here to kill you unless you force my hand."

"Who is with you?" she demanded.

"A friend I met in the Broken World. He's just keeping Vlad on ice until you and I settle our business." At least, I hoped that was what Ronan was doing with Valas's pet and he hadn't already dispatched the creep.

Valas glared up at me with her good eye. "We…made…bargain."

"I know we had a bargain, and I held up my end of it, mostly." I kept the blade at her throat, unwilling to trust her without the threat of immediate permanent death a centimeter from her spine. "I found Mariela and kept her from coming back with the Furies—or the Titan Typhon and the goddess Ammit, Devourer of Hearts."

Her eye widened.

"Yeah, things got a little crazy over there," I said. "It's a really long story. I'll tell you all about it someday, maybe. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring Mariela back. She ended up on the wrong end of a spell she threw at me, and she's goop now on a dusty plain in the Underworld. You'll just have to take my word for that, I guess."

A small vial landed on the bed near me.

I picked it up with my non-bladed hand and wiggled the stopper. A horrendous smell drifted out. I gagged and pushed the stopper back in. "Seriously?" I demanded. "You brought back a vial of Mariela goop?"

No answer.

I set the vial back on the bed. "Fine. Here's proof she's dead. She caused the deaths of hundreds of people—men, women, and children. So the fact she stole from you ended up the least of her sins."

"Sssssssss…scroll," Valas hissed.

"Yes, the scroll. Mariela destroyed it. There's nothing left but a few scraps of papyrus and part of the spindle. I'm sorry."

Valas's dark magic hit me square in the chest and sent me flying. I braced for impact against the stone wall, but sea-scented magic caught me and set me on my feet.

She grunted. A dagger protruded from her abdomen, pulsing with familiar silver-blue magic. She strained, but apparently the blade prevented her from throwing more magic at me.

"Thanks," I muttered to Ronan, wherever he was. "Seriously, stop with the Casper the Stabby Ghost stuff, though."

Again, I got no response.

I returned to the bed. "Look, damn it, I said I wasn't here to kill you," I told her. "I mean, I thought about it when you sent me through that mirror-door and then locked it behind me. I can see you needed the scroll badly, but you should have just told me that instead of condemning me to a slow death over there and cutting me off from Sean. That was pretty shitty, even for you. I went over there in good faith to do a job for you, and you fucked me over, again."

I leaned on the bed and stared down at her. "This was a result of Mira?'s curses, wasn't it?" I said, gesturing at her crumbling body. "He hit you with some really bad magic that night in the garden. That's why you suddenly needed that scroll back—it had spells that would heal you."

"Yessssss."

I'd hoped as much, because that meant we could make a new bargain—one that would change everything between us.

"Tell me why I should care right now whether you live or die," I said. "Don't bother threatening me. Tell me why you're worth saving."

Malcolm would be pissed at me for asking her that. Sean too. They'd both say I was too kind, that I let her condition get to me, and maybe they were right. But I wasn't here for vengeance; I was here for justice.

She was quiet for a long time. At first I thought she couldn't talk any longer. "Kill Murphy," she rasped finally.

"It's my job to kill Moses Murphy. Give me a better reason."

She hissed. I waited.

"Release…bond."

Release me from our binding. Now we were getting somewhere. "Keep going."

Dark magic flared and faded. The dagger pulsed.

"No…retaliation," she ground out.

"There better not be," I warned. "Not against me or anyone I'm associated with. Not directly or indirectly."

"Yes."

I made a rolling gesture with my hand.

"Independent…for life," she said.

"You said other members of the Court and employees didn't like that I was an independent contractor," I reminded her.

Her mouth twitched into a nightmarish half-smile. "Will decree."

"Fine. I want all this in writing and duly witnessed."

"Yes." A shudder ran through her. "Please," she whispered. "Afraid."

I couldn't imagine Valas being afraid of anything. My skepticism must have shown on my face. "Something waits…" she rasped. "I fear it."

Her words had the unmistakable ring of true belief. Was it possible the mighty Valas worried about the ultimate destination of her soul?

"I'm sorry I didn't get to bring the scroll back," I told her, and I meant it. "It was a priceless artifact. I'm mad as hell at you, but I have no desire to see you die like this." I leaned over her again so she could see my eyes and know I spoke the truth. "I've never given you reason to think I'd screw you over in this deal. What you did was cruel and I didn't deserve it. Neither did Malcolm, for that matter."

She said nothing.

"I don't expect you to say you're sorry. You wouldn't mean it anyway. I want you to remember I had absolutely no obligation to save you, but I'm going to try anyway."

Her eye moved to look past me. "Come…for my…soul?" she asked.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw the faint outline of a winged figure edged with silver-blue fire.

"Not today, Sala Veli," Ronan said, his voice that of a hundred people speaking at once. "However, if you renege on your agreement with Alice, I will return, and no magic or army will stop me."

Dang. I'd wanted to settle things with Valas myself and on my terms, but as threats went, that one wasn't bad.

"Agreed," she whispered. She looked back at me. "Please…heal."

I held my hand over her body. Foul, black sorcerer magic writhed under her skin. Not long ago, I'd found the sensation acutely nauseating. Now, it was a familiar feeling, and uncomfortably close to normal.

I closed my eyes and sank into the layers of spellwork that formed the curses. They were truly diabolical. Mira? had designed them to destroy Valas's body slowly but keep her mind unharmed and clear to the very end, to maximize her suffering. His hatred was woven into every thread of the curse. He'd wanted to make certain that even if he failed to kill her that night in the garden, Valas would die in agony in retaliation for what she'd done to her sister Kassia, his lover from more than a century ago.

I opened my eyes and glanced up at the mural of the sisters—the sight Valas would see each dawn before she slept and each evening when she woke. Charles had a painting of a sunrise above his bed.

"You and Kassia?" I asked, gesturing at the mural.

A tiny nod.

"How long have you had a painting of you two above your bed?"

"Ssssss…centuries," she said.

I closed my eyes, rested my hand on Valas's skeletal chest, and let my dark magic rise. With it, I began to pull apart the spellwork of the curse.

I didn't get far in my unweaving when magic flared and sent a bolt of power through me. I recognized a landmine hidden in the spellwork.

Valas sucked in a sharp breath that rattled in her chest. A small, agonized sound escaped her fleshless lips as her entire left arm turned to ash.

The landmine lashed at me, but I carried Mira?'s own magic and it did little more than cause pain.

Screw you, Mira?, I thought savagely. You're not killing either of us today.

Forget unweaving the spellwork; there was no time. The landmine had accelerated the progress of the curse and Valas would be nothing but ash in seconds. I spooled blood magic and dark magic and grabbed the curses. Ripping them from her body with brute force might kill her, but the curses and the landmines certainly would.

Valas screamed when I tore the curses out. I was still angry enough at her that I couldn't help but enjoy the sound, just a little.

Spellwork fractured, the landmines detonated, and black magic flared like a star going nova, scouring my skin. That pain was quickly eclipsed by agony in my stomach. The knot of death magic ruptured, spilling its poison into the rest of my body.

I fell onto my back on the bed. My vision tunneled. The roaring in my ears drowned out everything else. Suddenly, I felt as if my body was made of stone. My heartbeat stuttered in my chest. My body was shutting down.

I was supposed to die in my backyard.

I was supposed to get a chance to decide between my life and Sean's.

I wasn't supposed to die at Northbourne, saving Valas's undead life.

Or maybe I was. Since when did I believe in Tura's stupid prophecy, anyway?

A familiar foul odor filled my nose, and a face that wasn't a face appeared above me. Vlad. How the hell did he get away from Ronan? I tried to spool magic to defend myself, but neither my muscles nor my magic would obey my commands.

The smell of the sea cut through Vlad's stench. Cool fingers brushed my forehead. He has the power to save you, Ronan said in my head.

I recalled Tom's words when I'd asked if he knew what could cut the dark magic from my body: It requires dark power to take dark power. There was no power I knew darker than Vlad's—and no one in the room I trusted less.

Don't let him touch me.My words were little more than a wisp.

"I obey no one but my maker," Vlad snarled.

Ronan's reply was cold. "Your maker only lives because Alice saved her. Therefore, you owe Alice a blood debt. And you will obey me, for I know your true name. If you fail or harm her, I will deliver you to the bowels of Hell myself."

Vlad hissed. Fire sliced across my belly. I screamed. Claws raked through my insides, scooping out the poisonous death magic and taking with it Mira?'s black magic and power too.

I tried to fight back to keep Vlad from stealing my dark magic. I needed that power. I needed it to kill Moses and protect myself and our pack from anyone who tried to hurt us. Without it, I wasn't strong enough.

You're wrong,Ronan told me. You are enough. You've always been enough, and you always will be.

Daisy,I thought desperately. She was born of this magic. If he takes it, she may die.

She won't,he promised. Your wolf is not so fragile as that.

Vlad's claws ripped through me again and again. I had to be nearly in pieces. No blade or magic could cut this black magic out of me, but his claws could. Saved by a vampire warlock. That was certainly a new one.

I refused to give into the temptation to fade into merciful oblivion, because I feared I would never wake.

Finally, when it was over, I ached as if Vlad had scooped out every organ, bone, and bit of flesh and left just a husk behind. I had no sensation anywhere except for a vague, dull emptiness.

Now get out,Ronan commanded.

Vlad snarled. The stench and disturbing sensation of his presence faded.

I opened my eyes.

As my vision cleared, I found myself staring up at the mural over Valas's bed and noticed a detail I'd missed earlier. Valas and her sister were smiling at each other over their glasses of wine. They appeared to be seated at a table in a garden in front of a villa. Given what I knew about Valas and Kassia's troubled history, was this a memory of a long-ago happy moment, or a fantasy of a sisterly meal? Either way, it must bring Valas some happiness to see it daily. And if Valas still sought happiness, that was worth something.

The sickening sensation of the knot of death magic had faded and taken with it the terrible gnawing hunger. Trembling, I raised my head and looked at my stomach. My shirt was soaked with my blood. When I pulled it up to bare my abdomen, however, my skin was intact. I couldn't sense any death magic or sorcerer power anymore. I missed its potency and power. I should be glad to be rid of it, but I wasn't. Not yet.

Now Vlad had all that power instead. What were the odds that wouldn't bite me in the ass at some point?

I pushed myself up into a sitting position. Vlad was nowhere to be seen or smelled. Neither was Ronan. Matthias was still out cold on the floor.

Valas hissed quietly. She still had only one eye, but her flesh was growing back. Her fangs were out, and her eye was fully black. She was starving and in desperate need of blood to heal. And here I sat, inches away, covered in blood. I had no idea how much strength it took to hold herself back. That level of control was almost scarier than if she'd vamped out.

"Hungry," she rasped. "Send food, and get out."

She didn't have to tell me twice. I woke Matthias and told him his boss needed a couple of square meals. Then I grabbed my backpack and got the hell out of that room.

Carlos was waiting for me in the corridor. He didn't even blink at my appearance. "Hello again, Ms. Worth. Madame Valas has instructed me to escort you to the garage and provide you with transportation." He held out his hand for my pack.

"Thank you. I've got it." I put the pack on my shoulders and followed him down the hall, through a set of doors, down another corridor, and through a wide steel door that led to one of Northbourne's several enormous garages.

"Take your pick," Carlos said, making a sweeping gesture.

The smell of the sea drifted past my nose.

I scanned the neat rows of luxury vehicles, SUVs, and sports cars, and pointed. "I'll take that one."

Carlos raised his eyebrows. "The keys are in the ignition. Enjoy."

"Oh, I will," I assured him.

Halfway across the garage floor, Ronan fell into step beside me, his bag on his back and Esme perched on his shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Carlos twitch, but he didn't demand an explanation or come after us. Valas must have warned him I had company.

Something popped in my head with a sizzle of magic and pain. I stumbled. Ronan caught my arm. "Alice?"

For a moment, I wasn't sure what had happened. Something was missing from my brain, leaving behind a cold emptiness and echoes of gray-and-black magic. The link to Valas that had occupied a corner of my mind since the night Mira? used me as a puppet to attack her in the gardens of Northbourne was gone.

Valas had severed our binding. I hadn't been sure she would, until this moment.

The black magic I'd never wanted, and feared would turn me into a monster before it killed me, was gone too. I'd settled my debt with Valas. I'd never have to darken the doorstep of Northbourne again.

I was free.

"I'm fine." I smiled up at Ronan. "Care to give me a ride home?"