Blood Bonds Page 8

  A moment later, Venus the Moon Child spoke up. “You intuit correctly, Your Majesty. They play a part in this as well.”

  I hung my head. The last thing I wanted to do was to put myself in debt to Raven Mother, but the moment the thought had popped into my head, I knew she and the Black Beast were to play a part in this battle.

  “Do you need to use the Whispering Mirror?” Delilah asked.

  I shook my head. “No.” I turned to Bran. “Can you summon your mother?”

  He gave me a long look, but whatever was running through his thoughts remained unreadable. Bran kept his feelings close to himself. He moved to one side and closed his eyes, his head raised toward the ceiling. A moment later, and a swirl of mist began to fill the room. It was so bright that I had to look away. And then, there was a subtle shift in the energy and I knew she was here.

  “So, my lovely, you called for me? Let me see, who do we have with us this evening? Who indeed?” The cloying voice rang through the room, making me shiver.

  Raven Mother stepped out of the mist, her long black dress fitting around the sweeps and valleys of her curves. Her breasts crested almost over the neckline, as though she were wearing the pushup bra from hell, and her lips were as black as Trillian’s skin. She was pale as a vampire, though her eyes were masked, like those of a raccoon. Her eyes were ringed with red and her nails were long and sharp as talons.

  “Well met, Raven Mother.” I gathered my wits and stood. I’d need them about me if I were to make a deal with the devil, and frankly, making a deal with an Elemental Lord—or Lady, as the case may be—was akin to just that.

  She stroked her son’s cheek as he stood unflinching, drawing her nail along the flesh, leaving a thin red weal to pop up. Bran merely nodded at her, not speaking. The two didn’t get along well, though now that he was one of my Keraastar Knights, I wasn’t sure how their relationship had shifted.

  As she sauntered over to me, ignoring everyone else, my stomach twisted. Raven Mother had long tried to lure me into her service, away from the Moon Mother. Now that I was a Fae Queen, it was a lost cause, but I knew better than to put anything past her.

  “Camille, oh my dear, dear Camille,” she said, her voice spiraling around me. She spoke in rhyme and riddles, her words a swirl of energy that coiled like a snake. She taunted me, and yet I had the feeling that I mattered to her. Of course, since her lover—the Black Unicorn—had chosen me as the instrument of his death, I had become an integral part of their world, his reincarnation notwithstanding.

  “My son summoned me, but it was you behind the call. What do you want, my delicious queen? What seek you from Raven Mother?” Her eyes were beady and grasping.

  I forced myself to breathe evenly. “I have something I need to ask you.”

  “A favor, perhaps? Such a lovely young witch, but youth is fleeting and even now, the weight of the crown ages you. Such a pity, for you were delightfully innocent. We would have had such wonderful play in my forest, you and me, and my grand love. But now, you seek something dark. Something dangerous. Something only I can provide. You seek a boon, am I right? A favor you ask, and a favor I’ll grant—perhaps.” Her words spun a web that was difficult to follow, and even harder to ignore. “Tell me, Camille, what you want. Speak the words. Whisper them in my ear.”

  I glanced at the others.

  Joreal was staring at her, transfixed, an open look of longing on his face. I almost snorted. He had no clue what he’d be getting embroiled with if she noticed and called his bluff.

  The others bore cautious looks. They understood the danger with which Raven Mother cloaked herself. Bran, however, was staring directly at me, a look of warning on his face.

  I gave him the barest of nods, and turned back to Raven Mother.

  “Yes, I seek a boon. But for this, there is no repayment, save what you take from the actions.”

  Her eyes narrowed further, but her nostrils flared and I could tell she was interested. I wasn’t sure what I could promise her in return if she insisted on a trade, but decided we’d cross that bridge when we came to it.

  “We’re going up against Shadow Wing. We need a safe place to where we can gate him. It occurred to me that your wood—and the woodland of the Black Beast—would be the right choice. Thistlewyd Deep or Darkynwyrd. Will you help us finish this battle? Will you allow us to gate him over to your forests so we can put an end to this?” I didn’t bother explaining. She already knew what I was talking about.

  Raven Mother paused before a feral smile spread to her lips, and she bared her teeth. They were needles of bone, terrifying in their jagged sharpness. She stared at me, and for a moment it felt as though she was looking deep into my soul. Then she slowly began to circle around me, so close I could feel her breath on my skin. She towered over me, so I was looking up, and so close that it made my wings tremble.

  “Camille, Queen of the Dusk and Twilight. Camille, the witch. Camille the daughter, the lover, the mother to her sisters. Camille, the dark star, High Priestess of the Moon Mother. Your wings betray you. I make you shiver, don’t I?” She reached out, stroking my face. “Tell me that I make you hunger for my wildness? For the feral paths of my forest.”

  As she spoke, I began to shake. She was chaos incarnate, feral and primal, and I recognized in her the core of what my nature aspired to be. It hit me that I feared Raven Mother because I understood her. I could never become who she was, could never mimic her, but there was a chord of madness inherent within her nature that I could feel on the outskirts of my own. And that made me terribly afraid. I could see myself following her, disregarding everything I had been taught, throwing off the shackles of responsibility and dancing into the mists with her, leaving everything and everyone I loved behind.

  “Tell me the truth, and I will help you,” she said, leaning so close that her lips were mere inches away from my own.

  I slowly nodded. Whispering, hoping no one else could hear, I said, “All right, I’ll answer you. Yes, I see myself in you. I recognize your energy. We’re too much alike for my comfort, and I fear the chaos you bring, because there’s a part of myself that would welcome the chance to shake the world off my shoulders and run free, without cares or responsibilities.”

  Raven Mother spoke in the same low tone. She pressed her forehead to mine as she clutched my shoulders. “You always pride yourself on being your father’s daughter. A soldier’s daughter. But you don’t want that, do you? You never wanted that. Be honest with me.”

  I hated her. I hated that she was forcing me to look deep inside myself, beyond the platitudes I had mouthed for years. But she was right. I chafed at the restrictions. I had hated my father for making me take my mother’s place and leave my childhood behind as I took up caring for my sisters. I hated that he had drilled it into my head that I owed everybody else my service except myself.

  “Yes,” I choked out. “I never wanted to be the one to carry the load.” And then, I found my own tongue again and straightened my shoulders, shaking off her grasp.

  “But whether or not I wanted it, I carried through. I did what needed done. I accepted the responsibility because nobody else was there to assume it. And that’s what I’m asking from you today. I’m not asking for a favor. I’m asking you to step outside yourself for a moment, to do something that serves others. To back us up because it needs done, not because you’re going to gain anything from it.”

  Abruptly, the buzz of energy died down and I held myself tall, gazing into Raven Mother’s face with an oddly serene feeling.

  Everybody was staring at us, but no one said a word until Bran stepped over to my side. He turned to his mother.

  “I pledge my loyalty to the Queen of the Keraastar Diamond, to the Queen of the Keraastar Knights. And I ask you, my mother, to give us your help. And I ask that of my father as well.”

  Raven Mother paused for a moment, her gaze darting between her son and me, and she finally stepped back and gave us a firm nod.

  “Very well
. Your father and I will help. You may use Thistlewyd Deep as the battleground. And we will be there to do whatever you need done. Contact me when it’s time.”

  And with that, there was a flash so bright it hurt my eyes, and she vanished from the room.

  Chapter 7

  Menolly

  AFTER THE MEETING wrapped up, Nerissa and I drove over to Wilbur’s, following Delilah and Shade into the Belles-Faire neighborhood.

  “What did you think about Raven Mother?” Nerissa asked. “She scares the hell out of me.”

  “She should, she’s one of the Elemental Lords.” I clutched the leather-bound steering wheel. “I’ll tell you this, I’m glad she picked Camille to fixate on. She would have staked me by now because I don’t have the diplomacy to deal with her.”

  “Do you really think that Raven Mother and the Black Unicorn can help us? Or rather, will help us?” Nerissa glanced out the window as thunder rumbled overhead. A fork of lightning split the sky and hail began to pound down, bouncing off the windshield and the hood of the car.

  I slowed down. Hail was slippery and it was covering the road in a sheet of white. The last thing we needed was to go skidding off into a ditch.

  “Honestly? I don’t know if they’ll be more of a help or a hindrance, but I trust Camille’s premonitions so I guess we need them there. At least we have a timeline.”

  Another rumble of thunder shook the air and again, lightning illuminated the sky. The flash was so bright it almost blinded me. Raven Mother had nothing on Mother Nature, that was for sure. But even as I navigated the dark road, I couldn’t help but think that in just four days we’d be facing the end of the road. At least the road we had set foot on four years ago.

  Nerissa’s voice quivered as she said, “I can’t believe what we’re going to do. When the demons kidnapped me and carried me off to the Sub-Realms, I thought I’d never see any of you again. I guess, if we don’t come out of this, at least I’ve had six more months than I thought I had left.”

  I paused for a moment, then said, “I’ve been thinking. What if you stay here? What if you don’t come with us? Roman will look out for you if...if something happens to me.”

  Nerissa was silent for a moment, then the shit hit the fan.

  “What the hell are you talking about? You want to leave me here while you traipse off to fight a Demon Lord? You expect me to say yes, please, just ignore everything we’ve been through together and leave me behind? I’m your wife, Menolly. I thought we got through this overprotective crap of yours. I’m just as invested in defeating Shadow Wing as you are, damn it. I won’t let you put me on the sidelines. I’m in this relationship for life, and that means taking part in the good as well as the bad.”

  She sounded so pissed that I pulled off onto the shoulder of the road. With the car idling, I turned to her and winced at the expression on her face.

  “Love, I don’t think you’re weak or incapable. I just...worry...”

  “Worry my ass. You’re doing to me what you and Camille did to Delilah for so many years—trying to keep me in some sort of sheltered cage. From the talks I’ve had with Delilah, she wouldn’t have had nearly the rude awakening she did about people if you’d given her the chance to be the strong woman she is instead of assuming she was incapable of holding her own. And you’re doing the same thing with me. Oh, sure, I’m no vampire, nor am I a witch or a Death Maiden, but I’ve trained to fight, and I’m tougher than you like to think. If you force me to stay home, I might not be here when you get back.”

  She was pissed all right. Her voice told me that she meant every word and it cut me to the core. The thought of getting home only to find out Nerissa had left me was worse than the thought of facing Shadow Wing.

  “All right,” I said, giving up. “I won’t fight you on this. I’m sorry. I won’t be so overprotective. It’s just...the thought of losing you is the biggest fear I have. It makes me want to lock you up in a tower to keep all the bad things in the world away from you.” I stopped, realizing how ridiculous I sounded.

  Nerissa stared at me for a moment, then snorted. “Menolly, you might as well put me in a glass casket and name me Snow White. The only protection we have in this world is that of the grave. Life is dangerous. Life is wild and unpredictable. People die every day from the stupidest things, never mind the more serious dangers. I can’t guarantee you I’ll come out of this alive—but you can’t guarantee me that about you, either. We take our chances together, or we don’t take them at all. Deal?”

  As the storm raged overhead, I could only nod.

  “Understood. We take our chances together, then. And we don’t pull punches in battle out of worry over each other. We do what needs to be done.”

  “Whatever needs to be done,” she said. “All right, now that that’s settled, let’s get over to Wilbur’s before he hits the hay for the night.”

  As I pulled out onto the road again, the lightning flashed again. It occurred to me that Camille must be enjoying the hell out of the weather. She got a real charge out of lightning storms.

  WILBUR’S LIGHTS WERE still on when we eased into the driveway. Nerissa and I darted up the drive, trying to avoid getting pelted by the rain. Huge drops were pounding down so hard they weren’t even soaking into the ground, just beading up and running in rivulets along the already-saturated soil.

  I was surprised when Wilbur answered the door instead of Martin. His brother, the ghoul, was usually the one playing butler.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” Wilbur said, leading us into the living room. Again, no Martin. Maybe he was off doing laundry for Wilbur or something.

  “How you doing, Wilbur?” I stared at the necromancer. He looked like an old biker, with a long beard and shaggy hair that was gathered back in a neat ponytail. He was walking pretty good—it was hard to see even the glimmer of a limp. Wilbur had lost a leg sometime back, and it had taken some doing, but he was getting along pretty good with the prosthesis at this point.

  “All right, I guess,” he said. He didn’t bother trying to grope either Nerissa or me, and I knew something was up. “What brings you girls here?”

  “We have a massive favor to ask of you. In advance, you should feel to say no, because this is a doozy.” We settled ourselves on the sofa. I glanced around. “Where’s Martin?”

  Wilbur paled. “Hold that question for the moment because that’s a whole ‘nother subject I’d like to talk to you about. What is it you need, Dead Girl?”

  I paused. Wilbur had created the Demon Gate that had allowed me to go into the Sub-Realms, searching for Nerissa. And, he knew about the spirit seals from his own snooping, and he had paid a steep price for protecting that knowledge. As of this moment, he was the only human besides Chase to whom we had ever revealed the truth.

  “Remember your journal? The one Van was looking for?”

  He winced. “Yeah, though I’d rather not think about that clusterfuck. I still miss my leg, though I’m getting along fine without it, now. But...what about it, Dead Girl?”

  “Then, you remember all the notes you took about us? About the demonic war we’ve been fighting?”

  “Yeah, but I’ve never said a word. I swear on my honor.”

  “I believe you—it’s not about whether you told anybody.” I glanced at Nerissa, who nodded. “Okay, here’s the thing. We’re gearing up to open a Demon Gate to bring Shadow Wing over to Otherworld, so we can destroy him. We have the means to attack him now, and if we don’t act now, there’s a good chance his powers will be strong enough within a few months, maybe only a few weeks, to break through on his own.”

  He stared at me, his lips pressed together. Then, after clearing his throat, he said, “So, you need someone to open the gate.”

  I shrugged. “Not exactly. When our cousin Shamas was sent back from the grave, he was sent back with an increase in his own abilities. He can cast a Demon Gate but it’s a good idea to have someone who can feed him extra energy. We need you to shore him up. I know it�
��s a lot to ask and there’s a good chance that some of us won’t come out of this, but...”

  Wilbur blinked, but a soft smile crossed his weathered face. “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss this for the world. A chance to see a Demon Lord up close and personal? A chance to go into the front lines again? Say the word and I’m there.”

  He was dead serious. It had been hard on him, relearning to walk, learning to accept his limitations. He was able to go up and down the stairs now, and walk around and even run some, but in the long run, Wilbur’s wild and free days had ended with the fire that had destroyed part of his house. There had been a difference in his nature that was tangible. He had lost some of the fire that he used to have, perhaps out of fear or out of perceived limitations. If we could spark that off again, so much the better.

  I paused, then added. “There’s one more thing. You’ll have to go with us to Otherworld. That’s where we’re staging the final fight. We’ll be leaving for there on Monday evening, shortly after sunset. That’s the night of the new moon, when Camille’s power is strongest.”

  Wilbur nodded. “Count me in. Tell Blondie and Busty that I’ll be there, to do whatever you need me to.” He stared at me for a moment and I sensed something was weighing heavily on his mind. “Now, Dead Girl, I have a favor to ask of you. A big favor.” The look on his face told me he was serious. This wasn’t any half-assed attempt to get in my pants.

  “What do you need?”

  He glanced around the room, then leaned forward, staring at the floor as he spoke in low, gruff tones. “It’s about Martin.”

  I froze. What could have happened? Had somebody taken him out? Or was he just wearing down? Even ghouls and zombies had a finite ‘lifespan’, if you could call it that.

  Wilbur glanced up at me and bleakly said, “I saw Martin yesterday. Then again this morning. He was...I think I saw his spirit.”

  Oh shit. We knew that Martin had been watching over Wilbur. Delilah had seen his spirit more than once, but we hadn’t told Wilbur because he was convinced that somehow, Martin was still with him as long as he kept his brother’s body around. But this changed everything. I wasn’t sure how to approach this, but before I could speak, Nerissa was by Wilbur’s side, one hand on his shoulder.