Dragon Storm
Page 60
“I couldn’t tell you. Not at first—the Charmer’s League doesn’t allow that in their apprentices, and by the time I was made a full-fledged Charmer, you’d gone off to university.”
“That was years ago,” she argued, then made an effort to control her temper, and said in a tight, level voice, “What about Rowan? Did you tell him?”
I hesitated again, which was the wrong thing to do.
“He knew, too? Did everyone but me know?”
“Of course not, don’t be silly. And for what it’s worth, I didn’t tell Rowan. He… er… he found out by chance one night.”
Her lips were so tight, they were just about nonexistent. “I see. And it didn’t occur to you to tell me once our brother found out?”
“It’s not like that, Aoife. It’s not something we discussed—”
“Never mind.” She was spitting out the words with sharp little barbs aimed right at me. “There’s no sense in hashing over old injuries.”
“I didn’t mean to injure you. I was trying to protect you from the dangers of the Otherworld. I had to keep you out of it, all of the family away from it. If the Otherworld knew about you, all of you could have been used by unscrupulous people to put pressure on me. Don’t you see? I had to protect you and the rest of the family—”
She held up a hand as Aisling and Ysolde approached. “Yeah, heard it, did the time in the nut house because of it. What I really wanted to say was that since you finally broke the curse, you won’t need my ring any longer.”
Instinctively, I clutched my hand, twisting the ring around my finger. “Your ring? You do know it used to belong to a demon lord, right?”
“Used to being the key phrase,” she said acidly, holding out her hand. “It was evidently remade and then given to me. So I’d like it back.”
“What’s this?” Aisling asked, coming to a halt in front of us. She was momentarily distracted when Jim, who had loped off to chase after a couple of Dalmations, suddenly turned and raced back toward us, his black ears flopping in the wind. “What on earth has gotten into him, I wonder? Jim!” She raised her voice and gestured toward the demon. “Slow down or you’ll plow into those people—Oh lord. Excuse me, ladies. I have to go apologize…”
Aisling started off at the same time Aoife tugged at my arm.
“My ring?” she said, her face set in a stubborn expression I knew well.
Reluctantly, and with a heartfelt sigh, I started to pull the ring off my finger. I hated to admit it, but I had become attached to it and really regretted giving it up.
Just as I dropped the ring onto Aoife’s palm, Aisling, who had gotten within range of the people Jim had knocked down, suddenly turned and screamed at us, her hands waving as she dashed toward us.
“What the—” I squinted into the sun to see what was going on.
Ysolde must have had better eyesight than me, because she stiffened and said one word. “Demons!”
“Run,” I said, shoving Aoife toward the entrance to the park. “Go back to your dragon. Don’t just stand there, you idiot, run!”
Ysolde, in the meantime, had run forward a few steps, and was standing with her head down, her hands dancing in the air as she wove magic. Aisling had spun around as well, and was evidently casting grounding wards that stopped three of the five women whom the demon Jim had knocked down in his impression of a hundred-pound furry black bowling ball.
“I am not going to run away and leave everyone else here,” Aoife said stubbornly. I was looking around for something I could use as a weapon, but the park was sadly lacking in swords, two-by-fours, or convenient tree branches.
“You have the ring!” I snarled at her, not wanting to do more damage to our already fragile relationship, but knowing I couldn’t let that ring fall into Bael’s hands.
“Here, you take it. I was being rude in demanding you give it to me—clearly, the ring is happy being with you,” she said, hastily shoving it back at me before bolting past, dipping down to grab a couple of stones from a flowerbed as she ran to where Aisling stood casting ward afterward. Jim was wrestling with one of the demons, while Ysolde was sending out balls of arcane magic that mostly missed everyone.
“I don’t want it!” I yelled after Aoife, and had just slipped it on my finger when a man’s voice spoke behind me.
“I am pleased to hear that, since my master very much does want it.”
I spun around, making an ugly sound when the wrath demon behind me simply slammed his arm across my midsection, driving all the air from my lungs as he scooped me along with him. Four more men behind him strode forward with us, none of them speaking when he gave the order to grab the others.
“They don’t have anything to do with this,” I gasped when I had enough air in my lungs to get my voice back. “Bael would have no use for them.”
“Bael,” the demon holding me snorted. “What care we of him? My master does not fear that has-been.”
My new dragon friends might have been able to hold off four demons, but nine of them was a different matter. It took less than a minute for them to overwhelm everyone, tear open the fabric of being, and drag us all back to Abaddon.
“This is really getting to be old hat,” I said a few minutes later, when the demons dumped us unceremoniously into what appeared to be my old cell. “Although it’s made slightly nicer having company—Ow!”
“Sorry,” Jim said, scrambling off where one of the demons had tossed him on top of me. “Thanks for breaking my fall, though.”
“You are not welcome,” I said, rubbing my belly where the bulk of the dog’s weight had landed.
“Where are we?” Ysolde got to her feet and brushed herself off, looking around the small cell. “Is this Abaddon?”
“Yes.” Aoife glanced around us. “I recognize it from the time I was here. I think this was our cell, wasn’t it, Jim?”
“Could be.”
“I’ve never been here,” Ysolde said, making a face at the dirt that rubbed off the stone wall when she touched it.
“I have,” Aisling said with a sigh. She slumped against the wall and waved a hand in a vague gesture. “Jim, I don’t suppose there’s any chance of us opening up a tear and getting all of us out of here?”
“That was years ago,” she argued, then made an effort to control her temper, and said in a tight, level voice, “What about Rowan? Did you tell him?”
I hesitated again, which was the wrong thing to do.
“He knew, too? Did everyone but me know?”
“Of course not, don’t be silly. And for what it’s worth, I didn’t tell Rowan. He… er… he found out by chance one night.”
Her lips were so tight, they were just about nonexistent. “I see. And it didn’t occur to you to tell me once our brother found out?”
“It’s not like that, Aoife. It’s not something we discussed—”
“Never mind.” She was spitting out the words with sharp little barbs aimed right at me. “There’s no sense in hashing over old injuries.”
“I didn’t mean to injure you. I was trying to protect you from the dangers of the Otherworld. I had to keep you out of it, all of the family away from it. If the Otherworld knew about you, all of you could have been used by unscrupulous people to put pressure on me. Don’t you see? I had to protect you and the rest of the family—”
She held up a hand as Aisling and Ysolde approached. “Yeah, heard it, did the time in the nut house because of it. What I really wanted to say was that since you finally broke the curse, you won’t need my ring any longer.”
Instinctively, I clutched my hand, twisting the ring around my finger. “Your ring? You do know it used to belong to a demon lord, right?”
“Used to being the key phrase,” she said acidly, holding out her hand. “It was evidently remade and then given to me. So I’d like it back.”
“What’s this?” Aisling asked, coming to a halt in front of us. She was momentarily distracted when Jim, who had loped off to chase after a couple of Dalmations, suddenly turned and raced back toward us, his black ears flopping in the wind. “What on earth has gotten into him, I wonder? Jim!” She raised her voice and gestured toward the demon. “Slow down or you’ll plow into those people—Oh lord. Excuse me, ladies. I have to go apologize…”
Aisling started off at the same time Aoife tugged at my arm.
“My ring?” she said, her face set in a stubborn expression I knew well.
Reluctantly, and with a heartfelt sigh, I started to pull the ring off my finger. I hated to admit it, but I had become attached to it and really regretted giving it up.
Just as I dropped the ring onto Aoife’s palm, Aisling, who had gotten within range of the people Jim had knocked down, suddenly turned and screamed at us, her hands waving as she dashed toward us.
“What the—” I squinted into the sun to see what was going on.
Ysolde must have had better eyesight than me, because she stiffened and said one word. “Demons!”
“Run,” I said, shoving Aoife toward the entrance to the park. “Go back to your dragon. Don’t just stand there, you idiot, run!”
Ysolde, in the meantime, had run forward a few steps, and was standing with her head down, her hands dancing in the air as she wove magic. Aisling had spun around as well, and was evidently casting grounding wards that stopped three of the five women whom the demon Jim had knocked down in his impression of a hundred-pound furry black bowling ball.
“I am not going to run away and leave everyone else here,” Aoife said stubbornly. I was looking around for something I could use as a weapon, but the park was sadly lacking in swords, two-by-fours, or convenient tree branches.
“You have the ring!” I snarled at her, not wanting to do more damage to our already fragile relationship, but knowing I couldn’t let that ring fall into Bael’s hands.
“Here, you take it. I was being rude in demanding you give it to me—clearly, the ring is happy being with you,” she said, hastily shoving it back at me before bolting past, dipping down to grab a couple of stones from a flowerbed as she ran to where Aisling stood casting ward afterward. Jim was wrestling with one of the demons, while Ysolde was sending out balls of arcane magic that mostly missed everyone.
“I don’t want it!” I yelled after Aoife, and had just slipped it on my finger when a man’s voice spoke behind me.
“I am pleased to hear that, since my master very much does want it.”
I spun around, making an ugly sound when the wrath demon behind me simply slammed his arm across my midsection, driving all the air from my lungs as he scooped me along with him. Four more men behind him strode forward with us, none of them speaking when he gave the order to grab the others.
“They don’t have anything to do with this,” I gasped when I had enough air in my lungs to get my voice back. “Bael would have no use for them.”
“Bael,” the demon holding me snorted. “What care we of him? My master does not fear that has-been.”
My new dragon friends might have been able to hold off four demons, but nine of them was a different matter. It took less than a minute for them to overwhelm everyone, tear open the fabric of being, and drag us all back to Abaddon.
“This is really getting to be old hat,” I said a few minutes later, when the demons dumped us unceremoniously into what appeared to be my old cell. “Although it’s made slightly nicer having company—Ow!”
“Sorry,” Jim said, scrambling off where one of the demons had tossed him on top of me. “Thanks for breaking my fall, though.”
“You are not welcome,” I said, rubbing my belly where the bulk of the dog’s weight had landed.
“Where are we?” Ysolde got to her feet and brushed herself off, looking around the small cell. “Is this Abaddon?”
“Yes.” Aoife glanced around us. “I recognize it from the time I was here. I think this was our cell, wasn’t it, Jim?”
“Could be.”
“I’ve never been here,” Ysolde said, making a face at the dirt that rubbed off the stone wall when she touched it.
“I have,” Aisling said with a sigh. She slumped against the wall and waved a hand in a vague gesture. “Jim, I don’t suppose there’s any chance of us opening up a tear and getting all of us out of here?”
