The Hour of Dust and Ashes cm-3 Read online

  Inside the tunnel, the music was louder, the smoke suffocating, the strobes brighter. The faintest hint of nausea spread from my gut to my throat. With every step farther down the tunnel, my desire to kill Rex mounted. Now I just had to hurry up and find the—

  A record scratched. The music stopped. And a voice rang out loud and clear.

  “Come and get it, muthafuckahhhs!!!”

  Rex.

  2

  Club patrons raced past me, down the corridor, and toward the temple. I eased back the side of my jacket. As soon as my fingers curled around the cool polymer grip of my 9mm sidearm, a sense of calm and familiarity came over me. I didn’t pull the gun from the holster, but I was ready if the need arose.

  Rex stood at the end of the tunnel where it opened into the club, his back to me, wielding two legs of a metal chair; the rest of the mutilated chair lay nearby. He swung the legs around and around while exchanging insults with a group in front of him. And he as enjoying every minute of it.

  Spread out over the recently vacated dance floor were eight black mages, otherwise known as Pig-Pens for the thin, dirty aura surrounding them. The aura was a result of an Elysian giving up their inborn power for the dark power of Charbydon, which lent itself better to black crafting. A lot of Elysians looked upon Pig-Pens as though they were abominations of nature. But I knew better than most the lure that black crafting held. Enough to destroy lives …

  Pig-Pens could be any Elysian race, but the ones facing off with Rex were a collection of sirens and nymphs. Males and females. All dressed in dark clothing. All black-eyed, pale, and wearing grave expressions.

  I’d never seen more than four together at one time, and even that number was noteworthy because Pig-Pens usually worked in pairs.

  “Mind explaining this?” I said to Rex, stopping at the head of the archway, out of his swinging range.

  “They were asking around, looking for you, about to head into the temple. Call it saving your ass. You can thank me later.”

  “So, what, you decided to play Super Ninja all by yourself?”

  Rex might have remembered his jinn past and his training as an elite warrior, but he was still in a human body, my ex-husband’s body to be exact. Rex would survive a mortal blow—his Revenant spirit would simply be set free. Will Garrity, on the other hand, would die. And I wasn’t about to let that happen.

  One of the Pig-Pens stepped closer, his dark eyes zeroing in on me. “Where is it?”

  “Where’s what?” I asked innocently, even though I knew exactly what he referred to.

  “The sarcophagus. Where is it?”

  “We destroyed it,” I answered.

  “You lie!”

  “Why would I? Do you really think we’d risk keeping it? Gee, let’s see … destroying an object for the greater good of mankind or keeping it around. I don’t know … seems like a no-brainer to me.” The lie flowed easily from my lips, but my heart raced. Destroying the sarcophagus hadn’t been an option, so we hid it the best we could. The fact that these guys were here now meant that Tennin and his crazy-ass cult hadn’t bought into the rumor of its destruction. “What did he promise you? Money? Power?” I asked, knowing these guys were just hired hands; they had no clue what was inside of the sarcophagus.

  Footsteps shuffled to my right. Alessandra’s jinn bodyguard Tuni appeared next to me as another one of her enforcers took up position on the other side of Rex.

  “Madigan,” Tuni’s deep voice echoed in the lofty space. “Should’ve known.”

  I leaned toward him. “For the record, I did not start it. If they back off, I’ll walk out of here without another word in their direction.”

  “Enough of this talk! Where is it?” the Pig-Pen shouted at me. The others behind him shifted, eager to pounce. Their energy intensified, building, getting ready …

  Three sidhé fae appeared behind them. Straight out of thin air and practically glowing in their silvery chain mail tunics and pearly skin. Each one had a crisscross of sword hilts peeking from behind his shoulders. Two blades that I knew were curved, thin, and razor sharp. What I didn’t know was what the hell they were doing here. And where they’d come from, because these guys looked old-school; I’d only ever seen armor like that in books.

  The tallest one in the middle took a step forward, assessing the situation with a quick, perceptive eye. The guy was at least six and a half feet, long, lean, and agile-looking. He had a noble face, ruthless and hard as granite. Light hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, accentuating his widow’s peak and giving him a sharp visage. He wore black leather pants and boots and a leather belt over the silver chain mail, arm guards, and thigh guards.

  The familiar, light pink irises typical of the sidhé fae fixed on me. “You are the one they call Charlie Madigan, aye?”

  Half of the Pig-Pens turned in surprise at his voice. The air went thick with hostility and an underlying confusion. This new development threw everyone off balance, including me.

  I glanced around, wishing there was another Charlie Madigan in the club, and wondering what the hell I’d done this time. I returned my attention to the sidhé. “That depends on why you’re asking, and if you’re here for the same reasons as these guys.” I gestured to the Pig-Pens.

  A haughty eyebrow lifted as if to say breathing the same air as them was appalling.

  “Stay out of this,” one of the Pig-Pens growled at the fae. “She’s ours.”

  As they exchanged heated words, I glanced over at Tuni even as goose bumps spread over my arms. “I’m apologizing in advance. Make sure you tell Alessandra I was only defending myself.” He crossed his thick arms over his chest and grunted. “So … you just gonna watch or help me clear the dance floor?”

  The jinn were a warrior culture. I wasn’t surprised to see the corner of Tuni’s mouth twitch into a grin. His big fists clenched, his rings flashing in the light. He nodded. “Just this once. Since they are disturbing the peace.”

  A welcome spike of adrenaline surged through me.

  Rex let out a huff and his arms dropped limply to his sides as he glared at Tuni and me. “You guys are like two little old ladies over there talking. Shut up already and let’s kick some oinker ass.”

  “Rex,” I warned, as the argument between the Pig-Pen and the fae continued, “stay behind me. I don’t want anything happening to Will.”

  An incredulous snort came out of his mouth, just as one of the Pig-Pens shoved a fae.

  And that was it.

  I ignored the thrumming vibration of power stirring inside of me and whipped my Nitro-gun from the holster under my arm, flicked the setting to stun, and fired as Rex engaged with his chair legs.

  “Damn it, Rex!” I yelled at him.

  He didn’t have to fight, siem">

  odds were in our favor to begin with. Sure, there were eight of them, but the sidhé fae were preternaturally efficient and could dispatch ten times their number with ease.

  “Charlie, duck!” Rex shouted. I dropped to the floor and rolled, barely evading the bolt of power that surged over my shoulder. “Damn it, Rex! What the hell are you doing?!” I pushed to my feet, angry that he put Will’s body in danger, no matter how good he was.

  “Again, with the saving your ass!” he shouted back.

  One more attacked him, and the black mage went down swiftly. “Come on! Who’s next?! Here piggy, piggy, piggy! Soooo-eeeeey!” Rex’s voice rang with laughter as he faced another.

  I never knew a human body could move that fast and beautifully. Rex had tapped into his former self—the jinn warrior he used to be before his spirit had been forced from his body during the Great War in Charbydon. He’d said he was the best … and watching him now, I believed him.

  A boot connected with my kidney.

  I flew forward, gun tumbling from my hand as hot pain burst through my torso. I fell to my knees, gasping. Fuck. I’d allowed Rex to distract me. Stupid mistake.

  I rolled onto my back as the electric hum of power beg
an to flow through my limbs.

  The Pig-Pen attacker stood over me with a leer, his hands cupping a bright red ball of energy.

  My chest swelled and my arms and hands went numb—a searing, painful numb like the pricking of a thousand red-hot needles. A scream built in my throat and all I knew was that I had to get rid of it. I sat up, overwhelmed and blinded, and threw out my hands, releasing my chaotic energy.

  It all happened so fast. Once second I was flat on my back and the next, a bolt of blue energy slammed the Pig-Pen square in the chest, sending him flying across the room and through the drywall.

  Jesus. I sat there panting as the faint hum of power receded. The room had gone quiet.

  The sidhé fae calmly sheathed their weapons. They hadn’t even broken a sweat. I put my palms on the dance floor, about to push to my feet and approach the leader of the fae, when a deafening report tore through the club.

  I bent over, hands pressed over my ears. An enormous vibration rang through the club, as though some kind of sonic boom ripped the air apart. The shock wave shook the ground and my surroundings, every bit of glass in the club shattering.

  What the hell?

  As the roar diminished, I let my hands fall from my ringing ears. Glass pinged the floor, the lighter bits rebounding and hovering in the air for a split second before being whisked sideways as if caught in a freak current. Another shock wave?

  Other things were picked up in the strange current—paper, napkins, credit card slips …

  Warnings darted under my skin like tiny fireballs. I crawled a few feet to retrieve my gun and shoved it back into the holster under my arm.

  “Rex!”

  More debris began to tornadoback und the club.

  “Charlie!”

  There. He was hunkered down behind an overturned table. “Run!” I shouted. “Get out of here, now!”

  Rex stood to yell back at me, but a flying bar stool hit him in the back of the head. He landed motionless at the feet of the sidhé fae leader. The fae’s gaze went from Rex to me, and in that grim, knowing expression, I understood. He knew exactly what was happening.

  The fae shouted a stern order to the others in his old language.

  And then it dawned on me—nothing close to me was moving. While debris spun around the perimeter of the club, I sat in the center of an eerie quiet.

  The eye of the storm.

  Fear threaded into my psyche. I swallowed hard, slowly standing, wary of the circle of spinning debris. Stay calm. Balance. Be ready. I bent my knees, centered my weight, and crossed my right hand over my chest, poised to grab the gun under my left arm.

  Something darkened in the spinning debris, catching my eye. A shadow. Then it simply glided out of the chaos.

  A tall mass of gray. A suggestion of a tall, cloaked being. Yet it swirled and moved, becoming so thin at points that I could see straight through it.

  It was in front of me in less than a second.

  I stayed rooted to the spot. A shot, a kick, a punch, would go right through this creature. Still my fingers flexed over the grip of my weapon. A comforting gesture, because the more I looked into this … thing, the more darkness I saw—a terrifying, empty void.

  It leaned closer. My pulse thrummed like a freight train.

  A deep voice spoke, and there was so much power in it that I swayed on my feet. Primal. Ancient. Frightening as hell.

  And then it enveloped me.

  One gasp was all I had before it flew at me, passing completely through my body and coming out the other side.

  Invaded. Turned inside out. Violated.

  I dropped like a stone.

  I awoke to Rex’s tiny, repetitive taps on my cheek. For a moment, all I could do was stare in shock as my brain scrambled to make sense of my last coherent memory—the terrifying shadow passing through my body. All five senses came flooding back with the memory, leaving me feeling exposed, raw. Weak.

  I honed in on the worried face above mine.

  But in my disoriented state, all I saw for a moment was Will. Will’s face. Will’s body. Handsome. Tall. Athletic. The concern shining in those stormy blues and the gentle smile was so much like him … But it wasn’t him. It was Rex in control now. I let my head fall to the side, irritated that my mind had gone there for even a second.

  The club was in utter ruins. Employees and bodyguards picked over the rubble, righting chairs and tables …

  “Come on, sunshine,” Rex said. “Time to go.”

  I grabbed his outstretched hand and let him pull me to my feet. My vision swam and my stomach gave a sickening wave. The groan was out of my mouth before I could stop it.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” I said through gritted teeth. “Let’s get out of here.” Before Alessandra got there and started assessing damages.

  I started moving toward the exit until her last words struck me still.

  Do me a favor and don’t summon your power tonight, ’kay?

  “Charlie?” Rex was a few feet in front of me, his brow wrinkling.

  I’d summoned my power. The loud crack. Then … that thing had come. And she’d known. I turned and marched toward the tunnel, my strength and fortitude returning.

  “Oh man, here we go again …” Rex muttered from behind me, shoving debris out of his way to catch up.

  Alessandra was already striding through the tunnel toward me, her angry steps matching my own. The light from the temple behind her lit the veil over her head and shoulders like a halo. Her eyes glowed in what could only be called Pissed-off Green.

  We met in the middle of the archway. I’d never seen the oracle so angry before, but the implications of her wrath—and their consequences—were lost on me at the moment because I was just as steamed.

  “What the hell was that thing, Sandra?”

  “I told you not to summon your power.”

  “What. Was. It?”

  Emotions cycled through her expression and finally settled on something akin to spite. “Fine.” She leaned in close. “Sachâth. Destroyer. Death. Call it what you will. But you brought it here.” She poked me hard in the chest. “Now you have to deal with it.”

  She shoved her way around me, shouting Tuni’s name and leaving me standing there in the smoky tunnel with my mouth open.

  The air on Mercy Street was blessedly cleaner than the acrid haze contaminating Alessandra’s temple and club. After several purifying breaths, I threaded my fingers through my hair and gave a hard ruffle to remove the burning smell and bits of glass and debris. My jacket came off next, and I gave it a good shake.

  After I was finished rearranging myself, I tucked my jacket between my legs and brushed off Rex’s shoulders.

  “Ow! Take it easy there, Nurse Ratched.” He stepped away from me. “I can do it myself.”

  I shot him an eye roll as he brushed off his clothes and then bent over to ruffle his hair. Small fragments of the club hit the sidewalk. He straightened. I smiled despite being so rattled. His brown hair stuck up, making him look like a kid just out of bed.

  “What?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing. Come on.”

  I chose a path down the center of the carless street to avoid the after-Christmas-sae shoppers populating the sidewalks. January was just a few days away, but you wouldn’t know it from the temperature. The darkness hovering over Atlanta seemed to insulate everything beneath it from the winter weather. Or maybe, like some theorized, the darkness was generating its own energy, its own heat …

  Whatever the case, I didn’t need the light jacket I slipped back on as I walked. But it covered my weapons, and I’d rather not be gawked at for parading around with three different firearms strapped to my body.

  Without warning, the hair on the back of my neck stood. I glanced over my shoulder with the distinct feeling of being watched, but there was nothing unusual. Just your typical day in Underground Atlanta.

  “You ever see anything like that before?” I asked Rex as we walked.

 
“Those old fairy dudes? Nuh-uh. And now that I think about it, I’ve never seen a Pig-Pen do that much damage.”

  “I meant the creature.”

  “What creature?”

  “What do you mean, what creature? The one that came out of the wind. The one that went through me. The reason I was out cold on the dance floor.”

  “I thought you just couldn’t handle the Donna Summer remix.” He reached over and patted my head.

  I swatted at him. “What are you doing?”

  “Checking for a bump.”

  “There is no bump. It was there, right in front of me.” I used my hands to explain. “Yea big. Tall. All gray and floaty-like …”

  He frowned. “That must’ve been after you made me get hit with a flying bar stool.”

  Oh. Yeah. I’d forgotten about that. Might explain why he hadn’t seen the creature.

  I pulled out my phone, hitting Sian’s cell number. “Hey. It’s me.” I proceeded to tell my new office assistant every detail I could remember about the creature and asked her to put her research skills to work. “Oh, and while you’re at it, access the gate logs and see if any new sidhé fae visitors have come through from Elysia within the last two months. And I want whatever you can find on their warrior classes, groups, sects, cults, whatever …”

  My steps slowed as I came upon Hodgepodge, my sister’s variety shop, which catered to crafting, odd off-world items, and rare plants from all three worlds. “That’s it. Thanks,” I mumbled, hanging up. The doors were open for business and shoppers browsed the aisles.

  What a relief.

  I’d finally convinced Bryn to take advantage of her part-time employee’s offer to run the store while she dealt with the ash addiction. Gemma was a retired schoolteacher and had been working for Bryn for almost two years now—just weekends and some evenings, but she’d been around long enough to know exactly how Bryn liked things done. And Bryn desperately needed the sales after having been closed during the holidays.

  Seeing the female figure behind the counter made my chesttighten. It should be my sister standing there, stealing M&M’s from her stash, and talking to her array of herbs and plants. My gaze traveled up to the second story. The blinds in the windows were down. No light from within. Barren.