Sarti was the most sordid place I’d ever been at. And considering the places I’d visited with Isobel, that was saying much.
The drizzle painted the night in a fog that only encouraged the shadow-prowling predators. In the first five blocks from the inn, I was pounced on twice. I sucked both assailants to the point of collapse but left them alive, preserving their energy inside me.
The fiend within me purred. Not that feeding did me a whole lot of good. I’d already gone up against Isobel, and failed. I was determined that this time would be different. I had what Riley had given me, and even if it wasn’t enough, I wasn’t letting Isobel reclaim me. I would do whatever it took to ensure that didn’t happen.
So, as I walked, I reached out. And right away, I found her.
Her awareness instantly latched onto me. She was closer than I expected, and I sensed the bloodmagic swirling around her—was she using it to enhance her speed? I increased my own until I was almost jogging, putting as much space between Riley and myself as I could.
No way I would let her, or Lucas, pay the price for my connection to Isobel. I would protect them both with my life.
When she was almost at the city, I started looking up. She was coming in from above, and a rooftop would be the best place for the final confrontation. I slipped into a back alley, my eyes fastened on the ancient ladder running up the building beside me.
I was so distracted that I almost didn’t sense him coming at me. Another would-be thief, and he wasn’t interested in talking. I caught the reflection of the dim overhead light on his knife blade, and his eyes gleamed from the depths of his hood.
I grabbed his wrist with one hand and used it to swing him around, slamming him up against the nearest building with my other at his throat.
His eyes widened in shock—it didn’t matter that he was both taller and heavier than me. He struggled, but it was already far too late. The fiend in me took no prisoners. It sank its tendrils into his life essence and drank from it as though it were a fine wine.
His struggles weakened until he hung limp in my grasp. I dropped him as I had the others and headed for the ladder.
When I stepped out onto the breezy roof of the eight-story building, gusts caught my hood. I shoved it back, letting the wind play through my long hair. Closed my eyes and pushed my face into it. It stank of the city, but if I called upon memory, I imagined standing on a mountain cliff, inhaling crystal-clear air.
I felt her. When I squinted up into the darkness, the drizzle ran down my face. She was there, in the clouds. I sensed rather than saw her drop from them.
The Dragon she rode moved oddly, and it wasn’t until she coasted in for a landing that I recognized why—it wasn’t a Dragon. It was a Gryphon.
The remainder of the coven members were mounted on Dragons who landed first on the surrounding roofs. I’d hoped Isobel would come alone—even ramped as I was, the energy the coven fed her would make this an uneven battle. But if I could take Isobel down with me, I would be content.
I watched as the Gryphon set down rather clumsily. Its eyes flashed chaotically, as though consumed by an inner turmoil.
Isobel slid off, and then, as I watched, it began to writhe unnaturally. And I recognized what emerged.
Vic. It was Vic, in human form.
Isobel grinned at my reaction. “Surprised, my pet? I was as well. It wasn’t until we drained another Gryphon and put it in Vic, that we discovered Marcus’s secret. That he had help organizing those entities I’d put inside him. But then, you knew that already, didn’t you? You have been betraying me for much longer than I thought.”
I glared at her. She’d done that with more Gryphons? “How did you control them without me?” I asked. My voice didn’t sound at all normal.
She shrugged. “It was more of a struggle, I’ll admit. And the results are not at all happy with being inside another person. We could have used your abilities, but Vic has his under control now.” She smiled at the young ex-Centaur. “He’s very strong.”
Vic straightened beneath her regard, but his gaze fastened on me. Scorn was all I read.
“You could have had it all,” he said, “but you threw it away.”
“Maybe I didn’t like to be owned.” I stepped closer to Isobel.
Her eyes narrowed as she watched me come. “What have you been up to, Rafael? You feel different to me. I like it.”
“I’m full of surprises,” I said, reaching a hand for her. “Care to taste?”
“Been there, done that, Rafael,” she stated. I spotted Aurora on one of the dragons beyond Isobel. Her expression was as cold and remote as the rest.
It matched my heart perfectly. I let the leash slip on the rage within me, and the twitch of the thin skin around Isobel’s eyes revealed that my own must be glowing. She raised her hand, and the coven responded in an instant, lifting their own. The bloodmagic spiked around them, then funneled to Isobel. Her hair rose on a tide of power.
“Care for a rematch?” I asked.
Her eyes flared crimson. “If you’d rather return draped over a Dragon instead of riding, that’s fine by me. So long as you come back, it doesn’t matter to me if your mind is intact.”
