Breaker (Ondine Quartet Book 4) (29 page)

“Why are you here anyway?” Cam asked him. “Finally decided being Head Chevalier was worth something?”

“Why are you suddenly interested in other people, Martin? You never care about anyone else.”

“Funny, that’s what chevaliers say about Redavi all the time.” A pause. “The real chevaliers.”

Julian stiffened. “What are you —“

“We’re here,” I said pointedly.

Ahead, the western edge of Flathead Lake appeared through the dense tree line, its pristine surface glistening clear in the late afternoon sun.
 

Cam glanced up. “That’s creepy.”

Nestled between the Swan and Mission mountain ranges, the abandoned hotel overlooked the lake, its darkened windows like empty eyes.
 

“You came here?” Julian asked me. “With your parents?”

“Family vacation.”
 

A few days later my father had been killed. It was the last time we’d spent together.
 

According to the chatty barista at the coffee shop in town, the hotel had closed twelve years ago after a murder-suicide on the property.

Although it was situated on prime location, the owners had been unable to sell it. Stories of murders and ghosts was a PR nightmare for a family resort and no one was interested in assuming the risk.

Instead, the once glorious GrandView Hotel that had presided over this picturesque region of northwest Montana gradually deteriorated, until it was nothing more than a haunted shell of faded memories.

“You think he’s here?” Julian murmured.

I nodded. “He has Ian in there.”

Nine days since we left Haverleau. Eleven days since Ian went missing.

It was time.

I dropped the backpack Daniel provided us on the ground. The weight of my dagger and my father’s
kouperet
tugged at my waist.

“Turn it off,” I told Julian.

He stilled. “No.”

Cam shifted forward. “What are you talking about?”

Julian didn’t take his eyes off me. “She wants to go alone.”

“If I don’t come back with Ian in the next few hours, go back to town and get —”

“Are you kidding me?” Cam moved closer, his expression fierce. “I didn’t visit a morgue, dig up a coffin, and hike through all this… nature,” he snarled, “just so you could dump me here.”

Putting up with their on-going bickering and the constant fear, worry, and stress over the past few days had strained my patience.

I was sorely low on it and Cam was pushing all my buttons.
 

I struggled to control my temper. “If I don’t return by nightfall, go back to town and call Jeeves. He’ll take it from there.”

Julian stared. “What the hell is that?”

“A plan.”

“That only involves yourself?”

“I won’t risk —“

“The risk has already been taken!” Cam snapped. “We both went Rogue, left everything behind to come with you because we’re going to see this through to the end. Knock off the martyr act, Irisavie. It’s old.”

“You said you brought us because you needed us,” Julian pressed.
 

“I do.” My voice rose. “If I fail, you need to carry on. You’ll need to get word to Jeeves and the gardinels will come and back you up.”

Cam’s scowl deepened. “So you brought us along to be messenger boys? You could’ve brought any recruit for that —“

“That’s your problem, Cam.” My patience snapped. “You’re so locked into your way of thinking you don’t understand they’re different ways to help. It was the same thing with Ian—“
 

“My problem? What about you Ms. Governor and
sondaleur
, treating your friends like shi—“

“—so quick to judge others but you don’t even look at yourself —“

“—you’re so damned busy trying to move others around instead of just being honest and —“

“Hey.” Julian stepped between us and pushed me back.

Our voices echoed in the forest air. Adrenaline trembled in my blood. Cam’s face was red from shouting, the tendons in his neck slightly bulging.

Julian kept his hand on my shoulder, his eyes darkened to the color of midnight ocean.

“Do you even know how to take him on?” he asked quietly.

No. But I’d also seen what the Shadow had done to Rhian.

Do you lie awake wondering what kind of fun I’m having with Ian?

Fear choked my insides. I wanted to stop him from hurting anyone else.

I walked away a few paces and took a deep breath. A delicate breeze blew across my cheek, carrying the lake’s soft splashes.

I turned and faced them.

“He said he’d release Ian if I came.”

Julian leaned against a tree trunk. “Then I guess he’ll have to see us, too.”

“Why? You don’t even believe I’m the
sondaleur
. Things don’t change. People don’t change. Remember?”
 

His jaw tightened a fraction.

“If that’s what you think, it shouldn’t matter whether you stay out here or go inside.”

“Has she always been such a pain in the ass?” he asked Cam.

I answered with a single finger salute.

“We’re your friends, Kendra. We might even be the only ones you have left.” Cam crossed his arms. Beneath the still simmering anger, I saw the fear and the care, his need to end this just as much as me. “But believe me, I’m starting to question why —”

“Look out!”

A figure streaked behind Cam.

Gold snapped through the air. Julian cleaved the Aquidae’s chest, his
kouperet
tearing through flesh and muscle.

In the next millisecond, we were surrounded.

Fifteen Aquidae circled us, their dark blood choking the air. Julian, Cam, and I drew closer, our backs against each other.

My heart pounded slow and steady. The sharp, loamy scent of the forest filled my nostrils and the taste of copper coated my tongue.

“This is all your fault, Martin,” Julian said easily.

“Why?”

“If you hadn’t started yelling at the top of your lungs we might’ve noticed the approach. What do you think, sweet iris?”

“I have business to take care of.”

“We’ll get you there,” Cam said firmly.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Julian lunged. Cam charged.

I sprang off the balls of my feet. My blade caught the cheekbone of the Aquidae to my right. He flinched and gave me an opening.

I dashed forward, leaving Julian and Cam to hold off the demons.

Don’t look back.

A mile up the hill to the hotel. A mile to my answers.
 

To Ian.

I raced up, navigating across bumpy ground, finding balance with each shift of the slope.
 

I veered right, then left, zigzagging through the trees in an attempt to lose the Aquidae chasing me. The Shadow’s oppressive blood darkened the forest, sinking into the ground and trees, pressing in on all sides.

I felt him.

The slope steepened.

My lungs pumped, ribs ached. I squeezed every last ounce of energy from my legs.

Above, the hotel loomed, its shadow cutting off the warmth of the sun.
 

I criss-crossed through a thick grove of trees. Just past it was the final ascent to the hotel.

Almost there.

Almost.
 

At the end of the tree line, an Aquidae leaped down from a branch. I swerved right.

Another demon waited, vaulting forward from the dense underbrush.

Shit, a trap.

I veered left, but it was too late.

A third Aquidae lunged, arms outstretched, mouth stretched wide in diabolic glee.

I thrust my dagger into its chest, tore it out, and pierced its Origin.

Muffled footfalls came from behind.
 

Too many.

Pain shattered through my skull and the world went black.

***

He comes again.

His scales are a dull gray. Eyes that once glittered topaz are now a cloudy yellow.
 

All the vibrance a few shades lighter as if an artist’s eraser mutes the brilliance of his form.

He is a silhouette against the sky, a form more unreal than real.

“I cannot see you.” A faint color of despair in his voice. “Sondaleur, find me.”

“Can’t,” I manage.
 

Breathing hurts. Holding the connection hurts.

“Everything you need to reach me is within you.
”

It’s too far, the distance too great.

“You must—“

His voice abruptly cuts off.
 

Once again, I stand alone in the dark.
 

I don’t know which way is up or down, forward or back. I only know a terrible, eternal suspension as if I hang endlessly in an empty void.

My breaths sharpen, quicken.

His name comes to my lips, unbidden. A plea against the dark.

“Tristan.”

I reach into the blackness. Something is there.

Something I sense but cannot remember.

“Tristan. Please.”

My voice trembles.

With fear? With hope? With desperation?

Something quivers in the darkness, a subtle vibration just beyond my grasp.

I no longer know if it means life or the absence of it.

***

 
She circles, sharp hazel eyes always seeing more than I want.

There is no give in their depths, no mercy or understanding.

Only unyielding adherence to one idea: survival.

Be still, she says.

I focus on the dark.

Listen to what the silence tells you, she says.

I listen.

Silence conquers all, Kendra, she whispers.

Be still.
 

Listen.

Feel.

SEVENTEEN

The dark was everywhere.

I blinked a few times. Nothing changed.

Were my eyes open?

Disorientation, edged with panic, momentarily threatened to overwhelm me as dreams and reality converged.

Pain brought me back to my self. The waves of discomfort from my throbbing head convinced me this was real.
 

I was no longer in the realm of dreams and breaths.
 

Other senses kicked in. I was propped up on the ground, arms tied behind me, my back against something hard. A wall.

I could wiggle my fingers and my legs were free. Pressing back, I slowly slid up and got my feet under me.

A damp mustiness scented the air. Wherever I was didn’t get a lot of fresh air. No chirping birds or splashing water, only silence.

Something else was also very wrong.

I dug deep, searching for the energy that had been the one constant in my life.

No response. My Virtue was gone.

A groan came from my right.

“Cam?”
 

A moment of silence. Then, “Where are we?”

“I don’t know. Is Julian —“

“I’m here,” he said wearily. He was a little further away, on Cam’s other side.

Cam swore. “Can’t move my arms.”

“Me neither. Also can’t feel my Virtue. Think he’s using nix blood on us.”

Stepping forward didn’t seem like a good idea. What if we were balanced on the edge of something?

Slowly, I inched my foot out along the wall to my right. Solid.

I cautiously took a step closer to Cam.

My heart pounded faster in my chest.

So far, so good.

Something bumped against my foot. I jumped.

“Sorry,” Cam muttered. “That was me.”

“I think we’re in a room.” Julian’s voice was closer. He’d also moved in.“If we stick to the wall, we should be all right.”

Being in a room meant there was an exit. If we moved along the wall, we’d eventually hit it.

“Okay. Let’s head left —“

One moment there was nothing but opaque darkness; the next, the world turned white.

Pain shot along my nerve endings and I squeezed my eyes shut against the blinding light.
 

“You’re finally awake.”

The familiar voice curdled my stomach. I rapidly blinked, willing my eyes to adjust.

Bastien stood before us, elegantly dressed in grey trousers and a white linen shirt.
 

We were in what was once the hotel’s main dining hall. Images from the past echoed in my mind.

Gone were the lushly paneled walls, the round tables perfectly fitted with white tablecloths and silverware.

A few tables were now shoved to the side, the wood dull and weathered. Faded wallpaper peeled in several sections and the yellow stains along one corner indicated a water leak.

Once gleaming floors were now dull and scuffed, the air filled with chalky forlornness.

A quick glance at the others reassured me. They were okay, though an angry welt swelled on Cam’s cheekbone.

Julian gave a tiny, imperceptible nod. He’d follow my lead.

“Your weapons have been confiscated,” Bastien said calmly. “I didn’t want you to injure yourself.”

“Of course.”

“Welcome back, Kendra.” He spread his arms. “The last place you came with both your mother and father. Maybe the last place you had any pleasant memory of your family. How does it feel to be back?”

“The deal was to talk.”

He feigned surprise. “Isn’t that what we’re doing?”

“Where’s Ian?”

“Patience, Kendra. Everything in good time.” Bastien tilted his head. “Tell me. Is it strange to be without your magic?”

“I don’t need magic to kill you.”

He smiled.
 

A chill shot down my spine. He knew I was lying.

“Do you know what nix blood does?” He walked silently, his feet gliding over the floor.
 

“Conceals our essence.”

“Incorrect. It exposes the truth of who we are.” He stopped in front of me. “Everyone hides behind something.”

People wear all sorts of disguises and masks.

Ray’s words in Merbais suddenly echoed in my mind. Had he learned that from the Shadow?

“You are the
sondaleur
, Kendra. The protector. Who are you without that? When you are unable to save, unable to fulfill your destined calling?”