"Saetan," Andulvar said, his voice husky. "Ah, Saetan. Is there nothing we can do?"
Saetan blinked rapidly. "Wish me well."
"Come," Draca said urgently. "The Darknesss ... We musst hurry."
Saetan followed her down the stairwell to the locked door at the bottom. Pulling a large key from her sleeve, Draca unlocked the door and pushed it open.
Etched in the floor of the enormous cavern was a huge web lined with silver. In the center where all the tether lines met was an iridescent Jewel the size of Saetan's hand, a Jewel that blended the colors of all the other Jewels. At the end of each silver tether line was an iridescent Jewel chip the size of his thumbnail.
As Saetan and Draca walked along the edge of the web, the Jewels began to glow. A low hum rose from the web, rising up and up until the cavern throbbed with the sound.
"Draca, what is this place?" Saetan whispered.
"It iss nowhere and everywhere." Draca pointed at his feet. "Your feet must be bare. Flessh musst touch the web." When Saetan had stripped off his shoes and socks, Draca pointed to a tether line. "Begin here.
Walk sslowly to the center, letting the web draw you into itsself. When you reach the center, possition yoursself behind the Jewel sso you are facing the tether line closesst to Beldon Mor."
"And then?"
Draca studied Saetan, her thoughts hidden. "And the Blood sshall ssing to the Blood. Your blood, darkened by your sstrength, will feed the web. You will direct the power from thiss offering sso it iss channeled to the one tether line you need. You musst not break contact with the web once you begin."
"And then?"
"And then you will ssee what you have come here to ssee."
Saetan tapped into the reserve strength in his Black Jewels and stepped on the tether line. The power in the web stabbed into his heel like a needle. He sucked in his breath and began walking.
Each step drove the power of the web upward. By the time he reached the center, his whole body vibrated with the hum. Keeping one foot in contact with the web, Saetan positioned himself behind the Jewel, his eyes and will focused on that one tether line.
He held out his right wrist and opened his vein.
His blood hissed when it hit the Jewel in the center of the web', formed a red mist. The mist twisted into a fine thread and began to inch its way along the tether line.
Drop by drop, the thread moved toward Chaillot, toward Beldon Mor.
For a moment it stopped, a finger-length away from the Jewel chip, blocked. Then it crept upward, a red vine climbing an invisible wall, until a handspan above the floor, it was over, flowing back along the tether line.
He had breached Jaenelle's mist. The moment the blood thread touched the Jewel chip, he would be able to probe Beldon Mor.
The thread touched the Jewel chip.
Saetan's eyes widened. "Hell's fire, what—"
"Don't move!" Draca's voice seemed so far away.
What had Daemon done? Saetan thought as he picked up the aftertaste of rage. Sinking beneath the cacophony of the lesser Jewels, Saetan searched the Black, the too-still Black. There should have been three minds within his probing reach. There was only one, the one farthest out, the one at the Dark Altar.
Keeping his eyes locked on the Jewel chip, Saetan sent a thought along the thread, spear to spear."
Namesake?"
His answer was a brief, annoyed flicker.
Saetan tried again, spear to distaff."Witch-child?"
For a moment, nothing.
Saetan heard Draca gasp as light flickered around him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw all the Jewel chips begin to glow, all the silver strands of the web blaze with a fiery cold light.
Something sped toward him. Not a thought. More like a soap bubble cocooned in mist. Faster and faster it sped toward the web.
The sudden light from the Jewel at his feet blinded him. He threw his arm up over his eyes.
The bubble reached the Jewel chip and burst, and the cavern . . .
The cavern vibrated with the sound of a child screaming.
3 / Terreille
The screaming stopped.
Surreal raced across Briarwood's empty lawn toward the hidden door. The Gray Jewel around her neck blazed with her anger. Tonight there wasn't a lock anywhere in Beldon Mor strong enough to keep her out. Once inside, however, she had no idea how to find the one she sought.
A few strides away from the door, someone shouted at her, "Hurry! This way. Hurry!" Swinging to the right, she saw Rose gesturing frantically.
"They're too strong," Rose said, grabbing Surreal's arm. "Kartane and Uncle Bobby are letting him draw on their strength. He's got the room shielded so I can't get through."
"Where?" There was a stitch in Surreal's side from running, and the cold night air burned her lungs. It made her angrier.
Rose pointed at the wall. "Can you make the pass?"
Surreal stared at the wall, probing. Pain and confusion. Rage and despair. And courage. "Why isn't she fighting back?"
"Too many medicines. She's in the misty place and she can't get out." Rose tugged on Surreal's sleeve.
"Please help her. We don't want her to die. We don't want her to be like us!"
Her lips pressed into a tight, angry line, Surreal reached for the knife sheathed against her right thigh, but her hand
swung across her body and pulled out the knife from the left sheath.
Titian's knife.
A slow smile curled Surreal's lips. Never taking her eyes away from the wall, she held out her other hand to Rose. "Come with me," she said as she stepped forward and melted into the wall.
Briarwood's outer walls were thick. Surreal didn't notice.
This time . . . This time she would wash the walls in blood.
The shield was there, braided by the strength of two. Fools. Two Reds might have slowed her down if they were aware of her presence. But Kartane and Uncle Bobby? Never.
Never.
Surreal unleashed one short blast of power from her Gray Jewel. The shield around the room shattered.
Surreal leaped. Landing in the small room, she whirled to face the man on the bed. Even as he thrust into the too-still body under him, he raised his head, his face twisted with hatred and lust.
Lunging forward, Surreal grabbed his hair with one hand and slashed Titian's knife across his throat.
The blood sang as the white walls turned red.
Still pushing forward and up, Surreal drove the knife into his heart, lifting him off the bed with the strength of her rage.
He fell to the floor, Titian's knife still in his heart while his maimed hands groped feebly for one heartbeat, two.
Finish the kill.
Squatting over the still body, Surreal pulled out her other knife to drive it through his brain, intending to use the steel as a channel for the Gray to break and destroy what the husk still contained. As she raised her arm for the final strike, Rose's low moan made her glance at the bed.
There was a pool of blood between Jaenelle's legs. Too much blood.
Surreal leaned over the bed. Her stomach rolled.
Jaenelle stared at the ceiling, her unblinking eyes never changing when Surreal passed her hand in front of them. Her body was a mass of bruises; a cut on her lip leaked blood.
Surreal glanced back at the Warlord and noticed scratches on his face and shoulders. So. She had fought for a while.
Surreal felt for a pulse and found one. Weak and growing weaker.
Something hit the locked door.
"Greer!" someone shouted. "Greer, what's going on?"
"Damn!" The word exploded out with her breath as she quickly Gray-locked the door. Pulling Titian's knife from Greer's heart, Surreal hesitated for just a moment, then shook her head. She didn't have the minute it would take. She cut the cords that bound Jaenelle's ankles and wrists to the bed, wrapped the girl in the bloody sheet, lifted the bundle against her, and, Gray shielding herself and her precious burden, made the pass through the walls.
Once outside, Surreal ran. When they finally broke the Gray lock and found Greer, they would be pouring out of the doors in pursuit. And following the blood scent, they would be able to trace her.
There was only one place to go, and once there, she would need help.
Putting her heart into it, Surreal sent a summons along the Gray.
"Sadi!"
No answer.
" Sadi! "
4 / Hell
"no!"
Saetan's roar thundered through the cavern, drowning out the sound of feet racing down the stairs.
"SaDiablo!" Andulvar yelled as he leaped into the cavern. "We heard a scream. What's—"
Saetan pivoted, teeth bared, spearing Draca with eyes filled with cold rage. "And now?" he said too softly.
"We'll ride the Winds," Prothvar said, pulling out his knife.
"No time," Mephis countered. "It'll be too late."
"Draca," Geoffrey said.
Draca never blinked, never flinched from Saetan's glazed stare.
"Saetan—" Andulvar began.
Draca closed her eyes.
A voice filled their minds, a rumble as if the Keep itself sighed.
A male voice.
"Sspear to sspear, High Lord. That iss the only way now. Her blood runss. If sshe diess now—"
"She'll walk among the
cildru dyathe."
So much sorrow in that voice."Dreamss made flessh do not become
cildru dyathe,
High Lord. Sshe will be losst to uss."
"Who are you to say this to me?" Saetan snarled.
"Lorn."
Saetan's heart stopped for a beat.
"You have the courage, High Lord, to do what you musst do. The other male will be your insstrument."
The sighing rumble faded.
The cavern was very still.
Turning carefully, Saetan once more faced the red-misted tether line.
And the Blood shall sing to the Blood.
Don't think. Be an instrument.
Everything has a price.
Locked in his cold, still rage, Saetan slowly drew on the power in the web, the power in his Jewels, and the power in himself until he had formed a three-edged psychic spear. With his eyes and will fixed on the Jewel chip, he sent a single, thundering summons.
"sadi!"
5 / Terreille
"Sadi!"
" Sadi! "
"sadi!"
Daemon jerked awake, head pounding, heart pounding, body throbbing. Groaning, he rubbed his fist back and forth across his forehead.
And remembered.
"Sadi, please."
Daemon frowned. Even that movement hurt."Surreal?"
A gasping sob."Hurry. To the Altar."
"Surreal, what—"
"She's
bleedingl
"
He didn't remember making the pass. One moment he was cramped in the underground rectangle, the next he was braced against the tree, eyes closed, waiting for the world to stop spinning."Surreal, get to the Altar. Now."
"The uncles will be coming after us."
The Sadist bared his teeth in a vicious smile."Let them come."
The link broke. Surreal was already riding the Winds to Cassandra's Altar.
Daemon clung to the tree. His body could give him nothing. The Black Jewels were still drained and could give him nothing. Needing strength, he greedily drained the reserve power in his Birthright Red.
"sadi!"
The power behind that thundering voice hit his Red strength and absorbed it as easily as a lake absorbs a pail of water.
Daemon clamped his hands over his head and fell to his knees. That power was tightening like a band of iron inside his head, threatening to smash his inner barriers. Snarling, he lashed back with the little strength he had left.
"Daemon."
Glacial rage waited for him just outside the first barrier, but now he recognized the voice.
"Priest?"Daemon let out a gasp of relief."Father, pull back a little. I can't . . . It's too strong."
The power pulled back—a little.
"You are my instrument."
"No."
The psychic band tightened.
"I serve no one but Witch. Not even you, Priest,"Daemon snarled.
The band loosened, became a caress."I, too, serve her, Prince. That's why I need you. Her blood runs."
Daemon fought to stand up, fought to breathe."I know. She's being taken to Cassandra's Altar."He hurt.
Hell's fire, how he hurt.
"Let me in, namesake. I won't harm you."
Daemon hesitated, then opened himself fully. He clenched his teeth to keep from screaming as the icy rage swept into his mind. His vision doubled. He felt the tree against his back. He also felt cold stone beneath bare feet.
The stone faded, but not completely. He slowly opened and closed his hand. It felt as though he were wearing a glove beneath his skin. Then that too faded, but not completely.
"You're controlling my body,"Daemon said with a trace of bitterness.
"Not controlling. By joining this way, my strength will be a well for you to tap and, in turn, I will be able to see and understand what we must do to help her."
Daemon pushed himself away from the tree. He swayed, but another pair of legs held firm. Taking a deep breath, he caught the Black Wind and hurled himself toward Cassandra's Altar.
Daemon hurried through the ruins of the Sanctuary's outer rooms. The footsteps he'd heard a moment ago stopped. Now an angry Gray wall blocked the corridor that led into the labyrinth of inner rooms.
"Surreal?" Daemon called softly.
A sob answered him. The Gray wall dropped.
Daemon ran toward her. Surreal waited for him, tears streaming down her face.
"I wasn't in time," she sobbed as Daemon took the sheet-wrapped bundle from her shaking arms and held it close to his chest. "I wasn't in time."
Daemon turned back the way he'd come. "Cassandra must have a room here somewh—"
"Go to the Altar, namesake."
"She needs-—"
"The Altar."
Daemon turned again, racing toward the Altar that lay in the center of the Sanctuary. Surreal ran ahead to push open the Altar room's stiff wrought-iron gate. Daemon rushed in and carefully laid Jaenelle on the Altar.
"We need some light," he said, desperation making his voice harsh.