Kissed by Eternity (22 page)

Before I could open my mouth, the queen broke the circle. She ran toward us, expression intent, eyes focused on the amulet. I knew what she wanted. She wanted the amulet, the power, for herself. That had been her plan all along.

Sharai gasped as if in physical pain. Her eyes widened. The flames swirled around me in a whirlwind of Fire. The tips of my hair danced and sparked. I felt nothing but comforting warmth except in my hand which still hurt like hell.

As the queen laid one hand on the book, tugging it slightly, the flame danced from me to her. It touched her hand, singing her fingers immediately. She howled in pain and jerked back. Too late. The flames ripped up her arm and across her chest. Before I could open my mouth, she was a pillar of flame burning brightly against the night sky. I stared at her in horror as the screaming went on and on, and the air filled with the stench of roasted flesh. My stomach heaved, and it was only sheer willpower that kept me from puking up my guts.

And then the flame blinked out, and all that was left was a dark, smoking spot on the ground. No bones. No ash. No nothing.

"Is she dead?" I whispered.

"Yes." Sharai looked strained. "But we must continue or the amulet will destroy us all."

"How can we without the queen?"

"We need another Sidhe. One with power."

"Me." The voice had come from outside the circle. Kalen stood there, not in his warrior garb but in a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Weird. "I will help."

"Hurry," the princess whispered.

Kalen took the queen's place, and we returned to chanting. The Fire still danced along my skin as if waiting for something. And then it happened. As if ripped from my body by a giant hand, the flame left me entirely and hovered in the space between us before smashing into the princess's chest. She winced but otherwise seemed unmoved.

"What the —"

"Focus," she gritted out.

I nodded and tried to concentrate on her words, but it was difficult. Sound was muddy and dim, like I was underwater. My vision grew wavery, but it looked like my skin was covered in beads of sweat. Not sweat. Water.

And then the Water turned to Ice, and I began to shiver. Mist rose from the ground at my feet, creeping up my legs, banishing any iota of warmth left by the Fire.

As before, it felt as though a great hand grabbed hold of the power in me and yanked it out by force. I gasped and rocked back on my heels at the sheer strength of it, and then watched as a ball of water and mist wrapped around a core of ice slammed against Sharai and sank into her chest. It looked painful.

Two down. Three to go. I wasn't an idiot. My powers were leaving me one by one and entering her. Which, I told myself, was as it should be. But with the loss of each one, the empty space inside me grew.

The Earth left me slowly, its tendrils retracting little by little until there was nothing left. And finally the Air. It didn't hang around, but vanished in a final whoosh that kicked up a tiny whirlwind around my feet. The hollowness in my soul threatened to eat me alive. Tears ran down my face at the loss. Sorrow overwhelmed me. I felt as if I'd lost part of myself. Sharai at last opened her eyes, and I saw my powers, hers now, dancing within them. Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. She had them all.

With a final, lyrical line, she ended the spell and banished the circle. Although dismissed, the others remained, staring at us. The princess and I still held the book between us, the amulet stone now gone dark. I let go of the book and sank slowly to my knees. Lost.

Chapter 27

I don't know how long I sat there on the cold ground with the princess standing guard over me. She wouldn't let any of them touch me, not even Inigo.

I didn't cry other than those few tears. But I wanted to. I felt…numb. Everything that had made me
me
for the past year or so was gone. I was a Hunter again. Almost normal. No more superpowers.

Something stirred inside me, and I gasped, placing my hand over my chest. There was something still in there.

"You see," Sharai said softly, offering me her hand. "They're not all gone."

I took her hand and rose to my feet. "I don't understand. The Darkness. It's still there."

"Of course it is. It was yours all along. As it was your father's before you."

I stared into those violet eyes, questions racing through my mind. "You're going to have to explain."

She smiled and removed the amulet from the grimoire. She lifted the chain over her head so the amulet hung in plain sight. Then she tucked the grimoire into what amounted to a ten thousand year old fanny pack.

"Walk with me."

We strolled along the banks of the lake, moonlight shining down on us. The Darkness stirred inside me, comfortable with its newfound space. It drank in the energy of the night, sending power to every molecule in my body. The Darkness was definitely still there and stronger than ever. And yet I felt oddly more control than before, energized, excited.

"Tell me."

"There was once a village here," she said, turning to gaze out over the water. "The last outpost of the city of Atlantis. The vampires came and along with them, the virus. And the Hunters. We could not save it."

"I know," I said. "I figured as much."

She sighed. "I told you of the Sunwalkers."

I nodded.

"There was rumor that at one time in our ancient past, there were those among the Atlanteans who could channel energy not from the sun, but from the very darkness around us. The shadows. The night itself. It all gave them strength. But it was not rumor. It was truth. You carry this power within you, a power passed down your line from generation to generation. Asleep until need arose. The rest of the powers you held for me, but the Darkness has always been yours. In fact, it was partially this ability of yours that also allowed you to hold the rest of the powers. It's why the amulet chose you."

"Why do I have this ability?"

She smiled gently. "They were so in love, you know. Anyone could see it."

"Who?"

"Amaza and my warrior. They called him a half-breed, and some looked down on him, but he was a powerful one. Destined for greatness. If not for the virus."

"You mean the son of the last High Priest of Atlantis." I remembered him, too, from my dreams. He'd died with his father in the cave where Jack found the amulet.

She nodded. "She was pregnant the night I came to the Temple. It was a great secret, of course. A child of a Sunwalker Sentinel and a Moon Priestess. Shocking breach of protocol. And the child's powers were enormous. You, Morgan Bailey, are a descendent of that power. That is why you are what you are. "

"I was told I'm more than that."

Her smile widened. "Indeed. At one point or another, your ancestors got very friendly with beings from all the races. Another reason you could hold my powers for me."

"Why didn't you keep them? Why put them in the amulet?"

"I was a child. I lacked control. The priest and Amaza were afraid I'd be found. I needed to pass as human. And so I did for a very long time. But eventually, time ran out."

"Now what? What will you do with all this power?"

"Realign the races to bring them back into balance. Bring peace to this world as I was always meant to. It won't happen overnight, of course. In fact, it could take many generations. But it will happen." She seemed absolutely convinced of it.

"Where will you go?" I figured she needed some kind of headquarters somewhere.

"With your permission, I will stay here. On this land. What is left of my people still lies beneath these waves. I will need it if I am to complete my mission."

I shook my head. "I'm not sure about all of this. I just stopped two crazy people from destroying everybody. What keeps you from doing the same?"

"This world cannot exist without all of us, Morgan. We all play a part. We all need each other whether we know it or not. The planet is unbalanced. If this does not change, it will die and all of us along with it. We need to change things together, but you know as well as I that humanity isn't ready to face reality. Change is slow. I will have to do a lot of work behind the scenes."

I trusted her because Amaza trusted her. So did the High Priest and all the others I'd dreamt about over the years. And, if all I'd learned was true, her blood flowed in my veins.

I nodded. "You can stay here as long as I'm alive to own this land." Since I owned half of it, thanks to my father, I could promise that much, at least.

She chuckled. "That will be a very long time indeed."

"What do you mean?"

"Look inside, Hunter. Beyond the Darkness. What lies there?"

Frowning, I searched with my inner eye. Sure enough, hiding beneath the Darkness glittered something else. It was light and kind of sparkly but elusive. As if it wanted to hide. "I can't make it out. What the hell? Did you put that there with the spell?"

"Oh, no," she said reaching out to squeeze my shoulder. "That, too, was there all along. It was hidden beneath all the rest."

"What is it?"

"You, my friend, have been Kissed by Eternity."

# # #

The vamp swung at me with his right fist. I dodged out of the way and jabbed his diaphragm. I heard a rib crack, and the Darkness grinned. I kept it on a tight rein, using its strength but not allowing it to get out of hand. It was easier now with the other powers gone.

The vampire snarled, baring fangs. "Die, Hunter," he hissed, charging again.

"Seriously? Is that all you've got?" I gave him a good hard kick, which only made him madder. He staggered to his feet and came at me again, nearly connecting this time.

I told myself not to be a jerk. I needed to end this and move on. I might have been Kissed by Eternity, but I had to be more careful now than ever.

Sliding the machete from its sheath across my back, I waited for the perfect moment. One strike and the vamp's head tumbled from its body. A split second later, it exploded into dust and ash.

With a satisfied smiled, I wiped my blade off in the grass and slid it back into its sheath. It felt good to be out hunting ordinary vampires again. Things were back to normal, or as normal as they ever got around here.

Glancing around Waterfront Park to make sure no one had seen me, I strode back to where I'd parked my car. I climbed into my Mustang, revved the engine, and headed home just as the sun began to turn the sky gray.

Jack had stayed behind in Michigan with the princess to help her start her mission. I admit I was baffled by his choice. I'd gotten used to him being around.

"But you're my Guardian," I'd said.

His smile had been a little sad. "No, Morgan. I'm the Guardian of the Key. And you are no longer the Key." He nodded to the princess. "She is."

"So you leave. Just like that." Typical Jack.

"Afraid so."

Part of me had been sad to see him go, but most of me was relieved. He really didn't have a place in my life anymore. It was too full of more important things.

Kalen, Morgana's nephew, returned to the Otherworld with the promise that the Sidhe would leave humanity alone. He was hellbent on restoring health and vitality to the Otherworld. If anyone could do it, he could. I only hoped he'd stay true to his word and keep his people out of my world.

With Darroch, Alister, and Morgana dead, there was no one left to pull Jade's strings. Using an experimental drug, the SRA was able to wipe her mind of the last few years and give her new memories. Good ones, I hoped. In any case, they sent her back to the UK. I only hoped she'd stay out of trouble. I so did not want to have to track down a Dragon Hunter. Talk about messy.

The Marid returned to his land, free at last from the chains that had bound him for so many millennia. Still, he seemed happy enough to remain with his people. Where was he going to go? Their planet had been gone longer than most of them had been alive. Tommy promised to keep an eye on them just in case.

Zip and Mick returned to Portland along with most of the rest of us. They promised to stay in touch, and I had no doubt I'd be seeing them around. Eddie, too. He said he enjoyed running his shop too much to pack up and leave. Portland was his home. He liked it weird.

Veri had invited me to visit her lingerie shop, next door to Emory's. "Don't take this the wrong way," she'd whispered. "But you could use a new bra." She wasn't wrong about that. Mine was digging into my armpit. Besides, it would give me an excuse to scope her out, find out what she was hiding.

Emory returned to her cute little shop and her run-down Victorian. She promised to have Inigo and me over for dinner. Emory and Cordelia struck up a friendship, although Cordy swore Bastet liked me best. Emory also asked Kabita to join her coven, but Kabita politely refused. She was a solitary witch.

In fact, she decided to take a few weeks off to spend with her family in London. Alister's death hit them all hard. He may have been a bad guy, but he was still their dad.

In the meantime, Haakon had agreed to stay on at the PI firm and help me and Inigo with cases. The women of Portland may never recover.

As for me and Inigo, well…

I stood staring at myself in the mirror. It had been two weeks since the big hoopla in Michigan. I'd gotten an email from Sharai—how bizarre was that?—letting me know things were going well. She and Jack were settling in and drawing up plans for whatever came next. She promised to keep me in the loop. I wasn't holding my breath; I had other shit to do. Vampires were still a problem. Demons, too. I didn't have time to worry too much about what she was up to and the long-term ramifications of what we'd done. At least we'd stopped the bad guys, and that was all that mattered.

Before he left Michigan, I'd told Drago I was sorry I was no longer a Fire Bringer. "What do you mean?" he'd asked.

"I'm no longer Kissed by Fire. It's gone. I can't be a Fire Bringer anymore."

A slow smiled spread across his face. "Wouldn't be so sure of that."

I'd had no idea what he meant, but a few weeks later, he sent me the oddest gift. Inside was a note that read: For the next generation of Fire Bringers. The box held a dragon's claw. I had no idea what to make of it until later…