“In the first one, no. This one, however —” He upended the sack, and half a dozen old weapons tumbled out. There were daggers, short swords, several old-fashioned guns, and even a polished silver bayonet. I had no doubt they were part of the haul the dark sorcerer had taken from the Military Fair, because there was little other reason for these types of weapons to be here.
I raised a hand and skimmed it across them. There was no response from the Dušan on my arm, and I couldn’t feel any sort of pull toward them.
“You know,” I muttered, thrusting my hands on my hips as I glared at the weapons, “I’m getting pissed not only about having hell’s minions constantly thrown at us, but also continually being runner-up when it comes to these damn keys.”
Azriel tossed the sack back onto the table and swung around, his gaze searching the rest of the cavern. “We might not have found the key, but finding some of the stolen items in this cavern confirms that the dark sorcerer – if indeed there are two sorcerers involved, and not just a hermaphrodite shifter – is in fact working with Lauren. Up until this point, it was little more than conjecture.”
“Forgive me if I don’t get overly joyous about that bit of news.” I turned and leaned my butt against the stone table. “With the sort of luck we’ve been having, I fully expect the Raziq to make an encore appearance sometime in the near future.”
“It would not matter if they did.”
I blinked and stared at him for several heartbeats, wondering if I’d heard him right. “What?”
He glanced at me, eyes once again gleaming brighter than his sword. But this time its source was not the fierceness of battle, but rather the desire for vengeance. And that scared me, because as good a warrior as he was, there was still only one of him, and many more of them.
“It would not matter how many there were, because I am no longer one, but two.”
“Which is just about the most confusing statement you’ve ever uttered,” I said. “And you’ve uttered a few.”
He smiled. “Our life forces have been leashed. That means it’s harder for each of us to be killed, because we can draw strength from the other.”
I frowned. “So I’m drawing from you now? I mean, I’m not exactly in tip-top shape at present.”
“No, because it will only ever happen when whatever form we are wearing is in danger of complete failure.”
“But that doesn’t stop them from weakening you to the point where neither of us can fight,” I commented. “And it doesn’t stop them from kidnapping me again.”
“Yes, but the other benefit of our energies being leashed is the fact that there is nowhere they can take you – not even deep underground – that I will not be able to find you.”
“That still won’t stop them from snatching me.” Or trying to tear me apart yet again.
“That is something they can no longer do. You have the life force of a reaper within you, and while they may be able to kill you, they can no longer render you to particles.” He caught my hands, and squeezed them lightly. “You have nothing to fear from them. You are not what you once were. You are stronger. We are stronger.”
“Forgive my pessimism, but I’m thinking we still need to fear them. They’ll find a way to make us do what they want.”
And it would be easy enough – all they have to do is echo my father’s methods and threaten one of my friends.
“But they are impervious neither to attack nor death,” he said. “And if we remove the brains of the beast, the beast itself will not function.”
A shiver ran through me, despite the warmth of his touch. Though it was cold down here, and I had only a light dress on, neither of those factors played a part in the chills assailing me. Rather, it was the notion that I’d be confronting the brains of the beast – Malin – sooner rather than later. Clairvoyance, I thought, sucked big time.
“Great theory, but I’m guessing it’s going to be a trifle difficult to put into practice. Malin doesn’t always show up when they kidnap me.”
He shrugged. “We can always hope.”
I half smiled. “I think hanging around me has made you a little bloodthirsty, reaper.”
“It has nothing to do with a thirst for blood,” he replied, voice flat. “And everything to do with revenge. As you well know.”
“It was revenge that made you a Mijai in the first place,” I reminded him.
“And if I had not become Mijai, I would have not met you.” He stepped to one side, and motioned toward the tunnel. “But even so, I do not regret the actions that made me Mijai, and I certainly would not regret seeking revenge now for what the Raziq have done – not just for what they did to you, but for making the keys that have the potential to cause so much destruction across two worlds. Shall we go?”
There was little I could say to that. Revenge might be a dangerous desire, but it was one I could totally understand.
The main cavern was still empty of everything but hellhound blood and gore. I stopped underneath the hole in the concrete, and looked up. What I was looking for I had no idea. It wasn’t like Lauren would suddenly appear, thereby making our hunt a whole lot easier.
“What do we do now?” I asked, after a moment.