Onyx Eclipse (The Raven Queen's Harem Book 5)(10)

“I want to go back to my mistress.”

“Even though you’ve failed?”

Her body stiffens. “I’m bound to her—like you are to your little birds. In every lifetime, we find one another.”

Christensen’s eyes narrow, studying Anita closely, as though he’s searching for a memory.

“Tell me what you know,” I declare, “and I’ll send you back—in a casket.”

“You get one secret, Morgan. Only one. Choose well.”

I shake my head. Why does this girl think she dictates anything? Is it because she’s a spoiled brat? Is she delusional? Maybe I need to let her shower—have a little sunlight.

“What will it be? What will you pick?” She begins, in a sing-song voice. “Save three and spare one. Save a million but lose them all. Cut off the head and kill the rest. Wings and fingers. Ash and bone. Mix them together for the elixir of life.” She giggles, eyes glazed, and I sigh, gesturing for Christensen to follow me out.

Once we’re outside and the doors are locked he says, “I assume that’s why the Valkyrie needed a break?”

That and I tried to strangle her. “Partly.”

“Keep an eye on her. She may admit some truth in her delusions.” He stops in the stairwell. “I’m going to do a little research. See what I can come up with.”

“We can’t let her go back to the Morrigan. If she’s part of the three, then we need to keep her far away.”

He nods. “Her and you.”

I lean against the wall. “I have a feeling there’s little chance I’m avoiding a fight with the Morrigan, don’t you think?”

“Anita may be right. Certain moves may always come into play. You thought you could hold the Morrigan back by splitting her in three. You accomplished keeping her in the Otherside, but she still managed to slip her virus through before that. To stop it all you may have to all be bound once again.”

“And then what?” I’m trying to follow his train of thought.

He frowns, a sad expression that makes me not want to hear what he has to say next. “Morgan, you have to consider what Anita has already accepted.”

“What? That I’m batshit crazy?”

“No,” he shakes his head. I’m not ready for what he says next. “It’s possible that to achieve success and beat the Morrigan once and for all, you may have to embrace the Otherside and the Darkness that rules it.”

“You want me to join her?”

“No. I don’t want anything but to stop her. You’ve just got to figure out the best way to do that.”

He speaks in riddles—similar to Anita down the hall. I’m not sure what they want and I definitely don’t know if I can trust either of them.

“How do I embrace it—her?”

Again he answers, but in a most unhelpful way. “I suspect you’ll find out when the time comes. Do everything you can to be prepared for that moment.”





Chapter 10


Morgan


When Hildi doesn’t return that afternoon, I decide to go find her. I knew I’d been a jerk, (out of control, really,) but the Valkyrie is a fighter and it makes no sense for her to hold a grudge.

Dylan stays at The Nead, close to recovering the images on Sam’s camera. He asked his friend Marcus, a security guard at the Empire State Building by day and underground demon fighter by night (Snakehead is what I’ve come to call him,) to watch over Anita. I told him about our visit this afternoon and enough of it unnerved him to make the call to keep her on closer watch.

I didn’t tell him what Christensen said, about the possibility of my embracing the Morrigan and the Darkness in order to beat her. If I know Dylan as well as I think I do, he probably already figured it out.

They probably all already figured it out.

I have no expectations when I arrive at the address he gives me. These people live in a world beyond my understanding. From seedy bars to penthouses and mansions with secret dungeons, I have no idea what to expect when it comes to my new friends in the supernatural world. Where do they get their money? How do they survive? When you’ve been around for eons, maybe you’ve got investment money in Swiss bank accounts.

I’ve got bigger things to worry about.

I take the train to Brooklyn, noticing the distinct lack of subway riders. More masks. One woman dumps a massive glob of hand sanitizer in her palm and nearly bathes in it. A discarded newspaper headline declares people should work from home until the experts at CDC get a handle on the sickness.

Even though I suspect I’m immune, it makes me paranoid and I shove my hands in my pockets and try not to touch anything—anyone—on the way out of the subway. Two blocks later, I double check the address to make sure I’m in the right place. It’s a small, hipsterish community. Definitely not a mansion. I climb the steps and ring Hildi’s apartment bell.

There’s a buzz in return, the door unlocks and I step into the building. Hildi is in unit four, so I climb the first set of stairs. I knock, bracing myself for whatever anger she has after I lost my mind the day before, but when the door opens Hildi barely glances at me. Her brilliant blue eyes are rimmed with red. I can’t stop staring at the bruises on her neck.

“Can we talk?” I ask. She nods and I step into the apartment. I’m barely in when I stop cold. Sniffing the air, I catch the familiar scent. I instinctively cover my mouth and nose with my hand. “Oh my god, Hildi.”