Pia Does Hollywood (Elder Races, #8.6)(37)

Morgan closed his eyes, and his face tightened. “She swore it would only kill the Light Fae in this demesne.”

Only kill the Light Fae? He spoke of eradicating hundreds, if not thousands of people.

“Well, the bitch was wrong,” Dragos snarled. He clawed at the wall of Power, and the tips of his talons screeched down the shimmering barrier like nails on a chalkboard. As he tried to stalk around it, the wall shifted, keeping pace with him. “You have something that creates this hell. A magic item, or a vial of something. Where is it? Give it to me!”

To the dragon’s astonishment, Morgan reached inside his leather suit jacket and pulled out an amulet.

Even through the dragonfire and the sorcerous Power that Morgan exuded, the amulet seemed to radiate an aura of blackness.

It wasn’t as strong as a Deus Machina, or God Machine. There were only seven Machines in the world, and they could not be destroyed. Back at the beginning of the world, the seven gods of the Elder Races had thrown something of themselves into the world to enact their will through the ages.

Dragos had encountered God Machines before. He knew how to identify them, and while this amulet was no Machine, still, it was imbued with a touch of Death’s Power. Dragos might not be susceptible to any illness, but Death’s Power could still touch him. Theoretically, he could die, and the fact that he had been susceptible to the contagion reinforced that theory.

Dragos stilled. “Where did you get that?”

“My Queen gave it to me and ordered me to use it,” Morgan told him. “But it does more harm than she promised.”

He tossed it high in the air, and the amulet fell to the ground on Dragos’s side of the barrier. Dragos bared his teeth. “What happened to the ‘my Queen commands, and I am compelled to obey’ shit?”

Morgan raised his eyebrows. “She did command, and I have obeyed. But now I am done.”

With that, he turned and walked away. Within a few steps, the fire appeared to swallow him whole. At the same moment, the barrier melted away.

Scooping up the amulet in one giant claw, Dragos lunged after the other man, but Morgan had disappeared completely from his sight and his senses.

After stalking around the area for several moments, eventually he gave up the hunt. Instead, he turned his attention to the deadly amulet he clutched in one claw. The amulet was made of a large, faceted onyx stone that reflected the dying fire.

Normally, onyx didn’t work well for holding magic. The harder jewels, like diamonds and rubies, worked the best for containing magic. Whoever had created the amulet had had a particular flare for Death magic.

As partial as the dragon was to items of jewelry, there were some things too dangerous to hoard.

He concentrated his Power on the amulet, working to crush the magic even as he squeezed his claw to crush the stone.

At first both magic and stone resisted. It was incredibly strong. Drawing on more Power, and all of his strength, he gritted massive teeth and strained until he felt an invisible snap, and the onyx broke. He crushed it until there was nothing left but dust.





Chapter Ten





After he destroyed the amulet, he turned his concentration to the fire that still blazed in places. Pulling hard, he drew the flames back into him. For a brief time he was immersed in fire. Closing his eyes and breathing deeply, he let his consciousness be immersed in the brilliant heat.

When it subsided, he contacted Aryal telepathically. The herd of infected here are all incinerated. I killed a couple of Hounds, but I didn’t manage to kill Morgan. He’s gone.

Too bad, the harpy said. Vindictiveness tinged her voice, like the sharp edge of her claws. You okay?

Yes. Morgan gave me the source of the contagion. It was magical in nature. I’ve destroyed it. As he talked, he launched into the air. I’m going back to Tatiana’s. Work with Shane until you’re sure the rest of the infected are burned. I might have destroyed the source, but they can still spread the contagion through their bites. Report back when you are all confident the job is done.

Understood.

There was no way Dragos was going to show up at Tatiana’s without making sure he had gotten rid of any lingering traces of the amulet. Flying due west for a half a mile or so, he dove into the ocean until he reached the sandy floor. Scooping up clawfuls of sand, he surfaced again and scrubbed at himself until he felt certain that he was entirely clean.

Only then did he head back to Bel Air, winging through the distance at a tired, leisurely pace.

This time, he landed a couple of blocks down the street and shapeshifted back into a man so that he could walk the rest of the way toward the large, sprawling mansion. The sun had not yet set, but it was low enough in the sky that it had gone down below the silhouette of the surrounding houses, throwing deep shadows across the lawns and the street.

As he walked, he admired the ultra-landscaped lawns in front of the other Bel Air properties. He said in Pia’s head, I’m so glad we don’t have a lot of flowers and other plant froufrou around our house. I’d never feel comfortable about shapeshifting, in case I accidentally knocked shit over with my tail, or trampled a rose garden.

Which is exactly why we don’t have all that. There was a smile in Pia’s voice as she replied. Between you, Liam, all of the sentinels and various other Wyr, if we had any kind of fancy garden, it would get trampled to dirt inside of a month. If you can chitchat lawn care, should I take it to mean that whatever situation was out there is taken care of?