Heart of the Demon

chapter Nineteen



Keira saw the indecision in the gazes of those gathered around, but there was nothing they could do for her. “Go,” she told them, trying not to cry at the agony. Keira pressed her hands against her wound and fought for breath. By Dagda’s balls, it hurt. As the iron from the bullet seeped into her blood, tendrils of fire licked outward from the wound. Keeping one hand on her injury, she placed the other one palm down on the packed dirt floor of the main shaft and tried to draw energy from the Earth.

It was like trying to strain peanut butter through cheesecloth. The iron in her bloodstream blocked almost all the absorption of any of nature’s vitality. Maybe if she could get outside, where there were plant roots to also draw from, it might be better. Right now she knew that moving would be a very bad idea. Without letting on how badly she was hurt, she said, “I’ll be all right.”

“Go,” Finn echoed as he knelt beside her. “I’ll stay with Keira.”

Tobias hesitated for one more second, then muttered “Come on” to his wife. The two vampires took off at a full-out run.

“Boy, I do not envy Caladh when those two catch up to him,” Finn said. “Ultimately it’s his fault that Nix was turned, since Caladh, as you so eloquently put it, was the one pulling Liuz’s strings.” He stared down at her and brushed her hair from her sweaty brow. “I’m so sorry, Keira. I should have done something, stopped him.”

She shook her head. “There wasn’t anything you could have done. You should go, help them,” she whispered. She struggled to sit up and bit back a cry. Her left arm was numb, but the wound pulsed with flashes of pain that she’d aggravated by moving.

Finn braced her with his bent leg behind her back. “A couple of vamps can handle one lone selkie.” His face was grim, his eyes churned with worry mixed with anger. “I’m not going to leave you while you’re hurt and unprotected.”

“Well, if it weren’t for this,” she said, dipping her chin toward her chest, “I could take care of myself.”

Finn’s grin lightened his beautiful eyes. “I have no doubt about that at all. I always figured you had some Boadicea in you. Tonight proved me right.” The smile left him and he stroked his fingers down her cheek. “God, you were gorgeous. A little scary, to be honest.”

She laughed and then grimaced as her chest hurt in protest. “You’ve never been scared of me.”

“You don’t think so?” He shook his head. “You’d be surprised.” He gave her a short, sweet smile and then stared down at her with eyes gone dark and tortured.

“Don’t, Finn,” she said. “This isn’t your fault.”

He didn’t say anything, but she could see by the look on his face that he didn’t agree with her.

From deeper in the mine came the sound of a struggle. When she thought she heard the snarls of wolves, Keira frowned. Within a few minutes, Caladh stumbled into view. His appearance was no longer crisp and neat. Blood streamed from his nose and mouth and stained the shoulder of his torn, dirty shirt. He was followed by Tobias and Nix. Behind them came a woman clad in a long shirt and a man wearing only pants. Both were barefooted.

She recognized the woman. It was Tori Joseph, one of the werewolf liaisons to the council. The man was familiar as well, but Keira couldn’t recall his name.

“Sorry we were late to the party,” Tori said. Her gaze strayed to the body of her cousin lying on the floor of the mine shaft. Her full lips tightened.

“Better late than never,” Finn responded. “Though you’re both a little underdressed.”

Tori looked at him, a slight blush staining her cheeks. “You know if we want to preserve our clothes we have to take them off before we shift. Mine fell down a hole. A really deep hole. So I’m wearing Dante’s shirt.”

That was who he was, Keira thought. Dante MacMillan, a police detective with the city. Well, probably not anymore, since she could sense he was a werewolf.

“And she knocked our shoes down the hole, too,” Dante offered. His lips curved into a grin but even through the filter of pain Keira saw his sharp gaze didn’t miss a thing.

Finn gave a slight roll of his eyes and muttered something about werewolves and idiots. “And why are you here?” he asked.

“I thought we might need their help,” Tobias said. He had one hand wrapped around Caladh’s upper arm.

Nix stood nearby, her eyes stormy yellow. If Caladh made a move, Keira knew the female vampire-demon hybrid would be on him in a flash.

Tori moved away from Dante and went down on one knee beside Stefan. She reached out and lightly touched his cheek. “Damn you, Natchook,” she whispered. A tear slipped from her eye to trail down her face. “Damn you.”

Dante helped her up and slid his arm around her waist, hugging her to his side.

Tobias said, “Dante and Tori studied the smaller rift device and the schematics that go along with it. They might be able to figure out how to disable the larger machine.”

“Can’t we just turn it off?” Keira asked. She bit the inside of her cheek to help take the focus off the pain radiating from her shoulder. She couldn’t let them take her anywhere until that infernal rift contraption was destroyed. “It is a machine, after all. They have power switches.”

Tobias shot her a look.

Finn chuckled. “She has a point.” He paused and sobered. “We can’t stay here, though.” He looked down at Keira. “I’m going to pick you up now, sweetheart. And it’s going to hurt. Ready?”

She bit her lip then shook her head even as she whispered, “Yes.”

He sent her a tight smile. “All right, then. Here we go.” Finn carefully slid his arms beneath her.

She knew he was doing his best not to jostle her, but, gods above, it hurt. She trapped cries of pain in her throat, but as he stood and got her settled in his arms she couldn’t contain a low moan.

“God, baby, I’m so sorry.” She saw him look at Tobias. “It’s a damned two-mile hike to get from the entrance of the mine back to the trailhead. She’ll never make it.”

“We’ll figure it out, Finn. I promise you,” the vampire said. He glanced at the others. “We’ll take care of the machine on the way out.” His gaze hardened on Caladh. “Move it.”

As they walked, the selkie yammered on about his plans for the rift. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” he said. “Think about it. No more subverting our darkest desires, no more kowtowing to humans and their laws.”

“Watch it,” Dante muttered. “Some of us were human not all that long ago.”

“And some of us like humans,” Tori added.

“Then you’re stupid.”

Keira followed the conversation with numb fascination, appreciating the distraction from the flames burning her insides.

“Boy, you are a piece of work, you know that?” Nix shot Caladh a scowl. “You acted all benevolent and kind on the council, while all the while you were plotting behind their backs. Behind Deoul’s back.”

“Oh, don’t talk to me about Deoul,” Caladh snapped. “You couldn’t stand him.”

“No, I couldn’t. And I don’t feel bad that he’s dead,” Nix admitted. They turned into the main shaft. “But I wouldn’t have killed him, despite how much I might have wanted to sometimes.”

“Hear, hear,” Tori muttered.

They entered the larger portion of the shaft where the machine was. Keira knew Finn did his best to keep her as steady as possible, but each step he took was pure torture for her. When they were a few feet from the machine, he stopped and went down on one knee. “We’ll rest here for awhile,” he murmured. His voice was hoarse and his eyes held self-recrimination.

“This isn’t your fault,” she managed to tell him again through a throat tight with pain. She was vaguely aware of the others gathered nearby, talking in low voices. Nix, however, stood a short distance away with a gun in her hand, standing guard over the defeated and now silent Caladh.

Keira wondered for a moment where the female vampire had gotten a gun, but then remembered that Caladh had brought one. It must be his.

“I didn’t protect you,” Finn said, drawing her attention back to him. His face was taut, a muscle in his jaw twitching furiously.

The last thing she wanted him to feel was guilt. “I don’t need your protection. I was wounded because of my choices, Finn, not yours.” She’d known going into this that it would be dangerous, perhaps even deadly. She’d expected that danger to be from Stefan.

Not even once had she suspected Caladh wasn’t everything he’d appeared to be: concerned, determined to protect the status quo. However he’d done it, he’d flown so low under her radar she hadn't had an inkling of his true emotions. She wanted to say more to Finn, but she suddenly felt so tired. Her eyes fluttered closed and she exhaled.

“Keira?” His voice went raspy. “Keira!”

“What? I’m okay,” she managed, her words slurring together. Everything took so much effort. Talking. Breathing. Even trying to open her eyes, which was why she didn’t. “I’m just so sleepy.”

“Try to stay awake, sweetheart.” She felt his fingers against her cheek, then stroking through the hair at her temples, brushing it back from her face. “Maybe if we get your skin against the ground, you can heal yourself.”

It was time to ’fess up. “I already tried. It didn’t work.” She rubbed her face tiredly against his shoulder.

“What do you mean?” Finn drew a sharp breath. “How could it not work?”

“It’s the iron from the bullet.” She forced her eyes open and looked up into his face. “While the bullet is in me, it blocks Earth’s energy. I can’t absorb it. It might be different outside of the mine, where there are trees and plants with life-giving root systems.” She sighed. “I don’t know.”

“We should go try that.” He started to gather her up.

“No, wait. I want to see this through. Please,” she added when he seemed about to argue. “There isn’t much time before the rift, and I want to know for sure that the machine has been destroyed. Or at least turned off.” She turned her head and watched the others.

Dante gestured to the large button that glowed red. “I’m telling you, this is the power switch.”

“So turn it off,” Tobias said.

Dante pushed the button. Nothing happened. He pressed the button again, and again nothing happened. He swore. “That should have worked,” he said.

“Maybe Natchook hooked up a failsafe,” Tori said. “Rigged the machine somehow so that it couldn’t be shut down.”

Tobias frowned. “That would mean the thing would keep running indefinitely and would keep the rift open twenty-four seven.” He shook his head. “That doesn’t sound feasible to me.”

“Remember we are talking about a madman here,” Dante said.

Tori winced and looked away.

Keira wondered about her response, but before she could say anything, Finn bent closer and murmured, “Liuz was Tori’s cousin.”

“Oh. Wow.”

“I think I may have a solution.” Tobias walked over to a workbench and picked up a sledgehammer.

“This is how you’re going to disable it?” his wife asked.

“You know how men are,” Tori chimed in. “If they can’t get something to work they smack it.”

Tobias shot her a look and swung the hammer into the side of the machine where the various dials were. Sparks flew but the machine kept humming away. He swung again and again. The last wham of the hammer punched a five-inch hole in the side of the machine, exposing a variety of wires. With an oath, Tobias reached in and yanked out the wires.

The lights on the machine flickered and then went out. The hum stopped.

“Is that it?” Finn asked. “Is it off?”

“I believe so.” Tobias glanced around. “I think we should also destroy this whole area so it and this machine can never be used again.”

“I can take care of that,” Dante volunteered. He thumbed over his shoulder. “I saw a box of dynamite back there; they must’ve been using it to blast out new sections of tunnel.”

“No way I’m letting you loose with a bunch of dynamite,” Tobias responded.

“Listen, I was in the Rangers, remember? I have explosives training, and anyway it’s probably like riding a bike. You never really forget.”

“It’s probably like riding a bike?” Tori put one hand on his arm. “Dante, I’d really like you to be a little more sure than that.”

He grinned. “I know what I’m doing. Don’t worry.”

“Okay, if you say so.” She looked at Tobias. “To be on the safe side, though, I think I’ll stay with him to supervise.”

“That’ll make me feel better, at least,” Tobias murmured. He glanced over at Keira. “How’s she doing?” he asked.

“I’m all right,” she said. But she misspoke. Numbness set in, traveling from her upper chest down her side. Her hip spasmed, making her leg kick out, then it, too, went numb. She stared up into Finn’s face. “Or maybe not. I can’t feel my left side.” She thought that might be a very bad thing, but she couldn’t get her brain to work out why.

“God.” He looked up at the others. A muscle ticked furiously in his jaw. “I’ve got to get her off this mountain.”

“Let’s go.” Tobias led the way, then Caladh with Nix right behind him, and Finn carrying Keira.

When they exited the mine, Keira squinted in the bright sunlight and took a deep breath of clean mountain air. The sun had passed its zenith, and she guessed it was somewhere around one in the afternoon. Birds sang their cheery songs as if nothing had changed, and she found herself envying them. “Put me on the ground,” she whispered.

Finn immediately went down on one knee.

“Let me try again.” She put her palms flat on the ground and sent out a call to the earth beneath her. Energy began to trickle into her, but it wasn’t enough. “I need more of my skin on the ground,” she muttered. She looked up at Finn. “Help me take my clothes off.”

His brows raised but he complied without hesitation. A button went flying with his haste. “Sorry,” he muttered. “You know, I always love it when you let me take off your clothes, but I never thought I’d be doing it under this kind of circumstance.”

“Me, either.” She glanced up to see Tobias and Nix had turned Caladh away and all three had their backs to her. “I don’t think I can completely heal myself,” she told Finn. “But I might be able to do enough so I can get off the mountain.”

He supported her as she lay back down. Now she was skin to ground from her shoulder blades to her heels. She felt an immediate difference. The numbness left her, which as the pain flowed again made her think maybe this hadn’t been such a great idea. After several minutes had passed, she said, “I think that’s as good as it’s going to get.”

“You sound stronger.” Finn drew her to her feet and helped her get dressed. “You can turn around now,” he said to the others.

“Thank you,” Keira said. It wasn’t as if people other than Finn had ever seen her nude, and she wasn’t shy about her body, but she wasn’t an exhibitionist, either. She appreciated their care for her modesty.

“Can you walk?” Finn looked down at her, concern darkening his eyes.

“For a while, I think.” She glanced down at her feet with a wry smile. “Good thing Stefan bought hiking boots for me.”

“Hmm.” Finn didn’t seem ready to be thankful for anything Stefan had done, and Keira couldn’t blame him. Stefan Liuz had been a delusional maniac. This world was better off without him.

Heading back down the trail was slow going. Even if she’d been in peak physical condition she’d have had difficulty climbing down the rocky path. Every time her footing slipped, it jostled her shoulder. After about the twelfth time she could no longer hold back the grunts of pain.

“Let’s stop and rest a few minutes,” Finn said.

She nodded, grateful for the suggestion. “I don’t suppose anyone has water.”

All but Nix shook their heads. “I have some in my bag,” she said. “It’s, ah, in the car.”

“It sounds like your plan was ill conceived from the start.” Caladh’s voice conveyed the same smugness that was written across his features. “You all went up the mountain with nary a drop to drink.”

“Oh, shut up.” Nix shot him a glare.

“You used to be so respectful,” the councilor murmured. “Is this what turning into a vampire has done to you?”

“No, this is what you being a douchebag has done to me.”

Keira licked her lips. She wasn’t going to get any better until doctors could remove the bullet. “Let’s go.”

“Are you sure?” Finn asked. He looked so worried, it warmed her heart. “You know what? I can carry you the rest of the way.”

“You need your hands to be able to maintain balance,” Keira countered. “If you’re carrying me and lose your footing, we’ll both go down.” She sent him a dry look. She was giving short little pants, both from pain and exertion, and realized she wasn’t scoring any points with her argument. “The way my luck’s going today, you’ll land on top of me.”

“She’s right,” Nix said, glancing over her shoulder. “The terrain’s too rugged through here. You can be all macho when you get to the trailhead.”

“We’re almost there,” Keira whispered. “Just help me, Finn.”

“All right.” He put his arm around her.

She leaned on him as they made it the rest of the way down the trail. The five of them stopped and stared at the three vehicles parked at the trailhead. Keira pointed to the luxury sedan. “That one’s Stefan’s.”

“The truck is Dante’s. This one’s mine,” Tobias said, indicating a dark SUV. “We’ll drop you two at the hospital and then take Caladh to council headquarters.” He gave the councilor a dismissive glance. “His injuries aren’t that severe.” He glanced at Keira. “It might be best for Keira to ride up front. Finn, you and Nix can sit on either side of Caladh. Keep him out of trouble.

“Fine. Let’s just get out of here.” Finn helped Keira into the front seat and carefully fastened her seatbelt.

She felt herself beginning to fade again because everything took so much effort. Finally she gave up the fight and closed her eyes, letting her head loll against the back of the seat. The drone of the voices of her companions faded, then she knew no more.