“Yes. Once one has died, you’ll beg me to spare the other. That’s when you’ll do whatever I want. I’m merely trying to avoid unnecessary unpleasantness.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. While warriors risked—and gave—their lives battling below, these two were locked in an apparently unresolvable debate. Indigo looked back toward the staircase. Should she try to break their impasse by taking Graham? Could she? Rafe had trapped her and turned her own tools against her before. Even if she did beat Rafe, were the shadows enough to whisk Graham out unseen? She’d never moved another person through the shadow, only herself. Well, always a first time—she’d have to make it work.
But there was no sign of Selene, and there were signs—growing, audible ones—that the battle was moving closer. The Androktasiai must have been falling back.… If the Phonoi assassins broke through, they’d help Rafe take Graham, and Indigo doubted she could stop all of them. But she had no doubt that Graham would buckle in the end. So … she had to get Graham away from Rafe long enough to pull him into the shadows with her. That would be the tough part, followed by shadow-walking both of them far away from Scarsdale.
Damastes growled in her head, I want that pendant.
And you’ll help me get it?
It’s in my best interests, is it not?
She nodded and slipped through the keyhole as darkness, leaping along the shaded edges and overhangs of the room. A feeling like the steel tines of a rake scraped over her skin as she passed through. She briefly noted that Rafe and Graham were in the middle of the room, fully lit, which made things more difficult. But they were still arguing, Rafe’s voice losing its smarmy arrogance as his patience frayed. Too distracted to notice her oozing like smoke into the room. Excellent.
It was a dressing room—a huge one—and Nora marveled at the sheer extravagance of having so much space dedicated to getting dressed. It wasn’t even an oversize walk-in closet but a fully decorated room. Rafe stood on the other side of a table lined with empty display boxes and black velvet busts. So madam could lay out jewels from her safe and contemplate her choice for the evening? Nora thought of the shoebox in her closet, filled with a tangle of cheap necklaces and random earrings.
Focus, she reminded herself. This wasn’t HGTV—it was a war.
Rafe stood on the other side of that table, with a knife to Graham’s throat. It was almost laughable—what did a sorcerer need with such a crude threat? But it would make getting Graham into the shadows a whole lot tougher.
Then don’t try, Damastes whispered.
What?
The goal is to stop the ceremony. Without Graham Edwards, it is stopped. Therefore …
No. It’s you he wants to control. Edwards is just the first possible means to that end. I’m sure Rafe has more than one ace up his sleeve.
Damastes issued a dismissive snort while Indigo surveyed the shadows. The table cast one. Not perfect, but good enough. She simply needed to get to it. She took one careful step and—
Damastes roared. A sudden roar that set Indigo staggering, tripping, slamming into the table. What the hell—?
She could feel Damastes chuckling as he squirmed free of his confinement. She had no time to put the lid back on him. Rafe spun so fast the blade sliced a thin line across Graham’s neck, the older man letting out a hiss of pain.
“Indigo,” Rafe said, smiling. “How nice of you to drop in. But I knew you’d have to show up sometime.”
“Spare me the banter and let go of Edwards—you’ve lost.”
“Oh, sweetheart, don’t you see that with you here, I’ve won?” Rafe laughed merrily and the knife rose. Indigo leaped to shove Graham out of the way, but Rafe wasn’t killing him—he’d lifted his hand to cast a spell. When it came down, light flew. A hundred points of light, those whirring razor-sharp balls of pure energy. Indigo dove, and as she did, she became shadow. The lights hit and her darkness consumed them. Most of them anyway. A few still struck, slicing into her as she hit the floor, hard, naked to the glare of light. Dammit! Rafe had been ready for her—that scraping feeling had to have been some trap he’d laid that she hadn’t seen. He knew she sheltered Damastes and that he didn’t need the Edwards kids if he could capture her alive. But he also knew Indigo wasn’t likely to let that happen.
She spun and scrambled to her feet.
Rafe cast again, and Indigo reached for the shadows. Nothing happened. The shrapnel shards of light hit, and Indigo bit back a howl of pain. She managed to leap into the shadows along the wall, and they enveloped her.
She struggled for the reassuring strength of the shadows at her command, but there was nothing, as if the flow of darkness was restrained inside her. Was it Rafe’s magic or…?
You bastard.
Yes, child? Damastes laughed. Would you like something?
Let go or we’re all dead.
I think not. Just continue antagonizing Rafael. He’s overburdened. Between stopping you and holding Graham Edwards, he’ll eventually break. He’ll kill Edwards, and we won’t need to worry about the ritual. The shadows around Indigo parted enough for Rafe to see her. He cast again, and she dove into the blackness as the balls peppered her legs, each one a pinpoint of excruciating pain.
You son of a—
I’ll accept an alternative. If you agree to cooperate with me, I’ll help you take Edwards.
Another power blast from Rafe, and Nora looked down in time to see the shadows had forsaken her again. She tried to run back into them, but it was like a child standing behind a pole and thinking her enemy couldn’t see her if she couldn’t see him. As Indigo, she tore at Damastes, trying to wrest the shadows back into her control. Why wasn’t it working? Hadn’t Selene said the shadows had no allegiance? What had Damastes—or Rafe—done?
Bits of magical shrapnel struck as she ran. The pain crippled her. She fell to her knees.
I don’t want to hurt you, child.
Then don’t!
She wrenched around and shouted to Graham, “Run!”
Rafe was in the middle of casting another magical assault, distracted by Nora, and Graham realized it. He broke free from Rafe’s grasp and started for the door … and Rafe swung the full force of his spell on the older man.
Indigo shouted, “No!” and bolted to Graham, but it was too late. The spheres of spinning light hit him in the back, ripping through his shirt, tearing into his flesh.
Damastes chortled. Indigo leaped on Graham, taking him down and smacking the remaining spheres away, ignoring the pain.
Then she realized what she’d done. Captured Graham Edwards without the shadows’ help. She was stunned. Then a hand grabbed her from behind. A blade went to her throat.
“Go ahead and run, Graham,” Rafe said. “The men outside will bring you right back to me. You can hear them, can’t you?”