Pia Does Hollywood (Elder Races, #8.6)

“My Queen commands, and I am compelled to obey,” Morgan said, inclining his head and offering a slight, courteous bow.

“Did your Queen compel you to destroy all the Elder Races?” Dragos barked.

As the dragon drew nearer, the other male turned slightly to walk at an angle, until they were circling each other like adversaries, while everything around them burned. At Dragos’s accusation, Morgan tilted his head. “Her quarrel is with this Light Fae demesne. It does not involve you, or the rest of the Elder Races.”

“Quite the contrary,” the dragon hissed. Lunging forward, he snapped at the other male, who leaped back, faster and more fluid than Dragos had believed possible. Morgan gestured, and a wall of Power slammed between them, shimmering from the fire. “It involves me. My mate. And it involves any race that carries a hint of Power. Both human and different Elder Races can be infected by the contagion. Your creatures attacked me. One of them broke my skin. I started to turn.”

The other male frowned, his clear hazel gaze sharp. “You were susceptible?”

“For a brief time, I was.” Dragos pushed at the wall of Power, seeking a way to get through. “And I am not susceptible to any illness. Magically inclined humans have caught it and turned. This contagion is utter madness. It will destroy all of us if it is allowed to spread.”

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.