just the bait.
His mouth was already forming a killing curse when a column of iridescent light fell around him, imprisoning Sariel. I could see the rage in his face, and knew that he wanted my blood. My allies sent their power coursing towards Sariel, enveloping him in a ball of fire and magic. I heard a scream, smelled burning flesh, and then he and the flames were gone.
I opened my eyes and saw Sorren watching me intently. The ring tumbled from my hand onto the table. Teag stirred in his chair, and looked at me with an expression of awe. “Is that how it always is for you when you touch something? Damn, girl!”
I gave a rueful chuckle. “Yeah, pretty much. Sometimes it’s worse.”
It took me a moment or two to process what I had seen. Sorren doesn’t share many items to give me visions, and I’m pretty sure I know why. I always come away with more clues to who Sorren is – and was. I think that makes him uncomfortable. Memories and emotions hit me that weren’t part of the intended message. Mostly, what I pick up is loneliness.
“So Sariel’s son was sucked into the family madness,” I said. “And in the last battle, you went after Samuel knowing it would distract Sariel so the others could attack and bind him.”
Sorren nodded. “Yes.”
“The people who helped you, the ones with magic,” Teag asked, “are any of them still around?”
Sorren chuckled. “No. They were either mortals who died a long time ago, or they were destroyed in one battle or another over the years. I’m the only one left. Except for Sariel.”
“That battle we saw was fought somewhere near Charleston?” I asked. “Did he pick the city for his Harrowing because of you the last time, too?”
“The battle was about fifty miles from here, out on a large plantation,” Sorren replied. “And no, the location was one of convenience – for Sariel. Charleston was a prize ripe for the picking, its climate suited to pestilence, which has always been a feeding ground for the demonic.”
“Now, he’s bringing the fight back to Charleston again,” I mused. “You cost him a son; he’s going to make you pay by destroying a city.”
“I don’t have any mortal descendants,” Sorren replied. “Hadn’t gotten around to that when Alard turned me. Over the centuries, I made very few fledges, and most of those whom I made disappeared or have been destroyed.”
I thought of Mrs. Butler, out at Palmetto Meadows. Someone had raised wards around the nursing home, and I was willing to bet Sorren had something to do with it. Had he taken other precautions to protect her as well?
“How do you plan on fighting Sariel this time around?” Teag asked.
“That’s a good question,” Sorren said. “There’s even more at stake now. Charleston is a bigger city. An epidemic now could kill ten times as many as back in 1854.”
“Can we assemble a team like you had the last time?” I asked. “Can the Alliance send anyone?”
Sorren shrugged. “On the first question – yes, we can assemble a team, but the skills and magic will be different from what I had to work with before. As for the Alliance, they’re the ones who sent Daniel Hunter, and they’re providing help in other ways.” He gave me a wan smile. “No matter how much of an ass Hunter might be, he’s good at what he does.”
I don’t like trophy hunters in the normal world, but I thought of the demonic creature Coffee Guy had begun to turn into, and decided that I wouldn’t mind if Daniel Hunter bagged and stuffed it and hung it on his wall.
“The attacks you’ve been battling all over North America, they weren’t just to harm people you cared about,” Teag said. “It’s also stretched the Alliance thin, keeping them from massing against the real strike.”
Sorren nodded. “I fear you’re right. The Alliance doesn’t dare risk leaving those other locations undefended. But it means that we’ve got to fight Sariel with the resources we’ve got. And hope that they’ll be enough.”
THE NEXT DAY at noon, Baxter and I were scheduled to go to Palmetto Meadows. I was ready for something to take my mind off Nephilim, Watchers, and sorcerers. Still, instead of my purse I took a backpack with some of my weapons, and I wore Bo’s collar and had my athame up my sleeve. Just in case.
Seeing the smiles from the nurses when Bax and I walked into the lobby