Read Online Forged in Darkfire: An Amber Lee Novella (Amber Lee Mysteries Book 5) by Katerina Martinez - Free Book Online
Authors: Katerina Martinez
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his back, and sent a wave of dizzying Power into it. His body shook as the Magick worked through him and for a moment it seemed like his Power wasn’t strong enough, but the door swung open again hard and fast and Damien slipped through the break.
Lily slipped in after Damien, narrowly avoiding hitting her shoulder against the wall as she flew through the gap, but then the door shut behind them.
And they didn’t need to be told they weren’t alone.
CHAPTER 9
This cell-block has teeth.
Damien pressed his hand against the side of his head and for the first time winced from the dull throb beating beneath his fingers. It was as if the very sight unfolding before him were eating at his grey matter and sending him headlong into some kind of mad oblivion. But he didn’t have the time to wonder about his own mental health.
The cell-block had teeth, literal mouths in place of barred doors, and they were all gnashing, chattering, slavering, and howling. Some had lips, others just folded, crooked skin. Most were hurling obscenities and blasphemies in a cacophony of whispers too meek to be coming out of openings as tall as doors.
There was a man in the cell-block, too; someone in a uniform was sauntering down the row of gnashing mouths and rattling a baton against teeth as he passed them. The recognition was instant. Damien’s cousin Henry wasn’t a particularly noteworthy man, but he was tall, stork thin, and had a long nose which, along with a full head of black hair, sometimes made him look like a crow.
And like a crow, his eyes were reflective and bright.
“Inmate,” he said, pointing his baton toward them. “You’re out of your cells.”
“Damien,” Lily said, “Stay behind me.”
He didn’t argue with her, but not because he didn’t want to. His body was taut as and tense as a guitar string and he simply couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. It had been his cousin who came for him in the alley, his cousin who concocted whatever spell he used to keep Natalie trapped inside her own mind.
Natalie .
“We’re not inmates,” Lily said.
“You are now,” he said, approaching. “Like what I’ve done with the place?”
“Where is Natalie?”
“That shouldn’t matter to you, sweetheart. What should matter to you is what’s going to happen next.”
“And what’s that?”
“Why spoil the surprise? It’ll be here soon enough.”
“The Dark Fire?”
A sly grin spread across Henry’s lips, which looked cracked and broken from where Damien stood. “It’s coming for you,” he said. “I called it, just like you two little bastards did.”
“We didn’t call it,” Damien said, stepping forward. “Your dad called it.”
“And you made him lose control of it!” A line of spittle ran down his lips when he spoke.
“He was going to kill that kid, Henry.”
“And that would have been the only person to have died if you hadn’t gotten involved, you little shit.”
Damien could feel his heart racing. Every pump sent daggers of pain to the side of his head, but he shut them out. He could hear rumbling now, from outside, and that wasn’t good. He could also hear the roar of the crowd, that night at the Compound, as the witches gathered around the pyre venerated the High Magus in a language unknown to human tongues. The boy was a lamb, and the Magus was about to summon the wolf that would devour him and take his soul away.
The boy’s terrified face still stalked his dreams sometimes, even though they had saved his life that night.
“You stood there,” Lily said, her voice soft, “And you watched, Henry. You just watched. How could you stand by and let him do what he was going to do to that poor boy?”
“It was a gift, Lilith. A gift to the Crone. As she reaps, so do we sow. When she is happy, we flourish.”
“The Crone doesn’t take human lives like that!”
“Oh but she does,” Henry said, “She takes lives, Lilith. The Crone is
Lily slipped in after Damien, narrowly avoiding hitting her shoulder against the wall as she flew through the gap, but then the door shut behind them.
And they didn’t need to be told they weren’t alone.
CHAPTER 9
This cell-block has teeth.
Damien pressed his hand against the side of his head and for the first time winced from the dull throb beating beneath his fingers. It was as if the very sight unfolding before him were eating at his grey matter and sending him headlong into some kind of mad oblivion. But he didn’t have the time to wonder about his own mental health.
The cell-block had teeth, literal mouths in place of barred doors, and they were all gnashing, chattering, slavering, and howling. Some had lips, others just folded, crooked skin. Most were hurling obscenities and blasphemies in a cacophony of whispers too meek to be coming out of openings as tall as doors.
There was a man in the cell-block, too; someone in a uniform was sauntering down the row of gnashing mouths and rattling a baton against teeth as he passed them. The recognition was instant. Damien’s cousin Henry wasn’t a particularly noteworthy man, but he was tall, stork thin, and had a long nose which, along with a full head of black hair, sometimes made him look like a crow.
And like a crow, his eyes were reflective and bright.
“Inmate,” he said, pointing his baton toward them. “You’re out of your cells.”
“Damien,” Lily said, “Stay behind me.”
He didn’t argue with her, but not because he didn’t want to. His body was taut as and tense as a guitar string and he simply couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. It had been his cousin who came for him in the alley, his cousin who concocted whatever spell he used to keep Natalie trapped inside her own mind.
Natalie .
“We’re not inmates,” Lily said.
“You are now,” he said, approaching. “Like what I’ve done with the place?”
“Where is Natalie?”
“That shouldn’t matter to you, sweetheart. What should matter to you is what’s going to happen next.”
“And what’s that?”
“Why spoil the surprise? It’ll be here soon enough.”
“The Dark Fire?”
A sly grin spread across Henry’s lips, which looked cracked and broken from where Damien stood. “It’s coming for you,” he said. “I called it, just like you two little bastards did.”
“We didn’t call it,” Damien said, stepping forward. “Your dad called it.”
“And you made him lose control of it!” A line of spittle ran down his lips when he spoke.
“He was going to kill that kid, Henry.”
“And that would have been the only person to have died if you hadn’t gotten involved, you little shit.”
Damien could feel his heart racing. Every pump sent daggers of pain to the side of his head, but he shut them out. He could hear rumbling now, from outside, and that wasn’t good. He could also hear the roar of the crowd, that night at the Compound, as the witches gathered around the pyre venerated the High Magus in a language unknown to human tongues. The boy was a lamb, and the Magus was about to summon the wolf that would devour him and take his soul away.
The boy’s terrified face still stalked his dreams sometimes, even though they had saved his life that night.
“You stood there,” Lily said, her voice soft, “And you watched, Henry. You just watched. How could you stand by and let him do what he was going to do to that poor boy?”
“It was a gift, Lilith. A gift to the Crone. As she reaps, so do we sow. When she is happy, we flourish.”
“The Crone doesn’t take human lives like that!”
“Oh but she does,” Henry said, “She takes lives, Lilith. The Crone is
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