Breaker (Ondine Quartet Book 4) (47 page)

Dylan and his father were killed in an Aquidae attack in the Selkie Kingdom, but rumors of their break-up had spread like wildfire in the Redavi community. Her so-called friends had been among those who’d openly disapproved of Amber’s actions.

“Yeah, but my mom forced me to make up with them for social reasons.” She wrinkled her nose. “We’ve been doing the fake smiling, fake friends thing for a few weeks now.”

Sounded exhausting. “You guys can’t stay.”

“Wha - why?” She pulled back slightly and frowned. “Why are you —“
 

“Kendra.” The bartender joined us, flashing a warm smile.

A friend of Aubrey’s, I’d first met Todd a few months ago when he brought me into Silk for the first time.

Built more like a bodybuilder than a computer nerd, Todd had bleached-blonde hair shorn close to his head and a silver stud pierced in his bottom lip. Colorful, intricate tattoos decorated his neck and hands.

“How’s Redgrrl doing? Haven’t caught her online recently.”

I gave a half-hearted smile. “She’s good. Busy.”

Amber shifted, casting a pointed look my way. I quickly made introductions and he left to get my water and Amber’s complicated drink.

“How did you get in?”

“Bouncer was distracted, flirting with some girl. He was buying something off her.”
 

“No, I mean how did you shake your gardinel and get out of Haverleau?’

“Oh.” She leaned in, her eyes bright with excitement. “Did you know there’s this access trail at the back of the Academy that no one ever uses?’

“Yeah. Who told you?’

She deflated at my lack of interest. “Chloe.”

Great. That info was probably already blasted across their Facebook profiles which meant everyone at the Academy knew.

I’d have to mention something to Jeeves so there wasn’t a mass exodus of partiers.

“Here you go, princess.” Todd returned, sliding a fluorescent pink drink decorated with a pair of green and purple umbrellas in front of Amber.

She stiffened. “I’m not a princess.”

Music pounded, the same repetitive beat over and over again

“What’s that?” Todd picked up a wet glass and wiped it with a clean cloth.

“I’m not a princess!” she repeated, loud enough to attract a few stares.

“Sure,” Todd said easily. “You want me to add another umbrella? I have a yellow one that completes the set.”
 

Amber scowled. The corners of his mouth tilted up slightly.

“Listen.” I leaned in. “We’re in the middle of a mission. It’s not safe.”

Amber’s gaze flickered around the room. She spotted our booth in the back.

“With that Clairvoyant? Brigette?”
 

“How do you know her?”

“Is that a baby?” she asked, aghast.

“Amber. Focus.”

She shrugged. “Chloe told me about her.”

Now wasn’t the time to feel hurt that Chloe was telling Amber everything.
 

“Okay, so you know Brigette’s pretty important. What’s happening tonight isn’t safe. I need you to leave.”

She took a sip of her drink, watching me over the curve of the glass. Her eyes widened slightly. She took another sip.

“Did you hear me?” I said, impatient. “I know it’s your birthday but you can’t stay.”

The prickling sensation at the back of my neck was growing stronger.

“How is it?” Todd wiped down the counter beside us.

“What?”

“The drink.”

Amber took another sip. “It’s okay.”

“Just okay, huh?” He shook his head. “I’ve gotta up my game.”

A slight flush crept up Amber’s neck.
 

Lovely. “You need to go.”
 

“Uh-huh.” Amber watched Todd take a couple’s order at the other end of the bar. “What’s so special about this place?”

“I don’t know.”

“But you just said it’s a mission.”

“Well, yeah. Sort of.” Exasperated, I shook my head. “I’m looking for a clue —“

“Like what?” Her eyes brightened. “I can help you find it.”

I took a deep breath. The anxiety rattling my nerves was getting worse by the minute. Music grated against my skull, worsening the headache building behind my eye.
 

I didn’t like this.

Tristan caught my gaze. Two gardinels had arrived and waited beside him,
pedaillons
glimmering in the fancy bar lighting.

Good. He’d arranged for their ride.

I nodded at her pseudo-friends, who were now dancing on the floor with two college guys. “Think about Cara and Jaime. It’s not safe for them.”

She considered for a few seconds. Finally, she nodded and walked over to her friends.

I breathed a sigh of relief and watched them head over to Tristan. Cara and Jaime definitely did not look happy.

With an earnest expression, Amber spoke to Tristan and the gardinels for another minute. Tristan’s expression was severe, but he gave a short nod.

Cara and Jaime left with the two selkies. Amber returned.

“What are you doing?”

She settled onto the stool beside me. “Helping. Where did Todd go?”

I briefly shut my eyes and willed the headache throbbing behind my eye to disappear.

I needed to take up meditation.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Supposed to? Are you my mother now or something?”
 

“Your presence screws up the vision. You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Ooh.” Amber twirled the umbrella in her drink. “What vision?”

“Brigette saw images of people here at the bar. Specific people that doesn’t include you.”

“I don’t get it.” Amber frowned. “How can you be sure I wasn’t here? Maybe I’m supposed to be here but she just didn’t see that particular image.”
 

Of all the Virtues, Clairvoyance was the most imprecise and Brigette hadn’t learned to master and control it like my mother had.

But I still didn’t want to take a risk with her.

Todd emerged from the back room, carrying another case of beer. “I see you decided to stay.”

Amber shrugged. “Maybe this place isn’t that bad.”

He placed the case down and straightened. His mouth curved into a small smile. Cute.

“Or my drink wasn’t that bad?”

She played with the stem of her glass. “I didn’t say that.”

“Maybe I can make you something that’ll change your mind —“ His gaze focused on the bar entrance. “What is he doing?”
 

The persistent prickling at the back of my neck exploded into full-blown ice.

The bouncer who manned the front entrance strode in. I’d seen him during our initial reconnaissance. A six-three tower of muscle, he wore intimidation like a second skin.
 

He waited along the edge of the dance floor and surveyed the bar.

I stood slowly. Something was wrong.
 

His gaze turned toward us and I caught his eyes.

Flinty, grey eyes reflected something unnatural.
 

An icy void, as empty and dark as space itself, as if he were being eaten up from within.

Tristan approached him from the right, his brow furrowed in concern. To the left, Blaise and Ethan also stood, their bodies tensed as they slowly moved out of the booth.

And in the very back of the bar, appearing and reappearing through the screen of swaying bodies, was Brigette.

She held Nathaniel close, her profile soft with love and joy as she bent down and kissed her son on the forehead.

A second passed, two maybe.

Just enough time to realize we were in deep shit.

And then all hell broke loose.

***

The bouncer reached beneath his jacket as if in a trance. The muzzle of the gun glinted in the silvery light.

He aimed at the ceiling.

“Shit.” Todd moved.

“Get down!” I grabbed Amber and shoved her to the ground.

Two shots fired in quick succession.

Pandemonium erupted.

Screams ricocheted off the walls and the music abruptly stopped.
 

Tristan was already in motion, slipping his way through the panicked crowd.
 

I had to get to Brigette.

Amber’s face was white, her arms trembling beneath my hands.

“Follow me,” I mouthed.

She gave a shaky nod.

We made our way around the counter, staying low to the ground. Todd crouched near the small sink.

“How many of you are here?”

“What?”

He grabbed a gun from under the counter and clicked off the safety. “Elementals, Kendra. You have Princess here, the ondine with the baby, and that tall, dark selkie. Who else?”

“Two more demillirs. White-blonde hair and red-hair.” I’d never really noticed how sharp Todd’s eyes were. “Law enforcement?”

“Something like that.”

Damn, Aubrey knew the coolest people.

Todd stood and aimed the revolver.

“Put it down, Al,” he said calmly.

I inched toward the side of the counter to take stock.

The bar had already cleared out. Only the faint scent of sweat and perfume and a few unfinished drinks showed that the place had been filled earlier.

Tristan had already disarmed Al and had his arms locked behind his back.

Blaise and Ethan brought Brigette over to the counter,
kouperets
at their sides. Brigette held Nathaniel tight to her chest. All the color had drained from her face.

“Get behind the bar.”

Brigette ducked, joining Amber beneath the counter.
 

“Al, you don’t need to do this.” Todd inched forward, his sights trained on the bouncer struggling in Tristan’s hold. “We can talk about whatever it is.”

Something didn’t fit.

I stood. “Why are you doing this?”

Al stopped. Hate-filled eyes focused on me. “Because all of you deserve to die.”

He’d had a clear shot. He could’ve hurt anyone in the vicinity.

Instead, he’d fired at the ceiling as if he’d wanted to cause a commotion to chase all the humans out.

Leaving us inside.

“Al,” I said slowly, “why didn’t you shoot us?”

“Because I’m not the one who’s going to kill you.” He smiled. “They’re coming.”

Icy fear shot down my spine and goose bumps ran over my arms. “We need to get out of here —“

The door burst open.

Aquidae stormed through the entrance. Their oppressive blood tainted the air.

“Tristan!”
 

He flung Al to the side and whipped out of the way of the incoming horde. At least two dozen Aquidae raced through the front doors, a whirl of suffocating energy.
 

They gathered along the room’s perimeter and waited.

The hairs on my arms stood on end.

Scabbard strolled in last. Tall, slender, and as pale as the moonlight, he looked at me with dead eyes.

He turned and with deliberate movements, locked the door behind him.

We were now trapped in Silk with two dozen Aquidae and the person responsible for turning Ian into a monster.

This night had transformed from a cosmic joke to my own worst personal nightmare.

Rage ignited. I wasn’t letting him out of here alive.

The world snapped back.

The Aquidae charged.

Tristan’s
kouperet
blazed, streaking a path of destruction easy to follow.

With precision and might, the Warrior Prince struck.
 

Four meticulously placed blows.
 

Four bodies.

His lithe figure darted directly through the center of the horde. I raced into the mass and cut my way toward him.

My blade cleaved across a back, a chest, a stomach. Blood spattered my face and slicked the floor.

We met, in the center of violence and war, shrouded in our own veil of unspoken truths.

Dark eyes met mine, hot with adrenaline and the fury of battle.

In silence, we carved a path to the counter together.

A shot rang out. Another.

Todd methodically fired at every Aquidae launching toward the bar, providing effective cover. His shots were precise, but the bullets were standard issue, not Essence-infused.
 

Still, they slowed the demons down and created enough of a barrier to take cover.
 

My dagger whipped through the air. Left, left, right. Thrust.

I sliced through three demons, tearing through their throat, arms, and ribs.
 

Tristan and I dove behind the counter. Pain spiked up my screwy knee and I clenched my teeth.

Don’t give out now.

Blaise and Ethan protected the right side of the bar while Todd covered the left. Amber and Brigette huddled under the counter together, Nathaniel tucked between them.

There were three entry points into Silk. Main entrance, fire exit along the east wall, and the back entrance to the storage room.

All were likely blocked and I didn’t want to chance exiting into another horde of Aquidae.
 

Todd fired another shot, his back lining up with mine.
 

“We need another way out of here!”

“Tunnel beneath the bar!” he yelled. “Entrance in the back office.”

Clearing the area was the only option if we wanted to eliminate pursuit.

We would have to fight our way through.

Ethan rammed his foot into a lunging Aquidae. “What’s the plan, Irisavie?”

Tristan looked at me, his face betraying nothing. Amber nervously clenched and unclenched her hands. Even Todd momentarily stopped shooting as if he were listening.

I took a breath. “Tristan and I will take the front. The rest of you secure Brigette and Nathanial. Once we get clear, Todd will lead us to the tunnel.”

Everyone nodded.
 

“Let’s go.”

Amber’s face tightened with fear but she joined Todd and faced the demons. She was ready.

Tristan looked at me. “Ready?”

I took a deep breath. Time to face my own monster.

We breathed.

As one, we jumped and slid across the counter.

Two Aquidae lunged, arms outstretched.

Both hands whipped out, dagger in my right,
kouperet
in my left. The blades slashed cleanly across their throats, ripping the Origins.