The Shadow: The Original's Trilogy Read online

  Her stomach flipped. “Dunc, come back here.” She didn’t like how close he stood to that thing. Scorpion stingers made up the jagged teeth protruding from its mouth. “It’s an avatar.”

  He glanced over his shoulder. “What?”

  “That is an avatar.” Augustina had said she’d be able to see the actual Watcher, but she wasn’t seeing anything different from Duncan and Harry. “Watchers are invisible.” How the hell was she supposed to see this thing if it was invisible? “They were stripped of their flesh as part of their punishment so the Watchers couldn’t conspire with each other. He’s using the insects to create a way to interact with us.”

  Duncan glanced at her. “But you can see it? Augustina said you could.”

  “I don’t know. He might be under all those bugs.”

  She stuck her hand into her pocket to get the stones. “Great Watcher, a gift for thee.” Duncan’s handkerchief came out with the stones and she turned to the side, away from everyone to stuff it back in. With the stones in her hands, she straightened and held her cupped hands out above her bowed head.

  And what should I do with those? Spend the next millennia polishing them?

  She lowered her hands. Shit. “I’d like to offer you a gift. What would you like?”

  A gift or a bribe? The dragon came closer still, the mouth hanging open to showcase the stinging bugs. I want electronics in every tower on Machon. That is a gift I will put to good use.

  She frowned. “He wants us to put electronics in the towers.”

  “That’s how the Watchers communicate with the Guardians.” Duncan gave her a meaningful glance. “The Watchers can control electronics—talk through them.”

  Kasdeja and the others would be able to talk among themselves. Conspire without anyone else seeing their messages. She may gain his favor by doing as he asked, but the goddess wouldn’t be pleased. “No.”

  The dragon opened his giant maw.

  “Run!” They all ran, spreading out.

  She and Duncan dove underneath the dragon’s chin as the first tendrils of fire burst from beast’s mouth. She didn’t see Harry and the place they’d been standing was an inferno of fire now. “Harry!”

  Charred, blackened, and burning bugs dropped around her as she regained her feet. She slapped at her hair and clothes, brushing them away.

  Duncan yanked her to the side, keeping her from being stomped by the dragon’s clawed feet. She stumbled to her knees.

  He helped her up, took her hand, jerking her into motion. “We gotta get out from under it.”

  “Where’s Harry?” She didn’t see him. “Harry!”

  Duncan led her first one way, then another, trying to find their way out from underneath the dragon, but between the avatar’s movements and sheer size of it they remained below it, no matter which way he went.

  Her vision blurred and she swiped the tears from her eyes. Where was he? Her heart slammed against her ribs. “Harry?”

  Duncan shouted for him, too.

  “Way to go, Lopez. I think you pissed it off.”

  Harry sounded like he’d made it to the far side, near the door.

  Duncan squeezed her hand. Shouted to Harry, “Get outta here.”

  Harry’s denial echoed through the chamber. “Not without you.”

  They dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding a clawed foot. “I’m going to throttle the little shite.”

  When Harry came into view, he was standing still, as if he’d forgotten how to move. George wasn’t with him. Had the Watcher gotten the little creature?

  “Duncan.” She pointed.

  The dragon took notice at the same time. Lumbered toward him.

  “Move your arse,” Duncan yelled.

  The dragon’s head swung around, zeroing in on Harry.

  The lad ducked, raising his arms over his head, before being consumed by flames. At the same time, the dragon’s tail swished past them, catching Duncan square in the chest. She lost her grip on his hand as he was thrown across the room. He landed in a heap next to the Watcher’s unwanted hoard of jewels.

  She glanced back to where she’d last seen Harry . . . and gaped. No less than half a dozen Harrys—one quite crispy—dodged about the room.

  Harry’s a splitter, yeah. I’m a shifter. At least she now knew what a splitter was.

  All the Harry’s headed for the door, zinging across the chamber to avoid swiping paws, snapping jaws and bursts of flame.

  All except one—the one with George flattened against the boy’s chest, hissing at the dragon over his shoulder. He hauled ass across the chamber, straight for Duncan.

  She’d had enough. Thinking to draw the beast’s attention away from them, she called out, “Kasdeja!” Her voice reverberated through the chamber. “Choose a different gift. One I can offer without offending the goddess.”

  You. He continued to chase Harry’s copies around the room. I want to remember what it’s like to have flesh while we talk.

  He wanted to possess her. Wasn’t that how the other Watcher escaped?

  Stones pinged across the floor as Duncan scrambled out of the Watcher’s stash.

  Kasdeja swung round.

  If she left her body while he . . . borrowed it . . . it would limit the time Kasdeja could stay inside her. A body couldn’t exist without its essence. And Duncan knew what questions to ask.

  Fire blazed from Kasdeja’s mouth as he zeroed in on Duncan.

  “Okay!” She closed her eyes. She might regret this. “I agree but you can’t harm us. You have to answer all our questions.”

  The fire subsided. The dragon turned back to her. Deal.

  The dragon walked around her, looming closer.

  *****

  Though Duncan didn’t know the particulars, he didn’t like this. Lines of strain appeared around Trina’s mouth, her eyes, and tension made her shoulders stiff.

  He got to his feet and ran. “Wait.”

  Trina’s eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped to the floor.

  “What happened?” Harry ran toward her, too.

  By the time he reached her, her body started jerking back into motion. She gained her feet through a series of halting, toddler-like motions. Her spine straightened, then her neck. Her eyelids opened. The back of her eyes filled her sockets; an empty, unseeing whiteness.

  Behind her the dragon dismantled, the ungoverned insects behaving again as they should.

  “Your request,” came a deep voice from her slack mouth. Her knees bent. Straightened. Her arms went out to the sides and her limp hands flapped.

  Harry wet his lips. “Make him get out.”

  Yeah, this was wrong. What the hell was he doing with her? “Look, mate.” His hand went to his blade, pulling it from the sheath. “How ’bout ya come back outta there.”

  Trina’s slack mouth opened around Kasdeja’s laughter.

  Shivers raced across his skin. Damn it. What now? “You got your gift. What else do ya want?”

  “Perhaps I want freedom.”

  Right. And how would they stop him now that he had Trina’s body? “That’s beyond my humble capabilities, mate. This is a prison, in’nit?”

  “You don’t know much, vampire. I can leave. I just need a host. No one would be wiser until I was long gone and this tower began to crumble.” Trina’s face came close, her sightless eyes staring into his. “I could use you.” She swung drunkenly toward Harry, and George swatted her. “Or you. Or even this one.” Her hands slid up her torso, over her breasts. “I like this one.”

  “Don’t.” He held up his blade. “Don’t touch her.”

  “Or what?” Eerie laughter bubbled out of Trina’s mouth again. “Will you destroy me with your blade? Sacrifice her to save her virtue?”

  Shite. “Maybe.”

  “Ha! I feel nothing. No pain. No pleasure.” Her hands stroked over her body again. “But here’s the key: She does. I could crush her from the inside out and I wouldn’t feel a thing. But she would.”

&nbs
p; “Stop.” Harry pinned Duncan with a glare. “He’s stalling. Get him to answer your questions.”

  Trina focused on Harry. “You’ve yet to ask and your chance to do so is dwindling.”

  Harry elbowed Duncan. “Ask.”

  Duncan’s gaze shifted from Harry to Trina’s vacant expression. “Dwindling how?”

  “Your little witch didn’t want to chance me taking her body, so she left. If she’s away from her shell too long she may never find her way back before it dies.”

  “Hurry, D.”

  He wasn’t sure what, or how to ask. The legends said the Watchers couldn’t lie, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t withhold important facts or twist the details to suit themselves.

  “Jesus, Duncan. Did you hear him? We have to hurry.”

  He held up his hand. “Belt up, I’m thinking.” This Watcher had never seen Trina before. He had no idea whose body he possessed or what that body could do. Shite. He didn’t want to feed information to the bastard without knowing if he was on their side or not.

  “Before we start, yeah, I want you to tell me exactly what your punishment is.” The Watchers weren’t supposed to interact with each other, but now that one possessed Crowley—did Kasdeja know about him?

  “Confinement from my brothers—I cannot see or hear them inside this tower or out.”

  Harry pulled George off his head, and relocated him to his shoulder. “Who are your brothers?”

  “The angels.”

  Duncan asked, “Why were you punished?”

  “Have you ever watched someone struggle to do something you find simple? Watch them stumbling along when you could pick them up and carry them a short distance? That is the main reason we came to Earth. Ancient humans never mastered their environment. They lived short, strife-ridden lives, unable to conquer the elements, the animals, even the flora. How many times did I watch them poison themselves as they experimented in search of food or medicine? How many men died on the hunt due to inferior weapons and tactics? Or froze? We could stand their suffering no longer. Not when we had the answers.”

  “You expect us to believe you wanted to help?” Harry asked.

  “Sometimes even the worst disasters are inlaid with the best of intentions. Though we also had selfish reasons for what we did. We struck a deal with the humans: Their daughters for our knowledge. We were gods among the men and they jumped at the chance to know what we did. We taught the humans to make more efficient weapons and we taught them strategy. They created war. We taught them medicine. They used it to kill. We taught them Magic and they bastardized that as well. All the while worshiping us for our gifts. We saw our actions were evil and we turned on the men we once tried to help.

  “We bit our wives, wanting to turn them to daemons to hurt their fathers and brothers. We’d seen it done when our brother Samael turned his mate Lilith into a daemon. But our mates didn’t have the powerful Magic of the Original. They didn’t turn into a vampire-witch daemon, they transformed into Nephilim. And the Nephilim turned on their families and friends. We could not destroy our own kin. So, we watched them multiply.

  “By the fifth bite removed from ours, the Nephilim retained something of themselves from before the change. Less powerful, they retained their humanity. These creatures were unlike the Nephilim. They had more of the characteristics that the Original developed when her mate bit her. So we called them vampires. But it was too late. God created the great flood to destroy the Nephilim. And we were punished for seventy generations in the great lake of fire. And now those of us who are repentant live in the towers, helping keep the balance.”

  Duncan leaned down to brush a scorpion from his pant leg. The fucking things were everywhere. “Where are the un-repentant Watchers?”

  “Some of our brothers still wallow in the flames, refusing to repent. Some have been destroyed. Watchers aren’t much different from humans. Some accepted our failure. Others blamed men or God. They’re the ones you must be prepared for—the wayward Watchers.”

  George sat up on his hind legs, swatting a large flying bug into his mouth. It crunched wetly as he chewed.

  Harry gave him a pat. “How do we destroy a wayward Watcher?”

  “Do you know his name?”

  Duncan shook his head.

  “Then you can’t destroy him.”

  Fuck.

  He shared a look with Harry, who kicked the ash at his feet. “This is a waste of time. He’s not going to help us. I bet he wants Armageddon.”

  “I do not,” Kasdeja said. “But if you do not ask the right question, I cannot give you the answers you seek. I do not read minds. . . .” He narrowed Trina’s eyes into slits. “I have not seen you for a while, Duncan Samael Sinclair. Why is that?”

  Samael. The Original’s mate. That’s why Trina had stared at him gape-mouthed when he’d told her his name. So she knew they were mated. She knew and she’d still tried to end things. This can’t happen again.

  Kasdeja repeated his question. “Where have you been, vampire?”

  Kasdeja would figure things out right quick if he gave him too much time to think. “Okay, if we can’t destroy a wayward Watcher, can we imprison him?”

  “Maybe. If you lure him here. The easiest—” Trina’s eyes widened. A too-wide smile stretched her lips. “Yes. It would be easiest if you had the cooperation of the Original.” Kasdeja giggled and Trina’s arms wrapped around herself. “Sneaky, sneaky witch.”

  Duncan took a step closer. Pointed his blade at her. “I will destroy her before I allow you to use her, so don’t try it.”

  “Your hand is shaking, daemon.”

  “Don’t test me.”

  Kasdeja leaned forward until the point of his blade pressed against the soft hallow of Trina’s throat. “You’re a lucky vampire. Lucky, lucky, lucky. I’m the one who sent you to her.” He straightened. “Bring Lilith to Machon. The two women must unite and become the Original. Together, she can raise a tower and force the wayward Watcher within.”

  “How do they unite?” Duncan asked.

  “They will know.”

  It must be instinctual. Something they’d know when they needed to unite.

  “The Original has always been most powerful here, under the light of the full moon. But you must wait for the wayward Watcher’s weakest moment, when the moon is new on Earth. That gives you two nights to prepare.”

  “Prepare for what?”

  “War.” Trina’s sightless eyes stared straight into Duncan. “Do you think the wayward Watcher will come willingly? If he is wayward, he will use everything at his disposal to fight. Gather your allies.”

  “And the coven can summon Cr—?” Shite, that was close. “The coven can summon the being the Watcher possessed?”

  The corner of Trina’s mouth curved. “Got himself stuck, did he?” He giggled again. “And I must assume he possessed a daemon, since humans cannot be summoned.”

  Shite.

  “They must know the daemon’s full name. This isn’t a spell the Grigori coven will have ever used. It’s dark Magic. Try looking within the Black Book of Daemonology.”

  “Do you know his name, D?” Harry asked. “His whole name?”

  “I don’t.” He didn’t know as though anyone would. Had no way of knowing how long the Watcher had possessed Crowley, though he assumed it was around the time of the Clearances. Somehow, it was all connected.

  “You could ask me.” Kasdeja made Trina spin on one foot. Stumbled. Righted herself.

  “Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

  “I would.” Kesdeja’s playfulness vanished. “I find I do not like to be surprised. I did not like finding you in my tower and not realizing you were coming. I do not like not knowing what there is to know.” Kasdeja lifted Trina’s arms, stroked her fingers through her hair. “I do kind of like having a body again.”

  “Stop.” He took a threatening step forward.

  “You’ll hurt her.” Harry stalled him with a hand to his chest. He
leaned close and whispered, “What’s the likelihood anyone will know his middle name?”

  “I don’t know.” Duncan threw his hands up. “This sucks.” Crowley was far older than him. He had to assume Pasquino didn’t know Crowley’s full name, because he and Lilith had never tried summoning him. He’d have to take the risk and ask Kasdeja because he sure as hell wasn’t coming back for more information later. “Crowley. Julius Crowley.”

  “Now that’s a name I haven’t heard for a long time. I’d forgotten he existed.” Trina’s eyes closed. “The Tanin’iver, Julius Elisha Crowley. He’s a very old soul. Maybe the oldest of all the souls.”

  “Thank you.” He nodded. They could summon Crowley now. “Can you get the coven here?”

  “Yes. Right now, they fight the Nephilim. When they are done, I will send them to the Citadel to meet you.”

  “And the Guardians?”

  “I am sorry. The Guardians are gone. Only you and James still live—at least as far as I can see.”

  Bloody hell. All of them? That was most everyone he knew.

  “Your time comes to an end, vampire. If you have more questions, ask them quickly.”

  “No, we’re do—”

  Duncan held up his hand to stay Harry. “Can she hear us? Trina?”

  Harry smacked his arm. “What are you doing? Get him out of her.”

  “Yes. Though most beings don’t remember anything after they wake from possession.”

  “This mated thing . . . If she doesn’t . . . ” Want me. “If she decides she doesn’t want to be mated, how do I release her from the bond?”

  “Die.”

  Bullshite. “Come on. There has to be another way. We can’t be the first mated pair in history that doesn’t suit.”

  “You’re not. There once was a witch who thought so little of her mate, she sacrificed him to the greater good.”

  “And what happened?”

  “Everything affects everything else, daemon. Her ambitions were greater than her love, and now, here you are, looking for a way to stop what she started. Souls migrate to those they’ve known before. Everything is connected.”