Relativity (A Sage Hannigan Time Warper Novel #2) Read online

  I changed weapons, pulling my blades free from the holster on my back. I nodded to Aldwin as he brought his sword to the ready just as a shout rang out and hisses and growls sounded from all around us in the dark. So much for a quiet entry.

  Trina began chanting just as several vampires launched themselves at our small group. Screeching pierced the night and fighting came from all directions. A full-out battle raged all around us. Aldwin lifted his weapon and a strange blue glow caressed the blade of the samurai sword he held. The energy crackled and popped as he swung the sword in front of him. He was clearly a master swordsman.

  “Fae royalty,” a vampire hissed out, his fangs gleaming in the otherworldly glow emanating from Aldwin’s sword. Those were the only words he uttered before Aldwin nearly cleaved the vampire in two. I blinked in astonishment. I had never seen Aldwin battle, and he had completely unleashed his fae abilities. The sight was truly mesmerizing. I was backing up with Trina behind me as our fae bodyguard was battling two more vampires when a growl so deep I could feel its vibrations in the soles of my feet stopped me in my tracks.

  “I’m thinking that isn’t a puppy,” Trina whispered. I swung around and came face to face with wolf so large it could’ve crushed someone’s skull with one of its mammoth-sized paws.

  “Definitely not a puppy,” I remarked. “Just stay behind me.”

  “I’ve got no plans to go anywhere,” she said dryly.

  The oversized wolf snorted air through his nostrils and slammed one massive paw on the ground in front of him, his eyes never leaving mine. I’m pretty sure it was the wolf equivalent of “Come get some,” but I stood there frozen to the same spot, with no idea how to attack an animal so large and with so many friggin’ teeth. The wolf snorted as if he had read my thoughts, but he had no such reservations as he launched himself in our direction. I shouted for Trina to get out of the way as I raised my swords and threw my powers at the oversized flea bag. Unfortunately, my powers were already on the fritz and the animal only froze for several seconds, giving me just enough time to dodge his attack, but not from being knocked off my feet by his enormous body.

  I crashed into Trina several feet away and sent both of us sprawling to the ground. I jumped just in time to dodge an attack from a vampire holding nothing back. Unlike many of the other vampires I’d battled, this vampire seemed to know what he was doing. He used his speed and dexterity as much as he did the sword in his hand. I found myself out of breath and barely keeping up with the vampire, a side effect of having used my waning powers. Another snarl came from the wolf nearby, and I had a moment of absolute terror course through me when I realized I wouldn’t be able to kill the vampire before the wolf was upon us.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw the wolf charge as I deflected yet another blow of my opponent’s sword. With all the energy I had left, I shoved every single ounce of warper juice I could muster into the vampire. He froze immediately—just long enough for me to shove my dagger into his heart. I swung around, ready to be trampled by the oncoming monstrosity of a wolf, when a dark figure landed on its back. I didn’t have time to raise my sword, but it didn’t matter. The wolf collapsed two feet away from me with a knife protruding from the back of its neck. Soren jumped off the prone figure of the wolf just as it began to morph back into its human form.

  My legs wobbled slightly when my brain caught up to how close I’d been to becoming wolf chow. I’d just opened my mouth to thank Soren when his eyes glanced behind me and widened. A split second later, I heard a loud feminine battle cry sound from behind me. I jerked around just in time to see the head of the vampire I’d shoved my sword through fly from his shoulders so close to me that I felt spatters of blood pelt my face. I blinked a few times, trying to clear my vision, only to see Trina standing in front of me with her arm still extended and holding one of my twin blades which resulted in the deadly blow she’d just dealt the vampire. I walked over to her and put my hand over her shaking ones and helped her lower the blade. Her eyes never left the body on the ground. I remembered what I’d felt like the first time I’d beheaded a vampire. It wasn’t a good memory.

  “Is she going to be okay?” Soren asked from behind me.

  “She’ll be fine.” I spoke, my eyes still on Trina. “Trina? You have to put this out of your mind tonight. You can give into what you’re feeling later. Right now we have to get to Colleen.” I shook her slightly. Her eyes were still unfocused so I raised my hand, wondering if a slap would bring her back to her senses.

  “You slap me and I’ll put a nasty hex on your girl parts,” she snapped. I smiled and put my hand down. “What’s going on?” she asked as she glanced around us. I turned around, suddenly aware of the stillness of the night. Soren and Aldwin came over, both of them with concerned looks on their faces.

  “There weren’t as many guards as we counted earlier today,” Aldwin commented.

  “There isn’t any activity in the house that I can sense, either,” Soren added.

  “You think Absalom is leading us into a trap?” I asked. I knew it was a possibility the entire time, but it was looking more and more likely that was the case. No matter what, I had to go into the house. I knew Colleen was there. I could feel her presence, and I could feel the curse sapping away my powers.

  “Only one way to find out,” Soren said grimly. Trina handed me my blade back and we all stalked up to the large, unguarded house. I was unable to shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Even if we had won the battle outside, the war was far from over.

  The door swung open and banged against the wall, echoing in the empty house as we entered—alert and with our weapons drawn. Something slid lightly over my body, like a thin film, as I stepped over the threshold of the doorway. No one said anything, though, so I figured it was some sort of witch-enabled security alarm. Soren and Aldwin fanned out and started going from room to room, searching for any sign of Colleen.

  “Where is everyone?” Trina whispered. I was wondering the same thing. A creak came from behind me and I swung around with my blades, just missing Milena by an inch. She narrowed her eyes into thin slits.

  “Careful, warper,” she hissed. Absalom was just behind her, his eyes wide in shock and disbelief.

  “Where is everyone? What happened here?” he asked as he began walking through the living room.

  I’m not sure what drew me towards the back of the house—maybe it was some infinitesimal noise, maybe it was the slightest shift in the air, and maybe it was just pure dumb luck. Whatever it was, I opened a sliding door just as the back door to the sprawling house swung shut. I raced forward to wrench the door open, aware that Trina was still following close by. I saw a vampire pulling a figure covered in a red hooded cape along by her arm. The vampire came upon the outer brick wall, but it was apparent immediately he wasn’t going to let anything slow him down and nothing stand in his way. The vampire struck out with just one arm and the brick wall in front of him crumbled like a wrecking ball had just swung through it. I stood there, momentarily dazed by the brute strength of the vampire before launching myself off of the steps leading up to the back door, afraid I’d lose them if I didn’t move quickly. I heard Trina’s heavy breathing as she sprinted to keep up with me.

  “Sage!” Soren’s face was frantic, his eyes wide as he ran himself over and over into an invisible barrier at the doorway of the back door. I stumbled to a halt, wondering what had happened. Trina skidded to a stop next to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me to keep going, to help her find Colleen so she could lift the curse.

  “We can’t help them right now. I think the house was warded…once everyone went into the house, it became a prison to anyone not a human,” she said breathlessly.

  I remembered the tingling, the film-like substance I’d felt myself walk through. Someone only wanted me. I pulled her to a stop once again, unable to leave them like that. If anything happened to them…

  “Don’t worry. I can break the ward, but if we go back now, we�
��ll lose Colleen…maybe for good,” Trina said quickly. “You need to make a choice right now.” I glanced back and saw Soren still slamming his fist against the barrier and Aldwin’s alarmed face in the window he’d been trying to break with a chair. I swallowed and made the only choice I could in the circumstances.

  “Let’s go get Colleen.”

  My feet flew over the front lawn, and we stumbled through the gaping hole in the brick wall left by the vampire who had taken Colleen. Trina kept up with me as we ran as if our very lives depended upon it. Colleen’s might very well have. When we ran a few more yards, our feet sank into the white sands of the beach the house was situated close to. Waves crashed onto the beach. The scent of salt water and ocean life on the night’s breeze tickled the hairs around my face as I searched the coastline for any sign of the vampire or Colleen.

  “Holy shit,” Trina muttered. I couldn’t have agreed more. I swallowed as the scene before me came into focus. Standing on the beach, with waves washing up around their knees, the vampire held Colleen close to his body. Her hood had been jerked off her head and her long, straight, pale blond hair whipped out all around her in the ocean breeze. She looked like a bewitching siren come from the ocean to seduce unsuspecting mortals to a watery grave. Her gray eyes were wide but not frightened. They were weary and…determined. Directly in front of the vampire and Colleen was Cerberus. Not Cerberus, as in the clandestine society I’d dealt with back in 1904—no, that I could have handled. Instead, I was looking directly into the face of Hell itself, or at least the supposedly mythological guard dogs of Hell. The three-headed dog snarled and gnashed its teeth, causing the hairs on the nape of my neck to stand on end. I fought the intense desire to run from the monstrosity staring at us. It stood higher than any mortal dog. Its body was a sleek mass of black muscle pulled taunt over its enormous skeletal body. Each head was twice the size of a human skull. Drooling lips were drawn back in a permanent snarl, and its ears were slightly pointed and drawn back like it had heard the sound of prey and was warning them away.

  “How long will it take you to break the curse, Trina?” I whispered as we slowly approached the three-headed Hell spawn. My powers were completely gone since I was so close to Colleen. No powers, no supernatural back-up, and the pissed off guard dog of Hell. I’d call that up shit creek without a paddle.

  “Not too long. How long can you hold that thing off? What about the vampire?” I shook my head. I had no idea how we would do it, but I knew we’d give it our best shot and just pray we wouldn’t die trying. Trina immediately began chanting. Her aura began glowing in pale, golden waves around her, and her eyes rolled back in a trance-like state.

  “Thanks for the warning,” I muttered. I was only a yard or two away from Cerberus when the triple-headed monster swung its heads in my direction. A growl erupted from its lips, and it bared razor-sharp teeth in warning. It was there to guard the vampire holding Colleen. I gulped and slowly approached the trio. I was once again out of my element, unsure of what to do except to buy Trina as much time as possible so she could lift the curse on Colleen, and then I’d be able to use my powers. Unfortunately, when dealing with creatures from the pits of Hades, I didn’t know quite what to expect.

  I landed at least twenty feet away when the beast whacked me with the side of one of its immense heads. I felt like I’d been plowed over by a bulldozer. I spit out sand and got to my feet only to be greeted by hundreds of sharp, snapping teeth only inches from my face. Out of pure instinct I swung one of my blades, catching one of Cerberus’s heads off guard, but I only managed to daze it momentarily. I took full advantage and started running as fast as I could towards the vampire still holding the other time warper in a death grip. He didn’t look the least bit worried, and I can’t say that I blame him. I could almost feel the vibrations from the aura surrounding Trina as she chanted louder and more frantically, the wind kicking sand up all around her a she concentrated on breaking the spell that had been placed on Colleen.

  I was within ten feet of the vampire when I was ripped off my feet and flung sideways into the shallow ocean water, searing pain shot through my right shoulder. I jumped up quickly, my body already feeling beaten and battered. Cerberus was heading straight for me a third time, six yellow eyes gleaming in the moonlight, with my death promised in them. I braced myself and leaped into a defensive pose, both hands gripping my blades, ready to go down fighting. A mini sonic boom emanating from the handler witch knocked me off of my feet, and I landed with a splash into the frigid ocean water once again. The salty water soaked into the fresh wound on my right shoulder and dark spots dotted my vision.

  I stumbled to my feet just as my powers flowed back into my body in a rush of welcomed euphoria, but the three-headed dog hadn’t been thrown off his path. He was on top of me before I had time to take advantage of my flood of powers. Somewhere nearby, I felt a slight shift in the atmosphere, a warmth that hadn’t been there half a second before. Another power rubbed itself against mine as I went down with Cerberus intent on tearing me limb from limb.

  The scent of burnt flesh assaulted my nostrils as the monster fell on me. I concentrated on the center head since it was the one with the most direct access to my jugular. I directed an upper thrust of my sword, backed by all the power I could muster. My sword sliced up through the jaw and out of the top of Cerberus’s snout. The creature’s howl of pain nearly burst my eardrums at such a close proximity. As the large animal stumbled off me, all three heads writhing back and forth in pain, I thrust my remaining twin blade directly into the center of its chest. A giant paw crashed into me as the beast went down in a mass of quivering black muscle and deafening screams.

  I pulled myself to my knees and sat there in wide-eyed awe as the body writhed in agony and then began to shrink in on itself. I didn’t kill Hell’s watch dogs—as far as I knew they were immortal—but I seemed to have hurt it enough to send it back to its master. After only a moment, the only thing that was left of Cerberus was the stinging wound on my shoulder, the broken rib I was sure I had, and the bruises that littered my body. I grabbed my sword off the ground and heaved myself to my feet. Shouts came from the house a second before Soren nearly knocked me off my feet with the force of his speed. He hugged me tightly to his chest before I squeaked in protest and pain.

  “God, Sage! I thought you were dead,” he whispered into my hair. “When I saw that beast leap onto you...” He choked off abruptly. I closed my eyes for a second, letting him reassure himself that I was in one piece. Mostly.

  “I’m okay,” I said quietly. “I just need to see how Colleen is. What happened with the other vampire?” I asked as I began to walk to the others across the beach.

  “Something none of us saw coming. But you need to come quickly. It’s Colleen.” His eyes met mine, and I didn’t like what I found there. I grabbed his hand and warped to the spot on the beach where everyone was huddled in a circle around a figure on the ground.

  “What’s going on?” I asked quickly. Everyone parted, allowing me to make my way over to Trina, who was crying softly next to the prone body of Colleen in the sand. It was then that I noticed someone I hadn’t seen before. A young girl of maybe thirteen or fourteen, with wild red curls whipping in the wind and freckles splattered across the bridge of her nose, had her knee on the chest and a wicked sharp dagger at the throat of the vampire who’d held Colleen. I’d have to worry about our newcomer later. For now, Colleen was my top priority. I knelt next to her in the wet sand, and she immediately reached out her hand to me. Absalom was hovering close by, his body rigid with barely-restrained rage.

  “I didn’t know,” Trina sniffled.

  “Didn’t know what?” I asked.

  “She didn’t know that when she lifted the curse from me, that I would die.” Colleen’s voice was just a whisper on the wind. Her accent reminded me of the understated beauty of Ireland. I glanced up into Trina’s face and saw the truth there plain as day. Colleen was dying because we’d lifted the curse fr
om her.

  “There has to be something we can do,” I said fiercely, with my jaw clenched. Surely, this wasn’t part of the big “prophecy.” Surely, this couldn’t happen if we needed three warpers to fulfill our destiny. No, there had to be something we could do. Pale gray eyes met mine, and they were tired—tired of fighting, tired of being used, and tired of being strong. I felt an instant connection with the blond-haired warper.

  “There isn’t anything. This is the way it was always going to play out. This is the way it was meant to be,” she sighed. I wanted to shake her and tell her not to give up. We could have figured it out together. She blinked once, and her eyes slid closed for a moment. My heart gave a lurch, unprepared to lose someone I’d just rescued, someone who had so much life ahead of her. “I need you to promise me something. I know you don’t owe me anything, but I need you to do this one thing,” she asked, her eyes wide and pleading.

  “Anything.”

  “Give Absalom a chance,” she said so softly I thought I’d misunderstood. Her eyes searched mine, frantic for me to give my word.

  “You don’t know what you’re asking,” I said a little too harshly.

  “I do know what I am asking,” she said, her eyes never leaving mine.

  “If you know, then you would know why I can’t make that promise.”

  “Can’t or won’t?” she asked.

  “Won’t.”

  “People change. At least promise me that you will remember that.” I nodded. I could promise that, but there was no way Absalom could’ve changed enough to live after all that he’d taken away from me. She looked undecided for a moment before a weary sigh escaped her. “Then come clasp arms with me, sister warper,” she challenged softly. I clasped my right arm with her left one, hand to forearm. She locked her cold hand around the inside of my forearm and time…stood still.