to clear the hazy craving that was her siren’s song, he reached slowly for the door handle. It unlocked with a simple mental push. The resounding snick in the oppressive, stormy atmosphere announced his location as effectively as if he’d rung the front bell.
He let the door whisper open.
The first attack came as he crossed the threshold. A short incantation followed by streams of light as bright as the sun. They struck him full in the chest and launched him backward so hard he hit the second-story deck railing. He nearly went over.
A short, female shout of alarm pulled him upright.
Then the damn warlock struck again.
This time Dylan did go over the rail. He managed to tuck and roll into the landing, missing the concrete pad by inches. Not that the grass was that much softer, but at least he didn’t break anything that would keep him out of the fight.
Dylan shoved to his feet and raced to the fence, vaulting it without slowing down. He rounded the house and smashed through the front door in time to see Ethan haul Kennedy down a long hallway. He started after them, his pace leisurely. He waved a hand at the front door. “Chomh luath agus a scoir, anois chuimhne. Oscailte do cheann ach mé.” Once an exit, now a memory. Where the door had been was now solid wall.
Casting a hand toward a window, he murmured, “Phána gloine balla bpríosún, beidh tú a oscailt le haghaidh aon cheann ach mé.” Glass pane to prison wall, you’ll open for none but me.
A slow smile spread across his face. His eyes grew hooded as he recalled the door downstairs had been glass, as well.
They were trapped.
The sound of Ethan’s vehement cursing reached him. “He’s blocked the windows.”
It might have been cruel, but Dylan chuckled. “You’re caught in a gambit of your own making, warlock. This ends now.”
“You can’t have her.” Ethan stepped into the hallway. A burst of black flame raced Dylan’s way.
Dylan let his power free, watched it roil in his palms. It consumed the blaze, changing it to water that splashed at his feet. He wiped his hands on his pants. “Playing dirty, is it not, using black fire against an enemy?”
Even in the poor light, Dylan could see Ethan’s face go ashen. “It’s not possible.”
“What’s not possible?”
“No one controls the aether.” The words were heavy. “It’s not predictable.”
Dylan shrugged. “Amend that to no one you’ve ever known, and you’ve got it right. And as for not being predictable? Neither am I.”
* * *
Dylan’s bitter, cold voice left a thick rime over Kennedy’s skin.
Ethan stepped back and pulled her behind his body. “You’re not taking her, you pile of Irish sheep shit.”
“No? Seems we’re not of an accord, then.” That silky voice, laced with promised violence and pain, bled through the dark.
Ethan shuffled backward, herding her toward the bedroom. “Go. Lock the door.”
“No.”
“What?” His hoarse whisper grated across the air.
Her voice was so steady it surprised her. “I’m not going down without at least throwing a punch.” Stepping around him, she faced Dylan.
Lightning illuminated the Assassin from behind. She might not have been able to pick him out of the dark without that blinding flash. When his eyes began to luminesce, she stepped toward him. “Don’t do this.”
He snorted. “You don’t think to plead, certainly.”
She swallowed so hard she knew he heard it. “If you’ll tell me what it is you think I’ve done, I’ll undo it.”
His lips thinned. “Ye canna undo this.”
“There has to be a way. I don’t even know why you’re here.” This is a nightmare. God, please let me wake up. She forced her legs, which were numb with fear, to move forward another step.
The planes and angles of Dylan’s face seemed harsher in the next lightning flash. He spread his feet and let his hands relax at his sides as he considered her. “It’s not my place to explain justice, only deliver it.”
“If you kill me, it’s murder, not justice.” She pressed the heels of her hands to her temples and shook her head before looking up at him, knowing her eyes were wild with desperation. “I’ve done nothing!”
He looked her up and down. “You’ve truly no idea,” he said softly.
“None,” she answered in kind.
Cursing in another language, he never took his eyes off her. “I’ll give you the truth. Nothing more. I’ve been sent to cast out the goddess, Cailleach, who possesses you, and rebind her to the Shadow Realm.”
A bark of crazed, near-hysterical laughter escaped. “Cast a goddess out? How?”
“The only way. I’ll be taking your head first, heart second, so she canna reincarnate.”
“No!” Ethan shouted, grabbing her arm and yanking her back.
Darkness pulled her under so fast she never had the chance to warn them. She fought to stay alert. Shoving, kicking, scrabbling, she managed to maintain a precarious foothold in the now. The moment she realized what she’d done, she stilled, terrified to disrupt her tenuous hold on reality.
The world looked different. She could see Dylan through the dark, though he still resembled her worst nightmare...and greatest temptation. Lust flooded her, and it took a moment to realize it wasn’t hers alone. What the... Whoever had a hold of her wanted him. Bad. Images and ideas, both hers and whatever consumed her, crashed through her mind. They collided and separated so quickly she struggled to keep from merging with those of her parasite. The creature’s—goddess’s?—thoughts were wild, unhinged, even.
Kennedy heard herself speak, words that weren’t hers breeching the darkness. “I grow tired of this byplay. We all know it will get us nowhere.” The voice was huskier than Kennedy’s, similar yet dissimilar.
“No one invited you to the party, you fruitcake.” Ethan sounded like he’d moved closer, but it was no longer a matter of turning around or reaching back to simply see.
She’d become a passenger in her own body.
“Kennedy, I know you can hear me. Get your ass back here.”
She saw her hand rise. Unintelligible words erupted from her mouth. With the flick of a hand, a huge crash sounded close behind her. Kennedy fought the urge to scream as her feet turned without her directive. She wanted to rail against the sycophant that had co-opted her body.
Ethan lay crumpled on the floor, the drywall at the end of the hall concave where he’d impacted. Blood ran through his
