Obsidian Fire (The Raven Queen's Harem 4)

“Let her go,” I say to the other three. “Give her a minute to calm down.”

Dylan rubs his face and sits in the chair. “I knew she wouldn’t take it well, but I didn’t think she’d flip out like this.”

“Really?” Sam says. “You didn’t think she’d be upset to learn that more people are going to die and that the big spell we performed was a dud?”

“It wasn’t a dud,” I chime in. “We accomplished what we wanted—to get the Darkness out of Morgan so she wasn’t killing people anymore. She’s not.”

Damien raises an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

“Pretty fucking sure.”

“Then who is the Morrigan talking about?”

“We need to check the hospitals,” Sam says.

“Or the morgue,” Damien adds. “If we find the victims we can find who’s doing it.”

Dylan stretches his legs. “At least we know that the Morrigan herself is in the Otherside—she revealed that in the ring. And if we assume it isn’t Morgan…”

“Then there’s a third,” I say. “We’ll have to find her. Shouldn’t be too hard in a city the size of New York.”

Sam hops up and walks around the room. “So what do we do about Morgan? How do we find out where she stands in all this?”

“We test her,” Dylan says. “Like before. If she’s carrying part of the Darkness inside of her or some sort of mystical power, we’ll know.”

I can’t help but ask, “Will we?”

No one answers that question. After a moment I add, “So really, where’s Bunny? It’s not like him to miss a meeting.”

Damien chimes in. “I haven’t seen him since the fight. He disappeared after Dylan’s round.”

“Like I said, I checked his room. He didn’t answer and the door was locked,” Sam says. “But if his paintings look anything like my photos he probably already knew this was coming.”

“You knew?” Dylan asks.

“Not specifically, but yeah, I knew something was off. I guess I just hoped I was wrong.”

Damien rubs his chin. “Well, find him and we need to get a look at his most recent work.” He looks at Sam. “Yours, too.”

Sam nods. “Sounds good.”

I look around the room. “And Morgan?”

Dylan grimaces. “We’ll give her until tomorrow to rest. After that we’ve got to know what she can do.”

“And what if she can’t do anything? What if she’s just a mortal?” Damien asks.

I glance at Dylan, who looks as concerned as I feel. “Then we’re probably fucked.”

Chapter Thirteen

Morgan

Where there was warmth is a snap of cold, sharp and freezing across her brow. Maverick takes in her surroundings. Stone walls and floors. A torch-lit hallway. A moment ago she was in the forest behind her family home, fighting the gray cat and killing the prince. Now she’s somewhere far away and unfamiliar.

She looks at her hands. Blood has stained her palms. The dagger from before is gone but a longer, more deadly blade hangs from her hip.

“Where the hell am I?” she says aloud.