A Witch's Beauty (Daughters of Arianne 2)

When her gaze lingered on his mouth, David had to suppress the sudden urge to offer it to her, offer everything. "But I didn't want Jonah to know those thoughts I had about Anna," she added, a note of despair in her voice now. "I don't want her to know that, remember that about me."

Giving her hands a squeeze so she wouldn't be startled, would know all was well, David nodded. "All right, then." Then he glanced to his left and Jonah moved out of the shadows.

Twenty-one

MARCELLUS was on his right and another captain, Bazak, on his left. From Jonah's expression, David knew he'd heard the very best thing he could have heard from the seawitch's lips. Her determination to decide her own destiny, which superseded the hold either light or dark had upon her. And her very personal need to maintain the connection with the one friend she'd had since birth.

He's only been here for a couple minutes, he said to her in his mind, as Jonah and the other two angels took a moment to pay their respects to the evidence of silver ash, the remains of his three men. He wanted to be sure his suspicious witch didn't retreat from him, thinking all of it had been a ruse. She glanced at him, looking like she could murder him where he stood. For Mina, that was practically an expression of affection, however, and told him they were okay. As okay as any of them could be in this moment.

"The witch's plan has reason to it," Jonah said in a measured voice at last. "Your participation leaves a few holes to be explained."

Holes Jonah wasn't going to like at all, David knew. He'd stick with the high-level explanation. "The balance between good and evil within her is very precise," he responded. "She'll be going into a world where she'll be overwhelmed by that Darkness. I can help, even if I'm cloaked. We know the Trumpet can only be used by one of exceptional power. Do we take the risk of waiting until they emerge, if we have better odds sending her in after it?"

You were right about her power. Let me be her balance. She knows I'm right about needing me there.

"It's rude to talk about people in your heads when they're standing right here." Mina glared at the two silent angels.

Marcellus eyed her. "You are going to give lectures on courtesy?"

"Been craving any fruit and insects lately? Hanging upside down when you sleep?"

"No, but squid may be on the menu soon." He aimed a pointed look at her legs.

"Enough," Jonah said, shooting a hard glance between them.

"Just one jolt," Marcellus suggested, unsheathing his blade. "Not enough to kill her. Just to get her to shut up for two seconds."

Mina ignored him and stepped around David to face Jonah. "There are things he's not telling you."

"Mina-"

"First off, for him to survive in the Dark One world, I have to turn him into one."

The two captains shifted, muttered, but Jonah kept his gaze pinned on Mina. "How?"

Gods, being under that look was like being compressed beneath rock, particularly since she sensed David's gaze boring into her shoulders as well. Nevertheless, she held Jonah's look without flinching. "I need to inject the blood of a Dark One into his veins. Your men killed one." She glanced back at David. "I took several vials of its blood before I incinerated it."

"Why would you have done that?" This from Marcellus.

"Dark One blood is useful for several potions and spells. It's part of my stores. I rarely get the opportunity to obtain it so fresh." She arched a brow at the captain. "One of the things it can do is incapacitate an angel long enough to kill him, if prepared in the right way and sprayed upon his wings."

When Marcellus stepped forward, Jonah put up a hand. "Seawitch," he said mildly, "I think we're all here for the same purpose. Don't taunt my captain. I may just let him dice you as he desires. So David drinks this blood-prepared in a way I assume won't incapacitate him, and that will make the Dark Ones accept him?"

She inclined her head. "I would cast an illusion spell on him, for a short time, until we reached our destination. As long as he didn't have too much interaction with them, he would pass among them unnoted. They are creatures of impulse, but they do communicate and have identities. But he has to manage the effect of the blood to function."

"We all meditate, practice focus. Is it doable for him?"

She pressed her lips together, wanting to say no, but she didn't think anyone could lie before that dark, piercing stare. David was right. Jonah's daughter would get away with nothing, other than the things an indulgent father would allow. And she knew about the angels' ability for concentration. "Yes."

"Would he have to live with it forever, when you return?"

She felt David's tension behind her, knew he really didn't want her to keep talking. So she did, though hearing the words aloud was almost as hard as telling him the strategy in her mind. "We'll be lucky to get the Trumpet out to you. When we do, we will be deep in Dark One territory, with thousands of them between us and our portal to return. We won't make it back out. Which is why you should forbid him to go."

"We've already covered this. I'm not letting you go alone," David said, his voice resolute. "You will not go without me."

"For the sake of argument, let's pretend I am the Prime Legion Commander, and you take orders from me," Jonah said curtly.

Jonah, it's as I said-

"I heard you clearly, Lieutenant," Jonah snapped out loud. "If I am your blood link contact, Mina, will you be able to communicate with me?"

She shook her head. "My link with you is like tying a line to a rock to find my way back, only I'll be sending the Trumpet along it. You'll know I'm successful when it appears at your feet. The link would need to be here, in these caves. This is the easiest focus point for me. You'll want additional reinforcements, for Dark Ones will flock to this portal once I'm successful."

"We have ten outside."

"You'll need more. Maybe fifty."

Jonah nodded to the second captain, and he was gone with a clean ripple of water that ruffled the feathers of the angels that remained. "Back out the moment you have it and seal the portal," Mina continued. "Bring down the cave. That will block it off for certain. Many of the things stored here would be dangerous in the wrong hands anyway."

She allowed herself a glance at her books, the potions and tools she'd collected throughout her life. Briefly lingered on the chimes, the ones she'd created, the one her mother had made her, the one gift that might have been prompted by the love she wished she could have given her daughter, if Mina believed in such things. "There is nothing here I will need," she said shortly.

"Leave me here with a platoon, Jonah," Marcellus said. "It makes more sense for you and the other angels to spread out over the Earth's surface and prepare for an attack, if she's unsuccessful and Dark Ones come through with the Trumpet elsewhere. I can do the link with the witch."

"That's fine," Mina said, giving him an indifferent look. "Though I didn't expect you to be brave enough to take my blood."

"Nothing about you frightens me, witch. Except that hideous face of yours."

"Enough. The two of you give me a headache." Jonah stepped in front of Marcellus. "This task is mine. I can get to all of you in less than a blink, and I will stay here and destroy the gate. Bazak will back me up with his platoon."

"So I am going with her," David said.

Mina's gaze darted back to Jonah, alarmed.

"I have not decided that yet," the commander said flatly. He locked gazes with David, and his expression was forbidding. "You think I'm such a fool that I missed she said there were two parts of her plan? When it comes to your witch, I can't trust you, David." His attention flicked like the brief sting of a lash at the center of David's chest, where that brand rested.

David's countenance tightened. "He didn't deserve that," Mina said hotly, stepping forward to bump toes with the commander.

"Yes, he did. It does not mean I do not value him. Have a care." The brief warning was all she got before Jonah's short blade appeared just beneath her nose. He ran it across his arm, a swift movem