Darkness Falls (Dark Angels 7)

Ah. Bugger. Does that mean you haven’t heard anything else on the grapevine?

The event is only recent, so no. He paused. I would doubt if even Harry has more knowledge of it, as I would imagine the murder of her brother is something Hunter wouldn’t advertise. It would set off too many alarms within the council.

I snorted softly. And her recent behavior hasn’t been enough to do that?

He half smiled. Well, no, because she is a very old vampire, and old vampires tend to have peaks and troughs when it comes to behavior.

So they’re viewing her whole “I will take the keys from hell and rule you all” as nothing more than one of those troughs? Because you and I know it’s a lot more than that.

He nodded. But not all the councillors feel that way; otherwise, Harry would not have contacted you.

He contacted me because he wanted me to fight Hunter for him, I retorted. It had nothing to do with the council’s desires and everything to do with his own.

Not just his, Markel said, a slight hint of censure in his mental tones, but for the good of all. You’ve seen what she has become. Do you honestly think someone who would kill her own brother—who also happened to be the one person who has had any sort of influence over her in recent years—should be allowed to remain in control, be it on the council or at the Directorate?

No, I don’t, but I also think it’s a bit rich to expect me to do what you, Stanford, and a whole other bunch of very old vampires fear to.

Sometimes, life isn’t fair. I would have thought you’d have learned that after all that has happened recently.

Oh, I’d learned it, all right—that didn’t mean I had to be happy about it. Is there any way we can uncover whether Jack is alive or not?

Markel was shaking his head even before I’d finished speaking. None. If the Directorate and your uncle cannot find any trace of him, then he has surely been destroyed by her.

Meaning destroyed as in eaten, I thought with a shiver, as she’d eaten the Jorõgumo, the shape-shifting spider spirit who’d foolishly chosen Hunter’s lover as one of her victims. I hated to think Jack had died that way—and I hoped like hell that he’d at least had a chance to defend himself. That he’d got in a blow or two and made the bitch pay for her betrayal before she’d consumed him.

My stomach threatened to rise in my throat again. I swallowed heavily and said, I still think it’s worth asking Stanford if he knows anything. There’s always a chance—a very small chance—that she’s not quite as bloodthirsty or insane as we think.

I might not actually believe it, but for Jack’s sake, I couldn’t help hoping for a miracle.

Insanity is something no maenad can escape, Markel said. The close contact with their god, and the rituals they perform, usually send them over the edge sooner rather than later. Hunter has held on to her sanity centuries more than most, but these last few years have proven even she is not immune to the fate of her sisters.

I take it, then, that you do not wish to contact Stanford at this present time and actually ask him about Jack?

He raised an eyebrow, expression suddenly amused. On the contrary, Harry has already been contacted and is on the way.

That surprised me. I studied him for a moment, then said, Telepathy?

Indeed. He paused. How do you think we reported to Hunter? She is not the type to wait until the end of a shift to hear an update.

I hadn’t actually thought about it. I paused. That makes Janice Myer something of a threat moving forward.

She’s certainly a threat if you find the key while she is on duty. She will report immediately to Hunter—and if you think Hunter will not take action right away to acquire said key, then you are a fool.

I know she will, which is why everyone I care about—except Rhoan—is somewhere safe.

You’re not. Markel’s voice was grim. And she will come after you the minute you find it. No one else. Just you. And if you think she has no way to counter the presence of your reaper, then you had better think again.

The only thing that can stop Azriel is magic. And death—and to kill him, she had to catch him unawares—not an easy task given he was well aware of her intentions when it came to him. I hesitated, then asked the question for which I really didn’t want confirmation. Is she capable of that? Aside from the magic her god gives her, that is.

Hunter is capable of many things, a new voice said. Including, I suspect, the darker art of magic.

Harry Stanford appeared to one side of Markel. He was little more than a shadow, though his green eyes once again glowed with an eerie fire. And from what I could see of his expression, he was not happy. But that wasn’t actually a surprise, given that Hunter was gearing up for a takeover he wanted to prevent, and one of the key players in his prevention plan wasn’t playing the game.

But you’ve never seen her actually perform it, have you?

I’ve never seen her consume someone in a maenad fever, either, but I’m nevertheless aware that she has and does.

Unhappiness and frustration rolled from his shadowed form, rippling the ether surrounding us and washing across my astral skin; the sensation was unpleasant, itchy.