Legacy of the Demon (Kara Gillian 8)

Tick. Tick. Tick.

“Kara!”

My entire body jerked as awareness slammed into me. Blinking, I struggled to orient myself as my breath burned my lungs, and my heart hammered. The stone of the summoning chamber cooled my cheek. No, the nexus. I was crumpled on my side on the slab. Shit.

I pressed up to sit, gritting my teeth against the low throb of a headache.

“Kara.”

Rhyzkahl stood at the inner edge of his orbit, eyes narrowed at me. He’d called me out of the dream, I realized. Again. Even after what I’d done to him.

“Thanks,” I said in nearly a growl and climbed to my feet. Elinor, you’re starting to be a real pain in my ass.

The ritual sigils tumbled in place, dark and fractured, and I dispelled them with annoyed sweeps of my hands. Lousy timing for that fucking dream-vision. I’d been a hair’s breadth away from truly connecting with Vsuhl and . . .

My annoyance abruptly shifted to outrage. No, it wasn’t lousy timing. Elinor—meek, sweet little Elinor—had purposely interrupted my attempt to reach Vsuhl. Because of her own fear of it? I could totally relate to having an aversion to the knife that had been shoved into your chest. Really, I could. What I couldn’t tolerate were hissy fits that fucked up important and possibly unrepeatable work.

Scowling, I stepped off the nexus then paused. I was missing something.

The tree whispered beside me, leaves rustling like a hundred voices. The leaf warmed between my breasts.

The dream. Setting my hand on the smooth white bark, I closed my eyes and murmured, “Clarity. I need clarity.” My palm tingled, and a hypnotic vibration like a distant heartbeat pulsed through me. I immersed in the dream. Not the ritual and Elinor’s death. What came after.

The dark-haired woman. White robes and pale walls. Bright light.

No. Disengage. Fly. Be the drone camera.

A beige-walled room. The dark-haired woman. Not white robes. A white coat. Beyond her, a wall clock ticks.

Fly back more.

The bald man is wearing blue scrubs and stands beside a bed. He shines a light into the patient’s eyes. Takes her wrist to check the pulse.

He looks up as a blond man opens the door. “Nobody knows who she is?”

Tick. Tick. T-t-t-tock.

The blond man.

Zoom in on him. Zoom in on the blond man. Easy smile. Tanned face.

Zack. No, not Zack.

Xharbek.

I opened my eyes and gazed up at the purple and green canopy of the grove tree. “Thanks.” I smiled as the leaves rustled an answering song. Mind clear, I headed inside.

The kitchen was empty, but a brief search turned up an odd party in the war room. Giovanni sat sketching at one end of the table, while Jill slowly flipped through a thick and ancient book and took pictures of the pages with her archive camera. Between them, Pellini and Bryce cleaned guns.

Pellini glanced up. “How was Siberia?”

“Siberious,” I said. “But I was just on the nexus and discovered two things.” I had everyone’s attention now. “First off, Szerain, Zack, Ashava, and Sonny are definitely alive and on Earth. And, second, so is Elinor.”

Chapter 19

“Elinor!” Giovanni shot to his feet at my little bombshell. “Is she—” He abruptly clamped his mouth shut and looked to the other end of the table.

As far as I knew, Jill had no arcane abilities or extra-human powers. She hadn’t moved a muscle or said a word, but everyone in the room knew they needed to shut the fuck up and give her the floor.