The Black Tide (Outcast 3)

The bomb must have been planted under the seating nearest my cage. The guards and the lords who’d been sitting there were nothing more than raw remnants barely resembling anything human, but the main force of the blast had been directed at me rather than them, and those who’d been seated farther away were bloody but alive. And being herded out the building—Charles amongst them.

Jonas? I said urgently. Are you okay?

Yes. His reply was a little groggy, but fierce relief shot through me. As are Julius, Nuri, and Karlinda.

And Dream?

But even as I asked that question, I heard footsteps and looked up. Dream was on the move, but she wasn’t running away. She was coming straight at me.

And she was armed with a wooden stake.

With a scream that was all madness and anger, she launched off the stage, the stake held high and ready to use as she arrowed toward me.

I thrust away from her and then spun around, lashing out with one leg. She landed with catlike surety and twisted away from the blow, and in that moment, I saw a glint of metal in her other hand. I swore and launched at her, grabbing at her, but she was faster than a lizard and, in one smooth movement, dodged, raised the gun, and fired.

But just as she did, Bear hit her and knocked her sideways. The bullet that would have blasted my face apart tore instead into the wall three feet away. As she stumbled and fell, the weapon went flying. Bear chased after it.

Cat, grab that stake, I said, even as I hit the ground and rolled back up to my feet.

Dream was down, but she was twisting and cursing as she battled the unseen force that was Cat for the control of the stake. And then she started speaking, and though I didn’t understand the words, I felt the rise of energy and Cat’s squeal of surprise. I quickly stepped forward and stomped as hard as I could down onto Dream’s stomach.

Her breath left in a sudden wheeze and the force of the spell died. Cat ripped the stake from Dream’s grip and Bear, who now held the gun, hovered several feet away. Given the anger emanating from both ghosts, Dream only had to twitch the wrong way for that gun to be fired.

Cat handed me the stake. I sat astride Dream’s stomach and placed my knees on her arms to hold them still. She bucked and heaved, trying to dislodge me, but I held on tight. When that didn’t work, she began mouthing words that were undoubtedly the beginnings of another spell. As the threads of foul energy began to weave around me, I raised the stake high and thrust it into her shoulder. As much as I wanted to plunge it into her black heart, it would have killed her far too quickly.

But like me, she had vampire genes, though hers had come from a rift rather than scientific modification.

Like me, she would burn. Burn as fiercely as if she were standing in the fires of hell itself. And it wouldn’t end, not until the stake was removed, and I had no intention of doing that.

The pain was obviously so fierce that she could no longer hold an alternate image. Her body rippled and pulsated with a savageness I knew from experience would—under any other circumstance—be both excruciating and draining, and the black-skinned, green-eyed woman I’d glimpsed only twice soon appeared.

Her eyes were little more than slits, her face pale with shock and agony, and she was beginning to stink of sweat and fear. But all I could feel was her fury.

“You think you’ve won?” Her words were little more than vicious pants of air. “You have won nothing.”

“Which is why you’re now dying slowly rather than receiving a clean death,” I replied evenly. “Tell me what you’ve done—what plans you have in place regarding the UV lights—and I’ll end your life now rather than delighting in watching you suffer.”

She hawked and spat. Bear batted the globule away before it got anywhere near me.

“You’ll get nothing from me.” Her breathing was faster, her words more difficult to hear, and her body temperature was increasing so rapidly my thighs were heating up. “And my pain is nothing compared to the utter desolation and despair that will soon overtake this city.”

“It’s impossible to totally erase light from this city,” I said. “Even if you manage to bring the grid down, there are backup generators and battery-sourced units all across the city.”

Her sudden smile had a chill running down my spine. “Keep thinking that, déchet. It will make the inevitability of both your death and that of this city so much sweeter.”

Footsteps approached. I reached across, grabbed the gun from Bear, and twisted around. Jonas raised an eyebrow at me and held up his hands—as did Julius. Neither of them had escaped unharmed—their clothes were torn and bloody, Jonas was limping and had a chunk out of his thigh, and Julius had a cut across his forehead and blood dripping from a roughly bandaged hand that was missing two fingers. But they were at least up and mobile. There were so many behind them who were not.

“I do hope,” Julius said, “that it is not your intention to shoot us given our rather timely rescue of yourself.”

“Sorry.” I lowered the weapon. “I thought it might have been her people approaching.”

“I rather think her people would have simply shot you.” Julius squatted beside Dream, studying her as one might an interesting bug. “What madness has taken hold that you would risk this city’s safety?”

Dream’s breathing was now loud gasps for air, her body was shaking, her clothes drenched with sweat, and the fire caused by the stake so fierce her skin was beginning to glow an eerie yellow-orange. But she nevertheless dredged up the strength to say, “Madness? No. It’s revenge. Revenge for everything your people did against mine.”

“It was a war,” he said. “Atrocities happened on both sides.”

Which were the very same words I’d once said to Jonas. I could feel his gaze on me and looked up with a smile. He echoed it, but there was a tension in him, one that suggested he, like me, knew there was far more to come. That the destruction would not end with Dream’s death.