Page 7 of Redeemed
Without a word, she sets the packet on the table and stands. Sheena, my truest, indestructible friend, wraps her arms around me and holds me close. “He won’t find it,” she murmurs against my chest.
We hold each other for a long time, Sheena and I, until the niggling worry about David and Connor starts to gain steam and I let her go.
Chapter Three
Connor
“THE DOOR’S LOCKED.” David sounds pissed. I don’t blame him.
“For a viscount, this guy’s hospitality is lacking.” I feel my way down another step.
David follows, keeping a hand on my shoulder. “If this is a basement, maybe there’s another way out.”
I keep heading down. “Except there are no basements in Los Angeles, especially this close to the beach.”
David stumbles on a step, putting more pressure on my shoulder.
“So…where are we?”
I reach the bottom, or at least I’ve run out of steps, and glance at him over my shoulder, testing my theory. “Well, I can’t see your aura, and we’re in a basement that shouldn’t exist. At a guess I’d say we’re in some sort of alternate reality.”
“Wait. What?” David’s voice squeaks just a little. “Like, the Netherworld?”
“No, I don’t—”
He shakes my arm. “What’s that?”
I scan the area. To our right there’s a light patch in the darkness. David scoots around me and heads for it. I follow, wondering where it is we’re being led.
It’s not an overhead light, more like a portrait on the wall with a spotlight aimed at it. A portrait or a mirror. David and I are both reflected in it until we fade in a spill of milky light and a new figure emerges.
The Elven Princess, Tatiana. She has no discernable aura, which makes me wonder if she’s real or a figment of my imagination. Still, her delicate beauty is unmistakable, her hair long and auburn and her golden-brown eyes glowing.
“Where are you?” I ask, or maybe I just think the words. She meets my gaze directly, although when she responds, I don’t see her lips move.
“The demon has my body and he’s trapped me here in the Netherworld. Youmustfind my body before he destroys me.”
“I’m trying. I will.” I harden my voice to cover the swell of insecurities.Yes, we’d be a lot better off if I’d found her already. Fuck me.
“You must.”
“The Morrigan—”
She cuts me off with a laugh. “Ananda Pendragon has her gifts, but she’s more likely to burn it all down without considering the costs.”
And I’m a better choice?“Yeah, I’m trying to cut her out as much as possible. I’ve been working with Sam Kowalski to bring in some of your people to help.”
She nods at that, her lips pursed. “Hmm. Better to have left him out of it. He’ll make…trouble.”
David doesn’t appear to be paying us any attention, so I line up my questions. “Where are you now? Can you tell me anything to help me find your body?”
“I must go,” the Princess says. “We’re near the ocean, close enough to hear the waves. I can’t tell…”
Her image fades before her voice does, and I end up staring at myself in the glass. If what I’ve seen is true, the Princess thinks of the Morrigan as an ally and Sam Kowalski as a complication.Damnú.
David huffs a laugh and I turn to him. “What do you think?”
“About what?” he asks.
