Chrysabelle turned to Doc. ‘Get her out of there and into the house.’
‘Will do.’ Doc reached in, grabbed Fi, and, tossing her over his shoulder, took off in a run for the main house. Rennata had better let them in.
Mortalis sprang onto the roof next to where Mal exchanged staggering blows with his Nothos. ‘Get back.’
Surprisingly, Mal did, jumping across to the other car and knocking the one-eyed Nothos off the roof and onto the hood. Sword in hand, Chrysabelle launched herself onto the snarling creature. Her knees met bone and sinew slippery with retinal fluid. Fighting for balance, she hefted her sacre two-handed and plunged it into the creature’s heart.
It curled upward like a spider, its great mouth gaping into an abyss of teeth. Shrieks tore at her eardrums. Claws raked down her arms, shredding the sleeves of her suede tunic but glancing off the body armor underneath. Vile yellow sludge seeped up around the blade. She wrenched the blade in deeper, gouging the hood beneath its body. Metal whined against metal. The screeching intensified. The sludge blackened, bubbled, and turned to smoke. The Nothos went rigid, its remaining eye fixed on her.
A second later, her knees smashed into the hood and a cloud of ash rose up around her. She sneezed, spit out a mouthful of bitter dust, then stood, blade aimed to take on the last Nothos.
It lurched atop the other car, wavering like a drunken sailor, eyes alternately rolling up into its head and locking onto her. Dominic stood off to one side, his short blade brandished, Solomon behind him. Since cyphers were basically defenseless, Dominic was Solomon’s only chance. Mortalis was nowhere to be seen. Had the Nothos killed him? Time to end this thing. She flicked out her remaining dagger and was about to let it fly when Mal stopped her.
‘Don’t. Mortalis is in there controlling it.’
Her hand dropped to her side. ‘He can occupy a Nothos?’
‘Not as thoroughly as a fringe or with the same consistency as a noble,’ Mal said. ‘But yes.’
She’d never seen a shadeux possess anyone. Heard about it. Read about it. Understood what they were capable of, but this … this was amazing.
The Nothos let out a gut-deep growl, its protruding lower jaw dripping strands of saliva. Had Mortalis ever tried to slip inside Mal and take control of him? What would happen if a shadeux tried to take over someone who had a soul?
With jerky movements, the Nothos jumped off the car and landed in a crouch. It straightened as though puppet strings pulled it upright. A voice spilled out of it, half Mortalis, half raging Nothos. ‘Do you want me to kill it, or should we use it as a Trojan horse?’
Dominic and Solomon had come around to stand closer to Chrysabelle. Only the drivers remained in the cars. Dominic sheathed his falchion. ‘I like the Trojan horse idea, but can you keep control of that thing long enough?’
The Nothos nodded jerkily and spewed out a yes.
Chrysabelle failed to see how the Nothos could work as a Trojan horse. No one but Mortalis could possess it that way. How were the rest of them supposed to get into Tatiana’s estate? Maybe it was time to tell them about the underground access. Rennata would have Chrysabelle banned if she revealed the tunnels. Maybe the Nothos idea was worth some discussion. ‘Explain it to me.’
Mal notched his head toward the foul creature as he closed the distance between them. ‘Mortalis steers the thing through the front doors with you as his prisoner. If it goes well, they throw you in with your aunt. We charge in after and I follow your heartbeat to wherever they’re holding you both and we clean house. Solomon can get us in wherever we need to go once we know where we’re headed.’
She rested the point of her sacre on the dented hood. ‘And if things don’t go well?’
‘That’s why it’s up to you.’ He brushed a few flecks of stray ash off her sleeve. The gesture startled her almost as much as seeing the two Nothos had. ‘You decide.’
‘Please, bella,’ Dominic said. ‘It might be our best chance to find Marissa.’
Mal scowled. ‘And what if it gets Chrysabelle killed?’ What if? What if she didn’t do it and Maris ended up dead because they didn’t get to her in time? ‘I can take that risk.’ She moved closer to Mal. ‘There’s just one thing.’
‘What?’
She reached into her pocket and wrapped her fingers around the ring, then extended her balled fist in the small space left between them. She opened it. ‘This. Tatiana will expect me to have it. If you hold on to it that might buy me some time to negotiate.’ As though that was even possible with Tatiana.
‘You sure letting her have it is the best solution?’
‘I’m not sure of anything right now, but it’s a plan.’
‘What makes you think I can keep it safer than you?’
‘Because if it comes down to it, you can let the demons inside you loose.’ Even if it meant the death of the rest of them. Her spine iced at the thought of Tatiana getting that ring, but if it meant freeing Maris …
‘You know what that might mean.’
‘I do.’
He held out his palm. She tipped hers, letting the circle of gold slide into his hand. He winced slightly when the metal came into contact with his skin.
‘You okay?’ she asked. ‘I know it’s sacred, but Algernon had no problems touching it. That I know of.’
‘Algernon didn’t have a chorus of banshees in his head.’ He closed his fingers over the ring and tucked it into his jacket. ‘Let’s just say they’re not crazy about this particular piece of jewelry.’