Darkfire Kiss Read Free Page B

who deserved justice.
    Then Melissa marched across the street toward Montmorency’s house, as if she had every right to be there.
    In a way, she did.
    Daphne would have insisted as much.
     
     
    Rafferty was once again stymied in his efforts to spontaneously manifest elsewhere.
    His archenemy, Magnus, could perform this feat, one traditionally claimed by the Wyvern alone, which rankled. Rafferty had managed it twice, and it would have been useful on this night. He stood outside Magnus’s securely barricaded home and considered his options. There were few. Although he suspected that Magnus was home, the alarms would still be armed. Magnus would not take chances with his security. Spontaneous manifestation inside the house was the only choice that would have ensured that Rafferty didn’t trip any alarms.
    But he couldn’t do it. No matter how hard he tried, he remained lodged in the shadows of the garden.
    He began to wonder why he had been unable to master the skill beyond those two instances. During his successful attempts he had wished to be in Magnus’s presence, just as he did now.
    But both of those times, Magnus had wanted something of Rafferty. On this night, however, Magnus would not welcome Rafferty’s company.
    Rafferty wondered whether he had truly moved on those occasions—or whether Magnus had summoned him. It was Magnus who had drunk the Elixir, and it seemed that only those who had consumed the Elixir could assume the Wyvern’s powers.
    Could he do this? Doubt gnawed at Rafferty, even as he tried again.
    Rafferty’s pursuit of Magnus had led the Pyr through dark passages and hollows, deep into the earth and under the ocean. That the old Slayer was wounded hadn’t slowed his passage that much, apparently. That Magnus had the ability to disguise his scent, at least at intervals, meant that Rafferty had taken many wrong turns. Magnus’s talent for disappearing and appearing elsewhere at will only made pursuit more challenging.
    The trail ended at the most obvious location of all—Magnus’s lair in Washington, DC.
    Rafferty hadn’t expected his enemy to be so brazen. Maybe he should have known better. Maybe it was a trap. Either way, Rafferty was tired of the unfinished business that lingered between the two of them. He and Magnus had exchanged challenge coins, which meant a fight to the death—until one was dead, the duel continued. Rafferty had thought Magnus dead several times.
    This time he would be certain.
    He’d guessed that Magnus had restored his own strength from Niall’s firestorm—with Chen’s assistance and maybe a last hidden increment of the Dragon’s Blood Elixir. He’d wanted to corner his old foe before the lunar eclipse that would occur in the wee hours of the morning, but he hadn’t been sure of Magnus’s location until this day.
    Rafferty would have bet Magnus had planned it that way.
    It hadn’t helped that Rafferty had been distracted by the chaos in the earth. It hadn’t helped that he’d felt compelled to halt his hunt and sing to Gaia, to calm her and try to soothe her. Recent months had seen earthquakes, tsunamis, and mud slides mar the surface of the planet. There had been blizzards, droughts, monsoons, and tornadoes. The weather had gone wild, and humans were suffering on every continent. Rafferty had tried to help, but he grew exhausted from his efforts.
    He was beginning to think that it wasn’t just Gaia under duress, but that she had been incited to violence by someone else.
    Was it Magnus? The old Slayer could sing the songs of the earth, as well. Rafferty wouldn’t have believed Magnus to be so strong, but his old adversary had secrets Rafferty hadn’t begun to guess.
    Rafferty had only one, one that had been hidden from Magnus with complete success. Each passing day made Rafferty fear that truth would be revealed and all would be lost.
    It was time to finish their blood challenge, to see Magnus dead. Rafferty didn’t have the gift of foresight, but he