Page 52 of Shadow Master
“Or what?” he asked. “You’ll kill me?” He shook his head. “You can’t hurt me without hurting him.” He strode away from me. “Well, since you actually made the journey, you may as well tag along on our quest.”
Quest?
“Horses,” Not-Brady ordered. “We need horses for our new companions.”
The group of cloaked fomorians parted, and I spotted violet eyes. Rage bubbled up my throat and erupted in a cry of pure anguish. I rushed him, hitting him square in the chest and taking him down. He’d killed Carlo. Snapped his neck. He’d taken Brady. He’d done this.
My blade came up, ready to stab, but I was hauled off my target, and then my back was cradled to a familiar chest.
Brady. Not Brady.
My eyes heated. “He killed my friend. He killed Carlo. He has to pay.”
Not-Brady’s body tensed. “Abram killed a fomori-tainted?”
“Yes.” I wriggled, wanting to be free of his grip.
He let me go, and I staggered forward a step before turning to face him. “He killed my friend, and he needs to pay.”
Not-Brady looked to Abram. “Did you kill a fomori-tainted?”
“Yes, my liege,” Abram replied. “But it was only in a quest to claim this body for you. I needed to show force.”
Not-Brady nodded, his mouth turning down in an expression that said he understood, that he got it. “You were showing force. But the price for an innocent life is a life, is it not?”
Abram’s eyes grew wide. “My liege?”
Not-Brady sighed. “I liked you, Abram.” He pulled a massive sword from the holster at his back. “But if it’s a life the wronged party demands, it’s a life she will get.”
The sword arced toward Abram. He didn’t move, he didn’t try to run. He was pale but stoic and ready to die. Carlo’s face filled my mind. His warm laughter filled my head. My friend was dead, and nothing would bring him back.
My blade clanged against Not-Brady’s, deflecting his swing.
He arched a brow. “Youdon’twant him dead?”
I looked across at Abram. “Oh, I do. But it won’t bring Carlo back.”
I lowered my blade, and Not-Brady’s blade followed the downward arc. “Besides, there’s a war coming. We’re going to need cannon fodder.”
Not-Brady let out a bark of laughter. “I like the way you think.”
I met his eyes. “I’m still going to need my mate back. So, if you’ll kindly vacate his body.”
His eyes darkened, and his expression sobered. “It doesn’t work that way, Indigo.”
My pulse skipped at the sound of my name coming from his lips. For a moment, I could imagine it was Brady speaking to me.
But then he had his haughty expression back in place. “I’m as trapped here as Brady is. Neither of us can be free until the quest is complete.”
“And what is that quest?”
His mouth curved in a wicked grin. “To find a weapon. One that can decimate an army.”
A weapon?
“What kind of weapon?” Hyde asked.
Not-Brady smiled. “The eye of Balor.”
