LITMIR.BIZ

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to Ilaria, his expression hardening again. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I have a death mark or two.”

      “You fear I’ll take your life.” Esri, linked as they were, knew at once when one of their own had been killed, and by whose hand. Through the magic of their world, the killer acquired a death mark that all Esri could sense and follow. And upon which every Esri had long ago been ordered to act.

      No mere human would acquire such a mark. Only a Sitheen.

      “It crossed my mind,” Charlie said. “It’s a compulsion, isn’t it? To kill those with a death mark?”

      “A compulsion? No. It was a law enacted eons ago. A law I’ve broken more than once and have no qualms about breaking again. I don’t take life unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

      “Admirable.” But the way he said the word told her he doubted her sincerity.

      “Is Dee Cee where the unsealed gate came through?”

      “Yes.”

      “How many full moons will it take us to reach it?”

      A hint of amusement crinkled the corners of the human’s—Charlie’s—eyes. “Once I get a hold of my brother, we should be back there in a day. Two at the most.”

      Ilaria frowned. “How can you know that if you don’t know where we are? I’ve been in the human realm, Charlie. I have some sense of its vastness.”

      “Things have changed since you were here last, Princess. With a little cash, we can get anywhere in the world in a couple of days now.”

      She stared at him, startled. “Humans have acquired magic.”

      Charlie’s smile flashed white in the moonlight. “Not magic. Technology, though it may seem the same to you.”

      She pondered that, finding the thought exhilarating. For too long she’d been trapped in a forest glade devoid of newness, devoid of stimulation of any kind but for the conversation of the men who’d been imprisoned with her. A new and exciting human world was exactly what her mind craved.

      The snow grew thicker, the walking more difficult. In the distance, the glow of light told her they’d stumbled upon other humans. And she was still tied. Her excitement turned back to annoyance. “If you want my help, human, and I believe you do or you’d not have risked the Forest of Nightmares to free me, then you must trust me. Release me from these bonds.”

      Charlie’s gaze cut to her. “Will you help us? Will you seal all of the gates this time and leave the stones with us as you did before?”

      The keen intelligence in his eyes warned her that he’d hear the lie in her words if she wasn’t careful. So she answered with the truth.

      “If what you say is true, I will help you.” And she would, though not in the way he meant. Not in the way he wanted.

      No, the gates would not be sealed this time. The stones would never again be left in human hands. She would not make that mistake twice.

       Chapter 2

      Harrison rested his hand on the cold roof of the police cruiser, one of a dozen cars they’d parked in the grass of Dupont Circle Park. The fire ring blazed brightly in the falling snow, lighting the huge, chalice-shaped, marble fountain it circled.

      It was almost midnight.

      His hand went to his head, adjusting the riot helmet Jack had procured for them on short notice. All the Sitheen were now armed with helmets and bulletproof vests, hand shields and flame throwers, like some kind of bizarre urban army straight out of a sci-fi flick. Sadly, other than the movie part, that was exactly what they were.

      If he’d owned an old-fashioned suit of armor, he’d have put it on. If the Marceils coming through that gate were half the archers Tarrys had been, the arrows would find any hole, any weakness. And Larsen’s vision would still come true.

      Next time, if there was a next time, they were meeting the invasion with complete head-to-toe body armor.

      He prayed they got another chance. What if they didn’t? What if they all died tonight? Who would be left to fight this war? Odds were, there were other Sitheen scattered around the world, but would they figure out what was going on before it was too late? Would they be able to stop the invasion when he and his friends had failed, or would the Esri hunt them down, one after another, and kill them before they ever had a chance?

      A cold fist closed around his heart at the fear that his kids would meet that same fate. Sam and Stephie had been with him the first time he encountered an Esri. He’d taken them to see a matinee of The Lion King at the Kennedy Center then watched in horror as everyone in the theater turned into a zombie and started toward them as if to tear them limb from limb. All three of them would have died that day, he knew that now, if Larsen hadn’t foreseen their deaths and come to warn them. If not for hers and Jack’s intervention, they would have died.

      He’d told Gwen, his ex-wife, to get the kids out of D.C. and keep them there until this was over. He was pretty sure she’d taken them and gone to stay with one of her cousins in Pennsylvania, but he’d told her not to tell him. There was no telling what an Esri could do and it was safer for the kids if he didn’t know.

      But he called every couple of days to make sure they were all right, never losing hope that Stephie would recover from whatever that Esri bastard, Baleris, had done to her.

      They had to win tonight. Who would protect his kids if they failed?

      Six Sitheen and Kade circled the fountain, waiting for the night’s coming invasion. Jack had convinced Larsen to wait in the car, out of harm’s way, with Kade’s human soon-to-be wife, Autumn, and the retirees of the group, Aunt Myrtle and Norm. Norm had joined them only recently. A Sitheen and retired firefighter, he’d been the one to oversee the fire ring tonight.

      Larsen had argued vehemently to be part of the fight, but though she was a warrior at heart, her battleground of training had been the courtroom. Harrison grunted. He’d never been a soldier himself, but he’d always been an athlete and he was a damned sight stronger than the Esri. In the past months, he’d procured the services of a fight coach to teach him the finer points of hand-to-hand combat. And that’s exactly what this was likely to come down to. Unless the arrows hit their mark.

      Or unless fate finally smiled on them and the fire circle worked. The plan was simple. The only way to kill an Esri was to set him on fire and sing the death chant. At the first sign of invasion, the Sitheen would start chanting. If any of the Esri tried to breach the wall of flame, they’d die.

      In all probability, they wouldn’t be so foolish, resulting in a standoff, the best possible scenario. This might be war, but they’d learned from Kade and a couple of others that not all Esri meant the humans harm. If they could keep them on their own side of the gate, all the better. If not, they’d try to capture them. If that failed, they’d do whatever they must to stop them.

      They had no choice. The freedom of the entire human race was at stake.

      He took another look around, satisfied that all the non-Sitheen cops and firefighters had pushed back to the other side of the street circling the park. Even though they wore bands of holly—a natural protection against enchantment—they were potentially vulnerable to Esri control. Nearby roads had all been closed. Harrison had to wonder what the locals thought was going on. The cops, too, for that matter. Only a handful at the top knew the truth. The last thing anyone wanted was panic.

      The rhythmic tone of his cell phone startled him, sending his heart into a quick pound. A glance at the number told him nothing, except it wasn’t his brother’s phone. He swallowed back his disappointment, hesitated, then answered.

      “Hello?”

      “Hey, big bro. Mission accomplished.”

      “Charlie.” Harrison closed his eyes, tipping his head back. Thank you, God. “It’s

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