Brighid's Mark by Cate Morgan Page A

scowled. “Callie.”
    The look she gave him was a mask of utter weariness. “What do you want me to say, Chase? That I’m heading for the worst fight of my life, and Liam is the only one I can take in with me? That I trust him? That I took a few precious hours for myself? Since when has that bothered you?”
    His full mouth twisted awry. “This is more than one of your flings before a big fight.”
    “Yes. Well.” She leaned forward to pull the laces on her other boot. “We agreed not to make any decisions for the moment.”
    “Yes. Well,” he repeated, only half joking. “You do tend to make decisions on the point of a sword.”
    “It’s gotten me this far.” She stood. “You know I have to go after Maeve.”
    Chase straightened, dark expression clearing. “You really think you can take her? She’s worse than Yshotha.”
    “I know.” Callie came forward, took his hands. “I’m already taking a big enough chance. I do this without him, it’s not just me that loses everything. It’s this city, these people. Brighid loses another Keeper, and who knows how many after, humanity loses the war.” She squeezed. “It’s been the three of us so long, Chase. But this is bigger than that. Try to understand.”
    Chase took his hands back, ran one of them through his already tousled, sandy locks. “I do, Callie. It’s just—” He exhaled. “You just met this guy. He made a deal with Maeve. Yshotha is in his city. You’re trapped here because of him.”
    She blinked at him. “We’re here because Eva died to bring us here. Because of Maeve.”
    “You’re cut off from Brighid. You can’t ascend.”
    “So I have find another way.”
    “With him.”
    “Yes.”
    Chase’s mouth twitched, his blue eyes cold. “I hope he’s worth it.”

Chapter Six
    It felt different this time. The combination of energy from St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square’s voodoo roots found connection in blooded obsidian. The fuse ignited, growing in power as it tapped into each hunk of living obsidian in turn. Then it came back to the center, a storm of fire running along invisible lines, faster and faster.
    Callie and Liam shielded their eyes from a blossom of bright, pure light. Callie groped for Liam with her free hand. He caught it, weaving his fingers through hers. “Ready?”
    Muscles tensed. They ran for it.
    They landed hard on the other side, hands unraveling as they stumbled.
    There was the tree on fire, a raven calling from its branches. The flitting shadow, moving in and out of sight, elusive as a hummingbird. Liam saw her gaze drift to the demon where they’d left it, twisting and shifting in the center of a fiery web—apparently time didn’t exist here. Yshotha’s agitation was such that it caused flames to flare to the sky, the ground to shake in ripples.
    Callie started forward, eyes narrowed to a pinpoint focus on her opponent. Only Liam’s hand on her elbow brought her back to the present.
    “Hey,” he said, dark eyes marking her retreat from him. “Be careful.”
    “You too.”
    Her arm slid through his grip, then her hand, and he was left behind in a matter of footsteps. She walked away from him at a deliberate, unhurried pace, hands in jacket pockets. Then he turned away, making his way to the burning tree. The raven gave him a baleful eye.
    “Well, you got us here.” Liam dropped his duffel to the ground and stooped to unzip it. “Now you can help me get her out.”
     
     
    The demon crouched low, watching Callie’s approach with hateful eyes, breathing like a giant, malfunctioning furnace. Callie took her time, boots silent on graveyard dirt. It was just her and the demon, the sound and of fire all around, of the demon’s bellows exhalations. All else fell away, including the sense of Liam’s presence, the knowledge of what he was about to attempt. She had to buy him time. And then he could buy her time. Maybe it would even be enough.
    The blood buzzed in her veins. Adrenaline flooded