Swallowing Darkness   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

We heard Dawson's voice. "Mercer just shot Jones. He's shooting at us!"

"He's shooting at nightmares," Doyle said.

"What?" Gregorio asked.

"They're using illusion to make your solider see monsters. He doesn't know he's shooting at you," I said.

"But we're all wearing anti-faerie stuff," she said.

"Are you sure that this Mercer is wearing his?" Doyle asked.

"They could persuade him to take it off," I said.

She cursed and got back on the radio with Dawson. There was more gunfire, and it sounded different this time. Gregorio got off the radio, her face grim.

"We had to kill Mercer, our own man. He thought he was back in an ambush in Iraq."

"Get the men back in the trucks," Doyle said. "Tell them to believe nothing that they see outside of them."

"It's too late, Doyle," Rhys said. They exchanged looks that were far too serious.

"We might be able to prevent the illusions," Doyle said.

"You're our protectees," Gregorio said. "My orders clearly state that you aren't getting out of the safety of these vehicles until I hand you off at the flight line."

I gripped Doyle's hand and Rhys's arm. This was a trap for us, for my men and me. I agreed with Gregorio, but... The yelling continued, then it became screams.

"Sergeant Dawson, talk to me!" Gregorio yelled into the radio.

"We've got men bleeding. Bleeding from old wounds, but they're fresh now. What the hell is going on?"

"Cel is the Prince of Old Blood. That does not mean he's from an old lineage," Doyle said.

"You mean the prince is doing this?" she asked.

"Yes."

I sat there in the Humvee with my death grip on them both, and couldn't think. Maybe the last several days, or months, were finally catching up with me. I was frozen with indecision. The human soldiers had no chance against this, but it was a trap for us, which meant that Cel and his allies had plans to stop anything we could do. I'd dueled enough of the people with him when Cel was trying to kill me legally. I knew their powers, and some were fierce.

"Shoot them," I said. "The sidhe are not proof against bullets."

"We can't shoot at a royal prince and his guard unless they attack us with something we can see and testify to in court," Gregorio said.

"Cel can bleed most of you to death without ever lifting a weapon," I said, leaning forward as far as the seat belt would allow.

"But we can't prove he's doing it," she said. "You've never tried to prove a magic attack in a military court. I have. It ain't pretty.