Shadowed Threads

by Shannon Mayer

  A murmur rolled around the room and a chime sounded.

  “The Child comes.” The Old One pointed at the dais that rose up out of the floor, a petite figure on the chair, covered in a gold, gauzy material.

  I just couldn’t stop myself. “What the fuck, no one told me it was a costume contest.”

  Again, the gasping murmur went around the room. But I wasn’t sure if it was because I was being a foul-mouthed jerk or because additional company had just arrived.

  Faris stepped into the room from a doorway across from me. Dressed in black from head to toe, his blond hair was slicked back and his blue eyes were icy with a rage that even I could see this far away from him. Damn, I had to give him props for his timing. His entrance was perfect and his outfit was the complete opposite of the Child Empress’. His eyes flicked over me and he gave me the barest of nods.

  Shit, maybe I would be getting out of this fucking mess. Maybe.

  The Child Empress stood up, lifting her hands so the gold gauze floated around her. Faris strode forward and no one stopped him, which surprised the hell out of me.

  “I have bound the Tracker to me. I will find the Blood; your time on the throne is coming to an end.”

  The Child Empress didn’t answer, except to flick her hand at Faris. A rush of power I could feel, even though it didn’t affect me, coursed over the room, crashing into the vampires, throwing even Faris to his knees. So this was why they were afraid. I was the only one left standing, the magic dividing around me like a stone in a river.

  Sweet.

  I smiled at the Child Empress. “You killed my sister, you little bitch. Know what that means?”

  The power rush continued, pinning the vampires hard to the floor. I glanced at Faris who was staring at me, his words echoing to me. “Do not forget your oath.”

  The bite mark where he’d drawn my blood lit up, the nerves around it dancing a tango. He’d invoked the bite, giving me the speed I’d need to battle this vampire who’d killed Berget, the vampire who would destroy the supernatural world for her own whims. Faris, for all his faults—and fuck he had a lot of them—was right about this.

  We couldn’t let the Child Empress win.

  I ran toward the dais. Three strides and I was there, glaring up at the gold-cloaked vampire, knowing that I had to do it quick. I jerked the short sword from the sheath, the blade catching the light. The Child Empress screamed, high-pitched and full of fear. Her power flowed over me, around me, but it couldn’t save her.

  “Do not remove her covering!” Faris shouted, his voice pitched with pain. Shit, this little fucker was really doing a number on her own people.

  But what did her covering have to do with anything? Would it be like Medusa and her snakes, one look and I’d freeze into stone?

  The Child Empress scooted away from me, but I followed easily, booting her in the gut and sending her sprawling over the dais and away from me. Tangled in her stupid gauzy material, she had to rip at it to get away from me. Still, her power strangled her own people, which made no sense. They would help her, wouldn’t they?

  I turned to look over my shoulder, saw the vampires waiting. But they weren’t being held down anymore.

  They waited for me to kill the Child Empress.

  I was a fucking tool to them. Jaw clenching, I booted the Child again, flipped her over, the gauzy gold material finally tearing free and giving me my first glimpse at her.

  Golden blonde hair, brilliant blue eyes, and a face that couldn’t be stared up at me. Tears streaked her cheeks, and she held a hand out to me in supplication.

  “Rylee, please don’t kill me.” Her voice was older, no longer child-like, but it was hers. The same face I’d seen as I’d walked between death and life. Berget was a vampire; that was what I’d felt when she’d died. Not a true death, but one where she was called back as a blood sucker.

  That was what she meant when she’d told me death wasn’t the end … .

  My heart, mind and soul screamed that this couldn’t be, it wasn’t happening. I stumbled backward, tripped over the dais, and ended up sprawled on the floor in front of Faris.

  He’d known all along. He’d told me not to remove the gauze. He’d bitten me so I would have the speed to kill her. He’d been the one to steal her in the first place.

  Rage stole my incredulity. I lunged upward with Jack’s sword, the tip catching him along the side of his head, slicing through the skin on his skull.

  “You do not understand, Rylee.” He held his hands out to me, as if I would give shit about his excuses.

  “You mother fucking bastard!” I didn’t think, just swung, using the speed he’d given me with his bite against him. For the first time, Faris wasn’t faster than me, and I pummeled him with my fists, my sword slicing into him again and again, though he tried to avoid me. On an equal footing, I was the better fighter, better trained. He was going to die.

  I drove the sword into his belly and his hands circled mine. His fingers gripped my wrists, twisting them backward, the crunch of my bones resonating all the way up my arms to my shoulders. I screamed and an answering roar scattered the vampires.

  O’Shea loped into the room, Pamela beside him, her eyes as fierce as his.

  I had no choice but to let go of the sword, my hands no longer able to grip anything. I snapped a boot up, catching Faris in the jaw and sending him over backward with the blow.

  “You do not belong here.” Berget’s voice drew me back from the rage, but confusion replaced it. I wasn’t so sure that was preferable.

  I turned to see Berget facing O’Shea and Pamela, but it was Pamela she seemed to be focused on.

  Pamela glared back at Berget, so similar in coloring that they looked more like sisters than Berget and I did.

  “I’m not leaving until Rylee does,” Pamela said, lifting her hands, prepping a spell.

  The Child Empress had sent Doran to kill Pamela. Berget was the Child Empress. Clusterfuck didn’t even come close to what was happening.

  Cradling my arms, gritting my teeth with the jarring every step caused, I ran toward them. Berget lifted her hands, mimicking Pamela, and I knew the power that would flow would kill Pamela, felt it in my gut.

  I had to get between them. I had to stop this now. Because if Berget killed Pamela … I wasn’t sure I could forgive her for that.

  “Pamela, don’t!” I shouted as I ran, sliding to a stop between them.

  Berget’s power hit me, dispersed, and I turned to face her.

  Her eyes were narrowed with a hatred I couldn’t understand. “What the hell are you doing? She can’t replace me. I’m your sister. Not her.” Berget threw another roll of power at us and again it displaced around me.

  “Berget,” I shook my head.

  “Move, Rylee. It is my right to kill intruders. I rule this place.”

  O’Shea growled, his lips sliding back over his fangs. I couldn’t even lower my hands to touch him, it hurt too badly.

  “Is this how it’s going to be?” I stared at her, my brain and heart not able to put this together. Berget was a vampire, the Child Empress. Was there anything left of my little sister inside of her? Was what I’d seen as I’d hovered between death and life the real Berget? Was that why she’d said I’d save her?

  Her eyes widened, filling with tears, her lips trembling. “You would choose her over me?”

  “No. But I can’t let you kill her. I can’t let you kill either of them.”

  Berget turned her back. “You need to leave. Take the ones you love more than me and leave.”

  That was a trip that, for once, I wasn’t willing to take. “Fuck off, you spoiled little shit. You’re my sister, and I’ve searched for you for the last ten years. But I’m fucking well betting you knew I was looking for you. Didn’t you?”

  Her back was still to me, but she nodded. “I did.”

  “Then don’t you give me that bullshit about me loving them more than you. I would have come for you, if I’d known you were here
, alive.”

  Her shoulders slumped. Gods, I wanted to hug her, hold her tight and be grateful she was alive … but already I could see that wasn’t going to be possible.

  And it fucking killed me.

  Faris slowly rose to his feet, Jack’s sword on the ground beside him. Pamela touched my elbow. Everything around us seemed on pause, waiting on Berget, waiting on her word.

  “Let’s go.”

  The Old One stopped us. “You cannot leave. We are not done with you yet.”

  I glanced at Pamela and she flipped a hand at the Old One, pinning her against the wall.

  “Piss off.”

  “Faris,” Berget barked. “You are hereby exiled. I will not die at your hands, not by yours or those of any of your … pets.”

  I didn’t turn around, just kept walking. Fuck, fuckity, fuck, fuck. The pain in my wrists had nothing on what streaked through my battered heart. This couldn’t be happening.

  Focus on one thing at a time. Get Jack and get your crew the fuck out of here.

  O’Shea let out a growl as we reached the doorway, and I turned to see Faris behind us.

  “I’m coming with you,” he said, and I felt his power whip through me, my bones that he’d broken snapping back into place with a speed that left the pain just a memory. I flexed my hands.

  “You, you’re the reason this is happening.” I glared at him.

  “You won’t get out of here alive without me. You think she’s really going to just let you go?” His hair was no longer perfectly slicked back, but disheveled from our fight.

  I turned to look behind us. Berget’s back was to us as she lifted a hand, her fingers flashing in a signal I didn’t understand. But by the reaction of the vampires, Faris was right.

  Fuck it all to hell and back, the vampire was right.

  Chapter 22

  Faris led the way and we raced after him. I still carried the speed his bite had given me, so I picked Pamela up and carried her on my back.

  “Jack, we have to get Jack!”

  “There is no time,” Faris shouted back.

  I didn’t argue with him, just turned when I hit the intersection and ran to Jack’s door. I threw the bolt open. “Pamela, lift him up.”

  She tried to gather him up, her voice frantic. “I can’t. It’s like something’s blocking me!”

  Faris slid to a stop beside us and took Pamela from my back; she let out a squeak until he placed her on his back. “Try now.”

  Jack rose from the bed, lifted easily now that my Immunity wasn’t messing around with Pamela’s spell. The old Tracker never twitched, never even opened his eyes. I couldn’t decide if this was good or not.

  We bolted back to the intersection as the other hallways spit out vampire after vampire. There was no way we could fight them all.

  “Run!”

  O’Shea and I ran side by side, following Faris as he wove his way through the maze of hallways and intersections. Pamela clung to his back, but her eyes never left me. I didn’t blame her for being worried.

  We burst through a doorway that led into the Palace proper. How could I tell? The night sky beckoned to us through the barred windows. We were in the armory.

  “We have to make a stand here. If we kill enough of them, they will pull back,” Faris said, letting Pamela slide from his back.

  “Why are you doing this?” Pamela asked him the very question that had been floating around in the back of my head.

  “I was bound to my lieges, as all vampires are. They made me do things I’m not proud of. I fought where I could, but I was still forced to do much that they wanted.”

  I rocked back on my heels. “And then you bit me.”

  He shook his head. “No, I bit another Tracker.” His eyes lingered on me for a moment before sliding back to the door we’d come from. “They’re coming. If you are going to grab a weapon, do it now.”

  Cases of old school weapons beckoned to me, swords, spears, shields and lances. All just tucked behind a thin sheet of glass.

  The closest case held long-handled lances with wicked curved blades on the end. I smashed my elbow into the glass, the sound of an alarm went off as I reached in and grabbed the lance I had my eye on.

  “Pamela, take Jack over there and lay him on the floor. You stand back, hit them where you can,” I said, pointing to the far side of the room. She ran to do as I said, putting her back to the wall, placing Jack in the corner furthest away from what was about to happen. I didn’t know what to expect. Would the entire nest of vampires come after us? The door would work as a bottleneck, helping us and hurting them, surely they wouldn’t be so stupid as to send everyone after us.

  Would they?

  I faced the doorway; the sound of my own blood pumping through my veins echoed in my ears, dulled the thump of the running footsteps.

  The vampires and their pets erupted out of the doorway in a flash of skin and fangs. Faris grabbed the first one, slamming him into the floor, the vampire’s head bursting like a melon. The next vampire or pet, I wasn’t sure which, came for me. I spun in a circle, swinging upward with the lance, burying it deep into the creature’s throat, removing his head from his shoulders with the single blow. Much as I hated to admit it, even to myself, the bite Faris invoked on me was a freaking godsend, giving me both speed and an increase in strength.

  O’Shea was already on his second vampire, the sound of his teeth snapping through bone accompanied only by the scream of the vamp at his mercy. A woman leapt at me, but froze in mid-air, her face a comical twist of consternation. Then she burst into flames, the fire swallowing her in a single flash of heat and leaving behind nothing but a faint dusting of ash floating down.

  “Good catch, witch.” I didn’t dare give Pamela a smile, settling for a thumbs up over my shoulder. The three vamps left facing us slowly withdrew. O’Shea shook the one he held in his mouth, a rag doll of bones and skin, then threw it at the retreating vamps.

  I opened my mouth, the desire to taunt them, to finish them off, something I couldn’t stop. Faris moved to my side and slapped his hand over my mouth. “Time to go, Tracker.”

  I pushed his hand off me and dropped the lance. The weapon wasn’t mine, and if I continued to carry it, I would likely use it on Faris. And while he was a real piece of shit, I wasn’t sure everything that had happened really was all his fault.

  Even if I wanted to blame him.

  Bypassing the security guards—who were no doubt coming to check on the alarm I’d set off—the four of us, Jack floating along beside us, worked our way up to the roof where, true to his word, Blaz waited. When he saw Faris, his head snaked forward, and he pinned the vampire to the roof top with a single foot.

  Why is this vampire here? More than that, why is there a connection between the two of you?

  “He invoked a bite so I could kill the Child Empress.”

  And did you?

  “No. I didn’t. Let him up, Blaz. For now, he’s with us.” Fuck, Jack was going to kill me when he woke up. If he woke up. I glanced over at him, took in his skin tone, the uneven rise and fall of his chest. Everything was spinning out of control. This place, it had torn up my life more than I ever could have thought.

  I was going to lose Jack too. Tears stung the backs of my eyes.

  The old Tracker is sleeping deep, but he isn’t dying. Not yet, anyway.

  I helped Pamela up onto Blaz’s back; she lifted and secured Jack into place and O’Shea leapt up, wedging himself once more between the spurs of Blaz’s back. I climbed up, exhaustion sweeping over me. Faris didn’t mount up; instead, he did one of his shifts, cutting through the Veil. I had no doubt that he would beat us back to London.

  “Let’s go.” I tapped Blaz’s back, rapping my knuckles against his scales.

  The dragon leapt from the roof of the palace and swept out across the sea. I looked over my shoulder, at the city lit up in the darkness. Berget … gods be damned, how could this be happening?

  For once, Blaz didn’t re
spond to my unspoken questions. He left me alone, which was what I wanted.

  We flew to where Eve and Alex waited. The Harpy rose in the air when we drew close. She was trying to speak to me, but I ignored her. Alex barked and yipped, waving frantically at us.

  I couldn’t deal with anyone else’s issues right then. Fuck, I couldn’t deal with my own, what the hell made me think I would be able to help anyone else?

  I was numb, my heart and mind tangled up, confused and shocked at everything that had happened. Had it happened? Maybe it was like some sort of waking dream, a nightmare sent to steal my sanity and break what was left of my heart. I clung to Blaz’s back and closed my eyes, but didn’t sleep.

  Blaz kept silent through the flight, Pamela fell asleep at some point, and as the sun rose behind us, London came into sight.

  I will drop you at Jack’s home. I see it in your head as the place you wish to go.

  “Thanks,” I whispered, my voice carried away by the wind rushing around us.

  Blaz circled low, landing out by the pond where the Beast had nearly taken me. So much had happened between then and now, it seemed a preference to have the Beast on my ass than the truths I tried to deal with now. Or not deal with, as the case was.

  Everyone dismounted. I sent Pamela into the house with Jack. Eve landed and Alex bounded over to me, grabbing me around the legs.

  “Rylee, Rylee, Rylee. Safe now?”

  I scrubbed my hands over his head, scratching behind his ears. “Yeah, we’re safe now.”

  “Yippity!” He yelped, flipping over backward and racing toward the house after Pamela. The distant sound of Pamela rebuking him for running into her drifted back to us.

  “Thanks, Blaz. You know how to find me when you want to cash in your favor,” I said, feeling strangely formal. But maybe it was just easier than breaking down in front of him, because at that moment it was all I wanted to do.

  I couldn’t keep doing this by myself. Who did I have to help me, to turn to when I couldn’t keep it together anymore? O’Shea bumped his head into my hand and I closed my eyes. The truth hurt more than anything else. O’Shea like this was better than not at all, but it wasn’t enough. My thoughts drifted to Will. No, I couldn’t do that, didn’t have it in me to be disloyal to O’Shea with him here beside me. Even if he was trapped as a wolf.