“Oh, honey.” Darik came to give him a quick hug. “That must have been a time of fear and uncertainty for you.”
“How did you handle it?”
“The demon part? I’d been reading that site Demons Are Among Us for a while, so I knew what I was getting, mostly.”
Baylee drew away from him. “That site was helpful, but I found it too late.” He went to the dresser and scanned it for the crystal.
Where is it?
Beneath the mattress on my side of the bed.
Kirkyn’s voice invaded his thoughts.
Oh no. No.
Kirkyn was back in his mind. He wouldn’t be able to let him stay. He’d have to get a fresh gris-gris bag. He’d need the protection once this was over.
He crossed to the bed and found the small crystal where Kirkyn had said it was.
“Now that you know, you’re going to have to make a decision to take him back or kill him,” Trinity said. “And you can kill him.”
Part of him rebelled at the very thought, but the other part took strength in that information.
If you have the crystal, sing to it. Slightly off-key and it break.
He hummed a harsh tune, and Trinity screeched. The crystal cracked in his hand.
“What are you doing?” Darik demanded.
“Breaking this.” He put his hand over the pieces and focused his voice.
“Stop,” Trinity screamed.
“Or I’ll put you through the floor,” Darik snapped.
Baylee lifted his hand and found the crystal was now dust. He stared in awe, unaware that he could even do that.
How did he even know to do it?
“I’m sorry,” Baylee said. “I didn’t know the sound was within his hearing range.”
“How’d you do that?” Darik asked, carefully closing his hand around Baylee’s wrist.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“Kirkyn,” Trinity said, his face in a grimace. Pain brightened his eyes.
“How can I keep him out of my head?” Baylee asked softly. He didn’t think anything would ever hold for long.
“If you can stop loving him, you’ll stop hearing him,” Trinity said. “Your energy is a tracking device, so he’ll always find you.”
“I’ll deal with that later,” he muttered. That was how Kirkyn had known who he was.
Why hadn’t he just come before this? What had he been waiting for?
He went into the bathroom hoping to find a container of some kind Kirkyn had left behind, or he’d have to go to the kitchen.
There, Baylee found a small glass vial and poured the dust into it before turning on the faucet and directing his will at it. He ran his hand under it and the stream cut his palm.
“Fuck,” he cried. Then, he squeezed a drop of blood into the vial and mixed the contents. It wasn’t wet, just slightly damp. Should he add more?
Baylee, keep the consistency more like a powder than a liquid. You only need a little to do its job.
Baylee sighed. What was he going to do about Kirkyn? Hell, he had to live through this first.
“Baylee?”
“We can stop and get a cup from the kitchen,” Baylee said, joining them. “Kirkyn said put this around the perimeter. We only need a little, and don’t forget to put some by the lake.”
“Let’s get going,” Trinity urged.
* * * *
“I can’t believe we’re back here,” Astarte said thirty minutes later. “You’re giving me whiplash. Now, I have to get a headache from Payten. Make up your mind, Kirkyn.”
“Relax,” he muttered. “I need to check something out, and this just got our foot back in the door.”
“Can you really do anything?” she asked curiously. “We caught it in time before, but if we’re dealing with Creta and Lenno, we’re fucked.”
“I do have an idea.” Something Baylee had said about the land.
“You think I don’t see you?” Astarte asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“Finishing this job is as much about your pride as it is about getting Baylee back. What if he’s not impressed by you saving his family?”
“You know the scent of victory is as much a lure for me as my mate’s,” he said. “This is about winning not about him.”
“Yeah, and I’m the queen of Sweden,” she drawled. “So, let’s go get rid of Bancoo one more time.”
Chapter Fifteen
He slowed and surveyed the area. It wasn’t hard to pick up the rock glinting in the light. Lenno had brought some goodies of his own. The rock from Darth would eat into the soil and burrow down into the earth’s crust within six months.
This area would be permanently changed, and humans would never be able to live here again.
“Dead bodies,” Astarte commented. “What do you think the sprites did?”
“Baylee did as I instructed,” he said as he stopped the truck and climbed out. “I reversed the polarity of the crystal so it would do to the gnomes at least what it would do to the sprites.”
“Creative,” Astarte said with an approving nod.
He flashed her a quick smile as he headed for one of the trucks parked on the street leading up to the hotel and tugged open the door. However, the truth was, he hadn’t known what to do. The idea had merely come to him like a message from the land itself.
A quick search of the vehicle yielded a small kit filled with crystals, as well as a cache of seeds and cartons of plants waiting to be planted. He lifted a bottle from the backseat, deciding to take it with him.
“We’ve got saplings and some other stuff over here,” Astarte called from a vehicle parked a little further down the street.
He was glad the hotel’s entrance was off the street, or they’d be dealing with prying human eyes. The traffic had picked up since this morning.
Kirkyn walked over to the pickup she was searching now. He peeked into the bed to the sight of large black containers, along with plants and trees to be planted. He slipped the items he’d taken from the first truck into his pack before plucking two containers from the bed.
“What are they up to?” Astarte asked.
Kirkyn went to the passenger side of the vehicle. The floor mats bore some blood and flowers. A floral scent hung in the air. In fact, he found more flower plants.
“They’re planning to seed the area in a hurry and kill off sprites,” he said. “They’ll want to use a water way or the air.”
“Bossier will be the staging point,” she murmured.
“We’ll have to work fast,” he said and headed back to the truck. “I’ll open the shields. You pull through.”
Kirkyn had no trouble cutting a hole in the shield, allowing them to enter. Once inside, he sealed the doorway after them.
Baylee was out the door standing on the wide porch with Trinity and Darik before Astarte cut the engine. Kirkyn devoured Baylee with his eyes, his heart thumping hard.
He never had understood why Baylee had run from him. He’d been good to him. All the fucking around on the road had come to a screeching halt after their first kiss. He’d taken fewer jobs out of town and had been in the process of making a bid for control of the local office.
Kirkyn had wanted to be close to Baylee, able to see him every day. Then, things had changed in the blink of an eye. Before too long, Baylee had vanished. He’d sensed it coming and had taken the necessary steps to enable him to easily find his mate. On the other hand, Kirkyn had been prepared to allow Baylee time.
An incident with Bancoo had left Kirkyn rattled, and he’d needed his mate’s comfort. Not having so much as access to the sound of his voice, Kirkyn had begun to destabilize emotionally. He’d fought it but had known the cascade was coming.
He turned his attention to removing the items from the truck.
“Ennis said you thought we should head back,” Trinity said, coming out to meet him.
He took one of the containers and headed to the hotel. “I need to run a quick test, an
d then I might go back with you,” he said.
“Tell me what you need,” Trinity said. “We can make it happen while you stay out here and take care of things from this end. Baylee said the air smelled different, and a wood nymph said the trees were changing, developing a current that repelled them.”
“It’s started,” Astarte said, and Kirkyn nodded.
“From the pictures Astarte took of a few sites in Bossier, it’ll only be a matter of a week before the transformation is complete there. Parts of that city are already changed.”
“There were lots of dead birds and sprites,” she said. “Water and tree.”
“Kirkyn, can we talk?” Baylee asked.
“Not right now,” he said tersely even though everything inside him wanted nothing more than to bask in his mate’s presence. “I need to talk to the sprites and nymphs and conduct a test of the natural wildlife here before the new plants were introduced.”
“It can wait two minutes,” Baylee said forcefully as he put a hand on Kirkyn’s arm. His entire system rioted, blood heating, breath catching.
Baylee caressed him lightly and his stomach roiled as Kirkyn fought the emotion pumping through his system.
“B—”
“Kirkyn,” he snapped. “You never used to brush me off, even when you were in the midst of a job, and I’m assuming you weren’t lying when you said you were working.”
“I never lied to you,” he snapped and brushed Baylee’s hand away.
“Then, pretend it’s three years ago, and all you wanted was to listen to me,” Baylee said.
“We’ll give you a minute,” Trinity said.
“No need,” Kirkyn replied. “We don’t have time for games. We need to act now.”
“We didn’t get to the flowers in time? How many more could there be besides the ones we found?” Baylee asked, and the hurt look on his face was a slash of pain across Kirkyn’s heart, but he couldn’t get emotional right now.
He was here to do a job, not be tricked and taken in by Baylee.
“There’s no telling,” he replied. “The rosette is a spring flower in Darth, but the colinas will have already begun the infection process.”
“So, what can we do to reverse it?” Trinity asked.
Kirkyn tore his gaze from Baylee and swallowed tightly as he strengthened his resolve.
“What I have in mind is a test of the plants and the soil. I’m looking for how hard the soil already is, how easy or difficult it is to grow things.”
“I can have that information quickly,” Baylee said. “Then, what?”
“Then, plants need to be tested against the infected soil. We can’t remove them, so we’ll have to kill them or counteract them,” Kirkyn said. “I’m thinking we counteract them.”
“If the tree nymphs are noticing changes in the trees, does that mean they’ve been infected, as well?” Baylee asked, edging closer to Kirkyn.
“Definitely. Gnomes live in the trees,” Kirkyn said. “They’ll be able to construct a portal from one area to the other via the trees.”
“That sounds interesting,” Darik said, coming to join them. “Couldn’t we keep some aspect of that?”
“There might be a way, but it will depend on the tree nymphs,” Kirkyn said.
“Wouldn’t the same principle work on the water?” Baylee asked quietly.
“Maybe, but I don’t see the old crone authorizing any changes to make it so,” Kirkyn said. “After all, it would interfere with whatever plans she already has.”
“Don’t talk about my grandmother, Kirkyn,” Baylee ordered.
Kirkyn grunted at the dirty look Baylee leveled at him. “Let’s just get to work,” Kirkyn remarked. “The dead guys out front left evidence in their vehicles that they were here to further seed the land to speed things up.”
“I’ll go ahead and get the nymphs to work,” Baylee said as they headed inside. “They’ll have some ideas of the changes better than the sprites.”
“I’ll go out to the garden with you,” Kirkyn said. “I need to get the samples. Once I’ve done that, Trinity, I’ll be able to tell you and Darik what you need to do back in the city.”
“We’ll wait then,” Trinity said.
“I’m glad you realized what a stain your childish behavior would be on your record,” Payten said, joining them. “I’m going to arrange a meeting with Bancoo. You do what you do here.”
“Good luck with that,” Kirkyn muttered, breezing out of the room. She’d be lucky if she didn’t end up dead. Not that he cared.
* * * *
Baylee followed Kirkyn, eager to get to work. If there was a chance they could save his home, he wanted to make it happen. He was also wondering where his cousin was and if there was a slim chance he could change Kirkyn’s mind about killing him and Alisa.
From the way Kirkyn had rebuffed him out front, Baylee assumed there was no chance. However, they had been happy together once. He’d been in love with the man. The demon.
But he hadn’t been involved with anyone since and knew the chances of that were slim for two reasons. No other man felt like Kirkyn, touched his heart. And Kirkyn would kill any man who tried to get close to him.
Even if Kirkyn decided to leave him alone, Baylee would still face those same problems.
Clarity stopped him just outside. “What is that demon doing here?”
“He came back to help,” Baylee replied. “He’s not all bad, Gram.”
“And you think a handful of conversations and one night with him granted you such insight?” she demanded.
“Actually, Gram, Kirkyn is the man who was stalking me.”
Her jaw dropped, and her mouth opened, but nothing came out. “Baylee,” she growled. “What were you thinking?”
“He was so cute, and he was the hottest guy at the bar.” He shrugged. “Kirkyn was okay.”
“Until he started stalking you,” Clarity muttered. “Fix this, Baylee. I want him gone after this is all over. There are better breeds of men waiting to make you happy.”
He watched her go and headed to the nearest tree. One nymph would get the message to them all.
Chapter Sixteen
“Kirkyn.” Baylee found Kirkyn near the lake staring into it. He peered out at the water, finding hints of black in it.
He frowned, but part of his mind was drawn by the scent and nearness of Kirkyn. He wanted to caress him, to feel his arms holding him like they used to do.
“What’d you do to the water?”
“It’s the infection. Those black spots are rock called water log. They’re like coral reefs, except there are no oceans on Darth, only rivers and lakes. The water log or black coral forms there to maintain the balance of flora and bacteria in the water.”
“It’s the cause of the stink out here,” Baylee said. “I’ll go in and check if it’s taken hold.” He kicked off his shoes and removed his pants and shirt and dived in.
Baylee didn’t see anything at first, but as he went deeper, he spied a structure, and a fish tried to bite him. He pushed it away, but the bass was persistent. So, he hit it with a bolt of water to kill it. He was going to leave it but decided to take it with him.
He did a survey of the lake, finding the black coral extending away from the hotel. He broke off a piece and took it with him in case Kirkyn needed it. When he finished, he headed back to the surface.
He tossed the fish and coral up and started to get out when the water curled around his waist and jerked him back under. Baylee could breathe in water, so he didn’t panic, but the sight of pure black tentacles that was the water almost made him piss his pants.
Baylee struggled, and the tentacles pulled him toward a black maw. It was nothing, yet it was a whirlpool of tarlike water.
Kirkyn.
He shifted forms, becoming the small sprite of water, and the tentacles adjusted. They wrapped around him, the tiny suction cups sucked at him, stealing his energy.
His head swam as he tried to get free. He was jerked
about frantically, the tentacle waving this way and that, making him dizzy.
Baylee shifted back to his human form, panic setting in. His lungs burned, and his chest ached as if the thing was stealing the breath right out of him.
Something sharp sliced across his arm, and he winced. The tentacle released him, and Baylee watched it shudder and explode. Coral hit him across the face, and he gasped and was thrown backward from the force of the explosion.
His head thumped against something hard, and blackness closed around him.
Not long after, Baylee was coughing, water droplets shooting into the air. He was turned on his side by strong hands.
“Hold still.”
Something sharp cut into his shoulder. “Fuck,” he cried.
“Hold still,” Kirkyn ordered in a hard tone.
Baylee laid there as an object was eased from his skin.
“What is it?” Darik asked.
“Water log,” Kirkyn said. “I’ve never seen it this pinkish color before.”
“What color is it normally?” Darik asked.
“Black,” he said grimly, and Kirkyn rolled Baylee onto his back.
He shivered as their eyes met. He wanted to caress the handsome face looking down at him with those gray eyes studying him with a faint hint of heat in them.
“Cold.” He reached for Kirkyn, as much because he was always warmer as it was because he wanted to feel him again.
Kirkyn stood with Baylee in his arms, and Baylee wrapped his arms around Kirkyn’s neck. The scent of fresh water and musk came off him. Baylee fought the urge to bury his nose in Kirkyn’s skin.
“Darik, get the old crone and tell her to check with her people. There were dead sprites down there.”
Baylee shivered. “The lake’s higher. It’s covering the cavern in the alcove they use to come into this realm.” He strained closer to Kirkyn, who was wet but somehow seemed unaffected by whatever had chilled him.
“He’s so pale,” Darik commented. “Is he going to be okay?”
“Just get the crone. If she insists on going in, standby to help her.”
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