I touched Rylee on the arm. “If I can give you a suggestion?”
“If you have to.”
“Both of those men are offering you their hearts. Take them. I don’t believe love can be wrong, my friend.” I stepped back and gave Liam a quick nod before turning my back on them. For whatever time we had here in this quiet pause after the battle, they needed to talk.
I had a feeling we weren’t going to get many more of these quiet spells.
“Good advice you gave her,” Peta said.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one thinking about the pause in our journey since I found Cactus standing at the rack of belts, his fingers plucking through them like loose harp strings. “I heard what you said to her, about love.”
I blew out a breath and picked a belt for myself. “I believe it’s true.”
“I love you, Lark. You know that.”
“And I love you too. But I also love Ash—”
“Don’t remind me.” He grunted. “I don’t know if he and I can share like those two over there.”
I looked over my shoulder at the bowed head of Liam and the upturned face of Rylee as they spoke. “They wouldn’t be doing things this way if they didn’t have to, Cactus. What would you have done if I’d taken the throne? I could have married you and had a man on the side. Loving you both, pretending when I was with one that the other didn’t matter, which would be a lie. What would you have me do?”
“I would have you pick me,” he said softly, his green eyes as vulnerable as I’d ever seen them. “I would have you tell me you love me best and that he was just a phase.”
I blew out a breath and let him tug me to him. His arms wrapped around my body felt so right, so good. And in that moment, I was able to forget I’d been stuffed away like garbage for years. I was able to forget the one other man I loved was missing, and maybe dead.
I was able to forget I was supposed to be the end of the Elemental world.
But of all those things, the one I wanted to forget and couldn’t, was when the time came, Rylee’s life would be in my hands. It would be up to me and my strength whether she lived or died in the battle against Orion.
A shudder slid through me and I clung to Cactus as I hadn’t done since we were children hiding in the darkness of the forest on a moonless night. Peta leapt up to my shoulder and butted her head against both of us, purring softly.
“You can do this,” he whispered into my hair. “You are the best of our world because you will do what no one else would even dream of. You know, even now the four families of elementals cower in their homes and cover their ears to the death cries of the humans. You will change that, Lark.”
I pulled back from him and kissed him softly before letting go completely. “That’s what I’m afraid of, Cactus.”
CHAPTER 10
LIAM
LARK’S WORDS HOVERED in the air between them. He reached out and brushed a strand of Rylee’s long hair behind her ear. “Rylee.”
“Liam, what if I fall in love with Faris?” she blurted the question, and by the smell of fear on her, he knew it was already happening.
He expected Faris to crow his victory, but again, the vampire surprised him. There was a softening and Faris stepped forward without pushing Liam back.
“I think it will happen, eventually, when there is no longer two, just one.” His voice waivered as if both of them spoke at the same time.
Liam swallowed hard, and felt Faris do the same.
Rylee reached up. “I’m not surviving this, so I don’t know why I bother to worry about you two.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You aren’t going to fail; you don’t have it in you.” He couldn’t help but wrap his hands around hers and tug her closer. Her head still fit under his chin, the same as it had in his old body. She wrapped her arms around him and took a deep breath.
“Maybe, I won’t fail. I have to finish Orion and close the Veil. I believe that much, even if I don’t have a gods-be-damned plan. Lark said it and she’s right. A sacrifice is expected of me.” She looked up at him and her eyes filled with tears. He wiped them away and kissed the trail of tears down her cheeks. Faris held Liam’s tongue, keeping them quiet. Liam would have jumped in and tried to fix it right away, but the vampire seemed to know a bit more about women than he initially let on.
And a small piece of Liam was grateful to have the vampire with him, navigating these new waters with Rylee.
She closed her eyes. “I’m not scared to die; that isn’t what terrifies me. But leaving Marcella does. She’s so little. How will she know how much I love her if I’m not there to tell her? How will she know I would willingly go through everything in my life a hundred times if it would take me to her? The thought of never seeing her again, of not watching her grow up, eats at me like nothing I’ve ever felt, and I don’t think I can do it. I can’t leave her. I know I can’t.”
Her head bowed forward until it touched his chest. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? He blinked several times while trying to formulate the right words, but Faris beat him to it.
“You will never lose her, Rylee. Even if you die, you would never be away from her. She would carry you in her heart, and see you in the mirror every morning the same way I carry my sister. You never truly lose the ones you love, and I believe my sister even now walks with me in my darkest hours.”
She let out a sob. “It isn’t the same as holding her when she cries out from a nightmare. Or seeing her off to her first day of school. Or watching her go on her first date with the boy down the street.”
“No, it’s not.” He tipped her head up and kissed her, holding her tightly to him as if his love would somehow protect her from her fears, from the path that lay ahead. There was a desperate urgency to the kiss, as if for the first time she let herself feel it. Their mouths were hot against each other, and if they had been alone he knew what would have happened. Even as it was, his hands found their way under her tank top and slid along her skin, feeling the tremble of her muscles as she leaned into him. A groan slipped out of her, a whisper of his name.
Gently he pulled back, keeping his forehead pressed against hers. “No matter what happens, I am with you, Rylee. You are not alone in this, and Marcella will be loved beyond that of any child in this world because of the people who love you, the people you’ve touched in your life.”
She rubbed the back of her neck. Her eyes narrowed and she snapped at him, “Stop trying to soften this shit, Liam.”
Kiss her. The thought came over him and he acted on it, pressing his lips to hers. Her eyes softened and she kissed him back, tentatively. A few tears trickled down her cheeks. What the hell was wrong with her? None of this was like her. Tough, yes, that would always be a trait of hers. But not this snapping, lashing out she’d been doing. Something was happening to her.
Slowly, she nodded, and he could almost see the resolve harden in her eyes once more. “Sorry I’m being such a fucking baby.”
He cupped her face. “Your eyes are even more beautiful when you cry.”
She took his hands and gave them a squeeze before pushing him away. “Get out of here, you two. Round everyone up, we need to move.”
The moment was over, but Liam felt the shift in her, as did Faris.
She would love them both.
And they were good with that.
CHAPTER 11
RYLEE
LIAM STRODE AWAY as I reached to the back of my neck and the throbbing ache that beat in time with my heart.
I ran my finger over the bump . . . and it moved.
“Fucking hell,” I breathed out, horror flickering through me followed swiftly by a thunderous roll of fatigue and a sense of hopelessness so deep I knew I’d never be able to get back out. I might as well lay down and die right there. The fatigue was all bound up with an anger so intense I thought I would burst with wanting to lash out at those around me. They were not the friends I’d thought they were.
The emotional pendulum swung
back the other direction.
What was the point in fighting if I was going to die anyway?
Blaz called to me, but I couldn’t answer him; I couldn’t see past the blackness that had come for me.
The sounds of my friends around me in the store echoed to me as if from a great distance, and I silently said my goodbyes to them, begging them to understand that I was not strong enough.
Hands were touching me, trying to hold me up.
“She’s not breathing.”
“What is it, what happened to her?”
“I think she’s been demon stung; they must have implanted something in her when the humans mobbed us. Cactus, grab my spear, we need the blade if we can find the entrance point.”
The world as I knew it faded, and I stood on a white plane of sand, wind whipping around my face and lashing me with my own hair. In front of me stood a man with long black hair streaked with white and silver, his back stooped as if he were about to pick something up off the ground.
I took a step toward him. “Where am I?”
“Desolation, Tracker. You are in desolation.”
“And who the hell are you?”
A sigh slipped out of him. “I am the demon who brought you here. My name is Moloch.”
My hands went to my swords, but they weren’t on my back. “I suggest, Moloch, you send me back. Right fucking now.”
He looked up at me from under his long hair, a rather soft smile on his face. His eyes flickered red, but there was no menace in him, which didn’t jive for me. Not with a demon. “Tracker, not all demons want Orion to succeed. I am one of those who oppose him, but the only way I could speak to you is if I was a part of your body and brought you to the edge of death. It is how my abilities work.”
Swallowing hard, I forced myself to hold my ground as he approached me, limping. “You’re the reason I’ve been so fucking emotional, aren’t you?” The rest of his words sunk in. “Wait . . . the edge of death, are you fucking kidding me?”
He shook his head. “The emotions are your own. I only opened the floodgates. When you touched me, on your neck, the venom in me surges. A natural defense I have no control over. I apologize that it caused you grief.”
I slapped a hand to the back of my neck. “You’re the reason I attacked Lark.”
“Yes.”
“And the reason I was so afraid.”
“Yes. As I said, the venom magnifies that which is already there.”
“Then why the hell was I myself sometimes? Why have I not been a fucking lunatic the whole time?” I stared hard at him, but he smiled at me.
“Love. You love those you are with and it is the only true antidote for my venom. It breaks through the poison.” He clasped his hands in front of his chest. “As to the edge of death . . . that will not change until I am no longer a part of you. But for now I hold your body in a stasis. You will not die unless I wish it.”
I put my hands on my hips, “And you don’t wish it because you hate Orion?”
His nose wrinkled up like he’d smelled something bad. “Because the world of demons is not meant to become a part of the human world, or the supernatural, for that matter. We are separate for a purpose.” Moloch shook his head slowly. “Orion is a fool. The demon prophecies were written by someone who wanted our two worlds to merge, and so with that goal, she wrote her prophecies. She chose the name ‘Orion’ because it is a common name in the demon realm.”
I raised an eyebrow at him and he laughed.
“Orion is creating these events to follow what is written, because he believes. That is the hidden truth of prophecy, Tracker. You can make it happen if you have enough faith. He believes and so, he is changing the world accordingly.”
“Prophecies have a funny way of turning out to be truth in my world,” I said.
Moloch lifted one hand, a single finger pointing to the sky. “You have your own set of prophecies that say you will defeat him. So perhaps the key is only that your belief must be stronger than his.”
Deep words, and ones I wished were true. More likely I needed an army that would be able to wipe the demons out; something I did not have. Unless . . . .
“How many demons support you?” I realized if there were enough demons that would go against Orion, we might actually have a chance against him.
“A few hundred. But we will be there, and we will fight at your side, Tracker.” He held out his hand. Slowly, I reached across to him and took his gnarled fingers in my own. Papery dry and soft, his skin felt as though I touched not flesh, but the peeling bark of a tree trunk.
“Moloch, did Orion send you to me?”
A laugh burst out of him as he let my hand go. “Yes, he believes I will bring you to your knees. Which I could.” His eyes twinkled at me. “Look for this mark.” He turned his head to the side and what looked like a faded scar was imprinted on his right cheek. Two parallel vertical lines with a single slash intersecting them. “This is the mark of those who oppose Orion and his plans.”
“Are you going to send me back now?”
“Yes, and I will leave you. And if you don’t mind, try to make sure your friends don’t kill me in my wormy form. I realize it isn’t pretty, but it is my own.”
I stepped back from him, then paused. “Wait. I have a question.”
He bobbed his head.
This was dicey, asking what I needed to ask, it would tip my hand. But if anyone would know if it were possible, I had a feeling it would be Moloch. It wasn’t like I was about to meet another demon I could even partially trust. Still, I didn’t want to throw caution to the wind. I revised my question a split second before I spit it out. “Orion bound the witch, Milly, to him fully, didn’t he? He could sense her, and she could sense him?”
Moloch gave a start. “Yes, he did. Demons love keeping tabs on their pets to make life the worst hell they could. Does that answer help you?”
I nodded. “Yes, thank you.”
The demon in front of me clasped his hands in front of his body, his red eyes boring into mine with an intensity of a razor-sharp blade cutting through me, peeling me open to the world. And then they widened ever so slightly. “Ah, I see what you are about. Dangerous what you would try, but . . . it may work. You are true to your heritage and the strength your people carried. It is an honor to meet you . . . Rylee of the Blood.”
A chill swept through me as he gave me a slow, painful bow, and then the wind picked up, slashing my face with sand particles, forcing my eyes closed.
“She’s moving.”
“Mother goddess, she’s breathing! What happened?”
The voices of those I loved most in the world surrounded me as I came back to myself. “I went for a little walk.” I croaked out the words as if I truly had been in a desert. “Can I get water?”
“I’m on it, boss.” Alex scrambled away, the sound of displays knocked over echoed in the store. Peta lay across my legs in her snow leopard form, her warmth curling through me and her green eyes full of worry. I ran a hand over her head.
“I’m okay.”
Liam held me to him, my back to his chest. “Rylee, what in the hell happened?”
I put a hand to my neck and the bump shifted again, and I jerked out of Liam’s arms, and out from under Peta, to crawl a few feet away from them.
“Don’t touch me and don’t touch what’s about to come out of my neck,” I said. The sound and feel of the back of my neck ripping open sent a gasp through not only me, but everyone else as well.
“Rylee,” Lark said softly, “that looks like a lung burrower. What in the name of the mother goddess is it doing in you?”
The slithering demon slipped out of me and off the back of my neck to the floor. I turned and looked at it. Black and gray streaked, Moloch’s “wormy form” looked like nothing more than an overgrown leech as he slid across the floor at a rapid speed.
Pamela raised her hands, the magic coiling around her fingers.
“Stop! I said don’t hurt him.”
Liam looked from me to Pam and back again. “And why aren’t we hurting the leech thing that just slid out the back of your neck?”
Okay, that sounded more like Faris, but I was splitting hairs. Alex stumbled to his knees in front of me and thrust a water bottle into my hands. I unscrewed it and chugged the entire thing, then handed the empty bottle back to him. “Thanks, buddy.”
He gave me a wink. “Anytime, bossy boss.”
Lark crouched in front of me. “What was that?”
“That was a demon. He needed to speak to me, and thought that burrowing under my skin, making me an emotional wreck and an asshole all at once, was the best way to get my attention.”
She arched an eyebrow at me. “And we didn’t kill him because?”
“He’s against Orion, and he’s going to fight with us at the final battle. Along with a few of his friends.”
Lark let out a breath. “You trust him?”
“You saw my heart stop?”
“Yes.”
“He could have finished me right there. Orion sent him to do it.”
Lark paled, and her eyes widened. “Mother goddess.”
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.” I pushed myself to my feet.
I tucked the white tank top into the black stretchy jeans I’d found and proceeded to strap on my weapons one at a time. Double back sheath for my two swords, my whip clipped to my left hip, crossbow slung over my shoulder and adjusted so I could pull my swords, a knife in the sheath at my lower back, a knife strapped to my calf under my right boot, and a quiver of crossbow bolts hanging from my right hip.
Rylee, I’m back. The flying monkeys are all dead, but they seemed to fall apart around the time I reached them. I assume that means Pestilence is taken care of?
Blaz’s voice soothed my nerves for a moment and I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. He’d feel my intentions. “Yes. Taken care of. One down, three nasty motherfuckers to go.”
I looked at those around me and couldn’t help the heat in my face. I’d been a complete ass to Lark and Liam, yet I saw no condemnation in either of them.
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