That he wasn’t gone.
Yet I knew that wasn’t the case at all. I would never see him again.
“Wait, Rylee,” Lark said as I moved to turn away, unable to look at the spot where he’d been a second longer.
The ground where he’d been shuddered and green shoots shot upward at a rate that my eyes couldn’t follow. One minute the ground was barren and dead, and then it was covered in plants and grass, tree saplings springing up and growing into towering cedars.
Around one of the cedars, a climbing bush wrapped around the trunk, blossoms bursting open and filling the air with their sweet scent. Blue petals flipped open, their softness beckoning. Lark lowered her hands. “With the time constraints, it is all I can do. But I will come back and finish it. After this is all done . . . it is the least I can do.”
I stepped forward and plucked a blossom off the growing vine. It was the exact shade of blue that his scales had sported. “This is plenty. He’d have loved to knock it all down.”
Alex laughed softly and Liam joined in. I glanced at them. “He was kinda destructive.”
Pamela sniffed. “He was a dragon.”
I nodded and walked toward Eve, pushing my grief away. There was nothing else I could do but bury it as Lark had buried Blaz. We had to move on without him, no matter how much it hurt.
“How many of us can you carry, Eve?”
The Harpy fluffed her wings, her eyes still wet with tears. “A thousand pounds. But I need to carry at least two in my claws. That is where I have the most strength.”
Marco bobbed his head. “We can carry you all. It isn’t a problem.”
Lark snapped her fingers at Peta. “Cat, downsize your furry bottom.”
Peta let out a coughing growl and shifted from her leopard form into that of an ordinary gray and white housecat. Though I couldn’t hear her speak to Lark, I could guess at the conversation based on Lark’s expressions.
And based on the stiff-legged stalk of the cat to her mistress.
Eve would carry Pamela and Alex in her talons, and Liam and I would ride astride. Marco would carry Cactus and the blackout curtains in his talons and carry Berget and Lark and Peta on his back.
As we rose into the air above the battle site. I watched as the bodies of the ogres slid under the earth, like a wave washing over them. I thought it was Lark doing it, but she shook her head and pointed to Pamela.
“Pamela.” Just her name, and with it a question.
“They were fighting for their lives too, Rylee. No different than us.”
I closed my eyes and breathed in the fresh air. She was right. “Stop being so wise when you are so much younger than me.”
Liam or Faris, whoever, wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly. A rock of strength, that’s what he was. What they both were. And it seemed they knew when to talk, and when not to.
This was one of the latter times.
Blaz’s death would haunt me; I knew it already, felt it deeply in my bones like a break that would never truly heal.
But like every other death I’d faced, I couldn’t let it slow me down, or take me from the path I was on. The world depended on me to kick Orion’s ass into oblivion.
I stared into the night sky and wondered how many more we would lose along the way.
And if I would crack under the grief.
CHAPTER 16
LIAM / FARIS
THE TREMBLING IN her body eased as she relaxed against him. Inside his head, he looked at Faris. The vampire shrugged. “She needs her peace right now. I’ve a feeling it’s only getting worse from here.”
Liam grunted softly. He already knew. Yet, he also knew Rylee better than anyone else and this wasn’t her breaking point. Losing Blaz was a blow; there was no doubt. Already he could feel the loss of the big lizard’s humor and strength, of his unfailing loyalty to Rylee and her strange pack.
But they would survive, and Rylee would rise above it to continue fighting.
An hour passed and the tops of the redwoods at the northern edge of the forest came into view, peeking through the low-lying clouds.
Marco drew closer to them and Lark gave them a wave. “Expect few to be happy to see me. We’ll go to my sister first.”
She pointed the way and Marco took the lead. Below them, Alex let out a yip and started howling like a mad man, his exuberance for life overcoming whatever grief he held; at least for the moment. There was the sound of a smack and a soft, “Be quiet, you fool,” from Pamela, and he couldn’t help chuckling.
Rylee snickered softly.
“They’re going to be quite the pair later, aren’t they?” he whispered into her ear so Alex wouldn’t hear them. But apparently Eve did. Her head whipped around and her beak dropped open.
Rylee put a finger to her lips. Eve grinned and bobbed her head once, understanding clearly.
“Yes, I do think so. He’ll help her not be so hard, and she’ll keep him from being too wild. Perhaps a little like another couple we know?”
She looked him in the eye and gave him a slow wink. Fatigue lined the three colors, along with a heavy dose of grief, but also something he knew she would need more than anything else.
Belief. There was still hope in her that they could make this happen. That she would come out on top.
Which meant she had something up her sleeve she hadn’t told him about. His eyes narrowed sharply. “What are you planning, Rylee?”
Her eyes widened with an effort at looking innocent. Indeed, there was something she was keeping to herself. “Nothing.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Adamson. I know you. I know that face. That face is trying to keep a secret from me.”
She shrugged and turned her back to him. “I’ll tell you when I’m damn well good and ready, O’Shea.”
Fear for her flickered through him. Rylee’s plans were not always known to turn out well, mostly because they weren’t plans. Her “plans” were her running by the seat of her pants and leaping before she knew what the hell was going on.
Worse, they all knew what rested on her shoulders.
Knowing her the way he did, there was a distinct possibility she was putting herself in more danger than she needed to.
Faris leaned forward inside his head. “Then we have to keep her from doing that. Seduce her, man. We’ve got the goods to do it: my body and your soul. We’ll soften her up and she’ll spill her little secret.”
His jaw tightened. Seducing her would do nothing for them except to get Faris laid by her. “She’d see through it in an instant.”
The vampire didn’t seem deterred. “I could bite her. See if I can pick up anything. Though that can lead to other things too.” Faris shrugged and then faded a little.
Liam wanted to stuff the vampire further back in his head, but for a second he wondered why. Why would he push a part of himself further back?
Wolf, that is . . . why am I talking to myself?
He hung his head, resting it against Rylee’s back as he fought to find himself. Himself.
Liam. Faris. Wolf. Vampire. They blended together inside his head until there was no other, no sharing.
Just one.
Rylee shifted. “Liam.”
He lifted his head. “Is that who I am?”
Her whole body stiffened. “What did you say?”
“I . . . what is my name? I thought I knew a minute ago, but now I’m not sure.” He saw her eyes widen and he leaned forward, capturing her lips with his own. This was what he wanted. To feel her skin under his and feel her heartbeat beneath his own.
But hadn’t he been with her before?
Love, that was what he wanted. But she loved him, so how could he want her to love him?
The confusion seemed to split his skull, yet with his mouth on hers, tasting her lips and tangling his tongue against hers, there was no wrong place. This was right.
This was home for every part of him.
She pulled away from him. “You feel different.”
&nb
sp; “Better?” He arched an eyebrow and her lips turned up at the corner.
“Just . . . different. You’re both still in there, aren’t you?”
“Both? Just me.”
She sucked in a sharp breath and ran a hand down the side of his face, and there was a glimmer of tears in those amazing eyes. “Just you.”
He smiled again and gave her a wide grin, flashing his fangs. “Just me.”
Below them, Eve shuddered. “We’re landing soon. Lark called back for us to be ready.”
He nodded. “Ready as we’ll ever be.”
The Harpy began her descent, spiraling out of the sky, through the clouds and the tips of the redwoods.
Wherever they were, no matter the danger, he would protect her. That much he knew without a doubt.
“Rylee, I do have one question,” he said as the trees around them thinned and they dropped to the ground.
“What’s that?”
“It’s rather foolish.”
“No such thing as a stupid question, not in our world,” she said as she dismounted from the large bird. Eve had dropped Pamela and Alex ahead of them.
He cleared his throat. “What’s my name again?”
She spun and stared at him, but that wasn’t what caught his attention.
No, it was the oversized black wolf with the white fur zigzagging down his leg that marked a scar. The beast’s lips were rippled back over fangs that were at least four-inches long. He knew that wolf, they’d met before, but those memories blurred along with all the others in his head as they slipped away from him.
In a flash, the wolf leapt, knocking him to the ground with a speed he couldn’t dodge. A low rumbling growl rippled from the wolf, out of his lips, and felt as though it wormed its way into his own body.
Breaking apart the confusion, dividing what had become one.
And he wasn’t sure he liked it.
“No, I don’t want to lose my chance for her to love me!” The words ripped out of him.
Faris’s words.
Liam was there, inside his head, held back by the vampire’s strength. He could do nothing, had no say over the body.
On top of them, Griffin shifted. Fully clothed, the man Liam knew as his grandfather stared down at them.
“Vampire was pulling a fast one on you, kid. Whether you knew it or not, yeah?”
Liam wanted to ask what the hell was happening, but couldn’t.
Didn’t seem to stop Griffin from answering. “He bound you good; I can see that. Now, the only way to separate is for him to decide to let you go. And that isn’t going to happen, is it?”
Rylee came up behind Griffin. “Can you bring Liam forward?”
Faris nodded, but Liam didn’t come forward. “Adamson, I’m okay with this. I am, and I need you to believe it and put it from your mind.”
Liam struggled against Faris, against the control the vampire had. But it was like wrestling with a mountain. There was nothing he could do.
Rylee stared at him hard, like she was trying to see him. With everything he had, he reached for her with his heart, his spirit. She paused. “Faris, stop fucking with me and let Liam talk or I will stake you right fucking now.”
Faris’s mouth dropped open. “How did you know?”
“He’s the other half of my soul, vampire. And no amount of blending with you can take that away.” She stepped closer, and lifted her sword that he’d not even see her draw. “Let him speak, or forever hold your piece.”
Faris backed away and Liam waited until he was sure there would be no interference.
Slowly, he stepped forward. “I don’t think it was his fault, Rylee.”
Inside his head, Faris’s shock reverberated through him. Damn it, wolf, I do not want to like you.
“What do you mean?”
“I think the binding is doing things he didn’t expect. Except for that last bit where he tried to make you believe he was me, there has been no deception.”
Can’t blame a guy for trying, Faris muttered.
She looked at Griffin. “How long before they totally merge?”
Griffin rolled his shoulders and stood, letting him stand. Liam pushed to his feet, but didn’t touch Rylee. He didn’t want her to think it was Faris trying to take advantage of her again.
“Griffin, how long?” Rylee bit the question out a second time.
“A day, two at most, yeah?” He shook his head. “Shame, I was hoping the boy would follow in my footsteps.”
Rylee nodded, walked toward Liam, and cupped his face in her hands. “No matter what, I love you. If you and Faris truly merge, I will love you. Your soul is mine, to the end. And Faris, if you want me to love you, then stop dicking around. No more games.”
Faris was very quiet, retreating to the far recesses of his mind. Which, as far as Liam was concerned, was fine.
She went up on her toes and kissed him softly. There was a moment he felt alone with her and all he wanted was to bury his face against her bare skin and breathe her in.
But the moment passed too quickly and they stepped apart.
“Why is it that we’re always in the middle of a crisis again?” he asked softly. “I’m thinking this might be your fault.”
She laughed, and though it wasn’t a full belly laugh, it was a start.
“Not this time, Wolf. It’s all on you.”
CHAPTER 17
LARK
RYLEE LET GO of her man and looked to me. “Where to?”
This was where things got a bit tricky. “The Rim is what we call our home, where all earth elementals reside. It is hidden from humans and other supernaturals.”
“Like with the Veil?” Pamela asked. No surprise there that she asked the question first.
“It doesn’t matter, little witch. What matters is that getting you into the Rim may be difficult. My people aren’t known for welcoming strangers into their home. Elementals are . . . reluctant to let others know they even exist.”
“Are they going to fight us?” Rylee slid her sword back into its sheath. That was something else I had to dig up while we were here.
The sword I’d made for Rylee over ten years ago, right before I’d met her in Las Vegas. Right before I’d been stuffed into the oubliette.
I shook my head to clear my wayward thoughts. “No, but they’ll try and block you.”
Griffin snorted. “It’s why I live as far out in the forest as I do, yeah?”
I pointed at the two Harpies. “You two stay here. Griffin, are you coming with us?”
He grinned, his white teeth catching what little light there was. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world, yeah?”
With a nod, I took the lead, and started toward my home, a place I hadn’t been in almost thirty years. First I’d been ousted to the desert as banishment for flaunting the rules of my people, and then stuffed into the oubliette for helping Rylee.
A wash of disappointment slid over me. None of the things I’d done were truly wrong, they just were not what my father and his people wanted me to do. Peta’s claws dug lightly through the shirt on my shoulder, her mouth right by my ear.
“Easy, Lark. They can’t deny you forever. And your sister will help.”
That’s what I was hoping.
Cactus jogged up to my side. “Are we going to Bella?”
“Yes, that’s the plan.”
Griffin cleared his throat. “Your sister isn’t in the Rim proper-like. She’s living in your old place at the very edge with her daughter.”
Adjusting my trajectory, I kept walking. Cactus brushed my hand with his and I took his fingers for a moment, squeezing them. Of all the people in my life, he knew how difficult this was for me. To come home and once again be treated like I was useless.
Or worse, a threat.
We stayed to the edge of the Rim, all the way around the perimeter, until we came to my home. The tree was wide at the base and had a pulley system with a simple loop of rope for a foothold that would take me up. The main living q
uarters were fifty feet above us in the tree and carved into the trunk itself.
I glanced at everyone. “Wait here. I don’t want to freak my sister out. Rylee, come with me.”
Rylee jogged over to me. “You don’t think I would freak her out?”
Bella needed to know this was serious. And if she saw Rylee, there would be no doubt we were fighting the final battle in a matter of days.
“Yes, you probably will, but I think you should come anyway.” I reached up and tugged the rope, the pulley system working silently as it sent the foot loop down to us. Stuffing my foot into the loop I held out a hand for Rylee.
I caught her around the waist, winding one hand through the rope as I tugged on a second rope that would release the counter weight with my other hand.
We shot into the air, almost fifty feet before we jerked to a stop. Rylee’s arm never tightened on me once. Trust . . . it was a strange thing to have so strongly between us already.
“So this is another cousin of mine then?” she asked.
Reaching out, I grabbed the platform and pulled us to it. “No, you and I are related on my mother’s side. I’m the only family you’ve got. But that won’t matter. Bella will recognize you for who you are.”
We stepped off the platform and I walked into the hollowed-out tree. The entryway was dark and I called out softly.
“Belladonna.”
There was a scuffle of sheets and then a thump of feet running toward us. A lantern flickered on and my older sister held it up. “Mother goddess, Larkspur, I thought you were dead!”
She ran to me, her long dark brown hair curling down her shoulders as artfully as if she’d never slept on it. I caught her in my arms and held her tightly, a shudder going through me. Nearly thirty years away from her, one of my best friends.
Bella let out a sob and pulled back, touching my face as if she couldn’t believe I was there. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I believed it myself. “You’ve changed, Lark.”
I gave her a half grin. “A little, maybe. The desert will do that to you.”
“So many questions; how is it that you aren’t dead? Father told everyone you died while helping a Tracker find Jonathan . . . .” She noticed we weren’t alone. I moved to the side.
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