“This is the Tracker I was helping, Bella. And the time has come for the elementals to stand with this world, or watch it go down in demon flames.”
She took a deep shuddering breath, then held out her hand to Rylee. “Hello, my name is Belladonna. You must be Elle.”
Rylee’s whole body jerked as if she’d been shot with the electricity. “What did you call me?”
My throat constricted. “No, this is Rylee, and we’re leaving it at that.”
Bella looked from me to Rylee and back again, her gray eyes catching the light. “All right, then. What do you need, Lark?”
She was backing me, and a piece of the anger for everything that had been done to me slipped away. “We have to take Jonathan with us. He’s going to help Rylee with the demons.”
Bella nodded, but her lips were pursed. “I can take you to him, but I don’t think he will help. We’ve never in all the years he’s been here been able to convince him to Read for us. He says that payment is required, but no matter what we give him, it isn’t good enough. Jewels, money . . . even women.” She blushed on that last bit and I didn’t blame her. Trying to buy a kid off to help you clean the house was one thing. Trying to buy a kid off to help you understand the future was apparently a hell of a lot harder.
“Mom, what’s going on?”
I looked past Bella to a tall woman with long black hair and pale blue eyes. She lifted her hand, all elegance and grace even in that slight movement.
“River, this is your aunt.”
The girl let out a soft gasp. “You helped my mother escape the Deep. You helped her keep me safe and protected me against—”
I held up my hand stopping her. “That is not a story for right now. But I promise you when I am done helping Rylee I will come back. We will talk and tell stories of before.”
My niece nodded. “A deal then.”
Bella reached back and touched her daughter gently on the hand. “Go to bed, I don’t want you to be a part of this.”
“I’m not a child, mother.”
“No, it would be better if you were; then there would be no banishment for you. As an adult, if you were caught even speaking to your aunt, there would be repercussions I’m not sure any of us could save you from.”
Rylee shifted on her feet. “I thought you were shitting me about your family.”
I shook my head slowly. “No, I am the black sheep, as the humans would say.”
Bella grabbed a wrap from the hook on the wall and put it over her shoulders. “Come, let us go get the boy and send him with you. We might be able to make it happen before anyone knows you’re even here.”
When all three of us were on the ground, Bella gasped and took in the group we’d left behind. “Oh dear. This could be a problem.”
Rylee waved at them. “They can wait on the edge. As long as your people aren’t going to attack us.”
Bella glanced at her. “They won’t attack you, Rylee. But they will attack Lark if we run into the wrong people.”
I lifted a hand. “Where is Jonathan?”
Rylee pointed before Bella could say, and my blood chilled. “He’s that direction, middle of the Rim from what I can tell.”
My sister gave me a tight smile and doused her light. “That’s correct, he’s in the Spiral.”
The Spiral was the seat of power for our home, where our father lived with his favored children, and where there would be plenty of guards who would recognize me.
“Worm shit,” I whispered.
Bella nodded. “Exactly.”
CHAPTER 18
RYLEE
LARK’S SISTER HAD us cover our heads so only our eyes were visible. “It’s the best we can do. They would recognize Lark’s hair and you don’t look like any elemental here with your auburn coloring. Worse, they might take you as a Salamander.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “I look like a lizard?”
Pamela tapped my arm. “A Salamander is another name for a fire elemental. Like Cactus, they mostly have red hair.”
Lark nodded. “You wouldn’t be any more welcome here than me if they thought that, I’m afraid.”
With a quick wave, I sent the rest of the crew away. Or tried to.
“Wait for us with Eve and Marco.”
Pamela shook her head. “I don’t want to be separated from you.”
Berget nodded. “Me, too.”
Then Alex who crossed his arms over his chest. “Me, three.”
Liam’s mouth quirked. “I’d say me four, but you might hit me.”
Lark shrugged. “Your circus, my friend. Your monkeys.”
Shit, this was not going as planned, but then, when had any of my salvages? The truth hit me hard. That was what I was doing. I wasn’t saving a single child or person, but all of them. Orion was the bad guy I was going to save a lot of someones from.
“You can come if you all promise to hide if Lark tells you to.”
Bella cleared her throat. “We could take them to the Enders Barracks. That way they are close enough to help, but we won’t have to take them all the way into the Spiral.”
“That’s a good plan, but what about the Enders?” Lark said as she finished wrapping her head in the cloth.
Bella looked away. “There are none left. Father disbanded them after you and . . . Ash were killed.”
Lark stiffened. “He’s not dead any more than I am. They stuck him in an oubliette too, farther away than me.”
Bella’s eyes softened as though she thought Lark was fooling herself.
This was getting us nowhere. “Fucking hell, we are not doing a therapy session, Lark. Get your head in the game.”
If I’d thought she’d stiffened before, it was nothing to the way her back snapped to attention with my words. “Let’s go.”
“Finally,” I muttered. We walked down the center of the Rim. The name of the place was a bit deceiving since there was no real rim, so to speak. The elementals had homes around the edges of a large oval that ran at least three miles in each direction if the clearing I saw was accurate. The homes were quiet and we made it to the Enders barracks without any problem.
Lark pried the double-wide wooden door open with her spear. “The rest of you, wait here.”
Peta leapt from her shoulder and shifted into her snow leopard form. Lark shook her head. “No, you are too recognizable. Go to the Traveling room and make sure the armbands are there; guard them. I have a feeling we’re going to need them.”
Peta let out a long, low snarl but did as she was told, albeit with stiff legs and a hunched back.
Like that, we were down to three and we skirted the edge of a large tree that literally spiraled into the canopy. It looked a hundred feet across, maybe more. The Spiral wasn’t made up of a single tree, though, but dozens wrapped around one another in, duh, a huge spiral.
Steps led up to the main doors. Another set of double doors that two guards stood in front of, both wearing clothing similar to what Lark had been wearing when we pulled her out of the oubliette. Brown leather vest and khaki type pants that were tied around their ankles, boots, and several weapons visible on both of them.
“Let me try and talk us in first,” Bella said softly. She stepped in front of us. “Blossom, I need to get herbals from the kitchens.”
The woman, I assumed was Blossom, crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “You know the rules. No one in or out of the Spiral during the dark hours.”
In my head, Jonathan’s threads trembled, a vibration that I’d felt only a few times before. Most recently with Milly and India.
“No time, demons have John!”
Side by side we leapt forward. My swords cleared my sheaths and I was on the guard on the right before he could even draw his weapon. I slammed the butt of my right sword into his temple, dropping him to the ground. Beside me, Lark grabbed the woman, Blossom, by her arms and threw her out of our way.
“Bella, get the others, we need them.”
Bella spun and race
d away. Lark lifted a foot and kicked the door open. “Lead the way, Rylee.”
Locking onto Jonathan’s threads I raced toward him. No one got in our way, and I had a feeling I knew why. What would a demon do in a home where everyone was sleeping?
Take them out, of course. The only question was, which demon were we dealing with?
I took a deep breath and reached out to the motherfuckers messing with our world. I Tracked demons and got pings all over the place, the red pulsing energy that was them made my head hurt, there were so many. But it was the one closest to me that I centered on. He was right on top of Jonathan. I ran as fast as I could, but it was like I was on an escalator going backward, like no matter how fast I went, I was going to be late again.
Just like with Blaz.
My jaw tightened. “No, not again.” I slid to a stop, feeling Jonathan and the demon he faced right underneath us. “Lark.” I pointed down and she gave me a tight nod.
With a flick of her hand the ground below us—no, the tree below us—split open wide as if an axe had been driven into it.
I stepped back and glanced down into a shimmering mass of water.
“Leap before you look,” I said and jumped.
I hit the water, shocked when the heat washed over me. Hot springs then, not an underground lake.
For a moment, time stilled and a soft voice whispered over me.
Those who are chosen for greatness rarely want it, Rylee. You are doing well, my child. Very well, indeed, with the burden you have been given. The voice of an entity I’d never met and yet I knew her.
This was the realm of the mother goddess that Lark spoke of. I felt her approval and power run through me while the hot spring heated my body.
The water broke over my face and I sucked in a deep breath, already forgetting the words, already focusing on the two figures in front of me on the sandy shore.
One was Jonathan, flat on his back and naked as the day he was born. The other was a female demon on top of him. Also naked.
He let out a soft groan. “I thought she liked me.”
“I’ll bet you did, dumbass,” I snapped as I sloshed out of the water. For once, I was glad I wasn’t wearing my leather coat. The demon looked up at me. I gave her a wave with my fingers as she snarled. Standing, her body was more than lithe; it was emaciated to the point of her hips and ribs protruding at angles that were anything but healthy.
“Well, hello. I’m guessing you’re Famine? Shall I call you Fanny Famine?”
Famine strolled toward me, her hands slipping over her body, touching the bones that jutted from her hips, ribs, and shoulders. “Call me whatever you like.”
“All righty then, Fanny it is.” I swirled my two swords, loosening my wrists. The slosh of water to my left was the only indicator I had that Lark was out of the water; I didn’t dare turn my head to check.
Fanny stared at me, then narrowed her eyes. “You have a mark on you. The mark of the Hoarfrost demon.”
I touched my breastbone with the handle of one sword. “That was the first demon I killed, snaggy bitch. And you are about to be yet another in a long list.”
Her snarling lips tipped upward. “You should be dead already, but I can remedy that.”
She lunged at me, her hands outstretched, going straight toward my chest. I stepped back with one foot to brace myself and drove both swords through her stomach, all the way to the hilt. Her body sagged and I put a hand on her forehead.
“Go back to where you’re from, Fanny.”
Her head snapped up and she laughed at me. “Not that easy with me, Slayer. Not that easy at all.”
Her hands slammed into my chest and threw me back into the water. I sunk to the sandy bottom and then pushed myself up, or at least, I tried to. I heard Lark roar through the water.
“She’s tied to the water. Get the hell out, Rylee!”
If only it were that easy. I pushed off the bottom again, my lips just breaking the surface long enough for me to gulp a breath down. Barely.
Motherfucking hell, I was not going to be drowned.
But how was I going to get my ass out of this?
CHAPTER 19
LARK
RYLEE WAS STILL under the water. I dropped my spear and rushed the demon. Weapons were obviously not going to work on this bitch. I grabbed her around the throat even as she tried to repeat her move on me that had sent Rylee into the hot spring.
“Keep trying, ugly,” I snarled as I dug my thumbs into her windpipe. If I could knock her out maybe—
Both of her feet came up hard and fast, kicking into my stomach as her toes lengthened into six-inch long claws. They slashed at my belly and I fought to dodge each blow even as I clamped harder on her neck.
Her eyes bugged out and her tongue purpled and flapped at me, but I wasn’t fooled. It as an act. Her arms flailed at me, clawing at my skin, opening me up. To the left of me, a torchlight flickered.
“Let my friend up,” I said as I dragged her toward the open flame.
“Fuck you,” she spit out.
Yeah, that was about what I’d expected. I yanked her sideways and stuffed her head into the open flame. Fed by a natural gas pocket, the fire was hot and couldn’t be snuffed out.
Fanny—as Rylee had named her—screamed and writhed, her hair catching fire, burning off her head in a flash with the scent of charred skin.
A burst of water and Rylee was slogging back out.
I didn’t pull Fanny from the flame, but held her there until Rylee caught up to me, dripping wet and panting. “Bring her out. We need information, and she’s fucking well giving it to us.”
I pulled Fanny out of the flame, twisted her around, and tied her hands behind her back with my belt. Of course, I made sure to push her head hard into the gritty sand, knowing how it would stick to the burns.
She was a demon, I didn’t have to play nice.
Rylee grabbed her and spun her around. Yeah, the sand had ground in good, the charred and sticky skin holding it like glue.
“I’m going to ask you a question. Yes or no. That’s all I need.”
Fanny laughed, though the sound was strangled. “And pray tell, why would I help you?”
I was impressed that Rylee leaned in as close as she did, putting her nose right to the weeping stump that had been Fanny’s nose. “Orion has threatened my daughter, has killed my friends and family. He’s taking everything I love from me. You do know he’s afraid of me, don’t you?”
“He’s terrified,” she said. “But I’m not.”
Rylee smiled and I could see the edge of it, and I was proud of her. She’d grown up a lot, and the look on her face said it all. Fanny would not like what was going to happen to her.
“Do you know I won’t be sending you back to the seventh Veil when I break you apart from this body? You will die. Cease to exist. Pfft. Gone.”
Fanny shrugged, but I could see the tension in her. I swayed on my feet, feeling the fight in my whole body. I put a hand to my head and went to one knee.
“Rylee, something is wrong.” I looked up to see Rylee’s eyes widen with horror and Fanny lunge toward her, the burns gone.
“Famine,” the demon hissed. “I feed from my victims and their strengths become mine. And you have very strong friends, Rylee.”
The ground rumbled and I knew we were in deep shit.
Across from us, Jonathan stumbled to his feet, his hands searching for something. He grabbed a stick and scribbled into the sand as I lay incapacitated, watching Fanny and Rylee dodge each other’s blows.
Jonathan looked up, his eyes catching mine. “The only way we all survive is if you kill the demon.”
“No fucking shit, Sherlock,” Rylee screamed at him as her left foot touched the water.
“You have to pull her guts out, along with her tongue!” the kid yelled, looking at what he had written in the sand. “That’s the only way.”
Rylee nodded. “One eviscerated demon, coming the fuck up.”
My whole body convulsed as the demon pulled on my strength. I fought her, did my best to hold back. If she got a hold of my abilities with Spirit, we were done.
I reached for Spirit and threaded it through my body, using more of it than I’d done in a very long time. It took everything I had left to lift my head. This was a long shot, but I had to try.
“Fanny. Stop.”
The demon froze, a shocked look on her face. Spirit roared through me, the strength of it making my words a physical weight that even the demon could not deny.
“What have you done?” she growled at me, shaking as she tried to throw the bonds I’d laid on her.
I wet my lips, tasting the salt of the earth below me. “Give me back my strength.” Spirit flooded my words with power and with them, Fanny did as she was told, though she screamed the whole time. She fell to her knees and Rylee didn’t waste any time.
With two quick swipes of her sword the demon’s belly was open. Rylee booted Famine in the chest, knocking her to her back as I stood and made my way to her side.
Together, we pulled the demons stomach out, except that it wasn’t a stomach like any creature I’d seen. Tiny balls, like glowing orbs rested within her body cavity.
Rylee pulled one out and looked at it. “Other people’s energy.” She crushed the ball in her hand and it zipped away while Fanny cried.
With each orb we crushed, her body became frailer until she was a skeleton with a taut covering of skin barely holding it together. Her red eyes flickered dimly. “I hate you, I hate all of you on this side of the Veil.”
Rylee leaned over her. “Any last words before I cut out your tongue and throw it in the flames?”
Fanny glared at her. “Your daughter will die in your place and it will be your fault.”
With a vicious jab, Rylee drove her sword into the back of the demon’s throat and slid her blade across. Half Fanny’s jaw and her tongue flopped out. Rylee picked it up and took it to the brazier, tossing it in.
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