Because I could already feel him moving in that direction, using the Veil.
“You aren’t going to beat me there, motherfucker.” I put my finger on the tip of the mountain Ophelia rested on and twisted the armband.
No, Orion wasn’t going to beat me there.
Not this time.
CHAPTER 24
ALEX
I BURIED MY HANDS deep into Eve’s feathers, hanging onto her as we swept through the sky. The wind ruffled my hair and I breathed it in.
To have my mind back, to have woken up from the dream of being trapped as a submissive, was hard to believe.
“Eve, how long before we make it to the farmhouse do you think?”
She clacked her beak three times. “A day if we push hard.”
A day. That would give them plenty of time to do what I was considering. I swallowed hard, the submissive part of me all but whimpering with the thoughts rushing through my mind. I pushed back that part of me. Right now, Rylee needed me to be stronger. The loss of Blaz was too much, and she needed all the support we could give her.
“We need to make a couple of stops when we hit Bismarck.”
Eve looked at me over her shoulder. “Why?”
Clearing my throat first, the words still sounded funny to me without any ‘yuppy doody’ attached. “I think we can bring more help for Rylee.”
Bobbing her head, Eve squawked her agreement. “Good idea, Alex. What about the wolves along the way? We could stop and ask them to help.”
The idea of talking to other wolves, really, and shifters for that matter, twisted my guts. But for Rylee, I would do it. I straightened my back.
“Yes. If you see any sign of wolves, take us down.”
Without another word, she tucked her wings into her body and dropped out of the sky. “Then here’s your first chance.”
Seconds later, we landed and I slid off Eve’s back. Marco gave me an encouraging bob of his head. Right. I could do this. I wiped my hands on my shirt, but they sweated right back up again.
We were in a valley with the sun rising over the horizon. Day two in the countdown to the final battle.
“How close are they, Eve?” I asked, slowly stripping out of my clothes.
“Hiding around the copse of trees.” She flicked her beak at a cluster of evergreens.
Here and there, I could see the glimmer of watching eyes. Asking my body to shift was easy, though I was sure it was nowhere near as smooth as Liam’s shifts. Within seconds, I was on all fours and trotting forward. I sat about twenty feet from Eve and Marco, tipped my head back and howled.
Silence met my call.
A growl slipped out of me. I was not going to let them act like I was a submissive and ignore me.
I howled again, this time longer, deeper, and with as much authority as I could muster. Dropping my chin, I had to fight not to scramble backward. A male alpha the color of autumn leaves and easily as big as Liam stood in front of me. His pale amber eyes bored into mine.
I swallowed hard and shifted right in front of him. “I was a submissive, but I learned to be strong enough to shift.”
He shifted and slowly stood. His hair was the color of maple leaves in the fall and it brushed the tops of his shoulders. “We’ve heard of you. The Tracker did this?”
Maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as I thought. “Yes.”
Breathing in slowly, he held the air before releasing it. “Why would you call on us? Do you wish to become part of our pack? Not all my members would agree to have you join us.”
“No”—I shook my head—“I’m a part of a pack.”
“Then why are you here?” He didn’t seem angry, just confused. I stood a little straighter, trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness of having a serious conversation while standing buck naked with a guy who was also buck naked. And acting like the whole situation was normal. My lips twitched.
“The world is being threatened by demons. The Tracker is the only one who can stop them, but she needs all the help she can get,” I said. “You and your pack could make the difference between success and failure. And I tell you now, you do not want her to fail.”
He seemed to consider my words. “You want us to risk our lives for someone not a part of our pack?”
I barked out a laugh. “The world will die if she fails. The demons will rule us. So you can either fight for her, help her succeed, and possibly die in the battle. Or you can hide here like a bunch of untested poodles needing to go to their groomer and surely be killed as soon as the demons take over.”
His eyes glittered dangerously and I knew I’d gone too far. But I would not back down. A snarl ripped out of him and he launched himself at me, shifting in the air.
I spun and shifted, kicking the dirt out behind me with my clawed back feet. I met him head on, clawing and biting, going for his throat.
He was bigger and stronger, but I held my ground, even when he cut my leg open.
Even when the fear bit at me as hard as his teeth.
Eve screeched, but Marco yelled at her. “Stay out of it, Eve!”
Marco understood. I had to do this.
I had to prove I truly wasn’t submissive, if not to the other wolves, than at least to myself.
Growling, I grabbed the auburn-haired wolf and flipped him over onto his back, scrabbling against the ground for better purchase to pin him. I had more flexibility than him in my mixed-up form, an advantage I used fully. He flipped out from under me and side-stepped, panting as he caught his breath. Slowly, he nodded. He tipped his head back and let out a howl that echoed in the air.
Calling his pack to him.
Calling them to help us.
I turned and looked at Eve, my right eye already swelling closed. I gave her a thumbs up.
She snorted and ruffled her wings. “Boys, I will never understand them.”
Laughter spilled out of me. “Probably not.”
Did I care that I’d been beaten up? No, not really. The wolves were already gathering, getting ready to follow us. I couldn’t ask for more than that.
I only hoped we could convince more than a single pack to step up.
CHAPTER 25
LARK
PAMELA WAS ON her knees beside me, panting for breath. I wasn’t in much better shape, but we’d held the demons back, and except for a few burning trees, we’d done well. Thick smoke curled between the redwoods, wrapping through the crowd like a creeping, climbing fog. The Enders barracks was still burning, but it wouldn’t take much to tamp it down, so for the moment we’d let it go. For now, the demons were gone. That was all that mattered.
Beside me, Peta was bloodied, her white coat spotted with red. My familiar let out a cough. “Demons taste horrible, Lark. I hope you know how much I care for you to sink my teeth into those things.”
A small smiled tugged at my lips and I dropped a hand to her head. “I know, my friend. I know.”
Around us, my people stood, their hands raised and shaking with fatigue as if expecting another attack. They’d done well, repelling the invaders to the point no one else was lost.
War had given up not long after Rylee left. He was here for her, and no other reason. That had been the only reason we’d survived, and I knew it.
Bella was on my right, the emerald stone still glowing with power.
“Are they really gone, Lark?” Pamela whispered up at me.
“For now.”
Around us, the murmurs started.
“What do you mean for now, are they coming back?”
“No, they only wanted the Tracker. She’s gone, we’re safe.”
I spun and faced them. “You are not safe. Those demons will come back, it is only a matter of time.”
My people—Terralings—stared at me as if I’d sprouted a redwood from the top of my head.
Bella gave me a nod, then turned to face her people at my side. “Larkspur is right. The demons will be back. Unless we stop them.” She paused, letting her words sink in. “We have
a choice. We can stay here and hide in the Rim as we always have and pray to the mother goddess that the Tracker is strong enough on her own to stop the demons. Or we can help her, and be assured we have done all we can to take this threat not only from our world, but the world as a whole.”
The arguments broke out in earnest then. Voices raised in anger and fear as people realized what they were being asked to do.
“The mother goddess wouldn’t like us to fight.”
“We are supposed to be neutral.”
“Larkspur is anathema. Why are we even entertaining her and her friends?”
That last stung, but it shouldn’t have. Not after all these years. Bella let out a breath.
“I will go wherever Larkspur leads. I name her as my heir to the throne.”
Oh shit, I hadn’t expected that. I stared hard at her as did everyone else.
Our people shuffled their feet. I stepped forward, and bowed my head for a moment, breathing in the Rim, letting my home sink into my bones for the first time in almost thirty years.
“Mother goddess, help me find the words.”
I am with you, child.
“Terralings,” I said their name softly, yet still gained their attention. “We are the children of the earth and the wards of all living things, more so than any other elemental family. Our blood runs in the veins of this world, and those that live off it. We have every right—no, responsibility—to fight for those in our family who are threatened with harm and destruction.” I walked toward Blossom, my old friend and the last of the Enders trained. “My friend, would you fight for your brother if he were pitted against a superior force?”
Her eyes slid sideways to look at her younger brother. “I would fight to my last breath for him.”
I stepped past her, deeper into the crowd. “And you, Hyacinth, I know you are a gentle soul, you bound up my wounds more than once. Would you stand between your daughter and her enemies? Fight for her life with your own?”
Hyacinth nodded quickly. “There is no doubt. She is my world.”
Through the crowd I moved, asking the same question over and over. They all answered the same. They would fight for those they loved. I came to Niah, the old story teller and sometimes fortune teller when the mood struck. She had no family so to speak.
“Niah. Would you fight for those who are here, those who call themselves Terralings?”
She stood straight, her eyes meeting mine. “I would fight for them even though our blood is not the same. We are family.”
“Pamela.” I called to the young witch. She walked toward me, perhaps feeling the weight of the moment hovering over our heads. I put a hand on her shoulder. “A witch, who fought at our side, and carries our blood in her veins. Is she family?”
Niah smiled and reached out for Pamela, drawing her into a hug. “She is. I see in her my long passed daughter’s eyes.”
Around us, the Terralings slowly reached out to Pamela, touching her. Acknowledging her as one of their own. I knew what they would sense. With the amount of power in the earth flowing through her, it was hard to believe she wasn’t a full elemental. The best part, though, was that she had strength in all five elements. Enough that any elemental would see her for what she was.
A child of all five families.
My heart beat faster. Please let this be enough.
I held my hands up, palms facing outward. “I will face the demons without you, if I must. To defend my family. Pamela. Rylee. I will do all I can to protect this world we call our own and all who reside in it. We are their tutelaries. And I, for one, will no longer look the other way.” I turned to Griffin, who stood on the edge of the group. “And you, Great Wolf, will you stand with us? With your grandson and his mate?”
Griffin shifted into his wolf form, threw back his head and howled into the night air. He leapt forward, stopping in front of me, bending one front leg so he could bow. He almost ruined it with the big wink he gave me from the dirt.
Peta moved up with me, pressing her body against my legs. “I am with you, Lark.”
Pamela put a hand on my back. “I am with you, Lark.”
Bella went to one knee in front of me beside Griffin. “I am with you, Lark.”
I looked out at my family and slowly, one by one they dropped to their knees.
“I am with you, Larkspur.”
“I am with you.”
“I will stand and face them.”
My eyes burned with tears. Years of emotion that had not flowed since my first banishment. I walked amongst them—my people—touching each one until the last. Until Niah. I went to my knees in front of her.
She wrapped her arms around me, holding me close and whispering in my ear. “Your mother is so proud, Lark. You are going to change this world. Not destroy it, but remake it into something better, stronger.”
I pulled back from her. “I hope you’re right.”
She smiled at me. “Have I been wrong yet?”
The laugh that escaped me was only a little bitter. “A time or two.”
Niah held up one finger. “But not this time, child, not this time.”
I truly hoped she was right. May the mother goddess have mercy on us all. If I was wrong and this wasn’t the right thing to do, I would be condemning my family to utter destruction.
Standing, I held a hand out to Pamela, but spoke to my sister. “Belladonna, take them to the ceremonial grounds near the badlands.” We locked eyes. She knew the place I spoke of, we’d been there together once before. Right before I’d been banished the first time. She drew in a slow breath and nodded. I went on for the benefit of the others. “That is where the final battle will take place. Wait for me there before going into the fight, no matter how bad it looks.”
“Where are you going?” Bella asked, and I felt the worry of my people as keenly as a sharp knife against my skin.
I gave her a half-smile, took her hand, and squeezed it.
“I am calling in the favors owed to me. It will not only be the Terralings who stand with Rylee and this world. Not if I have anything to say about it.”
CHAPTER 26
RYLEE
THE COLD SNAPPED through me like a bitch slap from hell. I tried to take a deep breath, but my lungs seemed to freeze, and I knew I didn’t have long to find Ophelia. I stumbled through the snow, following the dragon’s threads. Even though she was only a few feet in front of me, I couldn’t see her. She lifted her head, her body completely covered by a thick layer of snow and ice. Her violet eyes blinked at me and her voice cascaded through my body.
Rylee? Her head lifted sharply and she looked past me. Looking for Blaz. I reached her side, my whole body shaking as hypothermia hit me as hard as if I were still affected by the Hoarfrost demon’s sting. My hand went automatically to the black snowflake on my chest, tracing the pattern. “Ophelia. I need you to make a fire.”
Here, come closer. She snaked her head around me and pulled me into the curve of her neck. A deep rumble echoed through her body and a few seconds later the scaled skin under me heated. I clung to her, sheltered from the wind by her body, and I burst into tears. “Blaz is dead, Ophelia.”
A low-pitched keening slid out of her. I felt him die. I knew he was gone, but Erik didn’t believe me. It is why I sent him and the children away.
I blinked up at her. “What do you mean?”
Ophelia’s deep violet eyes shed tears that froze as they fell through the air. I knew you would need me to fly you into the final battle. And I knew if you came for me, the children would be in danger. I couldn’t have that.
Pressing my forehead against her neck, I breathed in the scent that was uniquely dragon; wind swept skies with a touch of ozone, and with Ophelia, an underlying layer of meadow flowers. “Thank you.”
There are not only your children to think of, Rylee. I laid my eggs days ago. My head jerked up without meaning to.
“Blaz and you?”
Yes. He knew; he knew I was carrying a small clutch.
The cold had receded enough that I could think clearly. “Ophelia, we have to go. We have to get back to the farmhouse. But I will freeze my ass, most literally, off if we travel without anything . . . .”
She clawed at the ground in front of her and dug out a long, heavy flying coat. I made Erik give me his for you.
There were holes in the top of the coat. “You yanked it off him?”
He didn’t believe me when I said Blaz was gone. It is the curse of being called mad, Rylee. No one believes you. Especially after what happened with the demon. She looked away and I put a hand on her.
That had been hard, for her to realize she’d been duped because she so badly wanted to bond with another Slayer. A demon had convinced her he was a Slayer and she was his dragon. Her grief over losing my father had left her open to manipulation and she’d fallen for the ruse, which had almost cost us dearly.
Around us, the direction of the wind shifted, and with it came the sound of howling that was anything but natural. I Tracked demons as a whole, gasping at what I felt. I grabbed the coat and pulled it on. “We’ve got to get up in the air, ‘Phelia. We’ve got incoming nasty fuckers.”
She shifted her weight and the remaining snow slid off her body. Using the rigging attached to her, I climbed up and strapped myself in as the gusts picked up, as if the very elements were against us.
As soon as I was buckled in, she threw herself sideways and we dropped into open air. We’d been on the edge of a high cliff deep in the Brooks Mountain Range in northern Alaska. She tucked her wings tightly to her body and we shot toward the ground at a speed I’d never felt with Blaz.
Male dragons are known for their strength and power with the elements. Females are known for their speed and maneuverability. You know that. I do not understand your surprise.
I did know that, we’d worked together for months training, both Blaz and I. But I’d never ridden Ophelia during those months. She gave a hard bank to the right, flipped sideways and slid between a narrow gap in the mountains.
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