“Factor number one in dealing with this shit,” I muttered under my breath.
Lark said Jonathan was a key in deciding my fate. But I’d heard those words before about other people. Alex was also supposed to be a key in the final battle. So was Pamela, and of course Lark. Hell, Liam wasn’t even supposed to be at the battle, though I supposed since his physical body wasn’t there that was perhaps still holding true.
But since none of them were here, I was about to see how big a factor Jonathan was going to play. Trusting Lark was easy and she said he was important.
That was good enough for me. I walked into the barn, the sunrays coming through a couple slats, highlighting dust motes in the air. A deep breath and my lungs filled with the scent of hay and old leather. Jonathan sat up at the back of the barn with Deanna beside him.
“Jonathan, you have to help us. The world is depending on it.” She was cajoling him, holding his hand in hers. He snatched his fingers away like she’d pinched him.
“No. I have to have proper payment. That’s how this works.” His eyes met mine. “Tracker. You understand, don’t you? I can’t just help you; there has to be appropriate payment or this won’t work.”
Deanna let out a deep sigh and glanced at me before looking at him again. “Can you tell me what the payment is? Then we can get it for you.”
He shook his head violently and I wondered if that was why his eyes were all screwball. Too much head shaking for the freaky-assed kid.
“No, no, that’s not how this works. If you deserve to be Read, then you have to have the payment. You have to understand what it is I want. I can’t tell you.”
I crossed my arms, thinking about what Belladonna had said. That they’d given him money, jewels, and precious gifts in an effort to get him to write the future for certain things. The elementals had gone so far as to send beautiful women to his bed; none of which was the correct payment. At least in his mind. Which meant it would be something so out there that we likely wouldn’t be able to figure it out.
“Let me think a minute.” Fuckity, fuck, fuck. What the hell did he want? What would a boy his age want for payment?
Each minute that ticked by was one closer to facing Orion. Although it was early morning, by the time the sun set we would be battling for the world. “Fuck.” I paced through the barn. There was something in the back of my mind, from what seemed so long ago it could have been another lifetime.
My feet came to a halt in front of Jonathan as the possibility solidified in my mind. Could it be that simple? That easy? “If I get you two pieces of payment, will you Read for me two futures?”
He nodded. “Do you think you know what the payment is?”
“Believe it or not, I think I do.” I turned to leave when a hand shot out of the shadows and pulled me in. Liam.
“I really wish you’d stop leaving me behind, Rylee.” His lips were against mine as he spoke, and in the darkness I didn’t feel or see anything but him. And for a split second I was sad. Faris . . . I didn’t love him like I loved Liam. No one could ever come close to that.
But . . . he spoke to a darker part of me. A part that maybe, if I were honest with myself, even Liam didn’t quite understand. The part that could kill without remorse, and could stand in the darkness without fear. A part that perhaps liked that darkness more than the light on certain days.
I kissed him, thinking all those things as he snaked his arms around me. Our mouths and tongues tangled in a heated kiss that was bittersweet because I was about to do exactly what he’d said and leave him behind again. “I have to go.”
“I know. I’ll be here.” The words were weighted with more than their straightforward meaning. Liam would always be there for me. Of that, I had no doubt.
I stepped back and ran for the barn door. We didn’t have long, and I had to get to Bismarck for Jonathan’s payment. I went to Doran first. “You got any human cash on you?’
His green eyes widened. “What will you give me for it?”
“I already owe you a kiss? Isn’t that enough?”
He grinned at me, wide enough for his fangs to hang out. At times like this, I still wondered how he’d become the leader of the vampire nation, and I helped him do it. He pulled out a wad of hundred dollar bills. “This enough?”
I flipped through them and nodded. “Yes, thanks.”
“That kiss is coming, Rylee. I feel it in my bones,” he called after me as I ran toward Ophelia resting in the cornfield.
“My friend, we’ve got to fly a little more, can you do it?”
Even as I asked, her fatigue washed through me.
Not if you want me to fly tonight with you in the battle. I need to rest, Rylee.
Something butted me from behind. I turned to see Calliope, the young leader of the Tamoskin Unicorn Crush. She was the most unusual of colors, all white except for a black mane and tail, and black stockings up her legs; a stunning coat with a personality to match. And now a horn that was no longer a nub, but a deadly weapon two feet long.
Even though she was barely out of being a foal, she led their herd.
Her thoughts drifted over mine, not unlike the way Ophelia spoke, only much softer. One of us could take you. We are faster than those human vehicles, even though we could not match the dragon for speed.
Looking past her, I was shocked to only see a dozen unicorns. All that were left after the pox swept through. Another piece of my heart chipped away. The unicorns were one of the few pristine spots in our world, and I loved every moment I had with them. So many were gone, and I felt their loss as keenly as if I knew them each personally.
“Thank you.” I swept a hand down her neck, the soft fur still very much that of a baby.
Tiomon, please take her. You are the swiftest of us all.
A petite bay mare trotted forward. Her black stockings rode up over her knees and her black mane and tail hung low. The golden horn jutted out of a tiny white mark on her forehead. It would honor me. She bent a knee, and dropped her head. An invitation to mount. I leapt onto her back and checked my weapons. Why did I think I was going to need them?
Call it a hunch.
Or maybe call it my life.
“Tiomon, are you ready?”
Her laughter sparkled through my mind. Tracker, I am always ready. The question is, are you?
“Oh, probably not, but I’m kinda used to that.”
Again, she laughed, and I tangled my hands into her long black mane, weaving the silky strands through my fingers. Her energy flowed along my skin, and with it, the smell of hot sand and exotic wildflowers. A flash of an oasis in the desert rolled through me. Home. That was her home, so far from here, across the world, and yet she’d come.
Hang on, Tracker. We are going to fly on the back of the wind.
Tiomon leapt forward and I thought maybe she was shitting me about the wind thing.
Her hooves made no sound as she skimmed the earth. I dared a look down only to see a blur of legs and ground. “Tiomon, I need to go into the heart of the city. You sure that’s going to work?”
She flicked her head once, her horn catching the light and reflecting it around us.
Watch me, Tracker, watch me.
CHAPTER 33
RYLEE
TIOMON SKIDDED TO a stop where I directed, her hooves sparking along the pavement. What would have taken three hours to drive, she’d done in about an hour. I slid off her back, my legs trembling from gripping her sides so tightly. Sweat slicked her body, but she pranced on the spot, flipping her head up and down several times.
You are a good rider, Rylee. I think I would like to run with you again after the battle is over. She blew a big gust of air through her nostrils as if clearing her lungs. I patted her on the hip.
“Thanks. Let’s make that a plan, Tiomon.”
She flicked her head up and down again, her mane floating through the air as her horn caught the light. All around us, humans walked, shopped and drove. And they didn’t even look our way.
&nbs
p; There was a freaking unicorn standing in front of them and they didn’t even see her. A little girl stepped out of the shop I’d come to and looked right at Tiomon. Her blue eyes welled up and she whispered a single word, “Unicorn.”
I crouched to her and nodded. “She is that, indeed. Don’t ever forget it, kid. You’re one of the lucky few.”
The little girl reached up and Tiomon dropped her head to nuzzle her hand. I left them. I had things to do.
The shop in front of me was one I’d visited more than once.
Hannigan’s Shenanigans. A toy store extraordinaire. Swallowing hard past the memories the store brought up, I pushed the door open and stepped inside. I swept through the front part of the building, ignoring the looks I got. While Tiomon was invisible to the human world, I, with my bristling weapons, most certainly was not.
The clerk was one I’d dealt with before. Melanie, if I remembered right.
“Melanie, I’ll be in and out in a flash.” I held both my hands up over my head as I strode to the back of the store. The stuffed animal section. I scanned the wall, wondering which two to pick.
While it seemed a silly thing, I knew there was a reason for everything that fucking well happened. Even this.
I reached up and brushed my hand against a fluffy brown bear that was at least three feet tall. The fur tickled my hand and I grabbed it. That was one. But the other? A large stuffed eagle hung to the left of me. Its eyes were glass, and seemed to be looking at me. I didn’t hesitate, but grabbed it and yanked it down. Both had long strings still attached to them. At least I would be able to tie them on for the ride back.
“No, you can’t have that one, its display only,” Melanie said, as she tried to take the eagle from me. I clamped down on it and looked her straight in the eye.
“Melanie, do not fuck with me. I’m taking these two stuffed animals, and I can either pay for them or walk out without paying. Which do you want?”
Her eyes widened and she swallowed hard. “I could call the police.”
“Over a stuffed animal?” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the bills Doran had given me. “This should cover it, yes?”
“You’re the one trying to stop Orion from helping us. I saw you on the TV,” she spluttered.
Definitely time to leave. I strode from the room while Melanie yelled behind me.
“We have to stop her; she’d going to hurt Orion!”
What I found, though, when I stepped out of the shop was not at all what I’d expected.
The humans could see Tiomon as clearly as I could apparently. She looked at me.
How is this possible?
Tying the two stuffed animals to my back, I shook my head. “I don’t know, but we have to get the fuck out of here—” Perhaps Orion had inadvertently opened humans’ eyes.
As soon as the thought rolled through me, I knew it was true. Those who had the pox had been touched by the supernatural. And now they could see it.
Several sets of hands grabbed me and yanked me away from Tiomon. “Stay away from her, you filthy demon!”
I was thrown backward, the stuffed animals cushioning my fall. A ring of humans circled me, and for the first time, I was afraid of them. Sure, they had no supernatural powers, they couldn’t heal fast, and they would fall back from my sword like children.
But there were so many of them that even I knew they would eventually overwhelm me. A boot slammed onto the ground beside my head, barely missing me. I rolled and pulled a sword at the same time. The blade caught the string attaching the stuffed eagle to me. Fuck it, I only needed the one.
I whirled my sword around my head and the mob backed up a few steps, though the growing murmur sent chills down my spine. Searching the faces around me, I tried to find one with a semblance of reason. “I am not your enemy,” I said, holding my sword at eye level as I slowly walked toward Tiomon.
“Get her!”
Fucking hell. I jumped forward, and the three women in front of me scattered like chickens, squawking that I’d attacked them. Tiomon leapt toward me and I pulled myself onto her back. Or at least, I tried to.
Hands yanked at me, pulling my hair, legs and arms in all directions. “Let me the fuck go!”
“Hang onto her, Orion said he would deal with her himself.”
Rylee, we must get you out of here. No matter the cost. Tiomon’s voice was full of sorrow as she spun and reared up on her hind legs. The golden horn on her head glittered in the light, and she let out a battle cry that made the hair on the back of my neck rise.
Plunging downward, she drove her horn through two of the humans who held me at the same time, skewering them clean through. Lightning fast, her hooves shot out, breaking bones and sending bodies flying until I was free of the hands that held me. Scrambling upward, I was on her back in a flash. She spun half a circle and stopped.
The little girl who’d first noticed her lay on the ground, trampled by the mob. Her mother held her, rocking and crying. But all that had gone unseen in the push to take me down for Orion.
Ah! My heart is breaking, Rylee. This is why we don’t let the humans see us. Tiomon shook her head and trotted forward, slowly lowering her muzzle until it brushed against the girl’s hair. She blew out a quick breath and the girl stirred, taking a deep breath. “Momma? I dreamed a saw a unicorn and she was so beautiful I cried.”
Tiomon backed away, reared up, and we were off and running. Behind us the crowd screamed, but as Tiomon said, there would be no catching her. She was far too fast.
I held tightly to her; we’d gotten what we came for.
I only hoped it would be the payment he wanted. Burying my face into Tiomon’s neck, I let the rhythm of her body roll through me. There was no sound to her steps, but there was still a motion that felt like it fit in with the beat of my heart.
Slayer, it is because there are only a few creatures who could ride with you into battle against the demons. Dragons are one. Unicorns are the other.
“What are you saying?”
I will remain after the battle. I believe I am meant to stay with you. But for another rider. One that is very young yet.
Her words hit me like a bolt out of the blue. “You mean Marcella, don’t you?”
Yes. She will be a Slayer too; it is in her blood. And I already feel drawn to her through you. So I will stay and watch over her from a distance. When she is ready, I will let her ride me.
“You’re going to make her work for your bond, aren’t you?”
We are not like dragons. We do not crave a rider, and yet when the time comes, we will not deny it.
“Does that mean you can tell she will survive?” That had been the reason for the second stuffed animal. A Reading for Marcella.
She went silent as we skimmed along, the minutes ticking by. I cannot see the future, Rylee. But I know I must stay here with you. Perhaps it isn’t for her . . . there is another child, one that will need a companion as well. A companion who would understand him completely.
Now she spoke of Zane. I tightened my grip on her mane and forced myself not to ask any more questions.
Sliding to a stop in front of the barn, a billow of dust rose around us, obscuring my vision for a moment. I all but fell off Tiomon’s back, my muscles aching and legs wobbly while I got them under me again. “Thank you.”
It was my honor, Rylee. As it will be to go into battle with you against the horde.
She turned and trotted away, to where the rest of the herd waited, as though she hadn’t run several hundred miles in a matter of hours.
I strode to the barn, untying the stuffed bear from my back. Stepping from the bright light to the dim interior of the barn, I took a moment to let my eyes adjust. Doran sat on one side of Jonathan and Deanna on the other. Will was nowhere to be seen, and from the dark part of the barn I caught a glimmer of two blonde heads: Berget and Liam.
Holding the bear out in front of me, I headed straight to Jonathan. “Will this do as payment for Reading me?”
/> Jonathan tipped his head to the side and Deanna choked out a laugh. “Rylee, you went all the way to town and got a stuffed animal?”
I didn’t look at her, but kept my eyes on the kid. He reached for the bear and I let him have it. Curling his arms around the stuffed animal, he buried his face in the fur and drew in a slow breath. “It smells like the wind.”
“Well, the wind certainly whipped through the fur.” I squatted in front of him. “Will the payment suffice?”
He grinned at me. “Only if you tell me how you knew what I wanted.”
Doran grunted. “Yeah, I’d like to know that too.”
A half-grin tugged at my lips. “My mentor, Giselle, was a Reader. Whenever I asked her to read my palms, I brought her a gift. She loved the stuffed animals when I first moved in with her. It seemed natural to bring them to her as a thank you, since she wouldn’t accept money or any other gifts.”
Doran laughed and shook his head. “Damn.”
Jonathan leaned toward me. “I can’t truly read you with your Immunity intact, you know that, don’t you?”
This was where things got tricky. “Yes, I know.”
His strange eyes darted around the room. “They will have to protect you, the demons will come when they sense your Immunity slip away.”
Cold chills rippled through me. “But you will show me what I need to see?”
He grabbed a book covered in scales I hadn’t noticed and a thick piece of charcoal, scribbling with a mad fervor that shook his whole body. “Two paths, with no right choice, only the choice you must make.”
“Oh, well, that’s fucking simple.” I snorted.
He bobbed his head, still scribbling away. “That’s what I always say.”
Doran stood. “I’m getting the other shamans. They can help set up a circle of protection.”
I sat and crossed my legs under me. “Jonathan, how long will it take?”
“Don’t know, never do.” His eyes were moving in completely different directions as he drew strange symbols in the book. I leaned forward.
“Not yet, Rylee. When the time is here, you will put your hand on the book and I will work around it.”
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