Blood of the Lost

by Shannon Mayer

  The sun was at the edge of the horizon, but that was not the image that froze my blood.

  No, it was the black wave of demons pouring out toward us. Slashes in the Veil opened at a speed I couldn’t count, both on the ground and in the air. Thousands of openings, and out of each, thousands of demons leapt into our world.

  A fierce anger ripped up through me, my connection to the earth opening fully. I was the Destroyer.

  Time to do what I was created for.

  “We have to keep them busy, long enough that Rylee has the time she needs. Fight with all you have!” I shouted to those assembled.

  The Terralings and Undines spread out in a line. Five hundred against millions of demons.

  Pamela put herself right beside me, her face tight with anger. “I’m not letting them get through.”

  Ahh, to be so young. To believe one could conquer a horde with a faith so fierce that it shone. To think I’d been that young once was hard to recall.

  I sent a wave of power through the earth. The ground heaved and rolled at the height of a redwood. It slammed into the first line of demons, sending them flying backwards, breaking them in half, tearing limbs from their bodies. A cheer went up around me and the other elementals joined in.

  Cactus worked with Brand and his family, lighting fire to the corn and Pamela pushed the flames with her connection to the air. She caught it up into a tornado of fire and sent it spinning toward the demons. The smell of burning tar ignited the air as she cut a swath through them.

  I ran forward, pulling my spear free. Whirling it around my head, I cut through the demon closest to me. His eyes widened and his mouth opened in shock, as his body began to dissolve. “You are not the Slayer; you can’t kill me.”

  “Watch me,” I spit out as I whipped my spear around, clearing a circle around me the full length of the shaft. Everywhere the blade touched the demons evaporated.

  Rylee was the Blood of the Lost, a Slayer in truth. But the makeup of her blood and mine was the same.

  And while I did not have the blood needed to close the Veil and defeat Orion on my own, I did have the blood needed to destroy demons.

  I closed ranks with a big boy, a creature that towered over me. His body was serpentine, lithe, and lightning fast. He snaked his head toward me, his mouth open and fangs dripping with venom. I got my spear up in time to deflect the bite, but the momentum drove me to my knees. I found myself looking right into the demon’s mouth as he tried to clamp down on me.

  Both hands on my spear, I held it against him. I softened the earth under his feet, and sank him to his neck in a split second. Yanking my spear from his teeth, I spun it around and drove it deep into his mouth. The demon dissolved and I was grabbed from behind. The force of the grip crushed me to the point where my ribs creaked from the pressure. A blast of water slammed into us both, sending us flying.

  “Sorry, couldn’t direct it better,” came a voice that I thought might have been Finley. In a puddle of mud, I spun on my knees, and dispatched the lobster clawed demon that had me in its pincers.

  Around me, earth exploded, fire spun through the ranks, and deep lakes sprung up. The water swallowed the demons whole, dragging them down, but the lakes were quickly filled with writhing pissed off demons.

  “Lark! I need more space for the water!” Finley cried out.

  “Bella!” I ran for where I’d seen her last. “We need to work with the Undines!”

  I whipped around two demons, taking their heads in violent slash. Where the hell was Bella?

  River—my niece—was there, fighting for all she was worth as she spun her two elements together. Earth and water. I reached her side and dropped to one knee. To do what I was going to attempt, I needed to have my hands in the ground.

  “Watch my back.”

  “Always,” came Bella’s voice behind me.

  Driving my hands into the earth I opened myself to the power that resided in me, delving deep into it as I hadn’t for years. Fear chased the power and I pushed it away. If I burned out, then so be it.

  Around me the battle raged, and the demons were not being held back in any sense of the word. We were surrounded.

  “Mother goddess, help me,” I whispered.

  The voice that spoke softly to me was not the mother goddess I knew. Destroyer. Do what you must to cleanse my land.

  Power like nothing I’d ever felt slammed into me, a virtual avalanche of strength I couldn’t possibly contain. I let it go, pushing it deep into the earth and opening a crack. Tectonic plates shifted and the world around us groaned as I did the impossible. I knew it was impossible. I knew I shouldn’t be able to do what I was doing, and yet I still moved the ground with a strength that seemed unending.

  With a groaning scream, the earth opened in front of me, the crack running deep enough that there would be no bottom. The elementals around me didn’t pause, didn’t hesitate. They pushed the demons toward the crack, driving them with all their strength, sweeping them away like the filth they were. Waves of water and earth crashed into the demons until only a few were left, stragglers that ran from us.

  Breathing hard, I realized I still held the power that had been offered to me and was still using it to sweep the demons away. The edge of the massive crack through the earth crumbled and a pair of clawed hands reached up the edge.

  “No, that isn’t happening,” I hissed. I drove my hands back into the ground and pulled with all I had. Closing a fissure of that size; I wasn’t sure even I could do it.

  “Bella, help me!”

  She dropped to her knees beside me, and so did River. The Terralings who’d come to fight at my side put their strength beside mine and with a creeping pace, we closed the wound in the earth, sealing the demons deep within, crushing their bodies.

  A cheer went up around me. I looked and saw that there were only a few casualties, mostly bad wounds. How the hell had we stood against so many?

  Bella reached up and touched my face, “Little sister, you are the reason. You united us and we worked together.”

  “Lark,” Pamela’s voice cracked on my name, fear chasing it. I spun on my knees to see her facing the direction of Rylee’s farm. “The sun hasn’t gone down, so why is the sky still black?”

  I stood, chills racing through me. That was why it had been so easy to take out so many demons. It had nothing to do with me.

  “It was a distraction. They were there to keep us busy while the rest attacked Rylee.” The words slipped out of me as the horror of what was happening hit me square in the chest.

  And now, Rylee was at the center of the true battle without me.

  CHAPTER 36

  ALEX

  RUNNING FLAT OUT through the streets of Bismarck, I couldn’t help but nip at the wolves around me, unable to contain myself. A few nipped back, but there were no serious bites involved. The energy around us was hot with excitement and the thrill of the hunt.

  It seemed I wasn’t the only one enjoying the breaking of this particular rule as our paws pounded the pavement. I kept my nose twitching, breathing in deeply, but it wasn’t me who picked up the scent of the half-breed trolls.

  A howl echoed from our left and the monster pack shifted as a unit toward the call. We leapt cars and dodged traffic as if the city was an obstacle course set up just for us. A few people stared and pointed, and then more. And more.

  How were they even noticing so many of us? No time to stop and ask questions though. Not that I cared.

  Tongue hanging out, I bolted to the front of the pack, wanting to get there first to see the half-breed trolls.

  I skidded around the corner and found myself staring at a tattoo parlor that jogged a memory. Blind Bats Tattoos had been rebuilt and looked as though whoever put it back together made an effort to have it look as rough as it did before.

  Swallowing hard, I shifted and stepped forward. From above, Eve dropped me my clothes and I pulled them on quickly.

  The auburn-furred wolf—Luca—shifted too, b
ut didn’t bother with clothes. He would have given Dox a run for his money in the height department, standing at least six and a half feet.

  His eyes, a light gray flicked to me. “Kid, there are a lot of them in there. Not sure there aren’t straight trolls too; that would be bad for your health.”

  I stepped forward, my eyes on the doors of the parlor. “Yeah, I realize that.”

  “And you’d go in on your own anyway?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t expect anyone else to risk their life for me. That’s not how I roll, man.”

  He laughed and fell into step beside me. “You’re an odd one, Wolf.”

  “Man, have I heard that a time or two,” I muttered, but didn’t hold back the smile that tugged at my lips.

  We reached the door and I knocked first.

  Luca laughed at me. “Kick it down.”

  “Nah, we want to talk to them, not scare them,” I said as the door cracked open and a human woman peered out. I drew in a deep breath. Not human, but her face looked it. “I need to talk to Tara. Please.”

  Luca shook his head, but I ignored him. The woman’s face tightened and a flash of fear slid over her. “You can’t. She’s being interrogated.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “By whom?”

  A tear trickled down her cheek and that was enough for me. I pushed the door open and ran into the shop. I knew where I was going. The idiot trolls had set things up exactly as they had before. I found the partition in the wall and was running through it, a stream of wolves behind me.

  I knew why I was going in, but why the hell were they following me?

  A whisper floated to my ear from a familiar voice…Giselle?

  Because you gave them a cause to fight for. A reason to believe.

  The ladder stuck out of the hole in the ground and I grabbed it, sliding down with my feet and hands on the sides. From there, I followed my nose, stripping as I went. As soon as the last piece of clothing was off, I shifted and galloped forward. A large cavern opened. In it was a slew of trolls, all in war gear.

  On the floor, wrapped in nets and chains were at least a hundred half-breed trolls.

  Snarling, I leapt at the closet troll, hamstringing him and dropping him to the ground before there was even a warning call let out. Around me the other wolves swarmed, teeth and claws driving the trolls back, tearing throats out. I bit and clawed my way to the half-breeds. Those under the nets struggled to get out.

  “Here,” I grabbed a knife off a troll’s body, my long tipped claws wrapping easily around the handle, and then pushed it toward them. Scared, but determined eyes looked back at me. As they cut themselves out, I launched into the skirmish once more. Swords and blades cut near to me, but I felt invincible, untouchable even.

  Behind me came a bloodcurdling cry. I spun to see the half-breeds free and fighting the trolls with their bare hands. The wolves slipped in around them supporting them.

  Working together, we drove the trolls out, killing as many as we could. Twenty or so of the wolves kept after the trolls, following them deep into the tunnels. I shifted and walked toward the half-breeds. Tara was amongst them, checking on the others, but I knew she wouldn’t recognize me. She’d never seen me as anything but the stuck-between-forms-Alex.

  “Tara.”

  She turned, her pale pink skin flush with excitement, and her eyes widened. “Do I know you?”

  “Alex. I was with Liam and Rylee.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “The submissive wolf?”

  I grinned at her and spread my hands wide. “The one and only.”

  She approached me, moving through her people. They watched her, as did I.

  “You saved us. Why? Since when have supernaturals ever stood up for each other?” Her words were bitter and I knew why. The half-breeds had been all but treated as slaves, their children stolen and used in medical experiment, their woman raped by the full-blooded trolls.

  “The world needs everyone to stand together, Tara. Rylee and Liam will be facing a horde of demons. We need your help.”

  She looked back at her people. “What can we do? There aren’t many of us.”

  “You can fight,” Luca said behind me. “You can fight and prove yourselves as you did here in the heat of battle. You are not a half-breed mistake, but a supernatural force to be reckoned with.”

  She shook her head, but I wouldn’t give up.

  “The demons will have trolls fighting alongside them, the same trolls who’ve been treating you like shit your whole life. They belong to Orion, the demon who is trying to take over the world. Trying to kill Rylee and Liam. Would you let them win?”

  “Liam?” Tara slowly straightened and then nodded, her eyes hardening with determination. “I will come with you. I owe him my life.”

  Behind her, the other half-breeds nodded one by one. They would come; holy shit, we’d done it! I lifted up a hand and Tara matched my movement, high-fiving me. “Come on, then, we have demons to kill.”

  A grin lit her face. “We will show them not to mess with our world.”

  That’s what I was hoping for.

  But I had one last stop to make before I could go to Rylee. One last couple who I knew would fight for her.

  I hoped there was enough time left.

  Giving instructions to Luca on how to get to the farmhouse, I left him to organize things.

  He grabbed my arm. “Where are you going?”

  “One more set of reinforcements. We need every soul we can get at this point.” Even two more people might be the tipping point in our favor.

  Bursting out of the tattoo parlor, as I pulled my clothes back on, yet again, I flagged Eve down. She dropped to the pavement, her eyes wide as she took me in. “What happened?”

  I looked down at myself, noticing the gore and viscera covering me for the first time. “We routed the trolls and the half-breeds are going to fight with us.”

  “That is the best news.”

  “But I have to stop at one more place, Eve. They will fight for Rylee, I’m sure of it.” I climbed up onto her back and strapped myself into her harness. She launched into the sky.

  “Where?”

  “You know that motel on the outskirts of Bismarck?”

  She bobbed her head. “You think that they will really fight for her?”

  “Yes.”

  We fell silent as we skimmed the skies, Marco right behind us.

  Something about the time with Eve felt strange and I couldn’t put my finger on it.

  The sensation registered as we circled downward toward the motel. It felt like this was the last ride we’d ever have together. My heart clenched and I forced the words out.

  “Eve, I want you to know you’re one of my best friends. And it has been the time of my life flying with you.” I touched her back gently as she hopped on the pavement.

  “Don’t get morose on me, Alex.” She sniffed. “We have lost enough people. Neither of us is going anywhere. Rylee needs us too much.”

  I hoped she was right. I ran to the motel office and burst through the door. John sat with his feet up on the desk, his beat up cowboy hat pulled down low.

  “John, Rylee’s in trouble, and she could use all the help she can get.” It hadn’t occurred to me until that moment that they would be of no real use being human.

  He pushed his hat up with one finger and raised an eyebrow at me. “What you doing here, Wolf?”

  “Rylee’s in trouble and . . . wait, how did you know I was a wolf?” I stared at him as my mouth slowly dropped open. “You knew all along?”

  He shrugged and a slow grin slid over his face. “Wolf, I can’t come with you. Ry needs Mary and me here. You’ve got to trust me that we will do more good here than in the middle of that mess of demons.”

  I backed up. “Okay.”

  “I’ll see you in a bit,” he said, waving at me as he lowered his hat back down.

  Running out of the office, I leapt up onto Eve’s back. “So much for that.”

 
; “They won’t come?” The despair in her voice clawed at me.

  “He said they were needed here. Then he said he’d see me in a bit.” The whole conversation, as short as it was, was strange.

  “Then we need to go,” she said as she launched once more into the sky, heading straight for the farm.

  “Yes,” I said softly breathing in the fresh air, filling my lungs with it, “I think you’re right. It’s time to go.”

  CHAPTER 37

  RYLEE

  JONATHAN POINTED. “WHICH path do you want to see first?”

  “Does it matter?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  Left or right . . . did it matter? I looked at the path under my feet. The one to the left was made of perfectly in-line stones stretching out in front of us. Around each stone the grass was manicured and beautifully bright green. The other was overgrown with tangles of bushes and grass shooting up between the bricks. Most of the bricks were broken, some were completely missing, leaving gaps in the path.

  “Let me guess, two states of mind?”

  “If that is what you see, then that is what it is. I am just the facilitator here. This is your mind, this is your journey,” he said, a smirk on his face.

  The path to the right represented my inability to plan. No matter how hard I tried, I would find myself going by the seat of my pants. I took a step to the left and I was back in the barn.

  Doran leaned over me. “Rylee, what did you learn?”

  “We’re going to do a play by play, understand?” I pushed to my feet, clutching at my stomach and the wound there.

  He nodded. “You’re the one in charge here, Rylee. And you know I like it like that.” He winked at me and I laughed softly.

  “Doran, will you never give up?”

  “Nah, too much fun.” He slipped an arm around my back and helped me stand. “What do we need to do?”

  I directed those left in my care to their positions. “When the sun drops behind the horizon, we’re going to do exactly as I planned. Everyone understand?”