Queen of Skye and Shadow complete box set : Queen of Skye and Shadow Omnibus books 1-3

by Thea Atkinson

  "Touch me."

  I reached out and met his face with my fingers.

  And promptly yanked my hand back with a curse.

  "What the fuck?" I said.

  "Pick up one of those books," he said.

  I spied one at his feet. I recognized The Handmaid's Tale and stooped to pick it up.

  It flared into flame and died to ash within seconds.

  "Holy Hannah," I gasped and my eyes darted to his face.

  "Juice," he said. ""I can pull it and transfer it. You just used up about an eighth of what I can transfer."

  I reached for another book but this time, nothing happened. I wasn't sure I felt disappointed. The moment of transfer had been disquieting. Like something had been pulled from my core and was now empty. It left me trembling, my knees weak and nausea biting at my belly.

  "That's how you make the music maker work?"

  I couldn't imagine feeling that just for a bit of music.

  "iPod," he said. "It's called an iPod."

  He pulled the box from his shirt pocket and held it up for me as though looking at it might ring a bell or two.

  I shrugged and he continued.

  "Mustering is using the energy within yourself to transfer energy to something inanimate. That's what you just did."

  "You're saying you're a muster on steroids."

  "Nice reference," he said with a smile as I pulled out the term from the early 2000s for a man-made energy drug. "But not exactly. A muster was made when the world changed. The effects don't last but a few seconds and they don't live long if they keep juicing things. I gave you a small taste of what mustering is like for those who became hosts for that sort of magic. What I do, what I am, is different and it wasn't because of the world's evolution. I've been this way for as long as I can remember."

  The way he said it made me think he was older than he looked, and it begged a question, one I couldn't keep to myself.

  "And how long has that been exactly?"

  He shuffled his feet and pursed his lips. I got the sense he wasn't comfortable with the question.

  "Marlin?" I said. "How old are you?"

  He tucked the iPod back into his pocket.

  "Old enough to love The Tragically Hip," he said. "And a good Delphic hymn. He held his hand out and seesawed it up or down. "You know: give or take a few centuries."

  I blinked at him in disbelief. I didn't just hear what I thought I had because that would be impossible.

  Wouldn't it?

  "I know you didn't just say centuries."

  "Did I just speak in Gaelic?"

  I looked at the last book lying at his feet then to the pile he'd placed carefully in a stack on the flower pot. I'd selected a variety to read at night, novels of fantasy and literary fiction and thrillers, but none could deliver the same sense of surrealism as I felt right then.

  "What in the hell are you? Fae?"

  He sighed.

  "I wish I knew what I am," he said. "I just know I die and then I re-animate." He shrugged. "It would be nice if I'd lose a little weight when it happened." He plucked at his shirt and a glint of humor lit his gaze. "But what are you gonna do?"

  He was making light of it obviously because he didn't want me to realize the full impact of what he'd confessed and was deflecting. But I did get it. I weighed his words as well as the ones he didn't say, and I got the feeling I was a walking, talking deja vu for him. That he'd been down this path at least once before and with someone a hell of a lot more worthy than me.

  "This is a joke," I mumbled but even as I said it I felt weight of the sword in my hand for the first time. It was solid, and it dragged at my elbow and shoulder, making me pull it to my center and hold it with both hands.

  "It knows you doubt," Marlin said, jerking his chin toward the sword. "She marked you and you still doubt."

  Marked me. I would have touched my forehead where the Lady drew, but I didn't dare let go the sword long enough to touch it. It seemed whatever symbols she'd put there were visible and not just tracings in the air left to the gloom of the mega-mall's lake.

  My head fell back as I gazed up at the heavens. As impossible as it all was, this was real. I'd seen dire wolves, smelled the magic of fae in the dark woods, I'd just spoken to the Lady of the Lake and been given Excalibur.

  Of course this was all real.

  I laughed out loud as it all hit me. How many times did I have to doubt before I settled my mind around the truth? I wasn't Arthur. I wasn't a medieval knight with honor and respect. This wasn't Camelot. I was nothing but a flawed and unworthy human being, but I was holding the legendary sword. For whatever reason I'd been judged acceptable, I had the chance to make things right in the world and I didn't have to do it alone.

  Maybe change was possible.

  I let go the sword with one hand and with the other stretched it out to my side. As impossible as it was, I could heft it single-handedly and without effort. It sang to the air as it moved.

  "Shall we do this thing?" he said.

  I nodded. I wasn't sure what this thing was going to be, but it was well past time to make a move.

  We had left Gentry and his mount back at the outskirts of the city, hobbled at an old gasoline station. Mostly because Gentry was a finicky beast that would never cross the border. It was nothing short of a miracle that they were both still there, left unmolested by wolf or man.

  It took us longer than I would have hoped to reach him and since I had no idea how long I had been inside the aged mega-mall, I was anxious. Marlin must have sensed my nerves because he stuffed the earbuds back beneath his cap and hummed the entire way back to new Denver.

  It gave me time to think, and maybe he knew that's what I needed.

  When we arrived in New Denver, the streets were abandoned. I had the feeling we were being watched from behind curtains and doorways as we headed to the brothel. The sun had moved past its zenith and if I judged time by its angle, it was a few hours yet until dusk.

  The children and Hunter would have been in that schoolhouse for hours. I'd left instructions for the others to get the kids out, but I knew they would have failed. I just hoped no one had died in the attempts.

  We were blocks away from the schoolhouse, but I knew how Hunter worked. He'd have his Ruby Skulls on the rooftops. And if I knew him especially well, he'd have one of them staked out right here at the entrance to the town. A man that even now was on his way to whisper of our arrival into Hunter's ear.

  We took back alleys instead of a direct route to the school. I wasn't afraid of capture or ambush. I needed time to finalize what I thought was a decent plan. I counted on the others already being there, trying to divest Hunter of the children. I imagined they'd been bargaining for hours. I hoped they hadn't tried force.

  "You go on ahead," I said to Marlin. "If the others are there, make sure no one is to touch Hunter. With that Blood Blade, they won't have a chance."

  He nodded. "They'll be armed, but I doubt they would have tried anything rash."

  He spoke to my fear in a way that gave me the sense he was reading my mind.

  "Tell them to all gather in front of the school when they see me," I said. "Make a big show of it, so we can make them realize no one plans to resist, then they'll all show themselves when I do."

  "And what if the parents or other townsfolk are gathered around the schoolhouse?"

  "I'm sure they are," I said with a grin. "In fact, I'm counting on it."

  I'd done nothing but ponder the situation the entire way back from the library. Hunter had come to town with five Ruby Skulls. If I added in Colton Musk, that made seven.

  All armed with swords and blades of some sort.

  The Ruby Skulls weren't just fierce because of reputation. They were hand-selected by Hunter for their skill and obedience. There was no way a few motley townsfolk were going to get past them.

  And they didn't need to. Hunter wanted me. And he was going to get me.

  "You think you can do that trick o
f yours with everyone?" I asked him.

  He pulled one of the ear buds free and swung it in a small circle in front of his chest.

  "I don't know. I've never really given energy to anyone but you. At least not in a few hundred years. I'm not sure how much I can give without losing intensity."

  "Then start with our gang."

  I peered out around the corner of the stone building we were pressed against. The apothecary's soddie, erected without windows because he didn't trust anyone to not break in. Faint smells of herbs and oils permeated the air as the fragrances leaked through the grout between the stones.

  He caught the earbud in his fist and stuffed it into his pocket along with the other.

  "And what are they to do with it?" he said. "When I give it to them. It's no good against flesh and bone if that's what you're thinking."

  I explained as best I could what I thought should happen and when. Each of the gang should wait until I was standing in front of the door.

  "Are you ready?" I said.

  He nodded.

  "Do me first," I said. "And remember: No one is to attack Hunter. Leave him to me."

  Again, he nodded.

  I sucked in a bracing breath and flexed my fingers around Excalibur. The timing had to be just so, and I wasn't sure if we could manage it. But time was dying and the sun was already painting the school and the surrounding buildings with a scarlet light.

  "Dallas will probably already know we're here." I imagined him in a shadow somewhere, one eye cast my way, the other on his street rats. "Get to him first. Send messages to the team through his street rats. I'll wait for ten minutes. That's all. Don't make it look threatening. Just make sure they're all in key places."

  Key places meant close but casually so to a Ruby Skull.

  "You know if I touch you now, I'm not sure how long it will last," he said.

  "I know. But you might not have time later," I said. "It's best if done now when I can get the full juice. I can't count on you having enough later."

  "I don't like this," he said.

  "I won't waste time," I said.

  He reached out and laid his hand full on my shoulder. I felt a rush of cold streak down my torso, searching for ground.

  "Touch nothing else," he said and I nodded as he saluted me before he slipped away behind the building.

  Was I a fool to count on Dallas's ever present watch of me? Was I assuming too much in the hope that he would deploy his street rats in our favor when to do so would risk their lives?

  Whether I was or not, didn't matter. I had kept one thing from Marlin and the others, because I needed them to stay focused, not afraid.

  I knew that even after he got what he wanted; namely me, Hunter wouldn't let those children go. He'd taken this town to task and he would show them what true justice meant. There was no mercy or compassion. You broke the law, you paid.

  That's what the world needed now that things had changed. Fear was the greatest motivator in his eyes. If you feared the law, you kept it.

  Those children were the punishment for the crime of harboring his most wanted criminal.

  So there was no bargaining. I needed to make sure they got out of there.

  And then I needed to kill Hunter.

  -14-

  I had to believe the Lady of the Lake and take her word for what I thought it was worth. I was only one woman with a sword, but I wasn't alone. Every person in town hated the Ruby Skulls and now they had reason to resist.

  We'd all been living individual lives, wrapping ourselves in selfishness to stay alive.

  We'd forgotten there was strength in compassion and that even the weak could be strong if banded together. The Ruby Skulls had used that. In towns all over the country, they had used our own selfishness to hold sway over people.

  I waited as long as I could and then I rushed to the school street. I knew the building itself was backed against the hogbacks, located at the end of its road with a broad area for a playground to one side and a grassy area for outdoor studies on the other. There were few buildings on the street and I would be walking down it alone and vulnerable until I met the courtyard.

  When I entered the mouth of the street, I could see at the end, in front of the school, a group of parents in animated conversation with two Ruby Skulls. The armed men didn't look the least bit frightened of an unarmed mob beseeching them for the lives of their children. Myste hung off to the side, her bow and arrow slung over her shoulder, so obviously Marlin had got to her and given her back her quiver.

  Colton Musk stood in front of the school, next to another Ruby Skull. That meant Hunter was inside either alone or with a max of two others.

  Directly in front of the building, in a small group, stood Lance, Sadie, and Gal. I knew Sadie had a pistol but no bullets. Lance knew from touch and sight how a man or woman might fight. Gal was armed with a sword that stuck up from between her shoulder blades.

  The door to the school was closed as I expected.

  The windows, two of them on either side of the front door, were covered over with paper.

  I wanted to storm the building and put Excalibur to the test, and if I'd been alone and it was just me at risk, I would have done it. But that was the point that the Lady had made. I wasn't alone. And while it meant I could count on others to help, it was also a blade that cut two ways.

  There were children inside. Children Hunter believed weren't just casualties of justice, but were law-breakers of themselves.

  Use Hunter's weaknesses against him Lance had said.

  Hunter had one weakness.

  He wanted justice.

  That meant he would take me to task first. He wouldn't relinquish his hold or his leverage until he had me in his sights. That meant his men wouldn't accost me. They would be instructed to keep their cool and wait for me to show myself and then usher me in to their lordly leader toute suite.

  I stepped out into the street and shouted loud enough that everyone, no matter how close or how far, could hear me.

  "I'm here," I said. "Now tell Hunter to let the children go."

  Lance, Gal, and Sadie swung around, clearly not expecting me to proclaim anything without consulting them first. I caught Sadie's eye and she scowled at me. I tried not to look at her. Tried to trust that Marlin would find each of them as I strolled forward and explained what they should do.

  I gathered my memories of the last few days. Had Hunter or any of the Ruby Skulls been given any reason to think we knew each other? I wasn't sure, and that was why I'd told Marlin to find Dallas.

  As I aimed for the school, I caught sight of a slim figure making its way toward Myste. Another walked by a little too closely to Lance. To the casual observer, they would look innocent enough, but they had the look of a street rat to me. They walked with too much of a casual air for the circumstance and they were given wary scrutiny by the team members they approached before a subtle and cautious nod was granted .

  If I looked too long, I might see one of them lean toward Myste or Lance or Gal.

  I hoped it looked as subtle to the Ruby Skulls as a spider's spun web at dusk.

  So this was it then. Everyone was in place.

  I blew air through pursed lips. If there was a time that was right, it was now.

  "Musk," I yelled out and watched as he and a dozen women jumped and startled at the sudden sound.

  Colton Musk spun on his booted heel and raked his gaze toward me. He didn't actually sneer at me, but the way he stood, with one hand stuffed into his breast pocket indicated he'd expected me and planned to act to Hunter as though he had delivered me.

  I ignored the way he elbowed his Ruby Skull comrade, a boorish looking man I didn't recognize.

  "Tell him I'm here," I said and drew ever closer, watching out of the corner of my eye for Marlin.

  Indeed he had already ingratiated himself into Lance and Gal's sphere, and lurked near, his eyes downcast, the beanie all but obliterating his ears. He swayed as though he was in the throes o
f some quiet lullaby and most townsfolk gave him wide berth.

  All except Lance and Gal. Gal's arm was hanging free from her side, her fingers waggling impatiently.

  From the corner of my eye, I could see Myste and Sadie closing in.

  I swallowed down my nerves and strode toward Colton, who stood in front of the school house door.

  "What are you waiting for, Musk?" I demanded, filling the tone with arrogance. I wanted him good and mad. Put out, even. That I would talk to him with so little respect.

  "Well?" I said.

  I spun around, arms wide and spread to address the crowds. "This is your mayor, New Denver. A man who turns a safe learning environment into a exercise in terror."

  "It's you who's to blame, Skye Shadow," he said. "You brought your tainted past here to our town and put us all at risk."

  Someone booed but I wasn't sure if it was me they were complaining about or Musk, and I almost stuttered out the next words from guilt. After all, it was true.

  "You didn't seem to mind my lawlessness when you paid me to loot the old church when the minister died," I said. It was a complete fabrication. The minister had passed away, yes, but every bit of barter he'd collected for the poor had found a home. None of it thanks to Musk at all. He'd not even realized the man had died.

  I heard Lance shout an obscenity at him, and Gal followed with something worse. Soon the crowd was shouting them too.

  Musk's face flushed down to his neck and I grinned at him. I was close enough by then to see that his lip was trembling in fury. His comrade chuckled beneath his breath and Musk turned on him, shoving him so hard the man lost his footing. Just for a second. He righted himself, and grabbed for Musk's shoulder, yanking him aside.

  "Open the fucking door and let's get this over with already," he said as he shoved Musk toward the door.

  For a moment, I was afraid all of the Ruby Skulls would descend on me, but I held my ground. If anything, Hunter would keep his word. It was part of his character. It was what made him so bent on justice.

  And that part of Hunter had been formed long before I knew him. He'd found me all those years ago, and taken me under his wing. I'd been close to him. Like a daughter, he'd said. It had taken me just weeks to learn about him things he told no one, and that I pieced from gossip and comments.