The worm slowed and then stopped squirming altogether.
“Appreciate that.” I spoke louder as I asked, “Will Kallie have a baby soon?”
I placed it down, and it wasted no time heading to Y again.
“Thank you!” Kallie looked as if she wanted to hug me.
I stepped out of her reach quickly. “Sure. Remember, don’t tell anyone about this.”
She nodded. I hoped she’d keep her mouth shut for more than the hour or two I figured her for. Even that might be an overestimation.
Kallie walked away. That was when I saw Marra. She stared at the fresh dirt by my feet, her eyes fixated on the spot for a few minutes until they switched back to meet mine. It was the first time she’d looked at me in weeks.
Now that she acknowledged me again, I wished she hadn’t. Her eyes were haunted with an emptiness I feared would suck the soul from my body if I looked too long. But this was Marra, the girl I’d hunted beside, raided beside, and killed beside. We’d cried together when her dog died and laughed when one of us had fallen in the mud. We’d nearly starved together, and we’d survived because of each other. I wouldn’t turn from her as she tried to find her way out of the darkness.
She knew everything that had happened when we’d left. Between myself, Ruck, and Burn, we’d filled the picture in pretty well. Even after we’d told her every minutia, she’d always waved her hand, asking us in her silent way for more. The night before she’d cut me off, I’d spent the entire day going over every detail again. That time had been different. When she’d lifted her hand, instead of waving for more information, she waved toward the door, asking me to leave. That was the last time she’d acknowledged me, until now.
She walked over slowly, and every muscle I had tensed. I didn’t know if she’d hug me or hit me. She stopped a foot away and pointed at the freshly turned dirt.
She waited until I nodded, confirming what she’d already seen.
She pointed at the dirt and shook her head, eyes glued to me. The message was clear. She didn’t want me to worm again. She blamed the worm for Sinsy’s death, and that was when I knew for sure she blamed me. I did.
Sinsy’s death would forever stain my soul. I went to sleep seeing her smile, and then would dream of her cries. How she’d died. People say dying in battle is a good way to go. I wished one of them would say that to me now. Bottom line was that there was no good way to go. Every way sucked. And if being torn apart by magical wolves was battle, it certainly wasn’t my choice of deaths.
If Marra didn’t want me to worm anymore, I wouldn’t. If that was all I could offer, then it was hers.
“I won’t do it again.”
She took my hand and placed it on my chest, over my heart. If she was a Wyrd Blood, she would’ve asked me to bind my promise with magic.
“I won’t,” I repeated.
She squeezed my fingers. It wasn’t comforting. It was desperate. The ghost that haunted her enveloped me in its chill.
“I swear it.” I would’ve sworn to anything at that moment to have her stare trained somewhere else. The person in front of me wasn’t the Marra I’d known. Maybe Sinsy hadn’t died alone. We all had our limits, that final wind that toppled us. She might right herself in a while, or perhaps this was it, but I’d do anything to help her right herself.
She dropped my hand. She walked away, and I could breathe again.
Ruck stepped forward, probably having watched the whole thing from a distance. “Did you agree to what I think you agreed to?”
“Don’t give me that tone when you abandoned me to that other one.”
He nodded. “She looked way too needy. I could spot it all the way over there. Have to be careful, because that shit can spread. I need to save my strength for real battles.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave me his signature sigh. “So I’ll take your non-answer about Marra to mean my assumption is correct.”
“Want to get breakfast?” I asked, ignoring the topic of Marra completely.
I knew him so well that I could have this argument without him. I’d say I agreed to not worm. Ruck would disagree. I’d tell him it was the right choice and we’d end up in the same place anyway. No point in hashing it out. That was the beauty of our relationship. Some arguments didn’t even need to be had.
“Sure.” He turned, and we fell in with the rest of the people heading toward the food building. He waited until we were almost there before he said, “What did Ryker want before?”
Of course Ruck would expect me to tell him. I told him everything, or I used to. But not this. “I’ve got to go check out a lead with Ryker, but I can’t talk about it.”
He stopped a few feet short of the food building door, forcing the rest of the diners to swerve around us. “You’re coming back, right?”
“I’ll always come back.” If I could help it.
And if I couldn’t, I wasn’t taking him down with me.
5
“Come on. Get up.”
It was still dark out. The light wasn’t even filtering in through my eyelids yet. Why was Ryker in my room? Why did he sound like he was beside me?
“You said first light.” If the sun wasn’t getting up then why was I? I stuck my face in the center of the pillow.
I could feel him standing there, unmoving, his magic pouring over me. Fuck. How was I supposed to get another ten minutes of sleep like this?
“It’ll be first light soon.” He grabbed my blanket and pulled it off in one quick tug.
“What the—” I scrambled up, grabbing for it.
“You don’t sleep with bottoms?” he asked calmly.
Thankfully, my shirt covered most of me as I scrambled to grab the blanket back. “No. Not when they aren’t dry.”
How many sleep clothes did he think I owned? I’d hung them over the chair last night to dry from their recent washing, where they hung right now.
The blanket back up to my waist, I looked up at him. He was still staring at my lower half, as if he could see what was beneath the blanket. Not to mention his magic was tingling across my skin. If he didn’t cut it out, my magic was going to reciprocate, and then we’d be a big magical inferno in another minute. One of us was going to have to do something about this control issue. If he wasn’t going to have any, I might need to really sort this out. We couldn’t both be a mess.
It was about to get unbearable when his gaze jerked up and he said, “Meet me by tower one in five.”
I gave him a nod and watched him leave, wondering what had set him off this time.
The sun still hadn’t risen as we walked toward a field right outside the border of the Valley. In the center, a monster of a machine waited. Wheels taller than my head with a body of mottled green and tan. It wasn’t running yet, but I knew the sound it would make. I used to listen for its mighty roar. It made my fingers itch for a bow and arrow and the thrill of the hunt.
I’d spent so many years trying to survive, scraping by one meal at a time, that I never thought I’d miss any part of my old life. The adrenaline that would churn in my blood, cranking me up to a hundred, buzzing in me hours after a successful hijack. I ran my hand along the hard, cool metal, caressing an old friend, my heart beating so loud it pounded in my ears.
Ryker stopped beside me. “Don’t get too excited. It’s not loaded with supplies.”
“We’re taking this? We aren’t walking?” I’d robbed plenty of them, but I’d never gotten to actually ride one. Would it be as exciting?
Ryker walked past me to the door and threw a bag in the cab. “Part of the way. I want to get there quickly.”
He popped the trunk and then climbed up, holding a small black box in his hand made of dragon scales. It was the only thing you could keep a fire stone in that wouldn’t melt or transfer heat, and the only way to keep a fire stone good until use.
Chuggers ran on fire stones, mined from the Eternal Volcano. You could only get them when the volcano was dormant, which, despite its name, did happen occas
ionally. It hadn’t stopped flowing in about fifty years, though, and no one knew when it would stop erupting again. Until that day came, there were no more fire stones.
He popped the hood and dropped it in. Steam was already rising as he shut the hood and jumped down.
I walked around to the other side, about to climb the ladder that led to the door. Ryker reached over my head and pulled the door open. His hands found my waist and hoisted me up, the little sizzle that always happened flaring again.
I needed to suffocate the life from it. He was the Cursed King. I couldn’t want the Cursed King to touch me. It was a trick anyway, his magic messing with my head. He tortured me on a daily basis. What kind of masochist would I be to want him? That proved it was only his magic at work.
The excitement of riding in the cab was choked to death as soon as Ryker climbed in and reality hit. I was going to have his magic smothering me the whole way.
“You sure we shouldn’t walk?”
His hands on the wheel of the chugger, he turned toward me. “Yes. What happened to the excitement of two minutes ago?”
It crossed my mind to feign fear of machines. There were lots of people that were scared of any kind of machine. That wasn’t my problem. It was the man driving the machine. But I couldn’t fake being that weak, even to get me out of this cabin.
“I’m fine.”
6
We were a few hours into the ride and I was in a cold sweat. It had nothing to do with Ryker’s magic and everything to do with where we were going. The goal was walking out with my soul intact, but I didn’t know the price. I could only imagine souls were quite expensive, and I wasn’t planning on killing anyone else to save mine. There was a difference between killing someone because you had to and murder.
The chugger slowed about ten miles shy of the temple ruins, and Ryker drove it into a hollow between several large trees. It was the best place to stash the chugger.
Instead of hopping out, Ryker turned to me. “No matter what happens, don’t show him anything he can use. Hold on to me the entire time we’re there in case things turn.”
In case things turn. Why was it that whenever someone had said that to me, it was always a bad turn and never good?
“Okay,” I said, mouth dry, and not from lack of water. “Are you going to get all, you know, Cursed King-ish?”
“We’re making it out, one way or another, even if we’re the only ones.” His face could’ve been carved from stone.
My face, on the other hand, popped an “Oh” as I watched him climb out of the chugger. Yep, the Cursed King was preparing for mass murder, and I wasn’t altogether unhappy about it.
I opened my door and slid down, landing hard on my feet. As unsettling as this was, I had the best possible person by my side. When Ryker said we’d make it out one way or another, I believed him. He was a survivor, and considering how long he’d lived, which was a lot longer than me, he was damn good at it. Considering that I was relying on him to keep me alive too, I wouldn’t cast aspersions on how he did it.
We covered the rest of the ground quickly and in silence, not slowing until the temple loomed ahead. The sun sat right behind the point of the temple’s pyramid. Smaller buildings were scattered around it. Even a hundred yards back, I could feel the foul magic that clung to the place.
I’d come and used the temple as a stash house when needed, but I’d never liked it. After magic had come into existence, word was that things had gotten pretty crazy. There were stories of all sorts of blood sacrifices that had happened here. Even dulls avoided this place.
Well, if this was it, so be it. I took a step ahead.
Ryker grabbed my hand. “Don’t forget what I said.”
“I got it. No death wish here.”
We walked forward together as the temple loomed. It was made of solid stone with a single entrance and two men standing right inside.
They were dressed in black robes, but it wasn’t their clothing that threw me. It was their companions. One guard had a snake wrapped around his neck, its fangs planted into the man’s flesh. The other had a snake wrapped around his arm, and that snake had its fangs sunk into the crease of his arm. Both guards’ eyes were heavy-lidded, the way people who chewed dope sticks often were.
“What is that?” I whispered. “Why don’t they knock them off? Are they too high to realize they’ve got snakes feeding on them?”
“They don’t want to. It’s the snakes that are making them high. The snakes will eventually kill them, but they don’t care. They pay the price willingly for the short-term peace they feel. Plus, they can’t shake them off anyway. Once the snake bites in, if you pull it off, it releases venom and kills you instantly.”
Ryker stepped forward to enter first. For once, we were in complete agreement.
As we walked into the dark entrance, it was even worse. I could see the bruising and shadowed skin around where the snakes held on. I could see the long fangs partially sunk into the flesh, the drops of blood that dripped down from the wound, a slow leak of life.
Ryker’s hand dwarfed mine, feeling like iron around my fingers as he moved past the guards down the hall. I wasn’t sure why he bothered to tell me to stay close when the only way I’d be able to leave his side was if I parted ways with my hand.
I felt power surging from up ahead and leaned around Ryker to see a man sitting in a chair in the middle of the main temple room. A ray of light, from an opening in the tip of the pyramid, streamed down dramatically, as if he’d planned it. The sun glinted off thick white hair. There wasn’t a hint of color to him anywhere; even his eyes were solid white. The skin was unnaturally smooth, and his white robe blended right into the color of his skin. His magic didn’t feel like anything I’d encountered before. Whatever this creature was, he wasn’t human.
He watched as we moved forward, and snakes slithered along the ground, swarming and hissing as they headed toward us. They’d veer away at the last moment. I wanted to leap onto Ryker’s back, but my feet stayed on the ground—for now.
We walked into the room and were swarmed. Before I could react, Ryker was swinging me up in his arms. He made a jerking motion, and a snake flew off his leg, tearing at the fabric of his pants. The other snakes around us went deadly still. Like, real dead. Not playing. But there were more farther away.
“Back them off unless you want to lose them,” Ryker said.
“Don’t take offense. They wanted to greet the Cursed King.” The Debt Collector’s voice was eerily high, and as strange as his appearance. What bothered me most was I couldn’t tell where he was looking with the solid white eyes.
“They should know better, and so should you.” Ryker let my legs swing down and took my hand again.
“That’s all right. No harm done. Come here, my little lovelies.”
The snakes that lay dead by our feet twitched, and then were slithering toward the Debt Collector. He reached to the ground, and I watched as the snakes slithered right into his palms. I watched as they appeared to slither underneath his skin before disappearing. They were part of him. If Ryker couldn’t kill the snakes, could he kill Bones? Could anyone? It was a display with a purpose. He’d wanted to provoke Ryker into killing them.
The Debt Collector sat back. I didn’t glance at Ryker—not that I thought he’d show his emotions openly, but maybe I’d pick up a hint. That had to have freaked him out as badly as me, or what else had he seen in this world?
The Debt Collector arranged his sleeves as if nothing odd had happened. “I appreciate you bringing her to me. Simplifies matters.”
I couldn’t see Bones’ eyes, but I knew they were on me now.
Everything had a price, even my soul. Time to see what the price was. “What did you want?” I asked. “I’m sure there is some way we—”
“You. Can’t. Have. Her.” Ryker edged forward, his hand on mine nearly cutting off the circulation to my fingers, and I didn’t mind even a little.
Well, if I hadn’t already know
n Ryker had the biggest pair of balls in all the kingdoms, I did now. Bones absorbed snakes, I wasn’t sure if he could die, and Ryker was ready to throw down anyway.
Bones smiled. “Technically, she’s already mine.”
The Debt Collector nodded, and one of his men entered the room. He had a snake coiled around his neck so tight that I wanted to pull at my shirt. He stepped forward with two pieces of paper.
Bones waved his hand toward the papers. “I have a binding contract.”
With a flick of his wrist, the papers flew into the air, turning into sparkling dust until they formed an image of two people. I knew they weren’t real, but it didn’t stop me from staring transfixed. My memories might’ve faded, but I knew them. I hadn’t seen them since I was a small child, but I’d never forget their faces. I watched as they each signed a piece of paper in front of them with red ink and elaborate pens.
It hadn’t been the slavers who’d bargained to keep me alive in hopes of selling me for more. It had been my parents. So much for keeping my expression locked down. A cry escaped my lips, and I would’ve run forward if Ryker’s hand hadn’t gripped mine, tugging me back.
The image was gone. The papers back, floating in the air until they drifted to lie upon Bones’ outstretched hand.
“You bastard!” I screamed, pulling forward, but tethered to my spot by Ryker, who refused to let go.
“Two signed contracts. That’s the price. Two souls to save one. Your life wasn’t paid for in full.” He held up the contracts. “The male didn’t kill himself. He died naturally. I was to be paid two souls and I only received one.” His words reverberated through the room, causing an ache in my ears.
With every word, my magic was growing, exploding around me. There was no controlling it. I didn’t want to control it. I wanted Ryker to let go of me, and then I was going to tear Bones apart, piece by piece. I didn’t know how I’d do it, but the rage in me said I could. It urged me on, telling me I could destroy him.
Full Blood (Wyrd Blood Book 2) Page 4
