Full Blood (Wyrd Blood Book 2)

by Donna Augustine

  I walked from Ryker’s alone and then kept walking. I didn’t pay attention to where I was going. I needed to get out of there, away from everyone.

  I knew what Ryker was doing, and considering the shape Ruck was in, it would be a while if it worked. I had hours to kill and lots of dwelling on the worst-case scenario with which to occupy myself.

  I was a pro at worst-case scenarios. In a way, it was a blessing. I’d always been prepared for the worst. In times like these? It was a curse that could drive me to my knees.

  Ruck couldn’t die yet. I’d always counted down how many birthdays someone had left. By my estimation, Ruck should have at least fifty more. That number had always given me comfort.

  It was an illusion. It had led me down a stray path. I’d never told him how funny he was. How I’d relied on him and been thankful for him every single day. I’d taken for granted that he knew. I’d never said any of this because I’d thought I had fifty more years of moments to tell him. Turned out, I hadn’t had anywhere near that long.

  I walked past the crowds that were whispering, afraid if I stopped and heard them, I might kill one of them. I kept going until I hit the forest.

  I wandered for hours, might’ve shed tears that I’d never admit to, before Sneak caught up to me, branches cracking underneath his feet.

  I dragged an arm across my face quickly, making sure I’d gotten rid of the evidence before I turned to face him. “How long have you been following?” I asked, words full of a bravado fueled by the idea he might have seen me at my worst. I knew he could move silently when he wanted. The guy’s nickname wasn’t Sneak for no reason.

  “I’d like to say a few minutes, but long enough.” He cleared his throat, as uncomfortable as I was about sharing the moment.

  I let out a breath that wobbled in my chest. Figured: the one time I cried in a decade and I’d ended up with company. If he told anyone, I’d kill him.

  “Did you want something?”

  “I know you’re in rough shape, but we’re getting pretty far out. You’ve got a ton of enemies, and I can’t leave you out here alone.”

  Ryker hadn’t had a chance to send Sneak out after me. This had been all him. It soothed the hurt of being spied on, mostly.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were here?” I asked as I turned to go back.

  “I knew you wanted to be alone. I didn’t want to leave you alone, so I faked it.”

  I dropped my head, feeling even worse about being mad at him. “Thanks.”

  “I do what I can.”

  I walked back toward him, hoping by the time we got back, Ruck would still be alive.

  “Just so you know, I’m hoping he pulls through. I like the kid,” Sneak said.

  I stopped walking and took a few deep breaths, afraid his words were going to trigger another crying jag.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  I nodded. “Yeah, but go back to your silent thing.”

  “Got it.”

  We walked back together. I dragged my feet more the closer I got. Right now, Ruck was still alive in my mind. Once we got to Ryker’s, and I went in, he might be truly dead.

  Ryker walked out of his place, nearly staggering as he did, and that was all I needed. I ran forward. “Is Ruck okay?”

  “The healer says he’s going to make it.” Ryker was walking stiffly, and the color was drained from his skin.

  “What’s wrong with you?” I asked, looking him over. I’d never seen Ryker look under the weather, let alone as bad as he did right now. He couldn’t get sick or hurt. He was the one that was always okay. Nothing could happen to him. He was too strong. Right?

  “Nothing. I’ll be fine tomorrow.”

  Sneak walked up to him. “Crash in my place. Burn and I will keep an eye on everything,” he said to Ryker.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” I took a few steps following Ryker.

  “Ruck needed a lot, and quickly. I’ll be better soon,” Ryker said, as he made his way into Sneaks.

  “Thank you,” I said, right before the door closed.

  Sneak came up beside me. “He’ll be fine. You’re lucky he did it, though. No one else would’ve been able to.”

  “I hadn’t realized he liked Ruck so much,” I said, still looking at the door Ryker had disappeared behind.

  “He likes him, but not that much.”

  I dragged my eyes away from the door. “Then why’d he do it?”

  “Because you needed him to,” he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

  33

  I woke up on Ryker’s couch and tiptoed over to see Ruck asleep in the bed for the twentieth time. With his chest still rising and falling, I felt safe to go out and get him some breakfast for when he woke up.

  I walked past Sneak’s house, but it was closed up. I banged on the door, but no one answered, and when I peeked through the window, I didn’t see anyone about, and the bedroom door was open. I left for breakfast and scanned every face on my way there and back. Then did another couple of laps.

  I didn’t stop making laps until I spotted Ryker by the tower. He was talking to a guy with marks on his hand, but I wasn’t focusing on that. Ryker looked healthy again. He glanced at me and nodded. I nodded back, feeling like I could breathe again.

  I walked back to bring Ruck his breakfast. My steps got slower and slower as I realized what I’d just done. I’d tracked Ryker down and hadn’t been able to stop until I’d seen he was okay for myself. I’d known he was going to be fine; Sneak and Ryker had both told me so. But it hadn’t been good enough. I hadn’t felt normal or right inside.

  A thought wiggled into my brain. It was a tiny suspicion that felt as if it were on the verge of growing and blowing my head apart. It stole my appetite and made it hard to swallow the biscuit I’d just taken a bite of. I did swallow, because I’d never waste food like that, but it was a struggle.

  The idea kept invading until it seemed to move lower and settle in my chest, where it took up so much space that it pressed on my ribcage. My palms got clammy like I had a case of the Heebies and was about to sprout sores.

  I was a stumbling mess by the time I got to Ruck with his heaping plate of lukewarm food.

  “Hey, you’re up,” I said, trying to infuse my voice with cheer. I held the plate to him. “Figured it was my turn.”

  He sat up quickly and took it. “Thanks, I’m starving.” He picked up the fork resting on it and began shoveling in food at a pace I hadn’t seen since back in our Ruins days.

  “You look good,” I said, taking in the healthy color and knowing I’d lost some of mine.

  “I feel great, thanks to Ryker. Told you he wasn’t a bad guy.” He shoved some more food in his mouth.

  I sat down beside him, putting my biscuit on his plate and biting my lip instead.

  Ruck paused between bites. “You okay? I’m good, right? You got a look that’s scaring the shit out of me.”

  I nodded. “You’re fine, and I want to tell you I love you and you’re very funny.” There, at least I’d gotten something good done today.

  “Are you dying, like quicker than we thought?” His voice was a whisper, as if he didn’t want to ask the question.

  “No, that’s not it. I just had to get that out.”

  He whacked me with his free hand. “Duh. I already knew all that.”

  “Who knew you’d go to the worst place imaginable? I didn’t know you were so doom and gloom.” I leaned out of the way when it looked like he was going to take another swing.

  He went back to eating and spent another minute shaking his head in faux-disgust before he asked, “So what’s wrong? You look off, considering you just got your best friend back.”

  His hand safely back to shoveling food, I slumped, knowing I looked pathetic. It matched how I felt.

  “I think I’ve got feelings and shit. Like, romantic feelings, and for someone that is not a convenient person to have feelings for.”

  “At least you’re finally
admitting you like Ryker. It’s not a big deal. Every chick in this place has a thing for him, old, young, taken, free. Hell, I’ve got a thing for him. The man is prime meat.” He picked up a piece of sausage and wiggled it.

  “It’s worse than that. I think I might really be into him.” I had too many other problems. I didn’t need more complications, and caring this much about anyone was a dangerous thing in this world. Caring about Ryker? It was a monumental disaster.

  “What’s different than it was a week ago, other than you realizing it?”

  “You’re not understanding. I think I’m falling in love with him.”

  Ruck jerked his head back. His eyes did a weird squinty thing, and then he shook his head. “Now you’re getting silly. You haven’t even slept with him. You can’t love someone you haven’t fucked. Not possible.”

  “I don’t know, Ruck. Something isn’t good.” I was willing to concede that Ruck knew a lot more about fucking and love but had my doubts he had it right this time.

  He patted the air in front of him. “No need to get all hysterical and dramatic. I know how to fix this.”

  “How?” I would’ve called it more melodramatic and morose, but I wouldn’t argue if he could fix it.

  “I’m going to ask you a series of questions that will disprove this assumption.”

  I nodded. It sounded like a decent idea. I’d never been in love. Maybe he was right and I was freaking out over nothing. I rolled my hand, encouraging him to get on with it.

  “Do you care if he’s happy?”

  I leaned back and thought on that. All I could envision was his laugh, even when it was at my expense and I wanted to choke him. It still lit me up inside. Like his happiness, made my day brighter.

  “I think so. That’s bad. I know that’s bad.”

  “That’s not a super-important question. You want a lot of people to be happy because you’re not a jackass. Forget that one. What do you think about when you’re going to sleep?”

  “Dying? Killing? Killing and then dying? Different variations of how I’ll kill and die.”

  He shrugged. “See, you’re fine.”

  I flopped back on the bed. “What if some of the killing I’m imagining is because I saw another woman go in or out of his place?” How many nights had I imagined tackling either the woman or Ryker himself to the ground? Way too many. “What if some of my thoughts were about snuggling into him? Sometimes I think I’d crawl into his skin if it were possible.”

  Only one side of Ruck’s face rose, making an awkward half-squint what’s wrong with you expression. “Maybe it’ll go away. Don’t think about it and see if it fades?”

  “Yeah, sure.” If I had any shot of that, it wasn’t going to happen now, not after he’d saved Ruck, and for me. I couldn’t tell Ruck that. I didn’t want him to feel partly responsible for the bad shape I was in.

  “What happened with the stranger? I missed the details due to my near death. Do you think that guy did something to me somehow? I didn’t even come close to him, though. What was he here for?”

  I grabbed the edge of his blanket, trying to curb the need to worm as I told him what had happened with the guy.

  “The queen thinks you might be some long-lost relative? Do you think it’s possible?”

  “No.” I rolled the cover in my fingers and then dropped it as Ruck caught sight of me.

  “You should ask the worm. You’re being stupid,” he said, giving me a look that could’ve been taken from Ryker.

  “Ruck, you know I made a—”

  “To someone who turned their back on you. You agreed under false pretenses, and I need you to know something.” His head dropped. “I didn’t want to tell you. I thought it would make it worse, but I think I have to. You know the problem you had with the biscuit guy and the Wyrd Blood? I think some of that weaves its way back to Marra.”

  He’d stopped eating altogether to watch my face.

  “Why would you say that?” I would’ve given my life to save Marra. If this was a case of her being out of sorts, I wouldn’t begrudge her an outlet—to a point. But I needed to know what was going on.

  “She’s been stirring the pot a lot. I fucked a guy who fucked Marra’s Ruck imposter. He was a real pillow talker. The new Ruck and the guy I fucked. She’s stirring up shit for you.”

  “She doesn’t even talk.”

  “Either way, she’s been getting the message out how you think you’re better than all the other Wyrd Bloods and think you should be getting special treatment. They said Ryker threatened to throw her out if she didn’t cut the shit.”

  I should feel bad, right? I didn’t. I felt relieved, like I’d been walking around with shackles and I’d just tossed them off. I’d been the only one trying to fix our relationship, but I felt like I’d been dealt the final blow that would let me walk away from it with a clean conscience.

  I didn’t owe her anything. I’d kept her alive for years. I’d plotted, stolen, taken the majority of the risks in our crew to feed her. I hadn’t even wanted Sinsy to come. I’d begged them to leave, but that hadn’t been good enough for Marra. But then, this had never really been about Marra. It had been about my guilt.

  I stood, feeling lighter than I had in weeks.

  “Are you okay? Where you going?”

  “I’m going to worm.”

  I saw him smile before I walked out.

  34

  I made my way up the path and to the middle of the field where Ryker and I usually practiced. With a stick in my hand, I picked out a place to start and got to work. It took me about a half an hour to try and think through the questions, but they were all laid out in front of me.

  I was still standing there, preparing myself, when Ruck came up, followed by Ryker. They stood behind me silently as I focused on what I was about to do. It shouldn’t have been a big deal. I’d wormed more times than I could count, but I’d never done it to this extent, and all at once. It felt like jumping off a cliff and wondering if my wings would flap.

  I knelt on the ground, nearly forgetting that Ryker and Ruck were there, and dug my hands into the dirt. I focused all the magic that was around me into my hands, feeling the energy that flowed through the soil. I was going to need a lot of worms for what I was about to accomplish, but if the magic gushing through my veins was any indication, I could pull this off. I needed to pull it off.

  I didn’t dig for a worm the way I normally would, but spoke as if the ground would carry my message. “You know my questions,” I said. I’d spoken every one of them aloud as I’d drawn them out. “I need you to help me see what’s coming.”

  I curled my fingers into the dirt, channeling my magic to my hands. A small hole appeared in the ground above where I kneeled. As I watched, it grew longer until there was a clear line as the dirt sank inward, only an inch or so wide and deep but several inches long. The ground continued to sink, the line growing longer and longer, branching out across the ground.

  It slowly made its way out, like the roots of a tree. It took about ten minutes or so before it finally stopped. I stood on shaky legs and looked at all my answers. Well, damn, it worked.

  No one moved for a few minutes.

  Ruck was the first to speak. “You said you were going to worm it, but what’s this?”

  “These are answers,” Ryker said, stepping forward. “But what were the questions?”

  My marks wouldn’t make sense to anyone else, and I walked through it, trying to make sense of all the answers. “The one thing I could never do while worming was give it too many options to choose from.”

  “It’s binary,” Ryker said.

  “If that means it’s only yes and no, then yes, it’s the binary thing.” I yawned as I picked up the stick to point. I’d never felt tired after worming it, but this had been a whole other level.

  I stepped up to the first question that was the tip of an upside-down triangle. “I started here, asking if the deaths were a sickness.”

  I followed the groo
ve the Y, which was clear to all. “Obviously, the next question would be: is this a natural sickness?”

  We all looked at where the line led to N.

  I moved to the next question. “Trying to be very accurate, I asked if it was caused by someone.”

  Ryker stepped over to the next answer. “Yes.” He pointed to the next markings. “What was that one?”

  “I asked if it was caused by someone here.” I couldn’t hold back the yawn that interrupted that.

  “It wasn’t,” Ruck said.

  I yawned again. This really had sapped my strength.

  “Did you ask if it was the Debt Collector?” Ryker said, pointing to the next. His brow furrowed. He was as confused as I, because the answer had been no.

  “I figured it would be the logical progression. It’s not him.” I moved to the next spot, “So I asked if I knew the person, and I got another no.”

  Ryker pointed. “What are the last two?”

  “I asked if you knew the person.” The N was clearly marked.

  “And the last?” Ryker asked.

  “Was it someone you knew of.” That was a yes.

  Ryker walked up to the last spot and looked at the line. “Do you realize how many people I know of?”

  I yawned again. “Yeah, I was afraid of that too, but I couldn’t think of anything else.”

  I shook my head, trying to clear the fuzz gathering in between my ears. “But at least we know we’re being targeted by someone other than the Debt Collector. Maybe it’s the Mushroom Man? But that doesn’t make sense. The deaths started before we ever went to the island. Besides, his magic was strong, but nothing compared to us. Maybe his queen put him up to it? But then we’re back to why would she do that when we didn’t steal from her but from the Mushroom Man.

  “Maybe I should ask that?”

  “You can’t, not right now, or you’re going to crash,” Ryker said.

  I took a seat on the ground. “Why am I so wiped out?”

  “Different magic acts differently. When you break a ward, you’re busting through something. When you put your hands into the soil to do this, you are feeding it magic, and probably more than you were prepared to give.”