“Rylee, I believe the wolves and I are done if you have questions?”
Rylee narrowed her eyes and Liam saw in them something that curled his heart around itself. She cared about Faris.
Damn it, he had to find a way to stop Faris, but how?
How the hell could he do anything when he was trapped in the vampire’s body?
I put my hands on my hips and watched closely as Faris strolled toward me. There was something different and whatever the two, make that three, men had discussed, it had pleased Faris. And that made me nervous.
“Griffin—”
An ear-shattering crack exploded the night air. I dropped into a crouch and stared back the way we’d come. Another crack and Griffin clapped his hands. “You pissed off the big ape, yeah? I can’t help you with them. Against the rules.” He shifted into his wolf form and loped to one side, lying down as if he were watching TV.
“Fuck,” I muttered, pulling my two swords free. “Think we can talk them out of this?”
Berget shook her head. “I doubt it. They aren’t smart enough from what I understand. It looks like they think you are the cure to their problems. And once they decide on a course of action they stick to it. ”
“Maybe we can change their minds.”
A tree flew over our heads, the roots trickling soil. I ducked even though it was well above us.
Berget shook her head, dirt flying from her hair. “I doubt it. They decided a thousand years ago that humans wouldn’t see them anymore, even though there are colonies of their kind all over the world. And they’ve not deviated from that. Ever.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
Four of the big apes stumbled into the tiny clearing we stood in. They were all sick, and one carried a child. Not again, I couldn’t do this again. “I don’t want to fight them.”
“We aren’t exactly being given a choice, Rylee.” Faris’s tone was dry and full of sarcasm.
“I know.”
Faris met the first big foot, swung around and was up on his back in a split second. “Let me see what I can do. Just keep clear.”
His mouth buried into the big foot’s thick scruff around his neck. The vampire jerked up, spitting and gagging. “This is worse than biting Alex.”
Alex shook a fist at him. “I is clean, dumbass.”
I danced to one side, avoiding grasping hands. From the sidelines, Griffin let out a couple of short barks that could have been encouragement or laughter. I was betting on the latter.
Faris clung to the back of the big foot, who spun and tried to pull him off. “Probably thinks you’re a giant tick,” Berget said, and I did laugh, though it was short lived.
“Ha! You’re probably right.”
Griffin let out a snorting bark that was definitely a laugh. I ducked and dived between the hairy, stinking land apes, avoiding them fairly easily, considering. Then again, they were sick. Their bodies were covered in hair, but huge patches were missing, showing skin blistered and swollen with pustules. I brushed against one and the pus sack broke open, spewing its contents down my arm. I gagged, and had to drop to my knees to avoid the furred frying pan hand that swept over my head.
“Hurry up, Faris!”
“Can’t find a vein under this matted hair,” he shouted back.
I didn’t have time to ask him how that was possible. A set of large feet were stomping my way. I hit the ground, rolling so that I slammed into the feet.
Alex, beside me yelled, “Log rolls!” He flopped down and rolled around, taking out the big foot family like he was bowling. They howled and moaned as they went down and most didn’t get back up. They were that weak. But the one with Faris was obviously the alpha male. Even sick, he fought for his family. Even though it was a serious pain in the ass, I understood why. To my death and on pain of torture, I would fight for my family.
I backed until I was beside Griffin, watching Faris.
The vampire ripped away a huge chunk of hair, revealing bright pink skin underneath. I didn’t even see him move, his strike was so fast. One second he was upright on the big foot, the next, his mouth was on the bare skin. The big foot went to his knees with a groan, then he fell forward to his hands.
“Faris, don’t kill him.”
The vampire pulled his head up. “Not. Spelling him. He’ll take them back to their nest now.”
He slid from the big foot’s back and stumbled toward us. Falling to his hands and knees almost a parody of the big foot’s fall, he threw up. Blood, black and thick, that was visible . . . .
Visible.
Shit.
“Sun is coming, we need to get you clear. Now!” I grabbed Berget. “Griffin, where? A cave, something like that close by.” I was stuttering my words out and they weren’t even in full sentences.
Griffin leapt to his feet and grabbed Berget with his mouth, dragging her with him. She gave a squeak, but I waved her forward. “Go, I’ll grab Faris.” I ran to Faris and helped him up, Alex on the other side of him.
We stumbled after Griffin and Berget. I could almost feel the sun rising, feel the warmth of it licking at our heels as we bolted after the black shadow of Griffin.
Faris jerked us to a stop, puking up more blood, black and stinking of death. The price of biting someone infected. I took him by the arm and yanked him forward. “Keep puking, I don’t care, but keep moving your fucking feet.”
He groaned. I didn’t look at him, didn’t need to. He retched and heaved as we ran, the sound of splattering vomit was more than I needed. In the past, I had a stomach of steel. Now, after giving birth . . . not so much.
Alex gave a low whine. “Sun is coming.” I dared a glance back to see the tops of the trees lighting up. Fucking hell.
“Faster, we have to move faster. Berget, help us!”
She was by my side in a flash. She grabbed Faris and hefted him over her shoulder like he was nothing. Score one for vampire strength saving the day. Maybe that was a bad choice of words.
“Go, just go!” I waved her forward and she took off running faster than I could ever hope to, a blur of black wolf at her side. I hoped Griffin was actually helping, and not take them to some open clearing where they’d both fry. I didn’t slow down, and Alex kept pace with me easily. He could probably keep up to the others, but I would need him to find them if they got too far ahead.
“Fuck,” I snapped out, as I jumped a log. Alex sailed over it beside me, his mouth open and tongue hanging out.
“Fuck,” he yelped as we jumped another log. And the next log was the same. My lips twitched and I remembered something Erik had said while we’d trained.
“Don’t forget to laugh, Rylee. I know it will be hard, but it isn’t just love that you should fight for, but joy too. Without it, your heart will be empty.”
So on the next log, when Alex let out a tremendous “FUCK!” as he leapt, I let the laughter come. Two more logs like that and of course, he knew he was making me smile, making me laugh.
“Fuckity fuck!”
“Fucker duckers!”
“Alex, stop!” I bent over, unable to get my breath over the laughter spilling out of me. It was the crazy kind of laughter that came from being too tired, stressed, and scared. I didn’t care. I grabbed him around the neck and hugged him as the laughter turned into tears.
He patted my back. “I is here. All is good.”
I drew in a deep breath, the smell of wolf and summer forest filling my nose. “Faris is wrong, you smell pretty damn good.”
He gave me his best, widest wolfy grin. “I smell fine.”
A slow, even breath in and out and I stood on my own. The sun pierced the canopy of the trees, dancing around us. Whatever Faris had done with the big foot family had obviously worked, since we weren’t being pursued. Now it was just a matter of whether or not I’d put my trust in the right person.
“Alex, keep following the others okay, buddy?”
He nodded and stepped out in front of me. “You gots it, Ryle
e.” The forest came alive with the morning air, birds singing, and small animals waking and going about their business. As if everything was normal and the world wasn’t on the cusp of being eaten alive by a plague and shitload of demons.
I didn’t dare Track Berget and Faris. On the off chance the exchange had faded. Which meant I had to trust those around me, not something I did well on a good day. And this had not been a fucking good day.
“Griffin, you better not screw us over,” I whispered. “Or I will personally turn you into a rug.”
Alex snickered. “Yuppy doody.”
CHAPTER 18
Pamela
Milly slammed her plate on the table, shattering it. Her green eyes blazed, and I froze where I was. Or at least, that’s what I let her see. My hand under the table spun a spell that would block anything she sent my way. Another of Deanna’s tricks. Gratitude flowed through me for the druid’s teachings, though I hadn’t appreciated her lessons at the time.
“Damn, the Tracker is avoiding all my attempts to slow her down.” She bit the words out, and I exchanged a quick look with Frank. He shook his head, just a fraction. Not time yet.
Milly stood and strode down the table, her blood red skirts swishing. “Pamela, come with me. I want the brat and I want him now. I am tired of waiting.”
I had no idea what was going on. We’d sat for the evening meal, brought to us by Charlie, who wouldn’t meet my eyes no matter how hard I tried. Milly had stared into her wine, swirling it, and pretty much ignoring me and Frank.
“What are we going to do?” I asked, following her reluctantly.
“We’re going to find my son. And you are going to help me.” Her eyes slid over me and I shivered. I tipped my chin up.
“How? If you could have found him so easily, why didn’t you before?”
She advanced on me, stopping me in my tracks. “I didn’t have a necromancer to call on before. I will have him raise the spirit of the old Tracker.”
My mouth went dry. “I don’t know if Frank can do that. Isn’t the veil closed?”
“He will do it, or I will kill you.” She was on me so fast I barely had time to get my knife out. I swung it around and caught the underside of her arm. She didn’t scream, and didn’t slow. Her hands went around my neck and squeezed. My bladder loosed as the darkness didn’t just drag me under, but smashed into me like a tidal wave.
In the deep nothingness, for just a moment, I was at peace. No one would hurt me here. No one would hurt anyone I loved. I don’t know how long I was out.
Raised voices rose around me, pulling me from my stupor. I blinked and tried to wipe my face. Something held my hands in cold water. Wobbling, I looked around and understood how much trouble we were in.
Milly had stuck me in a tub of salt water. There was no way I could do any spelling, which meant we were completely at her mercy. A cold sweat broke out along the back of my neck.
“I will not raise Jack for you! He was a vampire in the end, raising their spirits is not safe! And she was right, the veil is closed,” Frank yelled.
“There are spirits on this side of the veil, trapped here even now. One of them will be a Tracker. Don’t help me and I will kill her! She was supposed to help me, to be my next body, but that has changed. Raise Jack, and I will let you both go.” Milly’s voice had gone from fury to cajoling in the space of only a few sentences.
“Don’t do it,” I yelled, squirming on my butt, sliding all over the place. I jerked hard to one side, spilling myself and the water all over the floor, the tub clanging to its side. The pentagram sizzled and hissed and Milly let out a screech. Something hit me hard, but then fizzled. I looked up to see the black residue around her hands. She’d thrown a death spell at me.
I laughed, I couldn’t help it. “You didn’t plan this too well, did you?” The very thing keeping me from throwing my magic protected me from her spells. How had she not realized that?
Her face slowly turned red and then purple. She yanked my knife from her belt. “There is more than one way to skin a witch.”
I scrambled backward as she reached for me. Behind her, a chair seemed to hover and then slammed into the back of her head. She went down in a heap, and I let out a cry.
Frank pulled me to my feet. “We have to hurry.”
We ran to my room and I scooped up the still healing Peta. “Take her, Frank, I’m soaked through. I have to get this salt off, or I can’t fight her.”
“So very true.”
We spun, and Milly was in the doorway, a trickle of blood curling around her neck from the back of her head. “Necromancer, if I did not need you, I would kill you where you stand.” Her voice dropped into tones that could mean only one thing, her eyes slipping into a blackness that danced with red serpents.
“Orion. It’s been you all along,” I whispered, and even though I’d already come to that conclusion, it was one thing to know it, another to say it out loud.
Milly smiled and flicked her hands at Frank. Peta leapt from his arms as Frank was lifted into the air. But Milly forgot one thing. Frank wasn’t without abilities.
He jerked his head and the air around us misted, thickening into a tornado of spirits we could see.
They swirled toward her and she let out a snort. “Are they supposed to scare me?”
Frank’s face was grim, and in that moment, I knew I loved him. “No.”
The spirits reached for Milly and her smile slipped. “No, this isn’t possible.”
She let out a scream, her body convulsing as the spirits gripped something inside her. He dropped to the floor.
“Frank . . .” I backed away from Milly, and Frank grabbed me, putting me behind him.
“Orion is a type of spirit. I wondered if I could expel him.”
I didn’t think he’d be able to. The spirits tugged on Orion, but it was like they pulled on a rubber band. He stretched, and it was obviously painful what they did to him, but there was no true give.
“Pamela, you have to go. I can hold him here, but the second I take my eyes off him, they will let go.”
I straightened my shoulders. “I’m not leaving you. Where you go, I go.”
He slipped his hand into mine and that was the mistake we made. My hand was still sticky with salt water.
Frank’s power failed as we touched, the spirits fled and Orion snapped back into Milly.
“You fucking little bastards,” she screamed and threw a spell that would kill Frank. I stepped in front of him and took it in the chest without really thinking. It pushed us both backward, smacking us against the wall, but we were okay, the salt water a double-edged sword.
The knife came down at me, fast and hard, but Milly was hit from behind. Peta had shifted and attacked, claws and teeth raking her back. Milly screamed and twisted, a spell unleashed on Peta. Death wrapped around the snow leopard, cutting off her life force.
She slumped, her green eyes fading to a dull gray as she let out a moan, her life slowly draining from her. I cried out, the loss of her as sharp as if the knife had reached me. “Stop, just stop!”
Milly surprised me. “Tell your necromancer to call on the dead Tracker, or I will kill him next.”
I hung my head, as if only sorrow ate at me. In truth, my mind worked at a feverish pace. How were we going to get out of this? How would I stop her from hurting more of my friends?
Rylee had always said I was stronger than Milly, that my soul was stronger, not just my power.
Was I strong enough to face Orion?
“I’ll let you use my body,” I said the words and Frank screamed my name. Milly laughed and I bowed my head.
I would do anything to keep those I loved safe.
Even this.
“Open your mouth.”
I did as I was told and tipped my head, mouth open, eyes closed.
His spirit was as slimy as a slug’s trail and it clung to my throat as he slid into me. I gagged and I flung myself backward. I couldn’t breathe. My eyes flew open an
d then I swallowed him down.
And he was in me.
Milly lay on the floor in front of me, her hand reaching out. “Oh, gods, no. Pamela.” Tears drenched her cheeks, and for a moment I didn’t understand. And then I was speaking, but it wasn’t me.
“You’re a weak fool, Milly. I can feel this one’s power. I do believe she will outstrip even your son. Though I still want him.” I turned and looked at Frank. “Come on, lover boy. Bring us Jack.”
I gasped and slapped my hands over my mouth.
No, you said if you had me you wouldn’t need the babies!
Orion wrested control from me. “Little witch, I want both babies. Both will have their uses. One for power. The other to control the Tracker.”
I stumbled back and leaned against the bed. I was stronger than him. I would kick his ass and show him whose protégé I really was.
“Milly.” I looked at her and her green eyes were full of sorrow and pain. “Heal Peta.”
She twisted where she was and put her hands on the snow leopard. Seconds later and Peta lifted her head. “Frank, take Peta and go. You have to listen this time.”
Peta let out a pitiful meow and inside me Orion raged. I’d pushed him deep down, far enough that he couldn’t take control. For the moment.
“Frank, I mean it.”
His eyes met mine. “I can’t.”
“Milly,” I pleaded with her to side with me. She slowly shook her head.
“Love is a powerful thing, Pamela. You can’t force it to do anything. He loves you, so very much. Be grateful.”
I swallowed the tears. “I can’t hold him much longer.”
“Rylee was right, you are stronger than me. I could never hold him back.”
“A matter of love,” I whispered. There was only one thing left to do.
I raised one hand. “I’m covered in salt water. Tie me up and keep me in a bathtub of it. Take me to Rylee. Tell her to kill me and Orion.”
Milly’s eyes widened and I felt Orion reach for my magic, scramble for it with everything he had.
Nothing. His roar of impotence echoed through me, shaking my bones and bringing me to my knees. But I didn’t care. I’d won. I’d kept my loved ones safe no matter the cost. “Rylee taught me this, you bastard.” And she had. Everything she’d ever done had been for others, and I knew it now. For Liam, Alex, Blaz, and even Milly.
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