She shook her head, long brown curls floating around her face. “I’m not strong enough and none of you are safe when I am here. I cannot be trusted because I can’t stop him. He left because he has a better body waiting for him. That doesn’t mean he won’t be back.”
Faris stepped up beside her then crouched. “Milly. We still need you.” That wasn’t Faris, but Liam. Hoping we could convince her. She shook her head. “No. You don’t need me at all. Pamela is the witch who will help you. Faris can jump the veil. He can get you to the babies in time.”
This was all happening so fucking fast.
I looked at Faris, seeing Liam there so clearly in the golden rim around the bright blue iris. “Go, get the babies, bring them back. Berget, go with him.”
He flicked his hand, and a slash opened in the air. On the other side was the interior of the monastery. Tian Shan. The place I’d hidden while pregnant. The place I’d left my daughter to be safe and sound.
And now she was in more danger than she had ever been in her short life.
Berget and Faris ran through the slash connecting here and there, and it closed behind them. For just a moment, I thought I smelled wood smoke but it was gone in an instant. Please, please let them be safe. Let the babies be safe. To not go after them myself, that was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do. Liam was there, though; he would get them out and make sure they were safe. And I wasn’t finished here, not by a long shot.
I looked at Milly, my heart breaking into tiny shards. She knelt in front of me, her head bowed. Her hair parted, giving way to the creamy skin of her neck. “End this, Rylee. Once and for all.”
The sound of my sword sliding from the sheath on my back was the only sound. “Milly, you are far braver than I ever gave you credit for. I love you,” I whispered.
She lifted her eyes to mine and smiled. “I love you, Rylee. Be strong, and don’t forget me.”
I closed my eyes at the last second, felt the blade cut through bone and flesh, heard the thunk of her head rolling to the ground. But I couldn’t look. I stumbled backward, the grief hitting me as hard as if one of the cars had managed to drop on me.
Milly had been my first real friend, a sister I chose, and my greatest challenge all balled into a single person. A piece of my soul died as the reality of what had just happened drove into me. I’d killed her. I’d taken Milly’s head at her request but I had done it. Dropping to my knees I wrapped my fingers around the back of my neck, a low keening slipping past my lips. “Milly, oh Milly I’m sorry.” Did it matter that I knew it was the best decision, that Milly was right? No, it didn’t. All I knew was that I’d lost another huge chunk of my heart. For all her faults, I loved her fiercely and it killed me to be the one to end her life. To send her across the veil.
On my knees, keening her loss, the world faded around me for a few short moments.
And then Pamela was at my side. “Rylee, what about Alex?”
“Oh, shit,” I lurched to my feet. How could I forget him? There he lay, broken and twisted on the ground black fur matted with blood. Bones stuck through like a pincushion. “Alex.” I Tracked him, knowing I would find him gone.
I was wrong.
“Pamela! He’s still alive.” I dropped to my knees and touched his face gently. “Alex, hang on, Pam is going to heal you up.”
She fell to the ground beside me. “Rylee, I can’t. You know that.”
I took her face in my hands. “Pamela. I know you. You have the biggest heart of all of us, and you can do this. Alex trusts you. I trust you.”
Nodding, she lowered her hands to his side and closed her eyes. I did trust her, but was it enough? Could she find it in herself to heal him?
Alex’s life was there, a thread of a heartbeat so unsteady I wasn’t sure I could even patch him enough to allow him to heal himself the rest of the way. I swallowed hard and reached for my magic, pulling on it like I always did.
I froze, frowned, and stopped trying to force it. I begged it, opening myself in a way I never had before. “Please, I want to heal him,” I whispered, “Please, help me.”
The magic in me swirled softly against my ribs, beating in time with my heart. Flowing down my arms and into my hands, through my fingers and into Alex. I directed it carefully, putting Alex back together piece by piece. Bit by bit. It wasn’t enough. There were broken connections all through him. I couldn’t stop the magic and didn’t try. It was a living thing, an entity all its own as it zinged through his body, making him twitch and moan. His bones snapped and Rylee grunted.
“Pamela, he’s healed. What are you doing?”
He slept and I knew she meant well. “The magic is doing this.” But even that wasn’t true. The magic knew all along I’d wanted to heal, to do what no one else had been able to.
To fix whatever was broken inside Alex and make him whole. His body jerked and jumped and the fur began to recede, his limbs untwisting. Body changing. Shifting.
The fur under my hands was gone and my fingers were pressed against smooth, tanned skin.
“Holy shit, Pamela,” Rylee whispered. “What . . . how did you do this?”
“I think . . .” I opened my eyes and stared down at the sleeping body of a young man. Older than me, but not a grown-up by any chance of the imagination. “I think I might have taken the werewolf virus from him.”
He let out a groan and sat up, touching his head. “Damn.” His voice was the same . . . but not. I shook my head, suddenly realizing he was completely naked. “I’ll get a . . . some clothes.”
I stood and sprinted into the house, my emotions all over the map. I should have been happy. But somehow I felt like I’d lost a friend.
I stared at Alex, seeing in him the echo of a young girl from over a year ago, stolen away from her family. “Buddy, how are you feeling?”
His eyes, golden still, stared up at me. “Rylee? What happened?”
I patted the top of his head and laughed softly. “Pamela healed you. But it looks like she might have kicked out the werewolf in you, too.”
Slowly, he shook his head. “No. The wolf is still there. But I think I can shift back and forth now.”
“Welcome back to the world.”
He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around me. I thought it would be awkward. Weird. I closed my eyes and hugged him back. Nope. This was Alex. “I’m glad you’re still with us.”
He barked a laugh. Seriously barked a laugh. “Me, too.”
So many questions, but there were more important things happening. Pamela rushed out and handed him a pair of pants and shirt. Liam’s old clothes. They hung off Alex’s frame, but they were the right length. When he finished filling out, he might be as big as Liam in the end.
Eve hopped forward. “Rylee, I should take Pamela to Blaz. She can heal him now.”
Pamela nodded, and I saw her glance at Frank as she went to the Harpy. I stopped her and wrapped her into my arms. “Pamela, I’m sorry we lost Frank.”
She pushed away from me. “I can’t deal with this right now. When I get back from Blaz . . . .”
I nodded. Perhaps more than anyone else, I understood the desire to run from the grief. To pretend the bad things didn’t happen.
Eve left with Pamela. And now I had nothing to do but wait on Berget and Faris. Which thankfully took only minutes, not long enough for me to fully freak out.
A slash in the air opened up and three people stumbled forward. Berget, Faris, and Cactus—the red-headed elemental I’d met in Tian Shan. He’d helped me, been my friend. I hoped that hadn’t changed.
But by the way Faris held him, by the scruff of his neck, I wasn’t so sure. Faris gave him a shake. “Erik and Coyote got the babies out with Ophelia. Just in time.”
I slumped and Alex slipped an arm around my waist, holding me up.
Tears trickled down my cheeks. “Cactus, what happened?”
“Someone broke, someone was tortured. We think . . . we think it was the spell casters who helped you.” Hi
s green eyes met mine. “None of us were able to stand against the demons, but we tried. We held them back long enough for Erik and Coyote to get the babies out. That was the best we could do. The others in the monastery, they didn’t make it. The monastery is burning even now.”
Faris let him go. “Erik, Coyote, and the two children on their way here. Three days and they’ll be here.”
Three days. A part of me soared at the mere thought of seeing Marcella, of holding her in my arms. The other part of me sunk to the depths. She would be in the midst of this, after all we’d done to keep her safe. After all that had been sacrificed.
From the doorway of the house, the light dimmed. “Cactus, causing problems again, prick?”
He spun and his mouth dropped open. “Lark? You’re alive?” He ran to her and caught her up in his arms, spinning her around until she smacked him.
“Put me down, fool.” Her eyes lifted to mine. “Rylee, you’d better come see this.”
We followed her into the house. The TV had been left on and the picture on it made my guts clench. Orion was speaking to the camera in a body that looked very much like he’d come through the veil in the flesh. Maybe a part of me hoped he still would be held back, but the truth of it was in front of me. He was here.
Behind him stood two men and two women. I would have laid money they were the four horsemen. Fucking hell.
I didn’t get too close, just watched from the doorway as Orion handed something to the President of the United States.
“This cure is now available for everyone,” Orion said, lifting his hands above his head.
The crowd cheered and the camera panned their faces. Adoring was the only word that fit. I would give him one thing, the fucker moved fast. The veil had been open less than a few hours and he was already on TV.
Lark glanced at me. “He always had a flare for the dramatic.”
“You know him?” I goggled at her.
“Couple of times, I had to deal with him. If I’d known how bad he truly was . . . hell, I wish I’d killed him then. Would have saved us all a lot of heartache and loss.”
The President was saying something about Marshal Law. “This country needs to protect itself against terrorists who would steal this gift of a cure from us. The ring leader is this woman.”
Yeah, my face popped up on the screen. I snorted. “Surprise, surprise.” The President’s voice droned on, but I didn’t really hear him. The camera panned back to Orion shaking people’s hands, hugging little old ladies. Kissing babies.
A dark-haired child was lifted to him and my guts clenched. “No.” I breathed the word as he turned the baby to the camera and mouthed one word with a raised eyebrow.
“Marcella?”
“Not her, asshat,” I whispered, knowing he couldn’t hear me. Didn’t matter. The child he held was not my daughter, though they looked similar enough that it scared the shit out of me.
Lark flicked off the TV. “The final battle is here. Rylee, are you ready for this showdown?”
I nodded. “Let’s get this done.”
Alex leaned forward, a wide grin on his face and for a moment I saw the wolf he had been for so long. “To the bitter end.”
I took his hand. “To the bitter fucking end.”
Coming Fall 2015
The epic conclusion to The Rylee Adamson Novels …
“Blood of the Lost”
A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 10
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AUTHORS NOTE
Thanks for reading “Rising Darkness”. I truly hope you enjoyed the continuation of Rylee’s story, her friends, and the world I’ve created for them. If you loved this book, one of the best things you can do is leave a review for it. Amazon.com is where I sell the majority of my work, so if I can only ask for one place for reviews that would be it it – but feel free to spread the word on all retailers.
Again, thank you for coming on this ride with me, I hope we’ll take many more together. The rest of The Rylee Adamson series, along with my other novels, are available in both ebook and paperback format on all major retailers. You will find purchase links on my website at www.shannonmayer.com. Enjoy!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shannon Mayer lives in the southwestern tip of Canada with her husband, dog, cats, horse, and cows. When not writing she spends her time staring at immense amounts of rain, herding old people (similar to herding cats) and attempting to stay out of trouble. Especially that last is difficult for her.
She is the USA Today Bestselling author of the The Rylee Adamson Novels, The Elemental Series, The Nevermore Trilogy, A Celtic Legacy series and several contemporary romances. Please visit her website for more information on her novels.
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ALSO BY SHANNON MAYER
The Rylee Adamson Series
Priceless (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 1)
Immune (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 2)
Raising Innocence (A Rylee Adamson Novel Book 3)
Shadowed Threads (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 4)
Blind Salvage (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 5)
Tracker (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 6)
Veiled Threat (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 7)
Wounded (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 8)
Rising Darkness (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 9)
Alex (A Rylee Adamson Short Story)
Tracking Magic (A Rylee Adamson Novella, 0.25)
Elementally Priceless (A Rylee Adamson Novella 0.5)
Guardian (A Rylee Adamson Novella 6.5)
Stitched (A Rylee Adamson Novella 8.5)
The Elemental Series
Recurve (The Elemental Series, Book 1)
Contemporary Romances (Written as S.J. Mayer)
High Risk Love (The Risk Series, Book 1)
Of The Heart
Paranormal Romantic Suspense
The Nevermore Trilogy
Sundered (The Nevermore Trilogy, Book 1)
Bound (The Nevermore Trilogy, Book 2)
Dauntless (The Nevermore Trilogy, Book 3)
Urban Fantasy
A Celtic Legacy Trilogy
Dark Waters (A Celtic Legacy, Book 1)
Dark Isle (A Celtic Legacy, Book 2)
Dark Fae (A Celtic Legacy, Book 3)
Copyright
Rising Darkness, A Rylee Adamson Novel #9
Copyright © Shannon Mayer 2015
Copyright © Hijinks Ink LTD 2015
All rights reserved
Published by HiJinks Ink LTD.
www.shannonmayer.com
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a database and retrieval system or transmitted in any form or any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the owner of the copyright and the above publishers.
Please do not participate in or encourage the piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. Or deliberately on purpose, depending on whether or not you have been nice to the author.
Original Cover Art by Damonza.com
Mayer, Shannon
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Author Introduction
Author Recommendation
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Ch
apter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Coming Soon
Authors Note
About the Author
Also by Shannon Mayer
List Of Characters
LIST OF CHARACTERS
Rylee Adamson: Tracker and Immune who has dedicated her life to finding lost children. Based near Bismarck, North Dakota.
Liam O’Shea: PreviouslLiamy an FBI agent. Now he is a werewolf/Guardian as well as lover to Rylee. Deceased
Giselle: Mentored Rylee and Milly; Giselle is a Reader but cannot use her abilities on Rylee due to Rylee’s Immunity. She died in “Raising Innocence”.
Millicent: AKA Milly; Witch who was best friend to Rylee. Now is actively working against Rylee for reasons not yet clear.
India: A spirit seeker that Rylee Tracked in “Priceless”.
Kyle Jacobs: Rylee’s personal teenage hacker—human.
Doran: Daywalker and Shaman that helps Rylee from time to time. Located near Roswell, New Mexico.
Alex: A werewolf trapped in between human and wolf. He is Rylee’s unofficial sidekick and loyal companion. Submissive.
Rising Darkness Page 20
