Veiled Threat

by Shannon Mayer

  Not surprised, you have intrigued him from the beginning. You two would actually make quite the pairing.

  “Shut up!”

  Alex from the “back seat” let out a howl. “Shuttttttt upppppppp!”

  That was my boy, always backing me up.

  Liam leaned forward and I shook my head. I was not going to discuss this with him with all this audience. Even if I whispered, Blaz would hear and right now I didn’t want anyone to know.

  I already know, you twit.

  Hot embarrassment and even hotter anger arched along my spine. “Stay out of my head, Blaz.” I snapped.

  He had the gall to laugh, a deep rumble slipping through him and into me as he dove. I clenched the leather and Alex let out a series of excited yips and howls.

  Liam said nothing. Smart man, he knew when to wait for me.

  We dropped in large, lazy circles, the two dragons mirroring one another. From where we were I saw the city of Portland. I Tracked Sas and the ogres, felt them pulling me away from the city proper. My gut clenched. I knew where they were. Fuck it all, I did not want to visit the place where Orion had almost broken free. No choice, I had to speak to the ogres, had to see if they were with us or not.

  Time to suck it up.

  “All right, kiddos, we’re going to Mt. Hood.”

  Chapter 5

  THE GROUND WAS thick with cooled and blackened lava, and the mountain was bare of trees and wildlife. Ophelia and Blaz didn’t seem bothered by it, landing on the edge of the lake where the flow was the thinnest, the surface cracking under their weight.

  Erik slid off Ophelia’s back and glanced around. “Let me guess, you had something to do with this? Untrained, you cause a lot of problems, don’t you?” The second bit was not a question but a statement. Asshole.

  I gritted my teeth against the flood of heat climbing into my face as I slid off Blaz’s back. Embarrassment wasn’t something I was used to and it irritated me. Which made me angry, a much more familiar emotion. Liam hopped off behind me and we stepped out in front to meet Sas head on.

  “Not on purpose,” I said.

  Erik snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. “Rarely is with someone like you.”

  Damn, he was pissing me off. Screw it, I would ignore him, get him to show me what I needed and then send him on his merry fucking way. I Tracked Sas and felt her moving toward us. To say she was not happy was an understatement. A self-righteous fury slipped along her threads into me. Yeah, this was going to get interesting real fast. At least we wouldn’t have to look for her.

  Liam lifted his face to the breeze rolling down Mt. Hood. “The whole mountain is quiet now. Almost like it never tried to kill us.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about the things that aren’t ogre shaped and carrying weapons right now,” I said, shifting my stance to face the oncoming ogress, and of course, she happened to be headed our way through the only clump of trees and bush left standing. Even if it was all dead. I saw her in the distance, her violet skin catching the light here and there. Or maybe that was a weapon the light danced off. That was more likely. Behind Sas was a veritable army of ogres, the colors of the different gangs’ skin catching the light as they drew closer.

  And it wasn’t just Sas who was angry; the whole of the group was geared up for a fight. Suddenly I was very glad Ophelia had come along. Two dragons were a hell of a lot more intimidating than one.

  Blaz glared at me.

  I’m not intimidating enough for you?

  “The more the merrier and all that shit.” I pulled my sword from my back and uncoiled my whip with the other hand. A little bit of distance wasn’t a bad thing with angry ogres.

  Thirty seconds passed while we waited, weapons out and tension high.

  Thirty one and a half seconds, and Sas raged in front of us, battle axe raised high above her head, fury lighting her features. I didn’t move, didn’t even change my breathing, though my heart was pounding like an oversized jackhammer.

  I tipped my chin up a fraction of an inch. “Hello, Sas.”

  “I can’t believe you’d dare come here. You are stupid.” She slowed her steps, her eyes only on me. Fortunately, the gang of ogres behind her wasn’t quite as single-minded; they formed a long line, their eyes glued to the two dragons.

  Hell yes for back up. I would never complain again about Blaz coming along.

  About damn time.

  I ignored him and struggled to find the right words, words I’d been working over for the last month. “Sla gave me his oath that the ogres would stand with me when the time comes. Does that still hold or are you as honorless as the rest of the supernaturals think?”

  She let out a long, low hiss. “Sla is dead, and I lead the gangs now. All of them.”

  The ogres behind her, men and a few women, clanged their weapons, sending a bevy of birds into flight.

  Ophelia snaked her neck out and grabbed two birds mid air, gulping them down. The ogres went silent again—well, maybe that wasn’t quite right. Still, except for a tremor here and there, their eyes darting to one another and then to the dragons. No shit, there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d want to face down a dragon either.

  Yet you already did, little idiot. Blaz’s tone was full of humor; Erik and Ophelia let out a snicker as if it were some big joke.

  Again, I did my best to ignore him. “And you won’t stand by Sla’s decree?”

  “Fuck you, Tracker. You killed my men, led them into a trap. They were my mates, I felt their deaths and they were not good deaths. Slow and tortured, they broke at the end, screaming my name as they died.” Tears slid down her cheeks but they did not soften the fury lighting her face.

  The bile in my stomach jumped halfway up my throat and tears stung at my own eyes. I knew the boys had been skinned alive, knew it had been bad. But feeling their death, that was not something I could imagine. I didn’t know ogres had that connection once mated.

  I knew if I felt Liam die a horrid death, there would be no stemming my rage, especially if I thought someone I knew had done it, someone I trusted. I cleared my throat and pushed down my emotions as best I could.

  “And you think I did it?” My voice was husky, filled with emotions I couldn’t contain no matter how I tried.

  With each word she stepped closer until we were nose to nose, her breath hot on my face. “Your stupidity did it. You thought you were all powerful, that you could change the world but you can’t. You aren’t the one the prophecies speak of. You are nothing but an interloper, a fucking twat filled with the idea of ruling the supernatural world like her ancestors did.”

  The pain of losing Dox was not done healing, but that didn’t mean I would take this shit. The sympathy I had for her fled.

  “You’re a moron, Sas. That’s what you are. I’m not here for power or prestige. You think I want to face down strongest demon this world has ever seen, and all that comes with him? You think I want to put the lives of those I love on the line to keep this piece of shit world safe?” I shoved her hard, tucking a foot behind her feet so she ended up on her ass in front of me. “You stay here on your bare ass mountain and cower as the demons over run this world, and know that maybe your help would have tipped the scales and kept us safe.”

  She snarled and leapt to her feet, battle axe raised. “I am not the fool that the boys were. I see you for what you are, and I will not let my people be slaughtered and turned into petty pawns for your dreams of power.”

  The ogres behind her let out a low murmur, but I saw doubt on some faces.

  “And you all agree with her? You think I’m here to rule you?”

  I shook my head. “Dox was my friend, one of the few I had. He was shunned by his own because of his gentle nature, he was cast aside. And yet he fought at my side against Orion because he believed it was the right thing to do. He was a hero; he didn’t shy away from danger, or the possibility of death. He knew, as did the triplets and Sla, this is war. Not a game, not a silly play. And they were willing
to lay down their lives to try and stop the demons. The same as I am. The same as we are.” I swept my hand back to encompass the dragons, Liam, Erik and Alex. “Perhaps I was wrong thinking the ogres were strong enough to face the darkest hours this world will ever know.”

  Sas glared at me, but said nothing, only lifted her axe higher. Looked like I wasn’t getting through to them. Not that I really expected to, I wasn’t much of a motivational speaker.

  Erik stepped to my side to speak with me, careful to keep me between him and the ogres. “You won’t ever convince them, but as Orion unleashes his demons, he very well may do it for you.”

  I clenched my whip handle, the leather digging into my palm. “And by then it may be too late.”

  “Yes, but you can’t force them to see. When the blind refuse the gift of sight, you only anger them by describing what the world around them offers.”

  I glanced at him. “Damn, that was downright poetic.”

  He gave a shrug and a wry grin. “I have my moments.”

  Blaz dropped his head close to us and Sas took several large steps back, her eyes widening and her hand tightening on her axe handle.

  I agree with Erik, it is time to go. There are more pressing matters.

  Fuck it all, what could be more pressing than trying to get allies on our side?

  Ophelia stretched her wings, her eyes locking with mine. There has been a break in the veil, we must attend to that now.

  “And you waited ‘til now to tell me?” I yelled as I ran for Blaz’s back.

  Blaz let out a big snort, a spurt of flame with it. We just sensed it. It just happened.

  I yanked myself onto Blaz’s back, Liam behind me. Alex lifted his eyes and cracked a yawn; the lazy sod slept the whole time.

  “Home now?”

  “No. Not yet.”

  From the ground Sas let out a laugh. “So now you would run away, without even finishing our conversation?”

  “What more is there to say? You would let the world die for your pride and your grief; I don’t have that luxury. No need to be proper—you’re an idiot and I have work to do. Piss on you and your gangs. I hope Orion bleeds you dry showing you the error of your ways.” There, how was that for poetic?

  The ogres sucked in a collective breath, as did Liam.

  “That was necessary because … ”

  “Because this world is black and white. We have no room for grey anymore and I can’t damn well coddle them. They are with us, or against us.” And that was the truth of it; there was no leeway anymore.

  Liam didn’t touch me, didn’t wrap his arms around me, as Blaz took off. The dragon’s wings sent up a spiral plume of ash, for a brief second obscuring the ogres below. I wished to hell things had gone better.

  Could have gone much worse, Rylee. We might have had to kill them if they’d attacked. Besides, this way they might come around. You never know with ogres, they love fighting almost as much as they love fucking.

  Blaz had a point. “For now, it doesn’t matter. Where is this breach in the veil and what the fuck are we going to do about it? Better yet, how did you know?”

  Ophelia spoke loud and clear. Perhaps the better question would be what is a breach in the veil. Let us start with that.

  Liam ground his teeth behind me. “What the hell is a breach in the veil, then?”

  It is a true tear in the fabric between the worlds, not a doorway, but a spill over from too much power bearing down on that which keeps the human and the supernatural world apart. They happened in the early days when the veil was first created, before the levels were instituted to keep those most dangerous farthest from the surface.

  “Shit, that sounds like a dandy time,” I grumbled.

  Blaz kicked in, Dragons sense a tear in the veil, an actual tear, not an opening. The ability is hard wired into us, part of why the Slayers took to pairing with us back in the day. Made it easier to contain the demons.

  In that moment, I didn’t need to ask where the tear in the veil was. I could find out myself. Swallowing hard, I Tracked demons as a whole.

  “Don’t do it, Rylee,” Erik called back to me, turning in his seat to face me. “Tracking demons is beyond dangerous, they can lock onto you and pull you through to them.” How did he know I was going to Track demons? Shit, could I be read that easily? I guess I’d have to ask after all.

  “Blaz, Ophelia, where is the tear in the veil?” I yelled to be heard over the wind whipping past us.

  Blaz’s words rocked me. The farm. No, no, no, that couldn’t be right. It couldn’t.

  Feeling a steady beat of panic rising through me, I Tracked Pamela and Milly and nearly swallowed my tongue.

  Liam grabbed my arms. “What is it? Your heart rate is into light speed.”

  “They broke through at the farm and Milly and Pamela are fighting them.”

  He didn’t let go of me. “How bad is it?”

  I shuddered as something hit Milly, and a shard of pain rippled from her to me and then the same thing happened to Pamela.

  Not again, I couldn’t lose the kid again.

  I whispered the words, feeling them pierce me.

  “As bad as it could be.”

  Chapter 6

  TRACKING PAMELA AND Milly, I felt them both fall unconscious, and then they disappeared in the way only the veil can affect my Tracking ability. They were alive, but somewhere within the veil where I couldn’t pinpoint them. We were only half way home and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do. I Tracked Eve and Frank, they weren’t anywhere near the farm; they were somewhere east of Bismarck. Too far to be of help, but also out of harm’s way. I wasn’t sure that the young necromancer or the young Harpy would be of any help against demons anyway.

  Shit, I wasn’t sure I could be any help against demons.

  I glanced at Erik. If he could teach me to fight demons, then he was damn well teaching all of us. It was the only way to keep our asses safe from Orion and his lackeys.

  Even with the two dragons flying at top speed, and as close to the ground as they dared, it took over three hours to get to the farm. We didn’t land right away, though.

  We need to find the breach first and any demons waiting on us. Blaz’s voice rumbled loudly through my mind and I turned in time to see Liam nod; I frowned at him.

  He frowned back. “What, you want to see if one of us can get snatched by a demon too? We make sure it’s safe, then we land. And not a damn second sooner.”

  Alex peeked over Liam’s shoulder, his golden eyes wide and serious. “Boss is right.”

  Oh for fuck’s sake.

  I gritted my teeth and waited while Ophelia and Blaz circled the farm. Ten minutes they floated and spun in thermals, but there was nothing to see.

  Finally they descended to the ground, landing to one side of the barn, their feet sinking into the slurry of mud and snow.

  Keep Rylee close, Erik, Ophelia said, her head dropping low to look Erik in the face. As if he was deaf.

  “I know my job, ugly lizard.” He batted her nose and drew one of his swords. With it he traced a symbol in the air, what looked like a figure eight that burned in front of him for a split second before fading.

  He motioned for me. “You do the same, kid. It will help your blade bite hard into the demons.”

  “My blades are already spelled.” And I refrained from saying it looked like a pretty damn simple thing to do. “If that’s all it took to be a demon hunter, anyone should be able to do it.” Okay, so that last part slipped out.

  Erik laughed. “Yeah, you would think that was all. It’s in your blood; that’s what kindles the spell. No words, just you.”

  I let out a slow breath, pulled my right hand blade and whipped it through the air in an elaborate figure eight. The air burned a bright red, the same as Erik’s, before fading.

  “Happy?”

  He nodded. “Yup.”

  Alex snickered and waved one paw mimicking the figure eight. “Yuppy doody.”

  Of course,
I didn’t expect anything, so when the air in front of Alex burned I was, to say the least, shocked.

  Nothing compared to Erik’s reaction. His eyes went wide and he stumbled forward, dropping to one knee in front of Alex.

  “What the fuck is this? Is he related to us?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. Were we the only line of demon hunters?” I put a hand on Alex’s head, and he glanced up at me, a grin on his muzzle.

  “No, no of course not. It’s just that everyone thought the others had been killed or died without any knowledge. Of course, that could be what happened, his family might have some long lost history they stopped believing. That wouldn’t stop the blood from running true.” Erik pointed to Alex’s other paw. “Do the same with that one.”

  Alex obliged and again, the air burned.

  A funny feeling rolled through my stomach. We’d all faced demons at one point or another, and we’d all survived. Fate had a funny way of showing her favor sometimes, and I wondered if Alex was the only one.

  “Liam, use your sword and do the same thing.”

  His eyebrows went up but he pulled his short sword and whipped it through the air, following the pattern. I wasn’t surprised when the air burned. In fact, I was betting that everyone within our group had some demon hunter blood running through them. Erik’s eyes, I didn’t think they could get any wider, but they did.

  “Mother of the gods, this is a miracle I did not expect.”

  I pulled my other sword out and drove it through the air so that it had its own little burning lines.

  “Erik, I think this is something that needs to be discussed after we find the breach, and after we pull Milly and Pamela back from where ever they were taken.” I was already striding forward, knowing if we couldn’t see the breach from the sky, it was likely inside one of the buildings.

  Most likely the house. It would make a perfect ambush.

  I trotted up the steps to the farmhouse, the glass in the kitchen door was shattered, shards everywhere. “Alex, watch your step.”

  “Yupsy.” He moved sideways, carefully avoiding the broken bits of glass. Erik and Liam pulled up the rear and the dragons drew close, giving us what back up they could without tearing down the house.