Veiled Threat

by Shannon Mayer

  “Why the fuck would they do that?” But I knew the answer to my own question. I really had blown it, we’d had our chance to go in after Milly and Pamela and because I didn’t listen to Erik those demons had closed the breach.

  Of course, no one answered my question. They all knew as well as I did the why of it.

  “Doesn’t matter, you still need to go in and check it out.” Erik didn’t pull his weapons out, instead looked at me expectantly. And maybe with more than an ounce of disappointment in his eyes. I blushed under his recriminating gaze. I didn’t need the less than subtle reminder that I’d screwed this up. “Mark your blades,” he instructed. Liam swung his sword in the figure eight and the blade burned, Alex followed suit with his claws, and I reluctantly did the same with my weapon.

  Something didn’t sit well with me, but fuck if I could figure it out.

  “If anything shows up,” Erik said, “that doesn’t fit the descriptions I’ve given you, run back out and I will deal with it.”

  “You’re a human with a few words and a few hand gestures. You really believe you can do this better than me?” I wasn’t being cocky. I’d seen more than one human go down in flames because they tangled with the supernatural with the belief they ‘had it in them’ to do so.

  “It’s unlikely, but if anything does show up, Rylee, this is what I do. It’s always been humans trained for hunting demons.” He pointed at the door and I started forward. Stopping when a question caught me off guard. One I didn’t want to wait on.

  “Why the humans?”

  “Because the demons expect to be able to control a human with hardly a flick of their claws, a tip of their eyes in our direction. Which for the most part is true. But,” he stepped up and held the door open for me, “when a human finally sees the truth, and knows what they are facing, they become an unknown quantity in some ways.”

  “A wild card.” I stepped softly into the house, avoiding the broken glass as best I could.

  “Yes. Exactly. Even now, they don’t think a Slayer has much ability against them, not understanding the fates gave us the words to stop the demonic in their tracks. At least, if you are one of the few families blessed to have the blood that will kindle the words.”

  I left him there, Liam and Alex following me through the shit and piss marking the demon hounds passing, down the hallway and to the closed bathroom door. But I already knew it would be too late, the breach would be closed.

  I pushed the door open and the inside of the bathroom held exactly what I was expecting.

  Nothing.

  “Motherfuckers,” I snarled. The floor was splattered with blood where I’d cut off the creature’s tongues, and the back wall was no longer the swirling violet of the veil. The yellow tile was scorched, chipped and hanging from the wall in pieces.

  But no breach in the veil.

  A low groan drew me to the tub and I raised my blade, whispering, “Adonani” before actually stepping closer. The word would still my soul, keep it attached to me and keep the demon from sucking me down again. Supposedly.

  Another groan and I leapt forward, my blade sailing downward toward the face of … Eagle. Shit on a stick. Twisting hard, I drove my blade into the side of the tub, just missing Eagle’s face. The porcelain shattered around my blade and Eagle, and what looked like all of his blood spilled out onto the floor. He was a guardian, but more than that, he had been Eve’s mentor, helping her control herself and her harpy tendencies. And I suspected she was more than half in love with him which was only going to make this that much harder on her.

  Ignoring the blood, I dropped to my knees, put one hand on his chest and the other behind his head. “Eagle, what the hell are you doing here, what happened?” As a guardian, there was no way injuries like this should have hurt him so badly. Never mind the fact he was supposed to be in New Mexico with his shaman. Not here bleeding out in the remnants of my tub.

  His silver eyes rolled up to mine. “Tracker. Demons and evil spirits everywhere. Must stop them.” A shudder rippled the length of his body, a single breath gurgled from his mouth with a bubble of blood and then nothing. I swallowed hard, my mind and heart racing.

  “They shouldn’t have been able to kill him.” I lifted my eyes to Liam’s, fear clenching my gut tight. We’d been acting like Liam was invincible, that he was immune to any kind of trauma except decapitation.

  Looked like we were wrong. And at the worst possible time.

  Alex slipped closer, his nose quivering, but he said nothing. He just watched, his golden eyes taking it all in.

  “Rylee, I don’t hear any fighting,” Erik called from the front of the house. “If there are no demons, I suggest you get your ass out here and we continue to train.”

  “Doesn’t know you too well, does he?” Liam squatted beside me, his eyes sorrowful. I doubted it had to do with just Eagle’s untimely death.

  “Talk to me, Liam. You know what this is; you spent time with Peter talking about guardians and werewolves. You know what’s going on, don’t you?”

  His eyes slid closed and he slowly shook his head. “Maybe, I don’t know.”

  Well, that was an improvement. When we’d been in Europe, he and Peter had gone off on their own for days at a time. He hadn’t spoken to me about what he’d learned, and I wasn’t sure he ever would. More and more, he was keeping things from me, and it killed me to know he didn’t fully trust me.

  More likely that he can’t tell you, Rylee. Blaz whispered to me. Every species has its secrets they are not supposed to share. He will be no different.

  Ignoring Blaz, I let the subject drop between me and Liam, stood and strode to my bedroom. Even in there, the demons had done their job of marking territory, shredding my bed, shitting on the pillows. There was nothing to be saved. Beside the bed was my mother’s journal, the only thing I had connecting me to her and my father. Shredded into pieces, I was glad I’d read it through once. I thought about what my mother had written about Erik, about how bold he was, about his willingness to jump into danger. He sure changed a lot since his younger years if his standing outside and waiting for me to do the dirty work was any evidence. A long coiled pile of feces sat on the front cover of the journal; I pushed the book with my toe.

  “Nasty shit heads,” Alex muttered, rubbing at his nose.

  “Yeah, that they are.” I backed out of the room.

  I only hoped the demons hadn’t gone into the root cellar, that somehow they’d missed it. I headed out of the house, Alex trotting beside me.

  “Boss is sad. Rylee is sad. Everyone is sad.” He shook his head, the silver tips of his fur catching the scattered moonlight.

  “You aren’t sad, Alex?”

  He shook his head. “Nope. Alex has Rylee. Has Boss. Has Evie and Pamie. Alex has love.”

  My feet stilled and I dropped a hand to his head. “You are pretty damn smart, you know that?”

  He snickered and sat in a patch of snow. “Nope. Alex just loves back.”

  Such a simple truth. Just love back. I wished it could be that easy when it came to facing demons.

  Behind us, Liam’s footsteps on the porch reached my ears. “Did they take the book?”

  He didn’t have to say what book; there was only one book the demons would have been after. The black-skinned book of prophecies.

  Around the side of the house I went, my heart sinking to my boots when I saw the busted open door of the root cellar.

  “We are so fucked,” I whispered as I carefully made my way down the broken and slippery stairs. The weapons, remarkably, were left untouched for the most part, and there was no marking going on. But the lock box I kept the book in was missing.

  Not surprised, I headed back out.

  Liam took one look at me. “Gone?”

  I gave him a sharp nod. “Help me get the weapons out.”

  With everyone helping, it didn’t take long to empty the root cellar and put all the weapons into the barn.

  Once that was done, the house
no longer had a purpose.

  “Blaz, burn it down.”

  Frank sucked in a sharp breath. “Why would you do that?”

  “You can’t salvage it, kid,” Liam said. “The house has been destroyed and anything of value taken.”

  Are you sure, Rylee?

  “Yes. Do it.”

  He lifted his head and inhaled, his body expanding, belly rumbling with fire, burning hot. I gave him a nod and he exhaled a brilliant shot of flame that sparkled and danced in the air.

  Eve stepped over a half frozen mud puddle to my side as snow began to fall. Shit, I had to tell her that her mentor was dead. I glanced at Liam and he shook his head. I let out a slow, disheartened breath.

  “Eve, someone died in there. Someone you know better than anyone else. He was very important to you.”

  Her beak clacked together, and her eyes filled with fear and grief. “Please, don’t say his name. I know, I felt him die.”

  I clamped my lips shut and put a hand on her trembling wing. “I’m sorry, Eve. I don’t know how they did it, but the demons know how to kill guardians.” A sudden thought flashed through my mind. “Will you take this news to his shaman and warn the others?”

  Sure, I could have phoned them, but Eve needed something to do with her grief. Something constructive or I was afraid she would resort to her natural inclination of Harpy destruction and terror.

  “I’ll go with you, if you want,” Frank said, looking from Eve to me. “I’m not much use here anyway.”

  In a way he was right. He was young and inexperienced both in life and as a necromancer. But if he could get a little training he could jump the veil easier than anyone else. I Tracked necromancers as a species, and felt a hit in the deep south.

  “Go to Louisa and the other shamans, then see if you can convince them to help you pinpoint another necromancer. I’m getting pings off one in the deep south, feels like Louisiana.”

  Frank nodded, but Eve didn’t react.

  The fire behind us warmed the air and sent shadows dancing across her body. She stared into the flames, tears trickling down her feathers. I wished I could spare her this kind of pain; grief was something I knew all too well.

  “Eve, can you do this, can you help Frank find the necromancer?”

  A deep breath escaped her in a long exhalation. “It will help stop the demons?”

  Best to keep it simple. “Yes.”

  “You aren’t sending me away? To keep me and Frank safe?”

  “Eve,” I tugged on one of her long, tawny pinion feathers. “Look at me.”

  She slowly turned her face to mine, tears scorching across her cheeks.

  I touched my hands to the tears. “No one is safe, it wouldn’t matter where I sent you; I expect there to be danger. But together, you and Frank have a chance at accomplishing two things I don’t have time for. That doesn’t mean they aren’t important, nor does it mean they will be safe.”

  “I’ll look out for her.” Frank stepped beside me, scuffing the dirt with his worn sneakers.

  “More likely she’ll end up saving your ass; that’s the way it’s always been with her and me.” I laughed softly.

  “You like Blaz better than me.” Ah, here we were at the crux. I’d been waiting for this, knowing it was only a matter of time before the teenage harpy finally said it. But seriously, did it have to be right now? I restrained the bitchy side of me that wanted to tell her to take her insecurities and stuff them until this was all said and done. Only there was no guarantee there would ever be a time when it was all said and done. So now it was.

  “Not true. You are part of my family, part of my and Liam’s pack. Blaz is more like …” how to find the words to describe my relationship with Blaz?

  We are partners, and we work well together. But her heart does not lie with me as it does with you and those she deems family. Blaz’s tone wasn’t snarky or even upset. Just matter of fact. All and all, it was the truth.

  Eve’s eyes flickered in the light. “Truly?”

  I nodded. “Yes, he kind of nailed it on the head. I didn’t want to say it out loud, he can be a fucking crybaby, you know.”

  Blaz snorted, a gout of flame shooting out his nostrils toward the house. As if he’d meant to do it.

  Eve’s eyes crinkled with a half smile that quickly slipped from her face. “I will come whenever you need me. You know that.”

  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to. Frank stepped up and swung his leg over her back and settled into the harness. “Where should we meet you when we’re done?”

  That was a good question. Who could keep them safe, who did I trust that was still alive? There were only a few people left now.

  “Go to Doran’s. Wait for us there.”

  Eve nodded, spread her wings and took off, the downdraft fanning the flames and sending up a shower of sparks. As they left, I finally Tracked Pamela and Milly, nearly slumping with relief. They were alive, and though they were either asleep or unconscious, they weren’t being hurt. Only thing better would be if they’d been brought to this side of the veil.

  Erik watched me from where he leaned against Ophelia’s side. I was actually surprised she’d been as quiet as she had.

  She feels responsible for what happened. Apparently she told Erik he needed to give you at least a few words of protection, and he didn’t listen to her. At least we know the stubbornness is inherent in your family.

  “He fucking well should have given us something. We could have gone in and gotten them both without this damn mess.” A part of me wondered if he’d done it on purpose, but what advantage would he have, taking my family from me? I put my hands on my hips, for the first time truly stumped as to how to go about a salvage. I felt them, knew they were alive, knew they were in the veil, but how did we get to the deep levels?

  And that was the question of the day.

  One I had no answer to.

  Chapter 8

  WATCHING RYLEE, THE flames throwing light and dark against her face, made his heart tighten. There was nothing he could do at the moment, and he knew her well enough to let her mull this situation over before he said anything. So he waited, knowing she would find him soon enough. He leaned against the barn, Alex tucked up against him, though he doubted it was for warmth.

  “Boss.”

  “What?”

  The formerly submissive werewolf looked up, making direct eye contact. “Rylee smells funny. Not right.”

  Liam’s heart tightened more. Fuck, Alex would blurt out what Liam already suspected but didn’t say out loud. The only thing he could do was stall the werewolf at his feet and hope to hell he said nothing. “She’s sick. Don’t tell anyone.”

  Alex let out a gasp, his clawed paws clamping down on his muzzle. Through his clenched teeth he whispered, “Sick? Dying?”

  Liam shook his head. “Keep it down. And no, she isn’t dying. Just … a little bit sick. She’ll get better.”

  “Promise?” He wobbled to his back legs so he could look Liam in the face.

  Damn it all. Liam nodded. “Yes, I promise. But say nothing. Understand? Not even to Rylee. Not to anyone.”

  Alex dropped to his haunches, sitting back to cross his heart with the tip of one claw. “Promises.”

  Promises. He’d made so many. To himself, to Rylee. To Peter, the old wolf, who’d told him what he really was and where he stood within the prophecies. He couldn’t keep all the promises, as several stood at odds with one another.

  Death was coming for him, he felt it drawing closer each day, and if the old wolf was right, it was the prophecies coming into play. His life and death would not be in vain, but it would mean breaking his promises to Rylee.

  It meant keeping the truth from her until the last possible second. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, not moving even when he heard her footsteps. Rylee put her head against his chest, a tremor rippling through her.

  “How do I find them? Tell me how to fix this, Liam. Blaz doesn’t know, Ophelia d
oesn’t know, Erik can’t help though he should know better than anyone else.” Her hands curled up on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her, rubbed her back and held her tightly against him.

  “Something will show us the way. It always does. We wouldn’t have come this far only to lose now.”

  She lifted her head and stared at him, her tri-colored eyes searching his. “How do you know that?”

  He gave her a smile, lips barely moving. “Because that is your life, Rylee. No matter how bad the shit gets, something or someone always pulls through. The help will be there when you need it. And we need it now. So I believe. I hope. You taught me that.” Even though his heart didn’t believe it, not for a second. Sure, things had worked out so far, but he had a feeling those days were over.

  Tears swam in her eyes, spilling over her cheeks. “Thank you.”

  He rubbed a thumb under her eyes, wiping away her tears. A few months ago she wouldn’t have broken down like this. But things were changing for them all, and Rylee more than anyone else.

  “Who do you know with knowledge, who has an understanding of the veil?” he asked.

  She took several breaths before answering. “Doran and the other shamans might but it’s a long shot, and Berget, I suppose, if she could access the memories easier.”

  “No one else?” Shit, there had to be someone, something they hadn’t tried.

  Her eyes flicked up to his. “Maybe there is someone who would know, but I might have to kick his ass to get him to help.” She stepped back from him, a spark lighting her up. She had an idea that likely involved some level of danger; he saw it written all over her face.

  He stifled a groan. Rylee and her ideas or hunches were usually right on, but that didn’t mean they were easy—ever.

  Nor did it mean he would let her go on her own.

  Alex let out a yip and pushed his way between them, so he could face Rylee. “Alex too. Rylee not leaving Alex.” He let out a low growl to punctuate.

  Rylee let out a small laugh. “Yeah, of course you can come too.” She looked at Liam, put a hand on his cheek, resting it lightly. “Thank you.”