Boreal and John Grey Season 2

by Thoma, Chrystalla

He did, blinking. “Kay.” With his hair sticking up, his eyes wide and cheeks flushed he looked like a three-year-old.

  “Sorry.” Ella pinched the bridge of her nose. “It’s just that... we need a plan.”

  “For what?”

  Yeah, good question. For just about everything.

  Like the threads shimmering in the air again, telling her Shades were trying to break through the Veil, Shades that Finn was keeping at bay. God knew what it was costing him to sit there like nothing was up and pay attention to the conversation.

  To keep going, when he was battered from every side.

  Ella dropped on the sofa next to Mike. “We have a problem.”

  “Only one?”

  “No, but I didn’t want to scare you.”

  Mike’s chuckle died in his throat. Yeah, she hadn’t been kidding. “Go on. A plan about the sniper? The Shades? The tracker in Finn’s leg?”

  “Well, first of all we need a volunteer to feed the baby dragons,” Ella said and waited.

  “Feed what? Are you frigging kidding me?” Mike gave her a wild look.

  Yeah, exactly the reaction she’d expected. “We can’t keep doing it, not with Dave able to track Finn.”

  “Holy fuck, Ella, are you serious?”

  “Deadly.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s not the same as feeding your cat.”

  “Definitely not,” she agreed.

  “Do they eat cat food?”

  “No. And you won’t have to get too close, I promise. I’d do it, but...”

  “But?” Mike was breathing fast. She hoped he wouldn’t hyperventilate, and she still hadn’t told him there was a corpse in the hold with the dragonets. “But what?”

  “Here’s another problem.” One of many. “I can’t leave Finn alone right now. Not with the Gates opening and the Veil ripping all the time. Not when the Shades speak his name.”

  Finn looked like he’d swallowed something sour.

  “His name? Wait a second...” Mike licked his lips, swallowed hard. “Isthelf...”

  “Isthelfinn.” It was Finn who said it. He glared at the opposite wall.

  “That’s you? That’s the word I keep hearing? Ella, why didn’t you tell me?”

  Finn’s gaze swung to settle on her and Ella winced. Had she done anything right? “I was going to tell you,” she told him, “but then Sarah did it for me.”

  Finn’s gaze revealed nothing.

  “I’ll also need help to figure out who sent the sniper,” Ella went on, clamping down on the worry. She chewed on her lip. “Can you run a background check on someone?”

  “Sure.” Mike had slumped against the cushions, his hands twisting nervously in his lap. “Who?”

  “Jeff Somesby. I’ll pass you everything I have on him.” And that hurt. Jefferson was her friend, someone she’d trusted. Losing trust was like a knife in her chest. “Call me paranoid, but Dave may be keeping tabs on my web searches.” She sighed. “Sorry for dumping all this on you.”

  “No problem.”

  “Yeah, but you’ve got your own stuff to worry about.”

  “That’s not it and you know it.” Mike rubbed his hand over his spiky hair and gave a shaky laugh. “Although the idea of feeding baby dragons is stressing me out, I’ll admit.”

  “No kidding.”

  Mike was quiet for a long moment. Then he sat up. “What is this really about, girl? Spell it out.”

  She massaged her temples. The headaches didn’t seem to ever leave her these days. “Well, there’s the sniper. And the Shades trying to drag Finn through the Veil and deliver him to the elven queen or the Dark Elves or whoever the hell is searching for him, to use him as a weapon. Then there’s the dragon and her bond to Finn. Not to forget the last magical seal about to break and the fact it may kill Finn. Mike...” She had to stop.

  God, she’d never been so afraid in her life, not that she’d admit it out loud. Too many dangers. Too many factors out of her control. Too many people — organizations, empires, worlds — after Finn.

  Not fair. She’d always hope to fall in love with a kind, funny man and live a quiet life.

  Then again, she’d also dreamed she’d stop seeing Shades, make up with her mom and be normal again. Yeah, right.

  Besides... She glanced again at Finn. He was kind, and he did have a dry sense of humor when he wasn’t being hunted to death. It was impossible to regret falling for him. No matter what it entailed. It just wasn’t fair if he was taken from her, if he was hurt or killed—

  Stop. Dammit, stop. She wouldn’t let anything happen to him. She’d do anything to protect him — even collaborate with Dave. And although she felt bad about telling her boss the issue with Finn’s dreams, she’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant saving Finn’s life.

  She’d tell Finn about it. As soon as she got her act together.

  “Ella.” Mike waved a hand in her face.

  “I need you to protect Finn if I’m not there,” she said.

  Finn’s head snapped up, his eyes narrowing. Yeah, she hadn’t talked this over with him, didn’t think he’d accept.

  “Protect him?”

  “The attacks have intensified,” she forged on. “Through the Veil, through the Gates. They’re trying to pull him back to Aelfheim. I need someone I can trust to have his back if I don’t happen to be there, and that’s you, Mike. You and Scott. I wouldn’t trust Finn’s life with anyone else.”

  Finn shook his head and looked away, his mouth flat.

  Mike stared. “Any more extra-curricular activities you wanna pass on to me, while you’re in the mood? I mean, I thought after asking me to feed baby dragons you’d be done for the day, but girl, you sure know how to rock a man’s world.”

  Ella sighed. “Can you do it? I’ll see if I can find someone trained in fight, someone who’s a voyant, but until then, I need to be able to look the other way without being afraid Finn will disappear into thin air.”

  Mike shook his head, then shrugged. He lifted his hands and puffed out a breath. “Okay. Can’t promise much, but I will do my best, okay?”

  “Okay.” She couldn’t ask for more. She’d have to ask Dave for back-up, for a permanent bodyguard for Finn.

  Right on cue, her cell phone rang and Dave’s number flashed on the display, and for the first time since Finn’s arrival into her life she couldn’t wait to hear what Dave had to say.

  The only issue would be deciding whether she could trust what he told her — and whether she could keep her temper until he was done.

  ***

  “Change of plans,” Dave said, and it wasn’t what she’d been hoping to hear when she’d answered the phone.

  She glanced at Finn’s stony face and cleared her throat. “Any answers?”

  “No.”

  No solution to their real problem — yet. Damn. “So what’s up?”

  “Don’t come to the office. I have news.”

  Bad news. A Gate had opened inside the city.

  “We’ve got wolves,” Dave said, “and what appears to be a Kyr.”

  She knew that word. “What, a cow?”

  “Finn will know,” Dave said cryptically. “I hope he’s up to some action. Is he out of bed yet?”

  Ella wanted to say she’d take care of it on her own but that would be nonsense, especially with an animal she’d never seen before.

  Kyr. It made sense there were animals other than the wolves, the flying snakes, the dragons and the white butterflies in Finn’s world, but she’d conveniently chosen not to consider this fact — until now.

  “Ella.” Dave was humming so loud it jangled her nerves. “Are you there? Can the aelfr make it?”

  “What’s a Kyr and why can’t you just gun it down?”

  “We’re trying. It isn’t working, and launching rockets in an inhabited area isn’t recommended.”

  Ella blinked. “Rockets?”

  From the corner of her eye, she saw Finn limp t
oward the door and scoop up their Kevlar vests from the corner table.

  “Finn, wait.” She shot to her feet and Mike did the same, looking puzzled. “We don’t have to go.”

  “I do.” Finn also grabbed his extra set of knives, courtesy of the Bureau armory, passing them into the sheaths hanging at his hips, picked up his back holster and his gun, and headed out.

  Ella swallowed a sigh. “Dave, you’d better have Finn’s bowie knives with you, polished to a shine.”

  “Hey.” Mike reached for Ella as she disconnected the call. “Just a sec. You need to explain more about this dragonet business. What am I supposed to—”

  “Later, Mike. Sorry!” Ella all but shoved him out of the apartment and clipped on her knife sheaths and pistol holster. “Really sorry, but we have to run.”

  “But I don’t know how to feed them.” Mike protested. “The dragonets...”

  “I’ll call you.” The elevator doors dinged open and Finn stepped inside, so Ella had no option but to wave at Mike and hurry after him.

  She squeezed through just before the doors closed and turned to face Finn. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”

  “Yes.”

  Yeah, right. They rode the elevator down in silence. She couldn’t help thinking he’d had that freaky seizure the day before, and had been unconscious for a while, not to mention the fact he’d been barely able to stand afterward, though that hadn’t stopped him from digging the transmitter out of his own flesh, fighting the spiders, using the vampire gadget from hell and closing the rip in the Veil.

  Even for Finn, that was a whole damn lot.

  It was snowing outside, when the forecast had predicted sunny skies. Coincidence or a side effect of the Gate opening?

  Passers-by hurried along the sidewalks, their heads bowed against the swirling snowflakes. Her car was a white shape, its color barely showing. Finn limped across the street.

  “Finn, slow down.” Even limping he was hard to catch up with. “Hey, how come you now open Gates so far from where you are?”

  Finn didn’t break stride — or reply.

  Joy. “Okay, so what’s a Kyr?”

  “Animal.” Finn got into the car and slammed the door shut.

  Ella rolled her eyes and took her seat behind the wheel. “I figured as much, thanks. What sort of animal? Anything I should know about — poisonous fangs, spines, camouflage?”

  Finn put both hands around his knee to straighten his bad leg. His face was blank, but his gaze shifted from his leg to the dashboard and then outside; the only indication his mind was busy.

  She revved the engine. “Is the animal big? Why do you call it a cow? Does it look like one?

  Finn’s eyes slid toward her. “Makes good steak,” he said and Ella blinked.

  Was he joking? He didn’t seem to be. His focus was back on the street ahead and he hadn’t even cracked a smile. In fact, he’d fallen back to his default expression — a glower that could cut through glass.

  Shaking her head, Ella set off. Her imagination was flashing her images of a worried-looking cow next to a table with dishes stacked high with juicy steaks, while Aelfheim wolves, beaked and scaled, screeched around her.

  Whoa, would you look at that. Sleepless nights and ulcer-producing stress could have a fun side.

  “Why can’t they just shoot the beast and be done with it?” she muttered, watching the wipers pushed the snow around on the windbreaker. “Finn?”

  “It’s hard to kill,” he said, his eyes dark. “And is easily angered.”

  “Like a rhino, sort of thing?”

  He didn’t answer, which could mean just about anything.

  Fantastic.

  She pulled into the street and sped toward the posh upper town museum quarters. The area was beautiful and so expensive only old families and the newly rich could afford a house there.

  Oh, and Ella’s mother. Ella still wasn’t sure how she’d managed that — it wasn’t like their family was ever rich — but it might have had something to do with a big shot businessman she’d dated a few years back.

  Quite a few of the city’s museums were located there — the historical and the science museums, as well as a botanical garden and the Astronomy Society Cupola — and the area boasted expensive high class cafes, bistros and restaurants.

  She winced, thinking of the ice wolves and the mysterious Kyr animal on the loose, roaming those well-manicured lawns and elegant streets.

  The street shook. Frowning, she slowed the car. “Was that a tremor?”

  “Kyr,” Finn hissed, and yeah, that sounded freaking bad.

  “Just how big did you say this animal was?” Because a hulking shape lumbered behind a cafe, so tall it was visible. “Jesus.”

  “Stop the car.”

  Okay, no, this was ridiculous. “You can’t. Finn, please. You can hardly walk, and that thing’s big like a house. Let Dave handle this.”

  “Tell them to stop shooting at it.” And fuck it, Finn was already opening his door.

  She braked so hard the belt cut into her chest. “Wait!”

  He had one foot out already and his features were locked in a scowl. Bright lines flashed on his face and hair.

  “You don’t have to do this,” she said, reaching for him. “You don’t have to save everyone, Finn.”

  “I open the Gates. This is my fault.” And with that, he shot outside, turning into a blur among the falling snowflakes.

  Just... shit.

  Chapter Three

  Hope

  Ella squinted into the falling snow, checking her knives were in their sheaths and her gun loaded. “Finn! Where are you?”

  The ground shook again, and she heard the rattling of gunfire.

  She started moving, blind as a bat. Find the beast and find Finn. Couldn’t go wrong there.

  Only a hand grabbed her arm, stopping her floundering progress. “Ella, wait.”

  “Dave. What exactly is going on?” She could now make out his face, drawn in a frown.

  “We’re taking care of the wolves. But the Kyr is on a path of destruction and—”

  “Are you shooting at it?”

  “Damn right we are.”

  “Stop. Finn said to stop.”

  A pause. Dave grimaced. He pulled a walkie-talkie from his belt and barked, “Stop shooting at the creature. Cease fire.” He turned to her. “Where’s Finn?”

  “Where do you think?” She had a sour taste of fear in her mouth, one she was becoming accustomed to. “He went after the Kyr.”

  Dave nodded. “He’ll take care of it.”

  “No, dammit.” She grabbed the lapel of his coat. “You don’t understand. He’s weak and exhausted. We must help him. He’s only here because he feels guilty.”

  “For what?”

  “For opening Gates. He feels he’s supposed to fix everything.”

  A bellow sounded, making her chest clench.

  Cursing, he started off in what appeared to be the right direction and she hurried after him, wiping snowflakes from her face. She rushed across another street, trying to see through the drifts.

  Another bellow shook the ground and she broke into a run. That had been close, just around the corner. She drew a knife as she raced around the bulk of the Science Museum, cursing the snow and the creature and Dave as she did.

  And stopped. Oh good lord, was she seeing this right or was it a nightmare?

  The Kyr was standing on its hind legs, exposing its pale underbelly, and its body cast a huge shadow on the ground. It was huge like a truck.

  The shadow was growing. The Kyr’s four legs were coming down.

  Ella dived off the street, toward the museum, hoping Dave was close behind. She fell and rolled onto the sidewalk as the massive paws came down with a sound like thunder, rocking the world.

  Ella lay stunned on the snow, staring. The Kyr was a dirty white, its skin hanging in fleshy folds. Antennae jutted from its frog-like head with the wide slit of a mouth and the bulging eyes. I
t had to be the ugliest specimen from Aelfheim she’d witnessed so far. But apart from its size, she really couldn’t see why one couldn’t just shoot it dead.

  The Kyr bellowed, a deep rumbling sound that made her teeth rattle and charged. Breath left her lungs and she tried to roll away, then a hand was hauling her to her feet and swinging her toward the doors of the museum. Dave. He lifted her, threw her over his shoulder and ran inside the grand hall.

  “Put me down.” She’d seen someone on the creature’s back as Dave had swung her around and it could only be one person. “Finn is there, I need to help him.”

  “He can handle this.”

  “And how the hell do you know that?” She twisted and kicked until Dave let her down. She pushed off him, stumbling backward. “You compromised Finn by implanting a transmitter and a tracker — I mean, hell, wasn’t one device enough for you? He can barely walk and his arm’s still stiff.”

  “Transmitter. You’ve said this before, and I’ve told you I never implanted any—”

  “Enough lies.” She spun toward the glass doors that vibrated in their frames. She pushed the door and staggered out. The creature was stomping down the street, away from the square, shaking its grotesque head, trying to dislodge Finn who crouched, a blade glinting, held mid-air.

  The Kyr veered into the trimmed trees lining the street, crushing them, and Ella broke into a run. The creature was too damn fast and the snow hampered her progress.

  “Ella, wait!” Dave was racing after her. “Finn’s a hunter, he knows what to do. There’s a vulnerable spot behind the head. Once he hits it, it’ll be over. The Kyr won’t even notice him.”

  “Shut up.” She had a stitch in her side and her lungs were seizing, but the stubborn elf was hers to protect and she wasn’t about to sit back and do nothing as he fought.

  Gunshots rang from her right — hadn’t Dave told them to stop? — and a white shape streaked from between the buildings and into the street.

  What the fuck?

  A wolf. The beaked, sleek animal loped up to the Kyr and jumped — right at Finn.

  “No!” Ella sprinted, then skidded, trying to stop, as the Kyr roared and swung around, smashing through fences and more trees, the white wolf attached to its flank like a leech.