by Lucy Lyons
“I’m ignoring you both. You’ve got everyone thinking they’re psychic, and I just don’t believe that’s possible,” she finally sighed.
“I believe it,” Somayo argued. “The Venatores have selected and bred their hunters for centuries to make them better at finding and killing supernatural creatures. Why wouldn’t psychic skill be a part of that evolution?” He glanced at me and I nodded.
“Caroline and the professor have said as much in our discussions—that not all hunters are magically or psychically inclined but that we have a higher chance of being so. I mean, I’ll never be a witch or whatever they call guys who do magic. Before the attack, I never considered I had any abilities of my own. I just figured Caroline could talk to everyone the way she did with me.”
“Caroline can’t talk to just anyone?” Simi gasped, and I shrugged my shoulders, looking out the passenger window to hide my smile.
“Nope. Just psychics, witches, and Fae-kin.” I chuckled again. “She’s been talking to you for years, huh, Simi?”
“Shut up, Clay.”
I laughed again and Ashlynn along with me. But the laughter died on my lips as we left the paved road and turned down a dirt path barely wide enough for the Jeep to pass under the trees. The awe we felt from the sheer size of the trees engulfing us was enough to shut down any conversation as we wound deeper into the jungle. I rolled down the window and tilted my head back, raising my chin as I took in the scents of the rainforest.
The farther into the greenery we went, the more my senses were bombarded by the smells and sounds of the plants and birds that surrounded us. Beneath it all, however, was the unmistakable scent of death—not the new, fresh death of a recent hunt but something old. The smell of graveyards and ashes after a fire long gone cold. The scent of vampires.
“Clay . . .” Ashlynn began, and I knew she smelled it too. Back home, that scent meant merely that we were among our clan. Out here, it raised my hackles and brought my wolf to the surface, my power bubbling over until Simi gasped again.
“What is it, Ashlynn? What do you sense that we cannot?” Somayo asked, slowing the vehicle and reaching for the gun slung to his shoulder.
“Vampires,” she replied, with no other explanation. Somayo turned to me, and I shrugged and nodded.
“She smells death. Old death, and death magic. It’s hard to explain, but it is the scent of vampires. Either we’re very close to one or there’s an entire clan that hunts these parts.” I thought about the deaths and a master vampire I’d once encountered who could make himself and others around him rot and fall apart like zombies. Not real ones like Caroline could animate but the ones from movies who ate brains and leaked everywhere. Somehow, I believed the guy who made those movies had survived a run-in with a rotting vampire. Now we had burning bodies. There’d be no way to tell if they’d been bitten once they were fried to a crisp.
I glanced at Somayo, whose eyes had taken on the hard light of battle I knew so well from my years in the Venatores. He hit the gas, and the Jeep spun out before catching and rollicking down the rough, dirt road.
“So it may be that we get to do some hunting, after all,” he said as he sprayed dirt into the undergrowth, going around a tight turn. “Camp is just up ahead. We’ll scope out the surrounding area and find out how many we’re dealing with then hunt tonight.” I smelled the fire and the humans around it before I saw the camp among the trees. The smell of vampire was stronger too, and my stomach sank at the thought of fighting vampires without Caroline or her husband, Nick, to assure us that they were enemies worthy of death.
“Let’s just tell Maria and the others what we scented in the forest and come up with a plan that doesn’t get an innocent vampire killed,” I suggested, and Somayo braked hard enough to kick up rocks and a cloud of dust that enveloped the Jeep and wafted in the windows.
“Innocent vampire?” He choked the words out and flung his hands in the air. “Innocent?”
“Yeah, Soma. Innocent. As in hasn’t harmed a human. You don’t get to see it. You’re the executioner. But I see innocent creatures all the time, from Fae to shifters to vampires, because I live among them. I see them every day. You see them only after a warrant has been issued.” I paused and glanced at each of them in turn. “When we get to camp, others are going to reveal themselves. I need to know that you’re going to be cool and not cause an international . . . interspecies incident because what you see freaks you out.”
“Boy, I’m always under control,” he retorted, and I wiped some of the dust that had adhered to my face from the humidity. I held up may hand to show him the dirt and blinked slowly.
“Be more in control when I introduce you to the Fae, please,” I requested. “They aren’t all the cute, little winged pixies and butterflies from children’s stories.”
“Point taken.” He cleared his throat and put the car back into gear. “I will not kill anything without a warrant or provocation, Clay. You know me well enough that I would think you could trust that.”
I laughed without humor but patted him on the arm. “Old friend, consider this your baptism by fire . . . so to speak.” The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted my poor choice, but Somayo just nodded sagely.
“I won’t fail you, Clayton. It does feel strange, though, knowing there’s a vampire out there and not preparing to fight it.”
“Prepare away, Somayo. I may not be able to tell if it’s evil, but I can’t be sure it isn’t either.” My response seemed to satisfy him, and he continued to camp in silence. The trees that lined the road opened to a clearing, and behind the parked Jeeps and all-terrain vehicles, including a military Humvee, were tents, a couple of cooking fires, and, to my surprise, the mother of all vampires.
“Onxyis!” I called as we rolled into a parking space near the tents. She turned, and I waved and jumped down from the Jeep, gesturing to Simi and Somayo to follow. “What are you doing here?” I asked, glancing around for her human servant, Dominique.
“Maria said your Venatores were having trouble with a mythical creature, Alpha. I thought I’d lend a hand,” she smiled broadly over my shoulder. “And who is this dashing friend of yours?” she asked, passing me and holding out her hand to Somayo. I saw Simi bristle out of the corner of my eye as the hunter bent her hand and kissed the back of it. Ashlynn raised an eyebrow at me as he did it, and I cleared my throat and let my eyes flick to Simi a couple of times to alert Ashlynn to my friend’s discomfort.
“Oh, Somayo,” Ashlynn blurted. “I’m so glad we stopped you talking about killing the vampire.” I shook my head, but she grinned and reached out for my hand while ignoring me. “This is Onyxis. I think the Venatores know her better as the Night Mother,” she gushed. She wrapped her arm around Onyxis’s elbow and leaned in to Somayo. “Can you believe you’re meeting the mother of all vampires?”
His face blanched, but he bowed even lower. He held out a hand to Simi, who arched her eyebrow at him but joined him and let him introduce her to the otherworldly vampire queen.
“We’ve met. You may not remember me,” Simi told the vampire. “Although, I’ve not seen you since you fully recovered. You look . . . lovely,” she added with a sigh I didn’t think she intended for us to hear.
“Oh, my dear. I use a great deal of magic to look like this. But that doesn’t leave this camp. Agreed?” Her tone suggested that she was kidding, but her face belied her humor. Onyxis was the most expressive vampire I’d ever met, sometimes causing me more confusion than Nick’s neutral stares did. But Simi and Ashlynn fawned over her, assuring her that any beauty secret she had was safe, all the while leading her away from Somayo and myself.
The scent of death had been strongest when she was near, and I noticed it fading as she left. I couldn’t rule out any other vampires, especially now that she’d come back into her full power and could make as many children of the night as she wanted. But with any luck, the only vampire that we’d be meeting on this mission would be the one on our side.
CHAPTER FOUR
“I think we were just saved from the vampire queen by my mate,” I quipped as the ladies headed toward the tents, but Somayo just looked after them intently.
“Why do you call her your mate?” he asked, and I opened my mouth to answer then paused.
“Because that’s what she is,” I finally replied. “Even if we hadn’t gone through the binding ceremonies, we’d be bound by our preternatural selves. The wolves knew we were meant to be together long before I’d admit it.” I rubbed my hand over my neck, swatting at the gnats that seemed drawn to not just my sweat but my embarrassment. “I thought she was a pain in the neck. An alpha in over her head with a pack that didn’t respect her.”
“And now?”
I glanced at him as realization dawned on me. “Well, she truly is a total pain in the neck. But she’s mine, and I’ll kill anyone who tries to harm her.” I watched his eyes following the women. “And what about you? Have you found your mate?”
“Simi and I are compatible, yes. The Venatores wish for us to marry and start a family. But she has refused me every time we’ve broached the subject.”
“That makes sense. After all, the Venatores are out of touch with the times. There isn’t a strong woman I know who wants to give her body to someone just because she was directed by some old guys who consider themselves married to the Virgin Mary.” I nudged him, and he met my eyes. “Whether it’s true is none of my business. But if you want her, I suggest you lead with exactly that.”
“I don’t understand.” His gray eyes darkened, and his brows furrowed at my chuckle.
“Tell her you want her, Soma. Just like that. Would you be interested if she came to you and said, ‘Hey, Somayo, the Church says we should do it. You wanna?’ Or would you be offended?”
He growled and kicked the dirt pacing in front of me with his arms by his sides, hands clenching and unclenching in fists.
“Of course, I want her. Have you looked at her? She’s . . . she’s everything. Brilliant, strong, beautiful . . .”
I smiled but didn’t answer. A man obviously in love didn’t need to know how far my friendship with Somayo had gone over the years or that I’d once known every inch of her chocolate skin as well as I knew Ashlynn’s now.
“OK, so tell her what you just told me,” I urged. “I promise, she’ll be putty in your hands.”
He sighed and kicked a rock into the nearby fire. “I’m not the kind of man to be charming,” he admitted, and I stifled a groan of irritation.
“Then don’t be charming. Just be honest in as few words as possible,” I reminded him. “We’ll hunt, then when the creature or person or whatever we find is captured or dead and we’re all high off the win, you talk, and I’m sure she’ll be receptive. Just focus on the hunt, then let the celebration take care of itself.”
He clapped me on the back and grinned in relief. “The hunt must come first,” he agreed. “You know, for a werewolf, you sound a lot like a Venatores.”
“Just as long as you don’t forget that I’m not,” I countered. “I’m here to protect humans but also protect Fae and shifters and everyone else from frying people to a crisp. Even vampires.”
I gestured toward the largest tent with a nod, and we headed to join our women and get as much information on the mysterious deaths as we could before it got any darker. Twilight was upon us. Vampires who couldn’t show their faces in the sun would be coming out soon, and the thing that was hunting men in the rainforest could be anywhere beyond the ring of protection at the edge of the clearing.
Just before the main tent, I felt a tremor in the air and heard the tinkle of tiny bells. I jumped back from the tent door and stared into the shadows beyond, watching as those shadows thickened and deepened between two giant cedars that stood about ten feet apart. The shadows went from deep charcoal to inky black before a flash of light blinded me. I blinked away the stars before my eyes, and as my vision cleared, a pair of wooden doors stood between them.
Just like the doors I’d left behind in Seattle, these were intricately carved with ivy and wild roses, but in the center, each door held half of an image of a wolf or wild dog standing on its hind legs, attacking a monster with smoke spiraling up from its nostrils. The monster was partially hidden by swirling mass of leaves and vines, and its eyes were black as the onyx after which the Night Mother had named herself. The wolf’s eyes were red jewels, it’s claws inlaid with mother of pearl.
I shot a furtive look at my companion, who was staring at the door in shock, his gun in his hands in a teacup posture, the best for firing accuracy. I sidestepped and pushed his hands down, shaking my head.
“Please don’t. Anything coming through that door won’t die if you shoot it. They’ll just get pissed off,” I warned him. He holstered the gun and held out his hands in askance.
Ashlynn, the Fae are here. Please ask Simi for swords.
Steel was marginally better at wounding the Fae, and according to River, my Fae weapons trainer, if used correctly, could render a High Fae nearly mortally weak. Onyxis and the others joined us, and Ashlynn tossed me the double-edged blade I’d been favoring lately.
“Why are we holding swords when we have claws, Clay?” she asked, testing the balance of the katana in her hand.
“Because we’re greeting unknown Fae, not starting a class war. They’ll respect the blades as mostly ceremonial, as long as when that door opens you aren’t pointing it at them. Claws will only remind them we aren’t like them. We’re kin, not true Fae, and showing them our claws will offend them.”
“Because they’re self-important bastards,” she finished.
“That too.”
The four of us stood side by side with Onyxis taking the lead and standing a few feet in front of us. Some of the High Fae despised her for allowing her blood to be tainted and spread among mortals in the creation of vampires. The smart ones realized that she was quite possibly the savior of all Fairy, ensuring that wild magic survived the exile of Fairy and the loss of magic they suffered over centuries of being caught in the “tween spaces.”
Still, it was her power that we needed them to respect, and as the doors swung slowly open, I sent a silent prayer that whatever was coming through was on our side or at least not against us.
Even it was nearly dark all around us, the sun having sunk below the tops of the trees, daylight shone through the doorway from the land beyond. Somayo let out a low whistle, and I agreed. There was no disputing that Fairy wasn’t of the mortal world when you were looking through giant wooden doors at a sunlit field, complete with galloping exotic Fae antelope and brightly colored butterflies.
“Tell me I’m not the only one seeing this,” Ashlynn gasped. “No wonder they won’t let us in, the selfish assholes. It’s beautiful.”
She sniffed the air as a breeze wafted out through the doors, and when I took a deep breath, I smelled it too. The fragrance of wild flowers in more varieties than I’d ever imagined, let alone smelled, drifted out and wrapped itself around me, mesmerizing me. I shook my head and pinched Ashlynn’s arm, and she smacked me hard.
“What are you doing, idiot?” she hissed.
“You weren’t entranced?” I asked, and she shook her head.
“Only by the exotic beauty of a strange, magical place,” she replied. “Same as you, silly man.”
Just then the sun was blocked by a shadow flying overhead, and a flying carriage came circling lower and finally landed on the waving grass. Two griffons shook out their wings before flipping them back and preening with their great, curved beaks.
The door to the carriage opened and out stepped Maria, looking younger and fiercer than I’d ever seen her. Her skin was no longer creased with silken wrinkles. In fact, she looked so different that for a moment only her height, or lack thereof, clued me in to who I was looking at. Her hair was no longer streaked with gray but rested down her back in a long braid that shone like raven feathers.
“Shedu Maira, so good to have you b
ack from the land of sunshine,” Onyxis called out to the Fae just on the other side of the doors, pronouncing the Fae protector’s name “shaydo mayra.” “All that wild magic looks good on you,” she laughed, and Maria held her hands out to her sides and smiled.
“It feels good too,” the protector admitted. “I haven’t heard that name in an age either. Sounds almost foreign to be called by a title so old.” She stepped through the doors and they closed behind her, shutting us out from the splendor of the Fairy kingdom. I heard sounds of disappointment from my companions and the other humans of the camp, and they echoed in the cavern of my chest.
“I suppose you’re going to tell me that your way was easier than mine, Onyxis?” Maria sighed.
“No, I wouldn’t dare tell a fellow queen how to keep her magic alive. Just as I wish my fellow High Fae would stop trying to shame me for surviving the best way I knew how.”
“Shedu-Maira?” I asked, moving up next to Onyxis and pointing my sword at the ground. “Is that what we should call you?” Maria shook her head and held out her hand to me. I took it and marveled again at how firm and warm her hand was, so different from the aged version I was used to.
“I’m Maria now, Clayton. Just Maria. I was once a queen among the Fae and a goddess to human kind. Those ways almost led to our destruction, and I won’t go back to those days for anything.”
“I can’t believe how you look now,” Ashlynn whispered at my elbow, and I jumped and chuckled as Onyxis and Maria laughed at me. “Did we do that?” she asked, and before Maria answered, I knew that we had.
