LIAM (The Rylee Adamson Epilogues, Book 2)

by Shannon Mayer

  Which led me to the obvious next question. “Was your dad a cop?”

  He shrugged and shook his head. He stared out the window, lost in whatever memories haunted him. “No one believed us when we told them what he was doing to Belinda.”

  I kept still and let him talk. As if the floodgates had opened, the words poured out of him.

  “They said he was one of the best police officers Bismarck had, and they wouldn’t hear us bad-mouthing him because we were a couple of spoiled kids. He told them Belinda was a whore, that she was a druggie. That I was her pimp.”

  Anger sliced through me because I’d seen it before. Not just cops, but anyone in power who thought they could use their position to break the law and get what they wanted no matter who it hurt. I almost eased off on the gas pedal. Almost.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean I would break the law like that. When someone you love is in danger . . . you will do anything to save them. No matter the cost.”

  He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now, Rylee fixed it. He never would have stopped, you know, what he was doing to little girls. He told me once, when he was drunk, he already had another girl picked out after Belly went missing.”

  It took me a moment to remember that Belly was Belinda. “Who did he have lined up?”

  “There was a single mom across the street who was struggling to keep food on the table.” He stared out the windshield. “He’d already been charming her. She had a ten-year-old daughter.”

  My guts churned with disgust and a slow-burning rage. I almost wished Rylee hadn’t shot the bastard in the head, just so I could have the distinct pleasure of watching him piss his pants as I came at him in wolf form.

  Levi shifted his weight in his seat, drawing my eyes to him.

  For just a moment, it felt as though he was someone else. The image next to me wavered and it was if Alex sat beside me, not Levi. That did make me really look at him. Same brown hair, gangly build, but the eyes were wrong. Alex’s eyes were never shuttered with past pain as Levi’s were. His golden eyes had been full of nothing but love for his people and love for life despite what he’d seen. Alex had lost his sister and father, but it hadn’t cut into him like it had Levi. Even after Alex had been able to fully shift, there had been no loss of that joy he carried in him.

  Levi, on the other hand . . . he was so serious, it was hard to look at him for too long. Like he carried the weight of all he’d seen in his soul, and it spilled out his eyes, making you re-evaluate your own choices. Had you protected those around you enough? Had you stopped enough bad guys to make the world a better place? Or were you no better than them, breaking the law for your own cause?

  I snorted at myself. I was starting to sound like my grandfather with his words of wisdom that usually made sense too late, far beyond the time they could’ve been helpful.

  “Liam?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I think maybe you shouldn’t have broken the law,” Levi said. I wanted to smack my head on the steering wheel.

  “Look, kid, there’s a time and place, and this is one of those times the law is in the way of saving lives—”

  “No, I mean, look behind us.” Levi twisted in the seat, and I checked the rearview mirror.

  Behind us, a set of flickering police lights shattered the growing darkness of the late afternoon. No siren, though.

  I glanced at my speedometer, already knowing a ticket was warranted but not giving a shit how many tickets I was given. The thing was, I knew I could outdrive whoever was in the car. I just didn’t know if the Jeep could outrun them.

  Only one choice. I kept my foot on the gas pedal. Nothing was going to slow me down, not with three little lives on the line. As a former FBI agent, I knew full well I was breaking the law, and likely to get a car chase started. Well, shit, let’s take them to the farm and see how they liked facing down a dragon.

  “You aren’t going to slow down, are you?” Levi asked.

  “No. I’m not,” I answered. As a father, there was really no decision to be made—I would go to hell and back to do what I had to, break every law on the books, and some not, to make sure I accomplished what I set out to do.

  I tightened my hands on the wheel and steered around the traffic in front of me, ducking and dodging between cars, losing the lights behind me for a moment only to see them again a little closer than before.

  “They’re gaining on us,” Levi said, still twisted in his seat. As if I couldn’t see that for myself with each look in the mirrors.

  “Fuck off!” I yelled, a piece of rage breaking through what little calm control I had left.

  Levi flinched, cringing away from me. I shook my head. “Not you, kid, them.” But the damage had been done. The hitch in his breathing, the way he held himself tightly, like he was ready and braced for a blow.

  If there was nothing else the wolf in me understood, it was pack, family, and loyalty. “Kid, I am not going to hit you. Whether you like it or not, you are part of our family now. That means my job is to protect you the same as I would protect Rylee or Marcella. Understand?”

  Slowly he nodded, and while he relaxed a little bit, he was far from easy in his seat.

  The wolf I carried was as strong as ever. The Guardian I’d been stayed with me through shifting bodies and losing Faris and his vampire essence that powered his body for hundreds of years.

  I wasn’t sure I’d ever understand it, and as Rylee had pointed out, it didn’t matter. I was still a Guardian, and Faris was gone. Mostly, anyway.

  There was one small problem I hadn’t shared with Rylee, though—not while she was struggling with her own demons. The last thing she needed was to worry about me.

  The thing was, I couldn’t shift into my wolf form since Faris and I had parted ways and I’d been left in his body as sole owner. No point in freaking her out when it wasn’t necessary, that’s what I’d told myself. Maybe I just needed time. But going into this hunt, I could have used that extra bit of ammo in my back pocket.

  Another time I’d mull it over. Right now, there was only one task at hand. Get to Seattle as fast as supernaturally possible, and no beat cop would make me slow down because he hadn’t met his ticket quota for the day.

  The cop car behind me was catching up, even with my foot jammed to the floor on the pedal. I wasn’t pulling over; no way. I kept traffic between us, driving so I was alongside a big rig, blocking the cop from actually gaining ground. There was always a way to keep them behind you if you were willing to push the limits.

  “Liam . . .”

  “Shut it, kid.”

  The lights were right behind me, the siren now wailing . . . and then the cop pulled onto the shoulder of the highway, using my trick to move up the left side of me.

  “Shit balls.” I kept the words under my breath, acutely aware of Levi beside me and the way he cringed even when the words weren’t directed at him. Rylee, what had you sent with me as a helper? A frightened rabbit whose heart was liable to give out at the critical moment.

  I tightened my hands on the wheel, ready to swerve to the left and body slam the other car.

  But the cop didn’t try to cut me off. He shot past us in a flash of lights. I looked out my side window and for just a moment my eyes and the officer’s connected, and I stared hard, taking it all in with a single glance.

  The cop was pale, his eyes wide with fear written on every jagged angle of his face, down to the set of his shoulders and the white-knuckled grip he had on the wheel. And there was only one thing to do.

  I waited for him to pass and then put the pedal to the floor once more. I tucked the Jeep behind him.

  “What are you doing?”

  “While I doubt he means to, he’s clearing the road for us, and we’re letting him be our chaser as far as we can,” I said.

  “Why didn’t he pull us over?” Levi asked, and I wanted to curse Rylee for sending him with me. What was it with teenagers and the constant litany of questions? Pamela was the same way, bu
t at least she came with an arsenal all her own.

  Levi came with one thing, and one thing only. A cell phone.

  His questions, though, allowed me to keep from thinking about other things, like what we’d left behind at the house.

  I put the pieces together slowly, before I spoke. “Rylee told me about a fighter jet that came down when she and Eve were looking for your sister. The pilot . . . told her about an assassination attempt. All of it was internal. I suspect this is more of the same. Problems within the government causing a ripple effect.”

  He frowned, his brows low over his eyes. “What do you mean, internal?”

  I had to work at not snapping at him to shut up and just let me drive. At the same time, he deserved to know what was going on, seeing as this didn’t just affect one set of the population. And the distraction really was more welcome than I wanted to let on. It kept me from worrying about what we were leaving behind.

  “Someone tried to assassinate the president and it was an inside job. The government is imploding as we speak. The structure of even local governments will start to collapse under the pressure, and the people who are supposed to hold it together, like that cop, are going to be put into situations they aren’t really prepared for.”

  “Holy shit. But wouldn’t the news say something about an assassination attempt? Are you sure that really even happened? What wouldn’t the cop be prepared for?” Levi turned in his seat so he faced me, his eyes wide.

  “No, the media wouldn’t necessarily have access to that information. Or they may be muzzled. I’m guessing the government will pull the old bait and switch. They’ll show the nation something in the left hand, say a scandal of some sort, while the right hand is getting away with murder. And yes, I am sure.” I paused for a moment, thinking my words through, filtering them before I spoke. “As for that cop, I suspect he was being called in on something big. Something that scared him. That’s why no sirens.”

  The thing was, even over the rumble of the tires on the highway, I could hear the scream of jet engines flying high above us. Passing overhead, one after another, and all in the same direction that the cop was headed. Something big for sure, and probably something that made the cop want to shit his pants.

  After Rylee told me about the interaction with the pilot, I’d called on my few remaining contacts in the FBI. They’d confirmed things were going to hell in a handbasket made of glass and chicken wire. They saw the end of the world as we knew it coming, and there wasn’t anything they could do about it. The current leader of the free world had pissed off enough other nations that they were gunning for him en masse. And the vice president was backing the outsiders in the hopes of keeping his own head attached to his shoulders. I shook my head. It was a clusterfuck, that much was sure.

  But I had my own problems to focus on.

  Our exit came up, and I took it at high speed, the Jeep bouncing once over a barely there bump. The cop continued on down the highway, his lights still flickering in the fading light of the day.

  Down and to the right, we were on a less traveled road littered with potholes. I swerved, knowing where they were before they even came up. Many of the farms in the area had gone under, unable to sustain things with the downturn in the markets, which led not only to the sparse traffic but the shitty road maintenance.

  “Is the world going to war?” Levi asked softly, fear lacing his words. “That’s what you’re kind of saying, isn’t it?”

  I shrugged as if it wasn’t important. “Doesn’t matter to me, right now. One task, Levi. One task at a time. Seattle. Female ogre. Back to Bismarck. Understand? We can worry about the world another time.”

  He nodded slowly. “Okay. One at a time.”

  The fear wasn’t completely gone from him, but it eased a little, at least from what I could tell.

  I cranked the wheel and drifted through the final corner that took us down the lane to the farm. Hitting the bumps hard, I was reminded of my first trip to the badlands with Rylee.

  Harpies following us, Rylee driving with a small smile on her lush lips, Alex screaming in the back about bumps. The unicorn crush as they’d come into view and the way my heart had pounded with a recognition, that at the time, I’d denied.

  This was my world, it always had been. It was partly why I’d not been able to leave Rylee alone, even after she’d been cleared of her sister’s death. The other reason was, of course, that she was my mate, even then. Neither of us had been ready, though; we’d needed time. I snorted to myself and hit the brakes.

  Levi made a move to get out and I grabbed his arm, stopping him. “No, wait in here.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Eve just had a baby and she doesn’t know you.”

  “Eve?”

  “A Harpy. And you don’t want a freaked out Harpy coming for you.” I got out of the Jeep and started toward the barn.

  The structure was still standing—barely, but it provided some cover and a nest for what we believed were the final two, and now three, Harpies in the world. “Eve?”

  A screech filled the air and Eve hopped out of the barn through an opening in the side, a tiny fluff ball following her. Literally, the baby Harpy was like a giant buff-colored cotton ball on two dark brown sticks for legs. But the eyes on the cotton ball, they would have given it away if nothing else. Great big golden eyes stared out at me from within the depths of the fluff. I struggled not to grin. The image was that of a creature that couldn’t hurt a fly, never mind become one of the deadliest predators in the supernatural world.

  Eve blinked several times as she drew close, tipping her head to one side. “Liam, what are you doing here?”

  I looked over my shoulder and beckoned to Levi to get out. He did as I asked, staring at Eve and the baby, his jaw hanging open. He kept his back against the vehicle and his hand on the door. Good self-preservation instincts in him at least.

  “The ogre babies are . . . sick.” I refused to say they were dying. “I need to get to Seattle.”

  She gasped and I went on. “I know you can’t leave. So I need to borrow Ophelia. Is she here?”

  “She’s gone on a fly-about. She should be back soon.” Eve flicked a wing and the tip of one feather in my direction. “Watch the babies. I’ll go get her.”

  Before I could say a word, she launched into the air. Cotton Ball screeched and hopped after her mother, flapping what I suspected were two bits that would eventually grow into wings, but for the moment, they were just more fluff. Waiting was not something I did well.

  I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to think about the growing details of my plan. Seattle was a big city, but Rylee said the ogres were in Kerry Park.

  “Kid, look up Kerry Park and the surrounding area on your phone.”

  “Okay.” The relief in his voice was palpable.

  I looked up as the baby Harpy, Selene, if I remembered right, turned back my direction. Giving up on her mother, she promptly rushed me.

  Harpies were dangerous at the best of times. I wasn’t sure this was a good idea in the least, but how was I going to stop the fluff ball?

  I held my hands out as she plowed into my arms. A shudder rippled through her as she tried to all but climb up my body, her baby claws digging into the ground as she half hopped in her efforts.

  “Easy, Cotton Ball.” I patted what I thought was the top of her head but wasn’t entirely sure with the way she puffed out. Big googly eyes peered up at me, blinking rapidly with three sets of eyelids. “Your mom will be back soon.” How many times had I said that to the five babies when Rylee had been on her last salvage? More than I could count, and with only the hope that indeed she would come home. Not that I thought she’d leave forever, but I didn’t know when she’d be able to find herself. A week. A month. A year. Whatever it took to deal with the vampire nature she was so opposed to.

  While Rylee struggled, thoughts had floated in my brain, thoughts I knew were not mine. Thoughts I knew were leftover remnants of Faris. Like
muscle memory, I could still call on his knowledge here and there. And with Rylee, his information had been crystal clear.

  Let her go, let her figure it out or someone will get hurt. Someone she loves, and then she would never forgive herself.

  To leave had been the hardest thing to tell her, to tell her we would be okay. All of it had been true, but that didn’t mean I was really okay with her leaving when she’d been in such an obvious state of distress.

  “Wait, did she say babies?” Levi asked, his voice pitching into an octave that could only mean one thing.

  “Oh, crap,” I muttered. As if in answer, from out of the barn tumbled three dragon fledglings, about twice the size of Eve’s cotton ball.

  I’d met the terrible trio, and they made the ogre babies look tame and quiet on a wild day. One red, one blue, and one pale purple. Two boys and a girl, and no names that we’d been told, so we’d taken to calling them by color. They were about the size of large ponies, and growing fast. As they spied me, three sets of eyes lit up and one of them squalled my name, or mangled it as the case was.

  Leeeem! Friend! Purple yelled, making me clutch at my head with one hand. She raced ahead of the two boys. I scooped Selene out of the way, pushing her away a few feet at the last second as Purple bowled into me. I wobbled and crashed to the ground with a heavy thud. Selene screeched and fluffed herself out as though she were truly irritated, though I knew she was no more afraid of the oversized lizards than I was.

  Levi, though, was having his first interaction with dragons, no matter that they were babies and not even looking at him. Until he moved. He scrambled backward, onto the hood of the Jeep. Red strode over and took a swipe at his legs, forcing him onto the roof. “Leave him alone, Red,” I said from the ground.

  Want to play? Red queried while half climbing the Jeep.

  “No,” I pointed at the dragon and firmed my voice as much as I could while held to the ground by his sister, “he doesn’t want to play. Leave him alone.”

  Red slumped, his lower lip sticking out so far, he’d trip on it if he wasn’t careful. He drooped, his wingtips dusting the ground as he wandered toward me.