He stood a little straighter, the hunch in his back disappearing.
I rolled my shoulders and checked my two guns. I loaded them both. Each held six shots. Twelve shots all together, and I had another eight rounds in my back pocket. Twenty shots and easily a hundred ogres, probably more if I was honest with myself. Which I most certainly was not. Going after Lion wasn’t an option when we knew where Bly was, and we had no idea where the rampaging Guardian was. Or if he was even still in the city.
“Count off ten minutes, then head into the forest, stay to the right.” That way I’d at least know what direction to keep the ogres moving away from.
“Wait, how do I know I won’t just see the park like anyone else? Didn’t you say that humans can’t see the park for what it really is? What if I’m like that?” Levi asked, and I had to admit, it was a good question.
I narrowed my eyes as I stared at the forest and a shimmering purple aura came into view. My second sight wasn’t strong, but the fact that I could see the spell on the park confirmed what I’d already been told. “Squint at the forest. What do you see?”
He squinted and shook his head. “Nothing, just trees.”
Well shit, that wasn’t going to work then. “I guess we aren’t going to get separated after all.” Plan A down the drain, moving on to plan B.
I motioned for him to step up and he hurried to close the few feet between us. “Why don’t you think it will work for me?”
“I’m guessing because you are an elemental, because I know that some supernatural spells won’t work on them. Something to do with your heritage disrupts the spell for you.” Or the fact that he was more human than elemental, but I wasn’t going to say that. I needed his belief in himself to be high if we were going to survive the next few hours.
I kept my pace slow, and walked us into the park like I owned the place. The scents that curled around me and up my nose were the kind I expected. Trees, flowers, green things, birds, small mammals, dirt . . . and there at the edges of all those, the growing smell of ogres, weapon oil, leather, and blood. I didn’t hurry, I didn’t even look around much. “Levi.”
“Yeah?”
“When I tell you to drop, you drop.”
“Okay.”
We kept on walking, getting deeper and deeper into the park. From what we’d seen on the outside, we could have walked through the park four times over. Easily. Yet there was no end in sight, no thinning of the trees, no showing of the blue sky above us. If anything, the trees were getting bigger, the plants more twisted and the birds quieter. I didn’t like it, but I knew this was our only chance.
“Levi.”
“Yeah?”
“If we get to the pool, anything you can do to get me or you in it, you do it, understand?”
He nodded. “Okay.”
So agreeable. Much easier to deal with than Pamela. Though I wasn’t knocking her. If I’d had her at my side, not only would Mai and Tul be healed, she would have made sure the ogres never pulled this on anyone again. Unlike Milly, Pamela had a strength to her that would not be denied, and when she decided someone had crossed the line, there was no going back for her. A grin slipped over my lips, thinking of the time I wanted to kill her, when my wolf had seen only the threat of a witch, and not the heart of a girl who would one day rival Rylee for fierceness.
In those quiet moments of musing, my guard dropped, and the ogres took advantage of it. They launched toward us in a single swell like a rising tide that leapt over itself to swallow us whole.
“Drop!” I ordered Levi, praying I could pull this off. This was a Rylee stunt, something I’d have never considered before I met her. Dive in, and come out swinging.
I lifted both guns and squeezed the triggers in a steady staccato that dropped ogre after ogre. They roared as I took them down with a relative ease I knew would come to an end soon enough. Twelve down and I reloaded my last eight rounds. I kept moving, stepping into the trees and leaving Levi behind while I blasted through bodies, drawing them away from the kid and hoping he could find the pool and get the ogre mage to pay attention to him and potentially save six lives. Six. Funny thing, I didn’t count my own life in that, only the ogres I was protecting, and Levi.
The empty click of the guns was as loud as the report of a shot gone wild. I tucked the weapons into my waistband, not wanting to drop them even when they were empty. I took off running, drawing the ogres after me. I scented the air, and caught a whiff of spring, mineral-rich water. It was faint, but it was there in the far distance. I bolted toward it. That had to be the pool, it had to be. I urged my wolf to come forward, all but begging the bastard to shift, to help me stand a chance against the ogres. He ignored me again.
“Shithead,” I snarled as I dove through a batch of blackberry bushes and landed all tangled on the other side. The vines wove around me, not natural in any sense of the word. Within two heartbeats the thorny vines had dug into my skin, pinning me down and tearing at my clothes. Thirty feet away was a mirrored pool, the surface like glass, it was so still. So close and yet so far. “Bly, Mai is dying!”
I scrambled, fighting to get up, but it was no longer only blackberry vines that tugged at me, but multiple sets of large ogre hands. Ogres that roared with laughter.
“Bly don’t listen to intruders. And Mai is already dead, you stupid wolf.”
I was yanked up and held tight, stretched as if my limbs were set out on a compass.
“Well, well, looks like we’re going to get a double roast.” Pic grinned at me. “You’re going to pay dearly for killing my men.”
A double roast . . . shit . . . they’d snagged Levi too, then.
I was held like that, all four points at the limit of my stretching capability. My back was pressed against a large tree trunk and chains were used to strap my arms and legs behind the tree. None of that bothered me. Until Pic brought out a thick metal collar with a long chain attached to it. A cold sweat broke out on my brow. No, not this again. It took everything I had, every mental reserve left to me not to lose my shit right there and turn into a gibbering mess of howling and snarling wolf.
Pic grabbed my short hair and slammed my head back against the tree trunk so he could slip the collar on. It pinched closed, snagging some of my skin. The pain bothered me far less than the actual collar.
“There we go, chained like the dog you are.” Pic slapped my cheek.
“And what about me? You chain up your pussies, too?”
I forced my head to the side. Next to me, on a tree of his own, was Lion. He was cut up, and blood dripped here and there, but even as I watched, his body healed. An ogre was slicing into him over and over again, and his wounds healed as fast as he was injured.
He glared at me. “I could kill you without blinking for putting me in this fucking situation.”
I shrugged. “I doubt you’ll get the chance. I think they’re going to kill me first.”
“At least, I will enjoy the show.” He snarled and spit in my general direction. He was collared the same as I was.
I looked down at my own body. The injuries I’d sustained were not healing nearly as fast as his. In fact, I bled freely even from the blackberry wounds.
Was I not a Guardian any longer?
Lion barked a laugh at me and shook his head. “You don’t even understand, do you?”
“What, are you a mind reader now?”
Yes, you stupid fuck. It’s a talent I have. Just like you, Wolf, have your own talents that apparently you are too fucking stupid to realize.
I blinked several times and Lion nodded. We can get out of here if we help one another.
You don’t want to kill me now? I raised an eyebrow and he snorted.
Yes, but I’d rather it be you and me against one another, not these odds of a hundred to one.
Fair enough. You got a plan?
Keep their attention on you, one of my chains is weak. I will break it and then set you loose.
Tell me what I don’t understand, a
nd what you mean by a talent I should have, I thought.
Lion nodded, his silvery eyes serious. Done.
I lifted my chin at Pic. “I’ve never met an ogre who was unwilling to meet someone on the field of battle. You must truly be the white trash cousin to have to tie your enemies up in order to kill them.” The words spilled out of me and Pic slowly turned.
Lion laughed. “Oh, now those are fighting words. This is going to be a pleasure to watch.”
Shock coursed through me when the chains were unlocked and I dropped to the ground. The manacles on my legs and arms were heavy, but it was the one on my neck I couldn’t help reaching up to touch, digging my fingers under it as if that would somehow get it off me.
Pic grinned, his teeth, sharp, yellowed and broken in places. “You want to fight, Wolf? Then let us see what you are made of. Inside . . . and out.”
The ogres around us laughed, howling at me a litany of expletives and curses. But I didn’t really hear any of it. I was still too focused on the chain on my neck. My worst nightmare come back to haunt me in the flesh.
The first two ogres rushed me and I dropped to the ground at the last second, letting the one on my left go over my body. I rolled and came up in a crouch.
Guardian is just a word. Lion’s voice echoed in my head while I fought. You are a Guardian by blood, but you switched bodies. I can see it in your mind, that is the obstacle you face. You must convince Wolf that you are still strong enough to carry him even in this new flesh. That your spirit is still your own.
The second ogre had his back to me, and I yanked a large knife from his belt and drove it into his spine, slicing through the vertebrae. He didn’t even stiffen, just slumped and fell forward with a single groan.
I spun and caught another ogre on an upward slash. His arms were over his head as he prepared to slash downward with an oversized axe. I angled the knife in my hand higher. I sliced through his neck, thick black blood spraying in a geyser that arched over me like rain.
“We’ve got ourselves a scrapper. Drag it out. Make him suffer,” Pic instructed, as though telling his boys to add another coat of paint to the house.
Two down, innumerable to go. Even I wasn’t that confident to believe I would survive this without help. Where that help was coming from . . . I could only hope Lion held to his end.
Of course I will. I am a Lion, not some ridiculous canine. As I was saying, the Wolf does not trust easily. Your blood was dormant for many years before being woken. When the Wolf finally saw fit, he came forward and you became a Guardian. And now you have another body. Unless you can prove to the Wolf you are still a Guardian, your shifting will not happen.
An ogre with a scar across both eyes snarled at me and swung a length of chain. The metal was spiked, tipped with tiny daggers. The first pass of his flung out weapon drove me back, right into the arms of another ogre. He bit into my shoulder and I snarled, unable to keep the sound in as the bone cracked and flesh tore. Flipping the knife handle around, I drove the blade backward and into the ogre’s side three times, feeling organs pop and flesh give before he finally let go. The chain ripped through the air as I was dropped, and I went from the ogre’s arms to the embrace of the chain. It wound around my upper body, digging in like tiny fish hooks.
“Oh, this is going to hurt you far more than it will hurt me, Wolf.” The ogre snickered and yanked the chain. The hooked blades drove in, cutting into me with the precision of claws as they shredded my body. I was yanked forward and thrown to my knees. The chain was unraveled from me, slowly, as the ogres circled around me. Three, I’d managed to kill three and keep all their attention on me. I couldn’t help looking to see if Lion was free.
“Looking for your little boyfriend?” Pic grinned. “Bring him out. Let us show him what we do to tiny humans who interfere.”
Oh, this does not bode well for your friend. As I was saying, your talents will display here and there, but you have to be smart enough to recognize them. Which I highly doubt, seeing that you are thick as a brick shithouse in more ways than one.
“Shut the fuck up!” I lunged and hit the ogre nearest to me in the knees. I tackled him while Lion laughed in the background. My wounds and dripping blood made my grip slippery and unstable. I wanted nothing more than to shift, to tear into the ogre, and rip his throat out. To kill them all.
Destroy and maim, to get the chains off me.
My past swept around me and all I could do was think of the ones who’d chained me before. These weren’t them . . . but I let the wolf in me unravel any reluctance I may have had left. But I hadn’t taken into consideration the chains hanging off each of my limbs. The wolf in me started to come forward, then eased back, shaking his head like I truly was a fool.
You are not the man you once were. The voice was that of my wolf.
I gritted my teeth as a snarl slipped past my lips. I knew it, I couldn’t argue with him. This body was not my own. I knew what others saw when they looked at me. Not Liam; they saw Faris with his sharp, dangerous good looks and lean body.
My limbs were grabbed and I was pulled tightly, my thoughts scattering as I was stretched. Like I’d been pulled over a rack. They yanked on me to the point where my joints creaked and my muscles were so tight, I could have been played like a harp.
Levi was dragged into the clearing, held up by his throat before he was tossed into the center of the ring with me. He lay at my feet and stared up at me. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t fight them. I tried.”
I shook my head but said nothing. Nothing to say now. The only thing to do was figure out how the hell I was getting us out of here and the healer to Mai. One step at a time, though.
“Just what are you two doing here pestering our female, hmm? Looking for the fuck of a lifetime? I just can’t quite figure that out.” Pic paced between Levi and me. I suspected his curiosity was about the only thing keeping us alive at the moment.
Pic leaned in close to me and lifted one nostril, his face crinkling up. That close, the color of his eyes was clear, like the blue of a raven’s wing, so dark, there were colors within the depths. He took a deep enough breath that my hair ruffled toward him.
“You know,” he said, “you smell like the woman who was here a week ago.”
I held completely still, not wanting to give anything away. But Pic slowly nodded, his eyes lighting up with recognition. “Yes, I can see it now. She comes here, scopes things out and then sends you two in for . . . whatever it is you are looking for. Because even I know it can’t possibly be Mai. She’s useless now.” He grinned at me, showing his teeth in a hard, sharp line. “I made sure of that.”
I held his eyes. It was time to throw down my aces. “I think you should call on Bly and ask her about that. I mean, if she’s your mage and is all about the prophecies in your tribe, shouldn’t you be asking her opinion?”
Pic’s face tightened and around him the ogres gave a soft murmuring of assent. I grinned. “See, your men like how I think.”
A fist slammed into the back of my head, sending the world into brilliant sparkles that danced around the ogre in front of me. I drew in a breath, held it, and the bright lights slowly faded.
“Do not talk of our mage. She is nothing to a piece of shit dog like you,” Pic said as conversationally as if we were discussing the upcoming weather.
Cloudy, with a chance of showers.
I smiled at him. “Really? I heard a story that Bly knows who’s going to usurp you on your wee tiny throne. And Mai is going to help them.”
Another blow to my head, and then several to my back. Ribs cracked under the fists and feet, the snap of bone echoing through my body, making me jerk against the chains. I coughed, blood flowing from my lungs and into my mouth. I spit to the side, narrowly missing Levi. He scooted back until he was pressed against my legs. Not exactly a safe place at the moment, but he didn’t seem inclined to leave me.
His movement drew Pic’s attention to him. Shit, that was not going to help matters any.
<
br /> Slowly, Levi pushed himself up, his whole body shaking as he held his hands out in front of him.
Pic put his hands on his hips and thrust his hips at Levi. “You want to take me on, boy? I’ll give you a fucking you’ll never forget.”
Levi’s whole body tensed and then a quiver ran through him as he cupped his hands together.
“Whatever you’re going to do, kid, do it now,” I said, and all I could do was hope he had some serious bad-ass water magic going on. Because without it, we were going to be in worse shape. If that was even possible.
The thing about thinking like that, though, was that fate was a bit of a jokester, and often liked to show you just how very bad things could get, indeed.
Indeed.
CHAPTER 9
LEVI SHOOK, AND between his hands the water built up, as though he were making a snowball prior to the freezing of the particles. He never got further than that.
From the left, an arrow shot through the ranks and buried into Levi’s side. He cried out, lost his concentration and fell to the ground in a puddle of his own making. I jerked against the chains and dragged the ogres who held the end of them with me as I bent to cover Levi’s body. Three more arrows sang through the air and two of them hit me in the back, burrowing deeply into the muscle between broken ribs. The third slammed into the ground right next to my head, narrowly missing my cheek. I could barely draw breath around the two arrows, but there was no way I could move off the kid and open him up to more injury. He was family.
He was part of the pack.
Lion, now would be a good time to break free, seeing as the distraction you needed is at its limit.
Already done. Have fun, Wolf. Pity you have no ability to breathe and hence speak a proper goodbye.
I lifted my head as Lion dropped from his chains and gave me a saucy wave and disappeared around the tree, his dark form blending into the shadows of the foliage.
“Lion,” I whispered, gritting my teeth around the biting, tearing pain as I took a deep breath and roared. “LION.”
LIAM (The Rylee Adamson Epilogues, Book 2) Page 10
