Tracker: A Rylee Adamson Novel (Book 6)
Page 18
Faris’s jaw dropped and then he slowly closed his mouth. “Mother of the gods, it might work. Technically, he has not drunk any blood the entire time he is a vampire. Yours does not count as it is what will make him a vampire. That should be good enough to meet the requirements. Stunningly simple and … brilliant.”
Shocked he would compliment me, I ducked my head and focused on the ingredients going into the shallow bowl.
“He could drain you completely.” Faris dropped to a knee beside me, a look of concern etched around his eyes, softening them. Concern, for me.
I didn’t take my eyes from him. “I trust him with my life.”
“But I don’t. I won’t let him live to lose you. None of us will survive if you die this night, Tracker. You understand that, don’t you?”
Unfortunately, I did. All too clearly, I knew what was in the balance. But if I was willing to let my friends and loved ones die without fighting for them, what the hell was I fighting for in the first place?
“Believe, Faris.” I pulled my sword free and laid the blade gently against my forearm, over the scar where I’d given Doran my blood the first time we’d met. What seemed like eons ago.
My skin split and I held my arm over the pestle. There were no words, no incantations, just the potion, and the timing.
His heart had to stop beating, his life gone, but only for a split second. Any sooner this would fail, any later, same fucking result. I slowed my breathing and put two fingers to Doran’s throat, felt the slowing throb of his heart. In my other hand, I held the small pestle poised over his lips. Faris moved around me, ripped away a thin strip of his shirt and then wrapped my dripping arm with it.
“It will not be your arm he pulls from, but your neck.”
“I know.” And I did. I Tracked Berget and Jack, felt them closing in on us, a few miles at best. But they still had to get past Tespa.
Time, I had to believe we had enough time.
Under my two fingers, Doran’s heart beat once. Twice. Nothing.
I didn’t hesitate. With a single swift motion, I poured the concoction down his throat. “Come on, Doran. Don’t give up. Not yet.”
Alex sat across from me, his lower lip stuck out. “Doran’s gone.”
I swallowed hard. Had it been too soon? Fuck me, how were we going to know? I looked at Faris in time to see his eyes widen, just as a set of fangs drove hard into my neck, bowling me over.
Dragging me down into memories that were anything but my own.
“Milly, are you sure those weren’t all the coven members?” He strode beside the witch as they searched the warehouse for Ingers.
“Positive. They’ve been actively recruiting for years, stealing children, and even taking adults fully trained.” Her skirts rustled as she did her best to keep up to him.
“How the hell could they take adults?”
Pamela moved up beside them. “I didn’t think there were that many bad people in the world. How could they all be black witches to start with?”
Milly lifted a hand, stopping them, her head cocked to one side. “Do you feel that, Pamela?”
The young witch went still, but Liam could tell what they were tapping into. Someone was throwing around a lot of magic, a lot of power, and they were close. The hairs along his arms stood at attention. That was more power than even Milly and Pamela had combined. This was not good.
“Yes,” Pamela whispered, her eyes widening, “I feel it. That is a great deal of magic.”
“That,” Milly said, “is the rest of the coven. They no doubt know we are coming. There are too many for us to take. We must leave.” She turned to seemingly do just that.
Tara moved in front of Milly, stopping her. “I will not leave. They killed my children, as if they were ants to be crushed under their heels. I will make them pay for this.”
“Be my guest.” Milly made a sweeping gesture. “But you will not get three feet into their presence before they do the very same to you. Though, they have ways of controlling people, perhaps they will use you as a spy and a puppet against the rest of your people. Would that be preferable to death?”
Tara’s face lost color, and her breathing quickened. “So we run away?”
“We plan.” Liam put a hand on her shoulder, doing his best to be gentle. “Too many witches, you saw what happened with those we dealt with. It was far too close for comfort.” The feel of a blade against his leg was still rather fresh in his mind. He didn’t discount there were times and places to be smart and back away. This was one.
Pamela sagged with relief. “I didn’t really want to fight them.”
“We should hurry,” Milly said, her gaze flicking around the room. “They will notice soon enough we aren’t drawing closer and they will come for us.”
Liam nodded and the four of them started to jog. A dark premonition slid over his skin and he felt Giselle’s words as if they hovered over him.
“Pamela, no matter what happens, you get the hell out of here. Understand? Take Tara and go to Giselle’s, wait for Rylee.”
Her blue eyes darted to his. “Liam—”
“Don’t argue, just do it,” he growled, the wolf in him wanting nothing more than to protect this pup. To keep one of his own safe.
The premonition grew as they approached the exit. He couldn’t stand it any longer. “Stop.” The three women stilled and he shook his head, hearing the sound of feet scuffling in the snow outside. They were trapped. “Milly, get them out of here. Jump them, now.”
Her green eyes widened for a split second and then she nodded, taking both Pamela’s and Tara’s hands. The veil opened and on the other side he saw the inside of Giselle’s living room. They stepped through as the front wall of the building exploded in shrapnel. He let the change take him, let the wolf have his head for the first time. In that moment, he needed the instincts of a survivor, not the instincts of an agent used to commanding others.
Spinning on his haunches, he galloped deeper into the warehouse, the air around him charged with electricity and magic.
This was going to get ugly, and there was no way to avoid it.
His only regret was not being able to see Rylee one last time. To tell her—
The ground in front of him erupted, concrete flying in every direction, shards driving into him. A chunk the size of his head smashed into his front right leg, snapping the bone. With a snarl, he went down, felt the weight of magic curling around him.
Pinning him to the floor.
Trapping him.
He closed his eyes and waited, knowing there was nothing he could do.
Not this time.
Chapter 18
I don’t know what I expected from Doran’s memories, maybe some enslavement, some pain. In a way, those would have been normal for a supernatural.
What I got was a past so riddled with overwhelming despair and horror it drove my own fears out of my head.
His whole life flickered in front of me.
Being snatched from his family’s arms when he was barely out of his teens, trapped by his maker for a hundred years in a life of slavery and debauchery that made my blood run cold. His escape, scrounging and scavenging to survive, the realization of being a shaman, the things he Read in others, the unimaginable sorrow of knowing those he loved were dying, or would soon be dead.
Loss, so much loss.
And yet through it all, he’d hung onto a belief that he was meant for better, and all he’d suffered had a reason behind it. That he wasn’t done yet. There would be a love great enough to save him.
Son of a bitch, under all that had happened to him, under all the loss and horror he’d suffered, he’d never really been broken, because he never allowed himself to give up. His heart would never let him grow dark in disbelief and cynicism. How long had he hidden this side of him from others, from all those around him? Apparently long enough that no one knew who he really was, and the strength of his heart and soul.
In that moment, and that heartbeat, I
knew I’d made the right decision; Doran would lead the vampires better than Berget or Faris.
From a distance, I heard shouting, and the howl of a wolf. Hands gripped me and I knew I was getting close to having too much blood taken.
I lifted a hand and touched the side of Doran’s face. “I believe in you.”
Just like that, his mouth left my neck and I opened my eyes, the spell broken. He cradled me with one arm; the other held Faris around the neck. Slowly, he released Faris, and the vampire slumped to his knees.
Faris rubbed his throat. “Rylee, you crazy Tracker. He’s stronger than me. How did you know?”
I smiled at Doran, knowing I could trust him. “I didn’t.”
Doran’s lips twitched and the differences in him were there. Subtle and yet profound. He’d always been good looking, but now he was downright gorgeous, the angles and planes of his face, the deep green color of his eyes drew me in … I looked away. No need to get bespelled this close to the finish line.
“I thought you trusted me,” he said, helping me to my feet.
I held onto his arm, my strength slowly returning. “I do. But you don’t know your own strength yet.”
Faris grunted. “Though you two might like to continue this lovely conversation, we have a Child Empress to kill.”
Tracking Berget, she was a hell of a lot closer than she’d been when we’d found Doran. Tracking the Blood next, I breathed a sigh of relief. Berget’s threads and the Blood weren’t overlapping. It seemed perhaps Jack was having the same difficulty I was.
Finding the Blood wasn’t the issue. We both pinpointed them. But getting to the Blood was a whole different ball of wax.
“Come on, this isn’t finished yet.” I let go of Doran, and the world swayed. I grabbed for Alex, who put himself under my hand.
“Alex gots Rylee.” He blinked up at me and I gripped the ruff in his neck tighter.
The Blood was close, so damn close.
The two vampires flanked me, exchanging glances over my head that I chose to ignore. I knew I was wobbly, my feet catching on every rock and dip in the ground, my breathing shallow. This was the price to giving my blood for Doran’s transformation.
The curve in the rock was subtle and as we rounded it, a series of caves were revealed. Shit on toast, it was going to be like a fucking labyrinth.
“Alex, what do you smell?”
“Rylee, the Blood wouldn’t have been walking around here.” Faris so kindly pointed out.
“I fucking well know that,” I snapped, my weakness making me more irritable than usual. That didn’t mean I was going to apologize, or explain. Alex had a nose like no other.
He lifted his head and pointed with a single claw. “Alex smells Jack, and Al.”
Bingo. “Wait, Al? You smell Al, too?” What was the shaman we’d met on the far coast doing here?
Alex nodded and gave me a grin. “Al and friends.”
Shit, we did not need cannon fodder at this little shindig. But it looked like we didn’t have a say in the matter if they were already here.
Doran moved closer to me, and Faris stepped away, spinning in a slow circle. “I cannot sense them.”
I snorted. “Always trust the wolf’s nose, dumb ass.”
Alex and I led, and at each cavern I felt the pull of the Blood. Either they were in every cavern, which wasn’t possible, or they were so deep in the rock, every cavern felt like the right one. My gut instinct was the latter and less easy of the two.
In my mind, that made the solution simple. Look for the cavern that felt furthest from the Blood and head in. I could only hope I was right. If I was wrong, we were in for a long night.
The feel of Berget’s thread getting closer forced my feet to move faster.
But not fast enough.
We stood in the front of the last cavern, the one that did indeed feel the furthest from the Blood, when they hit us. And I mean hit.
Jack slammed into Faris, and Berget tackled me to the ground, her fangs extended. I’d love to say things slowed down, that I was able to get my swords free, but that is so far from the truth, it’s scary.
She was on me, her teeth inches from the bite marks Doran left when she froze. “Who has been feeding from you, Tracker?”
And then she was flung off. “That would be me.” Doran stood over me, power all but rumbling off him.
She snarled and leapt at him. “Daywalker, you are no match for me!”
Ah, she couldn’t tell yet. I pushed to my feet, wobbled, and Alex caught me. I used him for balance as I did my best to follow what was going on. Jack was giving Faris a serious run for his money, the two of them exchanging blow for blow, sharp as lightning that suddenly broke above us. As if that wasn’t enough, the skies opened and the rain fell; the densest downpour I’d ever experienced in my life.
I pulled out a sword, knew I could only handle one at a time. This was what I got for not thinking things through, though it wouldn’t have changed my mind when it came to saving Doran. With the blood loss, I was weaker than I should have been going into a fight.
Faris threw Jack to the ground and held him, immobilizing him. “Rylee, he is no longer your friend.”
“Just hold him. We end her, and he’s free.”
The look Faris gave me said it all. I was a fool in his eyes, but he would do as I asked. Small mercies.
The rain hammered around us and I sloshed forward to where Doran and Berget grappled. I couldn’t let her kill him, anymore than I could let him kill her. She was on top, one hand over his heart, the other wrapped around his throat.
But I knew what would draw her attention. “Berget, I found the Blood. I know exactly where they are.”
Her head snapped toward me and it was all the distraction Doran needed. He flipped her over and pinned her hands. All that power from her adoptive parents, where had it gone?
“She’s weak,” Doran said. “No blood for a lot of days. This is our only chance.”
Faris grunted. “Kill her quickly.”
Doran made eye contact with me. “The opal is under my shirt.”
“Opal, what the fuck are you talking about? Kill her.”
We ignored Faris, and I knew he wouldn’t let Jack go, which meant he was conveniently out of the way with his hands rather full.
I reached his side and slid a hand into Doran’s shirt, the warmth of the opal drawing my fingers to it. “Anything I need to say?”
“No. But Faris is right, make it quick.” The strain in his face and voice were obvious.
Much as it might seem that putting the opal under the skin of her chest would be best, I doubted there was enough skin for the size of the opal. “This won’t hurt a bit,” I said as I slid my sword across her belly, in the general vicinity of her appendix, through skin and muscle.
She bucked and writhed, her blood making her slippery. Worse, the skin began to knit as she screamed obscenities in several languages at us.
I dropped to my knees and grabbed the edge of the wound, holding it open as I slid the opal into the opening. I let go and the wound sealed in a matter of seconds.
Doran let go and grabbed me, yanking us away from her. But she didn’t move, just laid there, the rain pelting her face, the bare twitch of her muscles the only thing giving away that she lived yet.
“Come on,” I whispered, my heart beating wildly. I had to believe, had to. She would pull through this.
Her body stilled, and a whoosh of air slipped out of her. I grabbed Doran’s arm. “Doran, what’s happening?”
“I don’t know. It will either work or it won’t.”
“Kill her!” Faris screamed again, his voice bouncing off the rock.
Berget trembled and then her back bowed, a scream ripping out of her. Heels and head were all that touched the ground as she continued to scream, her arms straight out to the side.
I dug my fingers into Doran’s arm.
Please, please let her come back. Let me have her for a little while.
Alex pressed against me, lifting his nose to the air.
“Smells different.”
“You are breaking your oath, Tracker,” Faris screamed. I’d had more than enough of his shit. Fury and grief merged and I screamed back.
“No. I’m not. You said to kill the Child Empress.”
His eyes blazed with fury. “Then kill her.”
Berget sat up, a hand going to her side, her clear blue eyes wide as they met mine. Her hands fluttered in front of her face, then dropped to her side.
Fuck, was she going to rip out the opal?
Blinking several times, she put a hand to her throat. “She did kill the Child Empress. Rylee, I knew you’d come for me.” Tears streaked her face alongside the rain and she stumbled to her feet, ran to me.
Was this really happening, had it worked? I caught her in my arms and we dropped to my knees. She sobbed into my shoulder, her arms tight around my middle. “I knew it. I knew you would save me.”
I didn’t try to stop the tears, just held onto her, Berget. Finally, after everything we’d been through. After all the years. I smoothed her hair and held her. My belief validated.
Love won this round.
A hand struck out, driving a wedge between Berget and me.
“What the fuck?” I snapped as I rolled to my feet. Faris stood between us, crouched and ready to leap.
“It is a ruse, Tracker. I have seen this so-called soft side of Berget before. She lulls you in, so you will not kill her this day, only to end your life when you least expect it.”
Berget sat on the ground, looking up at him. “Faris, I mean none of you any harm. And I will prove it.” She swept her hair back offering up her pale neck. “Take my blood, see the truth of what has happened.”
Faris let out a low growl and before I could say yes or no, he’d slammed her against the rock, his fangs buried deep in her neck. Her eyes found mine over his shoulder, and I saw the edges of a smile.