Just as suddenly as he grabbed me, he let go.
I managed to keep my feet as I choked and gasped for air. “Where’s the rest of it?” I demanded as nicely as possible.
“We never claimed to have the entire piece. In fact, no one does. The pieces have been scattered. This is the piece we have held onto, and it is yours in exchange for the sword.”
“And how am I supposed to find the other pieces?”
“With patience.”
I glared at him fiercely, but he wasn’t going to tell me anything else. Reluctantly, I started to reach behind my back for the sword when a new scent slammed into me, and I stopped.
“You let demons follow you here?” I hissed, whirling around in time to see them shimmering into view all over the park. “Great, that’s just great.”
“We did not bring them. Hand me the sword. We had a deal!”
“Well, well,” a voice I never wanted to hear again echoed across the park, and I cursed vividly under my breath. “Craig. Fancy seeing you here.”
“Reginald.” I stared at the six demons moving in behind him. “Do you often enjoy nightly strolls in random parks? I thought Raghnall would’ve kept you busy these days dealing with the other issues in our realm, or does he still not believe demons are disappearing.”
“No demons have disappeared,” he growled. “And you will address our King with respect the next time you speak of him.”
I laughed. “Right, because he’s always shown his son respect.”
“You’re not his true son. You’re nothing more than a bastard… a bastard with a hefty price on his head,” he added, and the demons moved in even closer, grinning darkly as one let manacles fall from his hands, the chains clinking together.
I swallowed hard even as I forced a grin to stay planted on my face. Couldn’t show fear. That was a bad idea. “A price, huh? Placed on me by my own father. He should get a Father of the Year award.”
I heard the sorcerers shuffling behind me before one of them snapped, “Our deal still stands. Hand me the sword, or you lose this piece forever.”
“I’m a little busy at the moment. Can you just wait a bleeding second?” I responded over my shoulder. I didn’t want to have to reveal the sword, or use magic that would only piss them off more, but as Reginald stalked closer, I knew I was running out of options. “I need that glass shard.”
“Then give us what we require!”
“What are you doing with those sorcerers?” Reginald was only a few yards away now, his black horns gleaming in the moonlight. He was tall and strong, the perfect demon and the son my father should’ve had. Too bad he was born to the king’s younger brother and not him. He flashed his fangs at me with a grin. “I heard you sunk low these past few years, but I never imagined you’d sink this low.”
“Not like I could turn to family for aid, cousin,” I snarled.
Reginald technically had every right to be angry with me. He was the demon I fought in the last round of the trials, the one I cheated against and nearly killed when I lost control of the magic. He bore a scar from my blade that ran down the stretch of his chest. He’d been unable to defend himself, which I hadn’t intended. Magic was tricky, and I’d been young and desperate.
Now I was merely desperate to get out of this situation with the glass shard and my head still firmly attached to my shoulders.
“Just come with us,” Reginald said, but his voice was far from reassuring I would last longer than a few hours back home. “Father just wants you returned safely to us.”
“And what, thrown in a cell for the rest of my days? I’ll pass, thanks.”
“I never said you had a choice in the matter.”
My eyes darted around the park for an escape. Six demons. Six demons armed to the teeth who could easily overpower me… but not if they thought I wielded the Executioner and the power of the sorcerers behind me.
Knowing how badly this could go, I reached around my back and drew out the Executioner blade. It flashed before them as I whispered words of light under my breath, making the blade glow as if possessed by some incredible power.
Reginald flinched, but he didn’t step away as I hoped. Hating to use more power in case this went really wrong and left me defenseless, I summoned fire and let it wash over the blade in vibrant, hungry flames. That got their attention and Reginald cursed as he realized what I held in my hands.
“Executioner… what are you doing with that?” he snarled.
“Using it, clearly,” I stated. Now I had to get the shard and get out of there before I had to fight anyone with a blade I could barely hold in my hands.
“The sword,” the sorcerer demanded behind me.
My hands fidgeted around the hilt as I watched Reginald’s eyes narrow and he took a step back towards me.
Crap.
He wasn’t buying it.
Time for plan B. From my pocket, I pulled smoke bombs that packed an extra kick and threw them down at my feet. Black smoke enveloped me and everyone in the park.
I lunged backward as they coughed and hacked, Reginald gasping and screaming for them to grab me. The sorcerers hadn’t fled yet, and I reached out blindly, but luck was with me at least for a few seconds tonight.
I snatched the glass shard from the sorcerer’s hands and took off across the parking lot.
“Where is he?” Reginald bellowed, and I ran faster. “Find him!”
“The sword! He took the sword!” the sorcerer screamed, but I knew they wouldn’t follow, not if I stuck to the pavement.
The sword weighed me down, and I should’ve dropped it, but I could use it to sell to another interested buyer. I had to get away, get far enough away and cloak myself until Reginald and the rest of his hunting party gave up and went back home.
I hefted it over my shoulder, cringing every time it bounced and threatened to slice through my leather coat, but the smoke wouldn’t last forever.
I turned off the main road and sprinted down a side road, not sure where it would lead. All I needed was a chance to hide, collect myself, and I could cloak my scent and my body from their senses.
Just a bit further—
“Gah!” I yelled at the pain blooming at my side and crumbled to the ground.
I reached around to find a dagger sticking out of my body. Sucking in a deep breath and biting my lip to stop myself from yelling in pain again, I left it there and took off at a weird, sideways hobbling gait through the trees.
Reginald. I hated him, hated him for being the best damned hunter we had in our clan. Hated him for always wanting to take me down for simply being born.
My vision blurred and I had to stop to catch my breath against a tree.
“Craig! Just stop running now, Craig, you’ll only make it worse!”
I grunted at his words. I had no idea what would happen to me if I gave in and went back with him; no, no I guess that wasn’t entirely true. The darkness and plague spreading through our realm would continue to spread and kill everyone we knew because they’d lock me up, or kill me, and no one would try to stop it.
Ensuring the glass shard was safe in my coat, wrapped in a handkerchief, I pushed even deeper into the grove and sank to my knees.
“Craig!” Reginald’s voice was closer now, and their heavy footsteps surrounded me.
I dug my hands into the ground and whispered the words for cloaking me from those who would wish to do me harm.
The wound at my side throbbed, and with every shift of my body, I felt the dagger still stuck in the wound. If I pulled it out now, I’d bleed everywhere, and that would draw them faster to me. I had to finish this spell… had to finish it… had to keep the shard safe…
I shook my head hard to try and stay focused on the spell. A rush of warmth burst from my hands into the ground, but I couldn’t hold on any longer. Carrying that bloody sword around had worn me out, and I was tired, so tired.
The dagger in my side… they poisoned it. The thought hit me too late to stop the effects,
and I slumped onto my stomach hitting the ground hard.
My breathing grew ragged, and the power that had enveloped the sword disappeared in a blink.
I was done for. They’d find me, drag me back to Raghnall, and all hope would be lost. I saw them emerge one by one from the trees around me, but when I glanced up to see Reginald’s face, he looked right through me. The cloaking spell worked and so far, held up, despite my weakness.
“Where is he?” he seethed.
“The trail led here,” one of the other demons pointed out.
“Then, where is he? Find him!”
“There are no footsteps to follow. He’s gone.”
Reginald snarled and slammed his fist into a tree, splintering the trunk and nearly snapping it in half. “Spread out. He couldn’t have gone far. We are not returning to Raghnall without him.”
I watched, holding my breath and struggling to stay conscious as they backed away from nearly stepping on me they were so close. Once they were out of sight, I let my mind go, unable to hold on any longer.
SOMETHING WARM and wet moved across my face, and I jerked awake. A large bushy dog with black and white fur stared happily down at me, that warm tongue lolling out of the side of its mouth, its whole body wiggling as it wagged its tail.
“Thanks for that,” I grumbled and sat up, pushing the dog away from my face.
It tried to get right back at me, plopping down in my lap and I realized my strange visitor was a he.
The dog barked loudly in my face, and I gave in, scratching behind his ears for a moment.
I turned and gasped in pain.
The dog leaped off my lap instantly and snuffled its huge snout around my side.
Gingerly, I reached around and then remembered what happened last night and why I was lying in the middle of the woods.
The dagger was still in my side, and blood oozed out around it. Bracing myself for the pain, I gave it a quick yank and flung several curses to the surrounding trees.
Birds took off for the sky at the sound of my ferocious growl as I dropped the blade and pushed aside my clothes to see the wound. It would take too long to heal for me to sit here. Reginald and his demons could come back at any time. I tore off a piece of my shirt and balled it up the best I could, pressed it against the wound, and used another piece to tie around my middle to hold it in place.
All the while, the dog watched, sitting and staring at me intently.
“What do you want, huh?” I asked grumpily. “I don’t have any food. Go home.”
The pain was bearable, no worse than any injury I’d had before, but Reginald had tainted the blade, and from the feel of it, it wasn’t only a sleeping toxin. I was woozy and wanted to curl right back up and go to sleep, but there wasn’t time.
I had one shard, one tiny shard of the object I hunted for. The sorcerers never even told me how many pieces there were. It could take years for me to track them all down, decades, and by that time, we’d all probably be dead. I needed help from the only race good at finding treasure.
And they hated demons, especially half-breeds of any kind.
“Bloody dragons,” I whispered and tucked the glass shard back in my pocket. “Thanks for the wake-up, but I have to go now,” I muttered to the dog.
He scratched at his ear as if he hadn’t a care in the world about me going or staying. I tried to stand, but dizziness made me start to fall. The dog rushed forward and steadied me on my feet.
I could hardly stand without his massive body to keep me upright. And the sword was still on the ground. I wasn’t about to leave it behind so I took a shaky step over to pick it up and sheath it on my back.
I wasted nearly ten minutes, grunting and straining with my wound to get the sword back to its hidden location underneath my coat. Once it was there, I was out of breath and ready to sit back down and call it quits. But I had to get moving. Had to get out of these woods and figure out where I was going to find a dragon willing to help me.
In truth, I never understood why dragons didn’t like us. I mean, not like my clan caused a war between the races nearly every decade for one reason or another. Not like we tried to assassinate their queen once, or twice… no check that, three times.
And now I was going to find one and ask him for help. Yeah, this was going to be a great day.
“Alright boy,” I said as I stared at the dog following me. “Where are we? You hungry? We need some food… and a car.”
He barked twice and set off at a happy pace through the trees.
I couldn’t keep up, and he circled back more than once to try and nudge me along. He wore no collar, and I started throwing around names for the big beast of a dog whose head came nearly up to my chest. I was short by demon standards, but not my human ones. Whatever breed this guy was, he was a good thing to have by my side. If nothing else, he’d scare any curious people away.
The trees grew farther apart, and soon I found myself staring at a large town. Shops and houses were intermixed, but there were more pedestrians walking around the cars. Absently, I scratched the dog’s big head and grinned when he turned his big ole brown eyes up to stare me.
“Rufus, how about that for a name?” I asked.
The dog tilted his head and growled.
“Ok, no Rufus. Benji?”
He huffed this time.
“Harry?”
The dog seemed to think on that one for a moment before he barked and wagged his tail.
“Ok, Harry, it is. Now, where do we get some food?”
I was hesitant to step out into the open, but standing at the edge of the trees would get me nowhere closer to solving the riddle of what hunted my clan.
Despite them denying anything terrible was happening, demons had been disappearing for years, and the few that returned were changed.
Sickness broke out constantly, and though I was no longer there to see it for myself, I had eyes and ears willing to keep me informed of the situation.
Harry bounded towards the sidewalk leading into town, and I hurried to follow, pressing a hand to my wounded side as it throbbed in pain.
The dizziness returned for a second and I cursed Reginald again for his antics. Just because I nearly killed him once, he felt the need to make my life miserable.
A café sat not too far into town. “Stay here,” I told Harry, and he obediently plopped his butt down. “Weird dog. I’ll bring you something.”
Glancing around for any sign Reginald and his horde of hunters followed me, then ducked inside to grab some breakfast and figure out my next move.
CHAPTER THREE
KATE
Mama Lucy’s tea failed to keep the nightmares away last night, and I had to get out of the house. Saturday was my day to wander the town anyway, and do some running for Mama Lucy while I was out.
It was still early, and I’d skipped out on breakfast back at the mansion. Mama Lucy would’ve asked me questions, and I wasn’t ready to tell her about my dream.
It started as they often did, me flying around high above the clouds… but this time… this time the sky turned black, and it started raining. But it wasn’t water. It was worse, so much worse.
I shuddered thinking about it now and stared up at the clear blue sky overhead. No dark clouds here and no raining blood. The dream only got more horrifying from there, but I forced myself to think of something else as I headed towards the local café for some pancakes and OJ.
“Oh, hello,” I said when I spied the large black and white dog sitting outside.
He barked and wagged his tail, headbutting me until I patted his head.
“No collar, huh? Are you lost, boy?”
I glanced around, looking for any sign of an owner, but there wasn’t one around. He didn’t look like he was in bad shape. His fur was soft, despite it being extremely bushy. His eyes were bright and alert, and he seemed happy.
“Are you hungry? How about I get you something to eat and then I’ll take you home with me?”
The dog b
arked and I grinned. I’d get my breakfast to go and lead him back to Mama Lucy. The kids would love to have a dog around for a while, and Mama Lucy never said we couldn’t have a dog in the house.
I worried the furry beast would take off, but he circled twice and sank back down to the warm sidewalk, basking in the sun. I hurried inside and glanced around the café. It was busy with the usual faces, but I frowned to see a new one near the back corner. The town wasn’t large by any means, and I was good at remembering faces.
The guy, maybe a year or two older, sat with his back ramrod straight and glared out the front window. His face was pale, and he hadn’t touched a bite of the food in front of him. As I waited at the counter to order, my gaze kept going back to him… and for the strangest reason, I felt the urge to go talk to him.
“Morning, Kate,” Jimmy, the owner of the café said as he neared my stool at the counter.
“Morning,” I replied automatically, but barely turned my head.
“Ah, I see. Busy checking out the new guy in town?’ he teased.
“What, no I just… is he alright?” I whispered.
As if the guy heard me, he stiffened, and his gaze suddenly shot towards me.
“Not sure. Came in here this morning with that dog outside. Barely said enough to order some food,” Jimmy replied quietly. “Not sure I like the look of him, so you stay away from him, alright?”
“What if he needs help?”
“Kate, what would Mama Lucy think, huh?”
I frowned.
He was right, but at the same time, Mama Lucy taught us to look after each other in this town. He was in this town, and he looked like he needed help.
“Can I get an order of pancakes to go, please?” I ordered, even as I hopped off my stool.
Jimmy’s brow furrowed, but he wrote up the ticket and didn’t say another word as I slowly made my way towards the guy. The closer I came towards him, the more I had to stop myself from rushing to him and sliding into the booth across from him. What was wrong with me? He was attractive sure, with his sandy brown hair and its messy style and his piercing blue eyes, so pale they reminded me of ice in the winter.
Dragon Guard (Ever Witch Book 3) Page 18
