Stitched

by Shannon Mayer

  Peta lifted her head and stared at a spot to the left of Faris. At seemingly nothing. But maybe at Liam? He wouldn’t have left me if he could stay with me.

  “You mean, Liam, don’t you?”

  “I’m not saying it would be enjoyable for me. But as a sign of peace between us.” He lifted his eyebrows at me, leaving the choice in my hands.

  A chance to speak to Liam. “I’ve spoken with him, in my dreams.”

  “And is that good enough for you?” Faris pushed and a niggling of doubt worked its way into my heart. Good enough? Nothing would ever be good enough. But the vampire was right, any time with Liam was worth a chance.

  “All right. Do you need me to do anything?”

  “No. I just don’t want to be accused of anything after.”

  What was he talking about?

  He closed his eyes and his head slumped forward until his chin rested on his chest. His body relaxing and then . . . tension flowed through him as he lifted his head. His eyes slowly opened. Golden eyes.

  My lips trembled. “Liam?”

  “Rylee, why did you let him call me?”

  I reached out wanting to touch him, even though it was Faris’s body. “He offered and I—”

  “You of all people should know by now that Faris doesn’t do anything for anyone without a reason.” He bit the words out, Faris’s voice, but Liam through and through.

  “I don’t understand,” I whispered, not wanting to fight with him.

  “He can use the powers of any who posses him.” He motioned to the stump of his arm, which was—

  “Holy shit, it’s growing back.” I did reach out then, and touched his arm.

  “I’m the only Guardian he could have called, that he would have permission to call. You gave him the right to call me.”

  “How long do . . . you have?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  I let the blanket drop, not taking my eyes from his. “Then hold me, while you can.”

  His one arm reached out and I curled into his lap, it wasn’t Liam, and yet, I could feel him there. Feel the man I loved under the skin of one I was so uncertain of. “You should have told me what you were planning.”

  “And if I had?”

  “If I’d understood, I would have let you go. And you and I could have said goodbye properly. Who was it, that wielded the knife?”

  He grunted as if I’d punched him. “Don’t be too hard on her, I asked her to help. It had to be someone who loved me, and I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

  There was only one other her it could be. “Pamela? YOU ASKED PAMELA TO KILL YOU?”

  I jerked out of his lap, fury and horror lashed my heart. “Liam, how could you do that? She’s a child!”

  “There was no other choice!” He shot up out of his seat, and in his eyes I saw the uncertainty. The worry he’d made a mistake.

  I ran a hand over my face. “She’s not like us, Giselle said the darkness would pull on her, you think THIS is going to help? Fucking hell, man. You should have told me.”

  His hand, Faris’s, brushed along my cheek. “You’re right. I should have told you. Should have trusted you. I’m sorry, I’ve made a mess of this.”

  I clamped my fingers around his. “That’s usually my job. And nice job on the arm.”

  He glanced down, flexing his new fingers. “Yeah, not bad.” A grimace past over his face. “Faris is trying to take control back.”

  And then Liam was gone. Again.

  Faris thumped his head back against the wall, a small smile on his lips. “No kisses? I was hoping.”

  “You asshole, you just wanted a new arm!” I paced the room, Peta striding with me.

  The vampire shrugged. “What can I say, it worked out for both of us.”

  “It did not! If you wanted it to work out, you should have just fucked off and let Liam have your body.”

  His eyes narrowed as I came back to face him. “Who told you that could happen?”

  My mouth went dry. “No one.”

  His face smoothed. “Perhaps we should go back to the original conversation.” But my mind was racing. Could Liam take Faris’s body? I had to believe it was possible with what Faris said.

  “You still have not told me why you so badly need my blood. Becoming a vampire will not help you defeat Orion.” He pointed to his new arm, so recently a stump.

  I cleared my throat and looked up. “No, I don’t want to become a vampire.” I reached inside my back pocket and pulled out the slip of paper that had the spell written on it, and slapped it against his chest.

  Eyes narrowed in the dim light, he read it over. “What is this for? I see it is a spell, but that is all I can glimmer from it.”

  “It will speed up my pregnancy, so the baby comes sooner and I can recover, which will allow me to—” I wasn’t even finished speaking before Faris threw the spell back at me in a crumpled ball.

  “You would risk your child for the convenience of not being pregnant?” The fury on his face was not something new, but the reason for it was. Peta put herself between the vampire and me.

  I smoothed the paper out, folded the spell, and tucked it into my pocket, keeping my eyes on his face. I had to convince him, this was the only way. “What would you do if you only had a few months with Angela? That after those months you would probably never see her again, that those months were all you had? What would you do to extend that time?”

  The anger slipped out of him, and he deflated until he was sitting back in his chair. “Anything, I’d risk anything for her.”

  A nod was all I could manage. Emotion clogged my throat and I needed a moment to let the feeling pass before I could speak again. “I want time with my baby, Faris. And while I will tell everyone else I’m doing this so I can recover quicker, get back into shape, the truth of it is . . . I’m being selfish. I want as much time with her as possible, before I have to leave her behind. Probably for what will be forever.”

  My eyes filled with tears as I spoke, then overflowed and dripped down my face onto my t-shirt. I slumped into the chair opposite him.

  “It will be harder for you to leave her, if you have more time.” He moved so he could crouch in front of me.

  “I don’t care. I want her to have as much time with me as possible.”

  His arm was across my knees and he leaned into me. “You know for sure it’s a girl?”

  “Yes.”

  He put his forehead against mine and we sat like that, together in our grief. His long gone, and mine so recent.

  A minute passed and my tears dried. Faris stood and walked across the room. There was a tinkle of glass bottles and I turned in my seat to see him pulling an empty crystal decanter off a shelf. The decanter was very thin, more like a vial, but the cut of the glass made it decorative.

  “I need your help.”

  I moved to his side. He handed me the flask. “Hold it just below, here, like this.” He showed me where. A flash of fangs and then he bit into his wrist, holding the wound over the open vial lid. “A few drops are all you should need.”

  The crystal glass filled within ten seconds, and he took his wrist away and then handed me a tiny cork. I put the stopper in, pressing it hard to make sure there would be no leakage.

  “Thank you.”

  His lips twisted up into a grimace of a smile. “Maybe I’m not such an asshole.”

  I gave him a smile, though I knew it was tired. Hell, it felt like it was going to fall off my face. “Maybe.”

  Beside me, Peta grabbed at my shirt and tugged me back to my chair, all but shoving me into it. She was right, I was exhausted. “You’re sure they will go away in the morning sunlight?”

  “Positive.”

  “And Blaz will be okay?”

  “Positive.”

  I wrapped myself in the blanket, cuddling down into it. “I’m going to sleep for a bit.”

  And there was no answer, because I was already gone into dreamland.

  In the ear
ly hours of the morning, I startled awake, dreams of blood and fire chasing me through my sleep. I stretched and then froze. I wasn’t in my chair.

  I was in Faris’s arms. Before I could say anything he was placing me back in my chair.

  “You wouldn’t shut up, talking and moaning in your sleep. You were driving me crazy.” He all but snapped at me and I was a bit taken aback.

  “I didn’t fucking well do it on purpose.” I returned his tone and upped the ante. In other words we were back to our usual relationship, the tears and stories of just a few hours before and the bonding that came with them, gone in two sentences. Better that way, in the long run. No doubt I would start to trust Faris and then he’d turn on me again. That was his M.O. Taking trust and trashing it the minute you really needed him.

  Standing, I stretched and stared at the door. “It’s quiet out there.”

  “Dawn is coming, they’ll be heading back to their little hidey-holes soon. Won’t be long and you can leave. An hour at most.”

  The rumble of Blaz waking rolled through my head, his memory of the pygmy demons and how they swarmed him, how they’d been chattering my name. A rush of fury and fear shot from him to me.

  RYLEE!

  I flinched and clapped my hands over my ears, even though it did no good. “Blaz, I’m fine. Be there in an hour.”

  His panic ebbed, and I let out a slow breath, letting him see through my memories of the night.

  Faris saved you?

  “Yes.” I was acutely aware of Faris across from me. The vampire sat in his chair, semi-slumped and his eyes at half-mast. “What will you do once we’re gone?”

  “What do you mean?” He tipped his head back, baring his throat to me.

  I lifted one hand and waved it at the door. “I mean, how can you survive these demons?” What I was trying to figure out was did I have to invite him to come with me? The part of me that was touched by his story and the fact he’d comforted me (even if I’d been asleep) was okay with the idea of him coming with us. That other part of me, the one that remembered all the fucking awful things he’d done, the lies and pain he’d caused. Yeah, that side didn’t want anything to do with him, or have him anywhere near when I would be fighting to get through the last of my pregnancy.

  “I’ve been hunting them. At Doran’s orders. There is no saving those possessed, so we’re killing them. That’s what your friends are doing while you’re off on your vacation.”

  Jaw tight, I struggled against the words that swelled my throat. And then I surprised us both.

  “Thank you. Tell Doran I’m doing what I can to speed things up, and I’ll be back as soon as I’m able.” I turned away from him and put a hand on the door. Sending out a thread, I Tracked demons and got a few pings outside the door. Four to be exact. I could handle that many.

  I slid a blade loose and opened the door while Faris stood behind me, speechless.

  The first two demons just stared up at me as I took their heads, their mouths hanging open. I wasn’t angry, all I felt was the love I had for my friends and family. For my unborn baby and all she represented.

  Hope.

  Love.

  Life.

  The demons broke apart, spraying into the pre-dawn air with a burst of light. Still Tracking demons, I made my way through the house, taking them out as I came across them, working on a level of instinct I’d never felt before.

  It was as if I were Tracking not only the demons, but everything around me. I knew where to slash and thrust, killing the demons before they ever had a chance. And through it all, I felt nothing but all I held dear. There was no more fear, no more anger, just a surety of what I was doing, I did for the right reasons. That no matter what Faris or anyone said, I was where I was supposed to be and in the end, no matter how hard or ugly it might be, everything would be all right.

  As the first hint of the rising sun peeked over the watery horizon, the last of the demons fled. In the recesses of my head, their threads beckoned me. It would be easy enough to hunt them during the day and finish them off, but then . . .

  “I would kill them all, but I’d hate for you to get sloppy.” I slid my blade into its sheath, then looked over my shoulder at Faris. He stood in the shadows of the building, his eyes bright but unreadable. Golden. And then blue once more.

  “I think that’s the longest you’ve gone without saying ‘fuck’ in the entire time I’ve known you,” he said.

  “Maybe I’m growing up, like you said,” I answered, and he laughed.

  “Oh, I doubt that, Tracker. I think, though, maybe you are changing. The last battle comes, and you need to be at your best. Go and take care of yourself.” He gave me a smile and I nodded at him, unable to do more.

  Whenever I fought demons, I was always exhausted after, as if I’d been drained to the point of nothing left.

  I barely recalled making it to Blaz, slipping my winter coat on, Peta shifting into her small form and slipping inside my coat giving me an instant heater. I managed to get myself tied onto his back and then we were in the air, and I remembered nothing until we landed at Tian Shan.

  Chapter 10

  My dreams consisted of blood and pain, of seeing a young Faris, holding his dead mother and that merged into him holding me as I fought to give birth to a monster. I jerked away with a gasp and Peta gave a soft meow from inside my jacket. I rubbed my face and looked around. We were in the courtyard in the monastery and the light had shifted.

  Before you ask, we’ve been back for a few hours, but you were sleeping and I didn’t want to wake you. He paused, his hesitation coming through loud and clear.

  “Say what you’ve got to say.”

  Until the baby comes, no more adventures. You can’t take chances anymore.

  I didn’t argue with him. Slowly, my limbs stiff, I undid the leather straps and slid from his back. “I don’t think I have it in me. I need to rest.”

  Finally, you speak some sense. Now, go find your uncle, he is . . . not pleased with you. And I have something I need to do. Promise me you will not go anywhere until I’m back. Swear it, on your life.

  “A bit melodramatic, but I swear I will not go anywhere until you’re back. Unless my life will depend on it.”

  Good enough. And in a whoosh of leathery wings and a downdraft that made me stumble, he was in the air and winging away.

  The stiffness in me faded as I walked. I kept an arm around my middle where Peta slept and then I looked down, really looked. With my jacket on, I looked . . . pregnant, Peta filling out the space where a child would grow.

  “Whoa,” I whispered, my hands holding the curve.

  “Not whoa, why the hell didn’t you take me with you?” Erik said, crushing me in a hug before I realized what he was doing. Peta squirmed and I pushed him away so she could slip out of my coat. Her hair was all roughed up and she glared up at us.

  I smiled and gave her a wink. Her face softened and she winked back, then trotted off in the direction of my room, the white tip of her tail a tiny flag.

  “I don’t know,” I finally answered, hugging him back, laying my head on his broad chest. “I think I just needed one last time out on my own. Or maybe I thought you’d hold me back, old man.”

  He snorted and tightened his grip on me. “You’re the only family I have, Rylee. As much as I know it’s your job to stop Orion, to save the world, to me you are the niece I love with all my heart.”

  A thick, tightness wrapped itself around my throat and I closed my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, I know you have to do what you have to do. Doesn’t mean I like it.”

  He led me to the dining room, a spread of food laid out. I sat and tucked in, hunger flaring in me. From across the room, Daisy headed my way, Zane in her arms.

  “I think he’s missed you,” she said, giving the little boy to me before I could protest.

  He lay in my arms, green eyes staring up at me, little hands reaching for my face. He let out a coo and his fingers touche
d my cheek. “It seems he’s growing so fast.”

  “He is, but then, all babies grow fast when you haven’t seen them for a day or two.” She laughed. “With your own, you won’t see it until you look back.”

  I held him, rocking, until his eyes drooped and his hands dropped to his blankets. Milly’s boy.

  My girl.

  I wondered if they would be friends as they grew up, or would they fight like cats and dogs? I handed Zane back to Daisy. “I have a little more to do and then I can help you more with him.”

  She laughed again, her eyes crinkling up. “Oh, he’s an easy baby. I don’t mind at all.”

  As Daisy left, Erik touched my hand to get my attention. “She lost her child, just before we showed up, which is why she can nurse him. She’s a good girl, a good mother.”

  I wondered why he was telling me that. I could see she was a good sort, even with my ability to Track tamped down in the monastery. We finished eating and I sat while the supernaturals around us talked. I knew I was stalling. Peta knew a fire elemental, I had the venom and the blood, and we knew the words that needed to be said over the mixture to make it kindle.

  But I just sat there, thinking. It wasn’t pain I was afraid of. No, it was that this was all happening so fast. One minute I was just a Tracker, chasing demons and trying to stop the bad shit in the world, and now I was going to be a mother of a child that I’d not planned on, yet wouldn’t deny for all the world.

  I stood and left the table, left behind the murmuring voices and flow of energy that, if I was honest, was incredibly soothing. The monastery was truly a place of peace and safety. Back in my room, I found Catya sitting on my bed, her legs dangling.

  “How could you leave your parents?”

  She smiled up at me. They are my parents, not my keepers. I have things to do, as do those given great power. My age is irrelevant.

  I was shocked as always at how grown up she sounded. That, and she was becoming more eloquent with her words every time we spoke.

  “I see. Well, I need to find a fire elemental.”

  Peta knows.

  “Yes, I need her to lead me to her.”

  Peta, who’d been stretched out on my bed, rolled to her feet and hopped to the floor. We followed her as she padded down the hallway and through to a room I’d seen before. Peta trotted into the middle of the sand-filled room and leapt onto the chest of the man lying there. He let out a grunt and opened his eyes. If I thought Zane had green eyes, they had nothing on this guy’s. They glowed green, as if there was a fire lit behind them.