“Yeah, it’s fine.”
Now he did hug me, from behind where I couldn’t get away, the warmth of his body easing through mine. I relaxed into him for a brief second, and then shot a look at Alex who just sat there, tongue lolling, eyes wide and innocent as ever. He waved at me, but made no move as if he were upset. What had happened while I was locked in with the Daywalker?
As if reading my mind, O’Shea whispered in my ear. “Alex and I had a chat.”
I stiffened up. “You didn’t hurt him, I hope.” O’Shea let go of me, going right back to business.
“Let’s go.”
It didn’t take long to cue up Eagle and Eve, bringing them down to scoop up the remaining Shamans and Alex.
“Rylee, I can take you all if you like. I can pick up a five hundred pound cow, so a few puny humans are nothing.”
I shook my head. “O’Shea and I will wait here. I want to do a walkthrough of this place anyway,” I said, catching O’Shea’s nod out the corner of my eye.
They left in a flurry of wings and wind. O’Shea and I would have about an hour to see what we could find. I was cutting it close with the fire opal, but it would be worth it if we could find out what the hell Jensen was really up to. And if Faris was involved.
I let him lead the way for once, my body sore, and to be honest, something was different about him. I couldn’t pin it down, but I wanted to watch him, see if I could figure it out.
Barely pausing in the threshold of the doorway, O’Shea strode into the main building, the one Jensen had stepped out of.
“Be careful. She might have had other traps, or minions working for her.”
“Minions?”
“I like the sound of it better than slaves.”
We both went silent as we made our way deeper into the adobe building. The walls were thick, and the air no warmer than outside. More than that, the rooms were empty of anything. No furnishings, paintings. It was like it had been abandoned years ago. My skin prickled with awareness as I took a deep breath, the scent of incense long burnt out lingering in the air.
“I’m not seeing anything,” O’Shea said, stopping in the middle of the fourth room we’d come to.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything here.” I let my eyes slide to half mast, focusing on my second sight. The world around me flickered and I could see there were a few things hidden from view. We worked our way back through the rooms we’d already come through, and though there was an item here or there, there was nothing of substance until we were back to the main room. A large hand hewn table dominated the middle of the room, an oversized, leather bound book lying in the middle of it.
I picked the book up and let go of my second sight, pulling the book with me across to the seen world.
“What the . . . ?” O’Shea asked, coming to peer over my shoulder.
It looked like a journal. I flipped through the pages, reading the flowing script with only a little difficulty.
“She was trying to become a vampire in truth,” I said, turning the pages, the story becoming clearer the more I read. “She was going to use the power from the Shamans to transition from Daywalker to vampire. And she was bound to serve . . .” I didn’t say Faris’ name out loud. But there it was on the paper. Jensen had been one of his.
“Is that even possible?”
That was a good question, one that was eating at me. If Jensen had succeeded there would have been a gold rush of sorts set off. Daywalkers were a jealous, power hungry bunch to begin with. If they thought they could become their bigger, badder, more powerful cousins, no Shaman would be safe. Of course, that was assuming Jensen’s recipe was legit.
“I don’t know,” I said, turning another page, fingers gripping the book hard when I read the words on it. This was bad news, in so many ways.
O’Shea said it for me. “Looks like the final ingredient was you.”
That was not good. I tore the damning pages out of the book.
He put a hand out, “What are you doing, that’s evidence?”
I shook the pages at him, “Yeah, evidence my blood could help a Daywalker become a vampire. You think that’s going to help me live a long and fruitful life?”
Folding the sheets up, I jammed them into my inside coat pocket. “The last thing I need is to become a target.” The sound of wings brought my head around. “There’s our ride. Let’s get out of here.”
The agent didn’t say anything else. Smart man. I grabbed the large book, tucking it under my arm. I wanted a chance to have a more thorough read through, when I wasn’t on a salvage or full of demon venom.
The ride back to Louisa’s was a non-event, thank God for small mercies. Once we landed at her place though, the non-event turned into a knockdown, drag out fight. But for once, I wasn’t in it.
The four Shamans were screaming at each other; Louisa had her hand wrapped in Crystal’s hair and was shaking her like a dog with a bone.
The two Guardians were standing back, watching the Shamans as if the women were having tea, not fisticuffs.
“Um, anyone going to break this up?” I asked, sliding from Eve’s back.
Bear raised his eyebrows at me. “Would you like to get between them?”
“No, but I need them,” I said, striding as best I could toward the four women. They weren’t speaking English, I think they were speaking Navajo, so I had no idea what the fight was about. The thing that worried me the most was the current of power circling around them, as if it were building up. Apparently, Louisa had been right and their powers had been returned to them with Jensen dead. I tried to talk over them, asked nicely. Waved my arms. They ignored me. Well, there was one sure way to get their attention.
“Louisa, get your friends under control; you four owe me.”
They stilled as a group, four sets of eyes turning to stare at me in disbelief.
“We owe you?” Louisa asked, her voice deceptively sweet. I smiled at her, cocked a hip and folded my arms across my chest, leather jacket creaking.
“Not only do you owe me, I intend for you to owe me for some time. Each of you.” I pointed to them one at a time.
Louisa sniffed. “I owe you nothing.”
I took a step toward her, anger sparking deep in my belly. “You would go back on your words? What if I hadn’t killed the Daywalker, what then? You’d be nothing. Just a human with a good story.”
She gasped as if I’d struck her across the face.
The negotiations began in earnest then. I’d known it would come down to this. Even though I’d pulled their asses out of the fire, they would bargain with me how much it was worth to them.
We settled on two favours per Shaman, plus a question each. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a lot, but when it comes to Shamans. each thing you receive from them is costly. I’d gotten a landslide of bonuses for breaking them all free of the Daywalker.
“How’d she catch you, anyway?” I asked.
The Shamans blushed a deep scarlet, and Louisa raised her hand. “It is an embarrassment that it even happened. We were prideful and foolish. That is enough, do not ask us again.”
Someone behind us cleared his throat. O’Shea lifted his eyebrows at me. “Let’s make this happen.”
“Working on it,” I said, frowning at him. Since when did he get his knickers in a knot about hurrying things up?
“Ladies, I need to ask to use one of my favours from each of you. Right now.”
Except for Louisa, they all looked surprised, but they nodded. I took a breath and said, “I need you to help me purge the demon venom I’ve got stuck in me.”
Louisa smiled and the other Shamans nodded, though I could see Crystal’s eyes widen briefly before she hid her emotions.
“Of course,” Louisa said. “We will do so immediately. It will take a little time to prepare.”
I pursed my lips and lifted one hand in the air. “There is one other thing.”
The four Shamans stared at me, but again it was Louisa who
spoke. “Another favor?”
“No. Doran will assist. It was the price I had to pay for his help. He gets the venom when it is extracted.”
A collective intake of breath by the four women held my attention. They exchanged glances, their hands flashing as they signed to one another.
Louisa’s eyes had gone from the silver of before back to the dark brown I’d first met her with, brows drawn over them and the corners of her lips tipped downward. Yeah, I didn’t think having Doran involved would make them too happy. Especially not after being snatched by a Daywalker. Too bloody bad.
“Since you have already convinced us to help you, we will do this. But you are pushing the limits of our patience, Tracker.” Never good when a Shaman calls you by your title and not your name.
I shrugged. “That’s how the shit hits the fan.”
The four women dispersed with strict instructions to stay where I was. Fine by me. I made my way up to the back porch, slumped into a chair, put Jensen’s book on my lap, and closed my eyes. Tracking Ricky was easy, and I breathed a sigh of relief; his heart still beat, and while he continued to sleep, for now at least he was alright. I just hoped he could hang on for one more day.
“You sure you’re okay?” O’Shea sat down beside me, the wicker chair creaking under him. The faint musk of wolf and bear wisped around me. I opened my eyes. “I’m fine, but what’s up with you?”
He pulled back, seemingly offended. “What do you mean? Other than pissed off that you won’t trust me, that you won’t let me help you?” Standing up, he pointed into the house. “Inside, where we aren’t going to be overheard.” Yeah, like everyone outside wouldn’t hear us screaming at each other. Right.
I didn’t have the strength to fight him on this, not today.
We wove our way through almost to the front of the house, his hand on my elbow, guiding me until he found a spare room. I tossed the book onto the bed. Shutting the door, he turned me to face him. Okay, time to grow up and be an adult about this.
I stared up at him. “Tell me the real reason you’re helping me. You spent years thinking I was a criminal, and now you’ve got a girlfriend, why are you still hanging around?”
He frowned, confusion marring his features and clouding his eyes. “A girlfriend? I’m not seeing anyone.”
Damn, he was going to make me say it. I cleared my throat and waved a hand in the air. “Milly. I know you two are . . .” I waved my hands in the air bumping them against each other, still not able to say it. So much for being an adult.
His eyebrows shot into his hairline and just as quickly swept down into a frown. “You think I’m sleeping with Milly? Are you out of your mind?”
I let myself step back. “The two of you, after India was taken home . . . .” I never got to finish my sentence. In a flash of movement I could have avoided if I wasn’t so damn tired, he was on me.
O’Shea pinned me against the wall, his hands wrapped around my wrist, body pressing into mine. Not necessarily a bad thing.
“What do you think you saw between me and your skanky so-called friend?”
Jaw tight, I did my best to ignore the flush of heat between us, the lust that tightened my muscles and begged for me to slide my fingers over his skin. Nope, couldn’t happen. Unless, of course, I was wrong about him and Milly? Hope slid through me and I pushed it away. I’d seen the lipstick on his skin, seen the way she’d looked at him.
“It’s not what I thought I saw. You two went for coffee, I know what that means . . .”
He cut me off again, his mouth dangerously close to mine. “You saw me ask her to call me. To talk about the case, about India’s case. That’s it. You might not care why the Coven took the kid, but it’s my job to find out why. Milly was my best shot at figuring out the motive. She understands witches; I don’t.”
I wanted to believe him, but I knew my friend. She wouldn’t let a man like O’Shea slip past her, not even for me.
“Men don’t talk to Milly. It’s not what she’s known for when it comes to her mouth.” I shifted my weight. If I wanted to get away, I could; but really, I didn’t want to end this moment.
O’Shea’s lips hovered over mine, the feel of his breath against my skin, and I fought the desire to lean into him. All it would take was a simple tilt of my head to taste him once more.
Dark eyes searched mine, a look of confusion filling them before he gave me a smile, soft and oh-so-tender. His fingers on my wrists were gentle, circling the sensitive skin and sending a shiver of lust through me.
“You mean to tell me that from one phone call, and a single coffee meeting, you deduced Milly and I were sleeping together?” He let out a low laugh, “That’s not very good detective work, when you didn’t even interrogate the suspects.”
“She had love bites. And you had lipstick on your neck,” I said, spitting it out before I thought better of it.
He whispered his next words, barely breathed out they were so quiet, deep and husky, his lips brushed against my own.
“Rylee, it’s not Milly’s mouth I want.”
I stared up at him, barely daring to breathe. Whatever chills I’d been feeling were gone, his body pressed against me radiated heat and desire. Shit, now what? O’Shea’s dark eyes beckoned to me, his hands working their way up to my shoulders, slipping underneath my jacket and pushing it off my body.
Ah, screw it.
Reaching up, I closed the miniscule distance between us, our lips meeting with a soft groan; his or mine, I had no idea. With one swift move, O’Shea picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist, jacket dropping to the floor. His arousal throbbed against me as his hands worked my shirt off. With a frustrated growl, he yanked my shirt over my head, eyes full of desire. For me, not for Milly. I was so focussed on the sensations, the desire, the play of his hands on my skin, I didn’t hear the knock on the door.
He pulled away from me and I whimpered. I actually fucking whimpered.
“Yeah?”
“We are ready for Rylee now. Bring her out. And don’t bother putting your clothes on, Rylee. We need you naked. There is a robe on the back of the door.”
Great. My face heated and I stared at the ground in an attempt to get my body under control. Slow even breaths helped, but when O’Shea, Liam, began to strip me out of the rest of my clothes, my heart picked back up.
“Stop, I can do this myself,” I said, giving him a half-hearted push away. He grinned up at me and nipped the skin on my side. A shot of adrenaline zinged through me. “I mean it.” Gods, my voice was breathy, this was ridiculous.
Laughing softly, Liam stood, and even turned his back to me. “It’s not like I haven’t seen you in your bare skin before.”
“Not the point,” I said, stepping out of my jeans and stripping down to the buff. The only thing I left on was the fire opal, the stone nestled in the hollow of my throat. Liam shifted to let me reach past him for the robe, his eyes tracing my body.
“Damn. Timing sucks,” he said, his voice husky.
Laughing softly, I slipped on the robe and cinched it around my waist. “You’re telling me.”
15
“You must choose someone to go with you. Someone you can trust.”
Crap, I’d forgotten about that part. It was bad enough I needed the Shamans to help me, bad enough that Doran was sitting off to the side, smirking at me in my thin robe, his opal hanging from my neck.
“I’ll go with her,” Liam said, and before I could say yes or no, he shrugged out of his coat and pulled his shirt over his head.
Doran gave a low whistle, eyes dilating as he stared at Liam’s bare chest. “Lucky girl.”
“Shut up, Doran, you are here only because you must be,” Louisa said, her voice firm and calm, but her eyes flashed. With her powers back, she was no longer the meek woman who’d sat crumpled on her back porch. Now she was the Shaman I remembered: tall, imposing, and in control.
Doran smiled, a glint of fangs at the edge of his lips. “Remember you cal
led me, Louisa.”
“Only because you must be here to help Rylee. No other reason.” She said, glaring at him.
Louisa directed the other Shamans to the four points of the compass around the lodge that, by the smoke billowing out of it, was heating up nicely. Her instructions were all in Navajo, so I turned to Doran. “What should I expect?”
A flash of fangs as he smiled at me did not soothe my worries. “Pain, a lot of pain.”
Well, that sounded absolutely fantastic.
The male Shaman continued to smile as he spoke. “After the venom is lanced, you will sleep for some time. We will leave you on your own until the fires die down.” He beckoned to Liam and handed him a cut glass flask.
“Here, you will need this to collect the venom.” Liam took the flask without a word.
Louisa came back to stand with Doran, singing a chant under her breath as she waved eagle feathers over my face. Smooth, like silk, they slid over my bare skin, tickling and tracing designs. Finishing her chant, Crystal took her place, and sang her chant over me, stroking me with feathers as well. Each of the Shamans did this until they were all back where they’d started, at the four points of the lodge.
Doran stood at the doorway, hands clasped behind his back. With a mocking bow, he gestured for me to go through the hide door. “When you’re ready.”
“Aren’t you going to sing for me?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow.
His face was serious for the first time since I’d met him, and he gave me a slow answer. “When it’s time, I will sing.”
I took a deep breath; not afraid, but anxious. There was the possibility this wouldn’t work. Why would I think that? Because that’s life, and rarely do things go as planned.
With his hand held out to me, I knew what Doran wanted. The fire opal.
Reluctantly, I reached around to untie the knot in the leather cord, holding the stone for a moment in my hand before dropping it into the Shaman’s.
The cold hit me like a hammer blow, but before I could fall to the ground, Liam scooped me up and pushed through the doorway into the sweat lodge.
The heat, as intense as it was, as suffocating as it felt, barely touched the cold lancing through my body. Shivering violently, it was more like a seizure than being cold. My limbs flailed, body bucked as if electricity passed through it. Liam laid me down on a plush pile of robes, the scent of incense and sage floating up around me. A hint of wolf mingled with them and I stared at a grey pelt beneath my shaking fingers.
Immune: A Sexy Urban Fantasy Mystery (Rylee Adamson # 2) Page 13
