“Right now.”
Mer started, her eyes narrowing. “The ogres are capable.”
Again, Liam lifted his hand. “I know. But this is what Rylee wants, and she’s running the show.”
Nikko’s eyes met Liam’s and he wished he could send thoughts like with Blaz. Instead, he held the stallion’s gaze, flicking his eyes once toward the ogres who stood twenty feet away. He could only hope it would be enough.
The stallion didn’t question him, but instead gave a soft nicker that floated in the air, his eyes never leaving Liam’s. Almost as a unit, the herd woke, heads and horns lifting into the air. Liam did a quick count. There were less than thirty unicorns, and that was including Calliope in the mix.
Take my daughter with you. We will circle around. There was an edge to Nikko’s voice that Liam caught. The savvy unicorn knew something was up, and he knew better than to come right out and ask.
“Of course. Come on, pretty lady, let’s go see Rylee.”
Calliope trotted over to them and put herself next to Mer. Without hesitation, the ogre dropped her hand to the filly’s withers. Calliope gave a snort and butted her nubby horn against Mer’s thigh.
Mer gave a soft gasp and Liam glanced over to see her face healing. “Don’t forget to thank her.”
The green ogre bent and kissed the tiny unicorn on the nose. “Thank you, precious one.”
Of course. Calliope’s voice was a tiny echo of her father’s; the power was there, but not the iron hardness. At least, not yet.
Liam started them across the long walk to Doran’s home, each step ratcheting up the tension along his spine. Something bad was coming and he was pretty damn sure he knew it would be in the form of ogres trying to kill them. Mer’s back straightened as they walked, but he noted she didn’t offer to stay now that the worst of her wounds were healed.
“He wasn’t always like this. He’d never hit me until after the ceremony with Sas to break ties with the rest of the ogres.” Mer glanced at him.
“Not here. We can talk about it later.” He bit the words out. Calliope turned her eyes to him.
Is something wrong?
Many eyes were on them as they walked, and not one was kind, or even just curious. Hatred flowed through the air like an overwhelming perfume. Someone had heard what Mer had said, and it was going through the ogres like a wildfire.
“Mer.”
“Yes?”
“Protect the foal at all costs.”
He counted the moments in heartbeats. When he hit six and they were forty feet from the ogres’ perimeter, Raw stepped in front of them. He lifted his massive hand, a flame appearing above his fingertips.
“Going somewhere, precious?”
Liam put himself between Mer, Calliope, and Raw.
“She’s coming with me, sweetums.”
Yeah, he had truly begun to take on some of Rylee’s lesser qualities. Like pissing off the bad guys when he shouldn’t. Raw’s face dipped into a shade of red that was almost purple.
“Mer.” Liam put his hand out, pointing at Doran’s, but didn’t take his eyes off Raw, “Take her and go.”
Mer didn’t hesitate, just scooped up Calliope and bolted the last forty feet past the ogres who reached for her. She managed to dodge them all and then she was in the clear. Good enough.
“Our master doesn’t care about a unicorn foal and an ogre whore,” Raw said, laughing. “But you, you are important to him. He will be so very pleased when we hand him your head. Do you know that this knife”—he pulled out a dull, copper blade with a wooden handle—“is cursed? It is the knife that killed the last guardian.” Raw’s grin was feral, madness oozing off him.
Liam didn’t wait. This was not a time to fight, but he needed to buy himself some time. He leapt toward Raw as he shifted into his wolf form. Startled, Raw stumbled back, but not before swinging with the copper knife. It hit Liam in the chest, slicing through his muscles, stuttering his heart. He let out a howl as he hit the ground, calling the wolves to him, even though he’d just sent them away.
It wasn’t his time yet. He knew it was coming, but he’d be damned if he let some piddly-ass demon take him out.
Chapter 4
WAITING ON LIAM was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. So I didn’t wait. I ran inside, Tracking Doran. He was in his herb room and I skidded to a stop in the doorway. “Tell me you can exorcise evil spirits.”
He didn’t flinch. “Maybe. But we are leaving, are we not?”
“Liam is out there, trying to get the Tamoskin crush clear.”
Doran closed his eyes for a split second. “Are you willing to donate to the cause? Your blood makes me stronger.”
I tipped my head and pulled my shirt down, baring my neck. “Do it.”
No need to ask him twice. His lips were on my neck, his teeth pushing through the skin with a soft pop. For Liam, I would give up anything and a little blood was not too much to ask as far as I was concerned.
Doran drank deep, his hands circling around my waist, holding me tight against his body. I stared at his right ear, and noticed the new gold cuff circling the top of it. Wondered if it signified anything.
“Berget, take her.”
Doran handed me off and I was going to protest, but I could barely open my mouth. Shit, how much had he taken?
“A lot. I took a lot to make this happen, Rylee.” He breathed, his eyes sparkling with power. Without another word, he was gone, like he’d disappeared into thin air. Then again, I might have just closed my eyes for a second or two. Berget held me against her side and I didn’t remember her even being there, or taking me.
“That was not smart; he took a lot of your blood. Each time he does, it ties you more to him.” She brushed a hand over my neck and the skin tightened, the two pinpricks healing over.
“Mm frothing bhmmd.” Damn, the words wouldn’t come out. I tried again. “Liam is worth it.”
She let out a little sigh and helped me stand. I was wobbly, but already a little strength was coming back. “Faris?”
“He’s trying to get Thomas to work with him to open up a double doorway, one the unicorns and harpies can easily go through.”
“The harpies are here?”
“Eve, she’s gone to meet them, stall them if she can.” She helped me walk and tried to pull me to the back of the house. “Faris is out here.”
“But Liam is this way,” I grunted and slid out of her hands, using the wall to support my steps. Berget let out a sigh and came around to help me.
“I could just pack you out there, you know.”
I snorted. “Yeah, I know.”
But she didn’t try to, and for that I was grateful.
The courtyard was a seething mess of supernaturals by the time we got there. No one had listened to me. Apparently, everyone wanted to stay and fight. Fucking hell. I’d almost prefer they were still afraid enough to run. A part of me, though, was secretly pleased. When push came to shove, they would fight and work together. That was a good sign at least.
Standing on top of the fountain, Doran chanted, his deep baritone taking me back to the first time Liam had held me tight as the hoarfrost poison had been drawn from me. Doran’s words swirled through the air creating a fog that cut through the night, silvery and sleek.
As it condensed, wolves slunk toward us through it. Correction, werewolves. They were all easily as big as Liam, their backs bristled with hair that stood on end and their teeth were bared. Shadows of the night, it was a fucking eerie scene, straight out of a horror movie. Their eyes glowed gold in the scattered light around us. The wolf at the front shifted, her body emerging from her wolf shape in a smooth wave as she stood in the fog.
Buck naked, she’d obviously never been taught to shift with her clothes. Straight black hair and porcelain skin accentuated her ballerina body.
Alex was suddenly there, putting himself between me and the woman. “Beauty bad,” he snarled, snapping his teeth, his tail stiff in the air.
> She laughed and put a hand to her throat. “Oh my, is this Alex? You escaped us many times.” She sneered. “Impressive. For a submissive.”
From my hip, I took my coiled whip and slowly let it unwind. “Who the fuck are you?”
She flicked her hair back so her body was totally exposed; her nipples didn’t even pucker bad in the cold air. Bitch. Her eyes flashed gold as her wolf rose for a brief second.
Yeah, she really was a bitch.
“You may call me Beauty. I am the leader of this pack.” Her eyes narrowed. “I do believe you have thwarted me in the past, when I tried to kill the submissive.” Her golden eyes flicked to Alex suspiciously, but he didn’t cower, instead stiffening even more as a growl trickled from his lips. “But, he does not seem so submissive now.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be out there, helping Liam?” I was guessing as I pointed with my whip; I’d assumed the howls earlier had been because Liam had called them. Beauty casually looked over her shoulder and then shrugged.
“He sent us to wait for him here. Which means we will wait until he comes.”
Alex didn’t seem convinced of her sincerity. “Bad. She is bad.”
I Tracked demons and evil spirits, just to be safe. The pack was clear—there was nothing coming off them that worried me. But the sudden clatter of hooves steered my mind away from the werewolves.
Nikko came snorting up behind us, his crush strung out in a ‘v’ formation.
What is wrong? The wolf sent us away in a hurry and I sensed there was more than your wish for us to move.
“The ogres are not our friends.” I tried to think of a way to say it so nothing would be given away to Beauty and her pack. “They are friends of Orion.”
Nikko reared up, sending me back a few steps. He came down so hard he cracked the tile at his feet. They meant to take us by surprise? To come down on us as we slept?
“Most likely.”
“Who is this Orion? I have heard his name,” Beauty said, her eyes narrowing.
There was no chance for me to answer. A howl ripped through the night air and there was only one wolf who wasn’t standing in the courtyard.
Liam.
The wolves turned as a pack, bolting into the darkness. I started to follow, knowing there was no way I could keep up to them.
I will carry you; he saved us. Nikko went to one knee and I didn’t think, just leapt on his back. A second unicorn with a coat so red it looked liked fresh spilled blood joined us and Erik leapt astride as though it were nothing.
“Niece, where you go, I go.”
My heart twanged a little, but I had no time to think on it, other than a fleeting thought of, ‘this was what it meant to have blood relatives stand by you’.
“Faris, get people out of here!” I yelled as Nikko leapt forward into the fog Doran created, toward the sounds of ogres roaring. The wolf pack ran at our side, their howls answering Liam’s.
My hands curled tight into Nikko’s mane as he galloped toward the fight. But his steps faltered as we came across a green ogre running toward us, Calliope in her arms.
I Tracked demons and evil spirits again, and got nothing back, and by then I could see who it was. “She’s clean! Mer, get to the house!”
Mer nodded and continued to run.
Be careful, the demons have a cursed knife. Calliope’s voice was soft, but there was no fear in her, only confidence.
Nikko picked up the pace again, catching up with the rear guard of the werewolves, the red unicorn and Erik at our heels. The wolves slammed into the first line of ogres like a wave hitting a rock wall. They were rolled back, their bodies flung by magic and weapons. But that didn’t stop them. Nor did it stop us.
“Run parallel the front line.” The two unicorns moved in tandem.
Nikko spun on his haunches and launched himself to the left. Whatever power I had as a Slayer depended on my heart. I couldn’t destroy a demon when I was afraid or angry. I had to kill them for the right reason.
I had to do this for Liam, because of my love for him.
To protect him.
I snapped my whip out, cracking a gray skinned ogre in the face. He fell back, screaming as though hot acid had been poured onto him. And the result of the whip was more than a little like that. The ogre fell, his skin bubbling and breaking in huge pustules that exploded spraying those around him. A shimmer of darkness oozed from where my whip had cracked him and then the demon was free. For a split second it stared at me, then with a screech, an opening appeared behind it, and the veil seemed to suck the demon back to where it belonged.
All of that happened in two strides of Nikko’s long legs. His horn flashed as he drove it through the thigh of an ogre who stepped in his way. Over and over again, I sent my whip out, desperate to get to Liam. I was afraid to Track him, afraid of what I’d find. I couldn’t see Erik; the red unicorn no longer carried him. The fool had dismounted. Things were going downhill fast and about to get even faster. As my fear for Liam rose, my effectiveness against the demon-possessed ogres fell.
The ogres are circling us.
Sons of bitches. By the time Nikko’s words hit my brain, he was already wrong. They weren’t circling us. We were surrounded.
“Pamela, where are you going?” Frank called to me, but I ignored him.
I wanted to see what was happening. That was the problem with being a kid. No one paid attention to you. No, that wasn’t fair—Rylee never ignored me. She depended on me to help her, and that much I could do. What would she be doing if our places were reversed? I had a feeling we were going to be making a run for it and I knew there were things we needed to take with us. Rylee would want those things, maybe even need them.
I ran into the house, bolting toward Rylee and Liam’s room. Under the mattress were the papers Milly had given Rylee before we’d come back to this side of the veil. I’d seen her stash them there, though I didn’t think Rylee had ever read them. Milly had risked her life to get the papers to Rylee, so I knew they were important. I grabbed them, and stuffed them inside my shirt. Next, I grabbed Rylee’s fire opal Doran had given her and tucked it into my pocket. It wouldn’t activate unless it was right against the skin. I searched around the room, grabbed one of Rylee’s knives and couldn’t think of anything else. I had the short sword Rylee had given me for my birthday, but I didn’t have any other weapons. I hoped I wasn’t forgetting anything.
After being kidnapped not once, but twice, I had learned to be ready for anything. No way was I was letting anyone get their hands on me again. Even though Liam and Rylee had both asked me to restrain myself from killing, I’d had enough. If I had to, I would kill to keep me and my family safe.
I ran back to the courtyard, breathing hard.
“Pamela, what are you doing?” Frank bumped up against me. Like he was fooling me into thinking it was an accident. I tucked a loose strand of hair behind one ear and stepped away from him.
“I want to help.”
Doran looked down from the fountain. “How are you at controlling wind?”
“Better than anyone else here.” Blushing, even though I was being honest, I crawled up the edge of the fountain and took the hand Doran offered me.
“Rylee said we should go,” Frank called after me.
“I’m not leaving without her or Liam. They’re my family.” I didn’t look back at him. It wasn’t that he was a bad guy; he was just needy and naïve.
With a seemingly effortless tug, Doran pulled me up to his perch on the top of the fountain. He wrapped an arm around my waist to steady me, but I couldn’t help the heat in my face. I tried to cover it, but Doran gave me a wink, only making it worse.
I looked out toward the ogre encampment and tried not to think about his arm around me. Focusing on the task at hand helped. I knew I could blast the ogres, even at that distance, but I didn’t know how that would help when we had friends out there. “What do you need me to do?”
“Blow the fog faster. The sooner we can expel th
e evil spirits, the faster we can get Rylee and Liam back.”
That I could do. I lifted my hands and centered my being like Milly had taught me. Picking through the elements, I touched the third one, wind. Breathing evenly, I pulled the element through me and to my fingertips. Wind was not my strongest ability, but it still listened when I asked it to come forward.
From behind us, the cool night breeze turned into a roaring wind that tugged my hair out from my braid, wrapping it around my face and obscuring my vision. But that didn’t matter; the fog was moving faster now.
“Good job, little witch,” Doran murmured and I looked at him. He wasn’t looking at me, but out where the battle had started. I lowered my hands, feeling like it wasn’t enough. What I could do was never enough.
“Come on, now. We need to go or Rylee will have both of our asses.”
He hopped down and held a hand out to me. I took it, focusing on my footing on the slippery fountain. “Yes, that’s true. But one of us would like that very much.” His green eyes popped wide and I slapped a hand over my mouth mumbling past my fingers. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
I should have known, though, that Doran of all people wouldn’t be bothered. He threw his head back, laughing. “Truer words were never spoken, little witch.”
Frank slid in between us, frowning at Doran. “Come on, Faris has a doorway open and there’s nothing you can do now.”
That wasn’t true, and I dug my heels in. “You go ahead, Frank. I’m waiting for Rylee.”
I folded my arms over my chest and did my best imitation of Rylee, even tried to lift an eyebrow, though I’m pretty sure the damn thing didn’t budge.
Doran chuckled still, though whether it was over what I’d said to him, or what I was saying to Frank, I wasn’t sure.
“Frank, go. I’ll look out for her,” Doran said and Frank reluctantly backed away.
Doran put a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Rylee will come out of this.”
“How do you know? Can you Read her?” I asked, hoping that was the case.
“No, I used up everything she gave to make that fog. But I know her. This will just be a bump in the road.”
Wounded: Book 8 (A Rylee Adamson Novel) Page 4
