“Oh, we don’t have time for this shit,” Hellfire growled with impatience.
Brimstone swallowed again then shut his mouth. “I, ah, that’s good,” he said to Xeata as he tried to set her away from him. “But, we have to go now.”
“S’okay, I go with you,” she said, and they all frowned when she began to slur her words and her wings disappeared. “See I can pass as one of you.”
“No, you can’t come with us,” Brimstone told her, starting to panic when she wouldn’t let him go. “What do I do with her?” he asked them with wide eyes as Xeata wrapped her arms around him and hung on.
Sami shrugged and Julie shook her head.
Hellfire threw her hands up. “I don’t know, but you need to figure it out.”
“Sleepy. I sleep now,” Xeata said, and then she smiled up at Brimstone. “Just put me in your pocket.”
“What?” Brimstone practically shouted the word as Xeata once again turned small and cuddled up in his hand sound asleep. “I’m not putting her in my pocket,” he said. Then he looked up at all of them. “Please, someone tell me what to do with her.”
“Well, I now know a whole lot more about Svrites than I ever did before,” Julie said as they all leaned in and stared at the tiny creature.
“She’s still breathing,” Hellfire commented.
Brimstone wrinkled his nose as he glanced at all of them. “Yeah, this ain’t creepy,”
They all nodded with wide eyes.
“What do I do with her?” he asked again.
Julie shook her head. “I am not sure, that is the strangest thing I have ever seen.”
“Yeah, you and me both,” Brimstone said.
“Just put her down in the bushes and let’s get going,” Hellfire said, glancing around the forest.
Sami spotted a couple Elvren heading their way. At least, he figured they were Elvren. He didn’t remember all the differing species too well anymore but something about the loincloths being their only clothing tipped him off. They wore their hair tied back with what looked like vines, and bows and quivers of arrows hung off their shoulders. As the pair came abreast of them, they nodded and continued on their way without a word. Sami let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.
“I can’t just put her in the bushes, what if someone finds her and eats her?” Brimstone hissed in a quieter tone.
Hellfire shook her head. “Fine, what do you want to do with her?”
“I don’t know,” he said, getting frustrated.
“Well, figure it out,” Hellfire said.
Julie nodded, agreeing with her. “Your sister is right. We need to be going.”
Brimstone walked over to a couple of boulders at the side of the road and gently set the winged Svrite down. Then he pulled some twigs and leaves over top of her for cover. “There, that should do it,” he said, standing up to see them all watching him. “What?” he asked with a scowl.
Hellfire grinned at him. “Aw, that was sweet, you care about her.”
Brimstones scowl grew more pronounced as he marched past them. “Shut up and let’s go.”
Chapter Fifteen
Isoul
SAMI CHUCKLED AND NOTICED Julie was grinning as well. Hellfire snorted and they all continued down the road. Julie led them past a barn, a few shops, an old inn, and then stopped in front of a small drinking house.
“You can wait in there while I go get Isoul,” she said, indicating what looked like an old timey saloon then she held her hand out to them.
Sami shook his head when he saw the money. “I have some, but thanks.”
He’d gotten some money from Zander before they left home.
Hellfire gazed around suspiciously. “Why can’t you just take us to Isoul?” she asked Julie.
Sami glanced around and noticed a man peering at them out of one of the shops across the way. He checked out the other shops but so far, none of the other shopkeepers seemed to be paying them any attention.
“I can’t take you to Isoul’s home. His mate or another Ilyium could be around,” Julie said then nodded towards the drinking house. “Find a table and try not to talk to anyone. I’ll just be a few minutes.” Then she glanced at Brimstone. “Try the red ale. I think you will like it.”
Brimstone’s eyes lit up and after a last appreciative glance at Julie, he turned, and opened the door for them.
“Whoohoo!” Brimstone whistled as he followed the others inside. “I feel like I’m in a western.”
Sami nodded. Hellfire didn’t say anything as they walked up to the bar where the bartender was polishing glasses. Most of the other patrons gave them a cursory glance and went back to their drink and conversations, while two guys at a table near the window continued to eyeball them with interest. Sami, uncomfortable with their attention, kept an inconspicuous eye on them.
“What can I get ya, Nectar?” the bartender asked. He held a bottle of Nectar in one hand and set three shot glasses down on the counter.
Brimstone frowned. “Ah—”
“No, no Nectar,” Sami said quickly before Brimstone could accept. Brim frowned at him and he shrugged. “Later.”
Brimstone turned back to the bartender. “Fine. I’ll have the red ale,” he said.
Then Hellfire, with a glance at Sami, turned and nodded as well. “Me too.”
Sami nodded. “Same.”
No matter how much he might like a taste of Nectar, he didn’t need to get drunk. He had no doubt the amount that the bartender looked like he was going to pour would have had them all under the table in minutes.
The bartender poured their drinks and Sami handed him some money, then they moved to take seats where they could keep an eye on the door and everyone around them.
“This is good,” Brimstone said, taking a sip of his ale. Hellfire didn’t say anything, just sat quietly drinking her ale and studying everyone around them.
Sami nodded and took a swig. It is good.
“So why didn’t you want us drinking this Nectar stuff?” Brimstone asked.
Sami eyed the Phoenix. “Because the amount he was going to pour each of us would have us snoring under the table in half an hour.”
Brimstone raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Sami nodded. “Yeah. It doesn’t take but a few drops of Nectar to make one drunk. We don’t need to be getting drunk.”
Brimstone nodded and shrugged. “Ah, no. I guess not.” Then he held up his thumb and inspected it. “That was some weird shit back there though.”
“I think we can all agree on that,” Hellfire said. Sami nodded in agreement.
Half an hour ticked by and Hellfire began to get antsy. “Gah, what is taking so long? Julie said she’d only be a few minutes.”
“Just chill, she’ll be here,” Brimstone said, having ordered a second red ale which drew a glare from Hellfire.
“She’s back,” Sami said, drawing Hellfire’s attention from her brother to the door. Behind Julie followed a man who looked to be in his late twenties. Of course, if he was a Supe, Sami knew he could be much older. He was also tall with short reddish-brown hair. Isoul looked strong for a mortal but as he glanced at Sami across the room, he seemed a little nervous.
Sami got up and pulled two more chairs up to the table as Julie and Isoul made their way over. A few other patrons seemed a little curious as well, but after Hellfire glared at them, they quickly looked away. Julie introduced Isoul to them as they sat down.
“Julie tells me you are looking for someone,” Isoul said quietly, glancing at Brimstone and Hellfire but not looking at Sami.
“Yes, we are. Our sister,” Hellfire said. Brimstone nodded, staying quiet for a change.
Sami frowned as he studied the guy. He thought he caught the faint scent of dragon, but Julie said Isoul was Ilyium.
Strange.
“There was a lot of excitement at one of the camps a few days ago. I don’t work there, but a friend told me they captured someone very valuable—a young Phoenix girl.” Isoul’s ey
es narrowed on Hellfire and Brimstone.
Sami growled low in his throat, shifting Isoul’s attention to him. It was too late, but he wished Hellfire hadn’t let on that they were also Phoenix. He glared at Isoul and watched as the guy swallowed and glanced away again. In the scent of fear emanating off him, Sami was sure he caught the scent of dragon again.
Curious.
“Where is she? Where is this camp?” Hellfire asked.
Sami could feel Hellfire’s fear for her sister, but she had no idea of the potential danger she and her brother were in themselves if Isoul wasn’t as good a guy as Julie said he was.
Isoul shot a quick glance Sami’s way before looking at Julie.
“Where?” Hellfire repeated with a growl in her voice.
Julie nodded and Isoul turned back to Hellfire. “The camp is not too far. I can take you there, but there is no way you are getting in. There are too many guards.”
Brimstone nodded as he climbed to his feet. “Take us,” he said and started towards the door.
Getting up, they all followed Brimstone out.
“My wagon is in the back,” Isoul told them as he led them behind the drinking house where, indeed, they found an open wagon and horse tied up to a hitching post.
“Guess it beats walking,” Brimstone said as the three of them climbed into the back. Isoul and Julie climbed up onto the front seat and then Isoul clicked his tongue and they took off at a brisk pace.
“Still wish we could fly,” Brimstone muttered as he shifted around and tried to get a little more comfortable on the hard floor of the wagon.
Sami ignored him, watching the scenery pass by.
“Holy shit,” Brimstone exclaimed an hour later as they came upon a forest with silver trees. A few minutes later, there were teal ones interspersed among the silver ones. Sami’s mouth dropped open and Brimstone, mistaking his shock for awe, chuckled. “How cool is that?”
Sami didn’t say anything as he glanced around. His heart began to pound.
“Are you okay?” Hellfire asked, sensing his mood.
“Ah, yeah,” he said, but continued to stare straight ahead.
It couldn’t be, could it?
Turning to see what he was looking at, Hellfire gasped. “What are those?”
Sami swallowed the lump in his throat. “Those are the Giants’ toothpicks.”
“What?” Hellfire asked as she stared at the bright blue chunk of marble with three yellow, crystal spires. Each spire leaned away from the other and all were topped with blue opals.
Sami stared at the humongous crystal spires reaching for the heavens. “Zander, Tierney’s dad, said that before the Giants died off many thousands of years ago they planted fifty of these all over Tartaria.”
“Who named them toothpicks?” Brimstone asked.
“No idea, that’s just what they are called,” Sami said.
“What do they do?” Hellfire asked as they drew closer.
Sami shook his head and Isoul, having heard their conversation, glanced back.
“That, no one knows,” Isoul answered as he pulled the horse to a stop at the T-intersection beside the spires.
“That is … I don’t know, just really cool,” Brimstone said, staring up at the spires.
“Yeah,” Sami breathed as he pulled his gaze away, and stared further down the road.
Isoul flicked the reins, clicked to his horse and turned to the left. This road was much bumpier as they headed for the silver and teal forest.
“I thought you said the camp was to the north?” Sami asked, staring back at the overgrown road they had just turned off.
“It is,” Isoul said.
“I have a very good sense of direction and we seem to be going west, not north,” Hellfire said.
“You are correct, but this is a small detour. We will circle around and come back out on the previous road a few miles ahead,” Julie told her, then glanced at Sami worriedly.
“Why couldn’t we have just continued along the road back there?” Brimstone asked.
Isoul shook his head. “No one goes that way.”
“Why not?” Hellfire asked.
“Leave it alone,” Sami told her a little too gruffly.
Hellfire frowned as she stared at him but Sami ignored her. Then she turned to Julie and Isoul. “What is down that road?” she asked, determined to know.
“Hellfire,” Sami snapped.
She glared at him. “I want to know.”
“That is the way to Razukeen,” Isoul said. “No one takes that road anymore. They say it’s haunted after what happened—” His words interrupted when Julie put a hand on his arm. Isoul glanced at Julie. A moment later, he glanced back at Sami with a frown before facing forward again.
“What? What is it? What did I miss?” Hellfire asked, frowning first at Sami then Isoul, and Julie.
“Sis, leave it,” Brimstone said with a nod, indicating Sami.
The blood had drained from Sami’s face as he sat staring toward his old village, lost in the past. Memories, some he’d forgotten, surfaced so fast that Sami closed his eyes and tried to hold it all back. He couldn’t. He saw the face of his mother, kissing him and telling him to behave as he, Tierney, and Jax left to go play. “Ahryanna and I are going to bake you both a sweet berry cake,” his mother said. It was his and Tierney’s seventh birthday.
Overwhelmed with emotion, hot tears pricked the back of his eyes. Then Hellfire laid her hand on his arm and soothed him in a way that not even Tierney as an empath, could do.
“Sami?” Hellfire asked in a quiet voice.
Sami let out his breath and nodded, unable to speak.
A few miles later Isoul turned back onto the original road. Then it was another two hours before he finally pulled the horse onto a little used track. They followed that for a few more miles until Isoul stopped just inside another forest. This one was filled with red and gold trees.
“We walk the rest of the way,” Isoul said. “It’s not far, but I don’t dare drive us any closer.” After tying his horse to a sturdy tree, he led the way on foot keeping just inside the tree line.
“Hey, so what happened back there?” Hellfire asked when they began walking.
Sami shook his head. “It’s nothing,” he said, though he suspected she knew he was lying. Painful memories of life in Razukeen and his last day there had him feeling out of sorts.
“Fine. But if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here,” Hellfire offered.
“It was nothing,” Sami said again.
Hellfire snorted her disbelief and walked on ahead.
Julie dropped back beside him. “I’m sorry Sami, Isoul didn’t know.”
“It’s fine,” he replied, not wanting to talk about it and changed the subject. “How is it that you and your mother are able to keep your human form so long? I was led to believe there had been a curse cast on all the Raizarch wolves, and that you could only take human form for six hours a week?”
Hellfire slowed so that she could hear Julie’s answer.
“That is true, but during the thirty days of the super eclipse when the three suns begin their alignment with the two moons, we are able to take human form and keep it until they all go back to their normal alignment,” Julie explained.
“So, when the wolves are freed from the realm where they are held prisoner, then the curse will be broken?” Sami asked fully aware Hellfire wanted to stop her sister from her part in the prophecy. Hellfire didn’t meet his gaze.
“No, the Raizarch wolves will be free, but our curse won’t be broken until our pack pledges allegiance to a stronger, more powerful pack. If and when that happens, then the curse will be broken.” Julie said. “Still, freedom from tyranny will be wonderful for the rest of our pack.”
Sami thought about what she said. “From what I’ve been told back home, there aren’t many different packs left.”
Julie nodded. “That is correct, there aren’t. We need to pledge to the Okami, they are the only one mor
e powerful than we are. If they accept us into their pack, then that will free my people from that part of our curse.”
Chapter Sixteen
Razukeen
SAMI SAW ISOUL RAISE HIS HAND and they all stopped. Everyone was quiet as they stared at an ugly stone, and blackened metal fortress. Two Ilyium guarded the front gate while others could be seen in various spots, perched up on the wooden parapets or through the windows inside the building.
“We need to study their routines,” Brimstone said as he grabbed Hellfire to keep her from charging up and demanding her sister back.
Hellfire whirled on him. “We have to get Nix out of there.”
“We do, but if we show ourselves they will take us too, and we won’t be any good to Nix then,” Brimstone said.
“I have someone inside who may be able to help. I will talk to him, see what he knows,” Isoul said with a swallow, and Sami scowled, wondering why he was nervous.
“Who is he?” Hellfire asked.
Isoul met her gaze and took a deep breath. “He is my mate,” he said and turned away to stare at the fortress. “He just started his shift. I will talk to him when he gets off.”
Understanding dawned, and Sami knew Isoul was likely cautious about what he asked his mate regarding where he worked.
“Your mate is Ilyium?” Sami asked.
“When exactly will that be?” Brimstone asked at the same time.
Isoul nodded at Sami and turned to Brimstone. “Early morning, while it is still dark.”
“Is questioning him going to be dangerous?” Sami asked.
“I will just act mildly curious, that is all,” he replied.
Sami nodded and studied the dark ugly building. “And the guards, they don’t live in there?”
Isoul shook his head. “No, there is a town just two miles that way. Most of them live there.” Isoul pointed to a well-used dirt road leading away from the fortress.
They studied the place until the moons, which were getting really close to the suns now, turned the sky pink.
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