Last Chance (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 3)

by Ayer, T. G.

  Something seemed to snap her out of her thoughts. “Kailin, I don’t like this news. This means Widd’en’s army may still have access to these drugs. They may still be accessing Walkers on the streets, using the drug as a lure. Who knows what they may be doing while possessing such strong bodies. I wish I knew what their agenda was.” She gripped her hands into tight fists at her sides, and I could see how hard she clenched her jaws. I knew her frustration.

  “The last I heard was once the dealer in Chicago was dead, most of the distribution cells closed down. As far as we know, the production of Synthe has ceased, along with distribution so any of Widd’en’s men would now be finding it especially difficult to find a willing Walker body to possess.”

  Illyria looked slightly relieved, but the worry lining her face had not eased. “That is good news. But I am not convinced. That is only Chicago you speak of. What about all the other cities across the Earth world? What if the drug had already been distributed worldwide, giving Wraiths access to Walkers across your globe?”

  I nodded, feeling a darkness gather over me. “You’re voicing every fear I’ve had these past months. But all I can possibly do is believe Omega and Sentinel and the High Council are all working together to ensure that isn’t the case. I don’t think they would have been so calm about it if Chicago were still in danger.”

  Illyria shook her head and smiled sadly at me. “You are still naive, Kailin.” When I bristled at her words, it must have shown on my face. “I apologize for my directness, but you are naive if you think these organizations are being completely honest with you. They each have their own agendas. What makes you think you are getting the right information at all?” I would have been annoyed with her had I not heard the despair in her voice. She was fighting two wars. One against Widd’en’s army to ensure they didn’t advance with their drug-related possessions and the other to ensure their actions didn’t destroy the possibility of all Wraiths rejoining the earth dimension.

  Tension had slowly built along the muscles of my back and shoulders, and I felt the bite in my neck too. I shook my hands and said, “Maybe we should put that out of our minds for now. Let’s get rid of some of this tension.”

  Illyria gave me a weak smile and came to stand in front of me. She got back into position, and I noticed how similar it was to most martial arts stances, soft in the knee, hands at the ready. Then Illyria said, “Show me what you got.”

  We settled into a slow progression first, testing each other, circling the floor. There was no mat to absorb the impact of bone to stone, so I paid extra attention to tackles. Illyria was good, her movements lightning fast, so speedy she was almost as blurring fast as Widd’en. From what she’d said so far, I realized she lacked Widd’en’s experience in both age and involvement within the rebellions.

  I managed to get out of almost every hold she got me into, which frustrated her no end. We were both perspiring when she finally said, “How are you able to get out of every grip?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe my Walker genes?”

  She flipped her hair away from her face and stared at me as if actually considering my words when all I was being was flippant. “Well, there is definitely something giving you a distinct advantage. I have never been bested this way in hand-to-hand combat.” She made a disgusted sound. “I’m not sure I even want to bother to spar with weapons.”

  “Tell me what I can do to help you,” I offered, but she just shrugged.

  “I don’t think there is anything you can do to make me any better. I’m going to chalk it up to a freakish skill on your part. No offense,” she said, giving me a careful glance.

  “None taken,” I said, laughing at the incongruity of it all. “Let’s just hope your intelligence comes soon. Or else we may have to have a few more of these sparring sessions.”

  ***

  Chapter 14

  Illyria let out a loud laugh and was heading to fetch her cloak when a Wraith came to the threshold of the room. At first I thought he was a guard and Illyria wasn’t paying him any attention either.

  The Wraith stood in the doorway for a moment, gave me a cursory glance, then set his gaze on Illyria. His face was well hidden beneath the hood of his cloaks and it annoyed me that Wraiths wore these damned garments. I quite liked seeing the face of an opponent. Because that was what he felt like.

  An opponent.

  I stiffened and watched him watch Illyria. His hand moved to his sword and drew it slowly. I wanted to laugh at his audacity. He knew I was standing there watching him draw his weapon, but it seemed like he’d dismissed the likelihood that I was a possible threat.

  Fool.

  He held out the sword and the moment his weight moved to his front foot, I yelled, “Illyria, watch out.” She glanced up from tying the strings beneath her neck and glared at the Wraith. “Who are you? What do you want?”

  “I am Widd’en and I want your life.” My eyes widened at the statement, but I knew without a doubt this Wraith was not the one I’d killed. Height and shape confirmed this intruder wasn’t the master he claimed to be.

  “Show your face,” Illyria yelled as she tugged the cloak from her neck and flung it at the wall, where it slithered down the stone into an inelegant heap. I wondered why she cared to see his face, but it was possible this particular Wraith was the mole Anjelo had referred to. The Wraith did as instructed and raised one grey-tinged hand to push back the hood of his cloak. As the light fell onto his face, Illyria drew in a shocked breath. “Ni’kai?” She seemed beyond shock as she uttered the name. Then she masked her hurt features and straightened her back. “Why?”

  “Because you are weak. Women should not be allowed to lead, especially not a Wraith army.” His voice was low and sounded like he’d swallowed a cupful of gravel.

  Illyria didn’t seem to care for his opinion. She just sank into her stance, confident of her own prowess. I wasn’t too sure considering she stood barehanded while he wielded a four-foot weapon. For a moment, the Wraith called Ni’kai shrank back. Then he stiffened his spine and lunged for Illyria. She backed away, light on her feet, then circled him. He turned with her, and I could see her intention. Eventually she would guide him toward me. All I needed to do was calmly wait until he had his back to me, then pounce.

  He lunged again, his blade slicing through the soft silk of her shirt. At my gasp, Illyria said, “Kailin, please meet Ni’kai. Son of the noble house of Wen. Loyal soldier in the Rebel army of Wrythiin, now traitor to his order.”

  “Nice to meet you, Nik,” I said from beside him with a smile in my voice. He didn’t bother to look in my direction, although his neck muscles tightened. But he had no choice except to keep moving away from his commander and closer to me.

  He lunged again, and this time Illyria leapt away, leaving me to wonder if she’d allowed him to rip her shirt to give him fake confidence. The next few minutes of failed lunges and strikes made me all the more sure. Although out-weaponed, Illyria was definitely not out-skilled.

  She continued to fend off his attacks while guiding him toward me until he was in position. He was already gasping for air, while Illyria had barely broken a sweat. All the while, I’d kept silent, my only words to the attacker that of my initial greeting. My silence had been my advantage because in the battle with Illyria, he had all but forgotten I was still in the room. If he’d thought I wasn’t a threat, he was sorely mistaken and would soon be finding out what happens when people, and Wraiths, underestimate me.

  I pounced on him, throwing my hands around him, grabbing him in a headlock so firm he would have to break my arms to get out of the grip. Had he been a few inches taller, it would have made things a little harder for me, but thankfully he was almost the same height. The better to keep my hold around his throat. He swatted at my biceps, the movements already feeble. Illyria had done an excellent job in tiring our little traitor.

  I held on tight and squeezed harder, the muscles in my biceps and triceps burning with the effort. Despite being tired, h
e was still incredibly strong, and it was taking longer than necessary to completely overpower him. Belatedly, I realized he was on home turf, that Wraiths were much more powerful in Wrythiin than they were in the Earth world.

  I kept squeezing, and only when my hands began to take on a faint yellow glow did I realize I’d channeled the demon-killing power with barely a thought. Imbued with confidence, I squeezed harder, pulling him backward as he hit my hands. He coughed and struggled for air, the choked sounds of his impaired breathing close to my ear.

  His feet dragged on the smooth stone as he struggled to get a grip with his heels, but again he failed miserably. He’d made two big mistakes: underestimated his commanding officer and dismissed the Walker in the room. I squeezed harder and the glow brightened. His struggles were losing potency and I could tell he was slowly being overcome by the lack of oxygen. Not for the first time did I thank Ailuros that the Wraith physiology was comfortably similar to humans. It made things easier when trying to kill them.

  The sound of his sword clattering to the stone was a welcome relief. He was on his way out at last. I knew I’d been holding back the glow. It would have killed him much faster, but something had stopped me from revealing to Illyria exactly how it worked. And it wasn’t because I saw her as a threat or that I feared she would use me because of it. Deep down, I just felt weird about it because she was a Wraith, and my power meant it made it easier to kill Wraiths. The whole concept didn’t sit too well with me since I’d met a Wraith I knew and liked.

  I glanced down and the metal blade bounced on the ground and came to a stop beside my foot. Even in his almost overcome state, the Wraith was still reaching for his weapon. It was well past time to end this.

  I placed added pressure on his neck and ignored the brightening of the glow. One last squeeze and I let go of him, allowing him to fall to the ground, weak and almost unconscious.

  My concentration on the Wraith drew my attention away from the blur of shadow that came racing into the room. It headed straight for me, and despite Illyria’s shout, the blur didn’t slow down. I was hit full force in my side.

  My golden glow vanished immediately, but it didn’t matter as I was tossed away from Illyria’s attacker. He’d managed to regain his strength enough to raise himself to his elbows. Another Wraith now stood over the traitor, and he didn’t waste time. Or should I say she.

  As the Wraith drew back her sword, I got an eyeful of shapely leather-bound thigh and trim feminine waist. Before I could do anything, she plunged the blade into his abdomen. As she performed the action, the shape of her body blurred, and I shook my head, thinking there was something wrong with my eyes. I blinked away the feeling.

  “No,” Illyria shouted, her hand held out to stop the Wraith from killing the traitor. But it was too late. The female Wraith stood staring at Illyria as the body of the attacker sank to the floor. Illyria hurried forward and fell to her knees beside the corpse, gasping as she turned him to inspect the wound.

  “Did you know him?” I asked, more to break the silence because it was pretty obvious to anyone with eyes in their head that she knew this young Wraith personally.

  She nodded, swallowing hard. “He was my cousin. Son of my father’s brother. He followed me into the Rebel army. In those days, we both shared the same ideals, the same goals.”

  “But now he’s trying to kill you?” I asked, still annoyed that my kill had been unceremoniously taken from me. Must have been my feline instinct, but I had the deepest urge to end this new Wraith’s life just for thwarting my kill.

  “If I had only know he’d changed his loyalty,” she said as she bent over him.

  I glanced again at the newcomer whose hood bunched around her shoulders to reveal her almond-shaped eyes. Again, as I looked straight at her, my eyes felt funny and her shape blurred before me. She watched me, concern in her gaze. Then she sank beside Illyria. “I am truly sorry. I spoke to him in the barracks and he seemed agitated, distracted. Then he left to come here, and I confess I rifled through his belongings and found this.” She handed Illyria a note and sat back on her heels. “When I entered the room, it seemed your friend here was unable to kill him. I had to help.”

  “Kailin was not unable.” Illyria defended me. “She was trying to subdue him without harming him so we could get some information out of him.”

  I stiffened and had to hide my reaction. I’d been trying to make the Wraith very dead. I certainly hadn’t been told that the plan was to keep him alive for interrogation. I glanced at Illyria, but her eyes were all for the piece of paper she held in her hand. Maybe she was just trying to save face for me. She cleared her throat and continued. “Had we been given the chance to interrogate him, we would have had information and my uncle would still have his son… alive.” Her voice was bitter, but it didn’t feel like she was truly reprimanding her rescuer. More like she was upset with the way things played out.

  When I looked up at the Wraith, intending to ask her what made her think I couldn’t handle him, my vision blurred again. I stared at her harder, but she averted her eyes, the attempt to hide her guilt unsuccessful under my sharp gaze. I would have missed it had I not already had my suspicion piqued.

  There was something she wasn’t telling us, and I intended to find out. I walked slowly toward her, my hand closing over the hilt of the knife at my hip. I stopped beside her and waited a moment. “What is wrong with you?” I asked, my tone sharp enough to make her flinch. Besides that one failing, she was good. Her features remained implacable, her eyes unreadable.

  She turned her head to glare at me, affronted. “Wrong with me? There’s nothing wrong with me?” she responded, her voice high-pitched and scratchy.

  “I’m afraid I can’t agree. Every time I look at you, my eyes go blurry. It’s as if you have this film of wavy glass over your body.” I stopped speaking and stared at her, my mouth hanging open.

  Illyria rose to stare at the Wraith as well, suspicion sharpening her features and eyes narrowed .

  And suddenly it hit me. “You’re a shape-changer, aren’t you?” I grabbed her arm and held on tight. I’d heard that shape-changers were able to turn invisible, and the only way to be sure you know where they are is to hold on to them.

  And just as I thought, the moment I laid my hand on her wrist, she disappeared.

  ***

  Chapter 15

  The shape-changer was invisible, but beneath my hand I felt her desperate struggle. She twisted her slim wrist, bending her hand this way and that in a vain attempt to free herself. Unfortunately for her, I had an iron grip and didn’t plan on letting her loose.

  Footsteps echoed to us from the tunnel outside, and Illyria and I shared a concerned glance. She came to stand beside me, some distance from the door in case this was another influx of Wraiths with murder on their mind. Instead, it turned out to be Illyria’s guard and Anjelo with Lily in tow.

  They all came to a standstill just inside the doorway, taking in Illyria’s torn clothing and my strange-looking struggle that appeared a drunken pantomime.

  Illyria motioned for them to wait at the door and they did, although none of them looked too happy about it. Including Lily. She gave me an inquisitive glare, but I couldn’t pay attention to her because my struggles with the invisible hand just increased as the shape-changer made a frantic, last-ditch effort to get free.

  I snorted. “Sorry about that, but you aren’t going anywhere. And even if I let you go, you won’t make it out of this room. The doorway is blocked. Unless, of course, you also have teleportation abilities.”

  Anjelo and Lily were looking at me as if I’d finally lost it. From Anjelo’s expression, he simply wasn’t prepared to take it anymore. “Kai, what the hell is going on here?”

  And just like that, the struggling stopped. So suddenly that I had to squeeze the hand in my grip to be sure I still had her. Then a disembodied voice said, “Kai? Kailin Odel?” The question was hesitant, as if the shape-shifter were hoping I would say no, I
wasn’t this person.

  Sorry to disappoint.

  “Yes, that’s me. Now if you are a suicide bomber, could you kindly get it over with and blow us to bits, or can you take some shape or form so we can have a decent conversation?”

  “Yes. Yes, of course.” The shape-changer slowly became visible, and this time she didn’t look anything like a Wraith. Her white-blond hair shimmered and she glanced at me, her pale-grey eyes apologetic. “I’m terribly sorry, Kailin. Part of my mission was to protect you should you arrive here in Wrythiin. I’m afraid I’ve failed.”

  “Who are you?” My voice was sharper than normal only because I’d already suspected for whom she worked. Grams was going to get an earful from me for not giving me at least a little heads-up.

  “My name is Cassandra Monteith. I work for Sentinel.” She lifted her chin and looked me straight in the eyes. “And I think you already knew that, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, I had an idea.”

  “I do apologize for that.”

  “No need. Although I think you should be apologizing to Illyria for infiltrating her ranks and impersonating one of her officers.” I looked up at the leader of the Rebel army, whose face revealed subdued anger. She had it under control, and I admired her strength.

  “Don’t waste your breath on apologies. What I want to know is why Sentinel is spying on my army.” She glared at Cassandra and folded her arms. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she started to tap her feet while waiting on the shape-changer’s response.

  But she didn’t have to wait too long. Cassandra answered, “I wasn’t here to spy for Sentinel. My mission was to lie low and ensure Anjelo and Celeste Odel remained in good health. Were I to find their lives in danger, I was meant to put a call out for an immediate extraction.” Her expression faltered a little. “Of course, once I found out Celeste was not here, I had to notify HQ. I would have been advised to ready myself and the boy for extraction, but an alert came to me that Kailin would be coming soon and my mission was not at an end.”