I leaned my head against the pillow, the pulsing agony in my head worsening. “What about you? How did you get on in the Fey Lands?”
“Change of subject, eh?”
“I think I need it right now. How did the visit with Dolly’s family go?”
He closed his eyes briefly as if pained. “You ever ask me to go into the Fey Lands with either Libby or Govad Torrell again, and I’ll bite you.”
My lips twitched. “That bad, eh?”
“Oh, you can say that again. I’ll need a month to get over it.”
“May I ask why?”
“After Govad realized she was a demon, Libby lost all her appeal. That pissed Libby off, and they bickered the whole way over.”
“Has Govad met his match?”
“I’d say they both have. And when they tried to put me in the middle…” he shuddered. “Never again.”
“What about Dolly’s family?”
“They already knew of her death. They claim the Earth told them. They all joined hands and sang sad songs when we gave them her necklace and repeated the words she wanted us to convey. They gave us a stick.”
“A stick?”
“Or branch.” He waved his hands to form a shape. “It has leaves coming out of the thing.”
I smiled and said again, “A stick?”
“Yes. A stick. They’ve blessed it. Said now Dolly can travel with us wherever we go.”
“That’s beautiful.”
“It’s a stick.”
I smiled. “And you’re a cynical old vampire. It’s the message behind it that matters.”
“And what’s that?”
“New beginnings,” I whispered. “That’s Dolly all over.”
Tears filled my eyes at the memory of our lost teammate. I ached for her wise wisdom now more than ever.
A tear escaped, gracing my cheek. Bernard leaned over and took my hand. “I hate that you’re here, hurt again,” he said, his voice somber. “I hate that some nasty, cowardly pieces of shit who I want to kill with my bare hands hurt you. But sweetheart, mostly I hate to see such a sad look on your face. Tell me what to do to make it better. Tell me how I can put a smile back on your lips.”
I smiled for him. But it didn’t have enough of a punch behind it to convince Bernard.
He frowned. “Mayra filled me in on some of what happened, including how that ass, Eli, killed Torroro after you’d chained him up. You took it hard.”
I glanced toward the window. “I got hold of Torroro’s energy so we could get him out of the ground. I saw him quake, act scared and confused. He let me manipulate him. Take him over. He understood I wouldn’t hurt him, that we would hand him back to the Evolvers. I promised him he’d be okay.”
“He had a quick death,” Bernard reassured me. “And it’s doubtful they would let him live even if he made it back to the prison.”
“That’s what Kaleb said.” I looked over at him. “But the act, Bernard… it was spiteful and cruel.”
“And so was what they did to you,” he mumbled, the anger in his eyes defying his calm.
“I don’t think Kaleb is dealing.”
“He’s keeping it together. But then again, it’s Kaleb. And it’s you they targeted. I must keep my eye on him.” He lifted my hand, kissing it gently. “I’ll hunt him down. See how he’s faring.” He studied me. “Are you going to be okay?”
I nodded. “I’ll be fine. Kaleb said Mayra should be in soon with one of her potions.” I pulled a face. “It’s going to be horrid. I know it.”
He smirked. “The nastier, the better. Remember?”
“Don’t I just. Thanks, Bernard. It’s good to see you.”
“You too, sweetheart. Now get better so we can go home and put this miserable, archaic place behind us.”
“I like it here.”
“Sure you do.” He rolled his eyes. “I know you too well. And cleaning up with the rest of the females here is not your thing. You’d neuter half the males within a month.”
I laughed. “Yeah. That part I don’t like.”
He kissed my cheek. “Get well for me.”
“I will. Take care of Kaleb.”
“I shall. Off I go.” He released my hand. Pausing at the doorjamb, he looked at me with worry. “Keep those eyes open now. Okay?”
I nodded. “I will. Thanks, buddy.”
“Anytime.”
Not long after he disappeared, Mayra sailed into the room, a bowl of water, a cloth, and a bottle in her hand.
“There you are.” She sighed with relief and made her way over to me. Putting the bowl on the nightstand, she studied me, handing me the wet cloth and instructing me to place it on my head. “It will act as a compress. You’ve got quite a bump there.”
“Yeah, I know. The tree won.”
She picked up the burgundy bottle and removed the cork. “Here. Take this. I’ve added a few things to it. It should take away the headache and have you feeling as good as new in no time.”
I scrunched up my nose at the smell that wafted over. “It’s going to be so gross, isn’t it?”
“No.” She hesitated. “Okay, so it’s gross, but it will do the trick so drink it. Straight from the bottle. The lot.”
“Seriously?”
“You took a hard hit on the head. So it’s this or I sing to you for a few hours to keep you awake. Your choice.”
I grabbed the bottle from her hands. I’ve heard Mayra sing before, and whereas I can’t deny she throws her heart and soul into it, she’s somewhat tone deaf. I knocked back the potion as fast as I could. Then I gagged. “Ugh. Mayra!” I coughed. “That’s the worst one yet.”
She chuckled. “Sorry, hun. But give it several minutes, and you’ll be thanking me profusely.” Her face grew serious as she took the bottle from me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. Just pissed that I got taken out by a tree trunk.”
“It was four on one. And Kaleb told me how Eli was on top of you…” Her breath hitched.
“He wouldn’t have got far Mayra. I screamed and yelled my ass off. I’d have bitten and spat and waited for a weak moment to have taken them down. I was just waiting for my window.”
“You’re saying that so I won’t worry. Ethan told us everything. And I saw your clothes.”
“Did Kaleb hurt Eli?”
“Yeah. He did. Until Cole got in between them. Brent and his Beta came along to help. After that, everything happened fast. Anya wants to come and see you soon. She feels awful.”
“For what? It’s not her fault Eli is a dick. And it’s not like the wolves are part of her pack.”
“I know. But it happened on their land. We’ll pack up soon once you feel up to it and say our goodbyes. The celebrations are still underway, but I doubted you’d want to stay around any longer.”
“No. I don’t.”
“I know.” She patted my hand. “And I know this is an awful way to look at it. But we’re another prisoner down. Only six more to go.”
“It feels more like six hundred.” I sighed. “I can’t wait for everything to go back to normal.”
I thought about the file Theodulf had on me. All that had gone down on the shifter lands and his clear hate for my being. Normal was something that no longer waited for me.
“How will you get the locket to Torroro’s mother?” Mayra asked. I opened my hand to look upon it.
“Who knows? It’s not like they have a delivery service to the Lands of Scala. But we sorted out the delivery of Dolly’s necklace to her family. I’m sure we’ll sort this one, too.”
“I know it doesn’t feel like it but we’ve achieved something big. Major. Huge. We’ve taken out so many prisoners, in such little time, with so few of us.”
“Dan’s worried that might not be a good thing,” I told her.
“Why not?”
“Because it attaches my name to every one of them, including bringing Rudolf down who started all this mess.”
“I don’t get it.
Of course your name will be attached to it. You’re the leader of the IET.”
“Yeah. A human one. One we think they’re expecting to fail. If there is corruption in the Consilium, then I have a feeling Dan’s worried I’ll attract attention from the wrong people.”
Theodulf Cipher came to mind.
“Maybe,” Mayra replied. “But we can’t stop doing what we’re doing because some assholes have a bigger agenda. We keep fighting, watch your back, and you need to talk to Dan about your gift. I know you used it again with Torroro.”
“It was the only way to get him out of his hiding space.”
“And ingenious. But Terra… your gift…”
“I know. We need to look into it and understand it more. We need to dig deeper and find out if I have Fey blood simmering through my veins.”
“Then we’ll do so. When we get home.” She stood. “I’ll go pack a few of my things and tell Zax to do the same. Libby is having fun partying with the wolves, so I’ll leave her to it until it’s time to go. Where’s Bernard?”
“Hunting down Kaleb. Keeping him in line.”
She smiled solemnly. “I’m sure Bernard will stop him from doing something stupid.”
“Kaleb’s not in a good place, is he?”
She shook her head. “It’s going to take him some time to process it all. To see how close his brother…”
“He didn’t get close, Mayra. I’m fine.”
She nodded. “All right. Let’s leave it at that. But if you want to talk.”
“I’m good. I promise.”
“Fine. I’ll stop nagging. I can take the hint. But know—”
The door to my room came crashing open, and a breathless Zax stared at us both. “We’ve got a problem.”
“What is it?” I snatched the sheets back around me as he entered, my ripped top almost exposing me. I really needed to change.
He let out a breath. “Ethan told me. Said he overheard Cole and Kaleb arguing.”
“About what?”
He clamped his lips together, concern reflecting in his eyes.
“What, Zax!”
“Kaleb has gone to Chamaya Moon Fields to challenge his brother. He left about half an hour ago. Cole’s gone with him.”
“Oh shit!” I replied, rushing out of bed.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Zax said, covering his eyes.
“Zax. It’s just a bra. Get over it.” I no longer cared who saw the girls. I had to get to Kaleb before he did something he would regret. Yanking off the ripped top, I rummaged through my belongings to find another one.
“Terra,” Mayra pleaded, “what are you going to do?”
“Get my ass over there and stop him, that’s what. Even if I have to jump in the middle of them myself.”
35
Bernard found us racing out of the cabin with a disgruntled Libby hobbling in heels behind him, her lipstick smudged. At least the wolves liked her. He repeated the same news Zax had discovered, and then we used the map Zax had drawn out to get to where the land bordered Chamaya Moon Fields.
A wall of trees waited for us when we reached the edge of our destination. But without further hesitation, we headed into the forest of Chamaya Moon.
“Stop right there,” a voice said when we reached a muddy pathway.
We did so. But Libby stepped forward.
“Hello, gorgeous,” she breathed, pushing up her chest as she stroked her hips. “I’ve come to play. Wanna play?”
A male shifter, tall, blond, his top half exposed to show off his eight pack—yep, his eight pack—smiled when he caught sight of her. He looked her up and down. “Oh yeah,” he drawled. “I’ll play. The second you tell your buddies to back off from our border.”
She twirled her hair. “Now. Come on.” She stepped closer to him and rubbed her hands up against his chest. She let out her power, and boy did she have power. Even I felt the shimmer of it from where I stood. Zax let out a small moan, Mayra yelped, and Bernard grinned. The patrol shifter didn’t stand a chance.
“Come here,” the shifter growled, grabbing Libby by the waist. She chuckled, leaning in to lick his neck. She stopped midway. “What are you waiting for?” she said to us. “Go on!”
Shaking from the lustful reverie, we all muttered a chorus of ‘of course,’ ‘yeah sure,’ ‘we’re going.’ But then a rustle from the trees had us stopping in our tracks.
Another shifter made an appearance. His bare chest a darker shade than his pack mate. He also had an eight pack slick with—I looked up—no rain. Do these guys oil themselves before turning human or something? They both looked like they’d walked off a photo shoot.
The second shifter approached us warily. “Who are you?”
“Hey, baby,” Libby drawled. She pushed her power out once more. “Come join the party.”
She crooked her finger and wiggled it for him to come forth. He grinned, and we all felt the lustful remnants again as he danced toward her, his eyebrows wiggling in anticipation.
“Go,” she ordered us, snaking her hands around the newcomer’s neck. She moaned, and we picked up her pace. There was no way I wanted to watch that show.
“Wait!” Mayra said once we’d made a good way into the trees. We all halted in our tracks. “They’ll smell us coming a mile off.” She rifled in her bag and pulled out a bottle. “Wolfsbane. Quick. Let me cover you with it.” She chucked the powder over each of us unceremoniously. I coughed as it went in my nose.
“Mayra!”
“Sorry.” She covered herself. Zax and Bernard coughed beside me. “Better to be safe than sorry.” She put the cork back in the bottle and stuffed it back in her bag.
We rushed on, and I stayed close to Bernard. “How long will Libby be able to keep the two pretty boys happy?”
“For as long as she’s enjoying herself. But it depends on them. Some people can shake free of their lust. But they seemed happy enough with her. She’ll play for a while.”
“And if they shake free of it?”
“She’ll knock them out before they even get a sense of what’s happening.” He quickened his pace when we heard the commotion of a cheering crowd. I kept up with him. “Don’t worry about her. We need to stop whatever the hell that noise means.”
In total agreement, I followed him, Mayra and Zax in our wake.
We hid at the border of the trees when an arrangement of cabins came into view. Few people mulled around. Bernard yanked me back into the shadows when he heard someone coming out of their cabin before I did.
“Can you believe Kaleb Cipher is fighting Eli?” One woman said to someone much younger than herself. “He’s challenged him over a human female, of all things. Or that’s what they’re saying.” She tutted, her voice fading away as they walked toward a break in the forest further out. “Bad blood between those two,” we heard her say. “Always has been.”
We heard nothing more.
“Come on.” I dragged on Bernard’s sleeve, ushering Zax and Mayra forward. We darted to cover behind a cabin, then the next, going in the same direction the two women had gone.
About to walk past another, a door creaked open. We all quickly scurried to hide out of the way. But then I saw who it was.
“Cole!” I slipped out before I could stop myself. Bernard clamped his hand over my mouth.
“Terra?” Cole said, confused. He looked around trying to see where his name had come from. Bernard pulled me back. Zax and Mayra tucked in behind him.
It didn’t take Cole long to find us.
“Terra…” he said in surprise.
“Sorry,” I mumbled against Bernard’s hand, not sure to which one of them I said sorry to.
Bernard dropped his hand with an exasperated sigh. “Way to keep us hidden, Terra,” he muttered.
“Sorry,” I said again.
Cole came closer. “What are you doing here?”
“We heard about the challenge,” I replied. “We have to stop it, Cole.”
“I know.” He frowned. �
��I’m trying. But people are more eager for this fight between them than I would have thought.” He grimaced. “And I can’t make Kaleb see sense. I tried…”
“I know. But there has to be something we can do. Can’t we just bash him over the head and carry him home?”
He raised an eyebrow at my desperation. “I don’t think we’ll get away with that. But I don’t want either of my brothers to die today. I’ve tried to talk to my father to see if he can intervene, but he said he can’t interfere with Pack Law. The challenge must go ahead, seeing as Kaleb is so adamant for it to do so. And Eli is just as hungry for it.” He sighed. “There’s a lot of bad blood between them. And Eli attacking you…”
“Was the icing on the cake?”
He took a step closer and stroked the bump on my head. “Something like that.”
Bernard drew me to him in subtle warning the second Cole touched my skin. Anger beset Cole’s features, but he focused on me. “Eli had no right to touch you in that way. But I warned you. Anything of Kaleb’s Eli intends to destroy. Only this time around he picked the wrong one to go after. Kaleb is beyond furious. I’ve never seen him so angry. He’s ready to lose it. Big time. And Eli will get the full brunt of his fury.”
“Your brother crossed a line on both counts,” I snapped. “Theft of an agent’s weapon, killing a being without provocation, attempted sexual assault of an agent.”
Cole frowned, his eyes flashing amber. “I will deal with my brother with on all counts. But if we raise this through PCA channels, then know why my father will do everything in his power to stop Eli from being charged. And he will drag your name and reputation through the mud in the process.”
“And you’d let it, Chief Cipher?” I bit out.
“There is a bigger picture going on here, Terra. Politics aren’t just in existence to piss you off. I have to handle it delicately and when the time is right. I will handle things so justice is done for what Eli did to you, but challenging him to the death isn’t the way to do it.”
Remembering how Kaleb had contained all when I’d woken, a deep sense of foreboding coated my body. “We can’t let him kill Eli.”
“I know that.” He shoved his hand through his hair. “Don’t you think I know? And even though Kaleb has the advantage, Eli has trained hard over the years since Kaleb left. He’s not as easy to take down as Kaleb thinks he is.” I sighed. “What my brother did is unforgivable. And I can’t blame Kaleb for challenging Eli on your behalf.” He looked at me as if I was a complex puzzle to solve. “Hang on…”
Death Be Shifted (The Terra Vane Series Book 6) Page 22
