Immune (16 page)

“Oh, no you don’t,” Jensen said, her voice sloppy, face partially melted like a wax candle gone awry. Her head snapped down and she buried her fangs into my calf.

Screaming, I booted her in the head with my other leg, fear overcoming the cold for a split second. I had a vision of her taking my blood and, with it, the demon venom, creating a monster I knew I would have no chance of stopping. I couldn’t let that happen. Her teeth unlatched and she reared her head for another blow. I lurched forward, dragging her with me, my fingers circling around the opal.

Heat rushed through me, freeing my muscles from the bindings of the venom, pushing it back. I kicked her in the face, then scrambled to my feet, my body once more my own.

Opal gripped in one hand, I scooped my sword off the ground, took two strides and was standing over Jensen.

“You picked the wrong girl to bite.” I brought the sword down in a perfect arc, taking Jensen’s head in a shower of blood and gristle.

With my boot, I shoved her body into the fire, a whoosh of flames shooting up to the sky as they engulfed her body. Her head, I left out. Breathing hard, I gripped the opal, wondering if I could hug Doran and kick his ass at the same time. I didn’t know if it was possible, but I was going to try.

“R
yleeeee!” Alex came galloping into the square, bowling into my legs, grabbing at me with a frantic need. I pushed him off me, gently, but with a firm insistence.

“Hey, buddy.” I cleaned off my sword and slid it back into its sheath, then picked up my other one and did the same. O’Shea was right behind the werewolf, sword bared, eyes taking in the scene in one sweep. He didn’t lower his blade though, instead keeping it bared and ready.

“Adamson?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” My leg ached where Jensen bit me, my back stung where my blade had bit in, and my body was still humming with the transition from freezing cold to hot, but she was dead and I wasn’t. Good all around.

O’Shea made a move as if to hug me and I stiffened up. “I said I’m okay.”

“You’ve got blood on your back.” He spun me around for a better look. “It doesn’t look too deep.”

“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.