Last Chance (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 3) (11 page)

“Did they hurt her?” He nodded. “Torture?

“No. They aren’t smart enough to even think of torturing her. They just shoved her around a little, starved her. But she was okay while I was in the cell beside her. I shared all my food with her.”

Tears filmed my eyes and my gut hurt. “Thank you, Anjelo.”

“No need to thank me. I would have done it for anyone, but seeing as she was your mother, she was special to me. I couldn’t stand seeing her suffer. I worry every day about her. How she is, if they’re treating her well.” He looked at his hands, his features dark and shadowed with worry.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and needed to change the topic. Talking about Mom wouldn’t change the fact that she wasn’t here for me to save her. I cleared my throat to loosen the tightness. Then I remembered I’d hit Anjelo pretty hard when Widd’en had taken possession of his body. “Did I hurt you?” I asked.

“When?” asked Anjelo, brow creasing in confusion.

“When Widd’en took over your body in the lab. Don’t you remember?”

“All I recall from Niko’s lab is you and Lily in those glassed-in cells. Then I remember him pumping me with something that made me transform. It was fucking painful.” Anjelo started at his use of profanity, then glanced up guiltily. But I ignored it, didn’t react at all. And he continued. “Then I remembered almost biting Niko, although I don’t recall why I would have done that.”

I shivered as the memories drifted back. “He provoked you. Used the defibrillator on you to try and control your transformation.”

“Geez. Good thing Widd’en didn’t put me in the same cell as him. I’m sure I would have ripped him to pieces because of what little I did remember. But he disappeared not long after he arrived. Him and Greer. Somehow the both of them ended up locked up beside me.”

“Yeah, that would be my fault. Mom and I arrived, and Widd’en’s guards caught us. When I saw him, I demanded to know what happened to you and Greer. Niko’s body was brought to the hall and thrown next to the pool. Then Widd’en just kicked him into the flaming water. I guess he wanted shock value, and he succeeded.”

“So Niko’s dead?” When I nodded, he continued. “I’m sorry, Kai, but I can’t say he didn’t deserve it.”

“I thought the very same until I learned a little but of information not too long ago about Pariahs.”

Anjelo’s gaze snapped to my face. “What about Pariahs?” His tone was edged with awareness.

“According to Grams, there is research to indicate the chemical imbalances that cause a Walker to be Pariah could also have psychological effects. That and the use of the Synthe or any related drug turns the brain to mush.”

“God, Kai, that must suck. Niko and your sister?” I nodded but couldn’t force a word past my tight throat muscles. “Did Greer make it through the portal safely? Did you find her?”

I looked at him and was about to ask him how he knew she’d gone through the portal, but I realized he’d said Mom had been in the cell beside him. I shook my head. “I guess I did, but it’s complicated.”

“That’s bullshit, Kai. I’m not asking for chapter and verse. Just tell me what happened.”

I raised an eyebrow at his outburst, but I continued. “Widd’en moved the key at the last second, and when Greer jumped, she went straight to the Greylands. When we scryed for her, we found her, but it wasn’t so easy to just go fetch her home. Let’s just say I made it to the Greylands, rid the world of a few dozen creepy demons, and brought Greer home in one piece.”

“So she’s okay?” He leaned forward.

When I shook my head, his face fell. “No. Greer’s dead.”

“What?” He whispered the question, and I knew instinctively that he wasn’t grieving for Greer herself, but for Mom’s loss. Anjelo had known Greer when we were kids, had been on the receiving end of her taunts and bullying. He was the last person I’d expect to shed a tear for my sister. “What happened?”

“Brand happened.”

“Brand? Hero’s boss—that drug dealer dude?” Anjelo’s brow furrowed as he stared at me, his expression a study in confusion.

I realized he’d left before I’d discovered Brand, aka Sully the club owner, was the mastermind drug lord supplying Synthe to the Walker clubbers. “Brand and Sully are one and the same. He owned the club, but he was also distributing Synthe. He got Lily onto the drug in the first place.” I hated to remind him of that, but it was something we needed to talk about. “He was also Pariah, hence the association with Niko. But if that’s not bad enough, here’s the kicker —Brand and Greer were an item.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Anjelo was so shocked I’d have forced him to sit if he wasn’t already.

I shook my head. “I wish I was. Every time I think about it, I wish I could turn back time and make sure Greer never got mixed up with him. He got Greer on Synthe too.”

“So what happened to Greer when you brought her back form the Greylands?”

“The Death-talker was convinced Greer was having mental difficulties, and that was true. She seemed to have lost it a bit while she was there. But when she got home, she played us all. Pretended to be on the mend and wanting to do everything right. But the next thing we know, she’s run off with Brand. Long story short, I fought Brand, Greer got in the way, and Brand accidentally slashed her throat open.”

“Shit.” Anjelo rested his head in his hands, then ran his fingers through is hair. “Man. That totally sucks. Your mom was always talking about the two of you and how she couldn’t wait to see you again.”

I sighed. “To be honest, I’m not sure I want to see my mom.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because I didn’t save Greer. I brought home her daughter only for her to die in my arms. Some sister I am.”

“Kai, you’re priceless.” Anjelo snorted and shook his head at me.

“What did I do now?” I asked, confused by his criticism.

“You saved Greer. You did what you could. The last thing your mother would do is hold you responsible for Greer’s decisions and actions. Greer was a big girl, in case you didn’t notice. And not that Celeste didn’t know exactly what she was dealing with when it came to her daughters.”

I watched Anjelo as he spoke. I’d missed him all these weeks, and hearing him say those words was exactly what I’d needed. I sighed. “Right, back to Widd’en?”

“Okay, right,” Anjelo said as he stared off into space, filtering through the memories. “Celeste was in the cell next to me for a few days. Then something happened. Lots of activity, as if the whole army were moving out. In the middle of all their moving, Illyria’s army attacked. They flooded the tunnels and almost overran Widd’en’s troops. But it wasn’t enough. Widd’en’s men managed to grab your mother, but they were interrupted as they headed to my cell. That’s how I was saved. Only because they left me behind.” Anjelo laughed in a self-deprecating way that I didn’t like very much.

“So Illyria and her team have been tracking Widd’en’s army?”

Anjelo nodded. “The last known sighting was on the grounds of an abandoned castle out west. We raided the place, but again, we were too late.” His frustration was clear as he fisted both hands.

I frowned. “How often has that happened?”

“Too often for it to be a coincidence. We’re always getting there a little too late or not quite on time. There are times we arrive and the place is deserted. And others when we end up catching stragglers because the army had only just relocated themselves.”

“Any idea where they are right now?” I asked.

“Not yet. We’re still waiting on the intel.”

I sighed, suddenly exhausted after the rehash of everything I’d been through in the last few weeks.

Anjelo’s eyes widened in concern. “Are you all right? Do you need to rest?”

“No. It’s just that I realized how much we’ve all been through in the last couple months. It’s a wonder we’ve all survived at all.”

“I think we’ve all avoided the clutches of death on the odd occasion,” he said dryly.

“You can say that again.” I laughed. Then I grew serious as I remembered what I wanted to ask Anjelo. “Now tell me what the story is with your Rebel leader. Do you two have something going on?”

“No.” Anjelo seemed affronted by the question as he raised his hands, waving off my words. “No, its nothing like that.”

“Then tell me what it is, because soon, I won’t be the only one to notice you watch her all the time.”

“Look, you have to understand something. Illyria is a female Wraith—”

“Got that part.” I nodded and sat back.

Anjelo glared at me, then continued. “Females here aren’t exactly trusted within any army. The king’s army in Wrythiin refuses to allow women in their ranks, so it’s hard enough having her as part of the Rebel army, let alone at the helm.” He paused as I nodded, understanding the mechanics of the oppression of female rights. “But with Illyria, sometimes I’m not so sure. She’s strong and smart and powerful, but sometimes for her it’s never enough.”

“And you’re wondering how far she would go to prove herself as a capable leader?” I asked.

“Yeah, something like that.” Anjelo nodded, then stared at the table. “So I keep a closer eye on her than I probably should.”

“Well, we don’t have to concern ourselves with them too much longer. Once we have Mom, we can go back home.” I watched his expression in case I saw something that would make me suspect he had no intention of returning home with us. But all he did was nod and look eager enough at the sound of home. “Now, I have one more request.”

“Which is?”

I got to my feet and said, “Take me to your leader.”

***

Not much later, Anjelo walked me to a small room a few doors down from the hall we’d occupied. He knocked and entered without waiting for an answer. I waited in the passage.

“Illyria, Kai has a moment to speak to you if you have time?” he asked, so polite and so precise. It looked like they stood on ceremony here in the Wraith dimension.

A chair scraped and Illyria spoke. “Please ask her to enter. She is most welcome here.”

At that, I entered the room without waiting for Anjelo to summon me. The Rebel leader smiled and waved at one of the three empty chairs in front of her work desk.

I chose one and Anjelo turned and left the room without waiting to see if I needed him. Although I was slightly annoyed, I tried to put it out of my mind. I turned my attention to my hostess. In this room, now well lit by dozens of candles squished down in melted wax and placed over every available surface, I was given the full effect of the Rebel leader’s looks. And I had to admit that even for a Wraith female, she looked pretty good.

“What would you like to talk about?” I asked more as a way to get her started. She’d already indicated the subject of this discussion, but I didn’t want to wait for things to get awkward.

“Anjelo tells me you are a Skinwalker just like him?”

I nodded, not sure how this was relevant.

“And in addition, you are his alpha?”

I laughed. “Only by Anjelo’s own choice. I am part of the ruling alpha family of my clan, but it is my father who is the alpha leader. Anjelo and I relocated to Chicago some time ago, and he has looked up to me in many ways. He decided I was his alpha, and I didn’t have the heart to divest him of the idea.”

I was beginning to wonder where this conversation was headed when Illyria leaned forward, an intense expression filling her eyes. “Now tell me about this ability you have. This golden glow that helps you kill Wraiths.”

I lifted my chin an inch, a little unsettled at her penetrating gaze and her eagerness for information about the glow. Even I still didn’t understand its intricacies. “I inherited it from my mother actually. We have the ability to kill demons, a power beyond a normal demon hunter’s skills.”

“And you use this skill to kill Wraiths? And demons?” There was and edge to her voice that could only be interpreted as judgmental.

I nodded. “Of course, I do. We seem to be having a run of Wraiths infiltrating our city and since I have the ability to kill them with ease, it’s turned to me to get the job done.”

She studied me for a moment, then leaned back against her chair. “These Wraiths, these infiltrators. What are they doing that would necessitate you dispatching them in such a… permanent manner?” I could see she was choosing her words carefully, but the answer to her question was important to her.

“It used to be a simple case of possession, just taking over a human and draining their life force from them.” As I spoke, I noticed the strange tightening of the skin around her eyes. The dislike that emanated from her made me wonder if the Wraiths I was talking about were known to her, but I continued. “In recent months, it has escalated to something more strategic, much more planned.”

“How so?” she asked, picking up a pen and pulling a sheet of paper toward her. She dug in a drawer in front of her and pulled out a little bottle of black ink, which was when I realized that although the pen looked like standard modern issue, it didn’t come with a pre-filled tube of ink. Seemed some technology was ignored here in the Wraith world.

I cleared my throat. “I used to find just random people being possessed. Just normal family men, nobody significant. But slowly, recently, there have been possessions of senators, mob bosses, drug dealers, pimps, and people in various positions of power. It makes me wonder what else is going on that I don’t know about.”