Lost Soul (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 2) (8 page)

"What would you like to know?"

"What exactly is it I am supposed to be. This Niamh? What is it?"

"The Niamh is the Hunter."

Another cryptic answer. I gritted my teeth. "That doesn't tell me anything. It's what you told me the last time. I need more information than that."

"The last time we spoke, I told you about the prophecy. You are the ultimate Hunter—a Demon Hunter who will save the world."

I stared at Jess. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

The Titan remained silent. I almost expected her to wind the magical threads of her Immortal power around me. To seduce me with her immortal allure and make me forget everything I wanted to ask her.

But she didn't.

"The prophecy is convoluted. What we do understand of the foretelling is that you will destroy the new Wraith army."

"What is this new army? Who are they and what do they want?" I frowned, not liking the thought of a potential Wraith revolution in the earth plane.

"They are a faction. Their intention is to break the treaty. And gain entry to our world again. They have been banished for a long time, and now there are certain groups within the Wraith realm that believe the punishment meted out for a few indiscretions so long ago were unfair and they want to avenge years of what they call
oppression
."

"Are they right?" I asked, wondering if they were justified in their belief.

"What do you mean?" Jess asked, frowning.

"Was the banishment really unfair? Was it only a few Wraiths who broke the rules?" I clarified, knowing what can happen when only a small group make the rules. It's not like the paranormals had a proper political system.

"From what I recall, the incidences were widespread enough to justify the ruling. Perhaps it was not the entire race of Wraiths who were guilty, but it was enough for them to be deemed dangerous. At the time it was agreed among all the races that they be banished from entering this plane."

I stared at Jess but didn't really see her. It made a lot of sense why an entire race of people would be angered at being punished for the criminal activity of a small minority. But it didn't really matter right now. I needed to get my mother and Anjelo safely out of Wrythiin. And for that I needed to ensure I didn't accidentally bite the hand that fed me information.

Jess continued to speak. "I am here for your protection. But as for information, I can only tell you what you need to know."

I remember the words of the prophecy.
The Cat shall lead the fight and cut them to the quick, but without the help of the Mages and all earthbound Ethereals, her fight will be for naught.

I needed them no matter how frustrating they may be. And I'd just have to find a way to get the information I wanted even if Jess refused to give it to me.

"Thank you, Jess. Please, is there anything else you can tell me?" I had to try. I was working on such meager crumbs of information that even one more piece would help.

"I wish there was, but the full prophecy cannot be trusted for its accuracy." I blinked and frowned. "There are things the prophecy predicts that is open to interpretation. I think it is best you are not told things that may possibly steer you off your course because of interpretation."

"What you mean is the part of the prophecy that says I will be the destroyer of the world?" I'd heard it from two sources in one day. I had a feeling there were more people who knew about it than Grams and the Fae.

Jess stiffened, her eyes turning hard. "Where did you hear that? I do not recall telling you that."

"Did you think I wouldn't find out? I know too many people and too many people know me to keep that kind of thing from me for too long," I said it without being caustic although that's how I felt.

"Kailin, you have to understand. It is just as I said. It is the individual interpretation that makes this prophecy dangerous. You have the right to know what the prophecy says, but you need to be aware that what it says is not necessarily what it means. Prophets have a nasty habit of being misleading. And one's fate is not something to be messed with."

"You think if I know the truth about the prophecy, I'll do something to prevent it from happening?" I frowned, shaking my head. Surely she knew I had more sense than that.

"Sometimes just knowing can set your fate on a different path." Jess shook her head, brooking no argument.

"And you don't want me to walk a different path, right? You want me to be the one to destroy the Wraith Army."

"Yes. It has to be you. You are our only hope." She spoke kindly, gently, but the weight of her words weren't kind or gentle. They were a mantle I wasn't sure I wanted to bear right now.

"Even if it means the destruction of the world?" I asked.

"I do not interpret the words to mean that. It may be metaphorical. The destruction of darkness. Change is known to be destructive too. Perhaps all you will bring about is change. How do we know really? And we cannot sit here, hands bound by one interpretation of a prophecy written a thousand years ago."

"A thousand years?" I swallowed hard. "Someone wrote a prophecy about me a whole millennia ago?"

Jess nodded.

I raised my eyebrows and sat back.
What could a girl say to that?

***

It was after eight when Jess left, but I was restless. Sleep pulled at me, dulling my senses and weighing my eyelids down, but I couldn't rest. Couldn't stop thinking about prophecies and mirrored worlds in which the dead and the demons roamed.

A knock on the door roused me from a semi-sleep and I was not happy. The bedside clock claimed 9 p.m. and I believed it. It had been a long day.

Before I reached the door, I knew who it was.

Gone were the days when I let my guard down. I'd done exactly that when I'd visited my father not too long ago. I'd allowed my emotional baggage to dull my awareness, to let my guard down just long enough to enter the apartment without checking, to allow myself to be abducted by Niko's thugs.

Not happening again.

Lily stood on the threshold, holding a paper bag, grinning at me. Something I was slowly getting used to. Lily had changed. Her spiteful meanness, the hooded eyes, the coldness. They were all gone. She was taking the whole life-saving thing to a whole new level.

In the last two weeks, it had been Lily who'd run my errands, popped in every day to make sure I was eating, to nag me until I forced myself into the shower. Mostly I just did as she asked so she'd leave faster.

I never let her know how much she'd helped me. It was hard to mope when staring down this new, cheerful Lily. Not that I couldn't see the bleakness in her eyes when she thought I wasn't looking.

Anjelo was never far from either of our minds.

"So how has your day been?" she asked, a little too chipper.

"Lily, it's after nine at night." I folded my arms and raised an eyebrow. "I do need my rest you know."

"But I see you've been up and about." She looked me up and down and sauntered into the room. "You actually look pretty damn good for a half-dead panther."

I sighed and shut the door. Now that Lily was here, even the pull of sleep was gone. She was rummaging in the utensil drawer and soon withdrew two spoons.

"I have ice-cream. Double Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Delight." She waved the spoons at me, giving me another toothy grin.

Now how could I say no to that?

I switched on the TV and let an old movie play softly in the background—one appropriately about ghosts, and the making of pottery, of all things.

It seemed so weird. Too normal, too mundane to be sitting here eating chocolate ice cream while Greer was stuck in a demon-filled dead land and my mother and Anjelo were waiting to be saved from a Wraith jail.

"So tell me what's been going on. I take it Logan's been by?"

"Huh?" I stared at her. How would she have known that? I was dressed for sleeping—pajama bottoms and tank top. Then she flicked her eyebrows at my bare arm.

"Yeah. He came by last night. He'd been practicing and wanted to administer another dose of his poison-killing fire." I made a face.

"It sounds so clinical. As if he walked in here with a syringe and jabbed you in the butt."

I snorted. "That would have been the preferred method of administration had I had the choice."

"So now that you're feeling better, what are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, digging into the ice-cream tub.

"Well, we have people to save, in case you forgot. Did Logan fry your brain cells while he was
administering
his treatment?" Lily leaned forward as if by looking into my eyes she could detect any fried brain cells.

"Of course I didn't forget." After a micro-moment of hesitation I continued. "We found Greer. I have to go for her first."

"Really? That super-cold bitch?" For a second, Lily reverted to the Lily I'd known when Anjelo had been around.

I put my hand on her arm, but she held herself stiff. "I know, Lily. And you know how I feel about Greer. I wasn't going to go for her first. I'd honestly decided to go back to Wrythiin first. I even have the seal."

"Then what happened to change your mind?" Her eyes spat fire.

"I decided to be smart about it, so Logan arranged a tracker to scry for Greer, and we found her. Logan made me promise to wait to make my final decision. I guess he wanted to be certain I wouldn't regret my decision. And maybe he was right. The tracker found Greer."

Lily's eyes lit up. "You were scrying for her? Did you have a witch and everything? How did they do it? A map and a crystal necklace I bet. How cool." I gave a wry smile. Lily and I apparently had the same taste in old movies.

"Lily, pay attention. I said we found Greer."

"I heard you the first time," she grumbled. "So where exactly is the ice princess?"

"She's in the Greylands." I dropped it on her and waited for her reaction.

"What?" Color drained from her face. "Oh, man. That's bad. How the hell did she end up there?"

Not so heartless after all, hey, Lily?

I hid a smile. "No idea. Must be something to do with the fact she jumped into the portal so suddenly. I think Widd'en may have moved the seal, so maybe he changed the destination. I have no clue how it works."

"Typical." Lily sniffed. "She causes herself to end up in the land of the dead and now you have to go save her ice-maiden ass?"

I sighed and sat back, licking my spoon. "Something like that, I guess. It's bad enough she's there but the Death-talker said she had to be saved and quickly. She's going insane."

"Not that she wasn't already." When I looked at Lily, she met my gaze all innocence as she stuck more ice cream into her mouth. "You know, insane I mean."

I shook my head, the pit of my stomach still unhappy with my new plans. "Yeah, well, I have to go get her."

"You won't be going alone."

"Unfortunately, I will," I replied, keeping my features neutral.

"No way. I'm coming with you," she insisted, moving to the edge of the sofa as if she were ready to battle it out with me.

"Lily, I told you already, this life-debt thing you keep going on about, it's silly. You don't owe me anything."

"It's not about that. You and I have been through a lot together, and sure I owe you my life, but I'm your friend too. I won't let you go to the land of the dead alone. Ailuros knows what you will find there." Lily's face lost all its humor as she contemplated the impending disaster that was my mission.

"Lily, I'll find demons and ghosts and Greer. Stop being so dramatic."

"Whatever. I'm still coming." Her chin jutted out and her eyes were sparking.

"No you're not."

"Why are you being so damned difficult?"

"Because you can't come. The portals won't allow you through."

"What do you mean?" Lily frowned. The look she gave me said she wasn't going to fall for it.

"The portals are magically protected. If you're not a demon or Dark Ethereal, you can't travel to any of the Dark Ethereal planes if you're alive."

"What? So you're going to kill yourself to save Greer?"

"Lily? Why would you…? Oh… Gosh, you are silly." I shook her hand, curbing the urge to grab her by the shoulders and give her a more thorough shake. On the other hand I just wanted to have a good giggle. "I can cross through the portal while I'm still alive."

"How could you possibly do that?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Because I'm a Hunter."

"Because you're a Wraith Hunter you mean?"

"No. Because I am a Hunter. A Demon Hunter. Like my mother."

"Your mother is a Demon Hunter? But, Kai, Walkers aren't Mages."

"Of course there are walkers who are Mages."

"That's not what our elders told us. As far as we knew, there were no known Walker Mages in existence."