rylee adamson 10 - blood of the lost (39 page)

“What would you call us?”

More like brothers at this point.
The vampire grunted. Liam couldn’t argue. He looked past the circle of unicorns to the sky. The faintest hint of pink tinged the lower horizon in the east. Liam wasn’t terribly worried. A strange sense of peace flowed over him. He’d left her once and found her again, and he had to believe this wasn’t the end for them.

What fear Faris had eased at the thought.
Yes, I think you’re right. We won’t lose her.

Their bond was too strong. He swallowed hard and turned his head, inadvertently catching Lark’s eye. She stared at him, then her head snapped around to the horizon.

“Marco! Get the blackout curtains, something, anything to cover the vamps!”

The remaining Harpy let out a shriek of acknowledgement, but already Liam could feel his skin heating up.

“Berget.” Lark shifted and pretty much laid on top of the smaller vampire. Berget curled up under her, but didn’t take her hands from her sister. None of them could, not as long as Rylee was still fighting to end it.

“Faris, can you open the Veil?” Doran asked, his green eyes swirling with ideas.

Liam shook his head. “No. Not without taking my hands from her.”

The others threw out idea after idea, but Liam already knew the outcome.

And so did Faris.

The sun slid upward and the first rays hit him hard, like being dipped in burning oil.

He bit down on the scream that roared up his throat. Around him the clatter of voices, the whoosh of wings, the scream for him to get under cover.

Too late, seconds and inches too late. Faris breathed through him, a peace that the vampire hadn’t known for hundreds of years and his voice broke on his final words.

“To live for love is a blessing, but to die for love? I see, now, to die for love is an honor.”

CHAPTER 54

RYLEE

THE BLACK VEIL, the seventh Veil and the only thing between the world and the demons at the moment, sucked me in with a rather large belch. I stood in front of Orion, seeing the glow of his aura around his body for the first time. It wasn’t black, but a bright pulsing silver that beat in time with his heart. I looked down at myself. A dim thread of gold ran around my body, also beating in time with my heart.

“You see, you aren’t strong enough.” Orion laughed, stalking toward me. He grabbed my hands and linked our fingers together before I could jerk away from him. I stilled my initial instinct to fight him and locked my fingers around his. His grip was dry and cold, and he squeezed until my knuckles popped, forcing me to one knee.

I shook my head. “No, I’m not strong enough; you’re right.”

His eyes widened. “You admit it?”

Slowly, I lifted my eyes to his. “Not on my own, I’m not.” Around me the flicker of spirits whispered. Lark, Pamela, Berget, Doran, Eve, Ophelia, Charlie, Will, India.

Liam and Faris.

Alex.

They were indistinct and yet their strength fed mine. The pulsing band of gold grew around me until it was three times the size of Orion’s.

He snarled, “That is not fair.”

“All’s fair in love and war, asshole,” I bit out, using the strength they gave me to stand and push Orion to his knees. Around me, the Veil flickered, and I saw it for the first time. It was built of threads, not unlike those I Tracked for a salvage.

Using my ability, I Tracked the Veil, and the world around me opened like a map unfolding. Each piece of the Veil lay out in front of me as simply as a drawing. I let go of one of Orion’s hands so I could run my fingers through the threads around me, plucking at them like a harp. They were all intertwined, but I could fix that.

But that would mean letting go of Orion completely and exposing myself to him.

I swallowed hard, and unlinked our fingers. He leapt toward me, and I braced myself. But the blow never came.

A black, furred figure slammed into him. “No hurts Ryleeeeeeeeeee!”

“Alex, no!”

He glanced back at me, golden eyes glowing in the darkness. “I gots it, boss. You take care of the Veil.”

Shaking, I watched with my mouth hanging open as Alex dodged Orion’s blows while driving him farther from me. Did that mean Alex had died on the other side?

Between Alex and me ran a gold thread—the bond between us. His heart beat in time with mine; a steady pulse that reverberated his strength and love through me.

I lifted my hands and closed my eyes, seeing the Veil. As quickly as I could, I pulled the threads apart, untangling them from one another. Those that went to the first six levels, I left alone, smoothing them out. They were needed. There was still a place for them in the world.

Alex let out a howl that was cut off as quickly as it started. Tears slipped down my face as I grasped the threads of the seventh Veil and began to tie it off. Knot after knot, I tightened the threads in on themselves, over and over again. The bundle of threads vibrated in my hands and I stared at it, knowing I wasn’t quite done. There was one thing left to finalize this sealing of the Veil.

“You fucking little bitch!” Orion screamed at me and I looked up. I was no longer within the darkness, but Orion was.

Alex lay at my feet in his wolf form, his sides heaving. “Finish it, boss.”

Orion hammered his hands on the now solid wall between us. “Fucking little bitch!”

I flipped him off. “You’re repeating yourself, demon. A sign of dementia, perhaps?”

The black Veil shivered and the demons behind me screamed as they were sucked into the seventh Veil, one by one. Their bodies popping as they slid through, like mosquitos hitting a bug zapper. I waited, feeling the demons careening along the threads as they were sucked in from the world.

A vacuum of epic proportions.

Hands touched my shoulders and I knew without looking it was my mom and dad. “Rylee, a life is the final key.”

Alex sat up, shifting into his human form. “Her life, or any life?”

Elle stared at him. “Her blood started the ceremony. She was needed because she was the only one who could see the threads of the Veil and untwist them. The Blood of the Lost created the seven Veils, so it took someone of the same heritage to fix them.” She was avoiding the question. Alex stared her down.

“Any life, or just hers?”

Elle’s eyes never left his and her unwillingness to look my way freaked me out. “You are correct, wolf. Any life will do, now.”

“No, Alex. You aren’t doing this.” I shook my head and tried to back away.

He stood and held his hands out to me. “Rylee, Giselle said I was the lynch pin, and so did Lark. This is the last thing I can do to keep my family safe. To keep those I love from facing this kind of darkness ever again. I can be the lynch pin to keeping your life intact.”

I shook my head, unable to see past the sudden onslaught of tears. “Alex, you can’t. Without you there, my life won’t be intact.”

Yet, already I knew he’d set his mind on it. “I can. I do this because I love you, Rylee. You were my only friend and you believed in me when no one else did. You took me in and saved me.” He wrapped his arms around me and I sobbed into his chest, clinging to him.

“Alex.”

“No, this is the way it’s supposed to be. I can do something no one else can. I can give you back to the world. I can give you back to Marcella and Liam. To all of them. They need you more than they need me and we both know it.”

He kissed the top of my head and I clung to him harder. Not Alex, anyone but him. But that wasn’t true, either, I didn’t want to lose any of my family.

“I can’t let you do this. I am the one who is supposed to die. Not you.”

He shook me lightly, and for the first time I truly knew he was no longer submissive. “You can and you will. For Marcella, if for no one else, you will let me do this. We both know this is the right way. But you have to promise me something,” he said, pulling back from me. Tears streamed down his face too, soaking his cheeks and chest where they dripped. Damn him, he was right. For Marcella, I would let him go.

“Anything,” I whispered through the pain and the tears.

He gave me a quirky smile and for a moment I thought his tongue would loll out. “I want you to go into the desert, get one of those fucking rabbits, and roast it over an open fire for me.”

A sob escaped me, and with it, I lost my ability to speak in coherent sentences. He stepped back, glancing at Elle. “I have to touch the Veil now, don’t I?”

From the corner of my eye I saw her nod. Alex lifted my hands, kissed them both, and then gave me a wobbling smile. “Don’t tell Pamela how I felt about her. She’s lost enough.”

“I won’t,” I whispered.

He swallowed hard. “I love you, Rylee.”

“I love you, Alex.” I couldn’t stop the cry as he stepped backward and into the black Veil. A burst of light exploded outward like a supernova. We were thrown back, and I hit the ground hard, feeling it dig into me like a slab of rock. I tried to open my eyes, but wasn’t able to even blink. Voices surrounded me; first, those I’d been reunited with, and one new one that sent my heart into overdrive.

“It’s okay, baby girl. Go, we’ll be here when it’s your time,” Mom said, and she pressed a kiss against my forehead.

“Alex knew it wasn’t your time to let go. Tell Ophelia . . . tell her I loved her,” Blaz whispered in my ear.

“Tracker. Your damn wolf was right. Love is worth dying for.” Faris breathed over me and I forced my eyes open, though it took all my strength to do it. My heart leaped at the sight of him until I realized what it meant.

Faris was dead. Liam was Faris.

“No, no. I can’t lose you too!” I screamed the words and his arms slid around me, pulling me to his chest.

“Ah, you don’t know how long I’ve waited to know for sure you loved me. That it wasn’t just the wolf you wanted.”

A hiccupping sob escaped me and I’d thought I was through all the tears in my body, but I was wrong again. I held him, feeling the strength in his body as he bent his lips to mine. A kiss that was for the first time free of manipulation or lies.

Just Faris.

“Damn you for making me love you too,” I whispered.

He laughed softly. “I could say the same. But I won’t. Your love . . . I think it might have saved me from penance.”

Faris ran a finger under my eye, swiping away the tears. “Don’t cry for me, Rylee. You were a blessing and a curse, and I am grateful for both.” His blue eyes glimmered with unshed tears. “Maybe I can find my mother and sister now.”

Sniffing, I nodded. “Then this is goodbye.”

He tipped his head to one side and smiled, not a single fang showing. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. It’s hard to say in this world of ours, don’t you think?”

My laugh turned into another sob. “I don’t know anymore, so many people gone, lost.”

“Willingly, Rylee. We all went willingly.” He tucked a finger under my chin. “Remember that, we would all do it again to be at your side. To fight for you. To love you.” He leaned in and kissed me again, soft and gentle, as sweet a kiss as I’d ever tasted. Then he stood and stepped back. “Get out of here, Tracker, you aren’t ready for this adventure . . . not yet.”

My eyes slipped shut again. But Liam didn’t come to say his goodbye and my heart lurched. Perhaps that was my penance for letting Alex go. For allowing him to take my place so I could go home to Marcella and Zane.

They all came to me, my friends, all those I’d lost until their voices blended into one thing.

We love you, Rylee. But it isn’t your time yet. Not yet.

Their voices faded and new ones slipped in and became those I’d left behind.

Doran’s voice was the first I heard. “She’s going to kick my ass for this.”

“I’ll take the blame. Do it,” Lark snapped.

A rush of warmth filled my mouth and I swallowed instinctively. Gulp after gulp of sweet liquid flowed down my throat until my belly was full. I turned my head. “No more.”

Lips brushed against mine. “I have to seal it with a kiss. The kiss you owe me.”

Doran pressed his mouth against mine, his fangs pressing into my skin. I groaned, but not out of pleasure. My body hurt all over, and I struggled to open my eyes.