The Rising King (21 page)

A hysterical laugh flew from her throat to mix with her tears. “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to believe that.” Her gaze bounced from Dylan to Leo and Lucinda and then finally to Kera. “You’re all in on this?” When they all stood still and silent, the tears came on strong.

“Stop crying,” Dylan said. “It’s a cheap necklace. You said so yourself.” From what Kera could see, Dylan wasn’t moved by his mother’s tears; in fact, they seemed to harden his resolve. “I’m taking you to Grandma and this time, when it gets hard, you’re not going to run away. You’re going to hash out your problems and get your shit together. Okay?”

She stood there, her mouth pinched, eyes puffy, and he leaned forward and repeated, “Okay?”

She blinked and slowly shook her head. “No. It’s not okay.”

Without warning, she launched herself at Dylan and ripped the necklace out of his hand. Kera was about ready to chase after her, but Dylan lunged after his mother instead. She was quick, so it was surprising when she got to the arched opening of the motel’s courtyard, she came to a dust-kicking stop and slowly backed away.

That’s when Kera heard the low growl. Dylan grabbed his mother and pushed her behind him. “Leo? We’ve got company. Take Mom and get inside. Now.”

Leo broke free of Lucinda and approached Dylan’s terrified mother. Her eyes were as big as saucers, and she clutched her necklace like it would shield her from an attack. “I saw something move out there.”

“Whatever’s out there, it’s nothing good,” Leo said in a calm voice. “Let’s go.”

Lucinda moved to Kera’s side, and when another growl came from just beyond the archway, she stiffened. “Things are about to get interesting.” A howl ripped the air and she whipped her head toward the sound. “A lot more interesting.”

Kera homed in on the world outside the motel, and when she did, the rubbing of quills and the snarls and snaps she heard made her sick. “Are those…hell hounds?”

“Big ones,” Dylan called. His gaze slammed into Lucinda’s. “How the hell did those things get here?”

Leo was trying to convince Dylan’s mom to get inside without any luck when Lucinda teleported in front of him and planted a big kiss on his lips, surprising everyone. Pulling away, her eyes filled with regret. A split second later, she was gone. Even Leo couldn’t believe she’d left.

“Now do you believe me?” Dylan shouted. “She isn’t one of us. She never has been and if that doesn’t convince you, nothing will. Get inside. All of you!”

Even Kera was having a hard time believing Lucinda had left. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a dog-shaped shadow dart across the desert outside the motel. She held out her hand and the next instant, her bow appeared with a quiver of arrows slung across her back. She notched an arrow and moved toward Dylan. “How many?”

He glanced at her and she could have sworn he was about to tell her to leave, but for some reason he changed his mind. “Four. Five. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“I’m not leaving.” Kera nodded toward the desert. “Why don’t you light up the sky so we can see?”

He sighed, but he did what she asked, firing several balls of fire into the air that lit up the ground. What she saw made her stomach drop. “Your counting skills need work. It’s more like ten.”

“Thirteen, actually. Nice creepy number.”

He was about to say more when a volley of poisonous quills shot their way. They dove behind the walls. Kera knocked into a pair of trash cans and tipped one over, dislodging the lid. Leo grabbed Dylan’s mother and threw her to the ground just as the quills zipped past. Some stuck in the ground; others ended up bouncing around in the empty concrete hole that used to be a pool.

Kera picked up the trash can lid and rolled it to Leo. He grabbed it and held it in front of Dylan’s mom, who was screaming.

“Is she hit?” Dylan shouted.

“No. Freaked out. Can you blame her? This is totally class-A weird shit for this realm.”

“Get her inside.”

“Working on it.”

Kera popped out and shot an arrow, taking down one of the hounds. Another volley of quills peppered the air. This time she heard the quills pinging off Leo’s trash can lid he used as a shield. She caught Dylan’s eye just as he stepped out in the open and blasted a few hounds before jumping back to safety. “I can make out six.”

He seemed so calm. The magic inside him didn’t bounce around wreaking havoc. His control was beautiful to watch. Magic flowed through him, helped him, and was completely unlike the self-serving dark magic she fought to control.

“Over here,” Leo cried, drawing their attention to the area closer to the rooms and near a long, open-aired hall that connected the motel rooms with the parking lot in the back.

Dylan’s mother screamed. “They have two heads? That’s not possible.”

A hound was trying to sneak in the back way through the dark, narrow hall. “I’ll get this,” Kera called back to Dylan and sprinted forward.

Dylan’s mother panicked and broke free from Leo. The hound tracked her as she made a break for her room. It hunkered down and looked ready to give chase.

Leo rushed forward and slammed his makeshift shield into the hell hound’s heads, dazing the creature. He stabbed his
incordium
dagger into one of the necks, slitting through muscle and tendons and veins. The head instantly lolled to the side, catching the rest of the dog unaware. As it tried to compensate, Leo attacked the other head and brought the hound to its knees and finally to the ground, where it jerked a few times before growing still.

Kera yelled for Leo to duck and she shot two arrows in quick succession, taking out another hound creeping up on him. When she turned to find where Dylan’s mom had gone she saw her wrench open the door to her room and dart inside. Kera followed, arrow ready, searching for the other hound.

A huge commotion sounded the closer Kera got to the room. Pulling the string back to her cheek, she lunged inside. Shattered glass from a broken window littered the floor, but there was no sign of the hound or Dylan’s mom.

A chilling scream came from the back room and Kera darted toward the sound, coming to a stop at the sight of the massive hound cornering Dylan’s mom, its quills spreading and rotating toward the woman cowering on the floor. Kera let loose her arrow. It slammed into the hound’s back, and the creature snarled and twisted around. Kera shot her next arrow at the head on the right. It flopped to the side. She searched her quiver, but found it empty. The hound’s quills started to spread.

Dylan’s mom suddenly smashed a heavy lamp over the hound’s other head. A number of quills jabbed her and she went down. Kera drew her sword and swiped the head from its body in one angry blow. She kicked the hound away from Dylan’s mother and felt for a pulse. The poison was known to move rapidly, and the woman was barely conscious.

The sparkle of yellow caught Kera’s eye. The amber necklace dangled loosely in the woman’s fingers. All she had to do was take it. With it gone, her magic would be safe. Dylan would be safe. Instead of immediately healing the woman, she took the necklace and hid it in her pocket.

Dylan and Leo thundered into the room and came up short when they saw Dylan’s mom lying unconscious on the floor. “Is she…”

Dylan couldn’t seem to finish the question. Kera didn’t look at him. She held her glowing hand over the injury site and drew the poison out. It took longer than expected, and caused the woman a world of pain, but finally, the poison was out.

“Is she going to be okay?” Dylan asked and squatted near her.

“She should be.” Guilt caused Kera to drop her gaze from his. Did he know how close to death his mother had been because of her?

He swept his hand tenderly across his mother’s forehead. “She’s never going to forgive me for this.”

“Why? You didn’t call the hell hounds here.”

“No, but I brought her out here. That’s enough for her to throw in my face.”

“You’re taking her home, where she belongs.” Kera eased the flush on his mother’s face. “She’ll thank you for that later.”

“No better time to leave than now.” Leo lifted the blinds and looked out over the dark desert. “We can’t stay here. It’s not safe. I mean, do you guys feel safe? ’Cause I don’t.”

Dylan’s jaw twitched. “Who’s Lucinda working for?”

The blinds snapped down, and Leo’s right eyebrow shot up. “You’re asking me? Are you kidding? She doesn’t work well with others. Even you’ve noticed that.”

Dylan agreed, though he didn’t look happy about it.

Kera felt bad. Leo didn’t deserve Dylan’s distrust. She did. She touched his tense arm and brought his gaze to her. “Leo’s right. We need to leave.”

He stooped over his mom and gently picked her up. Before he took a step, Kera blurted out, “I think this is about me.”

Guilt over all the lies she’d told pressed in on her. At least she could come clean about part of her activities while they were separated.

Leo moved to stand beside Dylan and they both stared at her. The room had gone completely silent until Dylan asked, “Why you?”

This was the moment she had dreaded. “I…um, I found the Seven Sisters and punished them for killing Wyatt. I think this was Lucinda’s way of getting even.”

“You killed them? All of them? By yourself?” He didn’t seem able to grasp the concept of the girl he loved having a vengeful side.

Well she did, and it wasn’t pretty.

“I didn’t kill them,” she admitted. “I cursed them by making them unable to claim their human forms or leave their part of the world for one hundred years.”

“Wow,” Leo’s voice was heavy with awe. “Did you ever watch
Sleeping Beauty
? Maleficent would be proud.”

A very unpleasant odor filled the room. They all stepped back as the carcass of the hell hound rapidly disintegrated until it was nothing but ash.

Leo cocked his head as he waved away the smell. “Huh, that’s odd.”

“How so?” Dylan asked as he shifted his mother’s weight in his arms.

“Remember that Rodarian you killed at the Ruined City’s gate? The hell hound did pretty much the same poof act, I mean…slower, but still poofy.”

“Granel,” Kera whispered. “He made the hounds and duplicated most of the Rodarians.”

Dylan looked down at his mom and sighed. “I don’t know how this all fits together, but I don’t like it.” He had Leo check all the pockets and looked on the floor. “Where’s the necklace?”

“I don’t know.” The necklace was burning a hole in her pocket, but all she could think of was Dylan using it and dying. “It has to be here.” She made a show of looking for it along with Leo.

Dylan stared at Leo. “Somehow your whacked-out girlfriend managed to take it, didn’t she?”

“I…I don’t know.” Leo’s eyes clouded with hurt, because even though he said he didn’t know, he clearly believed it too. Lucinda had made it too easy to pile all the blame on her.

A disgusted snort came from Dylan, and he turned to leave. Kera trailed behind him, expecting Leo to follow, but Leo didn’t. He just stood over the ashes of the dead hell hound. Kera went to him and placed her hand on his back. “Are you okay?”

His mellow, carefree persona shifted to reveal a wounded heart. “She left. She’s never left me like that. She’s always stayed to protect me.” He glanced at Kera. “That sounds selfish.”

She shook her head. “It sounds like you trusted her, and she let you down.”

He tipped his head up and heaved a heavy sigh. “I love her. I know you won’t believe me, but she was scared. That’s the reason she left. It’s the only reason.”

She didn’t believe him. Not for one second. She’d seen Lucinda fight off far worse things than hell hounds, but right now, she didn’t know what to say. Loving Lucinda was a dangerous pastime. Yet no Lutine had ever left their favorite play toy alive. It was their nature to love them to death. So where had Lucinda gone?

And what would Leo do when she came back?

When Love Disappears

Up until this moment, I’ve never really cared much about anything in my life. Everything I’ve done has been a means to an end. Mom provided me with a place to be, someone I could care about and pretend she cared about me. School afforded me an opportunity to break away from an unhappy life and Mom’s endless rounds of falling for the wrong guy and then leaving. My revolving door of friends, so easily swayed to do what I wanted, when I wanted, gave me the distractions I needed to endure one more day.

Only Kera gave me the reason not to give up, but it didn’t happen overnight.

When I discovered who I really was, what I was, I convinced myself I didn’t want anything to do with Teag. Hell, they didn’t want me as their future
anything,
let alone king. I’d have to be some kind of messed-up crackhead to want to be around people who wanted me dead.

Well, I found my drug. It took a while for it to affect my brain, but it did. Kera. Her strength, her beauty, her deep love for others made me care. Kera loved Teag. She would never leave. I’ve accepted that now. But to be truthful, Teag is where I feel normal. It’s where I belong, and it’s up to me to keep it safe.

That doesn’t mean the
firsts
like the idea of a mutt like me putting a spotlight on their problems, but sometimes the least likely person holds the right answers. I’ve become their champion, not because I want to be the hero, but because Kera sees something in me I’ve never seen, and I want to be that person. The guy she sees is decent and kind and good and noble, things I’ve never aspired to be…until now.

Teag’s future is on the line, and the one thing I’m sure about is that I’m the only one who can fix it.

Mom’s asleep, looking all helpless as she breathes softly next to Kera in the backseat, but that’s only because she’s still passed out. When she wakes up, it’s going to be hell on wheels until we drop her off. Kera’s staring out the window as if she wishes she were anywhere but here with me, and Leo keeps sighing, like he’s about ready to puke out his broken heart on the dashboard.

Why do I seem to be the only one coming completely unglued about Lucinda, the craziest of the crazies, having the only magic that can save Teag?

I bend, shoving my hands through my hair, and let out a low growl that interrupts Leo’s latest sigh. He turns down the song playing on the radio. “Headache?”

I slant him a disbelieving look. “Teag is being chewed up by some nasty ghouls who won’t stay dead, and we just failed to get the one thing that just might get rid of them forever. Yeah, I’ve got a headache.”

“Bro, she’s taking it to Baun.”

“How do you know?” I ask the question to my knees, not trusting myself to look at him. I just might slam my knuckles into his face…accidentally…for falling in love with the enemy, because that’s exactly what Lucinda became once she took the necklace. “You guys don’t seem to get that it’s Lucinda. She’s not a sure bet.”

“Lucinda is crazy,” Kera says from the backseat, “but I think Leo is right. She isn’t crazy enough to destroy the only home she has. I honestly believe she’s with Baun. She would do anything for him. He has some kind of control over her none of us understand.” Kera stares out the window again. “If she’s with him, the magic is safe enough.”

Leo casts a quick glance in the rearview mirror at her. “You’re saying she’s in love with Baun? That I’m…what? A distraction? Why not just shove the knife deeper in my heart and give it a good twist while you’re at it?”

“Not love,” Kera explains. “Loyalty, like you would someone who’s saved you from death. That’s what Faldon and Baun did all those years ago. She was in prison, just like Bodog, and slotted for death. They helped her escape. Gave her a place to call home.”

“Leo’s unspeakably sick, reality-TV-worthy love life is fascinating, but I’m more concerned about the magic she’s carrying. What’s she doing with it? Unlike you, I’m not convinced she’s taking it to Baun. That’s a nice, feel-good ending to our tragedy in the making, but Lucinda isn’t about making others feel good. She’s all about doing the opposite.”

“Bro, I can’t see her keeping it.” Leo twists his hands on the wheel, and fidgets in his seat as if he’s uncomfortable with the idea. “I’m not sure she can use it.”

I can only gape at his gullibility. Is he just now realizing she’s all about creating drama?

“She can.” Kera slips her hand in her pocket and fiddles with something. “The magic has no limits. It can create as easily as it can destroy—that’s why dark magic is scared of it.”

“All this talk about magic and power, it doesn’t make sense to me,” Leo grumbles. “I like being human. It’s not as complicated.”

While Leo mutters to himself about the pros of being human, I twist around and face Kera, not liking the way she’s talking about the dark magic. It sounds like it has its own agenda. “Since when is dark magic an entity unto itself?” I whisper.

She leans forward. “You’ve felt it,” she whispers back. “It’s tempting to let it take over. That’s why it makes us nervous. It wants control.” She sits back and stares out her window again. “It has a lot to offer its host.”

I face forward again, confused by what she’s saying. How can she think something that evil has anything of worth to offer?

“Being human rocks,” Leo says a bit too loudly as if he’s trying to convince himself. He shoots a quick glance my way. “Me being me didn’t bother Cin before. She said she liked it.”

I’m smart enough not to comment.

Leo sighs and his shoulders droop. “But honestly guys, I don’t know what she’ll do with the necklace.” The apologetic look he gives me is full of misery. “I know she’s a bit twisted up in that feline head of hers, but I swear it’s more about her amusement than gaining more power.”

I try to keep quiet, but I can’t. Not about this. “Yesterday you were positive if you were ever in trouble, she’d be there for you. She proved that wrong, too.”

He lets out a deep, bone-shaking sigh. “Give me time, bro. This isn’t easy.”

Leo returns his attention to the road. It’s not like I don’t feel sorry for him. I do. I tried to warn him. Hooking up with Lucinda never made sense. She couldn’t be trusted, and now he knows that for sure. It’s a tough lesson to learn.

By midafternoon, we’ve finally climbed out of the desert and are over halfway home. Northern California is rugged and wild-looking, much like my grandparents’ place in Oregon. There aren’t a lot of towns and traffic is light. After checking on Mom to make sure she was healing well, Kera fell asleep. Leo and I stop at a run-down gas station, fairly certain it saw its last customer in the 1950s. All sorts of
almost
antiques are strewn about the place, from oilcans, spark plugs, tools, and cola bottles to a slightly warped and faded “full service” sign. Leo even unearthed an old packet of unopened gum behind the old cash register.

Leo points me toward the questionable restroom out back. Pit toilets are disgusting. When I step out of the
little boy’s house,
I see Mom scurry backward out of the car and hear her yelling at Kera, who follows her out the same door. Leo jumps out of the driver’s seat and places his hands on the hood, staring at the women. He doesn’t look happy.

I jog up and step between Mom and Kera. “What’s going on?”

“This”—Mom waves her amber necklace under my nose—“is what’s going on. She had it in her pocket.”

I snap my gaze to Kera. She lied? Not a shadow of guilt crosses her face, only a hint of irritation. This whole time, she allowed us to believe Lucinda had taken the necklace. It’s like I don’t even know her.

Kera holds out her hand. “Give it to me.”

It’s laughable the way Kera thinks Mom will just hand it over…and then she does. It’s a life-changing moment. I have always had the ability to persuade people to my way of thinking, but Kera can make them do things they don’t want to do. It’s insane, and wrong, and out-of-control…and she’s not done. She points to the Jeep. “Get in and stay there.”

Not only does Mom do it, but Leo does too. A chill scrubs roughly down my spine. “What are you doing?”

She takes a deep, uneven breath and lets it out. “It’s too dangerous for her to have.”

“I agree.” And I do. But that’s not really what I’m asking her and she knows it. I try to keep my tone level, but fail. “Why did you let me believe Lucinda took it?”

Her head shakes and she moves away from the car. I follow. The emotions coming off of her are hard and confused and erratic. Her summer scent is drowned out by a metallic one I don’t recognize. “I don’t know,” she mutters, then looks back at me. “I just did it and then, even when I wanted to, I couldn’t tell you.”

I take hold of her arms and hold her still, forcing her to look at me. “You haven’t been telling me a lot lately.”

“There is a lot you don’t need to know.”

Wow,
that
stings.

“How can you say that? We’re in this together and that means we share it all. The good, the bad, and the stuff that’s even harder to admit to ourselves.”

Her tongue darts over her full lips as she gazes off. The worry she carries is hot and heavy. It pushes at my skin like a weight I want to throw off, but can’t. A shiver slides through her, and she looks at me. “I—” Her head dips as she fights for words.

“Kera,” I say, knowing exactly where the problem lies. It seems pretty black-and-white to me. “The magic from Navar and my dad needs to be locked away. If we can somehow contain their magic so it’s not harming you—and I know it’s harming you, everyone knows it—
how is that bad
?”

She refuses to look at me. My fingers tighten on her arms. She winces and looks up. The soft violet of her eyes appears darker, harder. “That’s why I hid the necklace from you.”

I loosen my grip, ashamed I’m getting so upset. While I was fighting the dark powers raging in me, and winning, those same powers were having a party in her. They still are, and she doesn’t seem to mind. “I don’t get it. Unless you’re saying you like—”

She looks away. And it falls into place. She likes the power of the dark magic. Sweet, innocent, pure Kera isn’t sweet, pure, or innocent. Not anymore. Faldon had warned me a long time ago, said she was a rebel at heart. From all outward appearances, she’d dealt with Navar’s infusion well. She’d learned how to box the magic up tight, and was rarely tempted to use it, or so she said. But when she took on Baun’s magic, something changed. Her control over the massive powers slipped. Better for her to harbor such evil than anyone else. That’s what she told everyone. She knew the danger of keeping it and had convinced herself she could handle it. She’d even convinced me.

I blink back my shock. “It’s got to go.” I rub my hands up and down her arms and stare into her unsettling eyes. “You have to do it. Get rid of it. Navar’s. Baun’s. All of it.”

“But I’ll be powerless,” she says in a tiny voice, and then she vehemently shakes her head. “It’s too dangerous. I have to keep it.”

“Who said?”

“I do.” She jerks free. “It’s my responsibility. Until Baun is better, I have to keep it.”

“You can’t be serious. Look at you. You’ve changed and not for the better. We have a way of solving your problem, Kera. Why wouldn’t you want to jump on that?”

“Because. It’s
my
problem.” The intensity in her voice is chilling.

I make to touch her and she steps out of reach. I don’t let that stop me. She has to listen to reason. “You don’t have a choice. You know that. It has to be done…and soon. If you don’t think transferring all of it to me is safe, then just give me some of it. Let me help you.”

Her cheeks flush from the heat of anger burning within her. “No, no, no.” She moves in circles, her hands to her head as if she’s about ready to explode. “Lucinda warned me you would try this. She said you’d want it all for yourself. That you’d try to trick me. I defended you. I’m such a fool.”

“Lucinda? You’re trusting her now? That’s a joke, right?”

It’s like I flipped a switch and turned her anger on full blast. Power flares along her arms until her hands glow. She’s about ready to lose control.

“The magic is mine now. I have earned it. My whole life I have wanted this. You cannot take it from me. I won’t let you.”

I hold my palms up toward her. “Take a deep breath, Kera. I’m not your enemy.”

It’s as if I never spoke. The blast that hits me knocks me back on my heels, but I don’t fall. She’s surrounded me with a white-hot power that’s sucking the very air from my lungs. Still, I can’t bring myself to fight back. I could seriously hurt her. Darkness swirls in her hate-filled eyes. It’s like she’s possessed. I say her name, but she doesn’t hear me.

I push back, just a little, in order to get some air. She pushes back harder. I can feel my powers being ripped free. The strangest thing happens. A tiny sliver of light snakes its way from me to the necklace.

I throw up an inner shield, but it only slows down the extraction. Part of her powers are spilling out of her as well. The dark weight is tearing her apart and she doesn’t even know it.

I drop to my knees, clutching at the raw magic she’s culling from my soul. The necklace glows as it collects what’s coming out of us.

Kera stops, panting from her exertion. I have no choice but to fall to my side. I hurt like hell, like there’s a cut to my soul that won’t heal. “Don’t do this.” My voice is weak. Too weak.

She staggers back, holding her waist, staring horrified at the necklace. She appears totally confused by what just happened.

I lie there, slowly bleeding magic into the ground, wondering if she’s going to kill me, because that’s what it feels like. “I love you.”

It’s all I have left to hopefully reach her.

She backs up more, her eyes hollow, her mouth tightly holding in her sobs. When the first one breaks through her lips, she spins around and runs away, not back to the car, but away.

When she’s gone, Leo suddenly shakes himself loose of her control and gets out of the car. “What just happened?”

I stumble to my feet and grab my side. On seeing me struggling to stay upright, he darts over. “Are you okay? Where’s Kera?”