walker saga 07 - earth (8 page)

The red of her eyes sparkled. “Of all the things I need to thank you for, allowing me to be here to bond with Nandia … well, it’s everything.”

I reached out a hand, finally unable to stop myself from touching the phoenix. Only at the last moment Brace halted my arm.

“She’s majestic but very temperamental,” he said. “More than one Walker has lost fingers to her talons.”

Fury chuckled. “Kind of like her half-Walker.” She’d had the same thought as me.

Sapha did not return the humor. She leveled those eerie red eyes on the Crais half. “I am simply different to you. Don’t mistake it for anything other than that.”

Fury returned the unblinking stare, and for a moment I felt the bond between us waver. There was still dissention in our ranks, and it was weakening us. I hoped that when we found the last half everything would click into place.

“Abby!”

I turned toward the familiar voice. Ria had moved away from the group and was standing in the midst of a patch of jungle. The visual of this burst of green and life in the ash-ridden surroundings was quite spectacular. Everything in the vicinity of the dark mountain was dead, leeched of life. The Regali queen must have been working overtime with her plant-earth-magic to revive this small area.

“Come and meet Sass,” she said, waving a slender hand at me.

I didn’t hesitate to stride across, giving Cerberus a pat as I passed him. The hellhound was in his element surrounded by the other animal guides. He seemed extra friendly with Apollo. They had the same big-and-scary thing going on. As I crossed the space between us, my eyes couldn’t help but focus on the dark shadows which surrounded Ria. It took me a few moments to reconcile what I was seeing –

Holy sweet baby Walkers.
It was a snake. No – not just a snake – a monster, mutant, anaconda, python-on-steroids snake. And Ria was just standing there while it curled all around her.

I paused about three feet from my friend. It was impossible to see the true length of her guide. The body coiled in and around her, then out into the forest area.

“This is Sass,” Ria said, before reaching out and placing her hand onto the section of the snake’s body which was closest. “She’s my guide.”

As the head rose, my breath caught in my throat, and I resisted the urge to turn tail and run as fast as I could. But I couldn’t stop staring at her, my eyes tracking the animal as it unfurled. The scales were a myriad of green colors, starting very bright and working along to darker through the length. As Sass’s head perched up near Ria, I could see that it was the size of my torso, black eyes flickering in the sunlight as she observed me.

There was intelligence in that gaze, and the cold-blooded predatory nature of her kind. A forked tongue flicked out, as if she were tasting the air.

Ria seemed to have no problem that Sass was twirled around her and the largest part of the snake’s body was a yard in diameter and could probably crush Ria in an instant.

Of all the sacred animals, Sass made me hesitate the most to move closer. I had never thought I was scared of snakes – on Earth most of the wildlife had been destroyed, especially in New York City – although I did remember skipping quickly over the images of them in a text book. Huh, guess I did have a bit of an aversion to the reptiles.

The half-Walkers, and Brace, would be able to feel my emotions. All of us were still connected. But no one said anything. There was no judgment in this group. All of us were rocking fears, some more obvious than others.

“The bond is incredible,” Ria said as she turned to glide her hand over Sass’s scaled nose. “When I first touched her, I was almost knocked over by the intensity. Now I can feel her here.” She touched her chest, and then moved to her head. “And here.”

“It is incredible,” I agreed.

The sacred animals had honored us. I just hoped that in the end we were worthy.

“So what are you doing back here, Supes?” Fury drew my attention again, and I was grateful to be able to step away from the reptilian guide.

Sass was amazeballs, but probably the scariest thing I’d ever seen.

“Shouldn’t you be off finding the Earth half?”

I resisted the urge to flip her off; she was just being Fury.

“I’m on my way there. I just wanted to check in with you all first. Make sure there wasn’t some epic battle we were missing out on.”

Delane cleared her throat. Her black wings were sitting securely against her back, but still dramatically towering above her head. Lina lingered close by, and at random moments the Nephilius half would reach out and run her hands along her flank. Like she needed to touch her.

“We’ve been keeping abreast of the situation. I confer with the war council leaders, and so far just small pockets of skirmish. Nothing to worry about.”

That didn’t sit right with me. “What are the Seventine or their creatures waiting for?” I asked no one in particular. “Are they gathering more darkness, or are they simply too busy trying to find enough free energy to break the last of their brothers free?”

No one had an answer, and I hated that more than anything. I didn’t like surprises, especially not when they came in the form of energy-severing assholes hell bent on destroying seven worlds.

“I’ll contact you if anything changes,” Delane said, her expression and tone as serious as always. “But you need to go now and find the Earth half. We must build on our power base. We must be as strong as possible before the apocalypse hits.”

An angel-like creature talking about the apocalypse. Who’d have thought I’d ever see that. And she had a point, as usual. It was time for us to hit the road.

“Stay safe, Abby,” Sapha said.

Somehow I managed to stop my jaw from hitting the floor. That was about the nicest thing she’d ever said to me. She even patted my shoulder as she passed me by.

“I’m going to find Jedi now. He is teaching me about our heritage. I like him.” She spoke with such innocence.

But, and this might be my imagination, there appeared to be a certain animation to her features when she mentioned the very handsome and charming leader of the Gai Walker clan. Those two had been chummy from the start, and I had my suspicions that on his part, at least, there was more than friendship in the feelings. I wasn’t sure if Sapha had quite grasped the concept of mated relationships. I didn’t know what they did on her world. But she definitely felt something.

As Sapha’s thin form disappeared, her eye-catching fire-bird trailing behind, I had a sudden thought.

“Have you been back to Crais?” I asked Fury.

Her white hair flew everywhere when she jerked her head up. She’d been on the ground giving Crete a belly-rub.

“He had a prickle in his fur,” she snapped.

I forced myself not to grin. Of course, it didn’t help that Lucy had just fallen into Colton, her shoulders shaking as laughter rocked her.

Fury ignored this for once. “Dune is back home right now,” she said. “There’s definitely some chaos. The world is struggling with the adjustment. The loss of sun has caused some of the nomads to weaken, their bodies trying to compensate for the change in energy levels.”

“Has anyone died?” A sense of unease washed over me.

Had we made things worse on that world? The Seventine had tried to sever the sun to take the energy. I’d managed to absorb it myself and used to it bring life back to Dronish. But the guilt of what might become of both worlds gnawed at me. And the fact was I didn’t have time right then to go to either planet and check in on them. If I didn’t stop the Seventine, there would be no worlds at all. Priorities.

Fury shook her head, her features creasing. “No, no deaths yet. The dragoonas are fine. They’re hardier than the humanoids.”

I was so relieved, especially about Cleo, Dune’s dragoona friend.

Fury hugged me, hard and sudden, and I returned the gesture.

“Thank you for caring,” she said, her voice muffled in my shoulder. “But now you have to focus. We’ll have time after we destroy the Seventine to pick up the pieces of our worlds, but for now, you have to find the last half.”

She was right. I’d delayed long enough.

I pulled away. Talina and Ria also hugged me. Delane was content with a hand on my shoulder.

“Stay safe, Abbs, we’ll see you again very soon,” Talina said, her warm brown eyes capturing my attention.

She had been quiet, but then she often got lost in all of the large and loud personalities in our group. Apollo stuck close to her, and it was clear that she enjoyed resting her hands against the water dragon.

“Was everything okay on Spurn?” I asked her quickly.

She nodded. “Yeah, Ladre is still there trying to do … political things. I couldn’t stand it any longer, so I returned.” She shrugged. “I miss him, though.”

I gave her an extra hug before turning away. Our bond hummed between the six of us as I left the girls. Cerberus also abandoned his catch-ups with the other animals, and as he loped across to me I paused to let him reach my side.

“Cere,” I said, pulling his heads together for a hug. “You can’t come to Earth, buddy. Your power will be muted there, and your badass scariness is probably going to freak out my half-Walker, and she’ll run screaming in the other direction.”

He gave a growling bark, and it sounded like he was pleased at the thought of being scary. I pulled back, but kept both hands resting against his coarse, dark fur.

“I’ll be back soon, buddy, and then we’re going to put those Seventine down.”

Both of his heads nodded.

“Stay here and keep the girls safe, and bond with the other guides. They need you.”

His large, dark eyes glittered at me. I could tell he didn’t want to let me go to Earth without him, but he seemed to be more accepting than the last time I’d tried to leave him behind. Maybe he’d been to Earth before and knew it was not a hospitable place for those with lots of energy.

Finally, he lowered those heads and each one licked me up the side of my face. It was all kinds of gross, doggy drool, but still the sweetest thing ever.

“I love you, Cere,” I said.

And I could feel the warmth of his return love as he licked me again.

My arms felt empty, my heart heavier as he turned away and made his way back to the other sacred animals. He glanced back once and our gazes clashed. It felt wrong to leave him, but I knew that we’d meet again very soon. I just had to finish up this damn task and get rid of the Seventine.

My breathing was ragged by the time I stepped across to stand beside Lucy and Colton. Brace had taken off just after we arrived, heading to the Abernath section. He had to check in with his people, and the war council. I felt terrible that he was neglecting his duties as princeps for me, but no one questioned him. They understood. Plus he was kind of a scary warrior when it came to me, and no one wanted to push those buttons.

On my way, baby. Wait right there.

I could see his giant form pushing through the crowds.

Everything okay with the clan?
I wanted to know.

He nodded and since he was back at my side, switched to talking out loud. “Yes, nothing for you to worry about, Red.”

Yeah, I was still going to worry. A crinkling sound caught my attention, and I lowered my eyes to see what he held. It was a brown bag. I was curious for about ten seconds before he unscrunched the top and pulled out four sub-style sandwiches. Curiosity died as hunger flared to life.

I pretty much pounced on him, and Lucy was right behind me.

Brace laughed. “Gods … I need all ten fingers, girls, so give me a second … I won’t eat your sandwiches.”

I couldn’t remember the last time we got to eat properly.

Lucy was still grabbing at him. “I’m not sure I trust you, and until that food is in my hands, I’m in attack mode.”

Brace threw two of the subs in a graceful arc, and Colton caught them.

“Fetch,” I said to Luce with a wicked grin.

Once Lucy had dived across to harass her own mate, Brace handed me my goodness. My stomach roared at me, unhappy about the length of time between meals. Sure, as awesome mythical creatures we could go a long time without food, but that didn’t mean I was happy about it. Or that I wasn’t going to totally shovel this beef sub into my mouth as fast as possible.

We finished our food within minutes, all of us silent, mouths too full for conversation. Brace also had a jug of water, which disappeared just as fast. To save time, I called Fury across and got her to burn our trash for us.

There was no more reason to delay; we were heading to Earth.

Lucy quickly tied back her long waves. “Alright, I’m totes ready to hit up all the awesomeness of Earth. Can’t wait to find me some gangers.” She clapped her hands together. “I might have the power to actually go some kung fu, eye-of-the-tiger on their asses.”

I shook my head, amusement warring with exasperation. “Don’t forget our powers will be muted on Earth.” The world was an energy dead zone, and no one really knew why. “Personally, I’m hoping I can figure out how to even find this last half. If the tethering energy doesn’t help me, we could be in a hell of a lot of trouble.”

The last time I was on Earth my Walker energy was not at full strength. Something told me this time the loss of power was going to hit me hard.

New York City was where we’d go first. It was the area we knew, and I was hoping that the half-Walker was in the city. Maybe, like Lucy, she would be drawn to the area I grew up in. To the Walker energy. Or that could all be wishful thinking, and she could be anywhere. Earth was too large to randomly wander, so I had to hope the connection tether led me right to her.

“Are we tracing or taking a doorway?” Lucy asked as she linked her arm through mine.

“Tracing,” I said. “Faster and less mess left behind for someone to accidentally stumble across.”

The four of us linked arms. Even though the bond with my half-Walker girls was strong, ancient and tangible, this was the core group of my family. The four of us were a team and had been through so much together. I was more than lucky to have so many loved ones.

Time to keep them all alive.