Wounded: Book 8 (A Rylee Adamson Novel) (27 page)

It hit me like a ton of troll turds. Zane. Of course, Orion knew I had the boy, had him in hiding.

Liam turned me around to face him. “We need to sleep now. If nothing else, you need to rest. For a few hours at least.”

I stared at him, saw the fear in his eyes and knew he thought he knew what Orion wanted.

“You’ll tell me what you’re thinking, won’t you?”

He kissed me softly. “Soon. Not yet, but soon.”

Curled under the blankets, I put my head on his chest, the sound of his steady heartbeat lulling me to sleep.

Leaving Rylee curled up and sleeping soundly, he made his way to the library. Opening the door, he knew who he’d find there, could smell them clearly. Erik and Doran were leaning over….

“Shit, is that the Book of the Lost?”

Erik nodded, but didn’t lift his head. “Yes.”

Walking toward them, he lifted his hand and pointed at the book. “Does it tell us how to shut the doorway in the castle?”

Doran dropped into the chair closest to him. “Unfortunately, it does. You know the blood of a guardian can close a tear in the veil?”

He nodded, feeling his life tie into what Doran was about to say. The vampire flicked his hand at the book. “The guardian’s life, freely given, and taken by one who loves him, will seal
all
the doorways through the veil for a given time. Too bad Coyote doesn’t have any loved ones here.”

There it was, Liam felt the truth drop through him. This was what he’d been waiting for. Doran was right, Coyote had no one who could take his blood.

But Liam did.

“How long?”

Doran snorted. “We aren’t doing this. It isn’t a viable option.”

“Rylee would never let it happen.” Erik closed the book. “Never.”

Gritting his teeth, he took a slow breath before asking again. “How. Long.”

Doran grabbed his arm. “You don’t get it; she will never let it happen. We have to find another way.”

Liam wasn’t upset, even though Doran’s fingers dug into his bicep. “There isn’t another way, though, is there?”

Neither of the two men would look at him. He pried Doran’s hands from his arms. “Anything to keep them both safe. Do you understand? I would do anything to keep them
both
safe.”

Doran’s eyes widened and he fell backwards. “You’re shitting me.”

Erik let out a low groan. “That’s why Orion wants her alive. Fucking hell!” He threw the book across the room, and Liam smelled the grief on the older man, the pain of again losing someone he loved.

Liam blew out a breath, knowing this was it. This was his end, and he was okay with it. “I have a plan. She can’t know, but I think we can take out the packs and close the doorway at the same time. Will you help me?”

Erik’s shoulders slumped, at the same time that Doran dropped his chin to his chest. They would help; he knew they would. “We just need one more person, though I don’t want to include her, she’s the only one.”

“Sweet baby Zeus, Liam. She’s too young.”

Liam knew Erik was right. But what other choice did they have? There was only one person who could get him through the fire of the castle to the doorway, only one person he knew loved him as family other than Rylee.

Pamela.

Chapter 19

EVERY TIME I thought I’d get a good night’s sleep, something happened. Though, at least in this case, I wasn’t waking to someone screaming. Actually, I wasn’t really awake at all, at least, I didn’t think I was.

Giselle stood in the corner of the room, her figure clothed in armor, weapons peeking out from her back. She was young, younger than when I’d first met her, and her eyes were clear and bright. Fierce.

“Rylee, this is the last time I will be able to visit you. The war grows stronger on this side of the veil, even though we are doing our best to stem the flow of evil spirits coming through, with the new plague, it won’t be long before the demons can enter this world on their own.” She sounded tired, as tired as I felt.

“This is goodbye then? No more advice, no more midnight visits?” I was going for sassy, but the words were whispered and sounded like a little girl begging her mother to stay just a few more minutes.

“Goodbye is relative. One day you will be here, fighting beside me, keeping the world safe, just in a different way. It is the way with all of us who would stand between the world and the demons.”

I remembered what she had said before, that those who fought the darkness on this side of the veil continued to do so after they died.

“Any last words of advice?”

She smiled, but her lips trembled. “Not advice so much as information. Milly is not dead, though it may have looked that way. We were wrong about her; the darkness I felt was Orion clutching her close.” She shook her head and a tear slipped from her eye. “When it comes time, do it quickly, she deserves that much.”

I stared at her, my mind refusing to understand what she was saying at first. And then when it hit me, I balked.

“No,” I whispered. “You can’t ask that of me, it’s bad enough I have to kill my own sister, I can’t … not Milly too.”

Giselle shook her head. “Be strong, my girl, for it won’t be me who asks it of you, but Milly. Let your heart lead, always your heart. Love will not fail you, not even in this; your hardest hours are yet to come, but love will save you. It will save all of us. You must believe that, even when you think you cannot go on another step. Even when you think your heart is dead.”

I blinked and she was gone. The dream, or vision, or whatever the hell it was, faded.

Of course, I lay their wide fucking awake, my brain unable to shut off now that it had started down the course Giselle had introduced. My hardest hours yet to come? Hells bells, I wasn’t surprised, but really? Didn’t life owe me a break or two? One night of sleep was all I really wanted. I thought about Milly and Berget, neither sister’s by blood. Both bound to me and both putting me in the position where I would have to face them. Liam had told me that Berget had stayed behind, that she wasn’t coming. That I’d effectively lost her once more. I reached for the spot where Liam had lain, the heat from his body still in the sheets. Call me needy, but I wanted to be with him, to lean on his strength.

I Tracked him. He was in the house and as I Tracked the rest of my family I felt Pamela, Alex, and Doran with him. It seemed early, but that wasn’t unusual for him.

Knowing sleep was not going to show, I slipped out of bed.

Quickly dressing, I made my way first to Jack’s small armory. There were only a few blades left and I grabbed two of them, grimacing as I slid them into their sheaths. They were fine, except they weren’t mine and they weren’t spelled. Not quite balanced the way I liked, they were both a little on the short side for my taste. But they would do.

I made my way through the house, avoiding the library and heading to where I felt Erik’s threads. He was outside, near the training grounds we’d set up when we’d been staying here.

Erik sat on the edge of the circular area we used, but he seemed lost in his own thoughts. Fine by me. Taking my two swords out, I settled my feet into a practice stance and started to weave my way through the various movements of swordplay. The minutes ticked by and my mind slowly quieted as I focused on my breathing, the weight of the swords, and the placement of my feet. This was where I would find the plan to take care of the demon packs. In the silence of the morning as my blades cut through the air.

Behind me came the soft scuff of a foot and I spun to face Erik. He held out his hand. “Give me one.”

I tossed a sword through the air and he caught the handle with ease. It had been a long damn time since I’d actually sparred with someone who knew how to handle a sword. Not counting creepy-ass dude who guarded the violet book of prophecy in Orion’s castle.

He circled around me and then—shit he was fast—he was on me, the sword thrusts and blows coming hard and steady, forcing me back a few steps before I caught myself. Grinning, I pushed back, diving under a hard slash and coming up on his side. I kicked him just above the hip, driving the wind from him and nearly putting him into the fountain.

“Too slow, old man.” I beckoned him with my free hand, wiggling my fingers. Laughing, he lunged forward, a wild grin on his face and in him I saw a reflection of myself.

Swords sliding off one another, we worked our way around the fountain for fifteen minutes until he finally backed off. “Enough, enough. You win.” He crouched, using the sword as a prop to lean against.

“You fight pretty good.” I slid my sword back into its sheath and he handed me the second one. I spun it in my hand, thinking. “I’m going to Track the three packs; I think I can draw them to us.” I lifted my eyes to his, but his head was down, chin on his chest.

“Not worth the risk. It isn’t.”

“And if we can’t find them before they’ve done so much damage we can’t rein them in?” Anger leached through my words, though I tried to keep it under control. “We have a chance to beat them at their own game. One chance. I can’t believe you would fucking well think this isn’t worth it!”

Erik finally looked up and I thought he was going to yell at me. But he didn’t, he was calm and cool. “If they destroy you in the process? What then? What do we do when the one person who can save us is dead because the demon packs have fried your brain like an egg on the sidewalk?”

Shit. The image stuck in my head, a drooling mess of a person by my own stupidity and rashness. Not a pretty picture.

“I don’t know. I can’t sit here and wait for a report to come in that they are demolishing our world. The fact they’ve been so quiet scares me.” I pushed the tip of the sword into the soft, wet ground, the fight blown out of me with his calmness.

He laughed softly. “They aren’t being quiet. They are spreading this new strain of smallpox. But you are right; we do need to stop them. You will do whatever you want, with or without my permission. Which of course, you weren’t looking for, right?” He arched an eyebrow at me and I flushed.

“No, I was just looking for your opinion.”

“Now you have it. You do what you want. Then again, Liam has quite the plan laid out.”

This was not how I was used to dealing with a mentor. Jack, I’d been able to curse and swear at; Giselle had always been calm and soothing.

Erik was somewhere between the two, both calming me and giving me reasons to be fired up.

We stood as the sun rose higher, the distant promise of spring in the feeble heat the rays gave off.

“Liam has a plan already?” I frowned. Why hadn’t he told me about it? Then again, we’d been busy with other things.

“He just told me. Thinks if we can lure the demon packs to the castle, we can ambush them, use Pamela to pull the castle down on them and trap them there.”

It actually wasn’t a bad idea. Not like we could really use the castle anymore with all the doorways broken to pieces and no way to repair them. “What about the doorway, the one to the deep veil?”

Erik shrugged and looked out over the grounds, his eyes distant. “He seems to think a little of his blood should do the trick. Close the door.”

It sounded too easy. “And how are we going to draw the demons in?”