Release (The Protector Book 3) (29 page)

“Ch—Chase,” Willy said, but I ignored him. I could feel the pain in my leg subsiding, and I pushed forward.

“Stop,” said another voice, and a burning ache covered my arm.

The pain in my leg faded to the point I thought it was healed when somebody slapped me. The magic was torn back inside me and shock covered my face as I stared up into the bright yellow eyes of Vincent. He looked focused and his glare was intense.

“My god, hunter, you are as stupid as you look, aren’t you?”

“Did you just slap me?” I asked. I wanted to be angry, but I was overwhelmed with surprise.

“And that’s our answer,” Vincent said, shaking his head.

“Chase, are you okay?” Karissa asked.

“I think so,” I said, stretching my leg out in front of me. “My leg doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“What about your arm?”

“We should’ve listened. We shou—shouldn’t have told you to do that…now we’ve made things worse,” Willy said, worry in his voice.

Red liquid spilled down the side of my left arm in a dozen tears, and small bumps lined the outer edges like I’d been bitten by some sort of bug.

“It’s your ma—magic,” Willy said. “It’s hurting you…”

I untied the strips of Garret’s shirt from my leg. The pain was gone, and although the blood stains remained, the wound had vanished. I took the shirt and wrapped it around my arm, reaching to Garrett for help.

Garrett finished the wrap job and tied it tight in a knot. Small prickles of pain vibrated beneath the bandage, but it was minor compared to my leg. I rolled the sleeve down and pushed myself to my feet.

“Are you going to be well enough to travel?” Garrett asked.

I nodded. “I’ll be fine. I don’t need my arm to walk. I can deal with a damaged arm. Let’s get going.”

“Wait, that’s it? Aren’t you even slightly concerned about what’s happening?” Vincent asked.

“Of course I am, but we’re here for a reason. I can’t use magic in this world, lesson learned.”

“Oh, I don’t think it’s just this world,” Vincent said. “What about all those cuts Rayna patched up?”

I thought about it a moment and shook my head. “So what?”

“So, I think your magic is the source of all your problems.”

“Not all of them,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Why would you care anyways?”

“Excuse me, careless hunter, but I have a vested interest in you now. I can’t have you withering away to nothing because you can’t keep it in your …wherever it is you keep your magic. You have an obligation to help me.”

“Of course, how could I not see this being your problem? How selfish of me.”

“Well, not so selfish now that you recognize it.”

“Let’s just find the statue, grab the soul piece, and get out of here.”

“I saw the statue,” Tiki said. “When we came out of the portal, I saw something over there.” He pointed down a path of trees and plants covered in feather-like flowers.

“I saw it too,” Willy added. “Can we ju—just go and finish this? This place is giving me the cre—creeps.”

“Of course it is,” Vincent said. “Is there anything you’re not afraid of?”

Vincent turned to Willy and Willy immediately lowered his gaze. “I’m no—not afraid of everything,”

Vincent laughed. “I beg to differ. Have I truly scarred you for life all because of one measly death?”

Willy didn’t answer. A dark red color crept up his face, and his brown eyes locked with Vincent’s. The color quickly took over all his skin and he stepped forward. A low growl rumbled in his throat, and his fingers began to crack and shift.

“Don’t kid yourself, boy.” Vincent stepped up to meet him. His skin flashed and instantly turned clear. Black veins crackled against his flesh, and long talons dropped from his fingers. “Although I regret some of the things I’ve done, I will not cower to you.” Vincent’s voice wasn’t his own. It was deep, demonic, and spine-chilling.

Willy’s beast retreated immediately, and his fingers shifted back into place. He stepped back and his eyes searched the forest floor. Willy’s skin cycled through multiple different colors, finally settling on a cool green.

“That’s what I thought,” Vincent said, letting the color return to his face.

“That’s enough,” I said.

Vincent smirked. “Sooner or later that boy is going to have to learn how—”

I grabbed Vincent by the shirt, ignoring the spikes of pain in my arm, and lifted him off the ground. I swung him above my head with a hunter’s strength and slammed him into the ground.

“Let me make something very, very clear,” I said through gritted teeth. “I respect Willy a hell of a lot more than I ever will you. You will show him that same respect or you can be damn sure my body will be bursting with wounds when I set you on fire. And if it comes to that, I promise you those flames won’t be put out. Not again.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Garrett said from behind me.

Veronica’s hand was above her head, long talons raised into the sky and ready to strike. Garrett was next to her and his hand had shifted, pushing thick, black panther claws against her throat.

Veronica eyed him and took a step back. A scowl took over her face. “I’ll have my chance.”

Vincent was motionless against the ground and his eyes were locked on mine. I waited for a smart-ass response but nothing came.

“Are we clear?” I asked.

Willy watched, his brown eyes glassy and his hands shaking. Vincent glanced at him and nodded.

“This is strike one. If you or Veronica do anything that I even consider a threat to him or anyone else here, I’ll kill her without question. That will be strike two. I don’t think—”

“I nodded, didn’t I?” Vincent asked. “That means we’re clear.”

“I want to make sure I’m very clear.”

Vincent cleared his throat. “Crystal.”

“Good.” I released my grip and wiped the sweat off my hands. My arm was throbbing, but I tried not to show the pain in my face. “Anything else we need to get out of the way?” I asked.

Nobody responded.

“Veronica, do we have an understanding?”

Garrett took the claw from her throat and his hand cracked, shifting back to its human counterpart. Veronica rubbed her throat and looked at Vincent.

“Veronica!” I yelled.

She stepped back and shook her head. Her eyes opened wide and confusion warped her features. When she looked at Vincent, she rushed to his side, completely ignoring me.

“Do I need to repeat myself?”

“She’s clear, hunter!” Vincent’s voice was nearly a growl. “We both understand,” Vincent snapped, pushing Veronica away and climbing to his feet.

My eyes lingered on Veronica. She seemed out of it for a moment before she brushed herself off and glared at me, trailing only a step behind Vincent.

“Good, let’s go.”

******

The pain in my arm subsided as we walked through the forest. Black roots stemmed from the earth with fluorescent leaves budding from each stalk. Blues and reds lined the path in a luminescent glow and sounds echoed from all directions like baritone crickets singing a chorus.

Massive black trunks rose into the air, supporting thick branches full of dark red buds. Thick golden feathers surrounded each bud, some of which had fallen to the ground and had been trampled by whatever lived here.

The sky was a dark blue with small orange pinholes lighting up the sky, and a bright orange moon hung overhead. It was small in comparison to most of the moons I’d seen and didn’t offer as much light as I’d expected. The glowing plants around us, however, enhanced our vision on the dimly-lit path.

“Why must you demand I accompany you to these feral and unsettling places? You know, Chase, you could be killing vampires right now if you had listened to me.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I never said I’d kill anyone for you. I said I’d help keep your family safe.”

“I like the old Chase better. The one who killed things without thinking.”

“When I’m talking to you, I miss that Chase too,” I said.

We’d been walking for hours and we were all on edge. I could feel the tension hanging in the air, but whatever Vincent was prepared to say next was overshadowed by the massive statue that loomed before us.

Dark blue stone towered above the trees with four muscular arms carved from the rock, each holding a different weapon: a hammer, a blade, a mace, and a spear. Shoulder-length hair hung down in chiseled strands, and even from the ground, I could see the detail put into every inch of the monument.

Wings had torn themselves from his back and spread out in both directions, a small clawed hand on one, but the other was missing. Large feet were adorned in white stone sandals, and around the statue’s neck was a stone chain with a four-fingered claw hanging at the end of it.

“Praise, Athaniel,” Tiki said, crouching to one knee and bowing his head.

“When this is all over, I think I’ll have a statue made,” Vincent said.

“Why bother? Nobody worships you,” I said.

“This is untrue. There are many who bow to me.”

“Compelling people to drop a knee isn’t worship. Just like forcing someone to help you doesn’t make them your friend.” I pushed past him and walked around the statue.

Tiki remained silent a moment, whispering something under his breath. He looked up at the statue from a bended knee and nodded. “Praise, Athaniel.” Rising to his feet, he brushed the dirt from his knee and looked around. “I have never met the people of the forest, for their land is off limits. It is reserved only for their kind. We are mostly unfamiliar with what lies ahead, and I think resting until a new day cycle begins would be wise.”

“Wonderful. I’m going to find someone…something to eat.” Vincent grabbed Veronica by the arm and disappeared into the shadows.

“Be very careful,” Tiki shouted after them.

Garrett and Karissa inhaled their surroundings like guards on duty. They walked the open area around the statue and their eyes were constantly looking in the shadows.

The cricket-like sounds grew louder as the night went on, and the flowers kept us surrounded with an eerie glow. Tiki stood in front of one of the bushes, his fingers running over the edges of the buds. He spoke quietly to them, soothing it with his words and caressing its feathered petals.

Willy sat in the shadows with his shoulders slumped and his legs pulled tight against his chest. Brown eyes focused on the air in front of him with intense concentration.

“You okay?” I sat down beside him and waited for a response, but it never came. He was lost in whatever thoughts roamed through his mind. “Earth to Willy.” I waved my hand in front of his face.

He blinked and looked at me, confusion moving over his features. “Huh?”

“I said you okay?”

His eyes studied me for a moment before he nodded. “Yeah, I’m fi—fine.”

“Why don’t I believe you? Is it Vincent again?”

“Can’t you ju—just leave this alone, Chase? I don’t want to talk about it.”

“If you really want me to, yes, I can. But I’m not entirely convinced. You’ve been out of it lately, Willy. I thought it was your transition into the Shadowpack, but now I’m not so sure. You need to get whatever’s eating away at you off your chest.”

“It’s just Vincent. Like always, he makes being around him intolerable.” His stutter faded as anger came through in his words.

“And?”

Willy turned his gaze to the stars, peering up at the orange pinholes in a murky blue sky.

“It all happened a long time ago.”

“That doesn’t make it any less important.”

Willy shrugged, but the orange moonlight showed the glassy sheen in his eyes. “I was nin—nineteen, living life about the same way I was when I met you—unnoticed. I met Duncan, who quickly became my friend…my only friend, and he taught me to use my ability to go unseen to my advantage.” Willy wiped his eyes against his sleeve and shook his head. “He showed me how to turn it into a business.”

“Going unnoticed is a business?”

“It is if you know how to use it,” Willy said. “We became hired ears, selling information from one Underworlder to another. All we had to do was lurk around and b—be ourselves. We got paid for it, and I was good at it. For the first time in my life, I was good at something...”

Willy wiped the stray tears that trailed down his cheek and sniffed. His brown eyes looked black, even with the added light of the surrounding flowers. After a deep breath, his hands fidgeted together and he looked uncomfortable, adjusting his weight from one side to the other.

“You okay?”

Willy nodded and then shook his head. “Some vampire from outside Stonewall hired us to find out info about the Tar—Taryk family—where they ca—came from, what Vincent could do, that kind of stuff. It was a pretty routine recon so Duncan took it on. Some—somehow…” His voice trailed off and he took another deep breath. “Vincent found out. He’d used me for information before, so he immediately thought I was the one and…”

“What?” I asked, leaning forward. I could feel the heat churning in my stomach. Fear of whatever Willy was about to say coiled in my soul, and anger for whatever Vincent had done was on the outside edge of it all. It pulsed like a feral creature, ready to strike.