Release (The Protector Book 3) (6 page)

“Chase, listen to me. I need your help.”

“Of course you do, and in return you have something I want, blah, blah, blah. Like I said, not interested.”

“Please…” I heard Vincent plead before I pushed the button and the phone went silent.

“Please?” I said to myself. “Please stop calling me.”

******

I pulled my bloodstained shirt over my head, and as the sleeve slid down my arm, a sharp pain twisted inside me. From my elbow to my wrist, the skin had split, and only a thin layer of dry blood held it shut. I touched it gently but the pain was immediate. Strange. I didn’t remember getting hurt.

I called to my water element and channeled it into the wound. The magic throbbed from my soul and flowed beneath my skin, but as it reached the wound, it amplified the pain. I cursed, letting the magic vanish back inside me. The wound was redder now and looked like it had been rubbed raw around the edges.

I grabbed a t-shirt and hoodie from my closet and carried them to the bathroom. As I pushed the door open, it stopped and hit Rayna on the other side.

“Get out! I’m busy!” she shouted, slamming the door. I saw a glimpse of blood running down her arm in the reflection of the mirror, but the door had closed before I could get a good look. The latch clicked as the lock turned into place.

“Sorry,” I said, but she didn’t respond.

Rai chirped as I closed the door to my bedroom. She hopped out onto the ledge of her cage, scaling the wire bars until she was at the top. She chirped again and sparks of light gleamed in her bright blue eyes.

Three of her wings were perfect, but one had been torn up badly in the fight against Riley’s demons. It had healed, but it was now bent at a slight angle. Gold feathers had grown in to replace the white ones where she had been hurt, and it stood out from the other wings. She stretched all four and flapped them, not enough to lift her from the cage, but enough to show she was getting better.

“Hey girl,” I said, running my fingers along the golden feathers that lined her spine and tail. “How are you feeling?”

She chirped rapidly, flapping her wings hard enough to hover. She moved up to my face and came to rest on my shoulder, nipping at my ear and pushing her head against my cheek.

“Good.” I stroked her feathers a moment longer. “We’ll get you out and flying soon. I promise.”

Rai’s beak tickled the side of my face, sliding up and down. She made a sound that was almost a purr, before nibbling at my ear.

Cool air brushed my face as she pushed off my shoulder and circled my head before landing on the bedpost. With a few more soft chirps, she settled herself, lightning flashing in her eyes.

I re-examined my cut in the mirror. It looked worse than it had a few moments ago. I didn’t know where or how it happened, but I knew it wasn’t from Arian. I would’ve known if he had gotten me. Wouldn’t I? My magic couldn’t heal it and that was something I couldn’t explain. This cut would leave yet another mark; just what I needed.

My face was littered with old scars and new red cuts from where the ice had pelted me. My chest looked worse for wear, and I ran my fingers over one of the many scars covering it. It looked thick and swollen, and at times, it was tender when I pushed against it. Riley had given me this scar just before my mother saved me. Another memory of the mistakes I made that day and the price she paid for them.

A knock came at the door, and as it opened, Rayna peeked through. “Can I come in?”

“Sure…” I said. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were in the bathroom.”

“It’s fine. You just scared me.”

Silence fell between us, and as it started to turn awkward, I moved to break it. “How’s your arm?”

“It’s fine. Just a scratch. I must have cut it on the glass at the shop, or when Arian broke out of the ice.”

I nodded. Was that what had happened to me? Had I been so busy with Debbie that I didn’t notice myself getting cut? I did have a few scratches on my face from when he broke free, but nothing as bad as my arm.

“You okay? You seem kind of…off today.”

Rayna walked past me, looking unimpressed.

“I don’t mean…it’s just ever since we…you know, you just seem different.”

Rayna watched me for a moment before moving past me to sit on the bed. “It’s not that. There’s just a lot going on. You and me…we’re on pause. I think that’s for the best right now. ”

“Right. It is. I mean, we’re facing a potential apocalypse here. New relationships are…awkward, and strange, and full of…”

“Insecurities,” Rayna said, finishing my sentence.

“Exactly.”

Right now we just need to focus on stopping Riley,” Rayna said. “Everything we want, everything we feel, none of it matters if Riley wins. Because if he wins, we’re either his slaves or we’re dead. I don’t like either of those options. It’s not you and me that’s the problem.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“It’s everything else. My blood is the reason all this is happening. Then there’s my father who I just met, and I’m so not ready to get to know him right now and he just doesn’t seem to get it. I’m still adjusting to the whole werecat thing and I just discovered Grams has known my mother for years, which is fine, I can handle all of that. But finding Debbie hanging from the ceiling like that hit me in a weird way. We weren’t close, but I’ve known her ever since I was little. There are only a few people in this world I’ve known for more than a few months and she was one of them. I’ve seen death before. A lot of the time I was the one dishing it out. But all of this, all at once, is a lot to digest.”

I wrapped my scarred fingers around Rayna’s hand and gave them a squeeze and when she finally looked at me, I smiled.

“The last few months have been hell. Who are we kidding? You’ve had one hell of a life so far, but it’s just beginning. There is a future far brighter in store for you, I promise. But first we have to get through this. All of it. The good news is you’re not alone. You’ve got Marcus, Grams, Chief, Tiki, and Willy, too.”

Rayna smiled weakly and her eyes locked with mine. “And you,” she whispered.

“You always have me.”

Rayna cupped my hands and brought them to her lips, pressing my scarred fingers against them in a gentle kiss. “Thank you.”

“Now, are you ready for the really bad news?”

The sparkle in Rayna’s eyes faded a little and she looked worried. “What?”

“You, Tiki, and I are on research detail.”

Rayna punched me in the arm. “Don’t scare me like that! I thought there was actual bad news.”

“We have to do research. It doesn’t get much worse than that.”

******

Marcus, Willy, and Grams had been in touch with everyone they could reach, but we were still waiting on a response from Cory and Kate. Willy was ordered back to camp by Jax, but everyone else had joined us in our attempt to find answers. So far, nobody had found a thing.

“Tiki, what do your people say about the soul pieces? You seem to know a lot about Underworld legends. Isn’t there something in there we could use?” Marcus asked.

“Soul pieces are just that—legends. Some clans of Underworlders believe the soul pieces exist inside all of us and that is why we are immortal. Once a soul piece is destroyed, so is that world. Others believe that was a scare tactic introduced by the royalty of ancient clans to deter would-be assassins.”

“That’s actually kind of smart,” Rayna said.

Tiki nodded. “Some don’t believe in soul pieces at all. They claim the pieces are lost stories of the Old World, while others think the magic is carried within magical items held in high esteem to different tribes, depending on the region.”

“So everyone believes something different depending on where they’re from and what people they belong to? That’s not much help.”

Tiki shrugged. “The Great War happened thousands of years ago and the soul pieces are thousands of years older than that. Some say there isn’t even a number for the era they were created in. It’s only natural such things get lost over time. If you ask me, we’d have better luck contacting a seer than we would have looking in books.”

“A seer?” Rayna asked.

“Yes, like Krulear. She is a seer. She is the one who led us to you in Drakar.”

“And you think this…Krulear could help?” Marcus asked.

“It is possible she may be able to. Krulear is powerful among the seers, although she may not be willing to help.”

“Why not?” Marcus asked.

“When she first saw Chase’s fate, in Drakar, it frightened her.”

“What did she see?” Marcus asked, but he was looking at me.

“How should I know?” I said. “She told us where Rayna was and kicked us out.”

“Krulear chooses neutrality in the fight of light versus dark. This is not usually the way of her kind, as her people once served Ithreal.

“Then what makes you think she would help?” Marcus asked.

“I don’t know that she would. I’m simply saying she could. Krulear is one of the few in the Underworld I would call my friend. But even so, I have no influence on her decisions. She takes her neutrality very seriously. If you like, I can travel to Drakar and try to find her, but she is nomadic, so her location is often random.”

“It might be worth a try…” I suggested, looking at Marcus.

Marcus turned to Tiki. “You can’t go alone.”

“I have traveled this land many times before, Marcus Starkraven. It is one of the safer dimensions.”

“I don’t doubt that, Tiki, but I’m not risking it. Chase was right, you’re part of this family now and in an attempt to keep everyone safe, nobody goes anywhere alone.”

“I’ll go with him,” I said.

“So will I,” Rayna added.

“Not you, kitty,” Grams said. “You’re with me. You’ve got a great deal to learn about real magic.”

Rayna rolled her eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me. I’ve seen the way you handle magic. You’re a few notches below rusty on the talent scale.”

Rayna tried to argue, but Marcus cut her off. “I’m not sure how I feel about you going off either, Chase. And I can’t come with you right now. I need to find Eric and try to smooth things over with him.”

“I won’t go unless you agree, but the longer we wait, the better chance Riley has at getting the soul pieces before us. You and I have been working together for the past three weeks, and you’ve seen my control. It’s a thousand times better than it was.”

“It’s still not where it needs to be. And from what I saw of Drakar, it’s a big world. If Tiki can’t see the location physically, he can’t guarantee where you’ll end up. It could take you weeks to find Krulear, if she’s even there.”

“Then we’ll take Rai, too. She’s almost back to normal. Her wing has healed, and she could use a solid test flight anyway.”

Marcus’s gaze moved back and forth between me and Tiki.

“I’m not going to beg,” I said. “There’s a chance we could get lucky and find the answers in one of these books, and there’s a chance we could find Krulear and get her help. Either way, it’s a risk.”

Marcus sighed and looked to Grams. “What do you think?”

“I hate to admit it, but the boy isn’t wrong. You’re rolling the dice either way. Keep in mind this kid is a magnet for bizarre crap though.”

“At some point you’re going to have to put your faith in me,” I said. “And the longer we wait, the worse our odds get.”

“I know...” Marcus sighed and rubbed a large hand over his head. “Fine, but you go well-armed and with Rai. I’ll be checking with Jax and Chief before you leave to see if they have anyone they can spare.”

Chapter 6

Tiki and I cut through the trees, avoiding their wooden limbs as best we could. We both knew there was no way to walk through Stonewall’s south forest unscathed, but it was the only place we’d found that was far enough away from the technology of my world to teleport us to one of his.

We still hadn’t heard from Kate or Cory, so Jax, Chief, and their shifters had gone to check on them. It wasn’t just the Underworld that was on edge, it was all of us. We all knew what Riley was capable of—some more than others. We had assembled this group to help us stop him and we weren’t about to let anything in question go unchecked, which left Tiki and me traveling to Drakar alone.

Rai was glued to my shoulder as we trekked through the woods. Rather than fly above the trees, she preferred to stay attached to me, fighting the forest with us.

We emerged from the thicket covered in leaves and thin white scratches. My face burned where the trees had left their mark, and the skin on my shoulder had been rubbed raw by Rai’s talons, but it was always worth it for this.

The largest tree I’d ever seen grew in the middle of a clearing. It sat untouched by the late fall season while the entire forest deteriorated around it. Bare branches and fallen leaves surrounded the clearing, and as the forest grew dormant in preparation for the coming winter, this tree continued to bloom. Full of luscious green leaves and budding flowers of all sizes, the tree shed one skin and replaced it with a youthful counterpart.