Second Skin (Skinned) (29 page)

Another were, lumbering forward, ready to thrust its fangs through my skull. Waiting, I let it come.

Not quite close enough.

Now!

I launched into the air, griped my athame with two hands, and as the werewolf thundered under me, I plunged the dagger between its shoulder blades, somersaulted over the its back, and landed on my feet. I turned to see the werewolf sway to a halt and then vanish in a blast of light. No longer wedged between bone and sinew, my dagger dropped to the snow.

A whirl of black smoke, and Wade landed beside my blade, scooped it up, and turned it over in his hands, careful to avoid the silver blade. After a moment, he tossed it to me. Or more like he whipped the dagger at my head.

I caught it by the hilt, before it struck me between the eyes. “Hey, I could have missed that,” I shouted, my features

settling back to human now that the direct threat had passed.

“I doubt it,” Wade said, suddenly at my side, his body crowding mine. His fingers slid along the back of my hand, awakening hungers buried deep within. Need. Want. Everything I’d fought against.

I scented the intensity of his emotions—candied mint rising off his flesh. I leaned into his solid form, returning the pressure for a second. For longer than I could afford.

Then pulled back.

“Whoa, this dream realm stuff is”—I shot him a grin, downplaying the surge of emotion and deflecting it with the distance humor provided—“heady stuff. And you, my friend, have got serious moves.”

I have others I could show you.
Wade’s voice settled in my mind like warm honey. I retreated another step. He followed.

Bloodlust still high in my veins, the battle retreated, fading into nothingness. My wolf was restless, enjoying the game of cat and mouse. If I wasn’t half wolf, I might have started to purr.

“Guys, I think we got them all,” Alec said in the distance. “Eryn? Wade? Where the hell are you?”

Pressing my palm to Wade’s chest, I gave a little push, forcing him to retreat. I walked back toward Paige and Alec, sucking in the cool night air, hoping it would ice the slow burn Wade had started. After a few seconds, I heard his frustrated curse and then the crunch of his footsteps in the snow as he followed.

It was like I had a dial permanently set on crash and burn. Lighting up the night with Alec and then smoldering in Wade’s arms. This back and forth between the two of them was going to blow up in my face. But good.

“So…” Paige drawled, “that’s it? A few teeny werewolves is all the night mare’s got?”

“Easy for you to say,” Alec snapped. “How was the view behind the stone? Or were you too scared to peek?”

“She helped,” I said, and Paige shot Alec a triumphant look. “If screaming is helping.”

Paige sneered at me. Still, she was right, that had been way too easy. A sucker punch had yet to be delivered.

Paige’s breath hitched, her expression changing from lip- twisted snark to open-mouthed shock. Eyes wide, she took a step forward, tilting her head in confusion as a man strode from the tree line.

“Is that…?” she faltered.

But it wasn’t Marcus, though he and the man steadily approaching shared many similar features. Height, weight. That warm, open smile.

Our battle with the werewolves had been the night mare toying with us, playing by our rules, giving us a false self of confidence. Now the real battle would begin, because I’d come to understand what the night mare was really after.

It didn’t just want us weakened. It wanted us broken.

The man held out his arms, never taking his eyes off me. “Dad?”

Dark with a Side of Cheese

Alec cursed. He darted in front of me, preventing me from running forward and throwing myself into the man’s waiting arms.

It’s not him, Eryn.
Wade’s steely eyes met mine for a long moment as he too put his body between me and the demon sauntering toward us.

The demon wearing my father’s skin.

For a heartbeat or two, I allowed myself to stand protected behind their human/ inhuman shield. Paige clutched my hand. The moon glimmered low in the sky, edging the frosted tombstones with silver, highlighting the wrongness of the moment.

When loved ones died you buried them. You moved on.

They weren’t supposed to reappear on a day when it was impossible to tell what was real, and what wasn’t, and say, “I know it’s been a while, but my girl wouldn’t hide behind a few love- struck boys.”

It even sounded like him.

Wade hissed and spat. Alec lifted his silver sword.

“Eryn, it’s me, kiddo. Come on, no hug for the old man?” The pull to rush to his side grew, a physical force I clenched my muscles against. The barrier provided by Alec and Wade kept me hidden while I fought the emotional pull. My knees locked as I kept my legs ramrod stiff, resisting. After a few hellish months without word, or rumor, or bodily confirmation—my father stood a few feet away, gazing around forlorn. Looking for
me
.

How was I supposed to turn away from that? For the first time in forever joy welled inside me instead of rage, fear, guilt, betrayal. Did it matter that it wasn’t real?

Did it really?

Paige let out a gasp. I shot her a glance and then looked down at our linked fingers. I’d sunk my claws into her skin. I grimaced an apology and released her from my grip, willing my claws to recede and my human form to solidify.

“Your mom warned me you’d give me trouble, but then, she always did know you best.”

“Shut up, she doesn’t want to hear your lies,” Alec said, taking a threatening step forward. As he did, my father appeared in the gap between the guys’ shoulders. He shifted to meet my gaze.

“That’s right, Eryn. Your mom’s here too, waiting for the all clear. Shall I call her? She’s dying to see you.”

And I heard it then, an underlying smugness as the demon said the word,
dying
. I shook my head, clearing away the sentiment, the emotion. This was a demon. Not my dad. This thing had tricked a girl into cutting her own eyes out. Had immersed us in our worst fears. Now it was rubbing my face in it.

Eyes burning with unshed tears, I let my wolf surface. My jaw ached as bones shifted and cracked, teeth elongated. A snarl exposed my fangs. How dare it pretend to be my father? Use his image, his love against me?

Fury blinded me, and my wolven vision automatically kicked in. As I blinked away the disorientation, I experienced a series of flashes. The dreams I’d drifted aimlessly through. Going wolfy on the pirate ship, taking a rifle from a dead boy’s hands, witnessing Paige as she lost herself to the pressure of fitting in.

I wasn’t helpless. Battle demanded loss on both sides. And I’d be damned if I’d waste another moment trying to mold myself into the image of others.

The only weapon I ever needed was inside me all along. My wolf. She was part of me. We wanted the same things. And right now we wanted the night mare decimated.

“Stay back,” I told the crew. “It’s mine.”

I bent my knees, muscles tight, and then launched into the air, clearing Alec and Wade with a foot to spare. I landed in a low crouch, sending up an explosion of iridescent snow. I straightened, standing to my full height, about a foot from the demon. The partial shift gave me a few extra inches, but the demon in my father’s form was taller still. Mom used to joke we were her giants. I could almost hear the laughter in her voice. Could almost see my father hold her tight.

Damn the night mare for making them both seem so close. “Oh, there she is.” The demon smiled my father’s smile. Then put a mocking hand to its mouth. “My what big teeth you have, Eryn. Whatever have you been up to since Mommy and Daddy left you for dead?”

That stung. The thing knew everything about me, even my fear that my parents would be horrified at the changes I’d undergone without my father’s anti-paranorm cocktail of drugs. I let my facial features settle into more human-ish proportions.

“Eryn, get behind us. It wants to feed off your power,” Alec said, reaching for me.

The hulk has a point.
Wade growled in my mind.

“It won’t get near me, I promise.” I wasn’t sure anything would get near me again. I felt drained, numb. Ready to do what was needed.

“So confident, Eryn, with your loyal companions behind you,” the demon said. “I think I’ll let you live long enough to see them die.” He didn’t so much as blink and yet immediately, Paige, Alec and Wade dropped to the snow, clutching their heads and groaning.

I flew to Paige’s side, gripping her shoulders. “What’s wrong? Tell me.”

“Knives. In. My. Head.” Paige’s face twisted with pain. “Killing. Me.” She curled into a fetal position.

Alec and Wade were in pretty much the same state, folded over themselves, their muscles locked in pain.

I tried to access Wade’s thoughts, but he blocked me out, sparing me the torture they were enduring.

“Eryn, get out of here. Run,” Alec moaned.

I straightened and took a few steps away from my writhing friends.

But I wasn’t going anywhere.

“Stop this now, and I promise your punishment will be quick,” I said, facing the demon. I forged a reinforced iron wall of protection around my mind, all those times I’d shut Wade out of my thoughts feeling much like practice for this—the ultimate test. I spun and faced the demon. My dagger glinted in the night as I thrust it upward and raised my left arm ready to block his attack.

My father’s face registered shock, eyes wide. Then he burst into laughter. “Oh, Logan was right. You
are
interesting.” He smirked. “But then we both know
interesting
is the word people use when they don’t want to tell someone they’re dead bores. I can stand a lot, Eryn, but the boring.” He
tsk
ed. “They’re just asking to be put out of their misery, don’t you agree?”

A furious pounding beat at my mental barrier, but my iron wall held. The demon couldn’t bust through.

“Is that what this is about?” I waved my blade at the starless night. “You’re just looking for a little evening entertainment?” I shrugged. “I can do that. Let the others go, and I’ll put on a show you’ll never forget.”

The demon smiled. “Bold words, my dear. But can you back up your claim, I wonder?” This time I caught it, a slight twitch of his arm, and the crew was released. A round of relived cries rang out, but I didn’t glance toward my friends. I kept my eye on the prey.

“There, you see, I’m not so bad after all.” The demon walked forward, holding out his hand. “Come along then, Eryn. Time to see how the other half live.”

Come along?
Did he think I was an idiot?

I laughed. “Good lord, you’re a walking cliché. You know the whole
join-me
thing has been done to death, right? There’s dark side, and then there’s dark with a side of cheese. But I agree. This is between you and me.”

Whirling toward the crew, I gave Wade a tight grin. They wouldn’t stop trying to protect me, and I loved them for it, but I had to do this myself. I held out my hand, palm up. There, I could feel it. Energy, similar to Kate’s magic and yet much more, pulsing in the distance. My hands filled with a halo of energy as my wolf’s skill in this world enabled me to siphon from the dream realm. The sigils on my dagger throbbed with silver light. Its own infusion of magic focusing my efforts. I willed the power closer. Made it my own.

The earth around us began to shift. A limestone wall rose out of the snow. Reached my ankles. My knees. My thighs.

“What are you doing?” Alec charged forward.

“Keeping you safe.” I spoke through clenched teeth, afraid to look at the others and break my concentration. The wall formed a dome overhead that enclosed my father and me. Sealing us inside, nice and cozy.

Damn it, Eryn. Let me in!