Veiled Threat (8 page)

“Not true. You are part of my family, part of my and Liam’s pack. Blaz is more like …” how to find the words to describe my relationship with Blaz?

We are partners, and we work well together. But her heart does not lie with me as it does with you and those she deems family.
Blaz’s tone wasn’t snarky or even upset. Just matter of fact. All and all, it was the truth.

Eve’s eyes flickered in the light. “Truly?”

I nodded. “Yes, he kind of nailed it on the head. I didn’t want to say it out loud, he can be a fucking crybaby, you know.”

Blaz snorted, a gout of flame shooting out his nostrils toward the house. As if he’d meant to do it.

Eve’s eyes crinkled with a half smile that quickly slipped from her face. “I will come whenever you need me. You know that.”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to. Frank stepped up and swung his leg over her back and settled into the harness. “Where should we meet you when we’re done?”

That was a good question. Who could keep them safe, who did I trust that was still alive? There were only a few people left now.

“Go to Doran’s. Wait for us there.”

Eve nodded, spread her wings and took off, the downdraft fanning the flames and sending up a shower of sparks. As they left, I finally Tracked Pamela and Milly, nearly slumping with relief. They were alive, and though they were either asleep or unconscious, they weren’t being hurt. Only thing better would be if they’d been brought to this side of the veil.

Erik watched me from where he leaned against Ophelia’s side. I was actually surprised she’d been as quiet as she had.

She feels responsible for what happened. Apparently she told Erik he needed to give you at least a few words of protection, and he didn’t listen to her. At least we know the stubbornness is inherent in your family.

“He fucking well should have given us something. We could have gone in and gotten them both without this damn mess.” A part of me wondered if he’d done it on purpose, but what advantage would he have, taking my family from me? I put my hands on my hips, for the first time truly stumped as to how to go about a salvage. I felt them, knew they were alive, knew they were in the veil, but how did we get to the deep levels?

And that was the question of the day.

One I had no answer to.

Chapter 8

W
atching Rylee, the
flames throwing light and dark against her face, made his heart tighten. There was nothing he could do at the moment, and he knew her well enough to let her mull this situation over before he said anything. So he waited, knowing she would find him soon enough. He leaned against the barn, Alex tucked up against him, though he doubted it was for warmth.

“Boss.”

“What?”

The formerly submissive werewolf looked up, making direct eye contact. “Rylee smells funny. Not right.”

Liam’s heart tightened more. Fuck, Alex would blurt out what Liam already suspected but didn’t say out loud. The only thing he could do was stall the werewolf at his feet and hope to hell he said nothing. “She’s sick. Don’t tell anyone.”

Alex let out a gasp, his clawed paws clamping down on his muzzle. Through his clenched teeth he whispered, “Sick? Dying?”

Liam shook his head. “Keep it down. And no, she isn’t dying. Just … a little bit sick. She’ll get better.”

“Promise?” He wobbled to his back legs so he could look Liam in the face.

Damn it all. Liam nodded. “Yes, I promise. But say nothing. Understand? Not even to Rylee. Not to anyone.”

Alex dropped to his haunches, sitting back to cross his heart with the tip of one claw. “Promises.”

Promises. He’d made so many. To himself, to Rylee. To Peter, the old wolf, who’d told him what he really was and where he stood within the prophecies. He couldn’t keep all the promises, as several stood at odds with one another.

Death was coming for him, he felt it drawing closer each day, and if the old wolf was right, it was the prophecies coming into play. His life and death would not be in vain, but it would mean breaking his promises to Rylee.

It meant keeping the truth from her until the last possible second. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, not moving even when he heard her footsteps. Rylee put her head against his chest, a tremor rippling through her.

“How do I find them? Tell me how to fix this, Liam. Blaz doesn’t know, Ophelia doesn’t know, Erik can’t help though he should know better than anyone else.” Her hands curled up on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her, rubbed her back and held her tightly against him.

“Something will show us the way. It always does. We wouldn’t have come this far only to lose now.”

She lifted her head and stared at him, her tri-colored eyes searching his. “How do you know that?”

He gave her a smile, lips barely moving. “Because that is your life, Rylee. No matter how bad the shit gets, something or someone always pulls through. The help will be there when you need it. And we need it now. So I believe. I hope. You taught me that.” Even though his heart didn’t believe it, not for a second. Sure, things had worked out so far, but he had a feeling those days were over.

Tears swam in her eyes, spilling over her cheeks. “Thank you.”

He rubbed a thumb under her eyes, wiping away her tears. A few months ago she wouldn’t have broken down like this. But things were changing for them all, and Rylee more than anyone else.

“Who do you know with knowledge, who has an understanding of the veil?” he asked.

She took several breaths before answering. “Doran and the other shamans might but it’s a long shot, and Berget, I suppose, if she could access the memories easier.”

“No one else?” Shit, there had to be someone, something they hadn’t tried.

Her eyes flicked up to his. “Maybe there is someone who would know, but I might have to kick his ass to get him to help.” She stepped back from him, a spark lighting her up. She had an idea that likely involved some level of danger; he saw it written all over her face.

He stifled a groan. Rylee and her ideas or hunches were usually right on, but that didn’t mean they were easy—ever.

Nor did it mean he would let her go on her own.

Alex let out a yip and pushed his way between them, so he could face Rylee. “Alex too. Rylee not leaving Alex.” He let out a low growl to punctuate.

Rylee let out a small laugh. “Yeah, of course you can come too.” She looked at Liam, put a hand on his cheek, resting it lightly. “Thank you.”

He smiled, leaned in and took her mouth in a kiss that he’d been waiting on a chance for all day. These moments were too few, but it made them all the more sweet.

“I’m going to find us something to eat in your barn stash.”

Her eyelids fluttered back open. “You know, you trained pretty good for a stuffy FBI agent.”

Laughing, she walked away and he watched her go, the sway of her body, the tumble of auburn hair down her back, her weapons so much a part of her he barely noticed them anymore. There was never a moment he regretted this life, even knowing it was coming to an end sooner than he liked.

“Come on, Alex. Let’s get the boss lady something to eat.”

Alex took off with a mad scramble, nearly breaking down the barn door in his excitement.

Shaking his head, he followed Alex into the barn. No, he would never regret the way his life turned out, no matter how it might end.

I knew it was a long shot, what I was planning, but I didn’t have much choice but to at least try. I couldn’t recall the symbols on the steel reinforced door in the castle, but if they were close enough to the ones Erik knew, I’d bet every last dollar I had that the doorway led into the deeper veils.

Getting to the doorway and getting in would be a matter of navigating the castle, finding the captain of the red caps, and then convincing him we should be allowed to use it. Simple, right?

Yeah, probably not so much.

I found Erik standing apart from the two dragons, who seemed to be having a heated conversation if their snaking heads and snapping teeth were any indication. I ignored them and headed for my uncle. Damn, that sounded weird, even inside my head. “What symbol would you put on something to keep a demon locked inside?”

He turned to face me, his eyebrows near his hairline. “And you want to know this why?”

“Don’t answer me with a question, just tell me what it looks like.” Damn it, I had to bite my tongue to keep from cussing him out.

“You aren’t a Slayer yet, Rylee. You don’t get all the tools until you’ve earned them.” His voice was even, but his eyes flashed and I swore there was a spark of fear in there.

“Oh fuck off.” So much for not cussing him out. “I don’t want to have all the tools, I don’t want the title, I don’t even want to be a freaking Slayer. I want to know what the symbol to keep a demon trapped would look like. Is that too fucking much to ask?”

His jaw twitched, but I couldn’t tell if he was angry or trying not to laugh at me.

He pulled a short dagger from his waist and the breath in my chest seized. There was no way he’d challenge me to a fight … was there?

He dropped to one knee and with the dagger drew a symbol in the mud. “Here, it looks like this.” He drew two squares, one inside the other, and inside the smaller square was a starburst. Simple, clean. Now it was a matter of matching it to what was on the doorway in the castle.

“What are you thinking?” Erik stood and wiped his dagger on his pants before putting it away.

“I have to see if that,” I pointed to the dirt at our feet, “matches what I think it does. Are you in?”

A snort escaped him, followed closely by a laugh. “I knew you were going to be difficult, hell, I even expected it. But I had no idea what I was getting into when I set off to find you.”

I didn’t know whether or not to take offense so I ignored him. Hell, I knew I was a pain in the ass, knew it was only a matter of time before I pissed off every person in my circle. Didn’t make me any less right though when I followed my gut.

I put my hands on my hips. “You in or not, old man?”

The two dragons behind us went absolutely still and silent, their snarls cut off in mid snap.

“Old man?”

“That’s what I called you. Seeing as you’re old.” Okay, so I was pushing, but I still wasn’t a hundred percent in when it came to him. He showed up out of nowhere, and while Blaz vouched for him, my uncle hadn’t been exactly forthcoming with how to deal with demons until it had been essentially forced on him.

“Well, since I’m so gods be damned old, I guess I’ll stay here and tend the fire.”

I shrugged. “Fine.” Hell, it wasn’t fine, but I wondered if he‘d be any real help anyway. Or if he would let us get hurt and then try to fix it.

I walked away, paused and turned back. “If that’s all you’ve got in the way of being
helpful
maybe you and Ophelia should leave.”

The air grew heavy and Erik kept his back to me for a split second before spinning, anger etched on his face. “You think you can do this alone? You think you’ve got it in you to finish this without anyone else? You’re as blind as your idiotic parents.”

I faced him, all the years of anger and hurt, all the betrayal and loss I’d dealt with on my own finally getting a voice. “Where were you when I needed you,
uncle
? Where were you when my parents died, when I needed my family? Where were you? Oh, that’s right, you were a drunk who couldn’t be relied on when they needed you the most. You think my parents were idiotic? Well, maybe to you they seemed like it, but how would you have known when you were always sauced to the gills? Ophelia isn’t even your dragon, is she?”

He flushed and Ophelia sucked in a sharp breath, purple in her eyes flooding the iris.

“Yeah, that’s right, I read my mother’s journal. Ophelia was my father’s dragon, not yours. She was his companion. Your dragon was killed, wasn’t she? What, were you too out of it to realize your own dragon was being killed?”

Erik didn’t say anything, hell, he couldn’t.

What did you say when the truth was flung into your face? The worst part was, I wanted him to be a real part of my family, of my life. But he was proving as unreliable as my mother made him out to be in her journal. I’d wanted her to be wrong.

What a fucking disappointment.

I turned my back on him and strode toward the barn, but Liam and Alex were standing beside Blaz, a bag on Liam’s back.

“Blaz, can you give us a lift?”

Of course. You know, they could follow us.

“They won’t follow. That would take balls.” I pulled myself onto his back. Liam strapped himself second, and Alex behind him. Blaz took off as soon as the last buckle was clicked.

“That’s why you weren’t sold on him, isn’t it?” Liam asked as he handed me a sandwich.

I took a bite, chewed and swallowed. “Yeah. I read all about him, and there was even a picture of him in her book. He was an ass to them both, was jealous that my father was a demon hunter of the first order. Erik did all the training, was a Slayer, but my dad was better.”

“So he could still help you.”

“If he didn’t let me get caught by each demon first to teach me a lesson. Maybe he hates me, because of who my parents are, and who he was to them. It doesn’t matter now, I’m done with him.” I took another bite, grateful for the food. How long since we’d last eaten? Shit, I could barely remember but my body was suddenly craving the peanut butter and jelly. I downed the last of the sandwich and Liam handed me another without being asked.

“You aren’t taking me with you, are you?” Liam asked and I felt Blaz stutter underneath us.

You’re taking the wolf. There is no other way.

“Milly can’t jump him out. Which means he can’t come with me and Alex.”

Then we go back for Erik. You bloody well cannot go by yourself.

“We aren’t going back for Erik. He’s proven quite freaking nicely that I can’t trust him. He’s too busy trying to rewrite the past.”

Liam grabbed my arms, squeezing them hard. “Rylee, don’t be stupid about this. I realize I can’t go. I get it. But Erik can. And even if he hated your parents, even if he is on a vendetta of his own, he can help you in there, he can be the person at your back while you face down demons.”

I twisted in my seat. “Yeah, and when he puts his blade between my shoulders and hands me over to the demons in exchange for his own skin, what then?”

I can’t believe he’d do that, Rylee. I can’t.