rylee adamson 10 - blood of the lost (25 page)

The cement box spit up out of the ground, and with it came something I didn’t expect.

The reason Blackbird had waited on me.

Sandlings. Creatures made from the earth, like animated golems, that were quite literally un-killable because they weren’t truly alive. They looked human, moved like humans, but were faster and stronger. They had teeth made of sharpened stones and their hands were tipped with nails made of old bone filed to points. Normally they were used for training in the Enders Barracks.

But this was not the first time I’d encountered them in a situation that was most definitely not training.

Blackbird took a step back. “You think your friend set this up?”

“No.” I breathed out, counting the Sandlings as they continued to emerge from the ground. More and more, until the ranks filled the clearing.

“You think they want to be friends?”

I stared at Blackbird. “This is not the time for jokes, you idiot. Even you can’t kill them.”

Whoever made the Sandlings had to un-make them; that was the only way.

Which meant we were screwed.

“Keep them off me!” I bent and put my hands to the cement box, knowing that whatever kick-back it had wouldn’t be aimed at me. The power of the earth roared through me and into the cement. I broke the molecules apart, tearing the stone away to reveal the prize I sought.

Around me, Blackbird whirled, his cloak swirling around his legs as he protected my back. Fire and ice, earth and wind, ripped through the clearing, blowing the Sandlings to their knees. But they slid into the earth only to reemerge a few feet behind Blackbird.

For a breath of a moment I stared at the sword laying on the dirt in front of me. A katana, made with hundreds of folds of steel to create a hardened and yet flexible blade. The edge was tipped in silver, and the handle was a perfect fit for Rylee’s hand. Three diamonds were inset in the handle and a large chunk of blue amber finished the touch at the end of it. I picked it up and cut through the Sandling closest to me. The blade whooshed through him, sparking against the rough material the Sandling was made up of.

But even with the sword, the creature reformed at my feet, clawing itself out of the ground.

“Larkspur, while this had been fun, it truly is time for me to go. I will be there, on the battlefield. That is all I can tell you.”

Blackbird lifted a hand to me and then shot into the air as a violent snap of wind lifted him out of harm’s way.

“Coward!” The world went silent and I stared at the Sandlings. They stared back at me for a heartbeat, and then they ran at me.

I spun and bolted from the clearing, the sound of crashing underbrush behind me. Pumping my arms and legs, I called the power of the earth to me, sending it out behind me in a wave. The earthquake rippled backward, the strength of it shaking the foundation of the trees around us, sending leaves and branches flying to the ground.

That move would buy me time, but not a lot. To my left, a Sandling sprung out of the ground, reaching for my legs even as I leapt away. Its hand caught my ankle and yanked me out of mid-leap.

I hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of me, but still, I kept moving. Hands came out of the ground like a freak-show zombie cache gone wrong. I plunged my hands into the earth and loosened it up, turning the area all around me into quicksand. The Sandlings struggled, giving me time to stand. Each step I took, I firmed the ground under my feet until I was farther away.

But again, they dissolved and reformed near me.

“Mother goddess, this isn’t funny anymore.” I ran for the Rim, knowing the only chance I had was to get as far away as possible. I was fairly certain I knew who’d left the Sandling trap for me.

Cassava. That scheming bitch was still at it; and this had her name written all over it. My stepmother would never rest until she had her hands on at least one throne within the elemental world, and she didn’t give a flying rat’s ass who she hurt in the process.

I burst into the Rim, but didn’t slow. “Peta, Cactus, Pam, Griffin. To me, now!”

Pamela spun around, Peta in her arms. Griffin grabbed her and dragged her toward me. “Where the hell is Cactus?”

He came running around the corner, Sandlings hot on his trail. He had blood running down one side of his face and he wasn’t moving as fast as he should have been. “Lark, we’re surrounded.”

“Where is Bella and the rest of the family?” I barked out as I backed toward Pamela, Griffin, and Peta. The Sandlings kept their movements slow as they stalked our way. Like they knew they had us.

Which, if it weren’t for the sword in my hands, they would have.

“Already gone. Everyone’s on their way to the meeting grounds outside the farm.”

A breath of relief flowed from me. That was at least going right.

I held the sword above my head and made a perfect slash downward until the tip of the sword was buried into the ground, whispering the Latin to go with the invocation. “
Velata facie terroris.
Take us to The Pit.”

The Veil ripped open in front of us, shimmering for a moment before revealing the interior of the Pit. Home of the fire elementals and Queen Fiametta.

I only hope she remembered she owed me her life.

I took a deep breath and stepped through the opened Veil. Somehow, I doubted it was going to be as easy as I was hoping.

CHAPTER 31

ALEX

EVERY STOP WE made, more wolves joined us. They saw me shift, they’d heard how I had been submissive and now wasn’t, and that it was Rylee’s love that helped me make the change. We’d gathered at least two hundred werewolves, and a few other shifters along the way.

Unlike some of the other supernaturals, they’d stayed out of the cities as the pox hit and had kept their people safe.

More than all that, though, was the number of submissives that came along with the packs. Apparently, not all the packs killed their weaker members.

What I didn’t tell them was that Pamela was a big part of me being able to shift. Maybe the only part when it came right down to it.

“Why aren’t you telling them about Pamela?” Eve asked as we dipped through a cloud bank, staying low enough so the ever-growing wolf pack was able to keep us within sight.

“Because what if it was just me? We don’t know if she can heal the rest of them, Eve.” I rubbed a hand over my head and scratched behind one ear. “I mean, maybe it’s because she cares for me.”

“You mean because she loves you.” Eve grinned back at me, and I couldn’t help the heat in my cheeks.

“Not like that.”

“You want to
kiss
her.”

“Evie!” I couldn’t help the choked laughter that escaped me.

Marco laughed with me, his wingtips touching Eve’s. “Stop teasing him, Eve. His face looks like a tomato about to burst.”

I shook my head, still smiling. “Is it that obvious?”

“No,” Eve chuckled. “I only know because Rylee and Liam were discussing you. I will make sure you don’t let our Pamela know you love her until it is time.” She clacked her beak at me and I held up my hands.

“I’m not arguing with a protective Harpy.”

“Smart man, don’t ever argue with a Harpy,” Marco said softly. Eve snapped her beak at him and he settled a few more feet between us.

Eve shook her head and neck, ruffling her feathers. “I think you would match her well, Alex. And I think she loves you already, but she doesn’t know it.”

That’s what I was hoping. As much as I loved Rylee, and she was a part of my life and would be forever . . . it wasn’t what I felt for Pamela.

She was stronger than she realized with so much heart . . . and fire . . . and those blue eyes that made me forget that I was supposed to wait for her to get a little older.

“Look at him, he’s thinking about her right now,” Marco crowed, and Eve screeched, laughing.

I shook my head, grinning. “Yeah, so what?”

They laughed, but there was no malice to it. The wind blew around us, picking up as the currents swirled and I realized how close we were to Bismarck.

“Eve, what about the half-breed trolls?” I had to rack my brain for the name of the female who’d helped us take out Ingers and the black coven when they’d tried to get the army involved in wiping out the supernatural world.

“Tara,” Eve squawked.

“Do you think we could find her, and convince her to help?”

Marco shook his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. “You think they won’t be dead? They were susceptible to the pox too, Alex.”

I chewed at my bottom lip thinking. “But the trolls were working for Orion all along, right?”

They nodded in unison.

“So wouldn’t he have put something into play to keep the trolls from picking up the pox?” Even as I said the words I knew I was wrong. In London, right as Rylee had returned to us from Tian Shan and leaving her daughter behind, there had been a troll infected with the pox.

“Good thinking, but how do we find them?”

Already I knew it was a long shot, but we had a little time. A few more on our side might make the difference.

“We’ve got a wolf pack of two hundred. You don’t think they could sniff out a few trolls?” I grinned, already seeing the chaos in my mind of wolves all over downtown Bismarck, freaking out the general populace.

I all but vibrated in my seat.

I couldn’t wait.

Without another word, Eve and Marco dropped out of the sky so I could speak to the wolf packs about the plan.

Being wolves and loving a little chaos themselves, they agreed.

This was about to get fun.

CHAPTER 32

RYLEE

OPHELIA FLEW HARD all night long. There were demons here and there, and they came at us fast and without warning. But we destroyed them as if they were flies and gnats. Like they were nothing.

I Tracked Marcella and Zane constantly, feeling their uncertainty. The trickles of fear that flared up here and there. But no pain, they weren’t being hurt. And they were themselves, there was no possession happening. Yet.