Souljacker (28 page)

“With all due respect, I
am
still a
cyberhound. I followed her scent. MaXXX took her. He took her
outside the barrier and I could smell hounds, several of them. The
Unseelie have her, I’m sure of it.” My fists clench at my sides at
the nerves ringing through me.

Murmured voices split the crowd like a wave,
followed by the smell of uncertainty. Lucy was their warrior of
prophecy, the one to beat the Unseelie once and for all, and now?
Now none of that mattered. If Vashna was as evil as Faela
claimed…Lucy might be dead already.

“I’ll formulate a plan of attack,” Faela says
after several moments of hushed whispers. “I’ll make the
announcement. We’ll set out at dawn.”

My eyes dart to the horizon, stained pink
with sunset. “Dawn? Who knows what they’ll do to Lucy by then.”
Fear claws up my throat and I swallow back the bitter taste of
bile.

She frowns and touches my shoulder. “I’m
sorry, Iofiel, but dawn’s the earliest we can set out. We’d be
fools to set foot on Unseelie territory while night blankets the
earth in darkness; the Unseelie draw power from the midnight hours.
We’ll be stronger at dawn.”

I jerk away from her touch, stumbling
backwards into a couple of Mithos, who shove me back to my feet. I
scowl at her. “Dawn better be soon enough,” I say, though my threat
is empty and she knows it. My arms trembling and my knees like
rubber, I manage to stalk away in what I hope was a dignified
manner.

“Iofiel, wait!” Sync bursts out of the crowd,
catching my elbow. “Is she really gone?”

I sigh. “Yeah. MaXXX took her. I know he did.
I just don’t know why.”

She blinks, taken aback. She adored MaXXX,
she and Caddie both did. They worshipped the ground he walked on.
I’d spent plenty of evenings back in Polaris, listening to Sync
gush about how gentlemanly the rock star was, how great he was with
the kids. How much she really liked him. How much she wished he’d
like her back.

I reach for her, cupping her cheek. I know
she can’t feel it, but she’ll appreciate the gesture. “I’m sorry,
Sync. I really am…”

She closes her eyes for a moment, her face
void of emotion, and then anger takes its place. “I can’t believe
that bastard. To believe that I… No. I hate him. And if we can’t
find her, then I’ll—”

I cut her off, hugging her to me. “No. We’re
going to find her, Sync. But maybe I’ll let you kick his ass once
we get her back.”

She grins. “Works for me.”

Caddie butts in with, “I call second-dibs on
the ass kicking!”

“Hell yeah.” I even manage a grin. “So are we
doing this?”

“What?”

“We can’t wait for these guys. Dawn’s too
long to wait. We should head out now, let them catch up later.”

“Just us? Alone? We’d never make it against
the Unseelie, especially if they’ve got hounds patrolling their
lair.” Caddie huffs. “But…maybe if the gang went with us, we’d
stand a chance?”

“You think they’d actually risk their lives?
We’re talking the possibility of death here, Caddie…”

“All we can do is ask them. They like Lucy a
lot more than they like you.” She winks.

“Doesn’t take much.”

Caddie punches me on the shoulder with a
grin.

Turns out Lucy has a bigger following than
either of us expected. Even little Jolee chimes in wanting to
fight, but Fallon quickly tells her she can’t go. “That’s unfair!
Lucy’s my b-f-f!” she wails and it takes both Fallon and Caddie to
shush her up.

“You’re too young, Jojo. I don’t want you to
get hurt,” I say quietly, getting down on my knees to face her. Her
pretty blue eyes brim with tears and I squeeze her hands in mine.
“Besides, I need you to take care of everyone else from Polaris.
All the other kids. You know them better than anyone else.”

“Really?” she sniffles.

“Really. We’ll be back before you know
it.”

A smile quirks on her lips, mischievous.
“Kick those bad guys’ butts!”

But a few of our newfound followers are
antsy. “We should at least tell Diesel.”

I look up at him, ready to list off the
reasons why that’s not a good idea, when I hear a voice ask, “Tell
me what?” and my heart plummets. “Iofiel?” She lifts one eyebrow
and taps her boot against the ground.

So I tell her the truth. When she frowns, I
quickly add, “Lucy is… I can’t lose her, Diesel. I just can’t.
She’s everything to me. She’s my life.”

“She’s my best friend,” Sync says.

“Mine too,” Caddie pipes in.

“And she’s one of us,” Lake says. “We know
the risks, but if there’s a chance we can save her? I wanna go for
it.”

A chorus of agreement bursts forward and to
my surprise, Diesel smiles. “Then won’t you need a little help? I
can do light warding myself—how do you think Polaris survived so
long before I found Gale?” Her eyes sparkle. “But you realize we’ll
have to be careful. We can only use our powers if we’re being
attacked; if one of us surges, the cyberhounds will find us and
then…you know what happens.” She makes a throat-slitting motion
with her fingers.

I turn to her, feeling peaceful for once
since I let Lucy out of my sight. We were going to save her. “Thank
you,” I manage to say, but Diesel only shakes her head.

“You do crazy shit for the people you love.
Come on, kiddos—I know where Faela’s weaponry room is. Let’s go
find Lucy!”

***

Decked out with gleaming Faerie knives and
daggers, we head into the night. Once we leave the wards behind, I
dive back into my hound form, the need building and as soon as I
shift, sweet release rushes through me. I shudder, taking a big
whiff of the air and find MaXXX’s scent. He had to have carried
Lucy, thrown her over his shoulder. There’s no other way her trail
would just end here.

My hackles spike a line down my back as
Lylan’s stench wafts up my nostrils. The tingle of magic’s on the
air and for a moment, I fear they took a Portal back to the
Unseelie Court, but although several of the hounds’ tracks
disappear, MaXXX’s and Lylan’s don’t.

I take off across the field at a quick trot.
I hear my friends jogging after me and make sure I don’t lose them.
Diesel is at the lead, warding the group the entire way—she surged
behind the walls of Omega City, so as long as she doesn’t drop the
protective energies around the kids, we should be in the clear.
They’ll be invisible under the cover of nightfall and when the sun
rises, only a shimmery blur to the naked eye.

The trail is haphazard, leading us through a
thick patch of forest and brambles, then across a river and down a
highway. Like Lylan was trying to lose anyone who happened to be
following them. Paranoid bastard. Then their scent drops off
sharply, as if they were swallowed by the earth. I can feel the
crackle of cyberhound magic bouncing off my sleek fur.

Damnit, they Portaled.

I snarl, shifting back to human. I feel
around with my bare hands, trying to unwind the magical strands
sewn through the air. The magic is fresh; it’s not even been an
hour since the Portal was created. If I can just retrace Lylan’s
steps and pull the Portal back into existence...

I feel a gentle tug and pull. Sweat beads on
my forehead as I focus and slowly drag the Portal open again,
caressing the air with my fingertips. If I look really closely, I
can see the gleam of a crystalline castle on the other side.

The Unseelie Court.

I turn back to the group, who look suddenly
nervous. “Diesel, the magic in the Portal’s gonna wipe your wards,
so you might as well drop them. Everyone else: Use your abilities
carefully and only in case of an emergency. We need to get in, get
Lucy, and get out.”

“What about the ass kicking?”

“We don’t have time for it right now. Once
Faela arrives with the Seelie army, we’ll be golden, but until then
we need to be careful. I like you guys, even if the feeling’s not
mutual. I don’t want to see any of you get hurt, okay?” I feel a
little mushy as they grin. Then I take a breath, close my eyes, and
step through the Portal.

Lucy, I’m coming…

The city is cast in a blue-violet hue, night
looming around every corner, shadows etched by tall, crystalline
buildings with no windows. No peeps of light are coming from the
walls of glass. Trees speckle the forest floor around us, jutting
out of the earth in strange angles, like they were once uprooted
and then magically slammed back into the earth. Their roots look
like they’re trying to crawl back out of their holes.

I feel a shiver tremble at the base of my
spine as I step forwards. The streets are mostly dark, but lit by
torches, the flames quivering softly, the color of peacock
feathers. I hold my breath and drop down into a crouch as a
lumbering cyberhound passes by.

He doesn’t see me. One by one, the kids from
Polaris step through the Portal, bumping up against me. I can feel
the nerves jumping off their skin like fleas, biting my ankles. I
hold my finger to my lips as they all gather around. The Portal
slides shut with a hiss of magic. I freeze, straining my ears for
the sound of footsteps.

Nothing. We’re safe…but for how long?

Our destination is no doubt the massive
crystal castle in the dead-center of the Unseelie kingdom. It glows
in an almost radioactive way, a beacon in the night. It looks close
enough, but I know getting there will be a whole different
story.

“Follow me,” I whisper. I shift, careful to
place my paws down gently. I move through the city, waiting until
the sentry cyberhounds’ backs are turned before ushering my group
on. I scout ahead, then double back and herd them forwards, nudging
at heels that take a little too long to move. When I freeze, they
freeze, and I feel a rush of pride, knowing that they trust me. Me,
a cyberhound, one of their enemies. Someone they’d hated when I
first arrived in Polaris.

We keep moving, slow but steady, and each
pace we take brings us closer and closer to the castle. One of the
kids in the group is fidgeting, nerves making him antsy. We’re not
moving nearly fast enough to burn off the tension. I press my ears
back against my head, hoping and praying he can keep it under
control.
Just a little longer…

Someone upturns a stone and it scrabbles
across the pavement, the sound almost like an explosion in the
bated-breath silence around us. I hear a hiss from my group and
whip my head around. I bite back a growl as a tall man with silver
braids and dark skin shouts something. His presence drips with so
much magic that it makes my skin crawl.

I hear the roar of a furious hound somewhere
behind us, followed by the whimper of one of the Mithos kids.

Shit.

I shift back mid-stride and rear around to
face my group. They looked shocked, resigned, terrified,
determined. They’re no more warriors than I am, but we’re not given
a choice. There was never a choice.

“Move! Split up, but stay in groups—if you
think your powers will help us, by all means, use them. Keep them
busy! I’ll go find Lucy!” Despite the panic singing through my
veins, I sound strangely calm. I slide the serrated dagger from my
belt, just in case. Everyone else unsheathes their weapons as
well.

In a matter of moments, Caddie’s flung a
fireball at the guard and he’s screaming as he catches afire. The
earth is blanketed in a thick layer of soupy fog, blurring out the
lights lining the streets. Maybe not the best decision, but it
might buy us time.

But even through the fog, I can still see the
eerie glow of the castle, so I take off running. Sync and Caddie
flank my sides, Caddie throwing fireballs over her shoulder. I hear
a hound’s yowl, feel power and energy bouncing off the walls. I
hear a girl scream in agony, my gut clenching because I know she’s
one of ours.

Caddie flinches, pressing her eyes shut for a
moment. When she opens them, they’ve darkened with new resolve. Her
sneakers slap the pavement in time with mine, my breath pouring out
of me in pants. The smell of cyberhound is acidic and strong here,
as if they marked their territory, and knowing my Pack? They
probably did.

“Back off, bitch—ow!” Caddie lets out an
ear-shattering scream. I double back, feeling claws tip my fingers.
A burly guy’s holding her off the ground and she’s thrashing. Then
she snarls and claps her hands on either side of his face and he
wails in terror and pain as his skin begins to blister and bubble
away from bone, practically melting. The stench of burned flesh
rides through the air. The man lets Caddie go, but she’s not
stopping. She’s killing him.

I gape at her, but she catches my eye and the
look she shoots me is furious. “Go, you idiot!”

I turn to flee, then freeze.

“Iofiel,” Sync pleads, tugging on my arm, but
the tall man staring me down has my undivided attention now.

His eyes are narrowed, ice blue and cold as
the winter’s chill. His fingers flex as he steps towards me, hair
slicked back out of his face. It gleams in the lights not blacked
out by fog. “Iofiel.” His words are a growl rumbling up his throat
like the bass in a fancy sports car.

The hair on the back of my neck spikes up in
alarm, but I don’t move. Instead I flash teeth, fangs sharpening at
the tips. “Lylan.” I spit his name out.

“Love-sick fool. You’ve destroyed everything.
The queen may be pleased that we recovered your girlfriend, but I’m
not. You really put me in hot water, boy… If I get my way, once
this war is over, I’ll strip her flesh from her bones, slice by
slice, and I’ll revel in her bloody screams.” His lips quirk into a
cold, sadistic smile.

The image he just painted flashes through my
mind: I see Lucy sprawled naked, red smearing her skin, Lylan
laughing as he slices a fresh wound down her spine. She screams and
it rattles my bones. Rage blinds me and I lunge, only to be grabbed
and roughly tossed in the opposite direction.