Wounded: Book 8 (A Rylee Adamson Novel) (22 page)

“Bear, I thought something was off with him, but I couldn’t figure it out,” Louisa said, her lips touching the rim of her cup, but she didn’t sip any of the hot liquid. On her lap lay the copper knife. Liam itched to take it from her, but restrained himself. Any sudden moves would have the two shamans on high alert.

Coyote still lay on the floor, no longer contorted but very still, all his previous humor gone. “I can’t believe Hawk was possessed.”

Liam wasn’t surprised by anything now. “They may come for you yet, Coyote. Whether to possess or to kill for your blood, it doesn’t matter.” He thought for a moment. “Where are the other shamans?”

Crystal looked up at him, her eyes soft with sorrow and tears. “Dead. We are the only two left.”

That didn’t bode well. His wolf urged him to act, to pin Crystal down and force the truth from her. With his time running out, feeling it slide away with every passing second, he agreed, and before he thought better of it, grabbed Crystal and jerked her to him. Reluctantly, he tightened his hands on her arms and squeezed hard enough that the bones ground together. He put his face close enough that their lips nearly touched, though his teeth were bared.

“You did it, you killed them.”

She shook her head frantically as Louisa shrieked at him to let the younger woman go. But there could be no way to be sure that Crystal hadn’t been possessed too. Louisa threw her tea at him, the hot water burning his bare chest, but he held on, waiting for Crystal to do something, anything to give herself away.

Crystal was frantic, her eyes wild with fear. “I didn’t, I swear I didn’t kill them! I don’t know who did it!”

Louisa stood, the copper knife pointed at him, and though it shook, he knew she would use it.

Crystal’s eyes rolled and as she slipped into a faint, so he let her body slide to the couch once more. “She would have fought back if she’d been possessed.”

“You bastard, you can’t just go threatening people!” Louisa screeched, the edge of hysteria in her voice making the words crack and break.

“I’m not Rylee, I can’t Track people and figure out if they are hiding things. There is no other way for us to know.” He kept his voice even and firm. Business-like, more than reminiscent of his FBI days.

Louisa crouched beside Crystal, stroking her cheek. “She’s breathing, I thought—”

“If he’d thought she was a danger, he would have killed her, shaman,” Coyote said from the floor. “You don’t remember Wolf, but I do. He always does the right thing, no matter the cost.” He took in a shuddering breath. “Let me guess, before you became a guardian, you were a cop of some sort?”

Liam turned toward the guardian. “FBI.”

Coyote barked a laugh. “Not surprised.”

None of this really mattered, not in the scheme of things. “Louisa, you and Crystal need to go to London. Now. It is where Rylee’s allies are rallying.”

The shaman stood and folded her arms in front of her. “Why would I listen to you?”

“Because I just saved your ass from your own guardian,” he snarled. “And more demons will come for the rest of you.”

She paled, and her arms tightened around herself. “Fine. We will go.”

Crystal came around, her eyes wide when she took in Liam. He apologized and while she nodded and said she understood, he could see she was nervous about him now. He didn’t really care. He just needed them to do as he told them. The two shamans left, though not without Louisa glaring at Liam again for good measure. As she passed him, she handed him the copper knife. No words, just slapped the handle into his open palm with a sniff.

“And what of me?” Coyote asked and then clapped his hands together. “You think I’m possessed?”

“Nah. Too helpful against the other two.” Liam sat on the floor beside him. “How long before you heal?”

“Don’t know. Never actually fought another guardian before,” Coyote said, a grimace working its way across his face as he took a deep breath.

“What about the other guardians, the ones who are on the fence?”

Coyote twisted his head and looked up at Liam, his eyes narrowing. “Not many of those. And the few who have gone rogue, they aren’t really bad. They just don’t like to be tied to shamans.”

Liam’s eyebrows rose. “You look at me like I’m one of them.”

“In a way, you are. Wolf comes when the world is in trouble and binds himself to a single person, someone who can make changes, rarely a shaman. It depends on that person how Wolf turns out—good or bad.” He put a hand to the floor and rolled slowly to his belly. “Give me a minute, I’m going to try and shift. That should speed things up.” Coyote didn’t actually make a move to shift, though, he just lay on the floor breathing hard.

Moving back, Liam gave him some room, but began to doubt Coyote’s strength to make the change.

So being tied to Rylee had dictated whether he would have been good or bad? Thinking back, there had been times of utter darkness, especially with Milly, where he wasn’t sure he was even himself.

Yet since he’d been with Rylee, when she’d gone after him, those dark spots in him had disappeared. Gone.

He shook his head. Didn’t matter now, not really. At that moment he wanted only to find a place for Rylee that was safe. Where Orion couldn’t find her.

“Coyote, do you know much about demons?”

Coyote turned his head toward Liam again. “Why?”

“If there was a place that could be clear of demons, where would it be?”

The guardian groaned and pushed himself to his hands and knees. “Some sort of holy ground, something untainted by the modern world and the revelry in it. I’d say a place with a guardian, but I don’t know anymore after this shit fest if we are as good at protection as we once were.” He shook his head and Liam helped him to his feet.

“I thought you wanted to shift?”

“Can’t. And since you want to talk, this works better anyway.” With his arm over Liam’s shoulder they left the house. The remainder of the pack, only six werewolves—and of course, Beauty was one of them—immediately surrounded them. Injured and still bleeding, the werewolves didn’t hesitate.

“Sometimes I wish coyotes were as loyal. Your pack saved us both.”

“I know.” Liam shifted his arm so he could take more of Coyote’s weight. “Tell me more about a place apart from the world, somewhere safe.”

“You going to run off and leave the world on its own?”

“No. But I need to find a place for my mate to be safe. She’s going to need it.”

Coyote gave him a funny look, but he spoke freely about where he thought would be best, the attributes that would keep demons away.

The final refuge for those seeking sanctuary from evil.

Liam could only hope he was right, and could convince Rylee to go.

Chapter 15

“BERGET, ARE THERE any zombies still fucking about?” I yelled loud enough that she could hear me. She responded in kind.

“No, they all went down the same time the witches did. Same time Pam did.”

I didn’t want to face anything in the water, but I doubted it was going to let me get back to the stairs without some sort of confrontation. Let’s just call it previous experience.

Reaching for one of the short knives I kept tucked away for just such an emergency, I gripped the handle in my right hand, whip in my left and braced myself for another fight. The water was over my knees and steadily climbing; the spray floating around me disturbed the surface and made it hard to see what was under it clearly. Something I really wanted to know.

The thing in the water started toward me again, slower this time, its body sliding along, the flip of an iridescent fin catching the light before going under again.

I kept walking backward, slowly, feeling my way with my feet and hoping to hell I didn’t stumble over anything. As the water rose and the creature circled, the bodies of those killed floated to the surface, bobbing up like some creepy carnival game of whack a mole.

One of the bodies floated close and I pushed it away, toward the creature that was following me. A hand shot out of the water and—shit—a mermaid popped her head out to stare at me. Long purple hair was braided back from her face, but then the braid ended at her shoulders leaving the length of her hair to float freely. Her eyes were a paler color than her hair and they fixed a stare on me that made me bring up my blade.

“You think to kill me?” She slurred her words, sounding like she was still under water.

“Only if you start something.” Mermaids were not known for their kindness. They were more known for the shit they would pull when you weren’t looking, and their temperamental love lives. If eating your mate after he knocked you up could be called temperamental.

She grinned at me. “Whoever broke the hull broke it just enough for us to get in.”

Us. Oh, that did not sound good. “And why would you want in?”

She spread her hands and rested her face on the floating body I’d pushed her way. “A banquet awaits; a feast of proportions we rarely see. The flesh of supernaturals the elementals haven’t yet put away, that is something we don’t often get.”

“Fine, eat away, but leave me the hell out of it.”

“Or you’ll do what exactly?”

There was a splash behind me and a voice I’d been waiting for whispered, “She’ll have her little sister drain your body of every last drop of your sea ridden blood.”

The mermaid hissed and dove under the water. I turned to see Berget, her skirts swirling on top of the water, her eyes narrowed.

“I told you to go.”

“I’m not leaving you here, Rylee, any more than you’d leave me.”

“India and Kyle?”

“Alex is taking them to Erik and Amelia.”

Unspoken words flowed between us. She didn’t call Amelia ‘mom’ or ‘mother’. I didn’t ask her why. Nor did I ask why she didn’t help our mom.

I sloshed to her and she put an arm around my waist. She pushed off with her legs and we shot up three levels to where Frank and Pamela sat. Frank’s arm was around Pamela’s shoulders, helping her sit up, but he nearly dropped her when we appeared at the edge of the railing.

Grabbing the metal railing, I pulled myself over. “They killed Dad.”

Berget sucked in a sharp breath and stared down into the water.

Alex, Erik, and Amelia appeared at the far end of the walkway with India and Kyle. Amelia was stumbling, her hands buried deep in the ruff around Alex’s neck, no doubt for warmth as much as stability. He waved a paw at me and gave me a grin that showed off his teeth. Nothing ever truly fazed him for long.

Amelia’s head was lowered so she didn’t see me, nor did she see Berget.

“I have to go. I don’t want her to know I’m alive,” Berget whispered and in a flash only a vampire could accomplish, she was gone.

Amelia slowly lifted her head, saw me and stiffened. “You couldn’t be content with killing your little sister; you had to murder your father too.”

“Shut up, you ungrateful wretch,” Erik snapped, and I was intensely appreciative he defended me. But it didn’t stop the emotions that engulfed me.

My guts clenched and I fought the instant pang of guilt that sliced through me. Mostly because she was
right. If I hadn’t gone to see them, there was a good chance Robert and Amelia would be home having their nightly drinks, discussing their day.

Teeth gritted, I ignored her, turning my back to her. That had always been the best way in the past. The best way to deal with her accusations.

“That’s right, you did it, you killed him,” she said.

Alex whimpered. “Rylee not bad.”

Amelia jumped as if just noticing her companion was a twisted werewolf who could talk.

Alex, oblivious to her surprise kept talking. “Rylee good, you are bad mom to be mean to Rylee.”

If nothing else, I did have my supporters. Ignoring Amelia, I crouched to check on Pamela. She blinked groggily up at me. “What happened?”

“I think you got a backlash that was meant to kill you.”

Frank nodded. “I saw it coming, saw it was tuned to magic users. Death magic doesn’t bother necromancers, so I—”

Pamela’s eyes shot wide and her hand covered her mouth. “He kissed me.”

He blushed. “Thomas told me that some sort of exchange would have to happen if I was to stop death magic on someone else. Something like a kiss or blood. I didn’t have time to draw blood on her or me, I swear!”