Wounded: Book 8 (A Rylee Adamson Novel) (23 page)

I held up my hand. “Thank you, Frank, for taking care of her. You did the right thing.” I reached down and helped Pam to her feet. She wobbled and leaned on me, pushing me back into the railing. I glanced down. Nope, that wasn’t Pamela making me sway. The boat listed hard as a rush of water swelled through the broken hull.

“Time to go.”

Amelia let go of Alex and I gave a nod to Frank. He stepped close to my mom and let her lean on him, leaving Alex free to move near me and Pamela.

“Mean mom.”

“Alex, enough,” I said, though there was no force behind my words. I was battered through and through and so fucking confused with what Orion had done that I barely knew what to think. India ran to my side and slipped an arm around me. “There are so many spirits here, Rylee.”

“We’re going, kid. Kyle, you okay?”

“Yeah.” That was all he managed and I wasn’t about to ask more at that particular moment. He looked as bedraggled and done in as I felt.

We wove our way out of the ship as it tipped even further into the harbor. Lucky for us, the boat listed so that once we were on deck, all we had to do was hop across the railing and we were standing on the dock. Solid ground beneath us. Kinda.

Amelia threw my coat at me even though the snow was still coming down. “I will see you in jail for this.”

I caught my coat with one hand, but didn’t put it on. It was still warm, or warmish, from her body and I wondered if she cared that I’d almost died in there. That all of us had almost died and it was a miracle only Robert, my dad, hadn’t made it out.

I knew my brain was stalling, filling with other things so I didn’t look at my mom and start crying right there. A part of me was amazed she still had so much power over me, could still cut me to the quick.

And then something shifted in me and my spine stiffened. A memory of the desert and the very first salvage I did on my own surfaced. Reminding me of the strength it had taken to face down someone I thought had loved me when I realized he had been a total shit. That had been the turning point for me; how could I go back to that girl who was still so eager to please that she would give up everything? That’s right, I wasn’t going there again. Not. Ever. Not even for my mom.

“You fucking well do that, Amelia. I didn’t kill Berget, and I sure as hell didn’t kill my dad. You saw everything that happened in there, you almost got possessed by a demon and I SAVED YOUR ASS!”

My voice echoed across the docks and Amelia shrunk away from me. But I wasn’t done.

“You didn’t deserve to have me or Berget.” Okay, that was a seriously low blow, but it felt so fucking good to finally say it. To turn on your child when they needed you the most, and give up on the other? No, that wasn’t a mother. At least, not a good one.

My rag tag group hobbled down the dock, each passing Amelia as though she didn’t exist.

Amelia didn’t try to catch up with us, and I didn’t really care. At the far end of the dock where the true dry land met with the wooden pilings there was a flash of bright blonde hair. Berget stepped out to meet us just as Amelia ran up from behind.

“Rylee, don’t you turn your back on me—”

Amelia’s voice died as she spied Berget, who had also gone very still.

Well shit, it really had nothing to do with me now at all. I’d said my peace and for the first time felt the past slide away from me, no longer tugging at my emotions. I ignored Amelia and kept walking.

Berget looked like she’d swallowed a hunk of troll flesh and was about to throw it back up. “I thought she’d be gone.”

I shrugged but said nothing, felt nothing as I walked past her. Berget’s hand snaked out and she grabbed me. “Don’t leave me with her.”

As she asked, I stopped. Pamela let out a deep breath. “Let me try and stand on my own.”

Letting go of her, I slipped my coat back on, the scent of Amelia’s perfume floating up and around my nose. It didn’t make me nostalgic anymore, just ill.

“Berget, my baby, is that really you?” Amelia stumbled forward and I felt more than a little voyeuristic, and just a tad bit jealous. I couldn’t help it; who wouldn’t want their mother to love them?

Berget stepped back and shook her head, drawing herself up, and every jealous thought I had evaporated. “You aren’t my mother. My mother would have loved Rylee when she was in her darkest moments. She would have stood by her and kept searching for me. You might be the person who gave birth to me, but it has always been Rylee who loved me best. She was the only one who never gave up on me.”

Amelia put a hand to her throat and her body shook. “I thought she killed you.” What I found interesting was that she didn’t say that she loved Berget, didn’t beg for forgiveness. No, she went right to me again.

Berget glared at her. “No, you just wanted someone to blame. Someone who didn’t look back at you in the mirror.”

With that, Berget turned her back on our mother and took my hand. “Don’t let her get to you. She’s wrong about everything.” Her eyes, though, were clouded. Hundreds of years of wisdom might have been stored in her head, but she was still a teenager, still trying to figure out life and the blows it handed us. Still fighting to keep control of herself.

My fingers tightened over hers. “Let’s go, everyone is waiting for us and we have shit to do.”

We left Amelia on the docks, on her knees watching her two children disown her as they walked out of her life for good.

“It was for her own good, and besides, she did deserve it,” Berget whispered to me as we crossed the Charlestown Bridge.

I nodded and brushed a lock of her hair back behind one ear. “I know.” The people we loved, they would be targets, and those we fought, like the black coven, would seek out those targets and use them against us.

The way back was uneventful.

Which was weird. I kept twitching, waiting for something to jump out at me, grab one of the kids, pull us down and try to kill us.

Call it history, but there weren’t many times lately that we’d been able to do anything without running into uglies.

When we got to the safe house, I turned to Frank. “You feeling up to it?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Frank stepped in front of us. “Where are we going?”

“London.”

He swallowed hard. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

I scrubbed my face. “Where can you get us?”

“Back to the farm. Maybe to New Mexico.” He blushed. “I’m sorry, I just need to rest for awhile.”

New Mexico was where Louisa and the other shamans were. Maybe we could rally them while we were there. “New Mexico. Louisa’s, if you can.”

I moved to his side to watch his face. Severe concentration and a bead of sweat were all he gave away as the veil sliced open. In the distance, I saw Louisa’s house lit up in the dark night. Looked like she was home, at least.

As we all stepped through the veil, Frank collapsed to his knees. Pamela and I dropped beside him. “Hey, you’ve overdone it.”

He nodded and I helped him stand, though he was wobbly. Pamela put a hand to his forehead and frowned. “I don’t think I can heal this. It’s fatigue, nothing more.”

“A night’s sleep should do it,” he mumbled.

If only we’d known we’d not even get that, we might have stayed in Boston.

Chapter 16

“STINKS LIKE BLOOD and shit,” Alex said as we drew close to Louisa’s house.

Seriously? “Everybody on their toes.” I went to draw one of my blades, forgetting that I’d lost both of them. There was a first time for everything, but did it have to be right then?

Erik took point and I let out slow breaths, taking my whip and uncoiling it. Had the ogres come after Louisa and the shamans?

“Smell any ogres, Alex?”

“Nope. Just wolves. And guardians.”

I frowned. “What wolves?”

“Boss’s pack.”

I shared a look with Erik, who just shook his head. “They should be in London.”

And you were supposed to be on your way to London too.
Blaz’s voice rippled over me and I turned to the left, the direction he spoke from. That wasn’t really my main concern. “Where’s Liam?”

Alex let out a yip and then took off into the darkness.

“Alex, stop!” Which, of course, he didn’t listen to, not for one second. “Fuck!”

In the distance, there was a howl and then a small chorus of howls started up. I Tracked Liam and the tension flowed out of me. He was not far away, and better yet, he was not hurt. Or at least, not hurt like he had been.

“Rylee, what do we do?” Pamela asked me as she lifted her hands.

“It’s Liam. We’re okay.”

For the first time in what felt like days, I relaxed a little, knowing Liam wasn’t hurt.

Minutes passed and we waited while the pack and Liam slowly made their way to us. Liam walked next to a dark-haired man who hung from Liam’s side. Pamela rushed forward and put her hands on the man. He straightened up within seconds.

“Good job, witchy woman.” He gave her a wink and then lifted his eyes to take us all in. “Wolf, you going to introduce us?”

“Rylee, this is Coyote. He’s the last guardian alive around here.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. How could that be? What had happened to Bear? Liam didn’t elaborate, just headed straight for me. I didn’t hesitate, either. Too many close calls, who the hell cared what other people thought of what was going to be a seriously public display of affection?

A large wolf darted in between us and shifted. Beauty was really going to be a pain in the ass, one that I was about done with. “Out of my way, bitch.”

“Liam, love,” she purred. “Who does this human think she is to question me? Doesn’t she know who I am?”

Liam love? Oh, fuck no.

“Rylee, meet Beauty.” He flicked a hand at her, a twist to his lips like he’d bit on something sour.

I didn’t bother to even try to restrain myself. These were wolves after all, not some pansy-assed human. Mates were taken seriously. “We’ve met. Am I going to have to kill her, or is she going to play nice and acknowledge that I’m your mate?”

Beauty’s jaw dropped, though she caught herself quickly and within seconds charged me.

Mistake number one. My whip was in my hand and snapping toward her before she took two steps. A thin line of silver filament was threaded through the leather and as it curled around the naked flesh of her legs, she let out a scream.

I jerked the whip hard, dropping her to the ground. “Now, did you have something to say to me?”

“He’s mine!”

I burst out laughing and flicked the whip so it uncoiled from her legs. “Liam, this is your territory. You want to deal with her, or should I? I really don’t want to kill anyone else. At least, not tonight.”

Liam moved beside me so we faced her together. She let out a groan as her eyes flicked over me, pausing as she took in a deep breath, her nostrils flaring as she scented the air. Her eyes widened with understanding, and a wicked glimmer crossed them. “Oh, I see what this is. Liam, you should have told me about her. Shameful, so very shameful between a wolf and a human.” Her eyes flicked up and down my body. “You know it will kill her, when the time comes.”

What happened next couldn’t have shocked me more if Faris had put on a dress and said he was marrying Doran. Shit, I didn’t think Beauty’s words hadn’t been
that
bad.

Liam lunged forward as he shifted. She scrambled backwards, her eyes wide, but no one shifted as fast as Liam, and Beauty was no exception. His teeth closed around her neck and she scrambled to push him off. A sharp twist, the crack of vertebrae, and she stilled with a last single gasp of air. Even in death her body was stunning, her hair fanned out around her head as the blood dripped down her pale neck and over her perfect chest, her hands open in an artful gesture.

Didn’t seem to affect Liam, though. He threw her body away from us and into the night where the lights from Louisa’s home didn’t touch. The werewolves around us sunk even lower to the ground, their teeth chattering in a creepy, clacking unison that brought Alex running from the back of the pack.

He skidded to a stop when he saw Beauty’s body and clamped his oversized paws on his muzzle. “Oh, shitty dips.”