Wounded: Book 8 (A Rylee Adamson Novel) (4 page)

Erik stopped him. “There is precedence to this, though. This is not the first time a powerful demon has tried to take over the world.” He had everyone’s attention with those words.

“Wait, what?” I blurted out, my eyes widening. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t think that all of the disasters that humanity has faced were all natural, do you? The bubonic plague is a good example. It was blamed on a number of things. Rats, the Jewish people, punishment from God. It all led to a cleansing of anything unusual. Mostly supernaturals who were trying to blend in, and in that process, the humans wiped out many of their best defenders against the demon population, which then went on to spread the plague across the world. But that is just one example.”

“What was the point, though? Wouldn’t the demons have wanted people to be alive so they could possess them?” Liam asked.

Erik gave a ruthful smile. “Yes and no. The bubonic plague wasn’t so much about killing people off, as it was infecting them. Making them weak and easier to possess. The plague compromised their immune systems, allowing them to be taken over. Especially the young.”

Something about what Erik said sent a twang through my brain. I struggled to put the pieces together, but they floated just out of reach. Damn it. Liam touched my arm. “What?”

I closed my eyes and pressed my palms into them, blocking out any light. “Let me think for a minute.”

The feel of the night air and the sound of the fountain filled my ears as I looked at the pieces one by one.

Demons escaped in London who bred fast.

Minor supernaturals were being possessed by lesser demons and evil spirits.

Packs of Orion’s demons were free to cause chaos.

The only thing we were missing was a plague, and then Orion would have access to all the young people he wanted. The urge to vomit swelled up through my stomach and burned the back of my throat.

“Children are normally hard to possess, aren’t they?” That was why it had taken a full pentagram when the black coven was trying to have India possessed so many months ago. At least, that was what I understood.

Bert bobbed his head. “Yes, it can be very difficult to possess a child. There is a natural protection over the young when it comes to demons, something the elementals put into play.” He grimaced as he said ‘elemental’ and again I wondered at these particular supernaturals that I’d only just been hearing about. “But when the small humans are ill, that protection goes into keeping them alive, rather than keeping them from being possessed.”

Feeling like a bully, but not really caring, I leaned in to Bert. “How did the bubonic plague really start?”

An interesting thing happened. Bert paled and shook his head. “I can’t tell you.”

My eyebrows shot up and I glanced at Erik. “You want to make him talk, or do you want me to make him talk?”

Erik shrugged. “Either way is fine. I haven’t interrogated a demon in years. I’ve missed it.”

Bert paled even more and his lower lip trembled. “I can’t tell you. I can’t. Tracker, Slayer, both of you have to trust me. Please.”

“Begging will get you nowhere, little demon,” Erik growled. He had a short, serrated knife in his hand that he’d pulled from somewhere within his robes. It was curved, like a skinning knife, and if it hadn’t been for the rough edges, that’s what I would have called it.

“Track demons and evil spirits,” Bert blurted as he fell to his knees. “Proof I am on your side, that I truly want to help, but cannot tell you about the plagues. Track them; you’ll see it isn’t me fooling you.”

Erik paused and looked over at me. “Up to you. Personally, I’d just as soon dice him up.”

“Fuck, why not, Tracking will take me two seconds,” I grumbled.

I send out a thread to Track demons as a whole, paired with a thread for evil spirits, just to satisfy—

Holy. Fucking. Hell.

I swayed on my feet and went to one knee, the overwhelming wash of pings I got back seriously making me re-think getting out of bed the day before.

We were surrounded by Orion’s minions.

Hundreds of them.

Chapter 3

LIAM HELPED ME to stand. “We have a problem,” I whispered, as I turned to look up at him.

“How bad is it?”

“Hundreds of very big, very bad uglies.”

Faris’s eyes searched the darkness around us. “I don’t sense anything out of the ordinary. Wolf, what are you picking up with that nose of yours?”

“Ogres, unicorns, only what we already have here.”

Bert whimpered. “I told you I wasn’t fooling you.”

I didn’t look at him, just clung to the threads as a horrible, horrible idea bloomed. Carefully, as if they would be able to tell, I Tracked
Raw
, hoping I was wrong. His threads lit up inside my head, overlapping one of the pings from the demons.

“It’s the ogres; they’re possessed.” Oh, we were in shit. There was close to a hundred ogres out there, pretty much surrounding Doran’s home. And we’d invited them.

Unclenching my jaw, I strode forward. “We have to move on them, before they know we know. Otherwise, there is no way we can take them all out.”

You would discount me?

“No.” I shook my head. Blaz had a point.

Liam burst that bubble. “If you go after them, how are you going to get the unicorns out without Blaz frying them? They are in the middle of the ogre camp; they’ll be slaughtered before we can even get to them.” His silver golden eyes searched the darkness. “I think I can get some local wolves to help buffer us. But you’re right, Rylee. We have to get the hell out of here.”

Hanging onto the threads of the demons and evil spirits around us (I couldn’t call them ogres any more), I knew we were about to be in serious trouble. “Faris, go tell Doran what’s going on, jump the veil, get Thomas or
Frank
to help, whatever you can do. Get everyone out.”

He didn’t argue with me. “Where are we meeting?”

There was only one logical place. “Jack’s. It’s far enough away.” And maybe we could get
Will
and Deanna to finally help.”

Faris gave me a tight smile and then strode into the house. For the moment, I could trust him.

“Erik.”

My uncle turned his head to me. His eyes narrowed. “There are too many. Even if we extract the unicorns, there are too many to deal with. Between the ogres natural strengths and abilities, and the drive of demons and dark spirits in them, they will be powerhouses. Our best option is to get the hell out of here before they are on to us.”

That was not what I wanted to hear. “We have to get Nikko and his crush out. I can’t leave them.”

Liam put a hand out. “Let me try something.” He closed his eyes, let out a slow breath. The world around us stilled and then suddenly, from the outside perimeter of Doran’s home and land, the eerie howl of a wolf broke the clear night air.

“What are you doing?” I grabbed at Liam’s arm. “We don’t want them to know we’re on to them!”

He gave me a grin and shifted right there, his clothes going with him for the first time. Shit, he’d finally managed it. That surprise stuck with me long enough for him to lope off into the darkness, leaving me standing there, slack-jawed.

I took two steps and Erik stopped me. He stood with his back to me, his arm barring my way. “This is not a rush job, Rylee. Let your man do what he can to get the unicorns to safety.”

“I’m not rushing in,” I snapped. Liam was going into a fight without me, and I was just standing there. Doing nothing. It ate at my insides.

“No, you rush in because you don’t know any better.” His expression changed, looking almost sad. “I wish I’d known you’d lived, Rylee. I would have raised you myself. Taught you some patience.”

His eyes met mine and behind them I saw he was telling the truth. But it was a bitter gall and I spit out the one thing that had been bothering me about Erik since I’d met him.

“I read my mother’s journal. She said you were always causing trouble with her and my father. Why would you want to raise me?” I asked the question, but I was listening hard for another howl, another sound from whatever was going on out there. I’d read my mom’s journal while Liam and I were in Europe, at Jack’s actually, and it had answered a lot of questions about my past. Mind you, it had also left a bunch of new questions rolling through my head.

Erik gave me a small smile, his eyes crinkling. “Because I loved them both. One was my older brother; the other was the one who got away.”

I stared at him, my eyes popping wide. “Wait, you and my mom were an item? That was
not
in her journal.”

“It wouldn’t be. It wasn’t her style to kiss and tell. And it’s not a story I’m going to share with you in detail, either, but yes, I loved her.” Erik’s smile faded. “I saw her first and I was angry when she chose my brother over me. The things I said and did… lashing out at them both. I’m not proud of it. Worse, I never got to say goodbye, to either of them.” He shook his head and I found myself totally mesmerized by his words. And it was in that moment I realized he’d done it on purpose. He’d totally distracted me from the fight going on outside.

“You sneaky son of a bitch. You knew you’d be able to—”

“Keep you from the fight? Yes.” He grinned at me again, totally unrepentant. “Because you, my niece, need to learn when to hold back. And this is one of those times. Let Liam do his job, let him protect you.”

With my teeth gritted, I stared into the darkness where Liam had disappeared. Fuck, I hoped Erik was right.

He bolted toward the sounds of howling and wondered just how long it would take before Rylee was right behind him. But there was no sound of her heartbeat or even the steady pound of her footsteps, shocking him. At the same time, he was pleased. Maybe she would finally let him do what he had to do to protect her.

The howls ahead of him were those of werewolves, and if there was one place his instincts and Peter’s training came in handy, it was dealing with other wolves. Not to mention he’d called them in, asked them to attack the ogres.

Harry them.
He sent the thought to the wolves who’d quickly come to his call. A damn nifty trick
Peter
had taught him, but it was the first time he’d actually had the nerve to put it in play. Controlling other werewolves was a gift and one he didn’t want to abuse.

The closer he got to the ogres, the more the sounds of the fight filled his ears. Ogres swung their wicked sharp, heavy weapons and the wolves around them dodged blows while inflicting devastating bites, but he could see they had listened to him. Even their lead bitch, who snarled as he loped by.

Between one step and the next he shifted back to human form.

His wolf surged forward again, though, and he used the power in his voice as Peter had taught him, blending the word with a command, with the very essence of what he was. Guardian, wolf, and alpha.

“ENOUGH!”

It was like a switch had been thrown, and the wolves fell to the ground, cowering. The ogres seemed about as stunned as the wolves.

“What is the meaning of this?” Came a soft, purring voice from somewhere within the mess of ogres and wolves.

Slim and tall, with legs that seemed to go all the way to her chin, a woman slowly rose from the ground and walked toward him. Long dark hair flowed around her, partially hiding her nudity. She had Asian features, sharp and pristine, like a doll come to life.