Blood of the Lost

by Shannon Mayer

  I glared at Liam, but meant at Faris. “This was what you meant when you said it would hurt Liam? That it would eat his soul if you jumped us?”

  He turned to me and I knew I was looking at Liam still. “Yes, that’s why he wouldn’t do it. He knows you, Rylee. I hate to admit it, but he does. You would never forgive him if he’d broken my soul in trying to get us here.”

  Bella tsked softly and another explosion shook the structure. I Tracked Pamela and Lark.

  They were both pissed as cats stuffed into a toilet and swirlied. But the power running through them both . . . it was beyond wild, beyond anything I’d ever felt.

  Pamela was the strongest witch the world had ever seen, and that included Milly, who’d been able to do things like jumping the Veil and breaking bonds with demons.

  Yet Lark was making Pamela look like a human next to the power she was running. I wasn’t sure the explosions were related to the demons attacking.

  The earth rolled beneath or feet and Bella ran ahead of us. “Hurry, we’re almost there.”

  She ran for a wide set of doors, shoving them open. Despite the need to hurry, I couldn’t help but stop and stare at what we stumbled into. The room was round, as if we were standing inside a globe looking out at all the countries and oceans of the world.

  Bella touched the globe with both hands and pulled it toward her, enhancing the picture until it was clear, as if I stood in front of the scene. “Rylee, you know where you’re going?”

  I nodded, and reached for the globe tightening the view, zooming in, until it showed the barn on my farm, and the burnt out shell that had been my home. “Here, this is where we’re going.”

  Another monster rumble sent us all to our knees. Bella gasped. “I have to help them. This is how the armbands work. You put it on,” she shoved a smooth wooden band onto my upper arm. “With this hand,” she tapped the one with the band on it. “You touch the spot you want to go. With the other hand, twist the band clockwise. Counterclockwise will bring you back here.”

  She looked at us one last time as she stood in the doorway. “Good luck.”

  Alex didn’t hesitate, just waved and followed her up the stairs. As if he were going on a date or to a party, not into a war zone. But that was Alex.

  “Berget, you first,” I said. “Take Jonathan with you and hunker down in the barn.”

  She slipped the band on and touched a spot of ground on the globe directly on the west side of the barn. Where the morning sun hadn’t touched yet. Jonathan wrapped his fingers around the belt at her waist.

  “A piece of advice?” he said.

  “What is it?”

  “Whatever you do, don’t let go.”

  Berget touched the map and twisted her armband at the same time. A blast of wind roared through the room and their bodies were sucked into the globe with a pop of air and a burst of light.

  “Fuck me,” I whispered.

  Liam grunted. “You have to admit, that is far more impressive than jumping the Veil.”

  I looked at the map, and though I knew what I had to do, I didn’t think Liam was going to like it.

  “We’re not going to the farmhouse, are we?”

  Damn, was I that easy to read? “No, we aren’t.”

  “Marcella?”

  Gods, I wanted to go after our daughter, but not yet. I swallowed hard. “No.”

  “Then who?”

  “Orion.”

  CHAPTER 22

  LIAM

  HE WASN’T SURE he’d heard her right. Because there was no way she’d said they were dropping into Orion’s lap.

  “No, no, no.” He held up his hands and a demon flew into the room. He grabbed it and held it out for her as if it hadn’t interrupted him. She cupped the demons head and whispered to it, and it dissolved.

  “Yes. I need to see him, to get close enough to touch him.” She looked him straight in the eye. “I have to bind him to me, Liam. It’s the only way I will ever beat him.”

  “Bind him to you? Are you out of your mind?” he roared as she touched the armband.

  “You can either come with me, or I can leave you behind to fly home with Alex,” she snapped. The fear in her voice calmed him. She wasn’t being wildly reckless.

  “You actually have a plan, don’t you?”

  Her eyebrows rose. “Is that so hard to believe?”

  “Of you, yes.” He grabbed the waistband of her jeans and let out a breath. “Where you go, I go. That’s the deal. But how are you going to convince Orion to touch you?”

  She adjusted the globe until it hovered over Washington, D.C. “He’s in the White House, with the president.” With a flick of her fingers, the view shifted from the steps of the White House to the Oval Office. “I need you to bite me, and then invoke the bite to make me fast enough if he decides he doesn’t want to go along with my plan.”

  With a flip of her hair, she bared her neck to me. “Do it, please.”

  Invoking the bite . . . it would temporarily give her the speed and strength of the vampire. A bonus for those willing to share blood with a vampire, but it was also one more tie to Faris.

  Inside his head, the vampire laughed. I think we are far beyond those worries, aren’t we?

  Faris was right. Liam bent to her neck and brushed his lips against her soft skin, placing a kiss where his teeth would go. He slowly punctured the skin, allowing his fangs to carefully slide in. The moan that slipped from her nearly undid him. Holding her tightly, his body pressed against hers, the surge of emotions and blood enough to send his libido into overdrive. Her fingers tangled in his hair. “Don’t stop.”

  Around them, the world shook on its foundations, and all he could think about was how good it would feel to rip her clothes off and take her right there on the floor. To remind them both how very alive they were.

  With a great effort, he pulled back from her and licked the two pinpricks where his fangs punctured. Faris said nothing.

  “The Oval Office,” he said carefully. “That will be loaded with security, guns, men, and probably the president.”

  “You bar the doors, I’ll do the rest,” she whispered.

  Liam’s gut clenched. He knew what the security would be like, and while bullets wouldn’t kill him, they would kill Rylee. “Are you absolutely certain that’s where he is?” He made himself let go of her, at least for the moment.

  She snorted and gave him a look that told him everything he needed to know. Her eyes only swirled that fast with the three colors when she was Tracking. “I think I should know.”

  He put his other hand on her waist and closed his eyes. “Can’t blame me for trying to talk you out of this.”

  There was the sound of the rushing wind, a flash of light, and he opened his eyes. The Oval Office looked like the movies portrayed it, with a large desk and white, rounded walls.

  Except that most movies didn’t have a demon sitting on the edge of the desk with one leg bent, and the other on the floor, his mouth hanging open in shock.

  “Surprise,” Rylee said. Liam let go of her and ran to the doors, locking them down. They only needed Orion. No one else; certainly not the president’s men.

  The demon was put together like a body builder, his shoulders and neck stacked so high with muscle that it looked as though he had no neck. A bald shining head and red glowing eyes the color of fresh blood topped off the image.

  He gathered himself together quickly, standing and folding his arms over his chest. “Rylee, how lovely of you to drop in. What can I do you for?”

  It was only then that Liam realized the demon was not alone in the Oval Office. The president sat behind him tapping furiously at whatever panic button he had. “Mr. President, we’re only here for Orion. Not you,” Liam said.

  That didn’t seem to calm the leader of the free world, not one bit.

  Rylee held her hands up. “I want to talk about a truce. Terms that we could both live with, demon.”

  Orion’s eyes widened. “Why?”
<
br />   “You threatened my daughter. I take that fucking seriously. If I can keep her safe, even if it means the world goes to shit in a poorly woven hand basket, then I’ll do it.”

  It took everything Liam had to keep his mouth shut, to not grab her and shake her. She had a plan and whatever it was, he would trust her.

  No matter how damn crazy it sounded.

  “Ah, a mother’s love. A powerful motivator. What do you have in mind?”

  She held out her hand. “A simple truce. You stop killing my family and the supernaturals, the elementals too. And we will stay out of your way.”

  Orion stared at her hand as if she held a serpent out to him with fangs bared. “A simple truce?”

  She nodded, her hand not wavering for a second.

  Orion lifted his eyes to her, then back to her hand, then back up to her eyes. Liam tensed as the sound of fists and guns pounding on the door behind him took up a rather desperate tempo.

  “Oh, pretty Tracker. An offer like that before you were trained as a Slayer . . . that would have been an offer I would take. But now”—he spread his hands wide—“I think not.”

  She lowered her hand. “That’s too bad.”

  Liam had to fight not to tense, he knew her too well to think she would give up. Not when they were directly in front of Orion.

  I’ve invoked the bite. Faris whispered to him from the recesses of his mind.

  With a burst of speed that was inhumanly fast, Rylee leapt at Orion. The demon backpedaled right over the president’s desk and into his lap. “I’ll kill him.” He held the president up with one hand and Rylee shrugged.

  “Go for it. That’s why we have a vice president.”

  Orion threw the limp president away from him and Rylee was on the demon in a flash. He tried to jump the Veil but she grabbed his left hand and dug her nails into him.

  The Veil opened up in a slash and Orion pulled her through, closing it behind them.

  Liam stared at the spot where they’d been, unable to believe what had happened.

  Are you really that surprised? This is Rylee, after all, when have her plans gone right?

  Though Faris had a point, Liam didn’t want to hear it. The door behind them shattered and the tips of guns stuck through the door. “Faris, right now my bigger concern is getting us the hell out of here.”

  The window. It’s still dark on this side of the building.

  That, it was. He bolted across the room and hit the window as the men burst into the room. The window shattered and he fell from the sky, landing with a soft thud in the green grass below. He didn’t wait to see if the president’s men were going to shoot at him, he was certain of it.

  Rylee had the armband, so at least she could go back to the Rim if she needed to escape Orion.

  Out of the frying pan and into the fire, trading one demon for a horde of demons. The problem was, he couldn’t decide which was worse.

  CHAPTER 23

  RYLEE

  ORION SCREAMED AT me as we slipped through the Veil. Liam was going to be pissed as hell that I’d left him behind. Again.

  There were flashes of color: metal gray, murky water, an American flag, the words SS BOSTON in broken spray paint on the wall. We hit the deck of the ship hard and water splashed up around us, but I didn’t let go of the big bastard. My brain struggled to make sense of where we were. Because the only ship I’d been on that looked like this was supposed to be at the bottom of the harbor in Boston.

  Orion tried to fling me off, snarling as his face twisted into a rictus mask. I swung my legs around in a wide circle, and slammed into something hard and cold. The crack of my shin bone being smashed into whatever unbending material I hit seemed to please Orion.

  “Let me go, Tracker, and I’ll make your death quick.”

  “Fuck you, asswipe.” I dug my nails in harder, and took a breath. This was going to be my one shot at binding him to me.

  “Don’t you dare,” he hissed, his eyes glowing even as he scrambled backward from me. His free hand pulled back and then slammed into my face.

  The words slid from my lips. “I bind thee to me. My death will be yours, and your death shall free your soul. Demon to Slayer, these two souls are now twinned.”

  Around us, the roar of voices emerged, along with a brilliant flash of orange light. Sparkles floated down around us like fireflies that had lost their wings. I let go of Orion, and searched for his threads inside me.

  Except they weren’t threads like I was Tracking someone. No, they were the emotions and sensations like I’d gotten from Blaz. Like a distant conversation I was always a part of, even if I wasn’t welcome to the party.

  Orion stared at me. “No, this cannot be.”

  On my knees I grinned up at him, and slowly flipped him off. “Game. Set. Match, you big dumb bastard.”

  He couldn’t kill me, unless he wanted to die right there on the ship’s deck. “You couldn’t have, it’s not possible . . . .” He shook his head and stepped back, breathing hard. I stood gingerly and dusted my pants off.

  “You are going to lose this game,” I said.

  Without warning, he lunged at me, his fingers going around my neck. “I will kill you, the binding doesn’t affect me.”

  I closed my eyes. I would not fight him. If he killed me, we would both die. I felt it in my bones, all the way to my cracked shin that throbbed in time with my heartbeat.

  This would save the world and there would be no need for anyone else to suffer.

  Orion’s fingers tightened. “I am not bound by you, Slayer.”

  I didn’t open my eyes. “I love them enough to die for them.”

  My heart thumped harder as he squeezed, slowing my blood flow. It took everything in me not to fight him, to hold still and let it happen. This was what I’d banked on. Orion’s arrogance that he would be different than the other demons. That somehow he would be safe from a Slayer’s binding.

  There was a moment of disconnect as my heart stuttered and death crept along my legs, working her way up my body. But it wasn’t death’s voice I heard; it was Giselle’s.

  Leaping before you look again, eh, my girl? Rylee, you may kill Orion, but what about the Veil? It is wide open for the demons to pour through. If you die, then it will be on Marcella to close the Veil, and by the time she is of an age to do that, the world will have been devoured.

  Fuck.

  My eyes snapped open and with the last of my strength I kicked out with both feet, catching Orion in the belly and knocking him away from me. The world was spinning, but I could clearly see I wasn’t the only one suffering.

  Orion lay flat on his back, breathing hard. I struggled to my feet, swaying. “What was that about the binding not working?”

  His red eyes looked straight into mine. He took a few more deep breaths before he sat up. “Why did you stop me?”

  I shook my head. “Why were you willing to die with me?” The answer flowed from him to me in a series of images and thoughts.

  Orion truly thought he was the savior of his people, and he would do anything to keep the Veil open for them. Even if that meant dying with me.

  I didn’t want to see him as anything other than an asshole demon bent on destroying the world. He shook his head slowly, as if trying to clear his thoughts.

  He stumbled to his feet and I backed up—limping—and pressed myself against a wall. “You are willing to die for your people.”

  “And you are willing to die to save the world from us.”

  An impasse. I put a hand to the cold metal behind me. Rust flakes came off against my skin and I truly looked around.

  Orion had resurrected the ship we’d sunk in the shipyard in Boston.

  “I thought it a fitting place to hide my people. A ship that no longer exists in human records.”

  He circled me and I looked up, knowing what I’d see. Tiers of levels above us were filled with glowing red eyes as a veritable horde of demons stared down at me.

  I didn’t dare touc
h the armband out of reassurance. I had a way out of this mess. Time to get as many answers as I could.

  “Your ogres are dead.” I reached for my swords and pulled them out of their sheaths.

  Orion laughed. “They were cannon fodder. Useless.” I thought of Blaz, inadvertently giving him the news that my dragon was dead. Orion’s eyes widened as he picked up on it. “Apparently not so useless. I may have to reward that last female for killing your set of wings.”

  I slid around the edge of the ship, doing my best not to limp.

  Orion’s eyes narrowed. “Do you really think you can escape? Your death is assured. I will not stop my people from killing you. It may slow them down not to have me lead, but it will not keep them out of this world. They have been denied too long.” A bead of sweat rolled down his bald head. Fear fed through our bond. He was uncertain of the outcome if we both died. But I wasn’t.

  Giselle was right. There had to be the final ceremony to close the Veil and it was my blood that would do it. I’d hoped by binding Orion, I could escape that ceremony. Do things my way.

  End things my way.

  Orion let out a roar as my thoughts slid into his and I sheathed my swords then grabbed the armband, turning it counterclockwise. The world dropped away from me and within the space of two heartbeats, I was back in the Rim, deep in the Enders Barracks.

  Smoke filled the room, sticking to my lungs, bringing me to my knees. Choking, I crawled to the center of the globe, and pulled my farmhouse close to me. My hand hovered over it as my mind raced. The smoke curled around me, making the image in front of me flicker in and out of view and slowing me down from making a sudden choice.

  I needed Ophelia to ride with me into battle. I could Track her and be at her side in a matter of seconds. There was no way Orion could beat me to her. With the distance between us, Orion’s thoughts and emotions were dim and I could pick up no distinct words. Which meant he could pick up none of mine.

  “Please let this be the right thing to do,” I whispered as I Tracked the red female dragon. The dragon of my father.

  Her threads beat strong and healthy, and she wasn’t moving, which was all the better. I moved the globe quickly, repositioning it as I scrambled to get to her before Orion did.