“Which do you believe?” I asked, almost ready to agree with whatever she suggested. I’d been around elder Wild Women on the mermaid island, but that seemed more unique a situation. Now, I was inviting elder Wilds to come fight with us, asking them to come fight with us, and only meeting the different Wild groups by way of their elders. It brought up a sense of longing I hadn’t realized before—the longing of the wisdom and guidance, the confidence and courage of my grandmother as well as my mother.
She shrugged and said in a British accent, “Who’s to say?”
The other Wild guests, with bags in tow, found their temporary sleeping quarters. My aunts showed the nagin to their rooms as I stood back beside Eta. Although my heart wanted to connect with this Wild, who for some reason reminded me of who my grandmother may have been if she’d lived long enough to become her, I did not know this woman. And to pretend I did would be a mistake. But, I couldn’t keep from asking one more question before heading outside to Marcus and Aleksander.
“Eta,” I said, leaning forward and placing my hands on her worn hands. “Thank you for sharing what you saw with me, for confirming that my inner snake is coiled and ready to attack.”
Her eyes softened. She slowly shook her head, and my smile faded.
“Oh, no, my darling, what I shared was not a praise nor a confirmation.” Eta pulled her hands out from under mine and began to leave my side. Her soft gaze stayed locked on mine. “T’was a warning.”
Twenty-Nine
“It’ll be easier for you to do your thing if we’re out of the way,” Marcus said to me as he kissed me awake. He’d crept into bed hours earlier while I slept, and taken a nap with me. The other Wilds slept too, unsure if we’d get any rest between devising our plan of attack and actually attacking. Plus, our new guests needed to sleep off their jet lag.
I kept hold of his arm as he stood from the bed. “Will I see you again before the morning?” I asked. It hadn’t been discussed yet, but in my mind the best time for retrieving the succubi was while the Hunters slept, right as the sun came up, or maybe an hour before.
“That’s actually why I’m leaving, to figure that out,” he answered.
When I lifted my eyebrow he gave the information I’d been wordlessly asking for.
“Last night,” he said, “while you were upstairs with the snake Wilds, Aleksander and I left to meet with the Washington Hunter who’d paid me a visit at my apartment a few days ago. You know of him, he’s the buddy of mine from the Mill Creek precinct whose promotion party we attended for our second date at the Westin in Bellevue.”
Ah, that buddy, I thought. The one from my night of hell. Makes sense he was a Hunter. Hunters tend to be nearby when my life is going to shit.
“He’d agreed to meet me here in Portland,” Marcus continued. “But we didn’t let him know why we were here or that we had any connection to the succubi. Aleksander wanted to get a read on him.”
“And?” I asked.
“And Aleksander said the guy’s not a spy—he’s genuinely left the brotherhood. To prove his stance in all of this, he gave us intel on the local Hunter complex.”
I sat up in bed and watched as Marcus pulled on his jeans in the dim light of our temporary shared bedroom. “So are the incubi opening their doors to wayward Hunters now too? And how would he know you’d want that kind of intel?”
This whole set-up seemed a little fishy to me. We took down the Washington complex, and then out of the blue a Hunter from that complex decided he was ready to give up his dagger and sought out Marcus? Marcus, who, by any knowledge of the Washington Hunters, had been reinstated shortly before the Wild Women attacked. Why would a supposed ex-Hunter go to a supposed current Hunter for help on leaving the brotherhood?
“He didn’t know. He offered it up as a show of trust, proof of where his loyalties don’t lie. I assume he figured since I showed up with an incubus, I’m not towing the Hunter line either.” Marcus paused, his shirt in his hands and not yet covering his tattooed chest. “If you want me to keep him away from you, just say the words and it’ll be done.”
“The Hunter?” I asked. “What’s his name anyway? I feel like we’re talking code here or something.”
“Rod,” he answered. “And yeah, him.”
Now that he mentioned it, I didn’t much care for the idea of meeting the man. That thought brought about another. He was male and able-bodied, yet I hadn’t wondered about the possibility of the guy helping us to get the succubi back…because I hadn’t wanted his help. I didn’t like him and wanted nothing to do with him. My dislike of him smacked with double standard.
“Why would you keep him away from me?” I asked, curious as to what Marcus’s take on all this was.
Marcus sat on the edge of the bed, beside me. “He was an active Hunter at the same complex your sister was held against her will and drugged, as a substitute for you.”
He hit the nail on the head. Of course, the current uncertainty of the fate of all US Wild Women reigned supreme in my head, much higher than sifting through my feelings about a Hunter I’d never met, so I wasn’t too upset that Marcus unraveled my own thoughts before me. I had more important things to think about. But still, Marcus’s statement made me hate Rod more.
I was pretty sure he read my expression, because he quickly continued explaining, “But you should know he was on vacation when your sister was taken, and when you attacked his complex. He’d taken a month off to go on a cruise and do some soul-searching. When he came back, he returned to email and voice message in-boxes full of demands that he return home, threatening to demote him for being out of range of John’s communication methods. He said he’d almost been relieved when he’d heard those messages, figured they’d kicked him out and he wouldn’t have to make the tough decision to quit. But seeing as the Wild Women had killed most of the Washington Hunters, the ones that remained are coveted resources now.”
“Then what’s he doing down here?” I asked, dragging myself from bed.
Marcus stood and stretched his shirt on over his head.
I pulled my jeans on.
“He’s here to talk.” Marcus wrapped his arms around me. “But I think he assumes I’m re-thinking the whole Hunter thing since the complex attack and I’m staying with the incubi. I think this meeting will be more about two guys from the brotherhood sharing stories. Aleksander may even suggest changing Rod.”
“No, he can’t,” I insisted. “If Rod becomes an incubi, he’ll be privy to their information, which means he’ll know about us being down here. He could go back to the Hunters and give us all away.”
“I’m not sure it works like that, especially since Aleksander let it slip that he’s been thinking of a way to help without anyone knowing of his involvement. Or more likely, he pretended to let it slip,” he said, his breath warm and sweet on my lips, before pressing his mouth onto mine.
His kiss brought my thoughts to him, to us, to tonight and tomorrow morning, to the realization that that exact moment could be the last I’d ever see of Marcus. In a matter of hours I would storm the Oregon Hunter complex with what felt like a handful of other Wilds I barely knew. And fuck it all if that was the best plan at my disposal.
“And how will the great Alek help without being seen?” I asked between kisses.
“By planting explosives on the complex grounds and detonating them from afar once you’ve gotten all the Wilds out.”
I pulled my face away to study Marcus’s eyes. “Seriously? How does that fit in with his pacifist nature?”
He shrugged. “Apparently, an incubus who believes he’s met his mate isn’t opposed to allowing his cloak of pacifism to drop long enough to expose a weapon or two, if it’s to protect the one he thinks he loves.” Marcus shook his head. “To be honest, every bit of this whole mated thing pisses me off, but I’m trying to rise above it, not act like a jealous lover.”
“Well,” I sighed. “You’re rising higher than I think I’d be able to if the tables were turn
ed.”
“It’s not over yet,” Marcus said with a dark laugh. “I may fall from that level I’ve risen to, and strangle the guy.” He ran his fingers through his hair and finished answering my earlier question about Aleksander and the explosives. “He knows a guy who can hook him up with what he needs. It’s genius, actually. Since this time around our army of Wild Women is so small, it makes sense that you concentrate your efforts on getting the succubi out, and from behind the scenes, we can make sure you aren’t followed by blowing the place up.”
“But,” I started, searching his eyes for a flicker of doubt. I didn’t want Marcus doing anything he’d later regret. “You didn’t like my kind killing your brothers at the last complex. You said some were innocent and may change their minds about following their orders.”
Marcus smoothed my hair and looked past me in thought. “That was before they imprisoned a whole galere of innocent succubi. With your sister, I was almost sure only a handful of Hunters knew about her capture, had anything to do with her being holed up in the cabin. But a whole galere? That sort of thing doesn’t go unnoticed. Rod told us he’d had a tryst with a Hunter from the Oregon complex, until the guy’s shame caused him to renounce his sexual desires and threaten Rod to do the same or he’d out him to the Hunter officials. Rod called him on speaker phone with us listening. The guy boasted about their capture and invited Rod to come see for himself. Said the Oregon brotherhood has now proven their strength and ability to lead the US Hunters to victory against the Wild Women. He rubbed it in that Rod’s brotherhood weren’t able to control their huldra like the Oregon Hunters could control their succubi.”
“Just hearing that makes me sick to my stomach,” I groaned.
“I hate that it has to be this way,” Marcus said, holding me tighter and kissing me on the forehead. “But it is, and not by our choice, but theirs.”
Twice now, he’d said “our” and applied it to him and the Wild Women rather than him and the Hunters. Who knew a simple word could have such a huge impact on my heart, now beating more wildly for his act of loyalty to me and mine.
I wrapped my arms around his thick back and pulled him into me, as tight and as close to me as I could get him. I wished he’d come along on this fight too, not hiding on the outskirts, but standing beside me in battle. He wished the same thing, and had even tried to figure out ways to join me. In the end, though, it wouldn’t work. The Oregon Hunters, if any got away, might recognize him as a Washington Hunter, and his inclusion in the brotherhood was still a wildcard we needed to save for later use. Yeah, it was possible Clarisse spilled the beans about Marcus working with us when we attacked the Washington complex, but he highly doubted that. They’d never said as much, never “coincidentally” saw him wherever he happened to be out in public. Marcus figured Clarisse still wanted out of the Hunter lifestyle, still wanted to be “changed” somehow, and would use his big secret as a bargaining chip to get just that.
The east coast complexes were larger and more manned than those on the west coast, and my mother was probably being held at one of them. If Marcus outed himself to his brotherhood by fighting alongside Wild Women, we preferred he do it fighting the east coast complexes. Not that I didn’t still wish he and my sisters were joining me. If I died, I’d wanted to at least say goodbye to them in my last moments.
He pulled back and studied my eyes.
“What’s going on in your head right now?” he asked on a deep whisper.
“If I die, you won’t just abandon my coterie, right?” I said, worried my coterie may be short three members after tomorrow morning. The men’s idea to blow the complex up after we left worked fine for me, but what if we weren’t able to leave? What if we died there?
Marcus ran his fingers through my hair, from my forehead, down the side of my head, and across my jawbone. “They’d be all I’d have left of you. Of course I wouldn’t abandon them.”
He leveled his gaze with mine. “But don’t make me live without you.”
“I wish I could make that promise,” I whispered. Fear had been rolling likes waves throughout me for days. One moment I’d feel totally in control and ready to show the Hunters what the Wilds were made of, and the next I’d just know we were stepping into a losing battle. This wasn’t like last time. We didn’t have an army of women backing us. We didn’t have the ability to get to know one another beforehand, to have some sort of feel for how the others fought. I was heading into battle against known warriors with women who appeared more wise than strong, women whose muscles and bones had known better days.
“Answer me one thing, then,” he said quietly.
I gave an unsure nod.
“What’s your motivation, for tomorrow?” he asked.
“To rescue the succubi,” I answered. Easy.
“Yeah, but what else? What’s the bigger picture motivation? Why them? Why the Hunters? Why now?” he prodded.
The answer popped into my head and bark tingled across my naked shoulders, ready to spring forth at my approval. “Because we deserve to be free.” I reached deeper into my heart. “I’m tired of feeling inept just because a lie someone forced into my subconscious is ingrained so deeply that it’s become part of my root system. And it’s something I have to fight before any actual battles; it’s exhausting and not right, and not something my daughters and nieces should have to deal with.” I locked eyes with the man who’d held me tight. “I will not stop until every American Wild Woman is free to be herself.”
Marcus gave a nod. The right side of his lips curved upwards.
“Now,” he said, “let me tell you what’s driving them to fight: orders. For most of them, that’s it. And others, more loyal Hunters, are fighting for what they fear they’ll lose, something they already have. But you, you’re fighting for a need, not a want or a fear. Your fire is bigger than theirs, just remember that.”
I mulled over his words in slow agreement.
“Well, in that case,” I said flirtatiously, running my fingers down his back and squeezing his butt. “Don’t let Aleksander talk you into becoming an incubus while I’m gone. I may have more fire than the Hunters, but it’s not enough to win a battle and then deal with an incubus changing ritual. It may be too much pleasure in one day for this Wild.”
“Trust me,” Marcus said before giving me one last kiss. “When I do get you to the point of your pleasure limit, Aleksander will have nothing to do with it.”
Then to my delight, he did his best to prove his point.
“We will simply walk onto the complex grounds and demand our sisters back,” Eta said over a cup of tea. She sat at the oval dining table, sipping tea and adding her two cents every now and again.
Crazy how an opinion about a person can swing so drastically from one moment to the next. Last night, up until the warning comment she’d given about my inner snake coiled and ready to attack, I’d thought Eta was kind and wise. Now, I watched her, wondering what the hell she meant by giving me a warning. What kind of warning didn’t actually include the part where the person is warned?
Cryptic as that was, it was Marcus’s words that kept rolling through my mind while Eta sipped tea and waxed about the simplicities of our situation. I wondered, as my body still buzzed from my time with Marcus, if there was such a thing as a pleasure threshold and if so, did two supernaturals have the ability to take one another to that point?
“Did you hear what she said?” Patricia asked, clearing her voice. “Faline?”
I snapped out of it. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
“Your aunt was just saying you have information about the Oregon Hunters you’d like to share,” Anwen, a nagin, stated.
“Yes.” I perked up. “The Hunters specialize in dealing with the Wild Women of their territories,” I started. “So the Oregon Hunters are well versed in succubi abilities and how to combat them, but not at all in the abilities of other Wilds. They will be ready for energy control, as they’ve already shown by detaining the succubi using the
ir blood stones. But they’ll have had no real training in fighting women of our abilities.”
I unrolled the notebook paper Marcus had left for me, the blue college-rule lines covered over with Rod’s rough pencil sketch of the Oregon complex. At least the driveway and entrance to the main building where the succubi were being detained.
“Okay,” I started and tapped the four corners of the main building. “The men on our side,” which was an easier way of saying two ex-Hunters and a few incubi, “will be placing their explosives at these locations and throughout the complex while we’re distracting the Hunters by storming into the main building. Once we leave, they’ll activate the explosives from a remote location in the woods surrounding the complex.”
I looked around the table at the older Wilds who sat in chairs, sipping tea and drinking coffee. One shé munched on a banana. Those who weren’t heading out to the Oregon Hunter complex in a few hours, my sisters, one aunt, and the harpy flock, sat on the couch and chairs in the living room, listening and adding their thoughts every now and again.
“What are your abilities, by the way?” I asked. “We don’t have the privacy or time to go outside and practice, but we still need to know how the other works so we can make quick decisions that’ll benefit everyone’s fighting style.”
Anwen set her tea down softly and stood. Her two sisters rose from their chairs and stayed in place beside the table. Each of the three nagin stood tall with shoulders back, one with black and silver hair, one with blonde and silver, and one full silver.
“The nagin have not had to battle in generations,” Anwen said with a look of great pride. “But we have never stopped training for the possibility of needing to fight for our place in this world.” She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. When she opened them again, her dark irises turned yellow and her pupils resembled those of a snake rather than those of a human. “The snake energy within all living beings desires to be loose, relaxed, and open to the changes of life. We desire that as well, for all, but in battle we must simply call to the snake within others and it will become our ally, foe to whomever it dwells within.”
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