by Corwin, John
"No you haven't," Ryland said. "Not by a long shot, hon."
Stacey gave Ryland a wondering look. "Did they neuter you when you were a pup?" she asked him with a wicked gleam in her eye.
He laughed. "You're a lively one, sweet thang." He looked her up and down. "I think I liked you better when you were naked, though."
Her eyes grew huge as her face glowed scarlet. "You met me at a rather low point in my life." She sniffed and leaned against me.
I groaned.
"I'm sorry, lamb."
"Meghan," I said. "I need to get on my feet. Do you have some kind of painkiller you can give me?"
She shook her head. "I don't think it's a good idea."
"I don't care. A painkiller, please. I'm sure I'll heal up just fine."
"You don't understand. I used a great deal of your blood and with it, the special blood plasma storing essence when you feed, to create the healing agent. Your supernatural healing relies on that essence, so even if you feed—" She shuddered and took a breath before continuing. "Feeding won't help much until your blood plasma regenerates. That will take a day or two."
I thought of Dad. Of Elyssa. I didn't know what in the world Mom was up to or what to make of the strange dreams I'd been having. I knew one thing though: I had to get off my ass and meet Smith. I had to do it now and not waste another minute lollygagging in bed.
"Stacey, please move," I said, despite how good it felt to have her warmth pressed against me. I tried to tell myself it wasn't because she had such nice curves in all the right places and, when she was fully human, kissed really well. Elyssa would break me over her knee if she found out about that kiss.
"But Justin."
"No buts, girl. Move it."
She stood, worry creasing her brow. "Shall I help you?"
I shook my head. "No." My voice sounded gruff so I took another swallow of water and wrestled it down my esophagus as it tried to squirm back out again.
Every muscle felt like a heavy slab of raw pain as I gripped my left leg and swung it off the cot. I repeated the process with my right leg, using my arms to rotate my body with it, biting back the cries of pain best I could.
"Stop it, Justin, stop!" Meghan said, pleading, but not going quite so far as to touch me.
"No!" I pushed my hands against the cot frame, straining my legs as scorching agony exploded in every joint and muscle. The pain grew so blinding I didn't realize at first I was standing up.
Stacey took my arm as I wobbled. Ryland gripped my other, an amused expression on his face.
"You're one stubborn son of a gun," he said, his smile widening.
"More like a bloody fool," Stacey said, pressing her lips into a pout. "I try to care for you, my lamb, but you simply won't listen."
"Believe me," I said, panting with the strain of standing. "I want to lie down and go to sleep so bad right now, it's not even funny. But my dad is going to die if I don't meet Smith, unless Shelton comes up with something. And I don't plan on taking chances." I took a step and almost fell, held up only by Ryland and Stacey. I gritted my teeth and groaned at the pain of their touch against my sore arms. "Just give me a minute."
"Are you talking about Harry Shelton?" Meghan asked, her eyes going hard.
"Yeah. He's kind of a jerk, but besides my mom and you, he's the only sorcerer I know."
"And how do you know him?"
"He tried to capture me and my dad and bring us in for a bounty. Then he ended up helping me rescue my dad from a bunch of rogue vampires who kidnapped him for his blood."
She shook her head slowly as if jiggling her brain around would help her understand the situation. Even I had issues figuring out how in the world my life had come to this point. After a moment, Meghan went into the kitchen and returned with a cup. "Drink this," she said.
I gave it a suspicious look and sniffed. It stank like sewage. "You better not be putting me to sleep or I swear when I wake up I'll hug you and kiss you until you barf."
Her eyes went wide as she leapt back from me, her wand held defensively. She took a breath to calm herself. "It's only a painkiller."
"Woman, you need to calm down. I won't give you spawn cooties, I promise."
Stacey and Ryland both laughed while Meghan narrowed her eyes at both of them. "Don't mock me."
"I'm not," I said. And then I remembered something from the memory Meghan had cleared for me. "That writing on the bloody scrap of paper. What did it mean?"
"I don't know. My mom…" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. "She was giving it to Alice. The information on the paper was why your mother came by that day. She seemed to think it was very important."
"What did it say?" Stacey asked.
"It was like the last three letters of a word and ended in 'ance' with the numbers four, three, one, one." I grimaced at a fresh onslaught of burning tingles in my legs.
"Maybe code for a spell?" Meghan said.
I tried to shrug and failed miserably. "Maybe you'll remember something else. Heck, maybe I will. I hope so. In the meantime, Meghan, I want to thank you for helping Stacey. Thanks for everything." I held out a trembling hand.
She stared at it for a long moment before swallowing visibly and grasping it. "You're welcome, Justin." She let out a deep breath, her next words coming in a rush. "But there's something you should know about Shelton."
"You know him?"
A scowl turned her pretty face into a mask of anger. "My seeker discovered Shelton also worked with the spawn who devoured my father's soul."
Chapter 13
"What?" I would have fallen over if not for the steady grips on both my arms. "What else do you know about him? Is he a con artist?" My dad was alone with him. What if Shelton had really been the one to tag him? What if he was playing us for fools? A wave of fear overcame my anger.
"The connection he had was tenuous, but enough to link him not only to my father's murderer, but to other bad elements in the Overworld community."
"He sounds rather nefarious," Stacey said, quirking an eyebrow. "How interesting."
"'Interesting' isn't the word I'd use," Ryland said.
"I don't know how deep the connection goes," Meghan said. "But be careful."
I groaned. I wasn't sure if I should rush back to Dad or go on to meet Smith. I tried to reach for my cell phone, but the pain in my arms and the bad angle from Stacey and Ryland's grips on my arms made it impossible. "Can you get my phone from my front right pocket?" I asked Stacey.
A mischievous grin spread on her face.
"Come on, this is serious," I said. She seemed abashed which surprised me since I didn't think she ever felt ashamed about much of anything.
She withdrew my phone and handed it to me. I dialed Dad and got his voicemail. I tried him again, not wanting to talk with Shelton. For all I knew he could lie to me about whatever I asked.
Dad answered. "Justin?" Static crackled in the earpiece.
"Hey, Dad, how are things going?"
"Can't hear you well. Bad reception." Or at least that's what I think he said as the connection faded in and out.
I repeated myself in loud slow words.
"Shelton…computer…blocking spell. Going…and feed," I heard through the static.
I almost sighed with relief. "Okay. I'm going to meet Smith soon."
The connection hissed again. "…careful, son."
"I will." I hung up and Stacey tucked my phone back without even trying to feel me up.
"Things okay?" Ryland asked.
I nodded. "Well as they can be, all things considered."
My limbs tingled, feeling a bit numb—the effect of Meghan's painkiller, I hoped, as opposed to worse alternatives. I took a tentative step and wasn't met with another dose of hurt so I took it as a good sign. Meghan handed Ryland car keys.
"It's to my Prius in the driveway," she said. "Please bring it back in once piece."
"You don't have to," I said, although I really wanted to ride in a car as o
pposed to having Stacey give me a piggy-back ride. How humiliating would that be?
"An ecologically-friendly sorcerer," Ryland said with a grin. "A woman after my own heart."
She smiled, almost shyly. "I want to help you and your mother, Justin. I don't want my mother's life to have been lost in vain."
"Maybe you can dig up more on Shelton?" I said.
"Perhaps I could." She paused, seeming to wrangle with a decision. "I'll talk to the seeker I hired. Maybe Ryland could call me later and let me know what you find from Smith."
"Do you know if my mom was working on some hardcore spells with your mom?"
"They did spend many hours together, though most of the time they met with other people. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed in their meetings."
I got Stacey to release my arm so I could pull the flash drive with Mom's spells from my pocket. "Copy these files and take a look. I need to find out what these spells do, but Shelton said they're missing a lot of variables."
She retrieved her tablet computer and copied them in seconds before handing the flash back to me. "I'll look, but I'm not much at deciphering spell code outside my area of expertise."
"I wouldn't let anyone else know about them," I said, thinking of the murderous intent the spells seemed to have. "Just in case."
She nodded. "I'll be careful."
We left. I managed to hobble to the car and get in without much help from the others since the painkiller seemed to have helped. But I wasn't going to be running marathons anytime soon.
Stacey stared at the car for a long moment, and even longer once Ryland slid in behind the wheel. "Perhaps I'll meet you there," she said.
"You afraid of the big bad wolf, sugah?" Ryland said with an amused grin.
"I'm afraid my delicate nose couldn't handle your stench."
Ryland laughed.
I sighed. "Stacey, please get in the car. I want to talk to you."
She crossed her arms and pursed her lips, all the while giving Ryland a distrusting look, but finally got into the passenger seat. "I suppose I can make a sacrifice for you, my lamb."
Ryland pulled out of the driveway and headed toward Trader Mike's. Very little traffic was on the road at this early hour, but it was already past six and the number of cars would be increasing exponentially before long.
"What was it you wished to discuss, dear?" Stacey asked, turning her body to face me.
"When the hellhounds attacked, did you notice anyone else with them?"
"I had very little time to react and even less time to see beyond the immediate threat. Nightliss warned me first. She told me she happened to be near your home and saw strange people rummaging through your house and some of them were coming our way."
"Nightliss saw this? Did she mention anyone with red hair?"
"She had little enough time to warn me the strange men were trespassing on us. Marmalade and Dots rushed to meet them, and I thought for sure they would scare the men away." She took a deep breath as a large tear rolled down her cheek.
"Is Nightliss okay?"
"I don't know. She dashed away, warning the others and that was the last I saw of her."
"She was warning the other cats?"
"Of course. Why would she not?"
Our conversation reminded me of the unpleasant news I needed to tell her. "I'm afraid a lot of your friends died. I pulled several bodies from the rubble."
More tears rolled down her cheeks. I wanted to hug and comfort her, but my lack of energy and the size of the car made it difficult. "We need to bury them. They do not deserve to be left out as food for crows."
"We'll need help to clear them from the rubble," Ryland said. "And there's no time for that now."
Stacey glared at him. "As if you care a bloody whit about them, wolf. I'm sure you're content to let them rot."
"Stacey, that's not fair," I said. "He helped me dig through the rubble. He killed one of those hounds. Why the hate?"
Ryland gave Stacey a sideways glance. "I'll help you bury your dead, sugah."
"I don't want your filthy paws anywhere near them!"
At that point, I was certain I should have let Stacey meet us at Trader Mike's. This was like the time when a friend's dog had tried to make buddies with a cat, only to have his nose clawed every time he got too close. I wasn't sure if the cat was scared of the dog or simply hated it. If ever there were two types made to hate each other, it had to be lycans and felycans, although I'd hoped their human sides would have won out at some point thanks to, oh, I don't know—brains, maybe?
"Are you certain you're not a female dog?" Ryland said.
"How dare you even insinuate I'm one of those filthy things? I do not eat my own feces."
"Good lord, people!" I said, trying to throw my hands into the air but only managing a shrug in my weakened state. "Apparently it was a horrible mistake on my part to think two mostly human people could put aside their differences long enough to help me out." I felt like sniffing in disdain, but was too tired to try. "Ryland, why don't you just go back to Thomas? I'm well away from his property now and obviously not an immediate threat to his daughter."
"I told him I would see you home and I intend to do just that."
"Yeah, except my home was overrun by hellhounds earlier today. I don't have a home right now."
"I also need to return Meghan's car at some point—"
"Then return it. I'll catch a cab."
"I'd be happy to carry you, my lamb," Stacey purred.
"And there is that," I conceded despite the indignity of it all.
Ryland sighed and pulled over, parking next to the curb in front of a row of small shops. "We're here," he said.
I glanced out the window and spotted Trader Mike's two stores down from us. We were near Grant Park, just a little way from East Atlanta Village and not far from where two of my friends, Ash and Nyte lived, although I'd never actually been to their homes. Thinking of them reminded me of school. It also reminded me of football practice and the reason I had to be there. The principal, vice principal, head coach, and probably half the school staff were members of the Quarterback Club which, in my opinion, was the mafia of my high school, Edenfield High. If I didn't want anything to happen to me or my friends, I had to win games for our football team. Otherwise, Principal Perkins had warned me unpleasant things might happen to my "devil-worshipping friends." Apparently, that's what Goths were in his eyes.
In less than an hour and a half, school would be starting. I didn't see how I was going to make it in time. Maybe I could just show up for practice. Not that I'd be able to do much except lay around and groan pitifully.
"I'd like to get to the bottom of this mystery," Ryland was saying. "I can help you."
I didn't answer right away because I wasn't sure what exactly was the best thing to do. True, I needed help, and Ryland was a Templar. But I didn't want to suffer through him and Stacey going for each other's throats. On the other hand, I didn't want to make Stacey leave. I considered her a friend and felt obligated to help her recover and bury her dead.
"A wolf is bad enough, Justin," Stacey said. "But a Templar wolf is even worse. How could you trust him?"
"As if he could trust a felycan," Ryland growled.
"You two are going to drive me insane," I said. "I get it, okay? I totally understand the cats versus dogs thing, but I don't have the luxury of watching the train wreck happen. I need steady support I can depend on until I recover, and that means one of you has to go." I looked at Stacey and opened my mouth to speak.
"Surely you can't mean me!" she said. "How could you?"
"I was about to tell you to stay, for crying out loud. Can't you give me two seconds to talk?"
"But you were looking at me after you said—"
I waved away her concerns, or rather flopped my arms around a little bit as I tried. "You're my friend. I know you and, despite your oddities, I trust you." I turned to Ryland. "You, on the other hand, work for Elyssa's dad, a man who obviously wishe
s I did not exist."
"My loyalty is with the Templars, not one man."
"And I think you're a good person, from the little I know of you. Maybe we can become friends someday." I shrugged. "Stranger things have happened, believe me. But right now I can't have you two getting into pissing matches all the time. I need to know we're on the same page."
"I can tolerate her if she agrees to behave," Ryland said, a lopsided grin on his face.
"So wolfy wishes to play," Stacey said, her eyes narrowing to amber slits, lips sliding up into a playful smirk. "I can ignore his jibes, Justin. If that will help you."
"This is worse," I said. "Now you're both gonna go all passive-aggressive instead."
"I swear to help, not hinder," Ryland said.
"And I will not let his body odor affect my judgment," Stacey said with a sniff.
I had a sudden sense of déjà vu all over again. The universe had a decidedly wicked sense of humor.
And my life depended on it.
Chapter 14
Elyssa
Elyssa turned the Harley down the twisting maze of alleys and backstreets until her GPS told her she was in the right vicinity. Few working street lamps lit the place but her night vision negated the issue. The real problem was she'd been so hungry and tired when she and Justin had left earlier she wasn't sure which of the doors in this wretched foul-smelling alley was the one to Shelton's hidden lair. The GPS on her phone wasn't pinpoint accurate and the tall downtown buildings made getting an exact lock on her position even more difficult. She parked the Harley behind a nearby dumpster and surveyed the line of similar doors before setting out to find the correct one.
She felt like an idiot for losing her focus. Normally she'd memorize an area and be able to find it again, but this time she'd missed crucial details. She almost smacked herself on the forehead the same way Justin did to himself every so often. The way he did it was adorable.
"Good god, did I really just think that?" she said aloud as she dodged trash cans and cardboard boxes, some with bums sleeping inside, and tested each of the metal doors in the back of the old building. This was no good. She pulled out her phone and called Justin. She'd wanted to surprise him but that little plan was down the tubes. The phone went to voicemail after a couple of rings.