From Burning Ashes (Collector Series #4)

by Stacey Marie Brown

  He turned to the door and placed his palms on it, leaning forward. The energy shifted in the room. Anger. Fury.

  I sat up with a groan, rubbing my hands over my face. My senses were in overdrive, causing me to feel restless and strange. My body and head ached from the fall, but I felt no worse than the aftermath of a fight. I had fallen at least seven stories. My head should have splattered like a watermelon. My body should be broken in tiny pieces.

  I should be dead.

  Like dead dead.

  But here I sat feeling no more than slightly bruised all over.

  Ryker’s breaths became heavy, causing me to pull my hands away from my face and glance up. He pushed off the wall and turned to lean back against the spot, folding his arms over his chest. He was pissed.

  “What?” My words came out with annoyance. It had already been a rough day and by the look on his face it wasn’t going to get better. Ryker wore his lecture expression. Anger flared in his eyes, and he looked away. “Don’t tell me. You’re mad at me.” I stood, biting back the moan wanting to follow. Okay, I hurt a little more than I first thought, but I was standing. That was a plus.

  His silence picked at my irritation button like a scab.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Ryker. Just get it out. Tell me I was stupid. What I did was foolish and rash. Go ahead. You know you want to,” I taunted, but my voice sounded hot with anger. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you wouldn’t have done the same to try and save someone you care about. Did you see them? Any of them? Vadik is sucking the life out of them, literally. Annabeth is chained to a bed—” My voice broke with emotion recalling the memory. “She’s being used as a prostitute. She’s fourteen! What if it had been your sister? Tell me you wouldn’t have tried to save her, no matter the costs.”

  It wasn’t till that moment I realized that was exactly how I thought of Annabeth. I barely knew her, but in the little time we had spent together, she lodged deep inside me. Her strength reminded me so much of Lexie, and she created her own spot in my heart. She and Lexie were the little sisters, the family, I never had. I would fight for her just as hard.

  “Screw you.” His silence caused my emotions to mushroom. “I do not regret trying to get her out of there. I would do it again.”

  His feet moved toward me, swallowing the space between us in three strides. Instinct slammed into me, wanting to retreat. I forced myself to stay as his feet flushed up to mine, and I kept my head high. His chest heaved as his eyes wandered over me, really taking me in. His strong fingers cupped my face, turning my head more up to his. Feeling his touch with his warm body so close to mine flooded me with familiar contrasting sensations. Hunger and bliss.

  Home. My heart sang.

  He didn’t speak while his fingers explored my face, his thumb dragging slowly across my bottom lip. My skin burned as his penetrating gaze rolled over every inch of me, making me feel naked and vulnerable.

  “I am furious,” he spoke low and husky. “But not for trying to save someone you care about.”

  “Then why?” I struggled to talk, his touch clogging all thoughts.

  “Because there was a moment I thought I lost you. No. I did lose you.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Again.”

  My forehead crunched up in slight confusion.

  “No one was there to save you, human. I felt the oath break. For good.”

  My mouth opened, but nothing came out. I had died before. Well, sort of. Croygen and the fae magic brought me back to life.

  “Your human body completely died tonight.” He licked his lip, a shot of fear pinching the corner of his eyes. “I felt it. The link. Our oath broke. It must have been connected to the human you. Not the fae you. When your human part died, so did the promise.”

  “Wait. What?” My mouth gaped open. “Are you saying I’m completely fae now?” That’s why my senses were on steroids. Why energy poured through me like Gatorade. It was magic.

  Holy shit. I was entirely fae?

  “Even more than me.” His mouth twitched with a smile. “Your life is no longer counted in human years.”

  Whoa. I hadn’t thought about that. The moment the powers decided to stay, choosing to permanently live with me, they had altered me. My life. My DNA. I would not age like a human anymore. Ryker and I were on even terrain.

  I was a Wanderer.

  Holy hell. I was one hundred percent fae? The same thing I spent most of my life against, trained to hate and kill. My brain couldn’t fully wrap around the fact I remained no longer human.

  I waited for a wave of sadness, a feeling of loss, possibly a sense of horror. I didn’t. At all. That actually upset me the most. All those years of hating and killing fae, I should have had some adverse reaction to the fact I was totally one of them now. Maybe having Ryker’s powers for the past several months had me accustomed to being “semi” fae, I don’t know. But against everything I had been taught, I felt oddly relieved. Even happy, like this is what I was supposed to be all along.

  “The curse broke because I killed you. I was the reason you fell. Your death was by my hand.” Ryker pressed his mouth together, his jaw twitching. If the curse broke, it meant he no longer had the desire to kill me. “If some of my powers hadn’t decided to stay with you…” His lids squeezed shut, his head shaking slightly.

  I suddenly got it—his bristling anger. That’s where the true anger lay—with himself and with his fear. It was exactly how I reacted to things. “That’s why you’re mad.” I couldn’t get my voice above a whisper. His hands gripped my face forcefully.

  He inclined his head, tapping his forehead against mine. His warm breath fluttered down my neck. My lids squeezed together as his hand slid around to my neck and gripped me tightly. The world disappeared around us…one of those moments it was only us.

  “Now that it’s broken, are you…?”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  He always seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. Relief came out in a shaky breath.

  “Not sure I would have been able to anyway.” He brushed his nose against mine. “I don’t know how you did it or when…” he muttered. Our mouths were so close, but neither of us moved to fuse the distance. I reached up, sliding my hand down his cheek, his scruff tickling my hand.

  “What?”

  His throat bobbed again, but his words came out strong and hard. “You made me fall in love with you.”

  My chest clenched, air expanding in my throat. Did I hear him right? “What did you say?”

  “I’m in love with you, human.” He growled, his mouth so close I could feel the vibration.

  The declaration took a moment to cascade down and soak in. Ryker, the Wanderer, the feared Viking, the man who was a demon fae with a touch of human, just told me he loved me.

  He was also the man who held me when I was scared and turned himself over to DMG because he’d rather be near me than safe. The man who put a candle in a loaf of bread for my birthday, patched me up, took me up to Machu Picchu because he knew I wanted to see it, and who fought and loved me with a ferocity nothing in this world could match.

  And I was completely in love with him as well. My lips parted to tell him, but he spoke first.

  “I swear to the gods, Zoey. If anything happens to you…” His grip turned brutal. “I hate this. I hate knowing you completely have me by the ball sac.”

  I smiled. “I promise to be somewhat gentle.”

  “No safe words. Ever.”

  “That I can promise.”

  He lifted his head; his lids narrowed. “That’s the last time you will use that word ever again. You are fae now. The word holds a lot of power. You can’t say it anymore. You got it?”

  “I promi—”

  His lips came down on mine, stomping out my sentence. The feel of his mouth on mine turned my body to butter. Heat pulsed from my breasts to my thighs.

  It felt as if someone detonated a bomb inside me. The need for him became so overwhelming and instantaneous
my head spun. His tongue and lips tugged at my top lip, and a needy, desperate noise escaped my throat as if of its own volition. His fingers dug into my scalp as he pulled me closer.

  It was not enough. My fingers shoved his coat off his shoulders. He let it drop to the floor as my hands dove under his shirt, running over the ridges of his abs and around to his rear end. Oh man, how I missed his perky tush.

  A hand dropped from my head and trailed down my torso. Everywhere his fingers brushed, fire burned, tightening the need in my abdomen. Holy hell did I want this. I nipped at his bottom lip. My hands pushed past jeans and boxer briefs, roaming over his bare ass, my nails skimming over to his V-line.

  Ryker swore under his breath, his grip on me burned into my skin. His legs pushed mine toward the blankets. My fingers tugged at the buttons of his jeans as we stumbled backward.

  “Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat behind Ryker, and we both froze. “Sorry to interrupt, but I think you’ll find what I have to say more important than a quick fuck.” Amara’s tone could not hide her hurt, which surprised me.

  Ryker jerked away from me, his arms dropping as he turned to look over his shoulder. My body’s reaction to his sudden absence shocked me. Handling him with violence and indifference had been torture after being so close to him for so long. Now given the opportunity to let my guard down, I never wanted to stop touching him. I clenched my hands and peered around Ryker.

  “What?” I snapped, my irritation only rising when I saw Ryker buttoning his pants before fully facing her. Did she interrupt us on purpose? Her reason had better be epic or she would see what happened when my lust turned to violence.

  Amara stood in the doorway watching us. There was a slight lift to her shoulders. I thought maybe I saw tears brimming under her aloof gaze, her lips pressed in a firm thin line. She quickly held her chin up, her face and tone unemotional.

  “I thought you guys might want to know…but if you are too busy getting it on to care about your sister or Croygen.” She shrugged.

  “What is it, Amara?” Ryker gritted his jaw.

  “They’re not here.”

  “What?” I moved alongside Ryker. “What do you mean?”

  “Just what I said. They. Are. Gone.”

  “They can’t be.” I crossed my arms, confusion pushing away the meaning of her words.

  A smugness lifted one of Amara’s eyebrows. “Well, they are. They left a note.”

  My feet were moving before my brain caught up with them. “Lexie? Croygen?” I screamed as I ran into the main room. Silence greeted me back. A few bubbles of alarm floated up.

  “Sprig?” Again, nothing responded.

  “He’s still here.” Amara motioned over to the table.

  My gaze went to the tiny, furry figure on the counter. Lying on his back, a dozen empty packets of honey fanned out around him, Sprig snored softly.

  They were all the packets I had been storing up for Sprig to be eaten over time. Everyone knew he couldn’t eat more than three without going into a sugar overdose and narcoleptic sleep. Sometimes he only needed one.

  “Sprig!” I ran to him, my hand rubbing his soft belly. There was no point. Sprig seemed to be down for the count.

  “You said there was a note?” Ryker came up, addressing Amara.

  Amara picked a piece of folded paper off the table and handed it to him. I snatched it from him, my fingers trembling as I tried to unfold it.

  Scratchy handwriting scrawled on the paper. I knew Lexie’s loopy, girly handwriting instantly. My eyes scanned over the words, my brain struggling to understand.

  Zoey,

  I will not let you risk your life for me again. You can keep denying it, but you know the truth. I am sick. I need medication and help, which only Dr. Rapava can give me. It was a fantasy, a wish, to think you could simply go in and get it. But I know you. You won’t stop till I’m okay. I can’t let you do that. Not when I can do it for myself. Don’t worry about me. I will be okay. They won’t hurt me. They need me for research too much. And I’m not going alone. Croygen would not let me go unless he went with me. He made me promise. Told me someone needed to protect me. So I’ve got my very own sexy pirate escorting me! Take that, stupid bitches at school!

  Don’t forget, I love you, Zoey. More than you could ever know. That’s why I have to go. And I’m sorry for all the pain I caused you.

  Lexie

  P.S. I still think you should paint your toenails. Fire red. Might get Ryker’s head out of his ass. You’ll thank me!

  P.P.S. Sorry about Sprig. Only way we could get out. Wow…does he go off the rails after four honey packets!

  “Are you kidding me?” I spoke, my hands shaking. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I screamed. I felt gutted and drained. Panic for my sister stirred my feet. How could Croygen betray me like that? “I have to stop them.”

  “How?” Amara lifted her arms. “You have no idea where they went. Besides, they are probably long gone by now. They weren’t here when I got back.”

  “When did you return?” I demanded.

  “About ten minutes before you. I stopped for a drink on the...” She kept talking, but my mind and body were already gone. Desperation to find them had me bolt for the door.

  “Zoey!” Ryker bellowed after me.

  I kept running. I had to at least try. I sprinted out of the building and down the street on instinct. My mind would not let logic in yet, so I relied completely on my intuition. In my soul I knew it was more than instinct that led me forward. My new deeper fae ability heightened an urge I felt in my gut.

  I heard feet pounding pavement behind me; Ryker. I wound us through the alley, coming out on a main road.

  Croygen was smart. He would not let DMG know where we were staying, but he would have to carry Lexie. So they would still have to be relatively close. Night or not, DMG would not meet on an open street. They would use a parking structure or a side street.

  The streets were silent, everyone tucked away for the night as I sprinted down Second Avenue, nearing Pike’s Place. A few streetlights illuminated our path. My gaze flashed over the outlines of cranes and bulldozers. New and old buildings with large empty gaps hulked down the dark boulevards. I turned up a side street.

  “Zoey, what are you doing?” Ryker grabbed my hips, yanking me to a stop. He twirled me to face him, both of us gasping for breath.

  “Let go!” I pulled against him. “You’re letting them get away.”

  “How do you know? They might have left hours ago.” His voice was steady as he tried to get me to see reason. When it came to my sister, I had no logic. I had none with him either.

  “What if it were me?”

  He panted, but I quickly realized it was with strong emotion, not breathlessness. “It had been once.”

  I forgot he had gone through something like this when I jumped from Peru to Seattle, except he had no idea where I went and if I would ever come back. There were many hints that he’d gone a little nuts trying to find me.

  Still, Ryker let me go.

  As I led us down another alley, I heard a van door open, cutting through the quiet night. My head popped up.

  Across the street, through the darkness and deep in a covered parking lot, I saw the strong but slender figure of Croygen lit with a bright fae aura. My new senses saw and heard way past any normal human senses. Hugo, Marv, Matt, and Peter stood around him, their human auras almost nonexistent next to Croygen’s fae one. The Collectors held their weapons on him as he lifted his leg to crawl into the van.

  “Stop!” I screamed. “Croygen!”

  All heads shot toward me.

  Arms wrapped around me, a hand over my mouth, Ryker darted us back into a doorway. “Fuck, Zoey,” he whispered hoarsely. “They will shoot you before you can even get close. I lost you once tonight. I will not lose you again.”

  Yelling came from the garage, feet sounding off concrete.

  Ryker swore under his breath, peeking out. Matt and Marv shoved Croygen in.
The other two trained military men headed directly for us. A bullet struck the corner of the building.

  “Run, you assholes!” Croygen yelled at us, his head poking back out of the van.

  Ryker didn’t hesitate. He grabbed my arm, tugging me out of the doorway and around the corner. More bullets whizzed by us, one nicking my ear. I yelped as warm blood oozed down my neck. Another clipped Ryker’s calf.

  Shit. I really hoped they weren’t fae bullets.

  I trucked after Ryker, the men behind us nearing. Ryker steered me into a construction site, outlines of structures rising up to the sky. My heart thumped, the stone sparking underfoot. The hit it gave me pushed my short legs par with Ryker.

  “Zoey. Stop!” Peter’s voice rang out, vibrating off the steel. Ryker tugged me behind a pile of structure beams, keeping us low as he darted farther into the building.

  “Fighting us is only going to hurt your sister,” Hugo yelled. “You really want her to take the punishment for your wrongs?”

  Ryker gripped my hand tighter, yanking me closer to him. He slipped us around equipment and material. We darted in the next room.

  “Shit.” I bounced on my feet. The room was walled off. No exits.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  Hugo’s and Peter’s footsteps grew near. My heart slammed against my chest in panic. What the hell were we going to do? We had no weapons. They did.

  Frantically, I searched the room. Against the far wall piles of tubes for air ducts lay deep in the shadows. My feet were moving before I could think. Ryker trailed behind me as I ran for them.

  “They’ll look here,” he exclaimed.

  “We don’t have a choice.” I waved around at the blocked room. “They are not seers. They won’t see our auras.”

  He pressed his mouth together then nodded and went for the ducts. Grabbing me, he picked me up, my legs wrapping around him as he slid us both into the pipe, settling us far into the darkness.

  It was only a moment before I heard Hugo and Peter enter the room. “Did they come this way?”

  “Shit. We can’t lose them.” Footsteps neared us. “Look in those. They couldn’t have gone far.”