CHAPTER 2
WHEN LEAVING THE beach, I didn’t tell Marco I’d spoken with anyone. He came back from depositing the three shifters on solid land and we headed home to North Dakota. We’d flown from the Gulf to Bismarck in record time, only to land and have Rylee send us to Seattle. Which was fine by me; I needed time to think.
We’d rescued Liam from the bloodthirsty ogres in that city, then returned home once more.
Still not enough time for me to decide what I wanted to do.
Even though Raven had asked for only a single thing in return for his teaching and training, it was a heavy request in so many ways. A sword, and not just any sword, but the one Rylee had used to kill Orion.
A sword that held power beyond the strength and cut of a regular blade.
To go with Raven meant I was betraying Rylee’s trust. But to not go with him meant I was condemning those I loved and had lost too soon to stay in their early graves. I couldn’t do that.
So I’d steeled my spine and took the sword when Rylee was busy.
And now, here I was with my decision made to follow Raven. To turn away from my home and the only real family I’d ever known on the chance I could change what had happened in the past and bring back those I loved.
My feet were leaden as I walked behind my new mentor, and more than once I looked over my shoulder at Liam’s house. Above the trees, I could just make out the edge of the roofline, here and there. Each step took me farther away. I couldn’t help looking back again and again. Every few feet I twisted around, noted it was indeed still visible. But not for long. In front of me, Raven turned right and the view behind me changed, and the home I’d known was wiped from my sight. A part of me wondered if it would be the last time I saw it.
I bit the inside of my cheek. I was leaving Bismarck with a man I barely knew, with a weapon that did not belong to me.
Without thinking, I reached back under my cloak and touched the handle of the sword in question. The sword that Larkspur, elemental and friend to my family, had made in order to give us a chance against the demons. The sword I’d just stolen from the one person who’d always trusted me.
As far as I knew, the only person who saw me take it—persons, I suppose was more accurate—were the babies. Rylee had hidden the sword in their room, strapped to the bottom of their crib. Of course, who would think to look for a sword in a child’s room? I suppose no one, except that I’d seen her put it there.
“Don’t tell anyone, Pam,” Rylee had said as I helped her attach it to the unique hiding place.
“Of course not.” I was only mildly insulted. Rylee didn’t leave anything to chance when it came to the safety of her family.
I clenched my teeth tightly and tried not to think about what I’d done as I hurried toward Raven. I knew what Rylee would say when she found not only me, but the sword missing. She would be angry, that much I could handle. It would be the disappointment in her eyes that would run me through.
As I’d sat in the backyard in the vine-covered gazebo, still contemplating whether or not I should go with Raven, Liam had found me. Always perceptive, he’d known right away something was up and sat with me, just talking. I thought he’d tell me to stay, that I was being ridiculous.
But he hadn’t stopped me. I’d told him I needed to go, and he made me promise to come back—that was it.
I made that promise, while everything inside of me screamed they were just words, that nothing could make them true.
In my heart of hearts, I knew this was a turning point, a decision that would change my world.
I shook my head and narrowed my eyes on the flowing black cloak that whipped around Raven as he walked ahead of me.
This whole thing, the whole desire and need for more training, had started with a simple book I’d found in Liam’s small library. So small, so innocuous looking that I’d pulled it out in curiosity.
The leather-bound book was filled with possible spells. All of them were in Milly’s handwriting. Some of the spells I’d been able to duplicate on my own, some I would never dare for the darkness in them, the whispers of death that beckoned me. But there was one spell . . . one I wanted so badly to perform and that Milly had never tried. No, that wasn’t right. She wrote failed under that spell.
Retrieving a loved one from death.
I brushed my fingers over the book tucked into my small side carry-all. The leather pouch held only a few things, but that book was the most important. It was my last connection to a teacher who had known more than I—the last teacher I’d thought I would ever have.
If Raven could help me do what I needed to do with that final spell, then this would all be worth it.
“You’re awfully quiet. I expected you’d be questioning me nonstop.” Raven looked over his shoulder as we walked along the sidewalk. The sound of our footfalls in a steady rhythm was the only noise around. There weren’t even cars driving by. It was as if we walked alone in a world where all the people had disappeared.
Yet I refused to walk beside him. I wanted him in front of me where I could keep an eye on him. What he offered me in terms of training and help was not something I could turn from, not when I knew most of the witches who could train me were dead. But that didn’t mean I was so foolish to think he was going to be my friend, or even someone I could trust.
I was not the naïve girl I’d once been, believing the world would look down on me with compassion and kindness. That there would always be someone there to save me.
I’d held onto the belief far too long. After my adoptive parents had sent me to the home for difficult children. After I’d survived that place of confinement and abuse. After I’d been forced to undergo an exorcism . . . after so much pain.
No, I knew the truth now. I would have to save myself and be ready to save those I loved.
Going with Raven and learning what I could from him was the only way I could do that.
He stopped and turned to me. With a quick movement, he brought his hand up, and I slid to a stop mid-step. I whipped my own hands up as I scrambled backward. Power hummed along my arms, pooled in my palms, waiting for my cue to lash out.
His eyes widened and he slowly turned his hands, palms out. “Easy, little witch. I am not going to hurt you.”
“I doubt that very much.” I said the words before I really registered them myself. He took a deep breath and nodded, a flicker of sadness in his eyes there and gone as fast as he blinked.
“Fair enough. We need to have a discussion, Pamela. About what it is you want from me, and what I want from you. This is not a freebie, as the humans say. I want the terms of our contract to be very open and clear.”
Of course, it wasn’t. I’d never expected it to be. I straightened my shoulders and cautiously lowered my hands. I looked around, really seeing where we were.
He’d led me to a playground of all places. The swings creaked in the ever-blowing North Dakota wind, but otherwise it was quiet. Not a single child or parent enjoying the place. Then again, it was growing dark. The jungle gym was made of metal pipes and wood, solid against the weather and the hard use of children climbing the structure over and over. If I’d been an ordinary girl, maybe I would have felt drawn to the place with a desire to run and play freely. I shook my head and looked at Raven.
“I never thought this was a freebie. You did ask for the sword, if you recall.” My words were sharp.
He grinned. “That I did. But did you think that was all I would want?” Faster than I could react he had swept his hand out and caught a lock of my long blond hair. He twisted it through his fingers and let it run across them.
“You want a lot from me, Pamela. It’s only fair I ask a great deal in return.”
A sudden lurch in my stomach made me take a half step back. What exactly was he asking? I was no prude, but he couldn’t be asking for that. He was at least fifteen years older than me . . . I squared my shoulders. I would not falter under that fear.
“I suggest you spell it out.
I’m not into guessing games.” I was proud of how strong my voice was.
He laughed and shook his head. “The Tracker’s influence on you is strong. You took to her fiery spirit. That’s good. I should have thought to . . . never mind.”
“I said spit it out,” I snapped, “or I’ll leave. I’ll find someone else to teach me.”
His eyebrows shot up. “There is no one else.”
“Bullshit. Larkspur said she’d teach me.” The words were free of my mouth and I wondered why I hadn’t thought of them sooner.
Raven folded his arms over his chest, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Did she? Well, that’s lovely, and I suppose if I am killed, then yes, you should go to her. But the reality is she can’t teach you what she doesn’t know. She was never trained like I was, Pamela. She learned on her own, much like you, and so there are great gaps in her training. Perhaps someday, if she lets me, I could teach her.”
There was quiet between us, the sound of the wind cutting through the chains on the swings, the creak of metal as they swung on their own as if propelled by ghosts. His words held the truth, and I could see it in his face. Never mind that out of all the supernaturals I’d found as Marco and I had scoured the country, very few were witches.
I shivered knowing I would do anything to learn, to grow my abilities. I would do anything to make me strong enough to protect those I loved. I understood in that exact moment how Rylee could go through what she did with the demons, how she could face the fear and lay down her life for the rest of us. I made myself stand a little straighter. I would do whatever it took, no matter how distasteful. “What do you want besides the sword then?”
He tucked his hands around to his back. “Well, first I need to find out if you are strong enough. I’m not sure you are. You see, I don’t train weaklings. I don’t train those who aren’t worth my time.”
I felt the blood drain from my face, felt it come rushing back with the heat of indignation. “I fought at the battle against the demons.”
“The battle of the Veil, yes, I know.” He nodded. “But I only caught glimpses of you there. I was rather busy myself doing what I could to stay alive.”
A hot burst of energy shot up through the soles of my feet. He was a trickster, and I could see through him now. “Let me guess, you have a task for me? One that will allow me to prove myself to you.”
Laughter spilled out of him, so sudden that the birds roosting in the trees around the playground shot into the night air with a flutter of wings and squawks.
Shaking his head, he pulled himself together. “Goddess, you . . . I could never have thought you would be so like your father. You read people well, discern them with an ability I didn’t think you could.”
I blanched, feeling the blood drain from my face yet again. I struggled to keep my feet in place. Every time I thought I had the upper hand, stood on even footing with him, he pulled the rug out from under me. Bloody damn hell. I swallowed the fear of what I was about to do. I knew what Rylee would do. I had to get control of this.
I turned on my heel and started back the way we’d come. Everything I was, everything I would be, balanced on this move.
“Where are you going?” he called after me.
“Home.” I stopped and turned. “It’s apparent to me that you only want to play games. You say you can teach me, but there is no proof of that. You want me to do a task for you, one that will probably put me in great danger and will only benefit you, with no guarantee of you helping me at all. Then you pull the parent card, again with no proof, so I can only assume you can continue to throw me off balance.” I drew a breath. “Which tells me you are a shyster.”
“A what?” He frowned, his brows furrowed deep.
“A con man.” I turned again. Even though giving him my back was dangerous, I did it.
There was no sound of feet behind me, no hot breath on my neck, although the skin all over my body tingled with apprehension. Heart pounding a wild rhythm, I kept walking. Lark would teach me, though it would be years. That had been her caveat. Five years I had to wait, and I just couldn’t, which meant Marco and I had to keep searching. We had to find a witch who could teach me. I knew there were things I should to be able to do by now but hadn’t even tried. Like find those we’d lost in the battle of the Veil. I blinked between steps and Raven was suddenly in front of me.
I stumbled backward and reacted. I flung my hand out and sent my power at him in a bundle that should have knocked him a hundred feet, at least. He flicked his fingers and the power dissolved as if it never had happened.
“Pamela, you can’t fight me.”
I kept moving backward, my cloak sweeping around me. I couldn’t seem to stop myself. I flung my power at him again and again. Fire, Earth, Air. He knocked away every attempt as I found myself backing until I was between the swings of the playground.
“You aren’t strong enough to beat me, Pamela. No witch can, so don’t feel badly about it.” He smiled as if that would soften the words.
“I’m not just any witch.” I was breathing hard with fear and the energy it took to throw that much power at him. “I was trained by Rylee.”
He laughed. “You think you have Tracking abilities?”
I whipped the cloak off and it fell to the ground in a flutter as I pulled the sword from my back. “Nope.”
His eyebrows shot up as I leveled the sword between us. “She taught you to fight.” Not a question.
I nodded. “Come on then. If you think you can take me.”
He put his hand out. “I don’t carry a weapon with me.”
“Pity.” I breathed the word as I dove at him.
He scrambled back as I lunged a second time and thrust the sword toward his belly. Rylee’s teachings flowed through me as strong as any magic. Crouch, pivot, thrust. He didn’t try to fight back. It was almost like I was a joke to him, a game. Which only made me angrier and my attack swifter. I settled into the fighting forms Rylee had drilled into me whenever we had the chance. I rode them the same way I rode my magic, as if it was everything, my whole world, the blood in my veins and the air in my lungs.
I was not weak, nor was I like other witches. I had more than one way to protect myself.
I spun and kicked out. I caught him in the thigh with my boot and he dropped to one knee. I followed his fall with the sword at a speed I wasn’t sure I could stop. But I trusted my body and its training. More than that, I trusted all I’d learned from Rylee.
I whipped the sword at his neck, my heart beat once in the time it took to stop the blade against his skin. Breathing hard, I stared down at him. “Just so we are clear. I could kill you. And I would not need magic to do it.”
His blue eyes locked onto mine and a rolling tingle started at the base of my neck and whispered through me. But you won’t; you want to learn from me.
I flexed my jaw, pushing the thoughts away as though brushing away a bevy of flies. “I know manipulation when I feel it, Raven. That will also get you killed.” I pressed harder with the blade, not yet enough to draw blood, but close.
Shock filtered through his face. “What?”
I didn’t move the sword from him. “You heard me. You trying to manipulate my thoughts will only make this sword run through you faster. You either treat me as an equal, or I leave now. Or maybe I’ll just kill you and get it over with. I doubt the world will miss a soul such as yours.”
He smiled, but very quickly the mirth fell. “You could not kill me. You’re a child playing at things you don’t understand fully.”
Now it was my turn to smile, and I could feel the hard edges of it. “Then you don’t know me very well. You would not be the first. I will protect those I love with all I have, to the damning of my soul if I must.” I drew back a little and the sword opened up a line, splitting the skin like a razor blade. Blood trickled down his neck but the sight was peripheral to what I was seeing.
Slowly, I saw it in his eyes. He lifted both hands to me, palms out.
I didn’t drop the sword. “Swear it.”
His lips twisted as he put a finger to the blood dripping down his neck. “I swear on the life of my daughter that I will not lead you astray. That I will treat you as an equal.”
I doubted I would get him to give me better. I lifted the sword from him, then bent and picked up my dropped cloak and wiped the blade edge on it. “Perhaps we should start again. I want to learn, and you have something you want from me. This should be rather straightforward, yes?”
He stood and looked down at me, and I could have sworn there was a smile in his eyes. But I could not be sure because he looked away and frowned.
The wind around us picked up, and the swings creaked and danced in the oncoming rush of wings. Wings. I turned, half expecting to see Marco swooping down on us. To be honest, I guess I was always half hoping he would find me. Marco had been my backup for six months, and he was my trusted friend.
What I saw, though, was not Marco, but an enemy I’d faced before.
Two figures dressed in white leather flew through the sky, pressing the wind ahead of them. Long white hair flew out behind them as they raced our way. Sylphs, or air elementals, were deadly even to the other elementals. They could steal the breath from your lungs and kill you with a barely lifted finger, without anyone knowing what happened to you even if they stood at your side. I’d faced one and survived, though it had been a close thing.
But what I stared at more than the air elementals, though, were their companions. Two figures flew below the feet of the Sylphs. Those two were not human looking at all, but monstrous in their forms. They were dark gray and thickly built, short arms and long legs, all tipped in rather short claws. Their heads were covered with bumps and knobs as though they had been pieced together—and rather badly. Only black holes were where their eyes should have been, and in their mouths were brilliant glimmering teeth like diamonds. Their wings spread wide, at least twenty feet across, and they cut through the air with heavy thumps that sent a pulse of air in front of them, and a shudder through my body.
Pamela (The Rylee Adamson Epilogues, Book 3) Page 2