“Unfortunately, that will have to wait. Time works differently here and I promised Marcus once we had our answers we’d return. I don’t know what answers we have yet, but we’re not getting any more sitting here.”
“Good,” Vincent said, waking up behind Tiki. He looked refreshed and strong. Other than a few fading scratches on his chest and the mess of hair on his head, he looked almost normal. “It’s about time we get out of this hellhole. I’ve been here a day too long already.”
******
I thanked Garsmith for his hospitality and we gathered outside their village. He explained how his son, Ishmar, would be upset knowing he missed us, but understood our urgency. He declared the trolls’ alliance to us should we need it. I wasn’t sure he had the authority to do that, but Chief Sorrent trusted him enough to leave him in charge, so I assumed he’d honor his word. That was reassuring to me. After realizing how difficult it was going to be to find a soul piece, I had started to think we’d have better odds building an army than finding a needle in a haystack.
“Now this time, before the portal consumes you, take a deep breath and hold it,” Tiki said. “Keep your eyes closed and focus on your destination. If you release the breath too early, the teleportation causes more pain. Keeping air inside your body resists the pressure, and maintaining your focus on where you want to go means the destination will arrive more quickly.”
“Now he tells us,” Vincent said.
Tiki ignored him and looked between us. “Everyone ready?”
I nodded.
“I…not yet…” Vincent said, turning to me. “I understand your anger, Chase, I truly do, but I need to know when we return that you will help me.”
I didn’t need to look to know Tiki was staring at me. I dropped my arm and took a step back.
“You set me on fire,” Vincent said, “and perhaps that was an even-handed response for all that I’ve done. But you spared me, and I hope that action foreshadows your desire to help. Just as I once tried to kill you, it now appears we are even.”
“Oh, we’re far from even,” I said. “I’m not the reason your life was spared and I wouldn’t assume anything. I haven’t agreed to help you.”
“I have no one left to turn to.”
“The irony in that is just too much. You’re a Taryk. I thought you had connections everywhere.”
Vincent eyes fell from mine. “Perhaps when I have something others want, this is true, but it is mostly out of fear that others acknowledge me. The Underworld would jump at the chance to knock me down a peg. Friendship is few and far between in Underworld business.”
“Is that what you think we are, Vincent? Friends?”
“Of course not!” Vincent scoffed and then quickly composed himself. “We merely have the opportunity to help each other.”
“And you’re going to help me how?”
“Help me save my family. Help me finish this endless war the Sovereign has pitted against me, and I will dedicate all of my family’s efforts and resources to your cause.”
“That’s an easy bargain for you. Most of them are already dead.”
“I do not know the true result of the Sovereign’s attack. I only know that yes, many have met an ashy fate, but those who have survived will be indebted to you, as will I.”
I shook my head and took a deep breath. A commitment to Vincent? I spared him, wasn’t that enough? I’d already told Tiki I’d help, but Tiki’s disapproving gaze told me taunting Vincent was not right.
“Fine, I’ll help. But it isn’t because you’ve thrown your family’s service at my feet. I didn’t spare you out of guilt. I spared you because of Tiki. He made an oath to help you, and as such, I will help him. But make no mistake: it’s he you have to thank for your life.”
“Truly?” Vincent turned to Tiki.
Tiki didn’t reply. He only looked back and forth between us, waiting.
“Don’t get me wrong,” I said. “You’ll hold up your end of the deal with me, but when it’s all said and done, Tiki’s the one you’re indebted to.”
Chapter 15
I did as Tiki instructed, and although I hadn’t mastered the landing on your feet portion of the trip, there was significantly less pain. My chest hurt afterwards from the pressure, and I felt like something was oozing from my ears, but all of that had faded by the time we reached the condo.
Trucks and SUVs I recognized were parked on both sides of the street. Was there another meeting? How long had we been gone? A bad feeling sank into the pit of my stomach. I skipped the wait for the elevator to come down and took the stairs.
The condo door was unlatched, and I could hear a myriad of panicked voices on the other side. I pushed through, and the smell of sweat and blood filled my nostrils.
There were blood-soaked rags everywhere. People I recognized and some I didn’t moved back and forth across the room. Panic made my stomach churn and I pushed through a group of strangers to get to the living room.
Small cots filled the space, each of them occupied by injured people. A man lay on the couch, his pants cut open from his ankle to his hip, a blood-spattered bone sticking out of his shin. Another was on the floor with red-splotched bandages covering his face. Marcus stood over one cot applying pressuring to a woman’s arms.
“What happened?” I asked, and other than some cries for help, the room went silent.
“Things have been…eventful in your absence,” Marcus said.
Rayna and Grams were at the kitchen table working together. Rayna was cutting up ingredients and Grams was focused, chanting over a large wooden bowl with thick steam billowing out of it. Rayna’s arm still had a bandage on it and she was focused.
“I see that. What can I do?”
Marcus looked around the room and sadness pulled at his features. “We’ve done nearly all we can.” He sighed, shaking his head.
“I can use my magic. Just tell me where to start.”
“It’s of no use to us. We’ve had other hunters here who’ve tried already. Whatever additional power the dagger has given Riley, it trumps our abilities to heal as hunters.”
A black hole moved inside me, sucking the air from my chest. Riley had done all of this and I hadn’t been here to help stop it. I felt light-headed and I grabbed the railing beside me, easing myself down onto the steps.
“What have I done?” I whispered to myself.
“This is not your fault,” Marcus said.
“Damn right it’s his fault,” a voice said from behind me. “He lost the ring and the dagger. Then he went running off for answers and Riley retaliated. If anyone is to blame, it’s him.”
I didn’t recognize the girl, but her eyes carried a hatred for me I couldn’t understand. She was short and her eyes were a fierce, dark blue. Although covered in bloodstains, she looked youthful and no older than fourteen.
“What does the ring have to do with this?”
“He didn’t know how to use it, and since he can’t seem to get into that head of yours anymore, he came looking,” she said, hitting my shoulder as she walked past me to hand Marcus a large stack of clean rags.
“It’s not his fault, Chloe. Nobody can be held responsible for Riley’s actions. He’s guided by dark magic.”
Chloe stared up at me, anger not fading from her eyes. “Yeah well, someone is going to pay for what happened to our pride. You can be damn sure when Jax gets here he won’t be thrilled over what’s happened to his pack either.”
Glass shattered behind me and I turned to see Rayna holding a knife against Vincent’s throat. “How dare you come into my home!” She pushed the blade against his skin and blood trickled down Vincent’s neck.”
“Rayna, my sweet, please—”
“Don’t you talk to me,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Rayna, he isn’t here to hurt anyone,” Tiki said.
“This is Vincent. He brought his entire family after us to get the ring. He’s always here to hurt someone.”
“Not t
his time,” I said.
Rayna shot me a look so hostile it stole my breath. “What?”
“It’s a long story, but he’s with us.”
Rayna’s eyes stared for a long moment and it wasn’t until Grams spoke that she pulled away. “Get over here, kitty cat, I need you.”
Rayna glared at me and shook her head. “I can’t believe you of all people right now.” Grams handed her some ingredients and Rayna used a mortar and pestle to grind them together.
Marcus dried his hands on a clean rag and grabbed my shoulder. “Let’s go talk.”
“Don’t piss anybody off,” I said as I walked past Vincent. “Just stay out of everybody’s way.”
I closed the door to the training room behind me and an uncomfortable silence settled around me.
Marcus paced the room for a moment before taking a breath and plastering a forced smile over his lips. “How was your trip?” he asked, his voice as somber as I’d ever heard it. He pulled out two folding chairs and sat them on the floor across from one another.
“As far as I can tell, uneventful. Tiki has a little more hope than I do though. Now can you please tell me what happened?”
Marcus looked down at the blood-stained rag in his hand. He sighed and his dark eyes met mine. “You’ve been gone a few days now, and yesterday, Riley unleashed attacks on most of our remaining outposts.”
“What are the casualties?”
“Brendan and Cory are dead, as are all the hunters who followed them. Eric and what’s left of his crew are missing. I’m assuming they’ve gone into hiding. We managed to stabilize one of his hunters who survived for a short time, but he didn’t last through the night.”
“Everyone else is okay?”
“Some of our contacts further south have been unreachable, and everyone you saw out there,” Marcus pointed to the doorway, “are the survivors from the attack on both the Hollowlights and the Shadowpack. Both shifter groups have been greatly weakened by this.”
“That’s all that’s left of them?”
Marcus shook his head. “The groups left in Stonewall were small. Chief has most of his pride out searching for other packs and shifters to help.”
“Willy?” I asked with hesitation. I could feel acid rising from my stomach and my hands began to tremble.
“Willy is with Jax. We haven’t heard from them in a few days, but as far as we know, they’re safe.”
Relief washed over me, but the acid in my chest didn’t fade. It made the gash along my front throb, and I couldn’t help but wince, trying to ignore the pain. “And Kate?”
Marcus rose from his seat and moved towards me. “Jax and most of his hunters left to see if she’s okay. We haven’t heard from her since the others were attacked. What’s wrong with you, why is your shirt burnt?”
“It’s nothing, just backlash from teleporting with Tiki.”
“Let me see,” Marcus demanded, his forehead wrinkling as his brows furrowed.
I pulled the black shirt up and gasped as it stuck to my chest. I grimaced and pulled it gently away, letting the fabric drop to the floor.
“Dear gods,” Marcus said, leaning in and gently touching the edges of the wound.
Black and red scabs covered a strip along the center of my chest. The undamaged skin around it had turned a dark purple, and I grimaced as Marcus’s fingers put pressure around the edges.
I explained how my elements had exploded when we entered the portal, but Marcus didn’t seem to have any answers. He was more confused after I explained healing it didn’t work and trying only caused me pain.
I shared my experience about drawing from the creek’s energy—one of the things I was trying to enforce was not keeping secrets from Marcus. He was the only one I had left in my life who could help me with my magic, and keeping things from him wasn’t good for anyone.
Marcus nodded and listened, but he seemed more surprised about the wound on my chest than he was about my magic.
He explained that as my power grew stronger, I would develop new abilities or existing ones would change. This was one of those abilities manifesting, and although it didn’t surprise him, it worried him. Marcus had told me before that my elements were developing too quickly, and that’s why working to control them was so important. I wasn’t given the learning curve like most hunters were. Powerful elements were thrown into me, and now I had to deal with them.
We didn’t know if my elements were a result of the Mark, or my failure to develop them in the ceremony. Once upon a time, the ceremony didn’t exist, and a hunter’s powers came out on their own. For the last few centuries the elders forced the elements out, and many believe that’s why our powers had grown weaker. I didn’t know what I believed, but I knew I was going to need whatever power I could get my hands on to fight Riley. Especially if healing magic was no longer an option.
“What do you think?” I asked.
Marcus pulled his hands away from the wound on my chest and walked around to my back. His fingers touched a few spots and I gasped as pain vibrated through me.
“Sorry,” Marcus said. “It appears there are a few wounds on your back as well.”
“More? I had only noticed this one.”
“Yes well, we need to keep an eye on these. They look infected.”
“That’s not possible,” I said.
“I can’t be certain, but even without your elements these should have started to heal already. We’ll need to make sure we keep them clean and bandaged.”
“Marcus, what’s going on? We both know hunters don’t get infections.”
“I need to get back and check on the others, Chase. I’ll send someone in to clean these up for you and we won’t jump to any conclusions just yet.”
“Marcus, please…what’s happening to me?”
Marcus stopped and I heard him take in a deep breath. His shaved head reflected the room’s lights and he turned, meeting my pleading gaze. “To be honest, Chase, I don’t know.”
I tried not to let the disappointment show, so I nodded and pulled my eyes away. “Well, we’ll figure it out,” I said, trying to reassure myself.
“Don’t think for a second we won’t. You’ll be fine, son. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I nodded but didn’t respond. I didn’t know what to say. Something was happening with my body and my magic. Dozens of hunters had lost their lives, all because I gave up the ring and went searching for answers. Chloe might be young, but she wasn’t stupid. It was my fault. Now these people were dead and that was my burden to bear.
“Hey Marcus…” I said as he reached for the door.
Marcus turned to face me. Dark blue jeans and a black muscle shirt showed off just how large he was, but the blood that covered his dark skin and the sadness in his eyes made him look like a gentle giant.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Marcus walked towards me, his face as serious as I’d ever seen it. “I told you, you have nothing to be sorry for. Riley tore apart all of these people with ease. The ring didn’t give him that power.”
I shook my head because the words wouldn’t come.
“Don’t shake your head at me like that.” Marcus’s voice was stern. “We had no choice, Chase. We needed to get Ithreal’s dagger and destroy it. Otherwise, who knows what Riley would’ve done? There was no other option. You need to stop blaming yourself for that.”
“I disregarded your advice…and my mother’s. I went off on my own, thinking if I could do it all and save the day, I could finally prove myself to someone…anyone. If I hadn’t fought against you so damn hard from the beginning, none of this would’ve happened.”
“You don’t honestly believe that, do you?” I looked up at Marcus, unsure of how to respond. “Riley and the Dark Brothers had a plan, and before they got the dagger or the ring, they were already powerful. One way or another, they would’ve found Rayna. And without you, she might’ve…” Marcus looked away, took a deep breath, and faced me. “You’ve made mistake
s. So have I. I kept things from you I shouldn’t have. If I had told you about my vision, things might’ve turned out differently too.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“The point is we’re learning from these mistakes. Right now, we need to regroup. Once Jax and Chief return, we’re going to sit down together and figure out where these soul pieces are. And then we’re going to end this.” His voice was firm and passionate, and his eyes were fixed on me.
“Thank you,” I said.
Marcus’s respect and approval meant a lot to me, but I didn’t know if I agreed with him. I didn’t believe this wasn’t my fault, or that Riley would’ve gotten this far whether I’d put Rayna and me in the middle of it or not. One thing was for certain, Riley had crossed some kind of line with Marcus. I didn’t know if it was the injured members or something else, but Marcus was determined to end this now, which meant we were done talking; now it was time for action.
******
An uncomfortable silence I didn’t understand lingered between Rayna and me. I straddled the back of the chair, trying to figure out what I could’ve done to make her angry, but I was coming up empty.
Rayna applied pressure on my back, and filled the wounds with a strange orange paste she and Grams had concocted. I was happy it wasn’t one of Gram’s infamous potions, but it still stunk and seared my skin.
The tattoo that covered my back was now partially marred by open wounds. The sword that ran down my spine, lined with symbols for all the elements I possessed, had multiple small tears. The skin that was covered with inky wings was split in three different places, and my lower back had a single long scratch that was the least of the damage. I didn’t know where all of these wounds were coming from, and it was starting to make me nervous.
I watched Rayna’s focus in the mirror as she examined each wound, carefully covering them with bandages.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Everything’s fine.” Her response came before I’d even finished the question.
Release (The Protector Book 3) Page 11