Raising Innocence: A Rylee Adamson Novel (Book 3)

by Mayer, Shannon

  “Fuck me, you're Will’s sister, aren’t you?”

  Her frown deepened and with it, so did the likeness. All I could think was that I was so glad I didn’t have to deal with Dr. Daniels.

  “I am his sister. Where is my wayward brother? He said he was bringing you in and I’ve been waiting all night.”

  I glanced past her to the other Druids. “You sure you want to talk about this in front of them?”

  Will’s sister flushed to the edge of her hairline. “They are my family. I hide nothing from them.”

  I shrugged. “He was attacked by another cat and drew it away from us.” I Tracked him, felt him slowly making his way closer to us. He was hurt, but his life wasn’t draining away. “He’s on his way now.”

  The Druids shifted, and then Dr. Daniels stepped forward. “I told you Will was not welcome here.”

  Will’s sister’s spine seemed to snap straight as she whirled on Dr. Daniels. “And I told you repeatedly that you are an initiate. You are to speak when spoken to and otherwise—shut the fuck up!”

  Nice, at least I wasn’t the only potty mouth around here.

  Dr. Daniels fell back, did an awkward curtsey and turned away, as if by giving us her back she was giving us privacy.

  I didn’t want to wait for Will, couldn’t if we wanted to get this case over with. “We need your services.”

  “For what?”

  “To help block access to the Veil.”

  There was a moment of silence, then. “And why do you think I, we, can help you with that?”

  Competition is key in any group, and supernaturals, no less. “Well, I’d get one of my Shamans to do it, no problem. They’re tough like that. But they’re across the water and Will thought maybe you might be able to help. He wasn’t sure you had the skills, but figured we could at least ask.”

  Will’s sister pursed her lips. “I don’t like you.”

  “Feeling's mutual.”

  “Give me a reason, a real reason, to help you.”

  This was where it got tricky. Being so ambiguous, Druids just didn’t step out of their comfort zones. Ever.

  “I’m Tracking a Necromancer who's been stealing dead, and close to dead, children, and using them for his own purposes. . . .” I didn’t know what exactly he, the Necromancer, had been using the children for, but I would let her mind fill in the blank.

  Several heartbeats passed, and with each one, her face paled a little more. “Children, used for his own pleasure. . . .” It seemed she didn’t want to name it, either.

  I nodded and she shook her head slightly.

  She touched her fingers to her throat. “My name is Deanna. I will help you.”

  There was an immediate shuffling of the Druids and again, Dr. Daniels stepped forward.

  “Deanna, you can’t help her.”

  Will’s sister spun on the initiate, and I didn’t even try to hide my grin.

  “Penance is what you’ll be doing for the next month. Now go!” Deanna’s back was to me, but by the look on Dr. Daniels’ face, this was a first.

  “Penance?” She queried.

  The power struggle was an almost visible thing. Druids moved either to back Deanna or Dr. Daniels. What the hell had I stepped into this time?

  Deanna had five Druids behind her; Dr. Daniels had six. Damn, this was not looking good.

  “I’m not doing anymore bowing and scraping to you,” Dr. Daniels said, her voice full of self-confidence. “I will be the leader now. Not you. There will be no penance on my shoulders.”

  I cleared my throat. “You know, Deanna has already agreed to help me. So I’ll just take her with me and go.”

  Dr. Daniels laughed, throwing her head back in an over-the-top move that just made me want to roll my eyes. What a twat.

  Flicking my sword into the air, I strolled into the middle, right smack between the two groups of Druids. “Listen, I’m going to make this easy. Deanna is in charge right now. She’s going to stay that way until she gets back from helping me and these kids. You know how I know that?”

  A glance at Deanna and then Dr. Daniel’s showed me their combined confusion. Dr. Daniels, who piped up, her attitude once again clearly showing.

  “You don’t know anything of the sort,” she snorted, a dribble of snot escaping from her nose.

  Grimacing, I lifted my sword up and pointed it at her right shoulder. “I foresee you spending some time in the hospital. That should eat up the whole who’s in charge business for at least a day or two. Long enough for me.”

  “You wouldn’t!” Dr. Daniels screeched, but I’d already lunged forward, slicing through the meat of her shoulder, feeling her clavicle separate around my blade. She fell and my sword slid out easily. Blood spurted from the wound, quickly washing into the mud under our feet. The Druids around Dr. Daniels flew into action, lifting her up and carrying her away from us. Her screeching could be heard even over the occasional clap of thunder. The woman had lungs; I’d give her that.

  Deanna glared at me. “You make me look weak.”

  I wiped off my blade and slid it back into its sheath. The straps were stretching with the rain and the fit was getting sloppy. I was going to have to look into some new harness for my gear at this rate. “I make you look like you have a crazy bitch on your side. Not a bad thing in this case.”

  She opened her mouth as if to argue, then snapped it shut.

  With a few murmured words too low for me to hear, she sent her people away, and then moved to my side. “Come, let us get this done. You have bought me time, but not much.”

  “Lead the way.”

  With a huff, she strode up the embankment toward the tree where I’d left Pamela. We reached the base and the kid climbed down without having to be told. “Is she going to help us?” She pointed at Deanna.

  “Yes, and if I remember correctly, it’s rude to point. So only do it if you want to insult someone,” I said.

  Pamela nodded, her face a mask of sincerity. Shit, I was going to have to be very careful about teaching her bad habits. Then again, Giselle had said she’d given me a bunch of her own.

  Deanna led us back through the sodden, mud-filled, rain-drenched forest with ease. She was obviously comfortable here, and while I wanted to ask her questions, I also had the feeling that it wouldn’t take much to send her back to her Druids. Which meant I had to play nice.

  This was not going to be easy.

  19

  Back at the ‘lorry,’ as Pamela insisted on calling the car, Will waited for us. Though waited would make you think he was conscious. He most definitely was not.

  Slumped over the hood of the car, blood trickled from one ear and a rake of claw marks bisected his bare back and ass.

  I ran forward, Deanna and Pamela right behind. “Will. What the hell happened?”

  He groaned and lifted his head. His eyes were purpled shut, lips were swollen, and it pretty much looked like he’d been shit out of a Harpy from a thousand feet up.

  “The Destruction was waiting for me. That bitch Daniels knew we were coming. Must have overheard me on the phone at the station.”

  Ah, that explained that. One more strike against the good doctor. Next time I’d be aiming for the left side.

  I helped him to his feet and Deanna came close, laying her hands on either side of his face.

  “Brother. This is not good.”

  “Nothing we can do about it now,” he slurred out, groaning as we helped him into the back of the car, covering him with a blanket from the trunk. Pamela climbed in and pillowed his head in her lap. She was crying silently, her tears streaking down her mud-flecked face. Fuck, this had been some night. Certainly not one to put in the memento books.

  Deanna didn’t drive, so that left me with the task of managing everything that was ass backwards. We drove into town with no problems though, and went straight to my suite, though Deanna argued against it.

  “He has medical equipment at his home.”

  “I have a werewolf I
need to check on,” I said, pulling into the narrow driveway. Will leaned on me and I helped him into the blue suite, cringing once more at the sight of the gaudy decoration.

  “Pamela, go shower and change clothes,” I said, and she reluctantly left us. I lowered Will onto the couch as carefully as I could. Deanna stood frozen in the doorway. “You coming in?”

  “It feels as though a great darkness has been here.”

  “Ah, shit, that’s the vampire you’re picking up on.” I grunted, throwing another blanket over Will.

  “I have more clothes in the trunk.”

  I nodded and stood to go get them when I realized that there had been no answer to my vampire comment and looked to where Deanna had stood. She was not in the doorway, or any other part of the suite, for that matter. I ran, opened the door and looked down the street, seeing her walking swiftly away. The bitch was leaving!

  “Hey, where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

  She glanced back and shook her head. I knew what would stop her—something that would stop a Shaman in their tracks too.

  “Oath breaker!”

  If she had brakes, I might as well have slammed a brick onto them. She stopped so hard and fast, her upper body actually tipped forward.

  “What did you call me?”

  People on the street were staring, but I didn’t care. What the hell did it matter to me if a human got a glimpse of the supernatural? They’d just write it off as some trick of the eye anyway.

  “You heard me. You made a promise to help me, to help those kids. And now you’re running away. Oath breaker is the least of the names I could come up with.”

  Deanna stood there, rain pounding down around her, but the weather still didn’t seem to touch her or her grey robe. Nice perk.

  Finally, she turned and walked back toward me.

  I let out a soft breath. If I didn’t have her help, I wasn’t sure I could nail down this bastard on my own. He was too fast at using the Veil to get away, too slippery, not to mention the whole zombie guard business.

  “I do not want to deal with a vampire.”

  “You won’t. He just wants me.”

  Deanna stepped back inside the suite and I closed the door on the rain, though the sound of it still echoed through the house.

  She went to her brother’s side; I went in the other room and got the medical supplies I had.

  “Here.” I handed the kit to her, then went to check on Alex. He had moved, making his way into my bedroom, then to the far side of the room. Curled up in a ball, his face was buried under his bushy tail and he breathed deep, the sleep of a body healing. The shower was running full tilt and I could just hear Pamela humming to herself.

  At least my two charges were alive and well. Now came the tough part.

  Back in the kitchen, I went and pulled a chair out for myself. I had to phone Agent Valley and get him up to speed. The suite didn’t have a rotary phone, which meant I either went outside to find a phone booth, or I walked down to the station to face Agent Valley in person. Neither option was all that appealing.

  Deanna was sitting beside Will, working on his back, cleaning out the claw marks. They were healing, I could see the difference already, but it was always good to get the worst of the foreign bodies out.

  A soft pad of big feet snapped my head up. Alex limped out to me and put his head on my knee. “Alex come with Rylee.”

  His golden eyes were tight with pain, his body was still badly injured and yet, his loyalty won over everything else. A suspicious lump in my throat rose and I fought it back down. This was no time for tears.

  With a wave, I got Deanna’s attention. “Throw me the kit.” She closed the lid and tossed it across the room to me. I opened it on the table and picked out an herbal concoction that dulled pain. It might actually have an effect now that he was not in and out of consciousness. The mix also tended to dull the ability to think clearly, but with Alex, I was less worried about that than I would be with anyone else.

  “Open up,” I said. I knew then how bad he was hurt. In the past, Alex fought taking any kind of supplement or herbs. Like a child, he would spit and pout and hold his breath. But this time he just opened his mouth and let me pour the sluggish contents down his throat.

  He gacked, heaved, shook his head, and then settled back against my leg. For now, it was the best I could do.

  “Deanna.” She lifted her head.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m going out. I’ll take Alex and Pamela with me, we won’t be long.”

  She was already shaking her head. “What if the vampire comes back?”

  I shrugged. “Take a message for me.”

  Bundling Pamela into the last of my dry, clean clothes and letting her wear my leather jacket, we headed back out into the weather toward the station. Alex was slow, and I eased my usual stride so he could keep up.

  “Rylee, will he be okay?” She didn’t need to say who ‘he’ was.

  “Will is a shifter. He’ll be fine,” I said as we turned the corner. We were only a few minutes away from the station and I could already see the grey exterior. And the flood of cops spewing out of it.

  I put a hand out, barring Pamela from stepping ahead.

  “What is it?” she whispered, immediately picking up on my tension.

  Alex lifted his head and sniffed the air. “Stinkers.”

  The flood of officers out of the station eased off, and then came a new—or should I say old and rotting—mess of bodies piling after them.

  Hundreds of ‘stinkers,’ as Alex put it, poured out of the main doors, grabbing and biting anything close enough for them. The cops fired into the horde, but the bullets swerved and dodged, sometimes swinging back. Fuck, when would they ever learn?

  “Stay with me, no matter what,” I said, jogging toward the zombies. When I was close enough for the officers to hear me, I yelled out over the screams. “Guns won’t work, you morons! Swords, knives, but no ever-loving guns!”

  A few listened, but the tide of flesh wasn’t really stemmed. Distantly, I wondered how the FBI and Interpol would spin this catastrophe to the public. Then all thoughts flew from my head as I made my first swing with my sword, slicing a zombie in half with a wet crunch of bone and gristle. The smell of rotting flesh intensified, sharp and lingering along my nasal passages.

  Pamela retched behind me.

  “Stay with me,” I said.

  Alex let out a growl and a zombie coming in fast on my right went down in a flurry of teeth and snarls. For a submissive werewolf, he’d come a long way.

  Swing after swing of my swords and the snatch and decapitate technique Alex was employing brought us to the main doors. A peek inside showed that while there were still zombies, there weren’t as many. Maybe thirty in the main room, not too bad at all. I used the back of my hand to wipe my forehead.

  Pamela pointed. “They’re coming up the stairs.”

  So they were. What kind of game was the Necromancer playing now?

  A flicker of movement and the sense that someone was behind me was the only warning I got. I tried to dodge out of the zombie’s hands, but he was a big bastard, with mitts almost as big as Alex’s paws—mitts that pinned my arms to my sides, making my swords pretty much useless.

  “Get the fuck off me!” I flung my body to the side and jerked him off balance, but he didn’t let go, not even an inch.

  “You will leave my master alone,” he slurred out, his voice a drunken monotone.

  I froze, pulled myself together, and answered. “Nope, not until he stops taking kids. He’s a perverted freak of nature.”

  The zombie roared, and I knew that the Necromancer was hearing what I said. Good.

  “I’m coming for you asshole!” My blood surged, adrenaline pounding through my body even if my arms were pinned. I kicked at the zombie, taking out one of his knees. A second kick blasted out the other kneecap, jagged edges of bone poking out of the ripped flesh. Still he hung on.

  The zombie
reared back and then his head shot forward, teeth slamming into my lower back just above my hip. Without my leather jacket, he burrowed his face into my flesh like a dog with a bone. The bite and the force behind it sent us both stumbling in through the main doors.

  I couldn’t stop the scream that ripped out of me. Alex tackled the big zombie, but the rotter’s teeth were still in me; a hunk of skin and flesh went with the creature. Snarling and twisting, Alex tore the zombie’s head off. I was on my hands and knees, shaking with pain; a quick glance back at my hip made me turn my head away.

  The wound was bad. Blood poured out and down my leg, and around my belly. The remaining zombies paused what they were doing and lifted their heads. That much is true about rotters—they love the smell of fresh blood. Like a school of dumb sharks, blood drew them as nothing else would.

  I was so fucked.

  “Pamela, you need to stop them.” I fumbled to get my shirt off. I had to stuff the bite wound with something, anything to staunch the flow of blood. The straps from my sword sheaths got in my way and I fought with them, panicking.

  Pale, Pamela nodded, then whipped her arms outward, flicking all ten fingers. The remaining zombies flew backwards faster than I could blink and smashed against the concrete walls. Pinned there with her magic, they groaned and mumbled, but didn’t fight overly much.

  Standing, I locked my knees to keep from tumbling over. This was a bad injury, the zombie must have hit an artery because I was feeling rather faint. . . that was the last thought I had as the room swirled and the darkness claimed me.

  Of course, it was just my luck it wasn’t a blissful, quiet darkness. No . . . I had to open my eyes to see Faris leaning over me.

  “Zombies? Really, so cliché,” he said, smiling like it was a joke that I should get.

  Whatever. “Tell that to the Necromancer,” I grunted, pushing him away, my hand flat against his chest. Instead, he put his hand over mine and yanked me to my feet, still hanging onto me.