The DarkWorld SkinWalker Series Box Set Vol II: The SkinWalker Series Books 4, 5 & 6: Blood Promise, Scorched Fury, & Fate's Edge (DarkWorld: SkinWalker)

by T. G. Ayer

  Food.

  A chicken and mushroom pie and a glass of ginger beer. Both brought back remnants of my childhood and I could have sworn the scent of Mom’s perfume lingered in the air beside me. I smiled and satiated a hunger I hadn’t known I possessed. Minutes later, replete, I dialed Nerina, half expecting her not to answer.

  But she did. And she promised to come within a few minutes. I expected she needed to make one last stop with Lady Kira, the High Priestess of the DeathTalkers. Nerina couldn’t do much without her Lady’s okay, but something told me this visit would be relegated to personal time.

  Since our last encounter, finding and apprehending the killer of Lady Kira’s estranged daughter, Nerina’s attitude had shifted. Away from her high priestess, toward her own personal needs. I meant to ask her how she was handling such a shift, a drastic one – especially for a DeathTalker priestess.

  Nerina appeared minutes later, as the warmth of the fire, my fatigue and my full stomach conspired to pull me into slumber. Nerina saved me. There wasn’t time for such frivolous things as sleep. Especially not with Logan sleeping enough for the lot of us.

  Nerina pushed back the hood of her cloak, the gray fabric dropping softly to her shoulders. Her usually pale gray hair seemed to have taken on some color, a lovely hint of chestnut which I found comforting. It matched the smattering of honey in her usually gray eyes.

  “Hi,” she said, smiling brightly. “What do you need me for?”

  “You seem bubbly,” I responded, amused at her enthusiasm despite the gravity of the occasion.

  “Whatever you need me to do will surely be a million times more exciting than communing with the dead and passing messages across the Veil.”

  I gave her a twisted smile and she returned it with a rueful one.

  “I suppose you need me to commune with the dead and pass messages through the Veil.”

  “Kind of to the former, and yes to the latter.”

  “Kind of?” She frowned.

  “Not communing with the dead.” I sighed. “But I guess his condition puts him closer to dead than not.” My shoulders bowed and I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees.

  Nerina pulled a small footstool closer and sat in front of me. “You want me to talk to Logan?”

  I nodded. “It’s time we did something about his situation. Darcy says he’s in the Graylands and that he’ll be able to communicate with us but I’m not allowed to go there. Not physically, anyway.”

  “Damn straight you’re not. I know for a fact that those trips to the Graylands have been draining your life force, and I’m not about to allow you to go there again. Not for a long while.”

  I wanted to bristle. Who was she to order me around? And yet a part of me glowed with the knowledge that she was no longer a colleague. She was a friend. And that also made her dangerous.

  I’d learned that friends made a person vulnerable. And even worse, my friends were often in danger, just because of who I was. Clancy – my human mentor and friend had been butchered by a crazed Walker in an attempt to teach me a lesson.

  Yes, friends made a person vulnerable.

  Nerina wasn’t powerful like Tara, nor was she deadly like Lily and Anjelo. But even deadly made little difference, especially when Anjelo ended up very dead despite his capacity to defend himself.

  I pulled myself free from the chaos of my regrets. Focusing on Nerina, I said, “Don’t worry. I’m not going to cross the Veil anytime soon. Right now, we need to contact Logan. There are things he should know. Things he needs to tell me.”

  “Okay, then.” Nerina stood and dusted her hands. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

  Upstairs, Nerina entered Logan’s room and made straight for his bedside. She bent over Logan and my stomach tightened as she lay her hands upon his chest and whispered an incantation, something musical and ominous.

  She lowered her mouth until it hovered inches above Logan’s. Taking a deep breath, she expelled that air into his mouth, emptying her lungs until her body shuddered.

  Leaning back only slightly, she inhaled again and waited.

  A few minutes passed before I stiffened. A wispy stream of gray smoke drifted out of Logan’s mouth, rising, undulating on the air, like a snake seeking a way into the light. It caressed Nerina’s face, then slipped between her lips. She proceeded to inhale the threads of gray through both mouth and nose.

  I wondered what that meant, that whether the subject was dead or alive, the method of binding a DeathTalker to them was the very same. I shoved the thought away and concentrated on Nerina.

  She lifted her head and stared sightlessly at the ceiling, then exhaled.

  The chair I’d given Darcy was still beside the bed and Nerina sank into it. Clearly she didn’t have any doubts about it holding her weight, even though she was far more well-endowed than Darcy.

  She sat still for a moment then sighed, tilting her head to the side as if encouraging me to speak.

  My throat tightened and I had to swallow hard before the first word left my mouth. “Logan?”

  My eyes were on his face and I gasped softly as his expression confirmed that he’d heard my voice.

  “Logan can you hear me?” I asked, raising my voice from the tentative whisper.

  “Kai? How are you in my head?”

  Nerina’s mouth moved and yet it was Logan’s words that left her lips. And as I watched his face, I saw his expression match the tone. Surprised, and glad.

  The same way that I felt.

  Surprised. And glad.

  Chapter 16

  It felt strange hearing his words come from Nerina’s mouth, and I felt a little uncomfortable, as if my friend was a voyeur, watching something deeply personal between Logan and me.

  Not like you have a choice, Odel.

  “I’ve been so worried about you.” I leaned closer to him, smiling and blinking back tears.

  “I know. But I’ve been fine. I think.” Though his words came from Nerina, a tiny smile lifted the corner of his mouth and just the sight of it lifted my spirits. I’d known he was in there somewhere.

  “How does it work? Are you aware of us?”

  “Sometimes . . . when the drugs allow me to be.” He sighed, his chest rising and falling, air passing through Nerina’s lips.

  “Do you feel much pain?”

  “Not in the normal sense.” I was curious but I let him speak. “I feel like my fire is warring inside me. As if it wants out but it also knows there is no place to go.”

  “I’m worried about you.” I hesitated wondering how wise it was to be telling him this when it could likely make his condition worse.

  “What is it Kai?”

  “I saw something strange on your body.”

  “You’ve been looking at my body?” He gave a mischievous grin.

  I shook my head and laughed, giving Nerina a wary glance. “Behave yourself.” I steeled my features. Business only. “You glowed, like a fire burned inside of you.”

  “That would be my power looking for a way out. It’s trapped.” He hardly seemed troubled.

  “How can we help you relieve the strain of it?”

  He shook his head, the skin on his forehead creasing. “You can’t. The only way is to regain consciousness.”

  “Dad’s doing everything possible, but so far he’s failed to find a way past this . . . coma.”

  “I understand. And Kai. You’ll need to come to terms with it if he can’t bring me back.” He spoke firmly, calmly.

  I stiffened and he shook his head again as if he could see me through his closed lids.

  “No. I know you’re going to be stubborn but you can’t blame your father if he can’t help me, and neither can you sit around filled with regret. There’s more to this than just me.”

  I sucked in a breath, hoping he wouldn’t sense how terrified I was of losing him. “More to this?” I urged, squeezing his fingers between mine. I could feel the pulse of his heartbeat at the base of his palm, the steady
throb reassuring, comforting.

  “The girl,” was all he said.

  “Are you still dreaming of her?” I asked, tensing.

  “Yes, and I think it’s more than we suspected.”

  “More?” I coaxed him.

  “She’s in my mind almost all the time.”

  “Is she telling you anything?” I leaned closer even though Nerina spoke his words from beside me.

  “It’s not like she’s communicating with me.”

  “More like you’re eavesdropping on her thoughts?” I asked.

  “Her thoughts and her memories.” He sounded so sad.

  “And what do they tell you?”

  He moved his head sharply, jerking it from left to right as if even entertaining the thought was too much. “I know what it’s telling me but I can’t quite understand it.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s as if she knew me from when we were little. Knew me so well that we would have had to grow up together or at least be the closest of friends.”

  “So who do you think she is?” He’d been so lucid when he’d woken up and asked me to find his sister, and now my breath stuttered, fearing he’d been hallucinating.

  “My heart is telling me she is my sister, but my brain thinks that’s ridiculous and I must be imagining it all.”

  “You’re not.”

  Logan paused and turned his head, and although his eyes were closed it felt like he was looking right at me. “I’m not?”

  I shook my head before realizing that he couldn’t see me. “No. It’s not a hallucination. She’s real and she is your sister.”

  “How do you know this?” he asked, his voice jerky. “What did you find out?”

  I cleared my throat. “She was taken from you when the diner blew up.”

  “You mean when I blew up the diner.” Even now, his voice sounded hollow with the pain of the memory.

  “Actually, it wasn’t you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You weren’t the one to lose control that day. You did have a sister, Logan.” I paused and watched the fluttering his lids.

  His face held nothing back. Confusion, sorrow, pain. It was all there, laid bare to be witnessed by Nerina and me. I looked at her, finding she was still deep within the trance that connected her to Logan.

  My throat was dry as I swallowed before saying, “You are siblings. But she was the one who lost control of the power. She was frightened. But when Omega picked you up-”

  “It was her that they wanted and not me?” His voice was bitter. He knew how Omega worked.

  I nodded, then supported it with a yes. “They took her away and hid her from you for all this time.”

  “What did they want with me if they got her?”

  “You’re powerful in your own right.”

  “And Omega likes to keep the family of those they want close,” he said, his tone dry, hard. Angry. “Like Saleem.”

  “Like Saleem.”

  Chapter 17

  The silence lay heavy, but it only served to make me more impatient.

  “How did you find this out?” I knew what he was doing; getting practical, putting aside his feelings to deal with the problem at hand.

  “I spoke to the person who took your memories.” Logan’s face hardened. “I’m surprised you didn’t know.”

  “I’m not always conscious. But I do vaguely remember something strange. Like memories that suddenly became clear after all these years. And feelings that suddenly made sense.”

  “Yes. She did a mind-meld and tried to ease a few memories out. She said she reset some of what she’d done and wanted to ensure your mind finds the missing memories.”

  The silence was strong as Logan absorbed my revelation, his face darkening with what I could only assume was anger.

  I touched his upper arm. “For what it’s worth she really feels bad. But at the time she had very little choice.”

  He didn’t respond.

  “She said she put in a few loopholes that would allow you to regain the memories on your own. But it had to look like she did as she was instructed.”

  “Why are you defending her?” he asked sharply.

  “Look, you have every right to be furious with her. But at the time she had little choice. You were both at the mercy of the mechanics of Omega. They wanted your sister so they took her. They wanted you working for them rather than endangering their hold on your sister, so they took your memories.”

  I was trying to ensure he remembered that Omega was the bad guy in this picture but I couldn’t be sure that Logan cared. His cheekbones seemed to stand out sharply as he tightened his jaw.

  “Who is she?”

  I sighed.

  “Darcy?” Clearly he could read me very well.

  “Yes.” I squeezed his arm. “I’m sorry. I think she’ll come by to talk to you when you’re awake. Right now, I want you to know that she reversed what she could now that Omega can’t stop her.”

  “How could Omega stop her?”

  His expression was odd as he asked the question. As if he knew that answer couldn’t possibly be a straight and easy one.

  “They threatened her family. She was so young when they recruited, only sixteen when she treated you, and though she tried to remain neutral, she couldn’t ignore the threat to her family. So she did what she could, and still ensured your memories would return. Had Storm not done this to you, you’d have regained the memories quite soon.”

  Logan was deathly still and I glanced at Nerina. I was surprised at how easily I’d forgotten that she was there. That despite the different voice, I still felt like I was talking to Logan.

  Nerina remained impassive so I returned my attention to Logan whose chest rose as he took an eerily silent breath.

  “What did she do to me? I have more memories . . . images in my head now . . . and they don’t all make sense.”

  “Darcy said she removed more of the blocks and she thinks you should be able to communicate with your sister. With you being twins-”

  “How does she know we were twins?”

  “From what she heard at her debriefing sessions, and what she saw from your memories. You two were inseparable. You communicated on a more ethereal level than most people. She said that you managed to rein her in just by touching her mind with yours.”

  “If I kept her out of danger then what would have happened to her without me?” Logan was finally understanding the point of this conversation.

  As mercenary as it sounded, we weren’t here to help him.

  “That’s what we’re all afraid of. Darcy suspects they may have wiped her mind too, but we need to know what you’re seeing through this link with her. Your connection would have gotten stronger now, and you should be able to access her mind. It may not make much sense to you but you need to learn to figure it out.” I squeezed his hand again. “Logan, we have to find her. Omega had her hidden somewhere but they’ve been shut down. I’m guessing their off-the-books agents are still guarding her.”

  Nerina’s voice rose, anger, determination, sorrow. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything. I haven’t done this before.”

  “But you have,” I said softly. When he frowned I continued, “All these months that’s what you’ve been doing. Finding your way through to her. Only, it may hurt more now than it ever did.”

  “I’m not afraid of the pain,” he snapped.

  “Pain of the mind is a whole different level than the pain of the body.” I spoke calmly, ignoring his curt tone.

  He didn’t answer but he didn’t oppose what I’d said. I took that as a good sign.

  “Look. Nobody here can even imagine what you’re going through. All I can ask is for you to put your feelings aside and think of her safety. We have to find her. And soon. Horner said already that Omega will not go quietly. There are pockets of them still working away beneath the radar. We can’t let them continue keeping her.”

  Logan nodded. “You don’t have to co
nvince me, Kai.” He smiled gently and I felt it like an embrace. “I’m just not sure if I can reach her. What I’ve seen so far was purely by chance.”

  “Maybe it will be different when you actively look for her. This time you have a reason to find her and you know what you’re looking for.” I rubbed his arm. “You can only do the best you can. If you want, I can stay right here with you.”

  He nodded and I was grateful. I’d been about to argue with him, expecting him to demand some sort of privacy while looking for her, but maybe he’d forgotten that it was Nerina who linked us together.

  I didn’t plan on reminding him.

  I sat on the bed beside him, not letting go of his hand, watching as his lids fluttered, as he concentrated deep inside himself. Nerina too sat very still beside me and I hoped she was okay.

  “Sienna,” he whispered. “Her name is Sienna.”

  It was a beautiful name and I wondered if I should respond but I was a little afraid of disturbing him.

  He smiled sadly. “She’s grown so much.” And, as if in response to the question I wanted to ask, he said, “She seems unhurt. And she doesn’t seem to sense me. I think this is what’s been confusing me these past few weeks. She’s thinking about the past so that’s what must have brought the memories up for me. Every time she accesses the past she stirs something inside me.”

  I listened in awe, filled with a deep sense of sadness for what Logan and Sienna had lost, what Omega had taken from them.

  “She’s walking along a beach. Barefoot.” Logan paused as if looking around. “White sand, gulls, blue sky. The sun is hot. There’s a lighthouse on a rocky point in the distance. There is something sparkling in the sand. Like glass or some kind of crystal.”

  Logan frowned, the vision strange enough to confuse him.

  “Nothing on the horizon to tell me where she is.” His voice softened. “She’s sad. Lost.”

  I cleared my throat softly so as to not shock him with my voice disturbing his thoughts. “Can she sense you?”

  He started to shake his head. Just one jerk and then he stopped. “She’s standing, looking around . . . as if she heard someone call her.”