Oracle’s Haunt: Desert Cursed Series Book 4

by Shannon Mayer

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Shem take a step toward the standing stones that were far too close for comfort. Standing stones that liked to draw people in and suck all their power out of them. “Ford, grab him!”

  Ford didn’t hesitate. He spun and sprinted toward the older lion shifter, then tackled him to the ground with a double thud and two hard grunts.

  “Get off me, you big galoot!” Shem roared.

  “Alpha said to grab you,” Ford sat up so he straddled Shem’s hips and held his arms pinned to the ground, “I don’t ask why.”

  Shem tried to throw Ford off, but it was no good. Ford was younger, bigger, and stronger. And Shem had spent years essentially trapped within the Dragon’s Ground living off small rodents and whatever else he could find. Not exactly the recipe for physical strength.

  I squatted beside his head. “You were headed to the stones, Shem.”

  “I was not!” he snapped. But his eyes slid toward the monoliths and he tried to roll toward them. “I don’t think. Maybe?” He gave a weak smile. “Oops.”

  I sighed. “We need to rest, but the stones are calling to you.” And the truth be told, I could feel that same call just under the edge of my skin, humming, whispering for me to come closer. Seductive, it was cool water on a blistering day, warmth on a winter night, and had the feel of Maks’s hands on my body again. I shook my head and turned my back on the big stupid rocks. “We’ll sit together. Any of us moves in that direction, we grab that person. Got it?”

  Ford stood and held a hand out to Shem. My uncle took it, surprising me. “Yes, good call,” he said.

  We walked back to the fire, the four of us. Lila raised her eyebrows at me and I could almost hear the question. Was this a good idea to stay at all?

  No, not really. But I needed at least a couple hours rest. The ache in my body would slow me down, and I was so tired I wasn’t sure I could shift into my cat form even if I wanted.

  Shem sat by the fire and Lila placed herself next to him. Ford and I sat across the way with our backs to the stones.

  “Do you have a map?” I asked. “You said we were far north, but I want to see if we can pinpoint where the fuck we are in relation to the others we left behind.”

  As soon as I thought about the rest of my pride, I reached out for them, sensing them through the bonds that tied us all together.

  Benji, Kiara, Frankie and Asuga . . . they came through loud and clear. But there was no Steve. No Darcy. Nell was missing too, but that could have been because she was so new, that’s what I told myself. I closed my eyes and tried again, but the same ones came through and not the others.

  My first thought was what the fuck had Steve done this time?

  “What’s wrong?” Ford asked. “Your face looks as though you just saw a ghost.”

  “I can’t pick up on all the others in the pride. Benji, Kiara, Asuga, and Frankie are there. The others . . . they’re just gone.” Fuck, had Maks got to them? Had he killed them? But why would he leave some alive and kill the others? My heart and throat squeezed as I thought of losing that many members of my pride so soon after promising to look after them. Promising to be a good alpha.

  “Fuck.” I snapped the word out as I stood and paced between Ford and Shem.

  “It could be that they are blocking you somehow,” Shem said. “Steve is strong-tempered, as is Darcy.”

  “But why would they block me? And Nell has no idea what she’s doing. She’s new to the idea of a pride or being connected. It makes no sense, not even for that idiot, Steve.” Hands on my hips, I should probably have sat and eaten the offered food from Shem, worked to build my strength and feed not only my body but whatever the magic had taken from me.

  I couldn’t even find Flora, but I wasn’t connected to her. “They have Flora, at least. And until we get back to them, she can look after them.”

  Lila cleared her throat, drawing my eyes to her. “Well, I’m certain that none of that storm was Flora’s. Even at the beginning.”

  Ford and Shem turned to her too. She climbed up to sit on one of the rocks at the edge of the campfire, absorbing the heat from the flames.

  “What do you mean? How can you know that?” I asked.

  “That storm was dragon borne. I could feel it on my skin which is why I flew up, leaving you like I did. There was no dragon, but that was the magic that created it.”

  That image of a dragon in the sky had been there for a flash, but I’d chalked it up to seeing things. “Was it your father?” That would make for a shit storm of epic proportions. Corvalis was big, mean, and hated Lila for her size and lack of power. And he had a tendency to eat other dragons’ powers, absorbing it for his own strength and usage.

  And then it hit me just what she’d done. “You thought it was your father, and you went to face him on your own? Are you out of your mind?” I was yelling, sure, but the enormity of what could have happened to her was not lost on me. She could have been snapped up, eaten in one bite, gone, and I would never have known what happened to her. Assuming the big bastard didn’t come after me next for stealing his emerald jewel.

  She shrugged. “If it had been him, I would have led him away. Or led him toward the Jinn. That was my only thought. I couldn’t let him hurt you any more than you could let your magic hurt me.”

  Damn it, she was right. She went on. “Besides, whatever dragon created the storm was gone by the time I got up there, lost in the clouds. Whoever it was didn’t want to be seen.”

  “So it could be your father still, stalking us? Setting us up for a great big showdown?” I asked.

  Lila grimaced. “Yes, I’d thought that too. It’s possible. He likes his drama.”

  Shem snapped his fingers, stopping us in our tracks. “You can do nothing for it now but get to the rest of the pride as quickly as we can. And there is no point creating problems where there are none. Either a dragon will show up, or he won’t.”

  “Comforting as always,” I muttered.

  There was a flutter of paper and he held out a well-worn map. “This is what I have. Can you use it to figure out the route we will take to get to them? You can sense them, yes? Your father could do that, so I assume you have the ability too.”

  I took the map and finally sat. Ford shoved something into my hand. “Eat while you read it.”

  I forced a bite of the handmade wrap of meat and grains. The map spread out in front of me showed the area around us, and as I pored over it, the scene was laid out clearly.

  I licked the ends of my fingers as I took the last bite of the food. I’d barely tasted it, but my belly was happy for being fuller. I tapped the paper. “Here. This was the oasis we were near after the battle.”

  Ford leaned over beside me. “Then we traveled east.”

  I nodded and traced our path. “Here, this was close to where we left them. A day’s ride, maybe two from the blasted lands.”

  “Uh, why are you going there? Because that’s a very bad idea in my estimation,” Shem interjected.

  “I’ll tell you in a minute,” I said, not sure that I would. Shem had his own idea of how things needed to be done. And often it wasn’t the way I thought.

  “Where are we?” I tipped the paper so he could see it. Because there was a section on the map I was really, really hoping we were south of, that we could avoid altogether.

  Just before he touched the paper, Lila peered over the edge. “What is that gods-awful strip running diagonally through this section?” She scratched at the section with the tip of one claw.

  And then Shem touched the paper on the northern border of that gods-awful strip, as Lila called it.

  “Goddess of the desert, save us from having to actually go through that fucking hell hole again,” I groaned.

  “Again?” Lila crawled over to where I’d sat down once more.

  “That,” I poked the paper hard, tracing around the thick dark section that I’d really, really hoped we’d be able to avoid, “is witch land.”

  “We
’ve survived that before,” Lila said. I smiled at her.

  “Here’s the thing.” I traced it. “It’s narrow and runs lengthwise between us and the blasted lands, which means we have to go through it. And it’s a fucking goddess-awful swamp full of witch-made creatures, sinkholes, and water that acts like a living creature amongst other things. Most maps don’t even show it. The witches keep it hidden well so the unwary are the ones they catch.”

  Shem nodded. “I agree. That is not my idea of a seaside vacation.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ve been there once, but I had a goal, and a plan, and I knew the layout of the section of land I was going into. I’d staked it out for months, waiting and watching and learning it. We don’t have months, and we’re coming into it from a totally different direction than I went in before.”

  “Can’t we just go around it?” Ford asked. “Avoid it completely?”

  “Too long.” I shook my head. “That would put us weeks behind the others, and back in the path of Ishtar and the Jinn. Going through the swamp, as much as it sucks, would be days at the most. It’s a straight shot.”

  “How is there even a swamp in the middle of the desert?” Ford grabbed a few bits of dried brush and threw them into the fire, his movements jerky and his brows drawn. “I’ve traveled the length of this land. I’ve never heard of it until now.”

  “Magic,” Shem and I said at the same time.

  “The jewel they had up until last year allowed them to keep their home hidden,” I added. “I only knew where to look because of Ish.”

  All three sets of eyes turned to me. I pulled the leather pouch out from under my shirt. “Yeah, the clear diamond belonged to the witches of the swamp. And let’s just say they were a little pissed when I left with it.”

  If I closed my eyes, I could still see their faces as I tore away from them. The anger, the killing bloodlust, and I’d gone as fast as I could on only the path I’d marked, the markings disappearing behind me like bread crumbs, hiding my trail. A gift from Ish to find my way home again. My heart gave a funny pang that I pushed to the side. This was not the time to think about Ish and all she’d meant to me. About how I’d loved her as only a child could love the only mother they’d ever known.

  She’d never truly cared. It had only ever been about getting her power back and nothing more. I’d loved her, and she’d used me.

  “They saw me,” I said. “They know it was me who took the gemstone from them, and if they find me in the swamp, they will kill me and all those who are with me.”

  “They can try,” Lila preened. “We’ve done pretty well so far.”

  I dropped a hand to the top of her head and scratched under her chin with one finger. “True enough, but I think we’ve been lucky too. And it’s one thing to face a single witch, but we’re talking about a whole herd of them here.”

  Ford was quiet, but Shem was very obviously thinking as he hummed under his breath a little tune that I could almost recall. A lullaby from when I’d been a child. When Shem had watched over my brother, Bryce, and me. Sunshine, you are my sunshine, that was it.

  Thinking of Bryce gave my heart another serious twang. Part of me might believe Shem when he said that Maks was lost, but I trusted the Emperor—maybe foolishly—when he said Bryce could be brought back. I just had to get to the Oracle. The Oracle would know the answer.

  I blew out a breath. “Ideas? Anyone?”

  Shem nodded. “I do have one. But I doubt you’re going to like it.”

  As he spoke, I knew he was right. It was our best chance, and I really didn’t like it.

  9

  Merlin

  The thing was, stepping on someone else’s booby trap was generally a very bad idea. Merlin held very still as his foot depressed the stone below him. Very old school, very Indiana Jones. And the minute he realized that, he knew who had placed it there.

  “I’ll be buggered,” he muttered. “How did you slip in here?”

  But he knew the answer to that too. She would have slipped in as a cat and not triggered any of the spells because her curse made her invisible to many magics.

  He drew a breath and dove forward as the sounds of tiny arrows cut through the air where he’d been only a moment before. One caught at his shoulder, nicking him, but otherwise he was good. He hit the floor hard and lay on the stone breathing carefully, his torch still in his hand as he slowly rolled to his back. Where he’d stood, a hundred or more tiny darts stuck out from either side of the walls.

  Old school, but super effective if any had landed. “Oh shit,” he slurred the words as the poison slid through his system. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would knock him out, and falling asleep here, in his father’s prison, was about the worst possible thing that could happen.

  Because the dreamscape was his father’s realm.

  And his father was not happy with him, his only son, right at that moment.

  “Shit cakes,” he mumbled as he passed out, his body slumped on the stone, the torch falling to one side and guttering into nothing. The darkness slid over him and he fell into the dreamscape even though he tried not to.

  Within the dream, he stayed on the floor, flat on his belly, unmoving. Like any large predator, his father noticed things that moved, things that darted and looked like they were trying to hide.

  “I shall have her free me yet,” his father’s voice said in the darkness.

  Merlin assumed that the old bastard was talking to himself. He was wrong.

  “Your strength is growing, but not yet where it needs to be,” a woman said, her voice soft and light. Merlin didn’t recognize her, and he desperately wanted to know who it was, who was helping his father?

  “Ah, daughter, you have always been the one to look out for me.”

  Daughter? Merlin frowned. Another bastard child then, one the Emperor had kept hidden from him.

  Not that Merlin would have cared but—

  “She must not get to the Oracle,” the woman, his sister, apparently, said. “To free you, she needs to bring the diamond here and she cannot find this place without Merlin guiding her. If she goes to the Oracle . . . I fear how far flung she will go from this place.”

  The Emperor sighed heavily, and the sound of footsteps followed. Merlin held his breath. What a fucking place to be in.

  “She seeks to free her brother’s soul. The Wyvern will be needed for that,” he said, thoughtfully as though mulling the words over.

  “The Wyvern is farther yet!” the woman cried. “She cannot be allowed to go there. The Wyvern—”

  “Peace, daughter, and watch as you see a chess master at his best,” the Emperor said. “I have played this game from the beginning. I know where to put my pieces. I know where I want all the players. Even my foolish son will have a place in this game.”

  Merlin stared hard as his father turned toward him. “What say you, Merlin? Are you ready to pay the price for your treachery?”

  He rolled to his feet, his hands out as he backed up. “Here’s the thing, you deserved it.”

  “A child’s response,” his father said, as soft and bemused as any old grandfather. “You still have not grown up. You still do not understand the depth and scope of what this world is, do you?”

  Merlin didn’t know if he should take a step back or forward. The longer he was there, the clearer his father’s form became to him. Behind him was the swoosh of a skirt, a deep blue silk that swirled as a woman spun and ran away, fading into nothing as she left the dreamscape.

  “She is afraid of you,” the Emperor said. “She believes you would cage her as you did to me.”

  Merlin shrugged even while he sweated. “Well, I suppose I would if she tried to enslave the world.”

  “For the world’s safety.” His father held up a finger, and pointed to the sky. “For everyone to be free.”

  Merlin couldn’t help the laugh. “Please. You can spout that to those who are stupid enough to believe it, but between you and me, let there be honesty if nothin
g else.”

  His father’s face slowly went from jovial grandfather to the harsh warlord Merlin knew. Subtle changes, ones that might not even have been noticeable had you not been looking straight at him. The lines of his mouth tightened, the color of his eyes deepened, the wrinkles that made him look older and somehow softer, smoothing out into the hard planes and angles across his jaw.

  Merlin pointed at him. “There, that’s who I am dealing with. You might fool that daughter of yours, you might even fool Zam, but you do not fool me.”

  “To fool the fool is difficult. I agree.” His father’s mouth twisted on the words, almost to a snarl. “By rights, I should kill you where you stand.”

  Merlin took a step back as he tried to wake himself on the other side of the dreamscape. “True, but then you would lose out on so much information.”

  His father’s eyebrows shot up. “Information?”

  “About what has happened.” Sweet cupcakes on steroids, he was bluffing like he’d never bluffed before. As long as he wasn’t found out, he’d be fine.

  Eyes narrowed, the Emperor took a step. “Information about what?”

  That last word was thrown at Merlin with a great deal of power behind it and it dropped him to his knees. He bowed his head in mock submission even as his brain throbbed with the energy that had been slammed into it.

  “Ishtar.”

  “She is of no consequence.” The Emperor’s response was immediate, before Merlin even finished speaking. “She gathers the stones like a squirrel readying for winter. It’s pathetic. And futile.”

  “And if she gathers them all, she will hold all the keys to your prison. You understand that is what she wants?” Merlin tossed that tidbit out, one that had taken him weeks to finally grasp. Ishtar wanted the power, but he suspected it was only to keep her ex-husband trapped.

  A classic shitty divorce tactic.

  His father grunted. “She was always bitter.”

  “Bitter.” Merlin grunted the word back at his father, hating how like him he sounded in that moment. Here was the more reasonable side of the man he knew as his father. But for how long? “That’s one word for it. Vindictive might be more accurate. She’s plotted for years to get the stones.”