Pamela lifted her hand and Berget stiffened as the spell took hold, pinning her in place. I walked forward. “Thank you, Frank.”
Berget’s eyes were on mine, full of tears. “Rylee, I’m so sorry. I thought I had them under control. But I went too long between feedings. That was why they got out of hand.”
“How can I trust that? How can I know you will be safe around our allies?” I whispered the questions, wanting there to be some way out of this fucking mess.
She shook her head. “They are not truly loose; they got away just that one time.”
I exploded. “And you killed Thomas. He was an ally, a powerful one! We needed him, Berget!”
“I can control them!”
My hands flexed and the pain soared through them. No one else needed to hold the burden of having to kill her. But how the hell was I going to do it when I couldn’t even hold a sword?
“What happened to your hands?”
“Orion.”
Her head lowered. “If you shared blood with Doran, he could heal them the rest of the way, you know that.”
Shit, she was right. But that would mean taking another side trip to London, then back here and, without Thomas, I wasn’t sure how much Frank could do. “How much juice do you have left, Frank?”
He cleared his throat and ran a hand over his hair. “One jump, maybe two if I have a rest.”
“Talk about a fucking quandary,” I muttered. Then again, I knew in my heart I was desperately looking for a reason to not kill Berget. I did not want to make my parents right, to become the murderer they’d accused me of being all those years ago.
The best I could do was keep Berget close and hope to hell I could handle her and any other blow ups she would have. A part of me knew I was being delusional, that eventually it would come to that. But I would put it off as long as I could.
Erik cleared his throat. “When did you last feed?”
Berget shook her head. “I don’t remember, it’s been too long and they wouldn’t let me feed once my parents went on a rampage. I am holding them tight right now, and they are behaving, I think because they know our lives are on the line.”
There were not a lot of options, and I was seeing only one way out of two major problems. So I did what I always did and didn’t think too much about the possible consequences. I stepped close to Berget, cupped the back of her head and pushed her mouth toward my neck. She fought me at first, but her hunger won out and her teeth sunk into my neck.
A rush of adrenaline coursed through me, the first time I’d ever felt anything other than pain or disinterest (as with Doran) when being bitten by a vampire. I realized, as she drank my blood, it was the power she held humming just under her skin that I felt. I knew she was strong, but I’d had no idea just how strong until that moment. It made me realize how much Berget had been fighting even when her parents were in control and how much she’d slowed them. If the three ever decided to work in tandem…. I couldn’t help the shudder that slipped through me. We’d be royally fucked up shit creek with no paddles and crocodiles coursing alongside us.
“Enough.” I stepped back.
“It won’t be, not if it’s been a long time,” Erik grunted as he stepped up and let Berget bite into the crook of his elbow.
I went to Frank while Berget fed. “Thank you. I know it was dangerous what I asked you to do.”
He shrugged, his face visibly pinking, even in the darkness. “I want to help. And I don’t think she wanted to kill Thomas. But Doran is going to be pissed at me. I’d like to stay with you.”
He was scared of Doran? Looked like the age-old adversary thing was already coming into play. “Did he say something to you?”
“No, just … I don’t know, he’s a vampire. And he said that no one was to go near Berget.”
“He had her locked up?”
Again, he shrugged. “Just in one of the rooms; it wasn’t hard to get her out.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Erik step away from Berget. “Pamela, hang onto her a minute more.” I put a hand on Frank’s shoulder. “Thank you. And yeah, you can stay with us. I think you can help with this next salvage.”
Frank gave me a tentative smile. “I’d like that.”
I went back to Berget, holding my hands up to her. “Okay. Let’s see you do your magic.”
She gave me a smile and a tingle rippled along my arms and through my hands, the last of the pain evaporating under her temporary bond to me as the healing progressed at a rapid pace. I flexed my hands, the aches and pains of fighting Orion completely gone. There was only one thing left to do.
I pulled a sword from my back and whipped it forward stopping a hairsbreadth from removing her head from her shoulders. “You two, inside Berget, listen up. I will take her head and end all three of your lives if you force my hand. I hope you understand that.”
A voice rumbled out of her lips that was most definitely not hers.
“Crystal clear, Tracker.”
Berget gasped, her eyes widened. “I didn’t know they could do that.”
I lowered the blade and gave Pamela a nod. “Let her go.” I put my sword back. “I’m not surprised, they have been holding back, I think, letting us all get comfortable with the idea of them being trapped. We have to find a way to separate you from them in a more final way.”
Like so much though, that would have to wait.
One freaking disaster at a time.
Chapter 9
“FRANK.” I TOUCHED his arm and he spun toward me, eyes unfocused. Shit, this was not a good start. “Pull it together, would you?”
He stared through me and I knew Berget was standing behind me without even Tracking her.
“I really don’t like vampires, but I don’t understand why.” Despite the tremor in his body, his words were clear.
“Long standing family feud, I think, but it doesn’t matter. You have to deal with it. Thomas couldn’t; be better than him,” I said, making sure my body blocked his line of sight.
Blinking, he finally focused on me. “I will do my best.”
Alex and Pamela stood off to one side, or rather, Pamela stood and Alex sat, scratching at his ears with his back feet. Neither seemed particularly worried about this upcoming adventure. Hell, I was struggling with this, but I wasn’t the only one.
“Rylee, what will Marco and I do? Where should we go?” Eve was worried, and she wasn’t trying to hide it.
“Head to London. Tell them what we are doing and make sure Liam knows I won’t be long.”
For a moment, I wished Blaz were with us, maybe him and Ophelia, even if she was a bit off her rocker. They were Immune to magic like I was, and with that many coven members turned to the dark side, there would be a serious amount of magic thrown around.
Then again … I could just see two marauding dragons wiping out half of Boston in an effort to kill the black coven. Yeah, how would the humans explain that one away? No, as much as I would’ve liked him to be with us, there was no way we could take Blaz or Ophelia.
“We need to be quick with this salvage.” A trio of covens against me, Alex, Pamela, Frank, and Erik. I couldn’t pin any hopes on Berget. She could end up being as much of a liability as a help.
I scrubbed a hand over my face to hide the sudden flash of doubt that crept through me.
Erik stepped up and then pulled me aside. “It’s not just the coven you are worried about, is it?”
No, it wasn’t. My parents were in Boston, and I had a bad feeling fate was going to allow them into my life one more time. Even with Berget with me as proof I didn’t kill her, I was still afraid to see them. Afraid it would stir up all the weakness in me, something I really didn’t need. Not now, not with the future riding on my shoulders. “No, my parents live there. The ones who adopted me.”
My uncle gave a slow nod. “The chances of you seeing them are slim at best. Boston is a big city. They won’t even know you are there.”
Erik did his best to soothe me, b
ut I couldn’t get past feeling like I was sixteen again. Watching my parents tell the police to take me away, that they didn’t ever want to see me again. That somehow they would know how close I’d just come to actually killing Berget. Making their accusations the truth.
I centered my breathing as Pamela and Alex moved closer.
“Are we going?” Pamela asked softly, the sound of her voice breaking through my anxiety.
I cleared my throat. “Yup.”
Frank gave me one last look over his shoulder and then opened the veil with a slash of his hand. Through the cut in the air we looked into a darkened room with only a single light and a window illuminating the place. Where it was, I had no idea.
“You sure that’s Boston?”
Frank grimaced. “Yes. Hurry, I can’t hold this very long.”
Berget, Alex, Pamela, Erik, and Frank stepped through the veil, but I paused on the threshold to look back, feeling a tug on my heart. Ten feet behind me, a shadow stood, watching us go. Our eyes met and a stroke of pain sliced through me. If he’d been solid and not some figment of my imagination, I would have run to him and let him catch me. No words, nothing could truly define the emotions rushing through me. Love, fear, worry, the safety of his arms when he held me, the way he smiled from just the corner of his mouth.
I didn’t want to think about what it meant that I was seeing a specter of Liam when I knew he was across the ocean with Blaz. “Eve, please hurry. Make sure Liam is okay.”
She squawked and launched into the air, Marco right with her.
I nodded, more to myself than anyone else, and turned from where we’d all come through. Time to deal with what was at hand. “Berget, how are you feeling?”
Her eyes slid to half mast for a split second. “They are sleeping now. You do not have to check on me every few minutes. I will tell you if something changes.”
“Did you feel that change before you attacked Thomas?” I wasn’t trying to cause shit, but seriously needed to know. She flushed and the dim light of the building didn’t hide the color from me.
Bingo. That was what I was worried about. If she couldn’t feel them sliding up and taking control, we could be in serious trouble.
I ran my hands over my weapons: both swords, a whip, and a multitude of smaller blades here and there. “Pamela, you have your short sword?”
“Yes.”
I stared around the room. Where the hell were we? The night was full on in Boston, and the sound of cars zipping by and flashes of headlights were the only indications we were at least somewhere near a main road.
The short winter days were a boon to us, even if the weather was shit. The room we stood in was bitterly cold with a damp bite that made me think of England. I’d spent too many years in Boston; my body immediately recognized the cold. North Dakota was far preferable to this.
It didn’t take me long to put together the rudiments of a plan. Liam would be proud. “Frank, you got enough juice to raise the dead?”
He pushed his glasses up his nose. “For sure. How many do you want?”
I let out a slow breath. “Enough to piss off three covens, so really, as many as you can. They will be a good distraction. I’m thinking if we can keep them busy long enough, maybe we can slip in and out without them knowing we are even there.”
Pamela, though, was already shaking her head. “They could pick up on me as I get closer, though. Milly said witches with experience can sense other witches.”
“We don’t have a choice. Besides, with so many witches there, you think you are going to stand out?” Maybe I was missing something.
“Everyone has their own magical signature,” she said, her eyes narrowing like I’d pissed her off. “They won’t recognize me as one of theirs.”
I let out a sigh and Tracked witches as a whole. I got a ping off Pamela, but I worked around it, looking for the central mass of witches I’d felt earlier. Tying that to the threads of the three kids, India, Kyle, and Simon, I had a perfect bead on where they were. If I knew where we were, that would help, though.
“Berget, any idea where we are?” I took another look around the room.
“Near the Colonial Theatre,” she answered, moving silently to my side. “This is one of the few buildings that still stands from the early nineteen hundreds and has been a safe house for my kind for as long as it has stood.” Her words were soft and I heard the echo of her parents behind what she said. She knew only because her parents, her vampire parents, had been here before.
“Great, didn’t need the history lesson.” I did my best to soften the words as they shot out of me, but I was nervous as hell. Berget’s eyes met mine in a silent communication.
“I’m sorry. I take much from them.”
“Wasn’t them I’m worried about. They know I’ll kill them if they step out of line again.” I gritted my teeth and then Berget seemed to get what I was really worried about.
She moved to my side, her eyes worried. “They won’t know we’re here.”
“Still too fucking close for my taste,” I muttered, my hands going to weapons out of sheer habit, the feel of them soothing my anxiety only a little.
Pamela cleared her throat. “Well, we are trying to get there without them noticing, aren’t we?”
Of course, Pamela didn’t realize I was referring to my parents, mine and Berget’s, and not the coven.
Berget covered for me. “Yes, of course that’s what we’re trying to do.”
I looked at our group. Erik and I were pretty much bristling with weapons, Alex didn’t have his collar anymore, which meant it was fucking good it was dark out. Frank, Pamela, and Berget looked the most ‘normal’ of the six of us.
“I’ll take the lead with Berget. Erik, you and Alex bringing up the rear. Frank, you stick close to Pamela and listen to her.”
“She’s younger than me,” he muttered, but I heard him.
“She’s also a hell of a lot more experienced with this kind of shit than you are,” I snapped, my temper and nerves getting the better of me. Again.
Perfect. I grimaced. “Let’s get the fuck out of here then and get this over with.”
I started toward the side of the empty building, assuming I would find a door at some point. Alex trotted beside me, disappearing in the darkness, only a faint glimmer of his eyes giving him away. Pamela lit a small globe of fire above her hand and I cringed. Pamela and fire were a bad combination.
She saw my flinch and frowned at me, her face in shadows from the flame. “I can do this better now. Milly taught me how.”
I hoped to hell she was right. The last time she’d helped with a little fire she’d burnt down a house. With me in it.
This time, we made it to the door with no major issues other than a softly whistling Erik.
I pushed the door open and into the wane light of a weak looking moon. Dark storm clouds hung distended over the city, thick and ominous, which made the night even uglier than it normally would be. The wind was not strong, not like North Dakota, but the bite of the air was damp and heavy.
The street we were on was fairly quiet. A side street with a dead end and no active stores, dirty and abandoned. At the other end of the dead end, traffic zipped by; no one even looked our way as the humans rushed about their lives. Like watching a movie, we all stood, staring at the flash and blink of traffic, the constant flow a perfect foil to the nearly silent alley in which we stood.
“It’s like we don’t really exist,” Pamela said softly, echoing the feeling that rippled through me. The humans were blind to the world around them; I could only hope that would include my parents.
“Let’s try to keep it that way.” I paused, checking the traffic before preparing to cross the lanes.
Alex took that moment to act like a bucking bronco, laughing and jumping about, arching his back and throwing his body every which way for no apparent reason. Not unusual for him.
“Alex, not now,” I snapped, my nerves twanging at the high end of the stress me
ter.
He stilled mid-air, dropping to all fours. “Sorry.”
Doing my best to not snap again, I jogged out of the alley, Berget beside me and everyone else lining up like I’d wanted. I wondered what people would see when they looked at Alex or if they would even see him in the dark night. Probably not, or at least, I was banking on that.
There were no screeching tires, no honking horns as we jogged down the sidewalk. So I assumed whatever the humans saw didn’t bother them.
Score one for us.
I held tight to the threads of the black coven members, let the emotions the group was feeling keep my mind busy, and for a split second I wished I hadn’t. My throat tightened with horror.
The black coven members were running on a high of elation that could only mean one thing.
They’d managed to bring a demon through.
Which meant one of the kids was done.
“Fucking hell.”
Chapter 10
BOSTON HADN’T CHANGED much since I’d left and I found myself retracing steps I’d taken years past. At a major intersection, my feet stilled. To the left was Beacon Street, and from there we were within a few minutes of being in front of my parent’s house.
My heart pounded as I thought about how long it would take. No more than ten minutes. I could spare that. Berget put a hand out. “You don’t have to, Rylee. You don’t owe them anything.”
She was right, and she was wrong. Where would I have ended up if my life hadn’t played out they way it had? Would I have found Giselle? Would I have Liam in my life? As horrible as my parents had been, I had to see them. Just one more time.
“Do you want to see them?”
She shook her head, almost violently. “No. I don’t want anything to do with them.”
That made this easier in some ways.
“Stay here.” I pointed at the intersection and didn’t wait for the others to answer as I bolted down Beacon Street at full speed. My guts churned and a pang started to wind its way through me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to puke or if my heart was just trying to explode.
Wounded: Book 8 (A Rylee Adamson Novel) Page 10