Wounded: Book 8 (A Rylee Adamson Novel)

by Shannon Mayer

  “If he’d thought she was a danger, he would have killed her, shaman,” Coyote said from the floor. “You don’t remember Wolf, but I do. He always does the right thing, no matter the cost.” He took in a shuddering breath. “Let me guess, before you became a guardian, you were a cop of some sort?”

  Liam turned toward the guardian. “FBI.”

  Coyote barked a laugh. “Not surprised.”

  None of this really mattered, not in the scheme of things. “Louisa, you and Crystal need to go to London. Now. It is where Rylee’s allies are rallying.”

  The shaman stood and folded her arms in front of her. “Why would I listen to you?”

  “Because I just saved your ass from your own guardian,” he snarled. “And more demons will come for the rest of you.”

  She paled, and her arms tightened around herself. “Fine. We will go.”

  Crystal came around, her eyes wide when she took in Liam. He apologized and while she nodded and said she understood, he could see she was nervous about him now. He didn’t really care. He just needed them to do as he told them. The two shamans left, though not without Louisa glaring at Liam again for good measure. As she passed him, she handed him the copper knife. No words, just slapped the handle into his open palm with a sniff.

  “And what of me?” Coyote asked and then clapped his hands together. “You think I’m possessed?”

  “Nah. Too helpful against the other two.” Liam sat on the floor beside him. “How long before you heal?”

  “Don’t know. Never actually fought another guardian before,” Coyote said, a grimace working its way across his face as he took a deep breath.

  “What about the other guardians, the ones who are on the fence?”

  Coyote twisted his head and looked up at Liam, his eyes narrowing. “Not many of those. And the few who have gone rogue, they aren’t really bad. They just don’t like to be tied to shamans.”

  Liam’s eyebrows rose. “You look at me like I’m one of them.”

  “In a way, you are. Wolf comes when the world is in trouble and binds himself to a single person, someone who can make changes, rarely a shaman. It depends on that person how Wolf turns out—good or bad.” He put a hand to the floor and rolled slowly to his belly. “Give me a minute, I’m going to try and shift. That should speed things up.” Coyote didn’t actually make a move to shift, though, he just lay on the floor breathing hard.

  Moving back, Liam gave him some room, but began to doubt Coyote’s strength to make the change.

  So being tied to Rylee had dictated whether he would have been good or bad? Thinking back, there had been times of utter darkness, especially with Milly, where he wasn’t sure he was even himself.

  Yet since he’d been with Rylee, when she’d gone after him, those dark spots in him had disappeared. Gone.

  He shook his head. Didn’t matter now, not really. At that moment he wanted only to find a place for Rylee that was safe. Where Orion couldn’t find her.

  “Coyote, do you know much about demons?”

  Coyote turned his head toward Liam again. “Why?”

  “If there was a place that could be clear of demons, where would it be?”

  The guardian groaned and pushed himself to his hands and knees. “Some sort of holy ground, something untainted by the modern world and the revelry in it. I’d say a place with a guardian, but I don’t know anymore after this shit fest if we are as good at protection as we once were.” He shook his head and Liam helped him to his feet.

  “I thought you wanted to shift?”

  “Can’t. And since you want to talk, this works better anyway.” With his arm over Liam’s shoulder they left the house. The remainder of the pack, only six werewolves—and of course, Beauty was one of them—immediately surrounded them. Injured and still bleeding, the werewolves didn’t hesitate.

  “Sometimes I wish coyotes were as loyal. Your pack saved us both.”

  “I know.” Liam shifted his arm so he could take more of Coyote’s weight. “Tell me more about a place apart from the world, somewhere safe.”

  “You going to run off and leave the world on its own?”

  “No. But I need to find a place for my mate to be safe. She’s going to need it.”

  Coyote gave him a funny look, but he spoke freely about where he thought would be best, the attributes that would keep demons away.

  The final refuge for those seeking sanctuary from evil.

  Liam could only hope he was right, and could convince Rylee to go.

  Chapter 15

  “BERGET, ARE THERE any zombies still fucking about?” I yelled loud enough that she could hear me. She responded in kind.

  “No, they all went down the same time the witches did. Same time Pam did.”

  I didn’t want to face anything in the water, but I doubted it was going to let me get back to the stairs without some sort of confrontation. Let’s just call it previous experience.

  Reaching for one of the short knives I kept tucked away for just such an emergency, I gripped the handle in my right hand, whip in my left and braced myself for another fight. The water was over my knees and steadily climbing; the spray floating around me disturbed the surface and made it hard to see what was under it clearly. Something I really wanted to know.

  The thing in the water started toward me again, slower this time, its body sliding along, the flip of an iridescent fin catching the light before going under again.

  I kept walking backward, slowly, feeling my way with my feet and hoping to hell I didn’t stumble over anything. As the water rose and the creature circled, the bodies of those killed floated to the surface, bobbing up like some creepy carnival game of whack a mole.

  One of the bodies floated close and I pushed it away, toward the creature that was following me. A hand shot out of the water and—shit—a mermaid popped her head out to stare at me. Long purple hair was braided back from her face, but then the braid ended at her shoulders leaving the length of her hair to float freely. Her eyes were a paler color than her hair and they fixed a stare on me that made me bring up my blade.

  “You think to kill me?” She slurred her words, sounding like she was still under water.

  “Only if you start something.” Mermaids were not known for their kindness. They were more known for the shit they would pull when you weren’t looking, and their temperamental love lives. If eating your mate after he knocked you up could be called temperamental.

  She grinned at me. “Whoever broke the hull broke it just enough for us to get in.”

  Us. Oh, that did not sound good. “And why would you want in?”

  She spread her hands and rested her face on the floating body I’d pushed her way. “A banquet awaits; a feast of proportions we rarely see. The flesh of supernaturals the elementals haven’t yet put away, that is something we don’t often get.”

  “Fine, eat away, but leave me the hell out of it.”

  “Or you’ll do what exactly?”

  There was a splash behind me and a voice I’d been waiting for whispered, “She’ll have her little sister drain your body of every last drop of your sea ridden blood.”

  The mermaid hissed and dove under the water. I turned to see Berget, her skirts swirling on top of the water, her eyes narrowed.

  “I told you to go.”

  “I’m not leaving you here, Rylee, any more than you’d leave me.”

  “India and Kyle?”

  “Alex is taking them to Erik and Amelia.”

  Unspoken words flowed between us. She didn’t call Amelia ‘mom’ or ‘mother’. I didn’t ask her why. Nor did I ask why she didn’t help our mom.

  I sloshed to her and she put an arm around my waist. She pushed off with her legs and we shot up three levels to where Frank and Pamela sat. Frank’s arm was around Pamela’s shoulders, helping her sit up, but he nearly dropped her when we appeared at the edge of the railing.

  Grabbing the metal railing, I pulled myself over. “They killed Dad.”

>   Berget sucked in a sharp breath and stared down into the water.

  Alex, Erik, and Amelia appeared at the far end of the walkway with India and Kyle. Amelia was stumbling, her hands buried deep in the ruff around Alex’s neck, no doubt for warmth as much as stability. He waved a paw at me and gave me a grin that showed off his teeth. Nothing ever truly fazed him for long.

  Amelia’s head was lowered so she didn’t see me, nor did she see Berget.

  “I have to go. I don’t want her to know I’m alive,” Berget whispered and in a flash only a vampire could accomplish, she was gone.

  Amelia slowly lifted her head, saw me and stiffened. “You couldn’t be content with killing your little sister; you had to murder your father too.”

  “Shut up, you ungrateful wretch,” Erik snapped, and I was intensely appreciative he defended me. But it didn’t stop the emotions that engulfed me.

  My guts clenched and I fought the instant pang of guilt that sliced through me. Mostly because she was right. If I hadn’t gone to see them, there was a good chance Robert and Amelia would be home having their nightly drinks, discussing their day.

  Teeth gritted, I ignored her, turning my back to her. That had always been the best way in the past. The best way to deal with her accusations.

  “That’s right, you did it, you killed him,” she said.

  Alex whimpered. “Rylee not bad.”

  Amelia jumped as if just noticing her companion was a twisted werewolf who could talk.

  Alex, oblivious to her surprise kept talking. “Rylee good, you are bad mom to be mean to Rylee.”

  If nothing else, I did have my supporters. Ignoring Amelia, I crouched to check on Pamela. She blinked groggily up at me. “What happened?”

  “I think you got a backlash that was meant to kill you.”

  Frank nodded. “I saw it coming, saw it was tuned to magic users. Death magic doesn’t bother necromancers, so I—”

  Pamela’s eyes shot wide and her hand covered her mouth. “He kissed me.”

  He blushed. “Thomas told me that some sort of exchange would have to happen if I was to stop death magic on someone else. Something like a kiss or blood. I didn’t have time to draw blood on her or me, I swear!”

  I held up my hand. “Thank you, Frank, for taking care of her. You did the right thing.” I reached down and helped Pam to her feet. She wobbled and leaned on me, pushing me back into the railing. I glanced down. Nope, that wasn’t Pamela making me sway. The boat listed hard as a rush of water swelled through the broken hull.

  “Time to go.”

  Amelia let go of Alex and I gave a nod to Frank. He stepped close to my mom and let her lean on him, leaving Alex free to move near me and Pamela.

  “Mean mom.”

  “Alex, enough,” I said, though there was no force behind my words. I was battered through and through and so fucking confused with what Orion had done that I barely knew what to think. India ran to my side and slipped an arm around me. “There are so many spirits here, Rylee.”

  “We’re going, kid. Kyle, you okay?”

  “Yeah.” That was all he managed and I wasn’t about to ask more at that particular moment. He looked as bedraggled and done in as I felt.

  We wove our way out of the ship as it tipped even further into the harbor. Lucky for us, the boat listed so that once we were on deck, all we had to do was hop across the railing and we were standing on the dock. Solid ground beneath us. Kinda.

  Amelia threw my coat at me even though the snow was still coming down. “I will see you in jail for this.”

  I caught my coat with one hand, but didn’t put it on. It was still warm, or warmish, from her body and I wondered if she cared that I’d almost died in there. That all of us had almost died and it was a miracle only Robert, my dad, hadn’t made it out.

  I knew my brain was stalling, filling with other things so I didn’t look at my mom and start crying right there. A part of me was amazed she still had so much power over me, could still cut me to the quick.

  And then something shifted in me and my spine stiffened. A memory of the desert and the very first salvage I did on my own surfaced. Reminding me of the strength it had taken to face down someone I thought had loved me when I realized he had been a total shit. That had been the turning point for me; how could I go back to that girl who was still so eager to please that she would give up everything? That’s right, I wasn’t going there again. Not. Ever. Not even for my mom.

  “You fucking well do that, Amelia. I didn’t kill Berget, and I sure as hell didn’t kill my dad. You saw everything that happened in there, you almost got possessed by a demon and I SAVED YOUR ASS!”

  My voice echoed across the docks and Amelia shrunk away from me. But I wasn’t done.

  “You didn’t deserve to have me or Berget.” Okay, that was a seriously low blow, but it felt so fucking good to finally say it. To turn on your child when they needed you the most, and give up on the other? No, that wasn’t a mother. At least, not a good one.

  My rag tag group hobbled down the dock, each passing Amelia as though she didn’t exist.

  Amelia didn’t try to catch up with us, and I didn’t really care. At the far end of the dock where the true dry land met with the wooden pilings there was a flash of bright blonde hair. Berget stepped out to meet us just as Amelia ran up from behind.

  “Rylee, don’t you turn your back on me—”

  Amelia’s voice died as she spied Berget, who had also gone very still.

  Well shit, it really had nothing to do with me now at all. I’d said my peace and for the first time felt the past slide away from me, no longer tugging at my emotions. I ignored Amelia and kept walking.

  Berget looked like she’d swallowed a hunk of troll flesh and was about to throw it back up. “I thought she’d be gone.”

  I shrugged but said nothing, felt nothing as I walked past her. Berget’s hand snaked out and she grabbed me. “Don’t leave me with her.”

  As she asked, I stopped. Pamela let out a deep breath. “Let me try and stand on my own.”

  Letting go of her, I slipped my coat back on, the scent of Amelia’s perfume floating up and around my nose. It didn’t make me nostalgic anymore, just ill.

  “Berget, my baby, is that really you?” Amelia stumbled forward and I felt more than a little voyeuristic, and just a tad bit jealous. I couldn’t help it; who wouldn’t want their mother to love them?

  Berget stepped back and shook her head, drawing herself up, and every jealous thought I had evaporated. “You aren’t my mother. My mother would have loved Rylee when she was in her darkest moments. She would have stood by her and kept searching for me. You might be the person who gave birth to me, but it has always been Rylee who loved me best. She was the only one who never gave up on me.”

  Amelia put a hand to her throat and her body shook. “I thought she killed you.” What I found interesting was that she didn’t say that she loved Berget, didn’t beg for forgiveness. No, she went right to me again.

  Berget glared at her. “No, you just wanted someone to blame. Someone who didn’t look back at you in the mirror.”

  With that, Berget turned her back on our mother and took my hand. “Don’t let her get to you. She’s wrong about everything.” Her eyes, though, were clouded. Hundreds of years of wisdom might have been stored in her head, but she was still a teenager, still trying to figure out life and the blows it handed us. Still fighting to keep control of herself.

  My fingers tightened over hers. “Let’s go, everyone is waiting for us and we have shit to do.”

  We left Amelia on the docks, on her knees watching her two children disown her as they walked out of her life for good.

  “It was for her own good, and besides, she did deserve it,” Berget whispered to me as we crossed the Charlestown Bridge.

  I nodded and brushed a lock of her hair back behind one ear. “I know.” The people we loved, they would be targets, and those we fought, like the black coven, would seek out thos
e targets and use them against us.

  The way back was uneventful.

  Which was weird. I kept twitching, waiting for something to jump out at me, grab one of the kids, pull us down and try to kill us.

  Call it history, but there weren’t many times lately that we’d been able to do anything without running into uglies.

  When we got to the safe house, I turned to Frank. “You feeling up to it?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” Frank stepped in front of us. “Where are we going?”

  “London.”

  He swallowed hard. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

  I scrubbed my face. “Where can you get us?”

  “Back to the farm. Maybe to New Mexico.” He blushed. “I’m sorry, I just need to rest for awhile.”

  New Mexico was where Louisa and the other shamans were. Maybe we could rally them while we were there. “New Mexico. Louisa’s, if you can.”

  I moved to his side to watch his face. Severe concentration and a bead of sweat were all he gave away as the veil sliced open. In the distance, I saw Louisa’s house lit up in the dark night. Looked like she was home, at least.

  As we all stepped through the veil, Frank collapsed to his knees. Pamela and I dropped beside him. “Hey, you’ve overdone it.”

  He nodded and I helped him stand, though he was wobbly. Pamela put a hand to his forehead and frowned. “I don’t think I can heal this. It’s fatigue, nothing more.”

  “A night’s sleep should do it,” he mumbled.

  If only we’d known we’d not even get that, we might have stayed in Boston.

  Chapter 16

  “STINKS LIKE BLOOD and shit,” Alex said as we drew close to Louisa’s house.

  Seriously? “Everybody on their toes.” I went to draw one of my blades, forgetting that I’d lost both of them. There was a first time for everything, but did it have to be right then?

  Erik took point and I let out slow breaths, taking my whip and uncoiling it. Had the ogres come after Louisa and the shamans?

  “Smell any ogres, Alex?”

  “Nope. Just wolves. And guardians.”