Rising Darkness (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 9)

by Shannon Mayer

  My turn. “Do you remember—”

  Marco swung in close. “I hate to interrupt you two. But is it possible that the blood exchange you and Faris had could be wearing off?”

  I looked across at Faris, he nodded. “It’s possible, especially if you’re still Tracking. Your blood would be working overtime to clear mine out of you.”

  I was still Tracking, damn it all. I let go of the threads that tied me to the Great Wolf. He was close, maybe a hundred miles away by the feel of him. “Not anymore.”

  Marco let out a sharp cry. “We are being tailed.”

  Since the incident with Pamela and the dragon, we’d been exceptionally vigilant while in the air. Berget and I twisted around to look behind us, and Alex who rode with Marco and Faris leapt up and growled at the empty space in the clouds. The growl trickled to nothing.

  “I don’t see anything.” He put one hand above his eyes, as if to shade a bright light. What a goof. But he did have a point. I didn’t see anything either.

  That didn’t mean we were alone. “Marco, any idea what’s behind us?”

  “I caught a glimpse of green scales.”

  Fuck, not another dragon. I frowned and reached out with my thoughts like I would do with Blaz.

  We’re going to eat Harpy tonight!

  Thank the gods, I’m fucking starving.

  Hit them from above, they’ll never see us coming.

  We have to stop them, if they find the Destroyer, the master will eat our souls.

  A darkness that swelled inside the dragons reached for me, the whisper of death growing as they turned my way. I jerked back and wobbled in my seat. Berget grabbed me, steadying me.

  “How bad?”

  “Dragons, but they are hosting demons. They are here to stop us from finding the Destroyer.”

  Eve tipped her head so she could look at me. “How many?”

  “Two. And they’re aiming to hit us like that last one did.”

  Eve and Marco swooped away from each other. I looked up at the dark sky. Here and there the stars twinkled. No clouds. So when the stars were blotted out, I knew our company had arrived.

  “Here we go. Eve, you ready?”

  “Ready to bring the pain.”

  A smile curled my lips. “Just stay out of their claws.”

  I tightened my grip on the leather harness and Berget did the same. I looked across at Alex and Faris on Marco. Faris was strapped in.

  Alex was not.

  “Alex! Strap your ass in!” I yelled across the chasm.

  He saluted me, but already I knew it was too late. The whoosh of leathery wings as the two dragons dove toward us, the tensing of the Harpy underneath us.

  At the last second, I saw Faris reach around and grab Alex, holding him against his chest. Eve dove to the left, the dragon’s claws skimming along beside us, close enough that I could almost touch them. “I can expel the demons if I can touch the dragons.” I shouted over the rushing wind. Eve spread her wings, stopping our headlong dive. The leather straps loosened and I looked around for Marco. He was still to the right of us—upside down in the green-scaled dragon’s claws. “Eve!”

  “I’m on it!”

  The second dragon was black as the night sky and fucking hard to see, that is my only excuse for what happened. The big bastard slammed hard into us. His claws raked down Eve’s side, taking feathers and breaking the skin. “Berget, my straps!”

  She ripped them with a swift tug, freeing me from my restraint. The black dragon rolled and tried to take Eve with him.

  The Harpy dodged the grasping claws, rolling the other direction. I stood, took one step and leapt from Eve’s back. I pulled two short blades from my sides as I fell and held them out, gripped in my fists. I’d practiced this move with Blaz while I’d been away. It had better work.

  The black dragon didn’t see me coming. I hit his side and drove my two blades in deep, using them as anchors. He roared and twisted trying to see me.

  Bitch, I will use you as a toothpick.

  “Doubtful.” I let go, dangling with one hand, pressing the other against his scales. Sounded easy, but it wasn’t. The dragon twisted and jerked, and my hand slipped until I was hanging on with fingertips. The demon squirmed under his skin, and beneath that I felt the sorrow of the dragon before he’d been taken over. Better to be dead than a tool of a demon. “Be free,” I said. Power rippled through me and into the dragon. A flash of light as he lit up from inside, his body stiffening, the demon expelled.

  Thank you, Tracker.

  The dragon’s eyes met mine as the color and life in them faded. The wings stopped moving, the heart slowed. Frozen now.

  We began our free fall, his body spinning slowly until it was belly up. I yanked my blades free and ran with the turn of his body like a log roll. “Eve, hurry up!”

  She streaked toward me, snatching me with her claws, and then shot up into the sky hard. “Get me above the green lizard, and drop me.”

  “You got it.”

  She had me gripped around my upper body, my legs dangling. The green dragon roared and blew chunks of fire at something on his back.

  I squinted. “Berget. Is that what I think it is?”

  “Yes, Faris is keeping its attention on him.”

  Faris ran along the dragon’s spine, jabbing it with his cutlass, then ducking out of the way of the snapping jaws. Alex and Marco were pinned together in its claws.

  “Rylee, if you kill it, the claws . . . .” Eve whimpered and I knew what she was getting at. Death could cause a spasm, making the claws grip harder yet, and Alex and Marco would fall with the dragon.

  “Change of plans, go in low and I’ll cut the fucker’s legs off if I have to.”

  At least, I was hoping. With a sharp turn, Eve took me toward the dark green belly, spinning in the air at the last second in order to throw me toward the dragon’s foot that held Marco and Alex.

  Her aim wasn’t so good.

  “Shit!” I missed the claw completely and hung in space for a half heartbeat as I contemplated the timing gone terribly wrong. I fell, reaching for the dragon, knowing it was futile but doing it anyway.

  A set of clawed hands reached out and snagged me from the air, dragging me to Marco’s back. “I has you.”

  “Holy shit, good catch, buddy.”

  Alex grinned at me, but the smile slipped into a grimace of pain. His back right leg was crushed against Marco on a weird angle. I didn’t have time to free him. He’d have to wait. I pulled my two blades and drove them into the tendons around the dragon’s claw. The blades cut through the thick hide and the dragon screeched, a sound that went on and on as I dug deeper and deeper.

  “Let go, you fucking overgrown gecko!” I screamed, forcing the blades in as far as I could, feeling them grind against the bones, like metal on metal.

  “Pull the blade to the left!” Marco yelled and I didn’t ask why, just did it. I dragged the two blades hard to the side and there was a subtle shift in the flesh they were in. The claw popped open and we fell. Alex grabbed my ankle with one claw tipped hand as he clung to Marco with the other.

  “Land, just land!” I yelled as the wind rushed around us.

  “Not much choice, I’ve broken too many feathers to climb,” Marco replied. We spiraled downward—fast. If Alex hadn’t been hanging onto me I wouldn’t have stayed on.

  Eve followed us, and it was then that I realized we’d left Faris on top of the green dragon. Shit sticks.

  I looked up to see the dragon diving toward us.

  “And here I was worried we’d have to go back for the vampire.” I managed to get one blade into my back sheath as we dropped. I kept the other squeezed in my right hand. There was nothing I could do until we landed and hoped to hell that Faris could get off the dragon’s back.

  I shouldn’t have worried.

  We hit the dirt hard, Marco unable to slow himself enough, and Alex and I were thrown. The three of us tumbled, rolling at least twenty feet before we los
t momentum. A tree stump was my stopping point. Eve landed right behind us, a hell of a lot more graceful than we’d managed.

  The dragon landed ahead of us, holding its maimed claw up. Faris stayed where he was.

  “I’m safer up here,” he called out.

  “Ass hat!” I yelled back.

  He gave me a mocking bow as the dragon roared, baring teeth and flicking its split tongue at us. It looked like they’d worked out their act together with the timing.

  I eyed the distance between us, and the limping, raging dragon, as it headed our way. “Berget, think you can toss me up to Faris?”

  “I could, but the dragon will just snatch you out of the air.”

  She made a rather good point. “Eve, get Alex and Marco out of the way.”

  If the dragon hadn’t been wounded so badly, it would have been on us already. As it was, I had a second to think.

  “Berget, help me dodge the mouth.”

  I put my sword into its sheath and ran toward the dragon. Its eyes glittered in the dark, and it opened its mouth wide as it swung its head toward me.

  That’s right, run into my mouth, Tracking bitch! The voice was distinctly female and seriously pissed if the volume level was any indication. Her fangs dripped with saliva that sizzled as it dripped to the ground.

  Berget ran with me, keeping pace and when the dragon snaked toward me, Berget yanked me out of the way at the last second, spun, and threw me toward the dragon’s back, like we were in the Olympic Games.

  Disoriented was a fucking understatement. She’d heaved me like I was a damn shot put and I stumbled hard, going to my knees as I landed on the thick scales of the dragon’s back. Faris grabbed my upper arms and steadied me. I didn’t pause, couldn’t. I reached for the dragon and she leapt into the air, throwing me off balance once more. I needed to get at least one hand on her. She climbed fast, her sinuous body twisting and spinning so I couldn’t keep my balance, couldn’t get my fucking hands on her.

  No, I like my demon. He makes me stronger than the other dragons. I will kill you, and the master will reward us both.

  “Not going to happen,” I yelled as I tumbled down her spine, the ridges slamming hard into my side. Jerked to a stop, I knew it was Liam, and not Faris holding my ankle. I put my hand on the dragon’s back and the power flowed through me. Calm, soothing, and so very easy to call on. “Be free.” The demon fled, its spirit twisted and writhing in the air above the female dragon. But she wasn’t giving up, either. She reared her head toward us, mouth open wide as her belly rumbled with the beginnings of a fireball I knew from past experience would obliterate us.

  I may die, but you will die with me.

  “Time to go.” Faris, or Liam—whoever the hell he was at that moment—grabbed me and leapt from the dragon’s back. Flames curled around us, seeming to push us from the dragon as the night sky welcomed our falling bodies. How high were we? I had no fucking idea, but I knew we were about to feel the distance in a very visceral way.

  CHAPTER 14

  Rylee

  Faris kept his arms around me, twisting me so I was scooped in his arms, like a groom carrying his bride over the threshold. I didn’t think it was going to help. I held my breath, counting the seconds. Fuck. We were way too fucking high to survive. I closed my eyes and curled forward, hands over the back of my neck; didn’t have time for much more than that.

  Landing hurt, but the pain told me I was alive. Faris took the brunt of the fall, his body absorbing the impact. He went to his knees and I was flipped out of his arms, my back screaming with pain where his arms had been as if they had been iron bars and not bones and flesh. I lay on my belly, breathing hard, grateful I could breathe. Surprised more than anything.

  A Harpy claw grabbed me, squeezing me hard, dragging me through the dirt in a hopping motion that made me want to puke. “Stop, Eve, please!”

  “No,” she said. The ground behind us exploded. Chunks of dirt flew through the air and a ripple effect hit me like a wave of earth lifting and then lowering me again. Eve did stop, and I rolled to see the female dragon, her body half-buried from the impact of her fall. Right where I’d been.

  “Shit, Eve, you saved my bacon.” I jerked upright and then to my feet. “Faris, did—”

  “Marco grabbed him. We all made it, even if we’re a bit worse for the wear.” She fluttered her wings, drawing my attention to burnt edges of her pinion feathers. When did that happen? We were lucky. Two dragons too cocky for their own good. No, that wasn’t true. The demons were cocky. I had a feeling if it had been true dragons we might not have survived, but the demons wouldn’t know how to be a dragon. Not really.

  Eve ducked her head. “Marco and I won’t be able to fly right away. A day or so is what we need to heal. Maybe less if we’re lucky.” She flicked the tip of one wing toward the three boys and Berget. Marco’s right wing hung at a bad angle. Like bent in the middle where there was no joint. I winced. “I have to exchange blood with Faris, then I will Track the Great Wolf. I can confirm the direction for you then.”

  She bobbed her head and I limped toward the others. There seemed to be a rather heated conversation going on that escalated into a pushing shoving match between Faris and Alex, of all people.

  The werewolf lunged, his teeth just missing Faris’s thigh. The vampire stepped back and I saw the intent.

  “Don’t you dare touch him, Faris!” I broke into an awkward jog that jarred every bone in my body.

  Faris took a step back, his body stiff. “I will not play bottom of the pile to a submissive.”

  I rolled my eyes and came to a stop between them. “I’m not asking you to.”

  Berget’s eyes met mine and she gave a slight shake of her head. Later. She mouthed to me. Great. What else could go wrong?

  Time to give everyone a job. “Alex, do a sweep of the area, make sure we’re safe and see if you can find a road or something.” He closed one eye and peered at Faris, snorting softly before he walked away. Of course, he couldn’t leave it at that. He had to kick dirt with his back feet at Faris as he trotted away. The dirt hit Faris’s pants legs. He looked at me and I shrugged. “What do you expect? You’re trying to take over Liam’s place, and Alex fought for me when Liam first stepped into my life. You aren’t even a wolf to take over as an alpha. Of course he doesn’t like you.”

  I looked around for a spot to do the blood exchange, somewhere we weren’t alone but that I didn’t have to stand. My back was fucking killing me.

  “Just come here,” Faris reached for me and pulled me toward him, being surprisingly gentle. Before I could say anything his fangs were in my neck and he was drinking me down. His fingers traced the lower edge of my spine, the places that ached as if he knew just where I hurt. Each touch soothed away the bruises, the breaks in the skin, the tendons and muscles that had been pulled. Liam’s scent, that clean woodsy smell, a hint of wolf musk under it that I would always associate with him curled around me, and I breathed it in deeply. Filled my lungs with it as if I could hold it there.

  His mouth un-suctioned from my neck and traveled down to my collarbone, biting at the edge without breaking the skin. His fingers dug into the bottom of my ass, pulling me against his body.

  Liam. All I could see was Liam, his golden eyes above me. Couldn’t think of anything except the building pressure in my lower region and then a sense of horror. This was Faris, not Liam. Shit. I was not going to climax from this. I was not.

  Oh, fuck. I jerked away from him as the peak reached for me. Falling to my knees, I slapped a hand to my neck, staunching the blood flow as well as hiding the struggle I had to breathe normally.

  Faris let out a groan, leaning forward with his hands on his thighs. The way he shifted his legs, I knew his pants were suddenly too tight. He lifted his eyes to mine. “You’re killing me.”

  “Good,” I whispered. I didn’t know how much longer I could do this. I closed my eyes, the images of the two men merging inside my head. Liam’s soul. Faris’s bod
y. Even now, Liam’s essence called to me.

  “Rylee, you still have to take my blood.”

  Damn, I’d conveniently forgotten. He dipped his mouth to the crook of his elbow, cutting his skin with his fang. Jaw tight, I took his arm and put my mouth over the shallow cut. Vanilla ice cream, smooth and velvety, rolled down my throat.

  “It isn’t chocolate for you, is it?” His voice was in my ear and I shook my head. I had to take at least a couple of minutes’ worth of blood for it to be enough, and after how quickly the first batch had worn off, I was going to take more.

  Which kept me in rather close proximity to Faris after that almost-sex. Almost-sex, how did that even happen? Faris kept his free arm around my waist, his mouth at my ear.

  “I wouldn’t have left you, Rylee. I would have found a way to close the veil and keep both you and the child safe.”

  His words were a slap and I backed away from him, my mouth hanging open. “Don’t you say one more fucking word. Not one!”

  He smiled at me. “It’s the difference between me and him. He’s a martyr. I’m a survivor. You would never lose me.”

  I pulled a sword, hating that my hand trembled. “I mean it. Shut. The. Fuck. Up.”

  His eyes flared gold for a moment before the color was quelled by the blue once more. Liam was in there, but for how much longer? I turned my back on him and strode away.

  “Alex. Let’s get our asses out of here.” I set a thread to Track the Great Wolf. He was to the south about fifty miles, and I told Eve where he was. She gave me a sleepy bob of her head and then tucked her head under her wing.

  If we moved fast, we could make it to the Great Wolf before the day broke and we had to find a hiding place for the two vampires. Berget placed herself beside me as we walked. Alex led, and Faris pulled up the rear, way back. I refused to think about what happened and the things said. Refused.

  Berget touched my hand. “You have blood on your mouth.”

  I swiped at it angrily. “I won’t exchange blood with him anymore. I don’t care what Doran or that ass hat back there thinks about you.”

  “You can’t swap who you exchange with partway through. It can do crazy things to your head. For some people, it makes them suicidal.”