The Blood Key (The Wander Series Book 1)

by Vaun Murphrey

  My voice scratched out, “It’ll be okay.”

  His hazel eyes were losing their fire and his long lashes fluttered down. Dom’s head slumped—a limp weight on the end of his neck. The world around me ceased to have a soul. Birdsong and buzzing bugs vanished. A tight tunnel of existence twisted out from my awareness to concentrate on the breath leaving Dom’s parted lips.

  I felt all of my muscles in my body tighten in denial as I lurched onto all fours and screamed, “Dom? Dom! Wake up!”

  Brutally strong fingers pulled me back and I heard Otis shout, “You need to close the gate before something else comes through. He isn’t dead! Move!”

  He tore my fingers from Dom’s and thumped me in the sternum with a loosely closed fist.

  All I could think was ‘Not dead?’ as I stared at Otis’s broad back.

  He was doing something to the bird’s legs. Heat washed upward as Otis ordered over his shoulder, “Close the goddamn gate!”

  I pushed to my feet, fell backward onto my ass then tried again. Success! Warm scratched plastic met my palm as I depressed the red button. Gears came alive. Power crackled around me as I watched the metal bars close the gap agonizingly slow. No quarter and no mercy to anything else that crossed the line. I’d fry it fast and sort out friend from foe later.

  When I turned away from the now secured opening I walked right smack into a cloud of noxious fumes that smelled like burning hair and bones. What was left of the falcon thing toppled sideways and over as Otis dropped it.

  The crunch, rub and roll of the gravel beneath me sped to a constant white noise as I ran to get a closer look at Dominic. Otis had cut the leg free of the body and stubbed smoldering bone protruded. There were four talons in all. Three spread forward and one angled behind to grasp prey and fly with it.

  Otis bounced to his feet and went around to the car’s hood. He squinted and frowned then shook his head with a resigned expression as he stroked his chin. He said, “We have to risk lifting him. I don’t like it but if we lay him on the front and I hold him we can drive this thing up to your house.”

  I had to ask, “What good will that do? It’s not like I’ve got a surgeon on staff! Dom needs a hospital.”

  Otis came back around. “I’ll grab his upper body if you can keep his legs together and get his feet.”

  There was no point in arguing about it. Otis had his mind set on his plan. Hope grasped at straws in my heart. Maybe this stranger was determined because he could do something to save Dom’s life?

  I’d do anything to keep Dom in the land of the living.

  Otis sat partway in the cracked vinyl driver’s seat and inserted his palms behind Dom. I saw the tips of brown fingernails protrude from the shirt wrinkles in Dom’s sweat stained armpits. I knelt to wrap my fingers under frayed denim cuffs. The impression of woven sock sank into my skin.

  When Otis gave the nod we lifted together.

  Dom moaned in pain and one of his arms jerked onto his abdomen out of reflex. His hand hit a claw and the whole leg shifted sideways. Blood welled fast and dripped on the rocks with a thick sound. Moan turned to weak scream and Dom passed out all over again.

  Otis growled in frustration then picked up the pace. We set Dom as gently on the hood as we could manage and I held his hands to his sides while Otis slid him diagonal so his feet wouldn’t dangle as much. Otis climbed up onto the hood near Dom’s head. The bigger man settled Dom’s black curls on his straightened legs and leaned part of his upper body against the passenger’s side of the windshield.

  Before I got in and started the engine I asked one more time, “You have a way to heal him?”

  Eyes on Dominic’s shallow breathing, Otis put two fingers to the pulse on his sweat coated neck. His brief nod was all the answer I was going to get apparently. I quit wasting time Dom didn’t have and plopped down in the driver’s seat.

  I looked in horror at the stick shift poking out of the console. Not only had I never driven a car before but this was a standard. Aw, man. Seconds of Dom’s life were ticking away here. Okay, I could do this. How hard could it be?

  It was set in reverse with the emergency brake popped in. Dom’s head had been resting against it when he was on the ground. An image of the breath shuddering out of his body zinged my adrenaline higher.

  Cars weren’t a total mystery to me but I didn’t have any direct experience. Once upon a time Chris had been an amateur mechanic. What that really meant was my brother stripped one of Cyril’s older model cars for fun and then didn’t get it back together for months. Rowena had finally gotten sick of all the mess and told Chris to fix it or she would call the junkyard to haul it away.

  I pushed the brake down and felt it give and raise. The whole vehicle rocked. I put one foot on the clutch and the other on the brake pedal and turned the keys in the ignition.

  If I played around with changing gears I could shake Dom around much more than was healthy for him. Or worse, stall out. I decided in my infinite wisdom to stay in first gear and race the engine all the way to the front door.

  Otis peered through the bug spotted windshield as if to ask why we weren’t already on our way.

  Hands shaking with nerves I repeated to myself, “Don’t stall. Don’t stall.”

  My calves were cramping and it felt like the pedals might slip out from under my bare feet. The worn plastic treads meant to create friction with people’s shoes were digging wickedly into my already bruised arches.

  The stick didn’t want to pop out of reverse and I had to really pull. When it shot forward it went into second and my foot nearly came off the clutch. My bottom lip tasted of salt and I realized I had bitten through it into the tender flesh underneath. Sharp and sweet, the pain gave me focus.

  I wiggled the gear shift free of second, got it into first, let go of the brake and eased onto the gas as I kept my foot on the clutch.

  We began to move over the drive.

  Every dip, bump and sway in the suspension made me look to Dom’s face. He didn’t wake and I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

  Otis had a hold of him with one hand and with the other he held them both in place. A couple times a good bump in the lane caused the muscles and tendons in Otis’s forearm to cord. This damn drive seemed longer to me than ever. I cursed it over and over in my head.

  Finally, I could see the trees receding in preparation for the clearing around the house. Gray cement dolphin tail arching over the spraying fountain had never looked so grand. I pulled the car’s hood as even with the porch steps as I could and then killed the engine. When I started to get out the car kept rolling and I realized I had left it in neutral and forgotten to set the brake.

  “Son of a bitch on toast!”

  I ended up hunched in half, hopping on one leg while I depressed the emergency brake. When I glanced up Otis was standing next to the yellow hood and his whole body was shoved into the fat green leaves of kudzu growing over the bushes along the windows and bricks. He’d managed to keep Dom on the hood and out of the shrubs.

  Dragonflies buzzed my ears. Ticks and pops from the engine broke the silence as Otis stared with flat lips and flared nostrils in my direction.

  I squeaked, “Sorry!”

  Otis ground out, “Open the door and then come back and help me carry him inside.”

  Loose dirt provided traction as I pounded up the steps. My hand curved onto the knob but it wouldn’t turn.

  What the hell?

  I heard the bolt turn on the other side and then the door opened too fast.

  Izzy stood with an expression I’d never seen before. It was one-part terror and three parts sadness. In her hand was a long stainless steel bread knife from the kitchen.

  I gasped, “Iz?”

  One of her palms flew to her forehead and her face scrunched up. I realized she was crying.

  “Iz, why are you holding a knife on me and where is Rowena?”

  She stood taller, took a deep breath then exhaled. Her usually brilliant eyes
were dull and hard. “You have to give me the Dalah, Z.”

  33 AGAINST THE WALL

  Otis yelled something unintelligible but urgent from outside.

  I looked Iz in the eyes and felt my face go stiff. “You aren’t going to stab me with that knife so put it back where you found it. Dom’s hurt—bad.”

  Izzy’s arm rose but there wasn’t any conviction behind the threat. “I’m serious, Zena.”

  My right fist curled closed and my thumb pressed my nails into the meat of my hand. There wasn’t any forethought to my punch. Maybe that was why Izzy didn’t duck or dodge. My knuckles smashed square into her nose. Cartilage gave and warm wetness I knew to be blood slicked my skin.

  She dropped the knife to hold her face.

  I pointed with my left hand as I tried to shake the pain from my right. “I’m serious too, Izzy. Help me get Dom in this house and then we’ll tackle your problem. And where the hell is Rowena!”

  Izzy’s words were blurred and nasal, “I locked her in your bathroom.”

  A thick string of blood and saliva dripped out after she finished speaking. She spit to clear her mouth out because there was no way air was going through her already swollen nose. From this angle I could see the black roots of her hair pushing up on the pink dye.

  Otis yelled for me again and I turned away from her betrayal. “Never mind, Iz. Go rinse off your face and let Rowena out.”

  My feet hit the warm flagstone steps in a rush. Otis had gotten himself free of the shrubbery. His broad shoulders were hunched under the ragged gray trench coat as he checked Dom’s pulse in two different places.

  His dark brows bunched together and deep grooves branched around the bridge of his wide nose. “About time! Get his legs. You lead the carry backward.”

  Color was a memory in Dom’s cheeks. His lips were cracked and white. His chest wasn’t moving and his eyelids were still. Had his heart quit beating?

  Pebbled and leathery, the talon clutched at Dom’s abdomen. The bleeding had stopped but I didn’t count that as a good thing.

  Otis barked out, “Move!”

  Dom was heavy—limp and unresponsive. He didn’t even wake or cry out when we lifted him from the car. I moved as quickly and carefully as I could over the steps.

  Otis noticed the blood I avoided by the entry but didn’t make a comment. Iz was nowhere in sight.

  His deep male voice ordered, “Stop.” He kicked backward with his foot and closed the heavy wood front door. “Now go. And when we get Dom laid down you come out here and lock it.”

  My heel caught on the curled edge of an area rug. Muscles strained and tensed as I fought the battle for balance and my grip on Dom’s ankles became crushing. Otis said nothing—he only waited and then pushed forward when I looked balanced.

  White sheets made messy pools by the lounge furniture. Rowena must have been through tidying things before Izzy locked her in my bathroom. Some of the man-made coolness had escaped through the open door. The air conditioning of the interior wasn’t apparent until we were past the lounge and closer to the library.

  Izzy.

  What was I going to do?

  Clear and beautiful daylight streamed through the skylight as I lowered Dom’s feet to Cyril’s big black desk.

  Otis threw out a hard forearm and shoved me backward. I could smell his sweat—deep and humid like a swamp with a hint of heat and moss. It was curiously reassuring for being out of place.

  “You must give me space. Do not interfere. Once I begin I cannot stop or he will be lost. I have your word, yes?” His whole demeanor became concentrated and still as he waited for an answer.

  Jagged bone protruded from the pebbled skin of the talon jutting out of Dom’s body. How was Dom going to survive this? I stammered, “Y-you’ll save him?”

  Otis’s head gave a small tilt. He cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders before saying, “I will do my best.”

  I took a step backward and then turned to the open door to the hall. A high feminine voice screeched, “You get your nasty little hands off me, ugly bitch!” Followed by some probably colorful words in Spanish in response.

  Rowena showed first with her chest pressed outward, and one arm shoved high on her back. Izzy had a twist on her shoulder and elbow that I knew from personal experience at the Institution to be excruciatingly effective.

  My stepmothers décolleté was lopsided. One breast looked like it might burst free. Rowena’s curls were matted to one cheek, and her red lips were puckered enough to show the future wrinkles on her upper lip. Her limp was further hampering her forward progress.

  I rushed forward to meet them with both arms out. My hands flapped up and down on my wrists as I hushed them. “Out! Right now.”

  Iz angled Rowena’s body sideways, and my stepmother hissed in discomfort.

  My friend’s eyes were puffed up, and the bridge of her nose was three times wider than usual. I knew when she’d caught a glimpse of Dom. Her mouth went slack, and she forgot to breathe for a moment.

  Otis had specified no interference. I wasn’t about to take chances.

  “Move I said!”

  They took one step away from me, and I used their momentum to bulldoze them further out. I let myself have one long visual pass at Otis’s broad back as he bent over Dom’s lifeless form. Brown hands spread wide in the air over the talon, and a peculiar orange shimmer surrounded the area of the desk. It gave a sense of warmth and safety.

  I had an urge to get closer. The brass door loop felt cold and smooth in my fingers and against my inclination I pulled. The pocket door made a thick thump sound as it closed.

  34 TURN AND FACE THE STRAIN

  Flesh met flesh and cloth rustled. A grunt of pain and I turned to see Izzy folded in half and holding a shin.

  Rowena pulled back one toned arm, and I caught her elbow with a smack, knocking the fist my furious stepmother would’ve thrown off its trajectory. Izzy was more prepared this time, and Rowena didn’t know jack crap about guarding her face when she swung. One broken nose was enough at the moment.

  I shoved against the bony joint with more force than I intended, and Rowena stumbled on her hurt leg. The look she aimed in my direction was pure murder. Her upper lip curled to reveal picture perfect gums over straightened and bleached teeth.

  Before my stepmother could spout her venom, I twisted her arm at an angle that made it impossible for her to stand straight without massive amounts of pain. When Izzy came close enough, I jabbed at her swollen face to get her attention.

  Her mouth gaped in surprise as tears welled around her ducts. “Ow, Z!”

  I shook Rowena for good measure, and she screeched in protest, “Let me go!”

  Abruptly, I did just that. My pace quickened to a barefoot jog as I left them both behind to lock the front door. We were dealing with possible death; man-sized assassin birds, portals to other worlds and shit—the list of things was too long. But if Otis said lock the door like it made a damn difference, I was locking the damn door.

  I’d known him all of five minutes, but the power of life and death he had over Dom made him my very best ally at present. Dom, Dom, and Dom my mind screamed. Claxons of alarm, fear and panic made my energy spike and bolts of blue crackled around my stomach as I approached Rowena and Iz.

  I pointed at Izzy. “Did you know about the attack?”

  Izzy’s cheeks were red from the blood in them, and she bit her bottom lip. Her arms hugged her middle and her fingers curled around her elbows until the knuckles went yellow then pinkish brown. Dried blood was darkening and drying in a splatter pattern on her T-shirt.

  Her voice crackled, “Th-they said they w-would provide a distraction—to get you out of the house…I-I thought it was M-miller…” She gulped for air, and her chest went out, “I d-didn’t k-know Dom…w-would get hurt, Z.”

  Something warm and wicked burst. It felt overdue. The dam that held my civilized self in check broke. The part of me responsible for please and thank you died a q
uiet and unhindered death. Other people’s feelings didn’t matter—only my rage at Izzy’s blind, selfish stupidity.

  My voice came out more of a growl, and the zips and zaps of blue light around me danced as they took on vague shapes. “You didn’t know?! You didn’t know, Izzy?!”

  More light escaped and turned the edges of my vision to a constant glowing blue.

  Rowena began to back away—pale face elongated in shock.

  Izzy stood her ground. Her big brown eyes looked darker, surrounded as they were by swollen skin and bruises. It wasn’t enough. Her nose smashing flat under my fist hadn’t been enough. An urge struck to slice her face to ribbons. Imagery flooded my head—of flesh parting under sharp nails and the gurgle of a dying wheezing breath. Skin rent beneath sharpness with satisfying ease. I could sense it as if it were a foretelling required to spin out on an alternate plane before happening in this very real one.

  When I looked at my fingers dangling loose by my thighs the nails had grown. They no longer looked to belong on human hands. Black and evil razor tips clicked together as my hands spasmed. The shock of the involuntary shape change to a part of my body sucked the rage away enough for me to think again. It didn’t hurt that the nails reminded me a bit of the talons embedded in Dom’s chest.

  Dom—who could be dead in the library—or struggling for life if I was lucky—under the care of a strange alien I’d only met today.

  My head rolled back on my neck as I struggled to reel in my emotions. Tiny voices whispered in my ear in an echoing chorus of monster, monster, monster…

  I ground my teeth. Prickles of electric heat sensitized the hidden roots and the fiery discomfort felt like it grounded me. Bones itched and skin crawled on my hands.

  Scattered shapes became one as my brilliant blue light took on the semblance of a head. Hollowed eyes blinked open but the faint outline of the face’s lips stayed still.