LIAM (The Rylee Adamson Epilogues, Book 2) (8 page)

We had two hours before the bakery would open, so there was no point in rushing. At least that’s what I told myself even while the wolf in me paced.

We walked in silence for all of two minutes.

“How did you know the lion wouldn’t kill us? Or that it wasn’t a real lion?” Levi asked. “I mean, there wasn’t anything really different about how he looked, was there? Can all animals talk?”

I wondered if Rylee had ever been this irritated with me when I’d started asking questions about the supernatural world. Who was I kidding? I’d irritated her from the first question right through until I stopped. I smiled and did my best to fill Levi in. This was his world too, at least for now. “Not all animals can talk. Guardians like Lion and me are different than other animals. And I didn’t know that he wouldn’t kill us. I took a calculated chance.”

“Then why would you let him out?”

“Because he does have a job for this world. All the Guardians do, even those who are assholes.”

He rubbed his hands over his arms as we walked and I could almost see the wheels in his head turning as he processed the new information. “You know when Ophelia ran the lightning over us?”

“Yeah, kind of hard to forget.”

“I think . . . I think she woke something up in me.”

Now
that
slowed my feet. “What do you mean?”

He held out his hand, palm up, and a small, clear pool of water appeared in the center. The water continued to fill until it spilled off the edges of his hands.

I nodded, not bothered by what he could do. A puddle of water in the hand was hardly helpful in the scheme of things. But no doubt, it would freak the kid out. “Rylee said you were a water elemental, or at least that was the blood running through your veins.”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense, though. I thought . . . I thought there wasn’t enough of that blood to do anything to me.”

I shrugged. “It probably does make sense. I just don’t know how to explain it. We need someone who actually understands how the bloodlines work to spell things out. Be sure to ask that Jackal when we get back. He can explain most of that stuff since it’s his world.” I hoped, anyway. Nigel was one of the new additions Rylee met on her salvage for Levi’s little sister. While Rylee trusted him . . . he was another canine, and my wolf didn’t fully think it was a good idea to let him get too close.

Blessedly, Levi was quiet the rest of the walk to the bakery. I kept an eye on the drifting moon as it dropped lower in the sky, slowly setting. Time passing. I did a quick tally in my head. Forty-one hours and change remaining. We still had lots of time. In theory, of course.

A sudden rush of scents lit up my brain, and I slowed my feet. Something sweet, like an overused perfume, raw milk and . . . ogre. That musk was undeniable, there was nothing out there quite like it.

I put a hand on Levi, pushing him behind me. Could I be that lucky as to find an ogre female outside of the park, away from her apparently psychotic tribe?

Only one way to find out. I kept our pace sedate as I slowly tracked the scent of the ogre. I couldn’t tell if it was a female or not, but when we rounded the corner I saw her. She was taller than me but only by a few inches, so that would put her at about six and a half feet.

I shook my head, no more than that. I had to get used to being in a slightly shorter body.

Her skin was a glossy, pure black that I could see glistened even in the moonlight. Here and there were patches of purple, though, like she’d gone through a shower of splatter paint. Her shoulders were hunched under a light top that left her arms and shoulders bare, odd for the cooler weather, and showing a few pale scars. She moved slowly, not seeming to even notice us. A soft sob rippled out of her, and she covered her mouth with one hand, while she wrapped the other around her waist. A sobbing female ogre with scars all over her back and shoulders.

Something was wrong, and every instinct I had screamed at me to watch my back. Ogres were not known for being overly emotional in regards to the softer side of things. Anger, yes, that was a given. Not sobbing, not tears, not oblivious to the world around them. Their sense of smell wasn’t on par with mine. But she should have noticed us. We were upwind of her, our scents should have been jammed up her nose already.

I glanced back at Levi, pointed and then put a finger to my lips. His eyes popped open wide and he gave me a slow nod. I began to wonder if his eyes would fall out if they opened wide like that again, like a perpetual jack in the box. But with eyes.

According to the bright screen of Levi’s phone, the bakery was just a few minutes away. Apparently the assumption that ogres liked their sweets wasn’t so far off base. I motioned for him to put the phone away. I kept us far enough back, shifting so that we weren’t upwind of her anymore. At least that would give us a chance that she wouldn’t pick up on our scents. Though in the obvious state of distress she was in, I doubted she would notice.

Ten minutes later she reached a park bench and slid into it, her back to us still. She bent at the waist, rocking slowly.

Was she unstable? Shit, that was the last thing I needed. A female ogre who was out of her mind? Was that even possible? I didn’t want to think about it too much. Right now, we needed to make contact.

I put a hand on Levi and tugged him back the way we’d come until we could barely see her sitting on the bench.

My mind raced as I formulated a simple plan, something I’d implemented more than once in my FBI days. I bent my head so I could whisper to Levi. “I want you to walk by her, and when you see her ask her where the bakery is.”

“Why?” he whispered back.

“Because I told you to.” I tightened my hold on his shoulder, and he trembled under it. I eased off. I really had to remember he wasn’t tough like Pamela. Or even Frank. That necromancer had a spine of steel despite being a kid still in his teens.

“No,” he shook his head, “I mean why would I be looking for a bakery at . . .” he looked at his phone, “three in the morning?”

That was a good catch. “New job. Bakeries start early.”

“But why wouldn’t I know where it was?” He frowned. “Your plan stinks.”

He shook my hand off and walked away from me, toward where the ogre sat, still crying on the bench. I hissed at him to stop, to come back, but he just hurried his feet, the little shit.

I followed at a slower pace, stopping near a tree about twenty feet away, leaning against it so I could listen.

“Hey, I’m totally turned around and my phone died.” He held up his phone, the screen blank. “Do you know the area?”

Her head tipped up, and she swiped a hand over her eyes. “Um. Yeah, I do. Where are you going?”

“I’m supposed to meet a friend near a place called Vanilla and Honey. A bakery, he said.” He tucked his phone away in his back pocket.

She twisted on the bench and I ducked behind the tree, just in case. “You just cross that street over there. It’s a couple of blocks down. They’ll be doing their early morning muffin and coffee in an hour.”

“Thanks, that’s what we were going for.” There was a pause and I leaned back out to watch the interaction. “Are you okay?” he asked.

She shook her head, and put her hands over her eyes. “No. But . . . you’re sweet for asking. Go on now, go see your friend. It’s not safe out here at night.”

Levi sat on the bench and I stared at him as if I could make him move. Bad idea, very bad idea, don’t get close to the ogre who can snap you in half like the kid you are.

“I can’t just leave you like this. Do you want me to walk you home?”

She laughed, but it was choked up. “What, you think you can protect me?”

He flushed, and ducked his head. “I guess not.”

Time to make my move. I stepped out around the tree, not bothering to hide my approach with softened steps. “He might not . . . but I can.”

SHE SPUN AS
she stood, her eyes wide, her body shaking so hard, the ends of her hair shook. “Who are you?”

Levi stayed where he was. Maybe he was smarter than I gave him credit for. The last thing I wanted was for him to draw her attention now that she was somewhat pinned between us. I held up both hands, palms forward in the universal sign of no harm. “My name is Liam, and I am a Guardian.”

Her chest heaved as she sucked wind hard, as if she had been running flat out. “Even a Guardian can’t protect me. And why would you bother? We aren’t the same species.” She took a step back. “No one can save me.”

I kept my approach slow, as if trying to calm a wild animal.

“Save you from what?” Levi asked.

She glanced at him and then back to me. “I’m not telling you anything. You two are outsiders.” She spat the last word at me, but it lacked heat.

I shrugged, fighting the urge to just thump her over the head and drag her with me. I needed her to want to come with us. There was no way I could force her hand. “I may be an outsider, but I’m not the one afraid to be here in Seattle. You are.”

Her lips trembled. “You
should
be afraid. My tribe will kill you. And him just because he’s with you.” She motioned at Levi with a tip of her head. He stiffened. I shook my head and forced a smile to my mouth.

“That’s not going to happen. We’re going to be gone before they even know we’re here.”

“Then why would you even come? Just to prove you can?” Her tone suggested others may have done the same in the past. Again, I shook my head.

“No, I think I am here to save you from whatever it is that makes you cry. And to ask for your help.”

Her mouth made a perfect
O
and tears slipped from her cheeks. “You think you can give me back my child? More the fool are you.”

Her words shot through me so hard, I stood and stared at her as she started away. I almost couldn’t get the words out, they stuck in my throat so hard, the disbelief holding them there.

“And if I can give you not one child, but three? Triplets? Ogre babies who need a mother.”

She stumbled and spun, hands clenched into fists. “What did you say?”

Time to throw caution to the wind. “Three ogre babies. Triplets that need a mother, an ogre mother. Without you, they are going to die.” Time to be bold. I approached her and carefully took both her hands in mine. “Please help me save them. We are running out of time.”

Her whole body trembled, as if on the verge of falling to the ground, and her eyes slowly closed. “My tribe. They . . . they’re going to kill me. You can’t save me from them, they’re too strong, and too vicious. I’m . . . I would help you if I could.”

“I can get us out of here. If you’ll let me.” I motioned for Levi and he moved to my side. “Show her the pictures of the triplets.”

He flicked his phone on and pulled up a picture of the babies from the day before. Sleeping, they didn’t look sick at all. “They don’t have long without your help. The blue boy is Kav, the purple on the left is Rut, and on the right there is Bam.” Names, give them names and faces and she’d be hard pressed to say no.

Tears spilled over her cheeks and she hiccupped a soft sob. “They’re beautiful.”

“And they are dying.” I struggled with the words, struggled to impart the emotion that would help her see she was desperately needed. That she hadn’t flat out denied us was beyond what I’d truly hoped. I would fully admit to myself that I’d come to Seattle believing I would fail, believing that no matter what I did, it would not be enough.

“Please help me save them.”

She slowly pulled her hands from mine and rubbed them up and down her bare arms. “I . . . I don’t know. They took all my weapons from me, I can’t even protect myself.”

It took everything I had not to yell at her, to try and force her into coming, but I knew it wouldn’t work. I had to convince her I was on her side, show her I trusted her even when I didn’t. I dropped to a crouch and dug into my bag. I pulled out a silver-edged knife with a six-inch blade. “Take it, use it if you have to. The silver will cut through any supernatural.”

Carefully she took the knife and tucked it into her belt. “You don’t even know my name.”