LIAM (The Rylee Adamson Epilogues, Book 2) (9 page)

Time to roll the dice. “Tell me your name when you’re ready to save these boys. We’ll wait for you at the bakery over there as long as we can,” I said, and Levi held the phone up again for her, showing her the triplets once more.

She backed away, her eyes locked on the image. I didn’t move until I couldn’t see her any longer.

“Liam, what are we going to do?” Levi asked.

“Exactly what I said.” I glanced at him. “We’re going to wait for her at the bakery and hope to all that is holy she shows up in the next few hours.”

I slung my bag back up over my shoulder and headed toward the growing scent of fresh bread and pastries.

“Have you been there before?” Levi asked.

“No.”

“How do you know where you are going, then?”

I touched the tip of my nose. “I can smell it.”

“Wow. That’s cool. Do you think I’ll be able to smell stuff like that?” He looked down at the palm of his hand, but no water appeared. I shrugged.

“I don’t know. Elemental magic isn’t the same as supernatural. Like I said, Nigel is the one you want to talk to about it.” I picked up my pace, which kept him from asking more questions. Half an hour later, we were in front of the dark windows of Vanilla and Honey. A Greek specialty bakery, if the sign was correct. By the smells, though the windows were dark, the bakery was in full swing in the back. My stomach rumbled, but there was nothing I could do for it at the moment. It had to wait too.

I made my way around the side and found a shadowed recess against the building to tuck into. “You might as well try and sleep.” I pointed to the step and Levi didn’t argue. He sat and pulled his jacket up around his ears. Moments later, his heartbeat slowed along with his breathing as he slipped into dreamland.

The fact that he could crash in such an uncomfortable position made me think he’d slept more than one night on the street in order to keep away from his father. I shook my head, hard pressed to understand why a man would do that to his own child. There was no reason I could see that would ever make me turn away from any of my kids. Or any of my pack for that matter.

I kept watch, noting the cars that came and went, none of them passing more than once. We weren’t being watched, which was a good thing, a small good thing considering everything. The slowly shifting light as the moon sank further through the sky made my shoulders tighten with anxiety. How long did the ogre need to decide if she would help us or not?

Four a.m. came and went, and a few people drifted into the bakery for their coffee and sugar-laden breakfasts. Five a.m. rolled around and I began to doubt. No, she had to come, she had to, there was no other choice.

Six a.m. and the moon set, the sun rose above the edge of the world, and a dim light grew around us. We were down to thirty-seven hours. I adjusted my stance, watching, knowing that while I’d told the female ogre we could only wait so long, I was not being entirely honest. I wanted to believe there would be other females, but . . . I wasn’t sure. And then there was something about this ogre that stuck with me. The wolf in me bobbed his head in agreement. This was the female we needed.

End of story.

Which meant I would wait, and if she didn’t come, I would go looking for her.

The faint scent of milk and ogre wafted down the alley. I stood straighter and took a few steps to the edge of the building. There she was, but with her was a big-ass male ogre. His skin was as dark as hers, minus the purple splattering, and he was speaking in low tones.

“You aren’t listening to me, stupid chit,” he snarled. “I am trying to save you.”

“No, you’re not. You’re going to sell me out to them. I’m one of the last females this tribe has, and you don’t want to lose a warm body that isn’t one of your boyfriend fuck buddies.”

He grabbed her arm. “You can have another child, but not if you’re dead. The council is speaking right now and unless I stand for you, they’re going to kill you this time, and not just beat you.” He leaned into her. “What did you think you were doing, getting knocked up by Tul when you were supposed to be bedding Pic? Did you think they would just let you go?”

She jerked her arm away from him. “And if you speak for me? What does that cost, Buk?”

“You’ll bed who I say, when I say. You know the rules. You’ll belong to me, you will be my property. I will take responsibility for you.” She shoved him and he stumbled past the alley opening as he struggled to gain his balance.

I reached out from the shadows and grabbed his one flailing arm. I yanked him into the alley with me, not thinking much about anything but doing as I’d told her I would. I would protect her from her own kind and everything else that came her way. I snapped his arm up behind his back, spun him to the ground, and slammed his face into the concrete. I put a knee into the center of his back and kept the sharp angle of his arm twisted high. “I think you should listen to her.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” He took a big sniff. “Fucking piece of dog shit wolf. I’m going to skin you alive and eat your balls for breakfast.” I grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his head back, then smashed it into the ground.

“Now, that isn’t very polite, is it? Play nice.” I slapped the back of his head, which pushed his nose into the concrete again. He howled, and I glanced over my shoulder. “What do you want to do with him?” Below me the ogre twisted and tried to buck me off which forced me to look away from her for a moment. When I looked back, she was striding forward, a grim look on her face, one I’d seen more than once on an ogre. She was in fight mode. Shit.

She pulled the knife I’d given her from her waistband in a single smooth motion that told me she knew how to use it. Flipping the handle around, she had it angled downward for a deadly blow. For just a moment, I thought I’d judged her wrong. That the blade would come at me.

With a wicked thrust, she drove the knife through the back of the male ogre’s head. He jerked once, twice, and then was still. Breathing hard, she crouched beside me and held out her hand. “My name is Mai.”

I took her hand. “Liam.” Even though I had already introduced myself, it felt right. “And the kid over there is Levi.”

Levi didn’t even move, he was still sound asleep despite the scuffle. I shook my head. I shouldn’t have been surprised, we’d been running on adrenaline and not much else since we left home. With Mai’s help, I dragged the dead ogre to the closest dumpster and shoved his body in. We dropped the lid with a slam.

“That won’t buy us much time,” she said. “A few hours at most.”

“We won’t need that much time to . . .” I stared at her face, seeing the indecision there. “What?”

She tucked the knife back into her belt. “I can’t leave yet. I have to go back to my apartment first.”

“If what I overheard is right, that’s not a good idea. We have to go now and use the time we have on our side.”

Mai drew a breath. “My son’s ashes are there. I can’t leave without him. Surely you can understand that?”

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, thinking it through. “How long?”

“My place is in Redmond, about an hour by transit.”

“What about a cab? That would be faster.” There had to be a way to speed this up.

“No, they’re watching the cabs. Apparently there were a few supernaturals that infiltrated using cabs last week.”

That would be Rylee again. Damn it. I nodded. “Okay. I’m coming with you.”

“No, you stink to high heaven like an alpha wolf. They’ll pick up on you in no time. You can’t come with me. I have to go alone.”

“I could go with her,” Levi said, finally joining the conversation, cautiously, like he wasn’t sure he was welcome. “I don’t smell, do I?”

Her eyes shot to him. “Are you a supernatural?”

He held out his hand and water pooled in his palm, the same as the night before. His voice held more than a little pride to it as he spoke. “Elemental.”

Slowly she nodded even while I struggled not to strangle Levi. Against an ogre, he had no chance. No shot. She drew a big sniff of his hair, making it ruffle toward her nose. “He doesn’t smell like anything. And if he can manipulate water he could be an asset.”

“No. We don’t split up,” I said. “Right now, we have the advantage and it will cut time if we go together. We can leave from your apartment.”

Her jaw twitched, a flash of anger there, defiance.

I held up my hands. “I’m not trying to control you. I used to be a cop. I bossed people around for a living.” I winked at her, softening what I was saying. I hoped.

She let out a sigh. “I hate that you’re right.”

“Don’t get used to it. My mate is right more than me.”

The three of us stepped onto the sidewalk. To my right, Levi’s stomach let out a growl that made my wolf twitch and whine with agreement. I paused at the door to the bakery.

“Give me two minutes.” I stepped in, and ordered up a mixed bag of pastries and three large coffees. The lady at the counter was quiet, her eyes downcast.

“Thanks,” I said as I took the bag and my change.

“Don’t hurt her,” she said.

Now that stopped my feet. “Excuse me?”

The woman looked up, brown eyes full of determination that I wouldn’t have expected from such a quiet mouse of a girl. “Mai is my friend. She’s been through a lot, losing her son and her husband going missing. Don’t hurt her. Please.”

I nodded, glad for the additional information. “I’m not going to hurt her. I’m going to get her out of this town.”

She let out a sigh of relief. “Then the breakfast is on me.” She handed me back my twenty-dollar bill. “Tell her Alena wishes her luck. I think things will get better for her if she goes with you.”

I reached across the counter and shook her hand. “You got it, Alena of Vanilla and Honey.”

She smiled, a blush spreading over her pale cheeks. “Thank you.”

I strode out of the shop and handed out the coffees. As we walked, I told Mai what Alena had said. She smiled, but it was sad. “She’s a nice girl, but I think she should keep the luck for herself. Her life is hardly an easy one.”

She continued to talk about her friend, but I zoned out, instead focusing on the situation around us. Mai didn’t notice, but we were slowly being surrounded by ogres. A bus pulled up to a stop about ten feet in front of us, and I hurried Mai and Levi forward. “Onto the bus, now.”

“It’s going the wrong direction,” Mai spluttered, and then she looked behind us and gasped. She leapt onto the bus and I shoved Levi on behind her. “Go. Levi, take her to where Ophelia dropped us when you get what you need. Get her back to Rylee, understand? No matter what.” I handed them the bag of weapons, taking only two out for myself. A short sword and an oversized curved skinning knife I could hold with a fist.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Levi yelled.

“Buying you time,” I said. “Keep her safe, Levi.”

The look on his face shifted from fear to determination and he nodded. “I will.”

The bus door shut behind them and the driver pulled away, maybe sensing it would be best for his vehicle to get its ass in gear.

“Well, well. A wolf in sheep’s clothing perhaps?”

I turned to face a black-skinned ogre who stood at least eight feet tall. “No, a wolf in wolf’s clothing.”

“
MY NAME IS
Pic, and I am the leader of this territory.” The ogre that I’d pegged at eight feet took a few more steps in my direction. Make that nine feet tall and easily three feet across the shoulders. He pulled a large sword from his back, the blade splitting at the handle into two blades. He took a lazy swing with it in my direction but I didn’t move. I knew a bluff move when I saw one. “Are you not going to introduce yourself?”

I shrugged and did a lazy loop with my own weapon. “Nah. You win. Your sword is bigger than mine.”

The other ogres all laughed, guffawing. Dick humor, nothing new there.

Pic grinned. “I almost hate to kill you with a sense of humor like that. But you were with one of our females. That is not allowed. I would hate to see what a cross-species wolf/ogre would look like. Besides weak.”