Lost Soul (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 2) (27 page)

I shifted and pain spiked through my ribs. A rush of moisture confirmed the wound still bled. How much blood could a person lose before they died? I shook the thought from my head and breathed through the spasm of pain.

The sound of the night was welcome. The waves lapped the docks and the night was as silent as the Greylands so that even the tap of Greer's boot on the wood of the pier was welcome after the odd muffled sounds of the Greylands.

I must have fallen asleep.

Cocooned in warmth, I pushed away hands that seemed to want to move me. I was too comfortable to be moved. Then I opened my eyes and found myself nose-to-nose with Logan. A sigh escaped my lips and I wrapped my arms around his neck. His hand cradled the back of my head and I breathed in the scent of him.

"Be careful with her. She's got a deep wound in her side. Been bleeding for a while. She's probably drained dry by now." Saleem's voice drifted to me and I pulled away from the safety of Logan's arms. A car drew up and two men alighted. They hurried to me, faces intent, scanning me with the intensity of a doctor or a paramedic. Sure enough, they knelt beside me and threw open their bags.

I obeyed their commands to lie down, be still, breath in. They changed my soaked bandages but could do little else. Logan knelt beside me, withdrawing two ampoules of healing fire.

"Here, I thought you might need this. It's just enough to get you home." I nodded but he still looked worried. "Can you handle it? It'll be more painful than ever simply because you're so weak."

"Do it. I need the energy and I need to go home." I bit out, struggling for breath.

Logan nodded and leaned over to open my armband. The medics gasped as Logan removed the band, revealing the colorful wound. I wanted to laugh. At least I was giving them something to talk about. When last would they have seen a poisoned forearm like mine?

Logan administered the fire, injecting it into a vein on my damaged hand. White-hot agony flared as the needle entered and the fire dispersed into my bloodstream. Logan held me while I shuddered in agony, as droplets of perspiration rose to soak my skin, as fevered heat burned through me. This was worse than any of the other treatments he'd given me.

Way worse.

I wanted nothing more than to slip into blissful unconsciousness, but it seemed I wouldn't get even that relief. I just breathed through the waves of pain until at last it was over and I was exhausted.

Logan drew me into his arms and strode to one of the cars. I looked over his shoulder and saw Saleem grabbing my bags. Greer bent to retrieve my armband, but Saleem grabbed it and held onto it. Greer scowled but didn't challenge him.

They joined us at the car as Logan fastened my seatbelt and shut me inside. "I'll drive," I heard him say. Saleem nodded and jumped into the passenger seat. And Logan went around, giving Greer a curious glance. She stalked around the car and jumped in beside me. I didn't pay her much attention. The fire had tired me out so much I could barely keep my eyes open.

I leaned my forehead against the cool glass and thought of my mom. I hoped she'd be proud that I'd brought Greer home safe and sound.

***

I must have fallen asleep or fallen unconscious because the sound of distant voices made me open my eyes. I lay in my bed in my own room.

Testing my strength, I sat up and everything seemed okay. When I tried to get to my feet, I figured I needed more rest. I lay back against the pillows and sighed.

Grams was fussing over Greer, who remained strangely silent. Usually, she would shove Grams off and demand her own space.

I eventually gained the strength to swing my legs over and sit on the edge of the bed, waiting for my head to stop spinning, but before I could get up, my cell phone rang.

"Hey, brat. Heard you're back," Iain said, trying to sound casual, but the thread of worry in his voice was clear enough.

"Hey," I answered, unable to hide the puff of exertion from trying to move around.

"What are you doing? Are you okay?" His voice rose.

"I'm fine. Can you stop being so nosy? If you must know, I'm trying to get out of bed to go to the bathroom."

Iain laughed. "Need any help with that? Maybe a bedpan?"

"Shut up."

"I'm sorry. Are you okay? Is Greer okay?" Iain's tone got serious. "I've got Dad here, he's on speaker."

"Hey, Dad."

"Hello, Kai. Are you sure you're okay. You don't sound well."

"I'm fine. Just really tired." I rubbed my temples, feeling the fatigue pull at me.

"We'll leave you to get some rest then."

"Thanks, Dad."

"And, Kai?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to have Sentinel do some research on that poison for you. I know your Logan has been using his fire magic to keep the poison at bay, but I do think you need a little more than that to get better." He sounded firm and his tone told me any argument would be waste of my breath. But he was speaking carefully as if he were afraid of making me angry.

"Thanks, Dad. I guess I need all the help I can get right now."

They hung up and I found I had a little more energy after having sat up for a while. I got to my feet and I'd almost reached my room door when there was knock at the outer apartment door
.

I pulled open the room door in time to see Logan and Saleem enter. I must have been sleeping for hours or maybe even days as they were now both changed and shaved and looking much fresher that I did.

"Hey, how you feeling?" asked Logan after greeting Grams and nodding at Greer. Seems even Logan lacked a soft spot for my sister.

"I'm fine, I think." I spoke while taking stock of how I really felt. I felt like shit. No two ways about it, but I wasn't planning on admitting it.

"You don't look fine. Another round of much stronger treatments would do you some major good." He beckoned me into the room and I didn't miss Greer's face as I moved to let him inside.

She looked angry again. I needed to fill Grams in as soon as I got a chance. For now I left the door wide open and left Logan to wait while I used the bathroom.

Limping back to the bed, I got comfortable while Logan perched on the side of the mattress and waited for me. I could feel Greer's eyes on me, but I refused to let her get to me. I'd done my bit. I'd brought her home safe and sound.

Now she was out of my hands.

***

When I woke up, Logan was gone and so was Greer. Grams was fiddling in the kitchen as I entered, ravenous and looking for food.

"Hello, dear." Gram's looked up from icing what looked like a red velvet cake. I leaned over and dug a finger into the cream cheese icing, savoring the sweet and sour taste. It just made my stomach growl louder. She swatted my hand away turned to fill the kettle.

Soon we sat down with generous slices of cake and mugs of steaming tea. It didn't take long for Grams to ask, "So how did it go?"

"Successful, but strange all the same."

"How so? Was it the place? The Greylands?"

"No. It was Greer actually. Everything the demons and the ghosts that helped us had to say about her." I met my grandmother's gaze, sure the worry was clear in my eyes. "I'm worried about her. Her behavior was so erratic, so unpredictable."

"Why don't you start at the beginning, dear." Gram's sipped her tea and encouraged me with a slow nod.

I launched into the story, giving her every bit, from Skates to killing Lester to Yanuk's beating. Grams' face tightened when she listened to the description of my beating and my injuries. But when I came to tell her about Greer and my conversation with her, she frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Grams shook her head, a little hesitant as she frowned as if confused. "Greer, she didn't mention anything other than that you found her and saved her and brought her here."

"So she didn't tell you she lobbied to replace the demon overlord of the Greylands, then?"

Grams paled. "No. She certainly didn't." Grams placed her mug on the table and stared at it. "What is wrong with that girl?"

"Could it be because she is Pariah?"

"What? Do you think that being Pariah messes with your head?"

"No, I mean that something must have gone wrong in a Walker's makeup to be Pariah in the first place. So maybe somewhere in the problem is the potential to go crazy." I paused, opened my mouth to speak then closed it again.

"Kai, I know what you are trying to say. Niko was also a little unbalanced from early on." She sighed then rose and walked to the window. "Maybe it could have something to do with being an Alpha. We haven't seen this kind of thing happen with Pariahs."

"How do we really know? Don't most Pariahs leave their clans and hide out? There are so many rules that stop them from being part of their clans, so don't most of them leave?" I asked, thinking of Lily and everything she'd been through, everything she'd experienced emotionally because her family, her people denied her.

"Perhaps you're right. Maybe we don't have enough information to speculate that this is an Alpha-related problem." Grams rubbed her arms as if a chill ran through her, then she returned to her seat, a determined look on her face. "Right. So I will speak to your father about looking out for Greer. Keeping a close eye on her, make sure she is okay."

I nodded, relieved but also a little unsettled. I didn't believe that Greer could be helped. But was that just sisterly bitchiness? Or did I still hold her betrayal against her? I remembered her words, her tone, the deep dislike in her voice as she and Niko spoke to each other about what to do with me when he'd captured me.

"Where is she now?" I asked.

"She said she needed some air." Grams looked at me, an expression of worry tightening her features. "I didn't think it would do her any harm. Her cellphone rang and she answered it. She mentioned meeting a friend for coffee. I thought it would be good for her after everything she'd been through." Grams was on her feet, looking a little frantic. "I'd better get Iain on the lookout for her. If what you're saying is true, I should never have let her go off by herself."

"Grams, how did she get her phone?" I placed a hand on my grandmother's arm and waited for an answer.

"Oh, Iain came by yesterday with some of her things that she'd left at Niko's lab all those weeks ago. Now you need to get some rest and stop worrying about Greer. Ailuros knows you've done enough for that child." Grams leaned forward and patted my hand. "Oh, and your friend Tara is going to pop by later too. The note's by the phone."

I nodded. "Thanks, Grams. Did you hear anything from the High Council about me? About the prophecy?"

Grams face darkened. "I'm sorry, Kai, but they're not prepared to interfere with fate. They're naturally afraid that anything they do may affect the final outcome."

"I would like to know more, Grams. Can you at least let me see what the prophecy says? I don't need any translations or interpretations. Just give me the words." I felt like I needed to beg. Who did I need to go to to get an answer?

She stared at me sadly for a moment then nodded. "Fine, let me see what I can do. And if anyone ever asks, you didn't get it from me."

I grinned. "Thanks, Grams. You're the best."

"I know," she said, giving me a wink as she took her dishes to the kitchen and grabbed her purse. She returned for a quick hug before heading out the door.

Silence settled in the room as the door closed, and I felt the emptiness of the apartment press down on me. And yet I knew what empty really felt like. The Greylands was a different kind of dead. A totality I wouldn't be able to handle on a daily basis. An emptiness that cut to the core.

And though I sat in the empty room it felt filled with emotion and expectation and life.

I sighed, savoring the peace of it.

***

A knock sounded on the door just as I left my room, freshly showered and feeling more alive than I'd felt in a long while. A sniff told me Tara had arrived and I grinned, flinging the door open.

Tara didn't say a word, just wrapped me in a tight hug, squeezing me a little too hard. I didn't protest though. "You are a sight for sore eyes."

I grinned. "So are you."

It didn't take long before we were on the couch and I was relating the story again. I gave a shorter version, leaving out my suspicions regarding Greer.

"That demon sword you gave me? Bloody amazing thing."

She grinned proudly. "I take it the weapon did its job satisfactorily."

"Are you kidding? Demon heads were rolling left, right, and center."

She laughed and raised her hands. "Hey, I just make the weapons. I don't need the gory details, thank you." Then she sobered a little. "Now tell me what's happening with this poison. I thought you said Logan was working on treating you with his fire?"

"Yeah, we all thought it was working, but it seems all it's doing is keeping the poison at bay. And unless he's had a breakthrough and perfected the treatment in the last few hours, I don't think I'm going to see a cure any time soon."