rylee adamson 10 - blood of the lost (10 page)

I took a step toward him. “Where am I?”

“Desolation, Tracker. You are in desolation.”

“And who the hell are you?”

A sigh slipped out of him. “I am the demon who brought you here. My name is Moloch.”

My hands went to my swords, but they weren’t on my back. “I suggest, Moloch, you send me back. Right fucking now.”

He looked up at me from under his long hair, a rather soft smile on his face. His eyes flickered red, but there was no menace in him, which didn’t jive for me. Not with a demon. “Tracker, not all demons want Orion to succeed. I am one of those who oppose him, but the only way I could speak to you is if I was a part of your body and brought you to the edge of death. It is how my abilities work.”

Swallowing hard, I forced myself to hold my ground as he approached me, limping. “You’re the reason I’ve been so fucking emotional, aren’t you?” The rest of his words sunk in. “Wait . . . the edge of death, are you fucking kidding me?”

He shook his head. “The emotions are your own. I only opened the floodgates. When you touched me, on your neck, the venom in me surges. A natural defense I have no control over. I apologize that it caused you grief.”

I slapped a hand to the back of my neck. “You’re the reason I attacked Lark.”

“Yes.”

“And the reason I was so afraid.”

“Yes. As I said, the venom magnifies that which is already there.”

“Then why the hell was I myself sometimes? Why have I not been a fucking lunatic the whole time?” I stared hard at him, but he smiled at me.

“Love. You love those you are with and it is the only true antidote for my venom. It breaks through the poison.” He clasped his hands in front of his chest. “As to the edge of death . . . that will not change until I am no longer a part of you. But for now I hold your body in a stasis. You will not die unless I wish it.”

I put my hands on my hips, “And you don’t wish it because you hate Orion?”

His nose wrinkled up like he’d smelled something bad. “Because the world of demons is not meant to become a part of the human world, or the supernatural, for that matter. We are separate for a purpose.” Moloch shook his head slowly. “Orion is a fool. The demon prophecies were written by someone who wanted our two worlds to merge, and so with that goal, she wrote her prophecies. She chose the name ‘Orion’ because it is a common name in the demon realm.”

I raised an eyebrow at him and he laughed.

“Orion is creating these events to follow what is written, because he
believes
. That is the hidden truth of prophecy, Tracker. You can make it happen if you have enough faith. He believes and so, he is changing the world accordingly.”

“Prophecies have a funny way of turning out to be truth in my world,” I said.

Moloch lifted one hand, a single finger pointing to the sky. “You have your own set of prophecies that say you will defeat him. So perhaps the key is only that your belief must be stronger than his.”

Deep words, and ones I wished were true. More likely I needed an army that would be able to wipe the demons out; something I did not have. Unless . . . .

“How many demons support you?” I realized if there were enough demons that would go against Orion, we might actually have a chance against him.

“A few hundred. But we will be there, and we will fight at your side, Tracker.” He held out his hand. Slowly, I reached across to him and took his gnarled fingers in my own. Papery dry and soft, his skin felt as though I touched not flesh, but the peeling bark of a tree trunk.

“Moloch, did Orion send you to me?”

A laugh burst out of him as he let my hand go. “Yes, he believes I will bring you to your knees. Which I could.” His eyes twinkled at me. “Look for this mark.” He turned his head to the side and what looked like a faded scar was imprinted on his right cheek. Two parallel vertical lines with a single slash intersecting them. “This is the mark of those who oppose Orion and his plans.”

“Are you going to send me back now?”

“Yes, and I will leave you. And if you don’t mind, try to make sure your friends don’t kill me in my wormy form. I realize it isn’t pretty, but it is my own.”

I stepped back from him, then paused. “Wait. I have a question.”

He bobbed his head.

This was dicey, asking what I needed to ask, it would tip my hand. But if anyone would know if it were possible, I had a feeling it would be Moloch. It wasn’t like I was about to meet another demon I could even partially trust. Still, I didn’t want to throw caution to the wind. I revised my question a split second before I spit it out. “Orion bound the witch, Milly, to him fully, didn’t he? He could sense her, and she could sense him?”

Moloch gave a start. “Yes, he did. Demons love keeping tabs on their pets to make life the worst hell they could. Does that answer help you?”

I nodded. “Yes, thank you.”

The demon in front of me clasped his hands in front of his body, his red eyes boring into mine with an intensity of a razor-sharp blade cutting through me, peeling me open to the world. And then they widened ever so slightly. “Ah, I see what you are about. Dangerous what you would try, but . . . it may work. You are true to your heritage and the strength your people carried. It is an honor to meet you . . . Rylee of the Blood.”

A chill swept through me as he gave me a slow, painful bow, and then the wind picked up, slashing my face with sand particles, forcing my eyes closed.

“She’s moving.”

“Mother goddess, she’s breathing! What happened?”

The voices of those I loved most in the world surrounded me as I came back to myself. “I went for a little walk.” I croaked out the words as if I truly had been in a desert. “Can I get water?”

“I’m on it, boss.” Alex scrambled away, the sound of displays knocked over echoed in the store. Peta lay across my legs in her snow leopard form, her warmth curling through me and her green eyes full of worry. I ran a hand over her head.

“I’m okay.”

Liam held me to him, my back to his chest. “Rylee, what in the hell happened?”

I put a hand to my neck and the bump shifted again, and I jerked out of Liam’s arms, and out from under Peta, to crawl a few feet away from them.

“Don’t touch me and don’t touch what’s about to come out of my neck,” I said. The sound and feel of the back of my neck ripping open sent a gasp through not only me, but everyone else as well.

“Rylee,” Lark said softly, “that looks like a lung burrower. What in the name of the mother goddess is it doing
in you
?”

The slithering demon slipped out of me and off the back of my neck to the floor. I turned and looked at it. Black and gray streaked, Moloch’s “wormy form” looked like nothing more than an overgrown leech as he slid across the floor at a rapid speed.

Pamela raised her hands, the magic coiling around her fingers.

“Stop! I said don’t hurt him.”

Liam looked from me to Pam and back again. “And why aren’t we hurting the leech thing that just slid out the back of your neck?”

Okay, that sounded more like Faris, but I was splitting hairs. Alex stumbled to his knees in front of me and thrust a water bottle into my hands. I unscrewed it and chugged the entire thing, then handed the empty bottle back to him. “Thanks, buddy.”

He gave me a wink. “Anytime, bossy boss.”

Lark crouched in front of me. “What was that?”

“That was a demon. He needed to speak to me, and thought that burrowing under my skin, making me an emotional wreck and an asshole all at once, was the best way to get my attention.”

She arched an eyebrow at me. “And we didn’t kill him because?”

“He’s against Orion, and he’s going to fight with us at the final battle. Along with a few of his friends.”

Lark let out a breath. “You trust him?”

“You saw my heart stop?”

“Yes.”

“He could have finished me right there. Orion sent him to do it.”

Lark paled, and her eyes widened. “Mother goddess.”

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.” I pushed myself to my feet.

I tucked the white tank top into the black stretchy jeans I’d found and proceeded to strap on my weapons one at a time. Double back sheath for my two swords, my whip clipped to my left hip, crossbow slung over my shoulder and adjusted so I could pull my swords, a knife in the sheath at my lower back, a knife strapped to my calf under my right boot, and a quiver of crossbow bolts hanging from my right hip.

Rylee, I’m back. The flying monkeys are all dead, but they seemed to fall apart around the time I reached them. I assume that means Pestilence is taken care of?

Blaz’s voice soothed my nerves for a moment and I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. He’d feel my intentions. “Yes. Taken care of. One down, three nasty motherfuckers to go.”

I looked at those around me and couldn’t help the heat in my face. I’d been a complete ass to Lark and Liam, yet I saw no condemnation in either of them.

“Not your fault, Rylee,” Lark said as if reading my mind. “You can’t always know what’s going to happen to you; especially when facing demons and almost certain death.” She put one hand on my shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze.

I brushed her hand off and let out slow breath. “Fuck. I’m sorry, Lark. I . . . .”

She snorted and shook her head. “Tracker, you remind me so much of . . . I forget you aren’t her. You are stronger than she ever was.” She let out a slow sigh and ran a hand over her face. “Forgive me, for thinking you don’t know what you’re doing. I’m not used to anyone else being able to make things happen. It has always been on my shoulders. It is strange to be asked to trust someone else’s judgment. As to the rest, well, it is forgotten already.” She turned my hand over so it was palm down and then tapped two of her fingers to it.

“What’s that for?”

Her smile slowly lit her face, softening the irritation there only a moment before. “A way of showing respect for someone; you know you are strong enough.”

“Thank you.” The words flowed off my tongue and it was like she said; the fight between us was forgotten. We were a team and we were going to finish Orion together.

“Let’s get this show on the road. We’ve got a kid to grab, demons to kill, and a fucking world to save,” I said.

Liam grinned at me, but in his smile I saw Faris too, and my heart lurched more than a little. Ah, what the hell. I reached for him, grabbed his face, and pulled him too me.

“Welcome back, Adamson.”

“We get a minute alone, and I’ll show you how glad I am to be back.”

Behind us, Lark grunted. “See what I mean, Cactus? Trackers, they’re a lot like ogres.”

I grinned over my shoulder at her. “I’ll take that for a compliment.”

She laughed and smiled back at me. “Oh, it was meant to be. Mating and fighting; if there are only two things you’re good at in this life, I’d put those at the top of the list too.”

Outside, Blaz let out a roar that shook the store.

Incoming humans. Time to leave.

Time to leave, indeed.

CHAPTER 12

RYLEE

WE BAGGED LIAM and Berget up in the black out curtains and dragged them out of the store as the first cop car showed up.

Marco hopped toward us, his wings fluttering. “Give them to me.”

Inside the bag, Faris muttered away. I rolled my eyes. “Quit your bitching or I’ll leave you behind.” There was no real heat in my words. We all knew I wasn’t leaving him. I handed the top of the bag to Marco’s outstretched claw. He leapt into the air, dragging the two vampires with him. A sharp slap came from the bag and I bet Berget let Faris have it again.

Even if she hadn’t, the thought made me smile.

“Freeze. Put your hands in the air!” The female cop on the left called out to us, dragging my attention back to her. I looked up at Blaz.

“You like smashing cars?”

He spun, flicked his tail high into the air, then brought it down hard on top of the police cruiser. The glass exploded and the two cops leapt away from their now useless vehicle. They lay on the ground, their hands covering their heads as the rest of us scrambled onto Eve and Blaz.