The Lord of Near and Nigh: Shifter MC Novel (Pureblood Predator MC Book 2) (46 page)

His wounds are almost healed.
 

“Kill him, Lil,” Mia says from my side. “He’s a Minion. One of the original Stricken. He’s grown too powerful for us.”

My creature flees as August feeds and grows stronger.
 

“Yes, Lily,” August sneers, rising from his daughter’s mutilated corpse. “Summon your animal and kill me.”

Shitballs.
 

She’s not with me. The useless bitch. She’s abandoned me to this monster.
 

“Lily?” Mia says. “Lily!”

August takes a step toward me.
 

His face is smeared in black blood, but his expression is calm and unhurried.
 

Something burns on my shoulder.
 

Aaron’s mark.
Her
mark.
 

Come to me,
I silently plead.
Come to me.

There’s a snapping sensation at the base of my spine. The pain is excruciating, but then I feel something spring from me, like a new limb, and as I open my mouth to scream August leaps at me, his long crystal claws reaching for my neck—

Something long and thin and sharp pierces August’s eye, drives through his head, stopping him in his tracks.
 

It’s August Lerrick’s turn to scream.
 

I look up, see a long, segmented red scorpion tail arcing over my head, ending in a foot-long barbed spike. My creature thrashes inside of me, driven insane by the reek of August’s blood.
 

It’s blood she recognizes.
 

Blood she’s yearned to taste for millennia.

August reaches up, wraps both hands around my stinger and tries to draw it from his head.
 

My poison courses into him, weakening him, and as he dies the creature in me grows stronger, her white heat burning through me, and I know her hatred and thirst for death has no end, and I know if I loose her she’ll wreak vengeance on every living creature in this world, murdering all that moves, until at last, when the world is dead, she’ll turn and feed upon herself.
 

“The Betrayer,” I say in a voice that is not my own.
 

Aaron and the other two Purebloods scream at the sound of my voice, crumple to their knees, cover their ears.

My creature smiles at their suffering. They will be next.
 

I slip my stinger from August’s eye and stab it into his black heart, again and again. Each time he staggers back and the gaping hole in his chest widens and more of my poison floods into him.
 

Then he’s on his knees, his single uninjured eye staring at his chest, mouth open in horror.
 

I stride to him.

Slow. Unhurried.

Grip his silver hair. Twist his head so he can see the bodies of my murdered packmates.
 

“I want you to know you’ve failed,” I say.
 

August winces at the sound of my voice.

The helicopter’s fuel tank bursts into flame, and when I look down I see silver fur lining my arms and feel my powerful wings arcing over my back.
 

I drive my stinger through August Lerrick’s throat, then plunge my claws through his chest, tear out his beating black heart and bring it to my lips. August watches as I feed on him, then collapses onto his side, still clinging to life.
 

“I want you to understand the truth,” I say, leaning over him. “I am the All Encompassing. Death and life. Chaos and order.”

August stares at me in horror as he breathes his last few breaths.
 

This is not the heroic ending he imagined for himself.
 

I drop him and walk to the bodies of my fallen packmates. My creature rages with bloodlust, commanding me to murder the ones still living. But I ignore her.
 

I am the other half of her. Lily Thompson the pathetic Skin.
 

The righteous half. The just half.
 

Without me she’d be nothing more than a monster, like Kusch or August.

I kneel over Trish and my fallen packmates, close my eyes and lift my head to the sky. He’s near. The spirit-eater. Drawn by August’s death and my creature’s Becoming. He’s not my ally. I understand that now. I have no allies.
 

I am my own Keeper.
 

I scream so loud the earth shakes. Connor’s glass mansion shudders.
 

The windows crack and groan, then explode outward, showering the lawn with shards of glass.

A mournful howl greets my scream. Then another. And another.
 

The spirit-eater’s pack draws near.
 

Only this time I’m ready. This time…I’m hunting
him
.

***

 
I’m running through a dark wood, hunting, on the scent of something I can’t name, not a kill but something much worse, my lost packmates, my dying kin. I race through an icy stream, the water cold against my paws, then up a sandy bank and through a tangle of leafless alder and into silent old growth, the moss thick beneath me, they’re close now, and then I leap through boulder field and down a narrow, rocky ravine, smelling the animals who call this forest home, smelling the ancient, ageless dance of life and death, love and hatred, and there they are, my two siblings and my niece, a beautiful white bear with three glowing smokey-black eyes and a sparkling white raven and a black and yellow speckled wasp, all laying still on the the damp ground at the bottom of the ravine.
 

There are two more.
 

A woman with pale skin and luxurious golden red hair.
 

And a man with the decadent beauty of a prince.

This place. It feels…familiar.
 

I look ahead through the narrow ravine. In the far distance there’s a mountain cliff, and carved into the cliff are cells, and within each cell an animal rages.
 

Animal spirits. Dead on earth and trapped in this shadowy half-realm between life and death. Imprisoned by the spirit-eater.
 

Wasting away in this—

Bloodless Land.
 

Then I notice a stranger lying a few yards away. A woman I don’t recognize. One I must kill. A Skin, her belly cut open. Red blood dampening the moss. Her scent is foul, like the Scent of every wretched Skin.
 

She doesn’t belong in this land.
 

She must be destroyed.
 

I run to my packmates, my breath quick in my ears, sadness and fury thick in my throat, resolved to kill the Skin woman before attending to my pack. But as I stand over her I realize she’s not a stranger. She’s not family…but she’s become like family. A friend. Someone I trust. I can’t put a name to her face or remember her other life, but I know she’s important. There’s a great war ahead, and this Skin woman has a role in helping my pack win that war.
 

I pause, sniff the air and paw at the ground, uncertain.

Taking a Skin into the pack violates natural law. It may destroy me and those who depend on me. But I refuse to abandon this woman in this cold, dark ravine.
 

“Let her go, Lily,” a man says from the shadows of the ravine. “She shouldn’t be here. She’s not like us.”

I turn to face this man as he emerges from the shadows. It’s the spirit-eater. The dog-faced god. The one who told me I am my own Keeper.
 

“Opiyelguabiran?” I say, backing away a few steps.

The spirit-eater smiles. “Welcome back to our humble home, my love.”

“The Bloodless Land.”

He smiles. “It’s bloody enough for me. As it was for you, once.”

I close my eyes. Try and think back.
 

“You don’t remember? Your cell? The one I freed you from?” He nods toward the imprisoned animal spirits and says, “That was your home. The Cliff of Cages. Until you made a
promise
.”
 

“What…do you want?”

Opiyelguabiran smiles. A thousand hungry red eyes glow around him, his dogs emerging from their dens in the boulder-strewn ravine, snarling and growling at me and my packmates. “I want what was promised, Lily. I want you returned as my queen.”

“No. I have…purpose. They depend on me. Need me.”

“Who? The warm?” The Dog-god laughs and snaps his fingers. “Their lives are over in an instant. They mean nothing. Here, at my side, you are truly eternal.”

“I remember,” I say, “how we hunted.”

“Yes. The spirit-season was bountiful. It will be bountiful again. For both of us.”

“I was called.”

The Dog-god’s face twists in derision. “You
chose
to abandon me. Broke your vow. And for what? For that miserable wreck of bone and blood and base desire.”

“Aaron Arud,” I whisper.
 

Opiyelguabiran nods, his expression turning hard. “Yes.”

The mark on my shoulder begins stinging.
 

My bloodmate’s mark.

“But not only for him,” I say.

“No.” Opiyelguabiran glances at the Cliff of Cages. “He’s still there, you know. Still thrashing in his iron-barred cell.”

“Vuk.”

“Yes. But not for long. Soon he’ll be free. You are not the only skilled negotiator to make me an offer I can’t refuse.”

“You will permit him return to the Warm Land?”

“If he holds his end of the bargain, yes.”

“Then you understand why I must return to the warm. My brother must die. Human
and
animal. This time, both must die.”
 

Spotted black-and-tan dogs emerge from the shadows, stalking toward us. “You
will
return to me,” the Dog-god says, “one way or the other. I promise you.”

“Perhaps I will rule the Warm Land for a thousand years,” I say, flapping my wings and rising a few inches off the ground.

“Perhaps. And here that time will pass in the blink of an eye. You forget how patient I am?”

“Release them,” I say. “All of them.”

“And if I refuse?”

“There is a land for murdered gods.”

Opiyelguabiran raises his hands in surrender. “Life and death. Order and chaos. You cannot be all things at all times, Lily. Not even the All Encompassing is capable of such a thing. It violates natural law.”

“Release them to me.”

The Dog-god looks at the scattered corpses. “For a price, my betrothed. All but the eagle. She’s beyond even my grasp.”

Star
. The name comes to me from a hidden recess of my mind.
 

Murdered and consumed by her father.

“And the Skin?”

The Dog-god shrugs. “She’s none of my concern. You carried her here. Take her with you.”

I steel my will and ask, “What are your terms?”
 

The Dog-god grins. Black-feathered wings flutter behind him. “The gods of earth rise and fall. How much arrogance and pride and vanity have I suffered through with the birth and passing of each age’s infant god? I cannot refuse what you seek, but I am free to extract just payment. It’s lonely without you at my side. I desire…someone to pass the days with. Someone to teach. Your time among the warm has gifted you with child. Already he grows within you. That child is mine. Your son and I will wait for your return. Call it a guarantee, if you need be so crude.”

I freeze, run my hands over my belly and think of Lachlan.
 

But no. Lachlan’s a grown boy.
 

“My child? You demand…my child?”

“Yes. The gift of life. The one power I’ve never known…except through you.”

“Who is…” But my voice fades into silence. I know who the father is. Then I firm my lips and say, “Never.”

“Then your packmates remain in the Bloodless Land. Dead to you.”

“You fucking bastard!”

“Yes, yes. It’s terribly unjust, the weakness of the living. You should know better than to love them. They will let you down. Betray you. Abandon you. Inevitably. So forget them. Let them remain with me. Return to our land, my queen, so we may rule unchallenged.”

“Unchallenged?”

A shadow flickers across the Dog-god’s face.

“You’re afraid of something,” I say.

“Do you consent to my terms?”

I look at the bodies scattered at my feet. I know them, yet they’re strangers. Why abandon my unborn child for them?
 

“I know what you’re afraid of,” I say, lifting my chin to face the Dog-god square-on. “You’re afraid of me.”

“Do you consent?”

“Yes,” I whisper.

Opiyelguabiran nods. “Everyone consents. Everyone believes the bargain will be worth it. Raising the lost from the grave. Stealing a loved one from death’s grasp. Such immense power! And they all return to me on their knees, begging me to retract my rightful payment. You are no different.”

“So be it.”

Opiyelguabiran steps forward.
 

Lays a clawed hand on my belly.

I recoil, dig my fingernails into my sides to prevent myself from striking him.

“Yes, Lily,” he whispers, running his hand over my belly. “I feel the warmth in you. Such a wonderful gift…to bear new life.”

I bite my lip and stifle the urge to scream.
 

His touch is cold. Brutally cold.
 

The cold seeps into me, freezing my skin, numbing my midsection. The Dog-god’s eyes are blue-black as he pours his bloodless chill into me, and then a pale blue halo surrounds us and my breath is visible in the cold air and the ground beneath my feet cracks as it freezes and I’m burning with horrible bone-deep cold and then the Dog-god steps slowly away, cradling a tiny, wailing half-born infant in his arms.
 

A sob breaks from my throat.
 

My son. My
second
son. Lost to me.
 

Opiyelguabiran bows and retreats into the shadows. “Yes, my queen. So be it. Enjoy your living warmth while it lasts. The Bloodless Land awaits your return. Your
son
await your return.”