The Lord of Near and Nigh: Shifter MC Novel (Pureblood Predator MC Book 2) (47 page)

I wait until the Dog-god vanishes with my son, then move to stand between the five I’ve some to rescue, flap my wings and rise into the air and howl, long and plaintive, a howl of mourning and summoning, and a flash of white fire descends from the sky, burning through me, singing my fur and turning my mouth to ash, and the white fire flows from me into them, a brilliant glowing white radiance that is the gift of life channeled through me, the All Encompassing, Chaos and Order and still more than both, The Third Way, the Union. White fire explodes from my eyes and nose and mouth until it becomes all that I am, sears me raw, and then it’s gone as quickly as it appeared, and in my weakness I fall to the ground, shivering, so tired I can scarcely breath.

The black and yellow wasp buzzes into the air, lands on my shoulder…and stings.

***

I wake on my side, clutching my burning stomach, retching, the flaming helicopter’s acrid gasoline and melting rubber reek filling my nose.

“Lil?”

Strong hands on my shoulders.
 

“Lil it’s me Trish are you all right?”

“Trish? I can’t—”

“Course she’s not all right,” a hard voice says. Aaron. “She’s vomiting blood, for fuck sake.”

“Everyone? Oh god. How long was I—”

“A few seconds at most,” Mia says. “We’re here, Lil. Still with you.”
 

“Where am I? I can’t…oh god…I can’t see…and my son—”

“What?” Trish says, her voice growing even more worried. “Lachlan? What happened to—”
 

“I can’t
see
. He took my—Trish are you all right? Your wound?”

“I’m fine, Lil. Hear me? I don’t know…but somehow I’m fucking
fine
.”

I breathe a sigh of relief and push to my knees. Blink against the blackness. Hear a gurgling, wheezing breath a few paces to my left.
 

August Lerrick. The Betrayer.
 

“And the others?” I say, my voice rising in panic. “The…ones August murdered?”

“We’re here,” a quiet voice answers. I recognize the man’s voice, even though I’ve never heard it before. Soft. Tinged with sadness. But strong all the same, with none of the blustering, arrogant edge most strong men possess. “You returned us, didn’t you?” the quiet man whispers. “You brought us back.”

“Anik?”

“Yes.”

“Oh god…” I reach a hand to my face, touch my eyes. “Trish? Trish! Tell me…what you see.”

“Your eyes, Lil,” Trish says. “They’re white. Bone white. What happened? Are you—”

“Blind,” I say, tears streaming down my cheeks as I cradle my empty belly. He stole from me. The Dog-god. He fucking
stole
my unborn son from me. He will be made to suffer—
 

August wheezes. He’s laughing.

“Whoever she met extracted a price to return you,” Aaron says. “It better be worth it.”
 

Aaron’s looking at Anik as he says those last word’s. I hear the threat in his voice.
 

But he has no idea how much I’ve sacrificed.
 

The darkness is everything. But within there are sounds and scents.
 

I’m not completely helpless.
 

I smell August’s rich black blood.
 

Feel my animal demanding his death.
 

“And the others?” I ask, lowering my head. “Are all returned?”

“Yes,” Anik says.

“Not…my sister. Not Star.”

“I know, Connor,” I say, suddenly despairing. “She was too far gone. There was nothing I could do.”

I see a few blurry shapes move within the blackness. My vision’s returning, but slowly.
 

“We must find our fourth packmate,” I say, my voice hardening as I think on what comes next. “But first: murder the Betrayer,” I command those I returned from the dead. “Murder your murderer.”

“Brother…are you sure?”
 

A child’s voice. The one named Pimniq.
 

“Yes,” Anik says. “The All Encompassing has spoken.”

The choking wheeze beside me grows louder.
 

August is trying to scream.

There’s a snapping sound as bones shift, then a deep growl, and the scent filling my nose is crisp and cool…no, not cool, it’s
cold
, icy, sharp as shattered ice.
 

A raven’s call. Then a quick, angry buzzing sound.
 

They’re with me. Three of my pack.
 

All but one of the Risen united against the First Fallen and his black-blooded hordes.

“Holy fucking hell,” Tate stammers.

August’s wheezing becomes a panicked gasp. The buzzing sound grows louder, then a crunch of jaws snapping bone and the heady smell of black blood and pierced intestines as my pack feeds on August’s dying corpse.
 

“Aaron?” Mia says. She sounds nervous. “I think it’s time we bamos the fuck out of here.”

“I won’t abandon her again, Mia. We’re bloodmates. You get that? She’s weak and tired and blind. I won’t go.”

If he only knew. What I’ve done.
 

How much
he’s
lost.

“They’ll kill us, Aaron,” Mia says, fear sharpening her voice. “Look at the fucking bear! He’s not a Pureblood. He can
feed
on our kind, Aaron.”

“He’s magnificent, isn’t he?” I say, remembering the giant three-eyed white bear lying at the bottom of the ravine in my vision. “He won’t harm you. Unless you anger him.”

“That’s scant fucking consolation,” Mia says.

“Trish?” I say.

“Yeah, hun?”

“Lift me to my feet. Hold me. And don’t move. I want to feel my packmates.”

Trish slips her hands under my arms, raises me to my feet. My knees give out, forcing me to lean heavily into her. I take several long breaths, then raise a hand and say, “Come to me.”

There’s a rumbling growl so powerful it shakes the ground under us.
 

“Come to me, Tornarsuk. I will not harm you.”

The bear’s paws scratch at the ground.

Trish begins trembling.

“Come to me. I want to know you.”

Downy soft fur brushes against my fingertips, then a cold, wet nose and I feel the bear’s breath hot in my face. “Yes, brother,” I say in a slow, calming voice. “I will never hurt you. Then I turn to Trish and say, “Tell me what you see.”

“A…a fucking
giant
,” Trish stammers. “His paws alone, Lil…they’re as wide as a man’s chest.”

“Anything else?”

“He has three…three shining black eyes.”

“Yes.”

I hold out my arm and call for Pimniq. The white raven’s talons press into me as her weight settles heavy on my weakened arm. I stoke her feathers, cooing softly. Then the third, the Lost Soul, the Black Swarm, arrives. Her buzzing grows louder in my ears, blocking out all sound.

“Jesus Lil they’re everywhere…” Trish says, shivering heavily now, panic mounting.

“Do not move,” I tell Trish. “They sound like…bees?”

“Wasps. Millions of them. They stripped August’s skin while the other two tore him apart.”

My creature senses her kin. She’s slamming against her cage, begging to be freed. But I’m becoming better at controlling her, and losing my eyesight actually seems to help…I feel more connected to her somehow, less a part of this world.
 

The buzzing stops.

“Is he dead?” I ask.

“Well fucking dead,” Aaron says, an odd mix of awe and hatred in his voice. “Come with me, Lil. Lets find your son.”

I start, thinking he means our unborn child. Then I remember.

Lachlan.
 

Born before Aaron’s mark awakened the creature beneath my skin.

“Yes,” I say, leaning into Trish, “It’s time—”

“Wait! Lily!” Connor says. He sounds…out of breath. But also haughty and arrogant. Like he still has a card up his sleeve—

I turn to the sound of his voice and say, “You failed me. You
lied
to me.”

“I didn’t lie! I didn’t know. You heard my father. He…tricked me. I really thought…I’m so sorry, Lil. I was—”

“You lied,” I repeat, clenching my fists. “You said killing the First Fallen would banish my creature, Connor. You said it would right the upturned world. End the killing. But she’s still here.”

“I was lied
to
…my father…he told me he was the First Fallen. But he wasn’t.”

“No shit,” Mia hisses.
 

“Shut the fuck up, rich boy,” Aaron says.

I sense movement to my left. “Aaron no!”

But too late. I hear Aaron’s fist slam into Connor’s face with a sickening crunch.
 

Connor’s breath escape his lungs in a pained whoosh.
 

“Leave him alone,” I scream.

“This is his doing!” Aaron shouts. “Connor brought us here. I don’t care what he did or didn’t know. Fuck him, Lily. Ride with me. This madness is
over
.”

“It’s not over,” Connor says, his voice strained. “My father lied. He was not the First Fallen. But he was close to him. He was his packmate. His—”

“VP,” Mia says with a hiss.
 

“Yes.” Connor pauses, then says, “I believed my father’s lies because he was so powerful. To rob us of our animals! And then the signs began, the storms, the tides, the Blood Moon…and I believed him when he told me it was his doing. He promised me a place in the next age. The Age of Discord. I told him no. I refused him! You have to believe me! So he turned against me.”

“Did your father tell you to send me to Aaron?” I ask.

“Yes,” Connor says, his voice muted.

“Ha,” Mia sneers. “How do like that, Prez? You have the rich prick to thank for your blind date.”

“Bullshit,” Aaron says. “Lily was—”

“No, it’s true,” I say. “He sent me to your bar, Aaron. Told me to meet him there. It wasn’t an accident.”

“Fucker nearly got us both killed,” Trish says, her muscles tensing as she holds me.

“We have to find him, Lily,” Connor says. “The First Fallen. He must be stopped.”

Conner’s hand grazes my forearm, then Trish smacks him away.

“You have to believe me, Lil,” Connor says. “Please! It’s not too late—”
 

“No,” Aaron says. “She’s finished fighting your wars. Listening to you nearly got us killed.”

“What was true before my father’s death is true now as well, Lily,” Connor continues. “The First Fallen is rising. You feel him! He’s not free from his cage yet. But it won’t be long, and when he’s free he’ll come looking for you and yours. Your pack isn’t united. You can’t stand against him without the full force of the united Risen. We have to find your fourth sibling and destroy the First Fallen.”

Aaron grips my arm. Hard.
 

I smell his scent, the warmth of sunshine lighting across a morning forest. I want to be with him. Need to be. “The punk motherfucker’s lying, Lil,” Aaron growls. “Can’t you see that? Lying’s all he knows. Fuck! He lied to you already. Why should you trust him?”

“Why should she trust
you
?” Connor says, his voice becoming razor sharp.

“What? Because I didn’t try to murder her.”

“But you did. Your pack hunted down her family.”

Silence, cool and heavy, descends over me.
 

“What are you saying, Connor?” I ask, very slowly.

“He’s
lying
,” Aaron hisses in my ear.

“Let him speak!” I scream.

Aaron’s hand slips from my arm.
 

“Tell her, One-Eight-Seven. Tell your bloodmate who murdered her mother.”

My blood runs cold. The hair on my nape stands on end.
 

“What is he saying, Aaron?” I whisper.

“Tell her,” Connor says, “since you’re making claims about who she should trust.”

“Aaron? What’s he—”

“She was a Skin, Lil,” Aaron says quietly. “I didn’t know. We weren’t hunting her. She was just…in the way. We were after—”
 

Rage as thick and bitter as bile rises in my throat.
 

“
You
murdered my mother?”

“He did,” Connor says, sounding like a smug little boy.

“Silence!” I scream, then I turn to stare at Aaron. I don’t need to see his face to know if my bloodmate’s lying. I’ll hear it in his voice. “Is it true, Aaron? Did you murder my mother?”

Silence.
 

Then a single word: “Yes.”
 

Aaron’s voice is flat and even, but I know he’s struggling to hold back his grief and despair. It’s the way with him: cold and removed on the outside, but a cauldron of broiling emotion inside.
 

“When…did you know I was her daughter?”
 

“Not until you returned my mark. And even then…I wasn’t sure.”

“He’s a
monster
, Lily,” Trish whispers in my ear. “A fucking butcher.”

“Aaron, let’s go. Now!” Mia yells.

“We were hunting a Stricken, Lil. A
powerful
Stricken, capable of corrupting a Pureblood’s heart. Capable of turning red blood to black. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. It was so long ago.”

“Sarah Thompson,” I say. “My mother’s name was Sarah Thompson.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry—”

“It wasn’t that long ago. For a man who’s lived for millennia…it was only yesterday.”

“I’m so sorry—”

“I found her. Did you know that?” I say, my voice rising in fury as I take a step away from Trish. My skin is burning, smoking. “I saw my mother’s blood leaking onto the patio when I came home from school. Pushed the front door open. I saw what
you
did. I was only a little girl. You destroyed my childhood. You destroyed my
life
.”

“I didn’t know. I swear it.”

“How many lives has he ruined, Lil?” Connor says. “Him and his pack of murdering outlaws. You’ve seen them. You know what they are. They kill without remorse. Brutally. And they’ll continue to murder and kill—”
 

“Please forgive me, Lil. Please.”

“I wish I could,” I say, my voice growing raspy from the heat burning my lungs. “But I can’t. And I never will.”

“Lily look out he’s cha—” Trish yells.