Keepers & Killers (The Alchemy Series) (15 page)

The
Fae chanted sounds I'd never heard as I stared at an enemy I could never have imagined. I'd come a hell of a long way in my life to die now. Abandoned to a foster care system, to living on the streets and mugging people to get by and some shimmering shit was going to take me out because I told a friend a couple of things to protect her. Was there even a God? Why hadn't I been killed when I'd robbed and stolen from innocents? I turned my life around and tried to do the right thing and now I'm going to die? What kind of bullshit rules were these?

T
he shimmering just intensified. So much so, I started to wonder if they weren't doing more harm than good. Maybe the Fae were trying to actually take me out. I eyed them with suspicion, now. No, Cormac wouldn't have brought me here if he thought there was even a chance they'd screw me. As strange as it seemed, I trusted Cormac. Never thought I would, but life is sometimes stranger than fiction. Looking at the sparkling reaper above my head proved it. I'd never imagine Death to look all sparkly, like a fifteen year old's eye shadow.

And then it began its slow creep toward me. And only me. From the way it was winding down, I
'd say their chants were doing didley squat.

"Okay fairy dust, let
's see what you've got. I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve too."

The pain didn
't come immediately. In a weird way, I almost felt as if it were playing with me. It was a slight tingle here and there. The kind you would get from a low charge battery. But it didn't stay that way for long. Soon, it began to feel like cigarette burns; I looked down as one touched my arm but it didn't leave a mark. Then it felt like cigar sized burns and those didn't come and go as quickly.

I felt the eyes of Cormac and the Fae on me and I tried to keep my dignity but with each moment I felt closer to the edge. By time it got to about fifty burns at once, all staying in place for almost a minute, I had to bite my cheek to keep from crying out.

My eyes were watering to a dangerous level, if I wanted to try and die like a true bad ass. I tried to breathe through the pain and realized that breathing through stuff is crap. The only good thing it might accomplish is passing out from hyperventilation. I started sucking wind. In these kinds of situations, I guess you take whatever you can get.

As the shimmering mist grew thicker around me, I saw Cormac break ranks as he tried to force his way in. It looked like he was trying to wade through hardening cement from where I watched. I was relieved
, in one sense. I wasn't going to be able to hold it together much longer and the thick haze was starting to block out my vision of them and everything else around me, cocooning me in pain. At least I'd be dead when they saw me next and not writhing around in agony, begging for mercy.

But man, I
'd been alone my whole life. I didn't want to die alone. If somehow I made it, I didn't want to live alone anymore either. Not being able to remain standing under the crushing pain, I fell to my knees, knowing no one would see my final defeat. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the way the desert night sky looked when you got far away from the city lights. I should have told Cormac, I wanted to be buried out there somewhere.

A cool tingle around my ankle, in contrast to the burning, startled me. At first, I thought it was going to begin a new type of pain. It didn
't. I looked down to find the same silver mist ribbon I had seen the night Cormac and Vitor had broken the contract. 

And somehow, I sensed it wanted to help. I reached a few fingers out to it, not having the strength to lift my arm, and it grew in a long stream
, slowly stretching and wrapping around them, similar to a toddler's grasp of your finger.

"Help me." I didn
't know if it could, but I had a strong feeling it wanted to.

It weaved its way closer to my face and…nuzzled me? Yes, that was the only way it could be explained. It started to grow. I didn
't know where the mass came from but it grew larger and larger as I watched, pushing back at the shimmering haze that was causing me so much pain. It pressed the haze back further and further. With each inch, the pain receded with it. Then it was gone. The shimmering haze, the white mist…both.

Cormac was there by my side less than a second later. When Cormac went to lift me, I g
ave him a look. We were on shaky ground with most of these Fae. This wasn't the time to show weakness. He backed off, but not all the way. He'd honor my request…to a degree. His hand on my elbow took more of my weight than one would imagine.

"What did you do?" Burrom asked.

The Fae all looked on me warily. Did I think the Fae would turn on us? No, not really. Did they have ties with the wolves that would? One hundred percent. In this instance though, an exaggerated truth might serve better than a lie.

"I called for help."

"From who? There is no one here."

"No one you can see. I don
't know what name you have for them, but I call them…" what the hell do I call them? Holy shit, come up with something cool quick before you look like a total fraud. "Magic Tethers. They are the silver ribbon strands that attach magic to this Earthly plane." Damn, I wish I could pat myself on the back because I was good! I saw a glint of humor in Cormac's eyes but other than that slight crinkle, he was pure stone.

"And how do you talk to them? How is that even possible?"

"I have no explanation. For me, it as if I were talking to you. No difference." I scanned the Fae, all clumped together near Burrom now, and saw in their faces, I'd risen in their estimation. I'd just done… well, I didn't know exactly what, but it was pretty damn cool.

"We
've got to get back," Cormac said as he ushered me off the roof, not wanting to answer questions any more than I did about what just happened.

"You okay?" he asked softly as we headed down the stairs alone.
The Fae had opted to stay on the roof, I'm sure to gossip about yours truly.

"I
'm not dead," was all I said, all the relief I felt poured into those three words.

Now that I wasn
't about to die, the anger I felt from the wolves when we stepped into the main bar room was apparent and slightly overwhelming. It didn't seem to bother Cormac as he strode through the crowd with the arrogance of being untouchable, and no one tried to stop us as we left.

When we stepped outside, I realized we weren
't out of the woods yet when I saw the group of approximately thirty wolves, who stood between us and Cormac's car. Uggh, didn't these people realize I'd already filled my almost getting killed quota for the day? No more shit, at least not until I got a good nap in.

I heard a rustle behind me and turned to see that all the wolves from inside had followed us out. No nap for me.

"This is not the time," Cormac said in a voice that would make any sane being run for the hills.

"This is exactly the time," the obvious leader of the group said. Nope,
I guess not so sane. "I've heard some very disturbing things. Things that need to be answered."

Cormac looked to me, trying to gauge what I had left in me. I was starting to understand how Cormac thought. Appease the wolves for my sake or take them on because it
's what he really wanted to do. I shrugged, effectively telling him to have at it. He didn't look convinced I had that much left in the tank.

"Answers you aren
't going to get until I'm ready to give them. Now I'd step away from my car before I make you."

"Really
? You think you are that good?"

"I know I am."

And then they stared at each other like two men who didn't want to lose face but didn't want to fight either. Cormac wasn't scared of a fight. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd punched his mother's doctor on his way out of the womb. This other scraggly wolf guy? My senses told me he was bluffing. He was scared of Cormac. I couldn't even think poorly of him for it. If I were him, I'd be scared too.

But none of this helped my situation or got me to a bed any sooner
, so I decided to take things into my own hands. Not that I wanted to deprive Cormac his fun, but I was wiped.

I stepped forward, and placed myself in front of Cormac, which he didn
't care for one iota but I gave him my bitchiest I'm in charge right now stare before I turned back to the top dog in charge.

"Listen buddy, I
've had a really long day and you are standing in between me and my beauty sleep. All this doesn't just happen on its own." Normally that statement would've made sense since I was an attractive girl, but standing there as I looked now just recently back from the edge of death, I couldn't quite pull it off. "I usually look much better, but whatever, you can either agree to set something up later where you can discuss your concerns or I can make you kneel at my feet in agony."

He decided to take a step in my direction. I had a feeling he was having an issue with backing down
from a woman, especially in front of all the other wolves looking on.

I was
getting ready to go all super Alchemist ninja when a pair of hands around my waist moved me to the side.

"Cormac, I
'm telling you, I've got this!" I said as he moved in front of me.

He ignored me as he took t
he lead wolf in his grip and dangled him a foot off the ground. I heard an inhuman growl and I didn't think it was coming from the wolf in his hands.

There
were still a healthy amount of them left. If he was going to pick through them one at a time, this could take a while.

Knowing we hadn
't opened a wormhole in a while, I figured it was safe to play around. I just prayed a bystander didn't pop his head in as I concentrated my energy on starting one not even five feet from us.

"Excuse me," I said, to get the few heads that hadn
't turned after it opened, to look. Play nice or that's your new home."

Cormac dropped the
wolf, who fell to his knees before he stood. I probably should have kept my eyes on the wormhole. I might have known why the guys all ran then, but hey, I was the queen of opening up portals. I didn't need to look.

When their faces all dropped, I thought they were in awe of my wormhole skil
ls. It wasn't until Cormac yelled to shut it that I realized something else was amiss. The biggest, ugliest creature I'd ever seen was walking through the wormhole I'd just created. It was at least ten feet tall and had leathery skin that glistened. No eyes but various marble looking black orbs all over its head spaced a couple of inches apart.

"Shut it,
" Cormac said again, and nudged me jolting me from my shock.

I felt a twinge of guilt as I shut the portal
, knowing I'd probably just killed whatever that was, but who could take the chance? Even with no visible mouth to be seen, I swear it had been sneering at us.

I scanned the alley a few times to reassure myself it was indeed gone. "What the hell was that?"

"No clue, but the wolves are gone," Cormac said as we stood in the alley.

"You know, I had them on the ropes, even without the monster."

"I swear you are going to be the death of me."

Chapter Eleven

"Are you going to tell me how you managed to survive last night?" Cormac asked as he handed me a latte
as I sat up in bed. Thank God he didn't sit on the bed with me. I was still trying to process the kiss. Currently, we were both acting like it hadn't happened.

"I told you what happened. I don
't know how I did it any more than you do. Wish I did."

Cormac leaned his shoulder against the wall, an intense look in his icy blue eyes.

"Where's Lacey?" I asked, not ready to talk about the elephant in the room.

"Lacey is safely away from here with her family."

"Where?"

"Are you sure you want to know? I wish I didn
't, but Dodd told me before I could stop him."

I thought about it for a minute and said no. If the
senator had some sort of ability of mind control, like it seemed he did, it wasn't safe. Just because he hadn't controlled mine yet didn't mean he couldn't. The less people that knew, the better. I was relieved and saddened at the same time that Lacey was gone.

"Does she and her family have enough to start over?"

"More than enough." He took a sip of his own latte, the look still there but I guess he wasn't looking to rush into a conversation about us either. "The wolves called. They want a sit down."

"And?"

"I told them we'd meet them in an hour, neutral location."

"We?"

"We are partners, aren't we?" A small smile flashed across his face before he left.