Nephilius - A Walker Saga Book 5 (32 page)

“We’re coming in on the side of the castle.”
Brace lowered his voice. “The guards are around.”

We’d
be
en running for miles. Luckily we were
supernatural creatures now.

“They’re going to freak when they catch
sight of Colt.” Lucy snorted out a few giggle noises.

A
nd right then the wolf slowed
before stopping. We came up next to him.

“Colt says that the trail disappears here.
So either they’re standing somewhere in this vicinity invisible, or
they’ve hidden their scent.” Brace stood next to his best
friend.

Lucy was on
the other side of the wolf, one of her hands threaded through the
thick fur. “Well
, at least Colt has his
scent now. If he comes around again we’ll know.”

“Why did you chase him anyways?” I asked the
giant wolf. “I know it’s wrong seeing a creeper at the window, but
you chased him like the man had seen Lucy naked.”

At Lucy’s cough I swung my head around.

“Really, Luce? In the front room.”

Those two
were a hot mess. Fighting one minute and loving the next.
Oh
, well, it would never be boring in
their house.

“
I wasn’t
naked.” Lucy defended herself. “Well
, not
completely.”

She winked at me; I shook my head.

“Will you two be okay for a minute?” Brace
said. “I need to get Colt some clothes.”

At my nod, he kissed me on the cheek and
left.

The wolf
stayed right between us while Brace was gone, his head flicking
left and right as he sensed things that we
were unaware of. Lucy and I just chatted
quietly.

“
So have
you
seen
much about Ria and Lucas?” Those two fascinated me. It made
sense and yet how could it possibly work?

“
I just see
them together
. Their auras intertwine
with each other the same way that the gold links you and
Brace.”

“
You can see
that?” I stared at her wide
-eyed.

She nodded. “Occasionally, when things get
emotional.”

I opened my
vision to include the energy around us and held my
breath
, hoping I would see the truth. I
had nothing to worry about. There were ties between Lucy and
Colton. They were green and white. Sparkling, shimmering and
drawing those two souls toward each other.

“
You and
Colt have energy ties as well
,” I said
with a smile.

“I know.” She dropped down to burrow her
cheek into her wolf. Right near his face. “Colt’s my other half.”
Lifting her face again she focused on me.

“Are you really going to reform the melding
bond?”

Colt gave a soft growl at this. “He’s a
little annoyed that I didn’t tell him.” Lucy’s grin went almost
from one side of her face to the other. She loved tormenting
Colton.

“
Josian
wants me to talk to the lalunas, make sure that nothing crazy is
going to happen. But yes, I think your vision was
wrong
. I’ve never felt weaker since
breaking our bond.”

I sounded a little defensive. Lucy held up
her hands.

“No judging, Abbs, I’m inclined to dismiss
most of the planted visions.” Her brow furrowed. “I just wish some
of them hadn’t come true. Leaves a small parcel of doubt.”

I had a thought. “Maybe the lalunas can tell
us if the visions were legitimate.”

Lucy shrugged. “Worth a try, but I’m not
owing those creepy little nuts a favor.” She shuddered. “I have
nightmares thinking about what they could demand from you.”

“
Word
,” I said. I was totally
feeling that sentiment. “But Josian trusts them, so I’m sure it
can’t be too bad.”

Wishful thinking there.

I had another thought. “Didn’t Malisna say
that the fey or faerie land was somewhere near the castle? Do you
think … maybe your visitor was …” I trailed off.

A few varied
emotions crossed her face – fear, intrigue, relief and curiosity
were all present – before finally she lowered her eyes to stare at
the ground. “I felt something strange when the man was close. I
don’t know
, Abbs, but a spy from faerie
land … well, that’s as good an explanation as any right
now.”

I studied her face closely, so different
now, and yet still as familiar as my own reflection. “So how else
have you changed since your powers were unlocked?”

We hadn’t
had much chance to really chat about it. I felt as if we were
losing bits and pieces of the closeness we used to
have
. We used to sit for hours every
night chatting at the compound. And now, well, we were lucky to
have an hour a week for conversation.

She dug her
fingers deeper into Colton
. She was
almost lying across him. “Well, I have wings –”

She stopped as I snorted and rolled my eyes
at the same time.

“I meant besides the obvious.”

She grinned at me. “Just wanted to make sure
you hadn’t forgotten. Other than that my senses have kicked up an
awesome notch; hearing, sight, smell all heightened.” She glanced
down at her wolf. “Even taste and touch.”

Colton growled, but this time it was like a
purring rumble.

“
I sometimes
sense things just before they
’re about to
happen, like if there’s a knock at the door, I’ll know who’s there.
I heal really quickly,” she said, holding up her index finger as if
she was ticking off her new attributes. “My pixie dust can bespell
someone if I flick it into their eyes and add some words from the
ancient language.”

Well
, that was almost as awesome
as her wings. Pixie power.

“
Men are
drawn to me, but thanks to my massive guard-wolf, I don’t have to
worry about that. Malisna … mother seems to think that there should
be more power
s from my faerie side. My
father was also one of the leaders of that race, but so far
everything I have is pure pixie.”

“
Maybe you
need your faerie side unlocked also
,” I
suggested, wrinkling my brow at the thought of her getting stabbed
again.

“
Yes,
maybe
,” she agreed. Her slight wince
indicated that she hadn’t forgotten the pain either.

I brushed my head, pushing a few leaves out
of my hair. “You know, I’m wondering if we should be gathering all
these different races, from across the seven worlds.” I mused for a
moment, crumbling the dry thud tree leaves in my hands.

“
Maybe the
final battle will come down to the seven half-Walkers, but would it
hurt to have some powerful backup
?”

Lucy and
Colton were both staring at me, in
such a
way that I knew they were thinking very seriously about what I’d
said. Lucy opened her mouth but paused when a doorway appeared and
Brace stepped back through. He strode across and dropped a bundle
of folded clothes in front of Colton.

I kissed
Brace’s
chest as he drew me into his
arms. And then as Colton prepared to change back, Brace turned me
so I was facing away from the wolf. I buried my laughter in his
shirt.

“
What?”
My voice was muffled. “You
can’t seriously be worried that I’m going to drool all over his
nakedness.” Teasing Brace was fun. “I’ve seen him naked
before.”

“I’m pretty irresistible.” Colton’s cocky
tone washed over us. “Brace is just jealous.”

He shrugged.
“What can I say
? I’m a jealous guy. But
mostly I’m protecting Red from having to see your ugly
ass.”

“
Colt has
nothing on you
, baby,” I whispered to
him, reaching up to run my fingertips along his jaw
line.

He snorted. “Never has, never will.”

The boys
continued to banter
. Colton mentioned
something about tiny man-parts, although they were not the words he
used.

“I’m telling you now, neither of you have a
problem with that.” Lucy’s eyes were wide and shiny as she said
this.

Brace grinned and Colton growled at her
words.

“
That
reminds me
, I still have to kick your ass
for that, Brace,” Colton said, pointing a long finger at
him.

“
You can
try
,” Brace said lazily. “I don’t
actually remember the incident in question, but I’m sure Lucy
enjoyed the show.”

“Oh, I did.” Lucy fluttered, before winking
at Colton’s exaggerated growl. “But my favorite part was Abby’s
butt in the air.”

I
blushed
. I could feel the heat coating my
cheeks and even my ears felt a little warm.

“
I’m
thinking that would have been my favorite part
also
,” Brace said in a low
voice.

I hid my face against his chest until their
laughter subsided and my face returned to its natural ivory color.
Brace rubbed my back in a comforting manner.

Finally we
moved into the doorway to Ne
philius.
Seeing the men side-by-side pointed out how similar Brace and
Colton really were. In more ways than one. Truthfully, I was yet to
see a Walker without a good body – damn, good was an
understatement; they were perfect – but Brace and Colton were even
a step above this, truly exceptional.

It was hard
sometimes and I knew Lucy felt the same way. They were flawless
god-like creatures, as if each part had been delicately carved to
perfection. And we were both human-like females with plenty of
flaws. Although less than the average Earthling
, so we couldn’t really complain.

As we
stepped out into the white mists of Nephilius, I took a deep
breath
, preparing myself for what was
coming next. Sure, I wasn’t the one battling or anything, but it’s
hard watching your loved ones fighting and being hurt.

Well
, let’s just say I’d already
had enough of that to last a lifetime.

We were like mini-gods on Nephilius. They
were so grateful to us for freeing their dead souls that they’d
dropped the arrogance and become very respectful.

“
Looks like
they
’re loving themselves some Walker.”
Colton smirked as he leaned against a cloud post. “Can’t really
blame them.”

Brace
smacked him
on the shoulder. It must have
been pretty hard because he stumbled. “Don’t forget who freed the
souls. Red’s stronger than either of us, and she kicked ass down
there.”

I melted a little inside at his words, so
proud and protective.

“
Damn, did
you have to dislocate my shoulder to prove your point? I know Abby
has bigger ba –” Another punch cut
Colton
off before he could finish that statement.

“Abbs is amazeballs. We all know this.” Lucy
hugged me tightly. “And she has excellent taste in friends.”

I shook my
head
, hoping they were ready to move on
to a new topic. It made me uncomfortable when people acted like I
was more awesome than I was. I just got into situations and did
everything I could to get out. One day soon I’d probably get in way
over my head and drown or need to be saved again. I certainly was
no great savior. The Seventine kicked my butt every time we went
head to head with them.

“Are you ready to battle?” Delane strode
over to us, her hands gripping twin fighting axes.

The weapons
were similar to the smaller throwing style I’d used on
Earth
, but on a much larger scale.
Personally, I preferred throwing knives, but that was probably
because my accuracy sucked with the mini tomahawks.

She gestured
to Brace. “You need to get your weapons. Steva has
decided
, with all the delays that this is
one big final knockout round. We’ll fight until there’s one
champion left. Any weapon or style ... freestyle.”

“I thought you usually had champions for
each different weapon?” I said.

She shrugged, just the slightest lift of her
shoulders. “Apparently this year will be different. In celebration
of our returned Angelica and the freeing of the souls.”

Her tone said she didn’t care, but her
narrowed black eyes broadcast her annoyance. Brace kissed me on
both cheeks, just near my lips, before his final kiss landed on my
mouth.

“See you soon, Red. Stay out of
trouble.”

I stuck out my tongue. “I promise not to
fall down any crevices.”

“What about us?” Colton’s face dropped into
an exaggerated expression of devastation. “I’m starting to think
you don’t have an appropriate level of … giving-a-shit about the
rest of us, Brace.”

Brace flipped him off, before following
Delane across to the weapons area.

“That cuts me deep, man,” Colton yelled
after him. “Really deep.”

I couldn’t
help the laughter that rang free. Got to take your funny wherever
you c
an find it.

Colton
turned to Lucy. “Want to
kiss it better?” She flew up and leaned in for a kiss, before
ducking away at the last second. Her wings fluttered as she grinned
at him. A light of challenge flared across his face and then he was
off after her.