Rising Darkness (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 9) (9 page)

Faris’s eyes glittered dangerously. “And now you have to Track the Great Wolf, yes?”

I nodded. Crap. I forgot about that part. Faris undid the top two buttons of his shirt. “I don’t suppose you want witnesses for this.”

Fucking hell.

CHAPTER 9

Rylee

“
I
don’t want anyone
leaving.” I pulled a knife from my boot. “Here, somewhere in your arm or wrist will do, I believe.” I knew the blood exchange didn’t have to be from the neck, though that was the preferred spot. But that was when it was between pairs who were doing it for the rush, for the sex that often followed.

Kinky and all that shit, I did not need. Faris took the knife reluctantly and nicked himself just below the crook of his elbow. I grabbed his arm, and put my mouth over the wound before I could think about what I was doing.

Behind me, Alex started to whisper, “Growdy, growdy, gross.” A giggle, nerves, bubbled up and I had to fight to keep my mouth on the open cut and keep drinking down the blood. Warmth filled my mouth, and the faint hint of vanilla. Not what I expected.

“It comes through as something you enjoy,” Doran said and I glanced at him over Faris’s arm, and raised my eyebrows. “Most people get chocolate.”

I gave a slight shake of my head. I didn’t know how much to take, so after another few seconds I let go. “Enough, yes?”

The vampires in the room nodded, and Faris reached for me, a dreamy look on his face. I sidestepped his hands. “Nope, not fucking happening.”

I hate to interrupt, but we have a
problem.

“What now?” I stared at the ceiling as if I could see Blaz roosting there.

Incoming demons. You’ve been Tracking enough on our way here that they pinpointed you again.

“Time to go.” I strode from the room, picking up my swords from the hallway as I passed. “Berget, Alex, and Faris are with me.”

“The sun is up, Faris and I can’t go anywhere,” Berget said, stopping me in my tracks.

“Use the blackout curtains,” Deanna pointed back toward the library. “Wrap yourselves in them and then Blaz can carry you.”

“Rather undignified,” Faris muttered.

“It’s that or stay here and wait for the horde,” I snapped at him. Back in the library, I yanked down two of the curtains, the morning sun pouring in around me. Will worked on a third curtain beside me.

“I’m sorry I was such an ass.” He gave the curtain a final yank and it fell to the ground.

“Thanks, can we have this discussion another time?”

“No discussion, I just wanted to apologize. Before anything else happens.” He gave me a weak smile and for a moment I wondered, not for the first time, what everyone else had faced while I’d been away. What they’d struggled with.

“Done, forgiven. Be my friend again, would you?” I dragged two curtains behind me, and Will followed. He picked up the bottom edges of the curtains and hefted them up.

“You’ve got it.”

Faris and Berget eyed the curtains like I would have eyed a parachute with holes in it, seconds before jumping from Blaz’s back. “It’ll work.” I jerked the curtains behind me.

Doran took one from me, took Berget in his other hand and ran up the stairs. “The demons are on the lawn.”

Crap, the ass hats were moving fast.

Faris grumbled the whole way up to the roof. “Wrapped like a stinking mummy. This is truly ridiculous.”

“You want to hang out here, or come with me?” I knew the answer, we both did.

Doran flipped the curtain he had open and Berget sat in the middle of it.

“There is no other choice, Faris. You know that.”

Blue eyes narrowed. “And when they see Blaz fly away, don’t you think they’re going to follow?”

I held my breath for a moment before answering, but it wasn’t Faris I spoke to. “Blaz, what do you think?”

I think the vampire might be right. If I take a couple of riders with me, the horde may follow now that your blood has shifted. You go with Eve and Marco, and I’ll catch up with you later.

The plan came together quickly. Blaz called Eve and Marco from the forest.
They will be here in less than two minutes.

Deanna took the decanter of my blood. “I’ll give some of this to the Harpies.”

The rest of us wrapped Faris and Berget in the cloth and tied them off. Two bundles of vampires, ready for dry cleaning by the looks of it. As Alex went by the bundle containing Faris, he gave it a kick and grumbled, “Fucking vampires.”

“Wolf, I will drain your blood when I get out of here.”

I had to admit, if the situation hadn’t been such a rush, I would’ve laughed ‘til I cried funny.

But already, the outliers of the demons were crawling onto the rooftop. Doran dragged Faris in his bundle, but held Berget up so she didn’t bump along. I’d almost forgotten that Doran had retained his ability to walk in the sun. Going from Daywalker to vampire had not only made him stronger, but unique in the world of blood drinkers.

And then there was no time to watch what everyone else was doing. The skittering of exoskeletons on the brick exterior brought my head around and my weapons out. A half dozen smaller demons clamored over the edge of the roof. They looked like cockroaches, if cockroaches could be the size of a Great Dane and had pinchers around their mouths like monster crabs.

They rushed forward, and I stepped to meet them.

Beside me, Alex snarled, “Bug squashing time.”

A laugh escaped me as I drove my right sword into the first over-sized roach, pinning it to the roof. It screeched a high-pitched tremor that hurt my brain. Alex kept the others at bay while I put my hand on the demon bug in front of me. The demon fled, leaving behind a young man about Pamela’s age.

I couldn’t stop, though, and mourn his loss. A set of pincers bit into my leg. “Bastard!” I didn’t bother trying to wound it, just put my hands on the cold shell and blasted it. That demon fled, leaving behind a child, her body slumped as if sleeping.

The tears trailed down my cheeks as I met each demon, expelling them and freeing the kids. The whole fight was over in a matter of minutes. The demons were used to using sheer numbers to overwhelm their prey. They didn’t have that here.

All I could see, hear, and feel were the deaths of the kids in front of me. Their bodies they owned once more, but what was that to the loss of their lives?

I stepped back, unable to take my eyes from them. “Doran, make sure—”

“I will, now get down so the demons can’t see you.”

I dropped to the rough surface of the roof and held my breath.

Blaz lifted off, Will and Deanna on his back. He winged toward London, toward the mess we’d left. Doran watched them go from the edge of the roof, the tension in his shoulders slowly draining. “The demons are following them.”

I closed my eyes and drew in a slow breath, getting back to my feet. “Orion knows this is slowly killing me.”

Doran looked over his shoulder at me. “Go. You have a lead on them now.”

Eve gave a squawk and I looked up for her, tawny and gold feathers glistening in the morning sun. “Rylee.”

I went to her and wrapped my arms around her as best I could. “I missed you, Eve.”

“I’ve missed you too.” She ducked her head so her beak settled in the crook of my shoulder and neck.

I stepped back, grabbed the leather harness on her back and swung up. Her feathers fluffed around me. She took two hops and we were off the edge of the roof, her wings spread wide. She clutched Berget inside her blackout curtains in her claws. The flutter of feathers rippling in the wind filled my ears as we climbed high into the clouds. I looked over my shoulder to see Marco, the gray male Harpy behind us, a sack of vampire—Faris—clutched in his claws. Alex rode with Marco and howled into the wind like a maniac. Marco screeched alongside him, and the two sang together in a strange orchestra.

“Rylee, do you know where we’re going?” Eve tipped her head so I could see one large eye.

“Give me a second.”

With difficulty, I sent a question to Blaz. Can you still hear me?

Yes.

Tell me if the demons change direction. I’m going to Track the Great Wolf.

You got it. And
Rylee?

Yes?

Try not to get into too much trouble without me there to pull your ass out of the
fire.

A smile teased my lips. “I’ll try.” I cleared my mind, ready to Track.

“Eve, I’m going to Track the person we need. We might end up with demons on our tail feathers though. So be ready.”

She bobbed her head and let out a soft call to Marco who ceased his caterwauling. Alex tried to keep going on his own, but quickly petered out.

Fingers tight around the leather straps, I sent out a thread, Tracking the Great Wolf. I got nothing back, which wasn’t a surprise. It meant he was across a large body of water. During my time away, I’d learned how to get through that, but it wasn’t easy. I’d never tried to force my abilities before, I’d just let them happen. Not anymore.

I pushed the threads harder, it was like trying to scoot cooked spaghetti in a straight line, but I knew the result would be worth it. Sweat beaded along my hairline as I stretched my abilities to the max. A soft pop, and then the threads were quickly pinging through the whole world. I closed my eyes, feeling the power rushing gently through me, the ability to find anyone, anywhere was finally a reality.

Now I was a Tracker in truth.

“East coast of North America,” I said, letting the threads go. Eve angled her wings and we headed northwest in a matter of seconds, Marco with us.

I kept my eyes closed and reached for Blaz. The demons, do they follow you still?

Yes, they are with us. So it worked?

I opened my eyes and stared at the blue sky in front of us. “Yes, it worked.”

But for how long? That was the question I really wanted to ask. The one that had me on edge. How long before I had to swap blood with Faris again?

And how badly would it tie me to him after all this was said and done?

Exhaustion, grief for the children who’d died on the rooftop, blood loss, and lack of sleep from the night before slammed into me like a runaway ogre. I curled forward, wrapping my arms around Eve’s neck and fell into a deep sleep.

CHAPTER 10

Pamela

T
he dragon carrying
us was not talkative. She was surly and miserable. I shivered in the cold air, wishing I’d brought a jacket with me. If I’d known we’d be flying, I would’ve grabbed my clothes I reserved for flying with Blaz. I clung to Peta’s tiny body as she slept against me.

Blaz is a worm of a dragon. A sniveling beast that should be cast out of the sky.
Her voice snaked inside my head and I pinched my lips together. Peta lifted her head and snorted softly, a low growl on her lips.

“Blaz is none of those things,” Frank said, his voice low. The dragon below us rumbled, the fire in her belly stirring. That probably was not a good thing.

All of you should be cast out of the sky. Including that stupid cat that has far more opinions than one should with such a short life
span.

“Peta, try not to aggravate her,” I whispered. Peta gave a shiver, her green eyes narrowing to mere slits. I felt the same; the dragon was disrespectful at best. Threatening at worst. But we were at her mercy, so we had to keep our peace.

Fear worked its way through me at a rather rapid pace. Riding with Blaz, I’d always felt safe, I knew he’d catch me if I fell. I wasn’t so sure that would be the case with this one. Unless we could make her like us. Make her one of our friends.

“Do you have a name?”

Yvette.

“Thank you, Yvette, for carrying us to Milly.” Maybe if I made an effort, she would see we weren’t all that bad.

A billow of smoke escaped her nostrils as she rolled in the air. I let out a scream and Frank grabbed me, squeezing me tightly. Sure, we were buckled into the leather straps but that didn’t mean Yvette couldn’t, with a single swipe of her claws, release us into open air.

The dragon laughed.

We will never be friends, puny witch. You are good only for eating, but the master beckons and I must obey
him.

She pulled up short, treading the air like a swimmer would tread water. Her neck craned back and forth and her eyes widened with interest at whatever she was seeing.

“What is it?” I couldn’t see past the bulk of her body. Did we have trouble coming our way? Was there something wrong? So used to being in trouble with Rylee and the others, my mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario.

Harpies. And I haven’t had my
breakfast.

She twisted and finally I could see over her side. I let out a gasp.

Below us were Eve and Marco, I was sure of it. Tawny feathers on one side, and dark gray on the other—neither Harpy looked up. A black spot on Marco’s back had to be Alex, and the auburn headed figure on Eve’s back could only be Rylee. I gripped Frank’s fingers. “She’ll be on them before they know.”

“You have to warn them,” he whispered. “And fast.”

I didn’t have time to think of the consequences. I didn’t want Eve to die, or Alex. Or even Rylee. She had saved me more than once. Now was the time to repay the favor. Yvette tucked her wings in and I reached out, a fireball shooting from my fingers. The flames lit up the clouds around us, glowing and flickering as they roared between the two Harpies.

Eve and Marco veered away and then looked up in time to see Yvette coming.

Yvette let out a roar of frustration and I clung to her back. “You can’t eat them. They are our friends!”

She adjusted her trajectory and headed for Eve. Yvette grabbed at Eve as she shot toward them, her legs snaking out and I thought she would manage it. Time slowed and I stared in horror as the dragon’s claws began to wrap around Eve, an evil laugh on her lips.

A flash of bright steel and Yvette screeched, jerking her claws away, blood flinging around us in brilliant drops of red.

Rylee stood on Eve’s back, hair swirling around her head, two swords raised and a look on her face I never wanted to see directed at me.

“Come on then, you fucker, if you think you can take me, demon!”

There was a moment I didn’t understand. Demon? Rylee thought I was a demon?

No. The dragon was a demon.

I am no demon, Tracker.
Yvette screamed the words, and my head felt like it was going to split open with the volume.

And then we were past them and I was looking up at Rylee looking down at us. I saw her face, saw the fear and heartache. For me.

I looked away and all I wanted to do was get as far from Rylee as possible. “Yvette, go. Before Blaz shows up and finishes you off.”

Another snarl escaped her, but she flew away from the others. Frank leaned his head against my back. “They could have been killed. Orion would have won.”

I held Peta tightly, and she stared up at me, her green eyes seeing far too much. She butted her head against my chin, her fur soft against my skin. I held her, burying my face into her fur for a moment to gather myself. My throat was tight, but I fought the tears that pricked at my eyes. “No one is going to die, Frank.”

Oh, how very wrong I was.