The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2) (9 page)

Last time?

Ryker released my hand and took a slight step in
front of me. “And I thought after last time, you’d be long gone,
Arlo. Need another reminder?”

The figure wore black jeans and T-shirt, and it took
everything I had not to retreat with a gasp. Arlo’s face was
punctured with deep scars in a zigzag pattern from the middle of
his head down his face. The injury puffed up like a long mountain
range. Hair no longer grew from where the scar began, leaving a
white discolored bald spot on top of his head trailing down to his
forehead. His wide-set, beady black eyes glinted in the dark, and
his upper jaw didn’t seem to line up with the lower one. He was
frightening to look at. Not all fae were good looking, and he
definitely fell at the far end of the spectrum. He was tall, but
Ryker still towered over him, and his frame was thin, though he
possessed a power I could not ignore.

“Except you were the one who ran like a coward,” Arlo
said.

“Coward? I don’t think I’ve ever been called one
before.” Ryker clenched his axe, his hand strangling the wood.
“There were twenty of you and one of me. Didn’t feel the outcome
was entirely on my side, but I still managed to mess up your pretty
face.”

Ryker did that?

“What are you doing here, Arlo? Is this revenge?”

“It’s been eighty years. You think I would wait this
long for payback?” Arlo took another puff of his cigarette and
dropped it on the ground, his boot snuffing it out.

Ryker snorted. “Yes.”

Arlo shrugged and took a step forward. “In my line of
work, you always keep an ear to the ground. Always know what is
going on... and I heard you are looking for a shaman, which struck
me as odd. Why would you need a shaman? Especially one as powerful
as Regnus? But then these astonishing claims floated my way...”
Arlo took another casual step over, looking like he was conversing
with an old friend. “A rumor you no longer have your magic.”

Ryker lifted his chin to the side, where the nerve
along his mouth convulsed.

“You can see why I would find this interesting.”

Suddenly, I detected more fae around, their glamour
skating over my arms. Lots of them. We were going to be
ambushed.

“Ryker,” I mumbled to him, going on defense.

Only his eyes flicked over to me, and I could see he
also sensed them.

“Is this why you have people on the lookout for me?”
Ryker said. “And you say this has nothing to do with revenge.”

“Maybe a little.” Arlo bared his teeth in a sneer.
“Water fairies are quite easy to persuade.”

I jerked my head around as I felt bodies moving
closer around us.

Arlo tilted his head to see me, as if he only just
noticed I was there. “I also heard your woman was being held by
Vadik.”

“Guess you are wrong again.” Ryker pushed me farther
behind him. It was too late.

Arlo’s laugh bounced off the mountains. “Like she
could pass for Amara. The hair kind of gives it away.” Arlo
motioned toward me. “A human. Wow. How low you have sunk. But this
only makes the claims seem more like fact.”

“What do you want, Arlo?”

Arlo’s lips curled in a smirk. “The stone.”

Every muscle clenched across Ryker’s back, stretching
his shirt. “I don’t have it. Nor would I give it to you if I
did.”

Arlo sighed and shook his greasy brown hair. “I was
hoping not to have to play this game with you.”

The jolt from the fae moving toward us sent panic
thrumming into me. Heat ignited inside, and I felt the wind rush in
my ears.

Oh hell
.

In a blink I was standing in front of Ryker. The
power inside me emerged in a growl, protecting its owner like a
guard dog. I was really going to have to have a conversation with
these abilities because instead of making me into some cool wolf, I
looked more like a Pomeranian, puffed up and hopping all over.

Ryker’s anger crashed into my back. His body seemed
to grow bigger, dwarfing me in his shadow. The rage wasn’t
completely directed at me, but I could feel its impact like a punch
in my back. In one involuntary action, I realized too late I’d
showed them all our cards.

Arlo blinked, shock widened his eyes, then a sly
smile grew on his mouth till it was forced to open in a hearty
laugh. “Gods, this is perfect.” He continued to howl. “Oh, little
human, you don’t know how happy you have made me.”

Arlo and his men now had proof I contained Ryker’s
powers. He could no longer play it off as a false rumor. It
rendered him vulnerable. To fae it meant death.

A growl erupted from Ryker. He took another step to
me, his chest slamming my back. The fury seething in him clawed my
neck.

Arlo’s chuckle faded into the night air, but a
malicious smile took its place. “Is she your bodyguard, Wanderer?
Should I call her that now?”

“Leave her out of this,” Ryker growled.

“I don’t think so.” Arlo smirked. “After you give me
the stone, you will die and she will become my slave. A man is
always on the lookout for a good thief.” Slave? Great, another
Marcello. Was that all people wanted me for? “Get them!” Arlo’s
voice called out past us.

Eight men dressed in dark clothing ran out from the
shadows, charging Ryker. All had a red bandana tied around their
heads. Ryker backed up, and I swiveled, putting my back against
his. Most of the men went for the Viking, but a few advanced my
way, leering grins on their faces.

The sound of Ryker’s axe reverberated off a sword and
his body dove forward. He slammed back into me as he retracted and
sprang to the side, knocking down several men heading for me. My
dagger was an intimate type of weapon and required an assailant to
get close. I really needed my gun or a longer sword, but my
training never involved those old-fashioned weapons. DMG kept us
modern and simple.

As a sword slashed at Ryker’s arm, his roar shook my
chest. Then he was gone. I whipped around, watching a handful of
men barrel into him, taking him down the bank into the river.

Shit
.

A hand grasped my shoulder, and I swung around, my
fist slamming into my attacker’s face.

“Fuck!” The man jumped back, his hand wiping the
blood pooling on his mouth. A large mole protruded from his lip
near the cut. He looked at his bloody fingers, and a leering smile
broke over his face. “Feisty, aren’t we?”

He crouched lower, coming for me as another man came
up behind. Arlo.
Crap.
Spinning, my blade sliced across
Arlo’s chest, ripping open his black T-shirt. He stumbled back with
a grunt.

“We got ourselves a spirited one here,” the mole man
voiced. I spun back around as his hand broke across my face in an
explosion of pain. Liquid slipped from my nose, and I stumbled to
the side. Arlo’s arm hooked around my neck, pulling me into
him.

“You need to behave, you little bitch,” Arlo seethed.
Sharp metal scratched against my neck and I stilled. “That’s
better,” he whispered into my ear. In front of me, mole man had
stepped away, and I had a clear shot of Ryker fighting Arlo’s
men.

“Hey, Wanderer. I have your pet.”

Arlo’s men pulled back on their attack when they
heard their leader’s voice. Ryker glanced over his shoulder. He
looked at the knife and back to me, his eyes wild and fierce.

“One more move and she dies, Wanderer.” Arlo held me
tighter against him. “I wanted to keep her for the fun of it, but I
don’t
need
her. If you’d like me to get rid of your human
problem, I can do it for you. Say the word.”

Arlo’s blade dug into my skin, tearing a shallow cut
near my jugular. Ryker went motionless. “Drop the axe.” Arlo’s
voice vibrated into my chest. His knife went deeper, and I couldn’t
stop the hiss of breath exiting through my teeth. Warm blood
dripped down my tank top.

Ryker loosened his grip, and the axe tumbled to the
dirt.

Instinct to fight, to dig my elbow into Arlo’s
crotch, twitched my muscles. Normally I would have done it, but it
was more than my risk to take. If the blade found its way through
my neck, Ryker’s abilities were gone along with me. I never feared
death, but now I wasn’t living solely for me.

“The stone, Wanderer.”

Ryker stared at Arlo, and I let out a chuckle. “You
might as well kill me. You’re not going to get it.”

Arlo yanked me, his fingers now digging into my
throat. “Oh, really? I think if it’s your life or the stone, he’ll
choose you.”

“Then you’re an idiot.” I snorted, trying to swallow
over his clutched fingers. “I’m human. I am the last person he’d
sacrifice for the stone.” I was even willing to say he would choose
the stone over getting his powers back, which I understood now. The
stone, if put in the wrong hands, could destroy the world. Both his
powers and I took second place to this.

“Zoey.” Ryker gave me a warning look, his voice
rigid. His attention went to Arlo. “This is between you and me. Let
her go and we can talk.”

“What?” I screeched, pushing against my captor. “No.
Don’t do this.”

Ryker ignored me, his gaze fixed on Arlo. “We’ve got
a deal?”

“Sorry, I don’t trust that if I release her you’ll be
a good boy.” Arlo shook his head.

“You have my word.” Ryker took a step to us. “Let her
go, and you and I can come to an arrangement about the stone.”

“Ryker!” I bellowed. Screw this. I was not going to
let him sacrifice the stone for me. My head went forward, giving it
more momentum as it slammed back into Arlo’s face at the same time
my elbow went into his gut.

A scream echoed behind me, but as he stumbled back,
falling, his blade slipped and sliced into the side of my neck.
Hot, consuming pain tore out of my mouth, dropping me to my knees.
Then everything went insane.

“Zoey!” I heard my name being called, my gaze
catching Ryker bounding toward me at the same time Arlo’s men
sprang for him.

Out of nowhere, a man dressed in all black jumped
into the throng of fae, his sword swinging. It took me a moment to
realize he was fighting against Arlo’s men. Someone was helping us?
It
had
to be a hallucination.

My vision blurred. Ryker suddenly stood in front of
me, holding my face, his mouth moving. I heard nothing. A man
crashed into him, together they slid across the gravel into the
river.

I curled over my knees, wanting to sleep.
Get up,
Zoey. You fight till the end. You don’t quit.
But I was tired.
And numb. I no longer felt pain. Only heat. So much heat I wanted
to tear the fire right out of me. The glow spread up my spine and
over to my neck.
Get up now! Fight!
I lifted my head, my
vision still dim, but I noticed the blood from my wound was already
congealing.

Ryker was out of the water, his axe slicing across
one of our attackers. The man in black was near him, fighting
another group of men with efficiency and a kind of beauty.
Actually, he looked bored, parrying and lunging with several men at
once. My first thought when I saw him was he looked like a pirate.
He had shoulder-length dark hair that dangled in messy strands down
to his shoulders and a thick black beard covering his face. Black
leather pants, a black shirt, and a long velvet and leather coat
completed his look.

He was extremely striking. His face was angular with
a long nose, and his dark almond-shaped eyes suggested he had Asian
ancestry somewhere. Compared to Ryker he was small, but he still
was probably at least six feet. He was thin but defined. He and
Ryker made a dramatic pair fighting side by side. The huge, blond,
tattooed Viking next to the willowy, dark swashbuckler.

It was only an instant my thoughts wandered, but it
was enough. Arms came from behind, scooping me off the ground. A
hand covered my mouth. “Shut up, you stupid bitch,” Arlo snarled in
my ear. From the corner of my eye I saw blood leaking from his
broken nose. “You broke my nose... now I will break your neck.
Seems fair.”

Wrath detonated in me, locking my jaw down on his
fingers.

Arlo let out a wail, trying to shake free of my
mouth. I rolled my jaw, and my teeth sawed even deeper into this
skin. The tang of blood glided across my taste buds. The street
fighter in me took over. Exhilaration replaced the burning in my
lungs.

He dropped me, and without hesitation, I swung
around, reaching for my knife. My teeth bared, coated in his blood.
I lowered myself in defense. He probably had never been taken on by
a human, let alone a five-foot-five female. But I was no ordinary
girl, even before I met Ryker and acquired his magic.

I was a professional street fighter. One who got a
crazy high from smashing her fist into someone’s tender body parts.
Fighting had been my release before I gave it up for my life at
DMG. Now that the feelings had been released again, it came back in
frightening abundance.

“How adorable are you?” Arlo shook out his hand,
hatred drilling deep in his eyes. “Human wants to play a fae game?
Come on, girl. This shouldn’t take long.”

I was used to men underestimating me. At first it
pissed me off, now I only smiled and let them believe it. Like a
man who thought I was an easy target, Arlo lunged for me. Quick to
pick up on people’s strengths and weaknesses, I skirted out of his
way. My knife nicked at the side of his torso, causing him to
grunt. He charged me again, and I twisted around, punching him in
the temple. A roar broke from his mouth, and fire lit his eyes.
Before he’d gone easy with me, thinking he could take me out with
little work on his part. Now he was going to put effort into
it.

Bring it,
I thought as the buzz of adrenaline
spiked a rush of blood through my veins.

He swung around, his fist heading for my stomach. He
moved with the uncanny speed of most fae, and his hand made
contact, slamming into my intestines. I fell back, rolling into a
backward somersault.