Wounded: Book 8 (A Rylee Adamson Novel) Read online

  I looked out, saw the explosions of magic, heard the cries of the wolves and the ogres and wasn’t so sure. This was a battle and we needed to be in it with them. Not just stand back.

  Doran’s hand tightened. “Don’t. It isn’t time for you, not yet, little witch.”

  The way he spoke made me turn toward him. “Not my time?”

  His lips tightened. “Your time is coming soon, when they will need you to be stronger than both of them. Which means you need to be there. Not diving into a battle here that will get you killed. That much I can see.”

  Stronger than both Liam and Rylee? Was that what Doran meant? His eyes never left mine until I nodded. Though in my heart I wondered how I could ever be stronger than Rylee.

  He squared off against Raw as the ogres tightened the circle around him. There was no way to run, no way to get out of this.

  He’d just have to kill Raw and hope it would give him enough time to make an escape. The red ogre lunged at him, the copper knife swinging out, screaming through the air. Liam shook his head. He had to be hearing things. Nope.

  Another swing and the blade screamed again, coming even closer. The muscles in his chest seemed to echo the scream, demanding he lay down and rest.

  He snarled and tried to shift back into human form. Nothing happened. Panic clawed at him behind the pain in his body. No, he wasn’t stuck; it had to be something to do with the knife wound.

  “Silly wolf, you’re going to die, why not just lie down and be a good doggy for once?” Raw swung a kick at him, grazing his hip. Whatever the copper blade had going for it, it had already slowed his reflexes.

  Which meant if he was going to end this, it had to be now.

  Liam went to the ground, hoping to draw Raw in close. He let out a whimper and lowered his head, panting. But from the corner of his eye, he watched the ogre approach.

  Raw lifted his hands, talking to his minions. “Orion will rule this land, it is said in the book of prophecy that the great wolf would bend knee to a demon, and here it is.” He pointed at Liam with the hand holding the copper knife. Better yet, he looked away from the wolf at his feet.

  Liam exploded from the ground, his teeth snapping down over Raw’s wrist, taking the ogre’s hand off. He spit it out without pause, not even giving Raw time to be surprised by what had just happened.

  Digging his claws in, he drove himself up Raw’s body until he could get his teeth around the green neck that beckoned him. This demon would go after Rylee, and that alone was reason enough to kill him. One less enemy for her to face once he was no longer able to protect her.

  Bones and skin burst under the pressure of his jaws, the hot blood spurting out and steaming in the night air. With his back turned, he heard the approaching ogres, but he couldn’t get out of the way. Three blades drove through him at the same time, cutting deep into his body and neck, but none were the copper blade. That was likely his only saving grace.

  A gurgled whimper rolled out of him as Raw’s body fell and he went with it. They hit the ground hard, but Raw didn’t move. Liam crawled on his belly to the hand he’d removed. The copper blade still sat inside the now limp fingers. That knife was deadly, and the demons couldn’t have it. The other ogres laughed behind him and one called out, “No, don’t finish him. Let him suffer, let him see his people cut down as they try to rescue him.”

  With the last ounce of his strength, he lay down by the hand and scooped the handle of the copper knife gingerly in his mouth.

  He closed his eyes, praying that he was right, that this wasn’t his time.

  And that Rylee would come for him.

  We were fucking surrounded. Erik was on foot, and wherever he went, the demons were driven out of the ogres’ bodies. The ogres didn’t survive the expulsion, but it still wasn’t enough. We’d taken out at least two dozen of the hundred or so in the gang.

  I trusted Nikko to keep me safe and finally Tracked Liam. Everything in me froze. He was hurt bad, his heart beating so slowly I wasn’t sure we’d make it in time.

  “BLAZ!” Fuck them all, they could roast, but not until Liam was out of the way.

  The dragon had been waiting for me and dropped from the sky like an avenging big ass angel. He swooped low, teeth and claws snapping ogres in half, following the thread I’d tied to Liam. When he launched back into the air, I could see the limp form of a black wolf in his claws. “Get him help!”

  Pamela can help him?

  I nodded, knowing Blaz could sense my intent as well as words unspoken. Liam was out of the way, but we were still in trouble. A flash of light drew my eye and I turned to find Erik had worked his way back to my side.

  “Rylee, you truly have a knack for diving in, don’t you?”

  Erik parried with a green ogre who was small, at least as ogres went. Erik ducked inside of the ogre’s guard and put his hand against the skin over his heart. The ogre fell, screaming as the demon ripped free of its body. Twenty-five down, seventy-five or so to go.

  Piece of cake. Perhaps not so much.

  Three arrows shot through the air, two driving through Nikko’s side, and one through the red unicorn’s neck. The red unicorn went down with a gurgling cry, his eyes rolling up and showing the whites as a group of ogres leapt forward, slashing and hacking him. Nikko let out a piercing scream that ripped through the night. I looked down and realized one of my legs was pierced through with the arrow, sealing my fate with Nikko’s.

  It has been an honor to know you, Tracker. Blood of the Lost, you will save us all.

  His head whipped around and, with a sharp yank, he grabbed the arrow pinning us together, then gave a mighty buck, sending me flying through the air.

  “That won’t save us!” I yelled as I fell from the sky, only to be snatched up before I hit the ground by a familiar set of talons.

  “Rylee, I see your lizard has left you alone again,” Eve said as she tightened her grip on me. I twisted in her claws.

  “Erik, we can’t leave him!”

  “We won’t,” she said, flipping me into the air and then diving underneath me so I landed on her back.

  “Slick moves,” I gasped out as I clung to her back.

  “They have to be, to keep up with you.”

  I turned to see a blur of grayish silver wings dive and scoop Erik out of the melee, much to the roaring and consternation of the ogres. I couldn’t see Nikko any more and my heart tore at the loss of such a pure spirit and a great ally. But like every other loss in my life, there was no time to dwell on it.

  Life was about to get real ugly for the demon ogres, at least, that was what I was hoping. Fog rolled in around them and where it touched, ogres froze. Not all of them, but enough that I could see the fog was doing something to them. An undertone of screaming, faint echoes of voices trapped and now freed curled up through the air, tangling with the fog.

  Those ogres possessed by evil spirits and not actual demons were no longer controlled by Orion. Doran had come through.

  I opened my mouth to yell to tell them they’d been fooled and their friends could not be saved. But I didn’t need to.

  Those ogres released from the evil spirits fell on those who were truly possessed.

  “I don’t understand what’s happening, why are they fighting now?” Eve called out. Erik answered her.

  “Evil spirits can be expelled, they don’t attach to the soul of the creature they possess like a demon does.” Simple, yet still horrifying to think of a soul being latched onto by a demon.

  Madness, total and complete, erupted as the ogres attacked one another. My heart sank as I watched the bodies pile and the number of the dead rise, and it was not on the side of those who’d been freed.

  Erik and his ride, an odd-looking silvery gray harpy, caught up to us. “The weak ones are free, but they will be dead soon. We have to get the hell out of here.”

  He was right, this was a lost cause and we had to give way, much as it sucked shit.

  “Eve, how far behind are the re
st of the harpies?”

  “They are on their way to London.”

  Her words stuck in my brain and I struggled to speak. “How could they have known?” Were they in on it? Shit, was I going to have to check every person who came within our close-knit circle?

  “They have seers.” She turned her head so I could see the chagrin in one eye. “I argued with them, told them they were needed here but they insisted they would meet us in London.”

  “Don’t feel bad.” I put a hand on her neck. “I would have done the same thing, argued ‘til I was blue in the face.”

  The silver harpy swept in close, his baritone startling the shit out of me. “She made a good argument.”

  I cranked around in my seat to stare at the first male harpy I’d ever met. Now that I was looking at him, I could see the differences. He was far thicker in the legs, body and neck, and his face didn’t have the feminine lines Eve did. His eyes were pale, a gray blue that would have disappeared if not for the black feathers around them like a mask.

  “Zorro, how are you?” I blurted.

  The male harpy chuckled, surprising me. “I see where Eve got her sass. My name is Marco.”

  The two harpies banked at the same time as we dropped from the sky, right into Doran’s courtyard. Pamela was crouched over Liam’s body. Everything in me tensed, even though Tracking Liam I knew he was still alive. But barely.

  I jumped from Eve’s back before she had fully landed and ran to Liam’s side. The werewolves had retreated and were pacing around, whining. Beauty stood to one side, buck naked and leaning against Faris.

  “Faris, get them all out of here. NOW,” I said, doing my best to not let my voice break.

  “They wouldn’t go—how would you like me to deal with them?”

  “Make them.” I curled my hands into the thick fur around Liam’s neck, trusting Faris would do as I asked. “Pamela, how bad is it?”

  She lifted her eyes to mine for a split second before looking back at Liam, her hands cupping his muzzle. “Bad. It’s very bad. I can heal all the wounds except the one on his chest.”

  The sound of footsteps running told me people were finally listening and going to safety. Which was good because I suspected it wouldn’t be long before what was left of the ogres was over run and we’d be dealing with some pissed off demons.

  Sooner than you think. They are on their way to end us now.

  “Blaz, can you stall them?”

  On my way.

  A whoosh of wings and the dragon let out a roar that shattered the air, pierced my ears, and made my heart pound. His battle cry stirred my own bloodlust. Seconds later, the sound of flames roaring across the open field reached us. A fire line would buy us a little time.

  “Doran?”

  “Nothing I can do, at least, not on my own. The blade was cursed. I’d have to have more of your blood and you have given too much as it is.” He crouched beside me and held out a copper knife with a serrated edge, fresh blood on it. Liam’s blood.

  I leaned forward, Tracking Liam. Yeah, he was right there, but by Tracking him I could get a better idea of how bad it really was.

  His heart beat at a strange cadence, and his soul was slipping. I could push some of my strength into him. We’d done it before, when we were in Europe, but it had mostly been me drawing from him. But what if I could give him some of my Immunity, enough to fight off this poison, or the fucking curse or whatever it was he was dealing with?

  “Rylee, what are you doing?” Doran whispered as I drew on my own strength and gave it over to Liam. The energy flowed between us, the bond we’d made stronger than death, and his heart started to beat faster, became steadier.

  There was a moment where I thought someone was trying to pull me off, to stop me, but nothing could come between us. Liam didn’t shift under my hands, but his threads were stronger.

  I pulled back, my vision doubling as hands caught me.

  “You keep passing out like this and I’m going to think you like the head rush,” Doran grumbled.

  “He’ll make it.”

  “What the hell did you do? You aren’t a healer, Rylee.” Doran didn’t take his arms from around me and I didn’t care. I could barely keep my eyes open.

  “I’ll explain later. Blaz, take Liam to London. Please.”

  Tracker, you gave him a lot of energy. Too much.

  “Please, don’t argue with me, I have a fucking headache.” Which was the truth, my head was pounding, the sound of my own heartbeat felt like a bongo drum inside my skull.

  You are coming with me.

  “I’ll go through the veil.”

  Fine.

  Damn, that sounded suspiciously like a woman would say ‘fine’. Like ‘fuck, I’m not excited about this, but I’m doing it anyway’.

  Blaz winged over us, and scooped up Liam. He’ll survive the flight?

  “Yes. But he’ll be out of it, probably the whole way,” I said, feeling Doran’s eyes on me. No one knew the bonding that had taken place between Liam and me. Though I suspected Doran was on to us.

  Get through the veil, Tracker. Blaz called back to me as he flew into the last of the night.

  “Going, we’re going!” I snapped. Of course, that was the plan. Problem was, we didn’t quite make it.

  At least, not all of us.

  Chapter 5

  BLAZ WAS GONE and Eve was about to leave with Marco when the ogres swarmed into the courtyard. Doran dragged me toward the veil where Faris stood on the other side, his face grim.

  “Hurry up!” Faris beckoned with his one hand. Like we didn’t fucking well know we needed to hurry.

  The problem was, I couldn’t hurry; my legs were leaden. Between donating blood to Doran and giving Liam my strength, I was done in.

  “Come on, Niece, let’s get you out of here.” Erik scooped me up into his arms. Pamela ran beside him, Alex beside her, and Doran led the way. We were only twenty feet from the slash in the veil when an ogre got in our way. Or more accurately, it got between Doran and us. Big and blue, it hurt me to see him. He looked so much like Dox, yet was obviously possessed by a demon.

  “Rylee!” Doran yelled and his feet stopped (the only part of him I could see past the ogre) and then he was yanked forward.

  My stomach sank. “Faris, you’d better have that fucking door open!” I screamed from Erik’s arms, already knowing something was very, very wrong. Pamela snapped a hand out and flipped the ogre out of our way, sticking him to the side of the house like a fly trapped in honey.

  The house was in front of us, but there was no opening through the veil.

  Faris had fucked us over.

  “EVE!” Pamela screamed and Erik spun back the way we’d come. Eve and Marco were above us, but between the house on one side and the amount of ogres flooding the courtyard on the other, there was no way they could get to us.

  Alex kept tight to Erik’s side. “Killing demons time.”

  “No time today,” Erik said. And then out of nowhere, Bert was at our side.

  Fuck, I’d forgotten about the doppelganger. “Follow me, I can get you around them.”

  We had no choice but to trust him, and since his life was tied to Erik’s, I had to believe he wouldn’t put us into harm’s way.

  Following Bert, he led us into the house. Pamela brought up the rear. I could see her over Erik’s shoulder, sending out blasts of fire to keep the ogres from us. Damn, she was a witch to be proud of. At fifteen, she was taking everything that happened completely in stride. Like it was an everyday event. And maybe for her now it was just that.

  Erik ducked around a corner, banging my knees into the wall as we ran (and I use that loosely since I was doing no running) through the kitchen. “You know, you could stand to lose a pound or two.”

  “I love you, too, Uncle Erik,” I mumbled, my head fuzzy as I bounced in his arms.

  “This way, quick!” Bert shouted and we didn’t question him.

  We should have.

  He led u
s into the back of the house, the morning sun peering over the horizon, highlighting the row upon row of ogres waiting for us. The prick had turned on us; I don’t know why I was surprised.

  “Bert,” I said and wormed out of Erik’s arms, my hand going to a sword on my back.

  His eyes watered as he looked up at me. “I can’t help you, I wish I could. I am bound; my mouth is literally unable to speak the words. It is a curse placed on all the demons Orion uses, so we cannot turn on him.”

  So he would take death over dishonor. If he hadn’t been a demon, I would have thought better of him for that choice. Honor I understood, but coming from a demon, I wasn’t so sure about it. Besides, he’d just admitted that he would have spilled his guts if he’d been able to.

  The ogre closest to us was red-skinned and, for a second, I thought it was Raw. He chucked a spear at Bert, pinning him to the ground. The doppelganger’s eyes went wide and then slowly the image he’d projected faded, leaving the bare husk of a body I didn’t recognize. Whoever he’d possessed hadn’t been a large person. Hell, I couldn’t even tell if it had been a woman or a man.

  “Rylee, you know we’re in deep shit?” Erik asked as he slid my feet to the ground and put himself between me and the ogres we faced. Pamela put her back to me and faced the way we’d come. Her hands flung out and the adobe house crumbled to the ground, the earth shaking beneath our feet.

  “Yeah, deep shit is a place I know well,” I said. “Pamela, when you’re done there, think you can make a hole for the ogres to sleep in?”

  I hated to ask her to be so violent, mostly because I knew what it was like to lose the childish side of your soul to fighting and surviving at such a young age.

  The thing was, the ogres weren’t actually doing anything to us. Which freaked me out. It reminded me of being in the deep veil where the demons all lived and yet, for a huge chunk of the time I was there, I hadn’t encountered one. The whole thing was unnerving.

  Above us, Eve and Marco circled, screaming obscenities at the ogres, who mostly ignored them. A standoff between the two sides and yet, I wasn’t sure why the ogres hadn’t attacked.