I shook my head. Nope, I was not joking, though I wished I was.
Liam lounged in the back seat, as if he didn"t have a care in the world. Of course, he still didn"t have the full understanding of the supernatural to scare the s.h.i.t out of him. He leaned forward, placing a hand on each of our seats.
"So what is a rock?"
Dox beat me to it. "Spelled R-O-C. Giant bird-"
"Like a Harpy?"
"No, bigger." I slid my hands over the heated steering wheel, pleased that the truck had started with the three of us in here. Though it had been questionable, the engine managed to turn over. I hadn"t been looking forward to getting into ogre country on my own, or even with just Dox at my side. No way was I leaving Liam behind. Not this time. Not with a Roc and ogre country coming up.
"How big?"
I took a breath, but let Dox tell him. The ogre needed something to do other than fret about his people, who we would invariably run into.
"Dragon size, but without any real intelligence, which makes them easy targets for those who want to control them." Dox leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. "They don"t resemble a bird other than the fact that they have wings, which is what a lot of the old legends show them as. They"re more like one of those flying dinosaurs the humans dig up."
Liam"s eyes slid to half-mast. "Pterodactyls. Giant leathery wings?"
"Yeah. And they"re mean b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. They like to play with their food like a cat. But why the h.e.l.l there would be a Roc in those mountain ranges bordering ogre territory doesn"t make sense to me."
I checked my mirrors and changed lanes, scooting the truck around a tiny blue VW Bug. "Why not?"
Dox scratched at his chin. "They love heat, lots and lots of heat. Like a snake. I don"t remember any Roc"s there when I still lived-" He cleared his throat. "Anyway, if there is a Roc hanging around, it can"t be good. Someone has to be holding the reins in order for one to fly this far north. They"re native to South America, if I remember correctly."
Liam snorted. "And that"s all Kyle could find when it came to possible suspects?"
"The only thing in that area that has the strength to pick up a six-month-old unicorn foal and get away with it, and has the Pacific Northwest as a home territory, even if that is only a temporary home territory." I tapped my fingers lightly on the wheel. The fact that the AA division had even that much info on a creature that was not in its home territory ... I wasn"t sure how I felt about that. Either the AA division was getting better at finding supernaturals or they had someone helping them. I was betting on option number two. Not that it pertained to me and this particular case, but it was a good piece of info to tuck away. For later.
I Tracked the young foal as we drove to Doran"s place. Still alive, her vibrant threads soothed the darkness that had begun to cling to me. The fears that were being dredged up, the uncertainties, and all that fate had been throwing at me lately. A vacation, that"s what I needed after this. Maybe Liam and I could get away somewhere, use the veil to make a jump somewhere warm and cozy. I snorted softly to myself. Yeah, I could hope for that all I wanted, but I had a sinking feeling that "trials and tribulation" were going to be my middle name for a while.
Calliope"s threads hummed through me, stronger now, spreading peace over my worries. A peace that previously I"d only ever found in Liam"s arms.
Holding her threads lightly, I Tracked Pamela and then Alex, and then Eve. Pamela and Alex were in high spirits, laughter dancing along the threads of their lives. I smiled and Liam caught the reflection of it in the rear view mirror. No words were needed. He gave me a wink and smiled back. I didn"t let him see my face as I Tracked Eve. She was terrified, fear coursing through her threads strong enough to bring tears to my eyes. At least she wasn"t hurt. G.o.ds, let Pamela and Alex get there fast. For all that Eve was a Harpy, and deadly dangerous, she was still just a child. A juvenile at best.
Liam surprised me out of my Tracking.
"Tell me about the veil."
I blinked several times, gathering my thoughts before I answered. We were still a ways from Doran, so I had time to try and explain this to him. "Well, it divides the world. Supernatural on one side, world the humans see on the other."
"Yeah, I"ve got that, but why don"t all supernaturals reside there then? Why not just stay out of the humans" way?"
Funny how quickly he put himself separate from the humans. Good too, because he no longer was one of them. I"d seen people fight what they"d become and it had killed them in the end.
Again, Dox beat me to it, twisting in his seat so he could look Liam in the eye. "The veil is a safeguard, somewhere we can go if we need to, but with so few entrances and so little room, it isn"t feasible that all creatures live there. That was why it was created, at least from what I understand."
I shifted gears. "And it was never meant to be a place to live. Just a help. That"s what Giselle told us. The problem comes when those who would f.u.c.k with the rest of it use it as a tool to hide the s.h.i.t they do."
Liam took that in, his lips quirking to one side. "And what about the levels of the veil? How many are there?"
Now that was a question I wasn"t sure how to answer. I settled for brutal honesty. "I know that there are at least three because Jack talked about a Tracker named Brin getting dropped into the third level, where apparently a ghost took him. But I don"t know how many veils there are." I thought about what Agent Valley had said. "If what your ex-boss said has any bearing, then there are possibly seven. But I"m not sure how accurate a human"s understanding of a prophecy would be."
Dox sucked in a sharp breath. "s.h.i.t. I didn"t know that."
I glanced at him. "I don"t think it"s common knowledge. Giselle never spoke of more than the one veil to us. And anything that slipped out of her mouth about deeper veils I just chalked up to her madness."
We pulled up to the curb across from Doran"s place and I waved a hand at the empty lot with the scrub brush and garbage floating through it. To the humans, it was nothing but a run down piece of property without even a house. A lone cactus grew on it, looking extremely forlorn. Pitiful. "Perfect example of using the veil to hide yourself."
"So he"s on the other side of the veil?" Liam frowned out the window, his eyes narrowed.
I shook my head. "No. Not exactly. More like it"s a mirror reflection of the veil he"s using to cover himself up. His home isn"t truly on the other side of the veil, and it isn"t an entrance. Just a ruse to keep the humans at bay. It works pretty well too, by the looks of things."
Liam gave a slow nod. "Like being able to see the doorways that are hidden that lead through the veil. They aren"t on the other side, just a reflection? Is that how creatures that are as big as Blaz and this Roc go undetected, by using the veil to hide?"
"You got it, wolf boy." I slid out of the truck, and the sharp winter wind bit at my face. Before I"d crossed the street, Liam had caught up with me. But Dox ... I turned around. The ogre sat in the truck, staring straight ahead.
"What"s with him?" Liam grumbled.
"I don"t know. I suppose we"ll find out soon enough. h.e.l.l, we"ve got a long enough drive, we"ll need something to talk about." Oh, boy, not looking forward to that. If Dox was all wound up about going into ogre territory, I should probably have been s.h.i.tting my pants. Dox was the most mellow, laid back guy I"d known, human or supernatural. For him to be high strung was making my skin itch.
"He"ll tell us when he"s ready," I said softly.
A laugh wrapped around us. "Don"t count on it, Rylee."
Liam took a step and put himself just in front of me, a low growl escaping his lips, vibrating through him and into me. Yeah, the whole alpha thing was really going to have to be addressed soon or we were going to have problems. He had to let me do my job, regardless of how he felt about protecting me.
I did not need to add "talk with Liam about not being such a pushy alpha" to my list of things to do. I stepped sideways so I could see Doran. And then I understood why Liam was p.i.s.sed and I felt like a s.h.i.t for thinking he was overreacting.
Doran wore an ankle-length wolf pelt that was fully intact, the wolf"s head sitting on top of his. Grey fur dusted with red highlights here and there; it was a beautiful coat, but no doubt he wore it for a reason. As in he wanted to p.i.s.s off Liam. And it was working.
"What the h.e.l.l, Doran?" I shook my head at him. "You ask me to come here, and then you pull this s.h.i.t?"
He grinned widely at me, flashing his fangs. "Whatever do you mean? It"s cold out; I thought I"d wear something toasty and warm. You of all people should know how warm it is to be wrapped up with a wolf." He gave me a long slow wink and blew a kiss at Liam.
Yeah, welcome back, Doran. Whatever help he"d been, whatever changes I"d thought I"d seen in him, this was the Doran I"d first met. The s.h.i.t disturber.
Liam vibrated beside me. "You blood-sucking piece of s.h.i.t. You might have helped in the past, but we don"t need your scrawny a.s.s."
Liam grabbed my arm and started to drag me back toward the jeep. I knew what Doran was up to, and I shouldn"t have been surprised that it was working. Liam just wasn"t used to this sort of manipulation. To be fair, the Daywalker had a talent for sure, and he could get me riled up with the best of them. "Liam, let me go."
He kept dragging me. d.a.m.n Doran for this, for forcing this issue. I pried Liam"s fingers off my arm and jerked away from him. "I said, let me go!"
Eyes narrowing, Liam glared at me. Yeah, here we go, revert to past tendencies in three, two, one.
I lifted my hands in the air in mock surrender. "Go sit with Dox, I"ll deal with Doran because apparently you are going to get sucked into his stupid games."
His face twisted up in a snarl. "Are you ... dismissing me?"
Short and sweet. "Yes." I turned my back on him and walked toward an openly gloating Doran.
Watching her walk away from him ... d.a.m.n, it took everything he had not to grab her and throw her into the truck. Doran wasn"t a physical threat to Rylee. No, that wasn"t the problem.
What bothered his wolf was that Doran liked Rylee. The smell the Daywalker gave off wasn"t quite l.u.s.t, but close. Like a strong affection that could be more than what it was. And it reminded him of Faris. Which p.i.s.sed him off and made controlling his wolf very, very hard.
It took everything he had to turn his back on them and stand there, breathing in the sharp cold air, clearing his nose of the scent of the Daywalker. He glanced over his shoulder once and caught Doran smiling at him, his eyes glittering with mirth. He turned away again. s.h.i.t, he hated that his rational mind claimed one thing, and ... their footsteps crunched on the dirt as they walked away from him. With a growl he couldn"t stop escaping his lips, he forced himself to walk normally to the truck, open the door without wrenching it off its hinges, and slide in the back seat.
"She"ll be okay," Dox said. The ogre turned in his seat to look at him. Liam"s jaw twitched, but he managed to keep his response civil. Which was more difficult than it sounded.
"I know." He slumped into his seat and pa.s.sed a hand over his face. Never in his life had he felt so protective of someone. Sure, he"d always wanted to be the guy that people could depend on, but not like this.
"You"ve got to find a way to relax," Dox said, his seat creaking as he shifted his weight. "Or you"re going to push her away. She"s too d.a.m.n strong to be with someone who can"t let her be who, and what, she is. And she is one tough woman, used to taking care of herself."
That was exactly what he was afraid of. Rylee helped ground him and his wolf. Losing her was the last thing he wanted. He needed a distraction though, or he"d be back out of the truck and beating the s.h.i.t out of Doran for how he smelled. Which was beyond ridiculous.
"Dox, why did you really leave your home?"
The ogre tipped his head back in his seat. "A lot of reasons."
"You know she"s going to ask you about it on the way there. She won"t let up until she gets what she wants." If nothing else, Liam knew that to be as certain as the sun rising each day. Rylee would never give up once she headed down a course of action. She didn"t have it in her.
Dox turned so he could make eye contact with him. "She can try."
Oh, he had a feeling this was going to be another one of those epic Rylee road trips.
Just brilliant.
"I knew you"d pick me over the wolf." Doran reached for me and I pulled a sword from my back in a single fluid move. With a practiced ease, I swung it forward so that the tip rested in the hollow of his throat.
"Don"t try to set us up against one another, Doran. You will always come second."
He smiled past me, and I knew, could feel him making eye contact with Liam. "Then why are you sending him to the truck like a naughty little boy?"
"Because I know you, and I know your games. Liam doesn"t. Not yet."
Doran"s eyes sparkled with laughter. "Oh, Rylee. You make me smile." His lips drooped. "But today, maybe neither of us will be smiling by the time this is all said and done."
Spinning on his heel, he strode toward the empty lot, disappearing when he stepped past the realtor"s sign.
I glanced over my shoulder, but Liam had his back to me, hands on his hips, a visible tremor running across his upper body. Saying he was not happy would be a ridiculous understatement, but how did I get him to understand that there were times he needed to listen and times that I would need him to lead, and that today just wasn"t one of those days? Not easy, not with the wolf in him clamoring to be a true alpha.
I followed Doran, stepping across the shimmer of the veil"s reflection into the unseen.
His house was a two-story adobe structure, multiple fountains, herb garden and in general, quite nice. Sw.a.n.ky even, if I was recalling my first impression of the place right. The koi weren"t swimming in the fountains, too cold was my guess; another gust of wind whipped my hair out around my face, obscuring my vision for a split second. Through the auburn strands I saw Doran slip the wolf cloak from his shoulders, revealing a much more demure outfit of trousers tucked into knee high leather boots and a loose fitting white shirt that was open at the throat. Very pirate of him.
Doran snapped his fingers over the fire pit and flames curled up toward his hand. Orange and red, there was a flicker of blue, and then a shimmer of all the colors in the rainbow before the fire went back to a normal setting of orange and yellow.
"Have a seat." He indicated to a bench carved out of what looked like the shoulder blade of some ginormous-a.s.s animal.
"What is it?"
He glanced over, green eyes tracing the seat as if just seeing it for the first time, but his words had nothing to do with the seat. "Rylee, there has been a development with my ability to Read you. I can see flickers of what is coming your way."
I sat on the bench and rested my hands on my knees. "How is this even possible?" To say that I doubted him would be an understatement. Though I was beginning to trust him, I knew he had his own agenda. Anything even remotely vampiric always did. As an Immune, magic couldn"t touch me, and those who could Read couldn"t see anything about me, not my future, not my past, nothing.
He shrugged and then shook his head. "I think it has to do with taking your blood. Faris was able to give you some of his powers, from what you"ve said, and it looks like your blood gives me a glimpse into what is coming your way. If I"d known that was a possibility, I would have tried to Read you sooner."
I didn"t say anything right away, the crackle of the flames the only sound. The scent of sage drifted over to me as the wind shifted. Glimpses of my future-only Giselle had done that for me in the past, reading my palms. Tracing what was coming on my skin like a road map. I"d never had anyone Read me before.
"And you think I need to know what you"re seeing?"
His eyes softened. "Yes. This has happened for a reason. But, understand that what I can see doesn"t really make sense. I"m not getting the full picture, just glimpses here and there. I think it"s because it has been some time since I took blood from you."
I rubbed my hands on my legs, thinking fast. The thing was, any sort of heads up of what I might face would be of help. "Tell me what you see. It might not make sense to you, but it could to me."
He nodded and strode around the fire pit, the flames seeming to reach out to him as he pa.s.sed. Crouching down right in front of me, he rested the backs of his hands on my knees and beckoned with his fingers. I put my palms against his, a whisper of electricity pa.s.sing between us, as if I"d plugged directly into a wall socket. Not unpleasant, but not real comfortable either. The tips of his fingers pressed up against the pulse in my wrists, but he didn"t grab me.
His eyes slid shut and his head dropped forward almost between my knees. "Your life will not be without trials. Ever. What is left for you is battle after battle. This will never change." A shiver ran through his body and seemed to course up through mine, sending gooseflesh up and along my arms. Fan-freaking-tastic. Just what I wanted to hear.
"The darkness is rising around you, surrounding you. But you have all you need to face it. You are going to lose people you love in these battles. There is no way around this."
I wanted to jerk my hands out of his, but held still. "I thought this was about me?"
He didn"t answer my question. His fingers brushed along my pulse. "I see lights in the darkness, and fire. Your past and your present will collide with what is coming."
I stared at the top of his head, the black tips of his hair spiked in its punk-rocker style. And I wanted to believe that he was just making this s.h.i.t up. But I felt the truth of it in my bones, as I did whenever Giselle had read my palms.
"Will I find this child in time?"
His fingers wrapped around my wrist and he slowly lifted his head, eyes meeting mine. They were filled with a sadness I could barely breathe past, and again he didn"t answer my question but spoke words I could barely believe.
"You will love another."
I snapped my hands out of his and scrambled away. "f.u.c.k off, that isn"t funny, Doran."
He rocked on his heels as I skittered across the bench and got to my feet. My heart was out of control pounding. I didn"t love anyone else, couldn"t love anyone else. Liam was it for me and I knew that in my heart and soul. So why did Doran"s words freak me out so badly? Will"s eyes flickered across my mind and I pushed the image away. Nope, that so wasn"t happening.
I shivered, cold to the bone as if the h.o.a.rfrost demon and I had gone a second round.
"Rylee, I can"t see who or what. Only that there will be someone else. Maybe not the great love that Liam is. But someone else." He shrugged, the strain of reading me visible in the tight lines around his eyes and lips.
I didn"t want to hear anymore. "Anything pertinent to this salvage?"
He flashed me a grin, the other side of him showing back up. "You will have fun with the ogres. Don"t let Dox tell you he knows what he"s about when it comes to his own kind. He doesn"t. Follow your instincts; you"re more like an ogre in some ways than Dox." With a wink and a flourishing bow, he pointed to the road.
"Just like that, we"re done?"
He stood back up, a decidedly wicked gleam flickering through his eyes. "I am more than happy to have you stay the night, Rylee. But I have a rule. Everyone who stays has to be naked and covered in coconut oil. To be fair and all."