“You take care of yourself, girl. And don’t be such a stranger. I miss you.” He disentangles from my eager embrace and hands me back my cloak.
“Wait…please don’t leave me…” I beg, reaching out for him.
But he’s already gone.
******
“Oh, Liora, thank the gods you’re all right. I have been worried sick!” Tatiana rushes at me the moment I walk through the door. She angles her body away from me awkwardly as she hugs me, and I remember I’m still wearing the magical black diamond. I was warned as a child how it’s fatal if any human, like Tatiana, comes into contact with it.
Yet for some reason, I haven’t turned to ash.
“It seems there were some problems last night. Lucky got stuck in Thiberoux.” I make my way across the room to sit on the couch. A small fire burns in the fireplace. I’m so tired right now, I could sleep for days.
Tatiana pours two cups of tea and brings one over to me. “Yes…I knew you were there, but I couldn’t see you. That worried me.”
“It was…okay. Everything worked out.” I remember Bones, but for some reason I’m not feeling as swoony about him as I was a few minutes ago. Then I think of Kieron and my heart turns to ice.
“What’s the matter dear? You’re upset, I can tell.” Tatiana sets down her gold-rimmed cup and turns to me.
I take another sip. “Nothing. I’m just really tired, is all. Tat, look, I know I agreed to finish school, especially because I came back that day with my ‘one good thing’…” My voice trails off as I recall the morning I didn’t want to go to school, and Tatiana made me, saying if I couldn’t find one good thing about my life then she’d let me drop out. That was the day Kieron showed up and took me fishing at the magical meadow.
That was the day I started to fall in love with him.
So, like an idiot, I’d told her of my ‘one good thing’, thereby sealing my fate to graduate high school. But now that good thing was gone. Truth is, it was never there in the first place...it had all been a complete and total lie.
“Yes, Liora?” she prompts when I don’t continue.
I shake my head. This is too much to process right now. I give a deep sigh, and look at her compassionate face. “Nothing…I’m just tired. I really don’t feel well. I know school’s starting back up, but I can’t go today. I’ll go tomorrow, I swear.”
“And you’ll graduate with your class?”
I sigh again.
“Yes.”
Chapter 20. Lucky
“C’mon, Diablo…move it,” I urge and squeeze my legs tight. He’s already racing at top speed, but I can’t get to the Kings River crossing fast enough.
I start shouting for Bones as soon as I pass through Thiberoux’s Portal.
“Bones!...Bones!”
Soon, I’m rewarded with the sweet sound of his howl. The moment his black form emerges from the shadows I leap off Diablo’s back, not caring that he is still running at a gallop. I fly into Bones’ arms just as he regains his human form, and hold him tight. “Oh, I’m so happy to see you. I’m so glad you’re all right.”
“Geez, if I’d known that being shredded by some whorish hellhounds would make you act like this, I would’ve done it years ago.”
I laugh and pull away, appraising him. “You look so good. Perfect as always. Now, tell me everything that happened after I checked out. Don’t leave out a thing…” I pull him to a tree stump, and we sit down by the river of dancing fire, watching the orange flames swirl around themselves.
He stretches out beside me, fingering the lace of my dress. “Liora handled it like a champ. So did Kieron, I guess,” he adds, more as an afterthought.
“Tell me.”
“All I know is I was kind of out of it for a while…when I came to, you…I mean Liora, was pouring some Source Energy in me. It gave me enough strength to transform, and after I finished the rest of it, my wounds healed right away. Better than ever.” He flexes a perfectly shaped bicep and kisses it. I laugh and roll my eyes.
“Tell me about Liora…did she flip out? Did she go completely nutso on everyone?”
“Well…” He hesitates.
“Tell me!”
“She didn’t seem too pleased with Kieron. Do those two have something going on? And just how exactly does that work? Talk about a kinky threesome—”
“Forget them.” I brush my hand through the air. “What else…?”
He chuckles under his breath. “Okay, I might as well tell you now. I was worried about her. I knew she’d be scared and needed to get home safely. She was furious with Kieron and didn’t know how to ride Diablo, and I know how she feels about…our kind. But I needed to do something to put her at ease…just so she’d let me take her home.” He has a devilish smirk on his face.
My eyes narrow. “You didn’t…”
“Just a little bit,’ he says, pinching his thumb and pointer finger together. “Just enough to get her to submit and not put up a fight. But you should’ve seen her when I left her at the cabin. She was practically begging to have my little demon babies—”
I whap his arm and he laughs.
“I’d say overall, we dodged a bullet,” I mutter. “I can’t believe Jax did that. If he wasn’t already dead, I’d kill him myself—”
“Hey, guys.”
I hadn’t noticed Kieron approach. I stand up, brush off my dress and walk over to him. Then I give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, relishing how good his body feels pressed against mine.
“What was that for?” he whispers as we pull apart. He glances over to where Bones sits and gives him a small nod. Bones turns away.
“For saving my friend. You were the one who got him the Source Energy. I don’t know what would’ve happened if…” My voice fades away.
He gazes into my eyes. There’s a sadness there. Unspoken truths that I can’t read. Is it because Liora is mad at him?
“What is it?” I ask quietly, moving my hand down the length of his arm until his hand is holding mine. He gives it a gentle squeeze and pulls me over to where Bones is staring out at the rippling fire.
“Actually, I need to talk to both of you…it’s about what happened last night.”
Bones looks over at us, his expression blank.
Kieron sits on the grass, me beside him. “I just wanted to say I don’t think it would be a good idea for it to get out what went down last night.”
Bones’ laugh is more of a sneer. “Of course it would. They killed one of ours when we went there on a peace mission. I know you’re not from around here, so you don’t really care if one of us lives or dies. But I care. I take it pretty damn personal when one of my boys gets torn to shreds.”
Kieron hedges. “Yeah…I understand that. But there’s something you should know…last night, when we re-visited the place where we found Cody and Ivy, I saw something…something I hadn’t noticed before.”
“Yeah, so?” Bones asks flatly.
“So, what I saw…what I sensed, leads me to believe that I know exactly what kind of demons killed them.” He eyes me pointedly at the word demons.
“They are transient demons with no home,” he continues. “They travel in particular patterns, ones I’ve been trained to spot. They don’t come from the Hlbafa side, nor were any of the Hlbafa responsible for what happened.”
“Okay, so maybe they didn’t kill Ivy and Cody, but they attacked Jax.”
“Well,” I interject, “to be fair, Jax did attack them first. Besides, the ones who attacked us are all dead now. Maybe Kieron’s right…maybe we should just let it go…” I don’t know where my magnanimous mood is coming from; normally I’d be down for any fight for any reason—good or bad.
Maybe it’s because I’m sitting here beside a healthy and strong Bones, and next to Kieron, who is still covering my hand with his beneath the waves of grass. Maybe it’s Kieron’s words—that it was demons who killed Cody and Ivy, not the Light-angels we’d first feared—that filled me with such a sense of r
elief, I no longer feel like tempting the fates.
Or maybe because, with Liora out of the picture, Kieron can focus his attention on me. Only me.
“Wait a minute,” Bones says, turning to Kieron. “If you knew last night that the Hlbafa weren’t responsible, why didn’t you say anything then? Why let us carry on?”
“Because I wasn’t sure if the demons responsible were still in the area. I thought we could speak to the Hlbafa leaders and maybe get some information from them…see if any of them knew anything. But, we all know how well that went.”
Bones is quiet for a while. “I suppose I see your point. No use in making something bigger than it needs to be. I have things I’d much rather be doing than fighting and killing,” he says, standing up. “But you should have told us. I lost a comrade because of you—”
“Where are they now?” I ask, quickly jumping to my feet.
Bones and Kieron look at me, both with blank looks their faces. I let out an exasperated sigh. “The demons, you idiots. The ones who killed Ivy and Cody.”
Kieron looks down. “They’re gone. Far away.”
I feel like he’s not telling me everything, but turn my attention back to Bones. “You off to mate?” I ask, recognizing the look in his eyes. Kieron rises as Bones nods.
“Yup, right after I hit up the Bar. Gonna treat myself to a few extra virgins tonight, too.” He grins salaciously. But this time my stomach doesn’t wrench up the way it usually does. I smile and give him a kiss on his cheek.
I watch his retreating back as he crosses the bridge and start to follow, but Kieron holds me back. “Lucky, wait a second.”
“What is it?” I turn to meet his gaze. My heart does the wobbly flip-flop as he looks into my eyes and puts his arms around my waist. Gently, authoritatively, he pulls me closer.
His lips find mine, and my head begins to spin. His kisses are soft at first, then stronger, more passionate. We stand there by the river of fire, arms around each other, kissing with an intensity I’ve never experienced before. My insides smolder, and I’m sure my head must be melting. I feel strong and weak at the same time.
I don’t want Kieron to ever stop, but eventually he moves his lips from my mouth to my cheek, to my forehead, finally kissing the top of my head. I rest my head on his chest, a contented smile on my face.
“I just needed to do that first,” he says, his voice husky.
“I’m glad you did…what took you so long?” I ask as I snuggle closer. I don’t want to know if he’s already kissed her; I don’t even want to think about it. I only want to be in this moment, here and now. With him. Just the two of us.
But we both need to drink, so after a few more kisses, we walk hand in hand across the river of flames.
******
“So, what’s on your agenda tonight?” Kieron asks, his face inches from mine as I lean back against a tree. As much as I love hearing the sound of his voice, every moment he’s talking is a moment he’s not kissing me.
“This,” I say, pulling him in for another. After we had our drinks at Demon Bar we’d returned to my special spot on the hillside. But now I think of it as our special spot. The Sirens seem to be singing especially for us tonight as Kieron and I embrace passionately along the edge of the cliff.
My hands wander down the sides of his body and under his shirt. My fingertips dance along the ridges of his rock-hard abdomen. Tiny baby hairs make a trail down to his jeans. He groans softly and pulls me closer.
“I wish I could do this all night, but I can’t,” he says.
“Why not?” I give him my best pout.
He sighs. “Well, I actually have to work. I picked up the trail of a quarry last night, and I need to see if it pans out. Not that I’m holding my breath,” he mutters, looking away.
“Well, I was planning on tormenting tonight…but maybe I can go with you instead?” I trace the side of his face with my finger. God he’s beautiful.
“I might be gone a few days…that’s why I had to make sure to do this before I left.” His eyes sparkle, and he leans in to kiss me again.
I jerk back as if punched in the gut. “A few days?” I whisper.
He nods. “I’ve been tracking these demons for quite some time. I’d lost them for a bit, and then they were hiding out in lands I’m forbidden to enter. But they’ve resurfaced. In fact, they’re the ones responsible for Ivy and Cody. I didn’t want to say anything earlier with Bones right there—”
“What?! Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I’m definitely going with you!”
Kieron sighs again and takes a small step back. “You can’t. Like I said, it might be a few days…maybe longer. You know you can’t be away that long. But I need to act fast and secure their position. It’s of the utmost importance that I contain them before they have a chance to disappear again.”
I’m disappointed because I know he has to go, and I can’t follow. But something else is bugging me, too…something I hadn’t put my finger on until just now. “Kieron, when we found Cody and Ivy, you were convinced they were killed by Light-angels. You said they had the markings, the energy and everything. What made you change your mind?”
A haunted look shadows his face, and his eyes darken. He studies me at length before responding. “I was wrong. The demons who did it…they are a special kind that absorb the powers and energies of their victims. They feed off those energies; it’s how they survive and grow stronger. My best guess is they’d had a run-in with Light-angels in the Mortal world shortly before attacking Cody and Ivy in Dryndara.
“I’ve only heard of two demons who have that power…” My voice trails off.
No. I cannot process this. No. No. No.
Kieron nervously runs his hands through his hair, the pain evident in his face.
“I’d really hoped to avoid this. I’d considered just leaving and not saying anything to you, but I couldn’t do it. But I should have…” He shakes his head, as if he’s angry with himself. “Remember how I said I came here to kill you because you were interfering with one of my quarries?”
“Um, yeah…I just figured I killed one of your bounties and you were pissed about the money. I’ll pay you back if that’s what…” I mumble, still in complete denial of where he’s going with this, even though I know exactly where he’s heading. I want him to stop talking now…before it’s too late.
“No, that’s not it. You were interfering because you were hunting them, too. These particular demons are highly sensitive and spook easily. I’d been tracking them for several months. And just when I had them in my sights, something scared them off—you.” He looks down at the ground.
Suddenly, everything is spinning around me and I begin to feel faint. My back slides down the side of the tree until I’m sitting on the ground. But even that doesn’t help. An achy sickness permeates my body, and my blood seems to have turned to poison—slowly, methodically, killing me.
“There have only been two demons I’ve ever hunted who’ve evaded me,” I whisper, still in disbelief.
Kieron nods, and shuffles his feet nervously. “And I have a blood contract from the Supreme Legionary to bring them in… Alive.”
I jump up. “What?! No! You can’t! If they’re here… if they’re somewhere and you know where they are, Kieron you must tell me. I have to kill them. You know I do.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t let you. The Supreme Legionary decreed…” His voice is barely a mumble.
“The Supreme Legionary…Kieron, who are you?” My eyes feel ready to pop out of my head, if it doesn’t explode first.
“Lucky, this isn’t the time to get into all this. I’ll explain after I get back…”
“After you get back from protecting the murderous monsters who killed my friends and destroyed my life, you mean!”
He looks at me with pain in his eyes. “I had no idea what the Amazèa had done to you when we first met. I only figured it out after talking with you. Then I put two and two together. No one would be stupid enough to h
unt them if they didn’t have a hell of a good reason.”
My quivering lips twist into a snarl. “Oh, and I suppose you have a good reason?”
“I’ve been bound to this bounty for months. Finding them, containing them, and handing them over to the Legionary is the only way I can win my freedom…otherwise…” He looks away and nervously runs both his hands through his hair.
I step into his line of vision and glare. “What about my freedom? What about my justice? My revenge?”
He lets out a deep sigh. “I’m sorry Lucky. I really am. If it makes you feel any better, they’re being held for high crimes and will likely be stripped of their powers and banished to the Wasteland for all of eternity.”
“No, it doesn’t make me feel better! They need to pay. They need to die! And I have to be the one to do it. For Kayla…for Michael…Cody and Ivy. For me.” I stomp my foot so hard, the trees beside me tremble.
“Lucky, if I don’t turn them in safely by the time my contract expires, I will be bound to the Supreme Legionary for the rest of my life. Do you know what that means? I will be a slave, forced to do their bidding, whenever and wherever they want me, with no free will, for the rest of my wretched life. I’ll have to leave here forever…that means never seeing you again. But, if I turn them in before the bounty on them expires, then I am free. That’s the deal I made with them after I met you. I knew I needed to be here with you. That’s why I was gone for a few days…not that you probably even noticed. I made the deal for you…so I could be with you…so I could have a life with you.”
My hollow laugh seems to be coming from someone else. “Well, that’s a pretty crappy deal you made because if you don’t tell me where they are right this second, not only do I never want to see you again, but I’ll kill you right here and now.” Instantly, two large balls of fire erupt in my palms. I raise my hands ready to unleash them.
His eyes flash wickedly. “Lucky you don’t mean that. Listen to what I’m saying…”
“Oh, I’m listening…and all I hear is how this is all for you. Well, I have news for you. I don’t care what the cost is, or if I die trying—I will find the Amazèa, and I will kill them. Not you or any other creature on this planet, alive or dead, is going to stop me. And if you get in my way I will kill you and not think twice about it. Understand?”