Chapter Twenty-Five

Rett

 

Gesturing with one hand for Laia to stay put, I eyed a nearby tree and then leaped, landing silently on one of the sturdy lower branches. As quietly and as quickly as I could, I scaled it, ignoring the pine needles scraping my chin and the bark catching on my finger pads from the pace.

Up here, the smoke was thicker and more pungent. I held onto the tree with one hand as I stared out across the expanse of waving green, then a smudge of blue, and beyond, to Eliph Island.

It was burning.

Or, at least, a good portion of the wood along the coast was.

Fire was one of the best ways to fight or hold off the Excris. One that we’d found out was more or less universally understood across all of the Northern Wilds. A distress call, perhaps.

It wasn’t uncommon for people to stop at Eliph Island on the way to Winfyre. Usually, though, the chain of islands along the northern part of our coast acted as a formidable barrier, preventing some of the coastal breach problems we’d had in the south. We called it the Scattered Isles, as it was mostly just a bunch of small islands tossed like pebbles along the shore. They were difficult to navigate through, with a lot of dangerous channels and confusing layouts.

Eliph was the biggest, a jagged, diamond-shaped hunk of land, angled like a dagger, its northern nose pointing towards shore. On the western edge, however, it had a long and sandy hook that jutted out into the Pacific and provided an easy landing.

The muscles in my chest went tight as the smoke burned my eyes.

Why now?

Hastening back down, I leaped and landed next to Laia, who grabbed my arm. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” I said grimly, hedging. She’d insist on coming if there were refugees in danger. “I need to go check it out. Alone.”

“Rett,” she protested.

‘You can’t go, Laia.”

The finality in my tone shocked us both, and she drew back, her hand falling to her side.

There was silence for a moment, although I could swear I now heard the crackling of the brush in the distance. If there was even a chance in hell there were survivors, I had to go to them. In all likelihood, it was refugees—families trying to make it to Winfyre by sea.

“You go ahead to Veda,” I said, slinging off my pack and looking for a place to stash it along the trail. Finally, I found a good-sized boulder and shoved it underneath. “I’ll catch up.”

“Wait, you’re going to go? Alone?”

“Something is happening off the coast,” I said, and my stomach twisted as I tried not to imagine what I was going to find. “I’m a Command of the Northbane. This is my job.”

Leaving Laia alone made me sick, but I had no choice. What if leaving Laia alone was the wrong move, though? What if there was something in the woods? But I didn’t sense anything. Not exactly. My head was aching. What the hell was going on with me today?

Suddenly, I realized Laia was speaking, and I guiltily swung my attention back to her. She gave me a fierce glare. “Nice.”

“I’m sorry, but people might be in danger,” I said. “I have to go.”

“You should call for help.”

I ignored that. “Promise me you won’t follow, Laia—that you’ll go to Veda.”

Frustration lanced through Laia’s features, her lips set and her eyes burning as she stared up at me. Her lips trembled even as she nodded slowly. Neither of us could say it out loud—but she would be more of a liability than an asset.

My heart ached. “Laia.”

Suddenly, her arms were around my neck, and her lips were on mine. I was flabbergasted for a second, almost taken aback as though this were the first time we’d kissed. Then I kissed her back with fierce, unrelenting passion, leaving nothing on the table.

“You come back to me, Rett Deacon,” she whispered savagely as we broke apart.

“I will,” I said, and my hand cupped her cheek. God, it had to be written all over my face.

I love you.

“I wish I could help,” she said and closed her eyes.

“Laia, don’t do this to yourself. Not now. Not when we’re so close,” I said. “You keep going. I’ll be right behind you.” A smile tugged up on my cheek. “We already know I’m pretty good at tracking you down.”

Laia nodded and stepped back. “See you soon. Be safe.”

Swallowing, I let her go and turned, sprinting through the woods. The ground flew by as I vaulted over fallen trees, crossed small rivers, and finally landed on the rocky shore. As time had passed, my shifter abilities had manifested more and more on the human side as well.

Like now: I could practically discern the different trees burning. It looked even worse from here, the entire eastern edge caught up in flames. Black smoke poured into the sky, and I watched as a tree crumpled, then crashed into the ocean, sending up a wave of steam.

Glancing up and down the beach, which was all hard edges of rocks and dirt, I spotted the dock that had been built for Eliph Island. Beyond it was a rough shelter for the boats, paddles, and sun-bleached lifejackets. Striding over, I saw that there were all sorts of boats, from sturdy canoes to kayaks to rafts.

Grabbing a canoe, I hauled it down to the water’s edge, kicked it in, and lightly jumped in. The canoe wobbled violently as I sat down, but once I had that paddle going, I was churning through the water at top speed.

The smoke was rising so high up in the air, some patrol from Veda or someone had to have seen it. Deep down, I was banking on some shifters to find Laia and get her to safety. I was more concerned about her than about having backup.

A grim smile played around my lips.

Whatever was on this island was probably not expecting an Alpha Command.

Pulling up and around the island, I kept my eyes peeled for any movement in the trees or boats on the shore. It was quiet, though. Paddling into a sheltered cove on the northwestern tip, I let the boat slide up on the sand and then hopped out, sloshing through the shallows. Pulling it up behind me, I glanced around.

Densely covered in brush, like all of the Scattered Isles, Eliph was inhabited by birds, sea lions, and about a million gnats. Swatting them away, I shifted and set off.

At first, I moved through the trees as quietly as I could, but my girth wasn’t meant for stealth. If there were Excris, they might as well come to me. I rumbled a low warning, then pricked up my ears, waiting for a response. Nothing.

Moving along the western edge of the island, I thought I’d spotted something off to the south when a faint sound emanated from the center of the island. The trees were denser here, so I shifted back and proceeded forward, slipping from tree to tree. My nostrils flared. I caught no scent of Excris, only smoke. But it wouldn’t be the first time they’d have used the elements to mask their scents.

Prepared to shift back at any moment, I came to a spot where the trees fell away. I hadn’t been on Eliph in quite some time, and I’d forgotten the eerie, circular clearing in the center of the island. Covered in a fine gray sand, nothing grew there, and I saw footprints crossing and re-crossing it. Looked like I was in the right place.

Walking forward, I heard a whistle of air and stepped left as an arrow whizzed by, embedding itself in the ground. Cracking my neck, I let out a small chuckle and leaned down to pick it up.

“Bloodfang,” I intoned, seeing the gray feathers curled with red and black at the edges.

Luke, Xander, and I had been brushing up on our knowledge of them. Rumor had it that the Bloodfang had great feathered beasts roosting in their hills. To hone their stealth, they would attempt to pluck their feathers at night, without waking the beasts.

“Better luck next time,” I said, snapping the arrow and tossing it away, eyes on the trees. “You’re trespassing,” I called out. “As one of the five Commands of the Northbane, I am giving you five minutes to get the hell out of here.” I paused. “Or else.”

Three rangy men—boys, really, maybe in their late teens or early twenties—emerged out of the woods. Their glares were unerringly the same, blank yet angry.

“I thought this was supposed to be a haven for all shifters,” one spat.

“Shifters who do not harm their brethren, yes,” I said.

“The Northbane code of honor, I forgot,” sneered another, and his jaw snapped together. “Seems like a convenient way to continue to serve yourselves while your brethren fight for their lives in the South. Do you even care what happens in the borderlands?”

“You blame the Northern packs for the Southern packs’ failings?” I asked coolly, and the boys flushed. “And here I was under the impression that the Stasis Bureau had been disbanded by our efforts, and there was peace. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“Peace, but not your prosperity,” the same one snapped.

“Ah,” I said. “That takes work. So, what—you want to steal what we’ve put in over two years of hell for? Are you trying to fill the void that the Stasis Bureau left by acting just like them?”

“Of course not,” one said and gripped his fists. “We’re nothing like those bastards.”

“Then why are you here?” I challenged.

Laia was right—Orion has them brainwashed. They have no idea that the North suffered just as much.

Something was creeping up behind me. I waited until the last minute before I shifted and swung around. The wolf sneaking up on me was knocked out cold, and I shifted back, glaring at the three in front of me.

“You won’t win this fight,” I warned. “And dishonorable tricks will not serve you.”

The three hesitated, then there was a howl from above, and a wolf dove at me through the air, teeth snapping and claws out. Again, I shifted, swung a paw, and knocked him down.

With a satisfied snort, I went to shift back and realized I was surrounded by at least fifteen shifters, from lions to wolves to another bear. A sigh heaved out of me.

I hate fighting other shifters.

It brought up bad blood. Bad memories.

Maybe that’s why I didn’t take it easy on them.

Swinging around, lashing out, I swiftly and brutally incapacitated all of them in under a minute. Heaving, panting, I gritted my jaw and let out a soft, frustrated roar.

Orion will pay for this. Turning kin on kin.

Suddenly, a man popped out of the woods and shook his head. I frowned at him, watching as he sucked on a lollipop and shook his head, a giant crossbow perched on his shoulder.

“Told ’em a Deacon wouldn’t go down so easy,” Billy Sarrow drawled.

This damned asshole again. I shifted back, and Sarrow blinked in surprise as I took a step forward. “Sarrow, how many times do the Northbane have to kick your damn ass?” I growled.

“Oh, I’m a sucker for punishment.” Sarrow winked. He pulled out the lollipop and dropped the white stick on the ground. I flinched, and he grinned. “Sorry to mess up your pretty freak park.”

“You need a hobby or somethin’,” I muttered.

“And you should shift back," Sarrow said, leveling the crossbow at me and closing one eye. “Not that I can’t hit a target no matter what your bulk, Deacon.”

Running forward, I snarled as I snatched the arrow he’d shot at me and flung it back at him. It hit Sarrow’s wrist, and the crossbow went flying. He squared up as I bore down, my fist cracking across his jaw. But Sarrow must have been training, because he rolled over and got back up.

“I’m not wasting the bear on the likes of you,” I said.

“Fine by me,” Sarrow said, but his jaw went tight.

He threw a quick jab at my side. It missed my gut but caught along my ribs, and I paused, surprised by the force of the impact. It was like Sarrow’s bones were denser or something.

“Excris doping?” I guessed at random. Then my eyes went wide as Sarrow’s flashed.

“That mouthy bitch,” Sarrow grumbled. “I’m gonna have the augris sew her damn lips shut.”

A shudder went through me. “What?”

“Oh, you know,” Sarrow said. “That pretty little dumpling of a redhead—”

Sarrow didn't finish that sentence as my fist connected with his stomach, and he bent over double, wheezing. I went to drive my knee into his face and put him to bed for a while, when a voice stopped me.

“That’s enough.”

A creeping, dark voice that slithered over my skin. Excris.

I turned, gripping Sarrow’s collar. Then he fell from my grip and landed on the ground heavily. When he looked up, he broke into wheezing chuckles.

I stood there, frozen, feeling every broken breath leaving my body.

No, I thought. It’s not possible.

Held between an Excris and a tall, bulky shifter, whose face was obscured by a dark hood, was Laia. Laia, bound and gagged. Laia, who should have been almost in Veda.

“Surrender,” the Excris ordered, its slithering voice filled with triumph.

Yellow eyes regarded me, and all I could see was a sharp, jutting jaw and a pitiless mouth of teeth. Horns curved back over its temples, and it smoothed its long claws over them. Its body was wrapped in some strange material, overlapping and holding in whatever made up its body, which seemed to be undulating. Tattered material fell from its shoulders, almost making it look like the beast was a remnant of some twisted royal line.

Maybe one of the kings of hell.

What had Laia called it? An augris?

The creature who could wield the weapon.

“Surrender, now, or we use the shard on her…” The Excris held up an ugly black object, confirming my worst fears. It was a strange object, the bottom half hammered flat to provide a grip, and the rest left as nature had intended. Pure black, it seemed to suck light into it, its edges pulsing red.

The augris moved the object to Laia’s throat, and she let out a small, frightened sound.

That noise gutted me, and I involuntarily took a step forward.

“Too easy,” the augris said with a grin.

“On your knees, Bear,” the shifter finally said, his voice cold and empty.

I dropped to my knees and held up my hands.