Chapter Nine

Rett

 

“Wait,” I said. There were too many thoughts in my head, and I couldn’t make sense of them. Pain throbbed in my temples. “Did you know that brand caused amnesia?” My voice was strangled as Laia shrugged. “And you still wandered off? Are you insane?”

Reagan, Rogda, and even Luke gave me reproachful looks.

But I was pissed. I was beyond pissed. I couldn’t stop clenching my jaw and fists, trying not to look at that brand on Laia’s leg.

“Answer me,” I barked, my voice echoing through the room and horror filling me.

“I’ve never had an attack like this,” Laia said. “And…I didn’t think it would affect me here.”

“What?” I asked, struggling to breathe. “What—what the hell does that mean?”

“The Excris foulness that did this to me,” Laia said, and her face became all steel. “I thought with distance and the Winfyre wards—” Her head fell into her hands. “You cannot tell my family. There’s a chance I won’t sur—” She bit off her words again.

“Survive?” I finished, and a hollow anger roared through me. “Why didn’t you say something sooner so Rogda or Reagan could—”

“There is nothing that can be done, Deacon,” Laia said in a dangerous, low voice.

Silence fell over the room for a second, and I shook my head. “No, I don’t believe it.”

Laia gave me an incredulous look. “Why are you acting like an angry, petulant child about this? I thought you’d be happy you didn’t have to deal with me for much longer.”

I took a step forward, mouth opening, even as those words burned through my chest.

Xander let out a dangerous rumble. “Enough,” he said and fixed Laia with a quelling look. “Rett is right—we have the resources to look into this. Don’t give up hope.”

“How did you make it to Winfyre in your condition?” Reagan asked and touched Laia’s hand gently. “And get away from the Bloodfang to boot?”

“Are you sure it was the Bloodfang?” I asked with skeptical contempt. “Their betrayal is not news, at least not to us.”

That group of low-life shifters hadn’t even been worth acknowledging. At first, they had been hailed as heroes, working to get shifters out of SB prisons. But then the truth had come out, that they’d been loosely affiliated with the Stasis Bureau, doing their dirty work. I’d thought they’d vanished after the Bureau had gone under.

“Yes,” Laia said. “They’ve changed without the SB to fight, reaching out to the Skrors—”

“The Skrors hate shifters,” I interrupted. “That’s their thing.”

“Rett, please shut up,” Xander said and glared at me. “I know you’re masking your concern with anger, but the rest of us would like to hear what she has to say.”

I fell silent, growling to myself as Laia gave me a fleeting look of surprise and annoyance.

“The Skrors and Bloodfang have reached a kind of truce,” Laia said. “They’re working together to take down the shifters who have established territories, then divide the land up between stasis and shifter. I don’t know—it seemed that the Fangs were waiting for an opportunity to double-cross them. But they’ve also been experimenting with Excris weapons, so who knows?”

“I thought shifters couldn’t be around Excris weapons,” Reagan said.

“They have Riftborn in their ranks,” Laia said and looked down. “People who have nowhere else to go, a lot of anger, and little conscience. They’re coming up with all kinds of horrible things.”

“How on earth did you end up there?” Reagan asked.

Laia curled in on herself. “I was helping the underground freedom fighters, the shifters who hung back to help people escape. The SB took my best friend, and I got him out.” Her breathing became unsteady. “Now I wish I hadn’t.”

“Jasper?” I asked, the name bitter on my tongue. Her eyes lifted to mine, bright and full of shock, whereas an hour ago she hadn’t even recognized me. My stomach twisted. “You called out for him while you were sleeping.”

“Yes,” Laia said, and her face twisted with sadness. “A man named Orion has taken over the Bloodfang. He’s soft-spoken, persuasive, and has all kinds of power. Instead of coming north, we stopped at their base for a night to recuperate. Jasper fell under Orion’s thrall in the blink of an eye. He’d changed, as many others did who’d been in the SB prisons. Dangerous and bloodthirsty. Everything became about helping Orion.” Her jaw clenched. “That bastard is taking advantage of them and their pain. It’s sickening. I thought…I thought I could stop them.”

“Freedom fighters wound up working with the Bloodfang?” Xander asked, and there was a trace of apprehension in his voice. “Is this Orion fanning their zeal for revenge on stasis?”

I knew what he was thinking. If shifters started attacking the stasis population hubs, a new and more ruthless Bureau could rise from the ashes of the old one.

“It’s difficult to say,” Laia murmured and avoided Xander’s eyes.

“You’re lying,” Xander said bluntly. “Don’t worry about our feelings. Tell us.”

“Well, Orion and some of the Bloodfang seem to think the Northern shifter territories basically saved their own asses instead of fighting back against the SB.” Xander’s entire body tensed. "I know that isn't true—you were trying to establish a safe place for shifters, trying not to go to war with the SB—but now that time has passed, the Fang grunts are buying into Orion's lies. He's the ultimate conman. Believe me, a Llary would know."

“Jesus,” Luke said. “Cut off one head…”

“How many do they have on their side?” Xander asked.

“Not many,” Laia said. “That’s why they wanted that thing. That’s why you have to destroy it. That’s why the Bloodfang allied with the Skrors. Although a lot of Skrors still refuse to go north.” She allowed herself a small smile. “They’re afraid.”

“Then they’re grasping at straws,” Xander muttered. “To come after the Northern territories right now would be suicide.” He sat back. “Unless that isn’t their plan.”

“It’s possible,” Laia said. “I wasn’t privy to the vast majority of their secrets.”

“Are they still holed up in the Rust Mountains?” Xander asked, and she nodded. “No territory to speak of, but they have that base with all the old factories.” He sighed. “That’s only about a three-week trip from here. Two in shifted form, maybe. Not quite a threat, but I’m not quite comfortable with that distance.”

“We should let the other territories know, especially the Burnfur,” I said.

“Are they going to be coming after you, Laia?” Luke asked.

“Not yet,” Laia said. “They think I’m dead. I created a trail that made it look like I…” She swallowed. “You have to destroy that weapon, please. Tristan can do it—he’s good at stuff like that.”

“You mean, setting fires?” Luke asked.

“Wait, we still don’t know your story, Laia,” Reagan said, and Laia rubbed her face, exhausted. “You said the weapon caused that brand?”

“Yes, but I don’t know how it works,” Laia said in a soft voice. “But I think only an augris—that’s a new type of Excris on the loose, by the way—I think only they can wield it. For now.”

“That’s enough for tonight.” The words surprised everyone, especially me. “I mean,” I said in a gruff voice, “look at her. She’s in bad shape. We can figure it out another time.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Rogda said firmly and helped Laia to her feet.

“Um, thank you. Good night.” Laia’s hazel eyes were clouded and lost, her whole expression wary. Yet I thought I caught a glimmer of gratitude. And for some reason, it broke my heart.

I forced myself to stay put, to stare at the floor. No matter how much I wanted to, even though my limbs burned to help her, I did not cross the room and lift Laia into my arms. She’d already created enough problems. I didn’t need to get entangled further.

After Rogda and Laia left, creaking slowly upstairs, there was silence for several minutes. I was staring down at the floor until a prickle ran along my skin, and I lifted my head.

Three pairs of eyes were focused on me. Reagan frowning, Luke amused yet worried, and Xander impassive. I hunched my shoulders and fought down making a comment.

Finally, I growled, “What?”

“Maybe this is a true claim after all,” Xander said.

“It isn’t,” I said.

“Why haven’t you told her about the punishment terms?”

“I will, Xander, God. There’s been a lot going on, and I have a ton of work to catch up on—”

“When she’s well enough, I want you to take her to Veda,” Xander said.

My jaw dropped. “Absolutely not.”

“It’s still in her bag, isn’t it?” Xander asked, ignoring me, and I nodded. “Good. Leave it there, and keep it out of sight.” Something flickered over his face. “I think it might affect shifters, but it seems this Laia has made herself immune. Either way, she should be the one to bring it.”

“Hold on,” I blustered. “When am I going to have time to do this?”

Again, Xander ignored me. “Reagan, Luke, do you agree?”

“Yeah, I think we need to be careful with that thing,” Luke said. “And her.”

“Yes, I agree. And I still can't sense what kind of shifter she is," Reagan said. "That brand must be the reason why, and why she's having these episodes. The more disconnect between the animal and the person, the more issues."

“Almost like a permanent recoil,” Luke mused, who’d had shifter-related issues.

“I was going to send the weapon to the Coven in any case,” Xander said and stood up. “Beylore needs to take a look at it. She’ll know what to do.”

Beylore, yikes. “Shouldn’t you be the one to talk to the head of the Coven?” I asked.

“Laia is your claimant,” my friend said mildly, but I could tell he was trying not to laugh. “I think you can handle it. Beylore doesn’t bite.”

I winced. “No, but she is the most powerful Riftborn we know.”

“Yes, and she might be able to help Laia,” Xander said mildly.

A sliver of hope went through me. “You think?” I asked in a rough voice.

“Can’t hurt to ask,” Xander said.

“All right,” I said. “We’ll go as soon as she’s well enough.”

Xander laughed and left. I sensed eyes on me and turned. Luke was grinning over at me. I cracked my knuckles, and his grin became wider. But Reagan elbowed him, and he stopped, giving her a guilty look.

“You were ten times worse,” Reagan informed him.

“No, really?” he asked in dismay. “I was?”

“Yes,” Reagan said.

My face flamed, and I strode across the room. “I have no interest in Laia like that. In fact, the sooner she’s gone, the better.” I swallowed hard, the words feeling odd and too sharp on my tongue, my gut burning with guilt. "Now, good night, and get out."

“Aw, Rett, come on, we were kidding—” Luke started to say, but I was gone.

I’d flown down the hall, then slipped out the back door and into the night. Striding across the lawn, then tumbling down through the woods, I found my hidden spot.

Shifting, I reared up and began to silently wield my claws against tree and stone, over and over, until the numb repetitions had worn down the chaos in my blood and the circle of thoughts in my mind. But even as I sank down in the center of it, a man again, the smell of pine resin, sap, and a faint tinge of blood in the air, my fingers pulsing and my body aching, it wasn't enough.

I could still see the empty, haunted look of Laia’s eyes and the translucence of her skin.

The fear carefully hidden in her face as she lifted her chin and revealed more secrets.

The brand sealed around her ankle, an Excris curse marring a shifter.

And I could hear the crack in her voice as she said, I thought you’d be happy you didn’t have to deal with me for much longer.

Spent rage curled into ash under my skin and choked my throat.

Sometimes, I thought no one hated the Rift more than I did.