Sleeper_Google, page 13
part #3 of Hunter Series
Yep. That was my man. “Don’t leave the path and buy sunscreen. Got it. The summer stuff, though, has totally been used. Although it was winter is coming. You should watch it. I’m pretty sure that’s trademarked, baby. Simply changing up the season isn’t very creative.”
His eyes were back to blue and he shook his head. “I think I’ve finally figured this stuff out. My prophecies aren’t meant to stop events from occurring. You won’t see it until it’s happening. But remember the things I’ve said. They’re more like warnings. And Marcus won’t leave forever. He’ll play his part in the coming months but, my love, that will not include taking care of you.”
I did not want to start playing word games with a prophet. “Where will he go?”
A sad smile played at his lips. “I told you.”
And that was all I would get. At some time in the future Marcus would leave me to get some sun and there was a path. Nice. I had other things to worry about besides my wayward lover.
I had to deal with the sleeper and hope someone hadn’t been waking him up for a little murder spree.
“I love you, Kelsey mine.” He leaned over and kissed me.
I wanted to beg him to come home, but I relaxed beneath him as he loved me all over again.
When I woke, soft light filtered through the windows. Normally, Marcus hit the button that closed all the blinds before we went to bed, but he hadn’t been here last night. I wasn’t sure I’d been here last night. Not in a literal sense. My body likely hadn’t left this bed, but I’d been somewhere else. Somewhere Gray could touch me.
I lay there for a moment and took stock. It was something Marcus had taught me to do when I was feeling unstable or worried I might be. I breathe in and start at my toes, trying to sense any tension in my body, locating it and releasing it.
I was a happy mess of rubbery goo. There wasn’t a tense muscle in my body. And my soul. Oh, it was at peace, too.
How could I be at such peace without Marcus to hold me together?
This was who he wanted me to become. I would always need nights like the one before, but something had changed and I was more than I’d been.
The next time wouldn’t be so hard. I could see that now. The next time wouldn’t surprise me and I would handle it.
I could handle being myself.
“Kelsey, please…”
I sat straight up, clutching the sheets to my breasts. That was when I realized I wasn’t alone.
Trent lay beside me in the bed, Gladys impaled in his left side.
He looked up at me, his eyes so damn weak. “I can’t. I’m not strong enough to pull it out. Please. It hurts.”
So much of what Gray had said made sense now. When he’d come to me the first time, he’d been inside the Ala demon. At the time, all I’d seen was the Ala, but apparently Gray had figured out how to make me see him last night—even though he’d been inside Trent’s body.
They’d been one the night before. That had been the difference.
“What did you do?” I asked the wolf, trying to wrap my mind around why he would put himself through hours and hours of torture. And embarrassment. “How much did you see?”
Despite the fact that he was impaled on a sword that could poison him, his lips curled in a sexy grin. “I was there the whole time. Told you I would find a way. Keep you safe. Give you what you need. Don’t hate me. Can’t stand it if you hate me.”
Hate him? I scrambled because I wasn’t about to let him die on me. He’d done something extraordinary. I couldn’t hate him. Ever. I didn’t bother with clothes. He’d seen it all before and it was all right for him to see me. I could feel it.
What wasn’t right was that sword in his belly. He’d held that sword for hours and hours while his body had been used to heal my soul.
“I’ll get Henri.”
Trent shook his head. “Just take it out and I’ll change. I have the king’s blood. I took a big old dose before our adventure. I’ll change and that will help the healing process along. You know what we have to do with Roberts, right?”
I had to call in some witches. Luckily, they were coming over today anyway. “I’ll get Liv started on finding the right spell.”
Trent was flat on his back, staring up at me with weak eyes, but I could hear the will in his voice. “Kelsey, we’re partners in this now. Marcus can’t help you anymore. I didn’t get everything that big bastard said, but I got the gist. Is there a reason Gray can’t give us a map?”
I sighed because that would be so much easier. “It’s all in the prophet’s handbook. That was as easy as it gets.”
Trent growled. “I hate prophecies. I’ll help you in any way I can, but I’m the one you turn to now. You understand that?”
I understood I owed him and if he wanted in on this, I would let him. “Okay.” I gripped the hilt of my sword. “This is probably going to hurt.”
He groaned as I pulled the sword free. The sheets were perfectly clean because Gladys didn’t waste a drop of blood. Even as I pulled it out of Trent’s body, I could see the blood absorbing into the silver, and then I watched as the king’s blood worked its magic, beginning to heal the wound. Trent was a nasty ashen color, but I couldn’t help but find him beyond beautiful in that moment.
Wolves need affection. It’s how they heal. There’s often nothing sexual about it. I’ve seen wolves sleep in large piles of naked bodies for mere comfort and warmth. There’s something beautiful about it. Especially when one is sick and needs the touch of his or her brethren. That’s when the wolf pack will come together and lay hands on the ill one, giving them comfort and strength. So I crawled in next to him. I did it on instinct and without that useless shame I might have felt before that night. There was a wolf part of me and Trent had become my pack. I accepted it with surprising ease. I pulled the covers over us and wrapped my arms around him.
“Kelsey, I have to,” he began.
I knew what he had to do. “It’s okay.”
He changed in an instant, proving his incredible strength. One minute I was hugging a man and the next there was a big gray wolf in my arms. He whimpered in pain and I stroked a hand down his back.
“Go to sleep.” I knew why he was fighting it, but he would find me less combative than I’d been before he’d risked his life to save my sanity. I wasn’t going to let his sacrifice be for nothing. I let my hands stroke his soft fur. “Go to sleep. I’ll be here. I won’t leave you and I won’t get into trouble until you’re awake and ready to protect me.”
He managed a bark that sounded something like a snort of disbelief.
But his eyes were closing.
I stayed there, watching over him as he’d watched over me.
Chapter Nine
Hours later I paced the floor of the queen’s living room, but this time it wasn’t an anxious thing. I was thinking and found the movement soothing. I usually forced myself to be still. I’d been told so often as a child that I should, I’d developed the habit, though it wasn’t natural. That afternoon, I didn’t even think about it. I let my instincts flow. I paced as Trent sat in the sunshine. He was still in his wolf form. Henri had told me he should stay that way for a few more hours. His wolf body would clear the silver more quickly than his human one. He’d woken up and growled my way when I’d asked him if he needed a walk around the block to clear out the system. Hey, I was sure someone had a pooper-scooper I could borrow.
He was not in the mood for my jokes.
“So you want a witch to come in and find a bunch of memories that Nemcox shoved into Neil’s soul?” The queen sounded like I’d asked her to ride a unicorn or something equally ridiculous.
“It’s not on his soul. It’s in between his soul and the dragon thing that now is attached to his soul.” Totally reasonable. Liv hadn’t blinked when I’d called her. I’d been lying in bed petting my wolf when I’d asked Liv to talk to her coven about the Neil Roberts’s situation. She was my girl. She didn’t call me crazy, merely said she would get on it.
Apparently she and Sarah Day had figured something out. Now it was all about convincing Roberts to stay still long enough for the witches to whammy him.
“So the tattoo is actually on his soul.” Dev Quinn sat beside his wife. The king was out for the day, meeting with someone important about something super world changing, or so I was told. Marcus had gone with him, but he’d left a note explaining that he thought it best that he go back to Venice for a while. He would talk to me about it when he returned this evening.
It hurt my heart, but the ache was somewhat bittersweet. Marcus had a path. He had a dream, maybe one he hadn’t even acknowledged yet. Something about what Gray had said made me think Marcus would find his happiness. I’d written down as much of the prophecy as I could remember and the lines about Marcus had struck me as hopeful.
All the world would crumble, too, but I was focusing on the positive.
So this afternoon it was me, the queen, Devinshea Quinn, my two witches, one super sullen Neil Roberts, and Trent, who did that thing where he walked in circles three times before lying his wolf body down so he could watch the fireworks. His head was on his paws as he looked up at me.
He was awfully cute in his wolf form, even if he was a bit grumpy. If he was going to follow me around in wolf form, I was totally going to start stocking my pockets with treats. Maybe a Snausage or two would get his tail wagging.
I was still processing the fact that I’d kind of had sex with Trent. It had been Trent’s body that had moved over me. And he’d done it all with a sword sticking in him. He was a motherfucking superhero in the bedroom.
It made me wonder what that man could do when he wasn’t impaled.
It had been Trent my wolf responded to. I wasn’t so unaware that I didn’t get that. My wolf was totally into Trent and I couldn’t work up the will to think that was a horrible idea at the moment.
Sarah leaned in, her hand on Neil as though she was worried if she stopped touching him, he would fade away. “Yes, Dev. Believe me, I have some insight into this. My mother sold my sister and I to Brixalnax. That tat was placed on us at birth. It didn’t go away until Felix redeemed me.” She looked back at me. “That was before he fell. He was still an angel. And before you ask, it’s not something we can request from the Heaven plane. Felix was only able to do it because he knew he was going to fall. Angels are given one freebie before they give up the wings.”
So asking for a pass from the angelic trio wouldn’t help. I hadn’t expected it would be that easy.
Roberts sat up, his eyes grim. “It’s on my soul. I can’t quite process that.”
“The dragon itself isn’t bad, you know.” I hated how sad he looked. I was feeling far more magnanimous than I had yesterday and had apologized profusely for the whole “bad cop” play. “It’s a part of you, something they use to control you, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take it back. Gray told me that if you found a way to accept it, you’ll be much more at peace.”
“I want it gone.” Roberts’s hand went to his side as though he could feel it.
“I can’t get rid of it. We can only unbind the dragon from Nemcox. I can’t take it off your soul.” I’d thought a lot about the dragons while I lounged in bed. Gray’s dragon might not work the same, but it was a way for his father to force him home. Still, I didn’t think Gray would want me to take it off him even if I could. That dragon was part of Gray, but Roberts didn’t feel the same way. “The problem is you don’t remember the words of the invocation. I need them. Well, Liv and Sarah need them to perform an unbinding spell. I need some truth from you.”
Zoey started to stand. Quinn put a hand on his wife’s elbow.
“It’s her job, my goddess. Dan wanted her in this position. She can’t merely do her job when it doesn’t touch our family. We need her.” Quinn nodded my way. “Please continue.”
“How did you get the burns on your hands?”
Roberts looked down at his palms. They were perfect now. “I don’t know. I woke up yesterday morning and I was naked in a park and my hands were like that. I tried shifting, but it didn’t work. I found an alley and hid behind a trash compactor until Chad woke up. We tried to use his blood, but it didn’t work either. That’s when we went to the hospital.”
“I convinced him to take the king’s blood last night,” Zoey admitted. “He was already donating, so I took some to Neil and that finally worked. You think Neil used the Sword of Justice to kill the halflings?”
“I think it feels awfully coincidental to me that I’ve got a halfling who could only have been killed by a special sword, the same sword goes missing from the Heaven plane, and Neil here, who has a switch his ex-captor can push at any time, both loses time and shows up with burns on his hand that shouldn’t be there. Well, unless he’s been playing around with…yes, that’s right, a sword from the Heaven plane. Is that a neat triangle bringing us back to the fact that Neil is likely a sleeper agent being activated by Nemcox, who stole the sword we’re looking for? Or is it three completely unconnected dots? Anyone want to argue?”
“I’ve lost time a lot lately,” Neil said quietly. “It wasn’t only yesterday.”
Zoey and Dev turned to him, obviously shocked.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Zoey asked, moving closer to him.
“How long?” Quinn’s voice had gone low, but there was compassion there. “Has he been doing this to you for years?”
Roberts shook his head. “No. Not at all. I thought it was all over. It’s been forever. He hasn’t messed with me since that day I woke up in France and found my way to Zoey. I knew he’d done something to me, but life seemed calm. It’s been good for years, and I was stupid. I thought if I didn’t touch that world again, it would go away. I was wrong. He’s always been out there, waiting for the right time. He’ll never stop. When he’s ready, he’ll take me to Hell again.”
“Not if this works.” I needed him positive for the experience. “If this works, we could break the bond.”
“And I’ll remember what happened to me?” Neil seemed to shrink in on himself.
“I don’t know,” Sarah replied. “I’m going to try to break whatever spell is keeping that memory from you, but I don’t know if you’ll remember everything. Once the spell is done, Felix will try to take you through some sessions to bring out the exact invocation the demon used. Then we’ll break the bond and he won’t be able to come after you again.”
“Especially once I cut his head off his body.” I had plans. I would mount it and hang shit from his horns.
Roberts looked up at me, a fire in his eyes for the first time. “I want in on that.”
All the wolves wanted in on my kill. I supposed he had even more right than I did. “I’ll be happy for the help. But first, I need something else from you. Help me stop this. I know it’s going to suck to remember, but we need you to. I know you didn’t mean to kill those demons.”
“We don’t know that he did,” the queen insisted.
Roberts looked back at her. “I woke up covered in blood. Demon blood, Z.”
There was one problem with my scenario, and I had to admit the facts. “The forensics aren’t consistent with a wolf attack. According to Henri, some sort of lizard thing bit the last victim. I don’t suppose you have any lizard-shifting friends?”
The queen sat up straight, her face flushing. “Shit.”
“Tell them, Z. You know you have to. I don’t remember those times.” Roberts put a hand over hers. “You know I can’t live this way. If you know something, tell her.”
Trent had gotten his furry butt up and he came to sit in front of the queen, his eyes steady on her.
She frowned at him. “Fine. Gosh, you’re a judgmental wolf. I’ll tell her. But don’t expect any treats from me.”
His tail thumped and he moved back to my side. He twirled around a few times before lying back down.
The queen’s lips curled up in a smile. “Well, that didn’t take long. I owe Danny twenty bucks.” Trent growled and the queen moved on. “All right. I’ve only seen Neil change once. Not into a wolf. He does that all the time. I mean I’ve only seen him change into whatever the hell Nemcox forces him to change into once. I think there’s some kind of failsafe involved. We were in grave danger. We were in the old Council’s stronghold. It was me and Trent and Neil. We got caught doing something we shouldn’t.”
“Stealing shit,” Neil allowed.
Zoey shrugged. “As one does. Anyway, we were trapped in a dangerous place. Our only exit was being guarded by a strong shifter. Trent tried to take him on, but it was obvious that wasn’t going well. That was when Neil…he didn’t change forms exactly, but he was changed.”
I was getting a much better picture. “So he didn’t take on some four-legged form. He would be able to hold a sword.”
“Yes,” Zoey replied. “His eyes changed and there was something…reptilian about him.”
“Dragon-like. When he gets activated, his dragon takes over and there are some physiological changes. It’s smart. No one would think a wolf would be able to hold that sword. All the forensics would come back as reptilian. He’s a perfect sleeper agent,” I surmised. I’d heard enough. Zoey could tell me the whole story, but I would rather hear it from the source. Unfortunately, my source had issues. “All right. I think we need to do this. Liv, are you comfortable that this spell is going to help?”
Liv gave me what I like to think of as her reassuring smile. “I’m comfortable with the fact that it won’t kill him or bring about the apocalypse.”
I was taking that as a win.
