Page 21

21. Where. Is. She?!

Kerry

I woke up to familiar voices. Before my eyes were open all the way, I jumped to my feet and felt my shoulder to check on Rome.

I called up my katana when I couldn’t find him.

“It’s okay, Kerry. Rome’s here. He’s hurt, but he’s alive.”

I spun to the left and saw John a few feet away. He was standing guard, despite heavy bleeding from a bad gash above his eye and a broken nose. To my right, Rome sprawled on the ground and Gigi and Travis knelt next to him. There was no one else in the clearing.

I swiveled my head, searching for—

“Where’s Gemma?”

Gigi started to cry and raised bloody hands to cover her face, then slumped back on her heels. John and Travis were silent.

“ Where. Is. She?”

But I knew.

I knew before Gigi ever opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry!” she wailed. “I swear I tried to grab her! By the time I dropped Travis and returned, the demons had them wrapped up in blankets and were tossing them through the portal. Two of the larger ones spotted me and I had to leave. They took them. They took them all!”

Her voice broke and she sobbed.

Clutching my useless sword, I stood there as a tremble started in my fists, ran up my arms to my shoulders, and spread down my spine.

You failed her. My sight darkened around the edges. You failed her and now she’s as good as dead. You worthless piece of garbage—

I closed my eyes and bowed my head.

Calm down, I told myself. Calm down so you can think. If you can think, you can find a way to get her back. Start with breathing. In for a count of four. And out for a count of four.

“Kerry?” John spoke in a quiet voice. “Are you with us?”

I did the breathing thing ten or twelve more times before I opened my eyes. When I did, I saw I’d surrounded us with a wall of power that stretched at least twelve feet high. Travis had Rome’s chest wrapped with duct tape, Gigi still cried into her hands, and John stared at me with his usual calm eyes.

Dude was so zen sometimes, it was almost creepy.

“Are you with us?” he repeated.

A part of me wanted to scream, “No, and I don’t care who dies as long as I get her back!” The rest of me, though, drew in one more deep breath and blew it out.

“I’m with you.”

He gave me a short nod, then went back to scanning the area. How he saw anything through the river blood and my blue wall, I didn’t know, but he was a messenger. His eyesight beat mine every day of the week.

With a heavy sigh, I ditched the katana, sat on the ground next to Gigi, gave her my back, and made myself do what needed doing.

“Here.” That was all it took for her to fall against my shoulder. “Just don’t vomit on me.”

“Don’t worry.” John sounded really strange through a broken nose. “She’s already thrown up twice. I don’t think she has anything left in the tank.”

Her body shook and her tight hold on my coat nearly strangled me. I understood completely. Just the thought of her at the mercy of—

Jax is there, too. He’ll protect her. And I hope he knows I’ll watch out for his girl.

“It’s okay, Tennessee. You got Travis out, then yourself when you realized the others were lost for now. You did exactly what we practiced.”

“I should have tried harder to grab someone, too.” John blew out a heavy breath. “The monkey thing was after Maddy. I tackled it and started wrestling with it. It broke my nose and slammed a rock into my head and all I could see after that was stars. Maddy finally got enough arrows in it to kill it, then she started taking out the little demons. I was pretty dazed, but I should have been able to power through the pain like you do.”

I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard John say all at once .

“Listen, you look like you have a concussion.” I shook my head. “I don’t think you can teleport three feet right now. Plus, a broken nose will knock the sense out of anyone. You got away before you passed out or could be taken, so that was the right thing to do.”

“Kerry, can you look at Rome?” Travis called.

“Here, Gigi.” John sat down on her other side. “Cry on me for a bit. Don’t need to torture Kerry so much when I can’t do much else right now. We’ll lean on each other. Besides, we don’t need a guard with that shield wall.”

I went over to Rome and saw his color was good and his breathing seemed regular.

“How’s his heartbeat, Dragon?”

“Good. And he doesn’t feel too warm or too cold.” Travis shrugged. “We used duct tape to close up the gouges on his arm and chest. I don’t want to be around when he has to take it off, but it’ll stop the bleeding and hold his skin together. There’s a large knot on his head, but it isn’t bleeding. I saw how that beast tossed him, though. He may have busted some ribs.”

He gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed the top of his head with one hand.

“I swear, the next set of books I check out are going to be on first aid. I feel so pathetically ignorant. It’s a new feeling for me.”

“Aw, you did fine. We can ask him about his ribs when he wakes up.” I turned back to John. “Okay, we need to set your nose before it swells anymore. Trust me on that.”

Gigi wiped her face and sat up, then looked at John’s face.

“It does look awful.” She bit her bottom lip.

“Okay. Do it, Kerry.”

“ Me ?” I scrubbed my hands over my face. “I dunno if I can …”

“Come on. Travis and Gigi don’t know how. It’s up to you.”

You can do this. You can touch John’s face. You can make that choice.

“It’s gonna hurt.” I knelt in front of him. “You may get dizzy or wanna spew. Please don’t spew on me.”

“I’ll do my best to miss.”

I put my hands along his nose and felt around.

“On three?” His black eyes were wide.

“Sure. One, two—”

Snap! I pushed with my thumb.

“Ow!”

“What happened to three?” Gigi demanded.

I shrugged a shoulder and examined John’s nose, then let go of his face and leaned back on my heels.

“Good and straight now. Don’t touch it any more than you have to or you’ll knock it outta place again. Wish we had some ice.”

He started to nod, but slowly slid sideways, his eyes rolling back into his head. I caught his shoulders and lowered him down to the ground.

“Travis, Gigi, can one of you find something to wrap around this gash on his forehead?” I scanned the area again. “I wanna have a look around.”

They closed in on John and I stood up and studied the wall I’d made. The outside glittered with silver and I realized I’d put electrocution on it.

Gotta slow my roll ’fore I kill someone I might regret.

I took a deep breath and the wall around us slowly disintegrated, bits and pieces floating off in the air.

Someone had gathered all of our camping stuff, backpacks, and the two bow cases and made a neat pile on the ground next to Rome. Travis and Gigi musta gone through some of them for first aid supplies. My “go bag” was open, which was where they probably found the duct tape. At least, Clem had packed a new roll in it.

I went through the field for about thirty minutes and returned with Chance’s wallet, one of the yellow blankets the demons had used, and Maddy’s bow, which was broken. I carried it back anyway and put it in its case. Maybe it could be repaired. Then I laid the arrows and the demon blanket next to the other stuff and slipped Chance’s wallet into my coat pocket for now.

Looking at my troops, I frowned. John lay on the ground next to Rome, breathing lightly, his face gray and a white t-shirt wrapped around his head. Gigi was pale as chalk and sat staring at the spot where the portal had opened. Travis looked like he still had some miles left on him, but his eyes showed how rattled he was.

“I don’t think we’re far from a town.” I hoped I at least sounded confident. I reached for my secondary bag, the one for snacks. “You two stay here with Rome and John. I’ll hike ahead a bit and see what I can see.”

“What if they come back?” Travis looked scared. “Rome’s out of it, and neither John nor Gigi could teleport themselves right now, let alone another person. How about I go instead? You can protect the others the best.”

I thought about it as I handed out peanut butter crackers. It sounded like a good plan, so I nodded.

“I want you back here long before it gets dark, Travis. Maddy had us heading north. Walk in a straight line as best you can, but follow a road if you find one. Every so often, mark your trail with piles of rocks or something so you can find your way back.”

“I can just use the friend tracker app to find you.” He patted his jeans pocket where I saw the outline of his phone.

“Use it now!” Gigi jumped up suddenly, clawing at her own pocket. “We can find Jax and the others with it!”

“I already tried.” Travis rolled his shoulders. “I tried all their phones. They’re either turned off or have dead batteries or were taken away. Could have been destroyed.”

“I’m going to keep trying.” She plopped back down and clenched her phone so hard, her knuckles turned white.

Travis and I shared a sidelong glance. We both knew she wouldn’t have any luck. I shrugged, then reached over and draped a canteen around his neck.

“If you meet up with people, explain you’re hiking and got lost and wanna know where you ended up. They’re probably used to hikers if this trail is as famous as Rome said. Can you hotwire a car?” The look he gave me was all the answer I needed. “Just thought I’d ask. You’re smart, so I know you’ll be okay, but watch your back anyway, Dragon.”

“Same, Kerry.”

#

Soon after Travis left, Gigi nodded off. I eased her onto her side next to the others, sliding her pack under her head for a pillow. There wasn’t much else I could do, so I waited. Every once in a while, I scanned the horizon and fought off a yawn. It was exhausting to guard the wounded in unknown territory.

It was also lonely.

I found that even more disturbing than the strain of standing watch. There were times when I’d gone weeks without talking to anyone. Now, Gemma had buried herself so deeply inside me, I didn’t remember how to be alone anymore.

At the thought, my heart flew into a dozen fragments and my hands were full of blue flames before I knew it.

Not yet. Not here. Taking a deep breath, I pulled the power back into my core. That’s right. Lock it down. Lock it down tight.

I’d had a lot of practice with that over the past six months. Of course, I hadn’t had this level of rage to deal with in a long time, but I had strategies now and felt I could handle it better than I would have in September.

But the guilt was a new torture. The last words I’d spoken to her had been ugly ones.

If she dies, I’ll lose every part of myself that matters. If those cruel words are the last she ever hears from me, I might as well slit my wrists now and join the demons in Hell like I shoulda done months ago.

Even worse than the rage, than the guilt, was the fear. It all but crippled me.

What would they do to her? Where would they take her? She was scared of the dark. What if they put her where she couldn’t find the light? What if they separated her from the others? She would be frightened and upset. She would cry and no one would be there to hold her.

She was amazingly strong and brave and powerful in her own way, but she was at the mercy of men with evil hearts. Men who commanded demons. Men who would hurt her for no other reason than they could.

Dear God , I tried to pray, I hope you’re listening, even though it’s someone tainted and damned who’s asking. If it helps, this isn’t about me. It’s about her . Please, please, keep her safe from harm. Please, please, don’t let them put her in the dark. I know you have no love for me, but she’s too good and kind and sweet to suffer at the hands of evil men or their demons. Help me rescue her. Not for my sake, but hers. For my angel.

My mind went back to the night we’d met. I’d been an animal, filthy and savage, yet she’d tried to heal me. I woulda killed her if the wardens hadn’t arrived in time, but, only a week later, she’d raced down to the cottage to save my life.

Then, day after day, she came to my prison and sang for me. She chased away Argaud and his friends when they attacked me. For the last six months, she ignored my bad temper and went right on dulling the broken edges and calming the tiger and teaching me how to be a man - a good man - because she believed I was worth saving.

I only wished I was.

I owe her so much. The least I can do is rescue her, then get out of her life. That way, she can find someone she trusts and is proud of. Someone without taint on his soul or blood on his hands. At least, that’s the kind of man she deserves.

As for me, I knew I deserved nothing, and I was good with that. If it meant she was happy, I was good with being left hollow and empty-handed in the end.

I’d make sure she was safe, then I was gonna get back to the original plan of hunting down my mother’s killer. If I found him once, I could find him again. The world wasn’t that big for someone who lived for centuries. I’d find him again and kill him and then—

I hit a wall.

And then what ?

Unless something killed me first, I had nearly five hundred years before I died and my soul was sent to roast in Hell. After I had my revenge, what was I gonna fill all those endless days with?

Letting out a sigh, I tipped my head back and stared at the sky.

The Council’s always looking for warriors to clean out Diabolical nests. Guess I could do that. I’ll have nothing but time to kill, anyway.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided I could become a Purifier. The International Council sent them to an area to wipe out everything - and I mean every thing - because there was nothing left worth saving. Since Purifiers worked alone, I could lose myself in dealing out death and not have to worry about hurting innocents or allies.

Jax and John had taught me what irony meant, so I understood that a demon-taint becoming a Purifier was the definition of it, but I’d be good at it. Real good.

As a bonus, maybe the job would be so numbing, I could forget all about her.

Five hundred years of endless slaughter oughta ’bout do it.

If it didn’t, nothing would.