19
“Yup,” I said. “You’re seeing things all right.”
The herd of unicorns split into formations, four to be exact, surrounding the Harpies, who wailed and screeched, obviously pissed off at being tricked into crossing over the boundary line. I knew though they wouldn’t back down. A Harpy rarely backed away from a fight, especially when it came to their mortal enemies.
It was a bit like watching a show, the kind you go to the local fair to see, where riders take their horses through complex patterns, barely missing each other as they gallop past one another. This was in some ways no different, only it was unicorns and no riders. The Tamoskin herd swirled and dove, moving like water, smooth and effortless as they engaged the Harpies.
I glanced over at O’Shea, who sat transfixed by the sight. Even I was hard pressed to tear my gaze away from the awesome scene in front of us. It wasn’t every day you saw a childhood story come to life in front of you, that you saw legends held power in them still.
“Never in my life . . . .” His voice awed to a bare whisper.
Alex leaned forward and put his head on my shoulder. “Beautiful.”
It was that; even though the sight was a deadly game the two species played, it was no doubt one of the most amazing, beautiful things I’d ever seen. A tightening started in my chest, a pang I’d pushed away for so long. It wasn’t for O’Shea I’d done this.
It was for me.
The dark side of the supernatural saturated me, was all I saw anymore. Most days I didn’t pause, I just assumed everything around me was dark and ugly. Like losing Milly, like Giselle losing her mind, like me losing Berget.
But this was the bright side, literally, of the supernatural. I found myself standing outside of my Jeep, the pang in my chest thrumming as I walked toward the battle. One of the Harpies was down, her body pin-cushioned by horns, her chest rising in shallow breaths.
A hand grabbed me from behind. “Get in the Jeep,” O’Shea said, biting off each word with a tug on me.
I looked at him, giving him the full force of my eyes, knowing the three colours would shift and swirl with the emotions rising in me. “No.”
There was no way I could explain what it was I needed, or why in this moment I chose to find something bright to cling to, only that I had to. Something about this case, something about dealing with O’Shea was, in a sense, forcing my hand. If I was being honest with myself, it was the guilt this case brought up, the ugliness from my past. I needed to know there was more than the blasted ugliness in this world where I lived.
A need for the bright, for the brilliant and pure side of the supernatural, called to me, and I heeded that cry.
My feet carried me to the edge of the battle, where the remaining Harpy screeched well above the unicorns, her voice echoing out across the badlands.
“Tracker, you will die for this. I will gorge on your heart.” The words weren’t all that unexpected, and it wasn’t the first time I’d been threatened.
I nodded. “I hear you.” Even as she threatened me, I could show the respect due. I was a mere Tracker, a human that had somewhere in her family history gained some funky abilities. But Harpies were legendary, creatures that had been around far longer than humans.
She peeled away from the herd, swirling back into her own territory. It was going to be difficult to get past her. No doubt, she would sit on the mineshaft waiting for us to come back.
The herd, or Crush as they were known, if you want to get specific, turned their attention on me. Eyes of all colours, from pale grey to black, the traditional violet to bright blue and green eyed me with open curiosity.
But it was the lead Stallion who stepped out of the Crush toward me, jet-black body gleaming in the sun, sparkling with iridescent rainbows across the black satin of his coat.
Child, you are broken.
His words sliced through my mind, as if his horn had pierced me clean through. O’Shea gasped, and I had no doubt he’d heard the same words.
Tears slipped from my eyes. “Yes.” I lowered my face.
The tip of his golden horn lifted my chin up, my eyes meeting his. A wave of warmth washed over me, empathy, pity and faith flowed from him to me. He manipulated my ability to sense others, but I didn’t care.
You have a far way to journey yet, do not lose heart. A bright spot in the darkness; that is what you can be, if you choose. Steel your resolve. You are not alone. There are those who cheer you on, those you cannot possibly know; those who believe you will be the one to break his hold on us. Do not let your guilt blind you to the future that awaits you.
Blinking, I wiped the tears from my face. “Whose hold? What are you talking about?”
If unicorns could smile, this one did. I have said too much already.
At some unspoken signal, the Crush of Unicorns spun in unison swirling around us, close enough to smell the lavender and whisper of jasmine clinging to their hides. Their split hooves pounded out a rhythm around us, rattling my bones until my heart beat in time with theirs.
Just like that, they were gone. There was no malice in them, not even toward us, who’d brought their age-old nemesis right into their territory.
The dust swirled and settled, the sun beat down, and it was like nothing had happened. Minutes passed; the silence thick and heavy. It was O’Shea who finally broke the spell the Crush cast.
He stepped in front of me. “Question her. She’s our only chance for info on the Coven.”
Though I didn’t need him to tell me what I already knew, he was right. Turning, I headed over to the Harpy the unicorns had pinioned. She was barely breathing, blood pouring from multiple punctures.
“Well played, Tracker, well played,” she coughed out, her mouth twitching.
“Why are you working for a rogue Coven?” The sound of my voice seemed so harsh and unreal after hearing the Stallion’s voice inside my head, feeling his emotions in my heart.
The Harpy shuddered. “They are powerful; they spelled us so we had no choice. Please, free my sister. She is young yet, a child in our years.”
Ah, f*ck.
I crouched down to her. “You know I can’t. I’m seeking another child, one the Coven stole.”
“You swore an oath once, Tracker. To seek out and save any child you could, for anyone who would ask for your help. Do you renounce this oath now?” Her eyes, though dulling as death stalked her body, filled with sharp intelligence.
There was no way around it. “No, I do not renounce my oath.”
She twitched again, her eyes shifting to stare behind me. Alex crept forward, sniffing the blood, his lip curling at the bitter scent.
He got too close. She lashed out, pinning Alex to the ground with a claw, her eyes fierce. “Give me your word, Tracker. Free her from them, when you free the human child.” Her claws dug into Alex and he cried out, struggling against the impossibly strong claws. Her meaning was crystal clear.
Double f*ck.
“I will free her, one way or another,” I said.
Her eyes narrowed, understanding exactly what I said, but more importantly, what I hadn’t. I would set her sister free, or I would kill her. Either way, the Coven would no longer control the young Harpy.
She withdrew her claws from Alex, who scrambled backwards until he pressed up against O’Shea. “That will do.” She coughed and shifted her weight. I couldn’t stop the involuntary tensing of my muscles. Even this close to death, she was a deadly adversary, one that could kill me with barely a flick of one claw.
“Do you know why the Coven is stealing children?” After seeing the mineshaft I had no doubt the kidnappings had been going on for a while, which meant there was more than one kid down there.
The Harpy took a deep rattling breath, the scent of coppery blood on her words as she exhaled. “The Coven tagged us, with this.” She lifted a claw and I saw a ruby embedded in the top of her foot.
I bent over and put the edge of a knife to it, popping it free, and slid it into my pocket.
The Harpy blinked twice, eyes un-focusing in between each movement. “That is what you must remove from my sister if you are to free her. My sister’s true name, call her by it and she will know you mean her no harm. Eve, her name is Eve.“ Her chest stilled, and the last of her life escaped from her as she breathed her sister’s name. Damn it.
Standing up, I brushed the dirt off my jeans. “Let’s go.”
O’Shea and Alex climbed into the Jeep in silence, but it didn’t last for long.
“I think we should pull up the files on the other three kids that are missing,” O’Shea said, his voice steady, considering the last half an hour.
I put the Jeep in gear and headed out, taking a long loop back to the highway. “At this point it doesn’t matter. We’ll find the other kids when we find India.” I tapped the steering wheel with my left hand. “They’re looking for something, children with certain abilities. Don’t you ever wonder about those cases where kids just up and vanish? They’re stolen by people like the Coven. But we’re running out of time if we are going to get any of them back.”
“Stolen,” Alex grumbled from the back.
I glanced back at him to see his lip curling up, and looked back to where I was going. The light started to fade, our day almost done. We would need the cover of night to break into the Coven’s stronghold and get India out. And maybe a pile of other kids.
“I wish Milly was with us,” I said softly.
“Why isn’t she here?” O’Shea asked.
“Sorry, I’m not used to anyone but her riding along with me.” I turned back onto the highway and headed into Bismark. Giselle’s place was loaded with gear, ready as my backup stash.
“You didn’t answer the question.”
My shoulders tightened, and I had to resist the urge to push O’Shea out of the Jeep at high speed. Taking one long, slow breath, I answered him, albeit through gritted teeth.
“Milly’s a Witch, a damn good one, but she’s finally been accepted into the Coven, which means she can’t have contact with anyone outside of the group. In the past, she’s gone with me, always been my partner on the hard salvages. The ones I couldn’t do on my own.”
Silence reigned for all of three seconds. “You’ve got me, you don’t need Milly.”
I wanted to bash my head into the steering wheel; it would be less painful than trying to explain a lifetime of knowledge to one oblivious agent who thought he understood. I settled for shouting at said former FBI agent. “YOU AREN’T A WITCH.”
“So?”
Unbelievable. The arrogance of some people truly astounded me. Again, I struggled for control; a slight glance at O’Shea stiffened my spine. He enjoyed this back and forth. A smile curved up the edge of his lips and his eyes definitely sparked with humour. The bastard.
Slamming my mouth shut on the response I’d been prepared to assault him with, like how stupid could he possibly be and what was he thinking taking on supernaturals as a human, I swallowed the words down instead.
“You going to go all Ice Queen on me now?”
Alex barked from the back. “Icy Queenie!”
Good grief. Alex’s excitement and apparent happiness was infectious, and it took all I had not to laugh out loud.
Biting down on the laughter that bubbled up, I stared at the road, focusing on the need to get to Giselle’s and get loaded up. My humour faded. This was going to be a bad hunt; really, really bad. Nothing had gone right so far, and my gut feeling was that it wasn’t going to change.
The sky was dark when we pulled into Giselle’s yard, and I wasn’t expecting company, which was my bad. Lights flicked on, sirens came alive, and we were surrounded by police officers with guns drawn and pointed at us before the Jeep rolled to a stop.
I glared at O’Shea next to me, wishing again it was Milly in the passenger seat.
I hated being right.