Chapter 21

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Lyric

Turned out it was a four-mile trek back to the fortress. Draven suggested ghosting with me to make it a quicker trip, something I staunchly refused to do.

Leeta offered to try it in his stead, saying it might be easier with someone of the same gender. Draven shut that down really quick, citing how drained the males had become when he’d attempted it with them.

He sent two of the warriors some distance away to scout. The rest were acting as our escort home.

One was on point while two fanned out to the sides, eyes constantly searching around us. I’d learned their names were Gayle, Thena, and Serilda. Being the terrible person I was, I was already getting confused which one was which.

In my defense, Gayle and Thena were twins and the entire group had the exact same hairdo—same long length, same braid, with only subtle differences in the silver tones.

The one whose name—okay, curvaceous body—I wouldn’t forget, was about twenty yards behind me, walking beside Draven. He’d specifically asked Leeta to hang back with him and shoved me to the middle of the group.

For my own protection, allegedly. Pfft.

There was no reason for it to bother me. No reason at all. Yet it did. I wasn’t a child. I kicked three asses today and got the drop on Sir Kicks-a-lot himself. I could handle him not wanting to walk beside me. Mostly.

The quiet conversation the pair was having had been relatively mundane, revolving around updates and statuses on the day’s mission. Leeta’s team, supposedly a group of elite warrior trackers, had been sent out daily since the Shadow Heart had gone missing.

No one, not even Draven, had been able to find the trail. I knew it was something he wouldn’t be able to let go or get over anytime soon.

“I’m sorry we haven’t found anything more,” she apologized. “I’m willing to stay out longer, if you wish.”

“No, I’d like us to get back before dark. We can start tracking at first light.”

“Are you sure? As you know, I’m capable of going all night long.”

It wasn’t her words that got under my skin. By themselves, they were innocuous. It was the way she said them. Purring each syllable in a husky voice. Her dual meaning was overtly clear. I felt like hurling.

“Yes, I remember, Leeta,” Draven chuckled.

My traitorous fingers got that tingly feeling right before they started to produce sparks. I cursed inwardly, wondering what I did to deserve a physical manifestation of my emotions.

It was probably all those imaginary hitlists I’d made up over the years. Fucking karma. Crossing my arms, I tucked my fists under my armpits.

“Shame. I was hoping you’d need a reminder. I can meet you out tonight, if you’d like.”

The sparks flared, singing my shirt. I welcomed the distractive pain, thankful the rapid whoosh of blood in my ears was affecting my hearing to the point I didn’t catch Draven’s reply.

I picked up my pace, getting closer to Gayle, who was on point. Or maybe it was Thena. Whatever. We still had three miles to go and I wasn’t going to be able to handle the walk down Lover’s Memory Lane.

Leeta’s throaty laugh chafed my very being. My soul pulled me in Draven’s direction, uncaring it had competition.

I drew in slow, deep breaths. I needed to get a hold of myself. Despite my brain turning green with envy over Leeta’s station, on top of her biblical knowledge of the Shadow Lord, I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize any chance I had at finding a place in the ranks.

Draven’s sex life was none of my business. He was much older than I was. Of course he had lovers. Of course they would be females he had access to. I just didn’t want to see or hear about it.

Now they were both softly laughing at something. This time, my new magic blazed so hard I yelped, shaking my hands out to the sides while the skin of my armpits burned. I could feel air hit the space where my shirt used to have fabric.

Fabulous. I’d burned straight through my top. There was no hiding it, so I didn’t bother trying.

“Lyric?” Draven said as his hand fell to the small of my back.

I leapt to the side, not wanting his touch. Liar my body yelled at me.

Lifting my firecracker hands between us, palms in, I cautioned, “Don’t. I don’t think I’m a safe thing to touch right now.”

He stared at me for a heartbeat, lowered his eyes to my hands, quickly glanced back at Leeta, then then back to me. His knowing smirk came slow. My anger came fast.

I might not have been the brightest crayon in the box, but I wasn’t stupid enough to attack him in front of his soldiers.

The tracking-trainer-captain-goddess edged closer, scowling. She tilted her head. Three distinct whistles came through the trees and suddenly the four females had their weapons drawn. They formed a defensive circle around their master and his guest.

More whistles came from the other side of us and Draven cursed, a measured look on his face. The sounds were signals. A nervousness I’d never felt before crept into my gut.

“What was that sound?”

“The scouts just sent a warning. Two, actually,” he said. “Draw your swords, Lyric.”

I reached behind my head and pulled them both from their sheaths. I hoped whatever was going on with my hands wouldn’t heat the handles to the point I’d have to drop them.

The two Shadows who’d been scouting burst through the vegetation.

“Incoming!” one of them shouted. “Female dentityrannus, and she’s pissed.”

“Ghost Lyric back to the fortress. We’ll handle this,” Leeta quickly insisted. She moved to the left to allow the newcomers—Camdyn and Jade—to join their protective formation.

Draven grabbed my arm before I could move out of reach. Nothing happened.

“Damn it. I can’t. Her magic won’t allow it. It keeps me solidified when her hands are like this.”

“Impressive,” Leeta praised, looking at me over her shoulder. “Now snuff that out and let him take you.”

“I can’t control it,” I fumed, lifting my arms enough to ensure she saw the weird flickers of light bouncing off my hands. “It’s some weird side effect of being in the Otherland.”

And of being irrationally jealous. Yes, because that made total sense.

Draven faced the direction the scouts had come from, shoving me behind him. Normally I’d resent him for it. Being in the Shadowlands with no real idea of what was approaching, I decided to let the macho male take whatever hit was coming. I was nice like that.

“What in the hell is it doing this far south?” Draven asked.

“No clue,” Camdyn replied, nocking her arrow. “Something killed her cub. I came across the blood first and tracked it just east of here. The second I spotted the carcass the mother was already in my face and I had to ghost.”

“What’s a denti … thing?” I asked, keeping my focus in the direction from where Camdyn had emerged.

“Dentityrannus. It’s like a big furry horse with giant teeth, horns, and claws. They rarely venture this far from their hunting grounds,” Leeta answered.

“That may be,” Camdyn said, “but it’s not the only beast we’ve seen who has wandered away from its usual territory. I was out with Zorn’s group last night and we spotted a teumessian fox. Haven’t seen one of those since Kree accidentally blew up the western gate.”

There was that name again. Kree. The non-Shadow who ghosted with Draven and who apparently blew shit up, the latter of which made her good friend material. The former? Not so much.

Leeta snapped her fingers, glancing in my direction. “That’s it! That’s why—”

“Not now, Leeta,” Draven tersely interrupted.

No one had answered me when I’d asked earlier who she was. My knee-jerk reactions were worrisome. I needed to calm my shit and put my jealousy on ice.

Magic gushed hard into my limbs, fueling the light show I was putting on. It was even more pronounced with the sky turning dark.

“Any chance you can rein that in?” Leeta asked.

“It’s not like I’m trying to be a living torch.”

“Quiet. It’s almost here,” Draven whispered.

I steadied my respiration, concentrating on the energy flowing through my limbs. I couldn’t cut it off. The current was too strong. Some time to practice controlling it would be helpful. Regrettably, time wasn’t something we had.

I did manage to pull some of the power back before the handles of my blades grew too hot to hold. Hey, look at me go, bitches. Progress!

The treetops moved and the sound of leaves rustling against one another reverberated through the air. A low swine-like snort came from just beyond the high underbrush Camdyn had come through. The denti-devil was close.

I rolled my shoulders, the ache on either side of my spine growing more pronounced, rising with my anxiety. The Shadow demons could basically disappear and protect themselves. I didn’t have such handy tricks.

Slower than I’d imagined, a black snout came into view. The plants gave way to its enormous mass. It was the size of a small elephant. Its giant horse-like head lifted into the air, sniffing.

The beast lumbered forward, no more than thirty yards from us. It limped, careening to the side and jerking itself upright before it fell over.

Huge gashes had been torn through the skin and muscle on its right front quarter. It’s breathing was heavy. I knew nothing of the animal’s kind, but I could tell it was laboring. Whatever had killed the young had done a number on the mother, as well.

It’s large, dark amber eyes reminded me of a cow’s when spooked. Rounded and scared. Hurting. It had the look of the sad dogs on one of those Save-The-Pets commercials. My heart hurt.

“It’s wounded,” I dumbly declared. Duh. Hello, blood and shredded flesh.

“Good, it will make this easier,” Gayle replied.

The females slowly fanned out while Draven attempted to tuck me directly behind him. I sidestepped and pushed his arm down.

“Don’t attack it,” I commanded.

“We aren’t,” Draven replied. “We’re waiting for it to attack us. Hopefully, it will just run off.”

Sad cow eyes took in the scene, one by one, then fell on me. My energies heated, pushing me to react. I jolted forward without thought. Draven grabbed my arm.

“No, Lyric.”

“I’m not going to hurt it.”

“That’s not what I’m afraid of.”

“Look at it. It’s not acting aggressive. I think … I think it wants help.”

Camdyn snorted. “It chased me back here while I was in Shadow form. It had to move fast to do that. This thing isn’t some docile sloth. It can strike fast as a serpent.”

Two sad cow blinks and I wanted to hug the freaky behemoth. I returned my blades to the harness.

“Lyric,” Draven warned.

“My gut is telling me it’s not going to hurt me.”

“What about the rest of us?” Gayle complained.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe if you weren’t pointing a blade at her, she’d let us know.”

“No one is lowering their weapons,” Leeta snapped.

“Fine, then step away and let me through.”

“No,” the group answered in unison.

The creature whinnied painfully, keeping its eye on me as I stepped slowly, distancing myself from Draven. He stepped with me.

“No. Let me approach her.”

“Lyric—”

“No, Draven. I—I can’t explain it. I need you to trust that I know she’s not going to attack me.”

Risking the squad’s intervention, I moved forward. Draven didn’t follow this time. I could feel his unhappy energies pushing into my back. The beast chuffed.

“Draven, don’t. It can feel you.”

“How do you know that?”

“I can feel its … soul? Lifeforce? It’s different from an Other’s, hazier, but it’s there. Can you not feel it?”

“No.”

Huh.

I was shoulder to shoulder with Leeta when she said Draven’s name in question.

“Let her pass,” he relented. “At any hint of aggression, I’ll grab Lyric and the six of you will handle the dentityrannus.”

I rolled my eyes. I was just as capable of fighting. Though, I was confident the situation wasn’t going to play out as Draven worried it might.

The beast watched me pass the female soldiers. I held its stare, trying to sense any sign of a possible attack. Once I was about ten feet away, it lowered its head down to the ground.

I got a good look at the damage inflicted in the attack. The claw marks were gargantuan. Something bigger than her had made them.

I was spooked, wondering what else was out there. The young hadn’t stood a chance. We might not manage much better if the killer came at us.

One thing at a time, Lyric.

Once I was within reach, my arms rose of their own volition, the energies directing my movement. Everything in me was telegraphing full steam ahead. It all felt natural, as though I’d done it a hundred times before.

My palms hovered over the worst of the wounds, a soft glow illuminating the injury. The fur had been torn away, leaving only the bloodied muscle covering bone. My hands heated and a miracle occurred right before my eyes.

My magic pushed down, coating the lacerations. The bleeding immediately stopped. Muscles grew together. Skin started reforming.

The denti-thing jerked and I immediately hopped backwards. With surprising agility, it rose quickly, shaking out the leg I’d been standing over.

The sad cow eyes were now gone, replaced by shimmering bright orbs framed under long, black lashes. The look was knowing. Intelligent.

A feather-like stroke of its energy brushed against mine. When I smiled, its head lowered and bumped my shoulder with its muzzle. I laughed, thinking it was saying thanks, and patted its head.

It spared me one last look then took off, back in the direction it came. Back to her cub. To death. I had a feeling she wasn’t going back to say goodbye. Whatever had attacked was in for another fight.

Puffing out a breath, I turned to the Shadows, all of whom hadn’t moved an inch since I’d approached the animal. Not one of them looked surprised. In fact, Draven looked down right pleased with my performance.

I wiggled my new spirit fingers and asked, “Anyone care to tell me how the fuck I did that?”