Hot Blooded (25 page)

I had to stifle a wave of nausea as we hit the ground. It struggled beneath me, its gaping mouth snapping its rows of sharp teeth open and closed, its tongue like a giant green worm wiggling back and forth.

I snarled through my raspy throat. “If you tell your people to back off, I will let you go. We don’t mean to harm you, but I will do what is necessary.”

The thing continued to thrash beneath me. I had no idea if it understood me. We were right next to the water and waves started churning in earnest on the surface, the angry Naiads wanting their comrade back. I gazed down into its face, watching as its eyes shriveled in its sockets. This one was an adult for sure. It was twice the size as the one I’d fought in the water. Pieces of its flesh were deteriorating at an alarming rate. They were flaking off and falling to the ground. “I don’t want to kill you,” I snarled. “Give me a sign you will not attack and I will toss you back in the water! Do you hear me?”

The thing stilled.

I knew I had only moments to decide. I shifted myself off of it to see if it would fight, but it didn’t move. It was too weak. Its hideous arms resembled shriveled raisin skin. I bent down without thinking, scooped it up, and carried it to the edge of the shoreline. It was long and gangly, but it weighed nothing. “We want no war with you,” I growled, my vocal cords straining. I tossed the shriveled Naiad back into the water. I had no idea if it would live or die. Once it hit the surface it was pulled under immediately and the water calmed.

But in less than a few seconds, heads popped up again, almost like a choreographed ballet.

I backed up.

The water swished like a wave pool, and at the exact same moment hundreds of gaping mouths opened up to face the starlit sky.

Shit, this doesn’t look good.
My wolf agreed with a howl.

I took a few more steps backward as one solid chord of sound pierced the air. A single shrill note, beautiful in its intensity. Like a high note in a choral number, perfectly pitched. It went on for three beats and ended abruptly as every single head slipped below the surface at once.

Not even a ripple remained.

There was no evidence there had just been an army of supernatural beings beneath the surface.
What was that? Did they leave?
My wolf growled, as unsure as I was about what had just happened.

“Thanks,” Danny panted, coming up to me, his body still healing from the damage from the fall. “In my shape that thing might have been able to take me and gobble me up.”

“You would’ve had it handled,” I said. “They’re like jelly out of the water. Come on. We have to get out of here.” I slowly
morphed my body back into my human form as I took a step forward. “We have to start climbing.”

“Jessica,” Danny yelled. “Watch out!” His hands reached me an instant too late.

The Scorper had wound itself around my foot, all its barbs digging in, easily piercing deeply into my ankle. The sting burned like molten lava, blinding me with its intensity. Scorching-hot coals raced up my leg, infesting my body with its poison spell in an instant.

I fell to the ground.

Then the thing was miraculously off my leg. Someone was lifting me. There was yelling and screaming.

“It’s going to be okay. Do you hear me?”

Tyler?

Danny’s calm murmurs floated over me, but were replaced by a horrid screeching inside my brain. My whole head ached, quickly filling with a thick, orange haze. It enveloped my wolf. She was fighting, working hard to clear it, but it wasn’t easing. The haze just kept getting thicker.

I was transferred into a new pair of arms. “You must stay strong.” Naomi’s voice echoed in my ears like thunder, her mouth right next to my ear. I latched on to it like a lifeline. “I am taking you up the mountain. You have had Selene inside you already,
Ma Reine
. Use it to your advantage. She will have left antibodies in her spells, and if these spiders are her creations, you can fight them using her essence. The same essence that ran through your veins a short time ago.
Find it.
”

My human side had trouble processing her words, but my wolf started to howl, clawing at the ground in my mind, trying to uncover something we had buried deeply. I saw the glimmer of red as she kept digging, her paws moving quickly, the orange so thick I almost couldn’t see her. Then like a fountain, red
sprang forth again, its tendrils sprouting in the air like a vicious web. My wolf jumped back, letting it flow outward.

My back arched, my spine bowed backward. The intensity of the reaction was forcing me to change. I embraced it.

Anything to stop the howling pain.

The red veins of Selene’s essence hit the orange poison, and where they met, it burned clear, making a
pssst
sound as each tendril seared a little more. My muscles danced under my skin.

“That’s it,” Naomi murmured. “Fight this. You must fight. Use your power.”

My body arched again, my full change coming on fast. My legs bucked, shifting, my clothes tore, and my jaw lengthened. I tried to calm myself to make it easier, but that was impossible. I knew if I couldn’t clear my body of her vile spell, I wouldn’t wake up.

This was it.

“That’s it,
Ma Reine
. Let it come,” Naomi spoke softly.

Tyler’s voice echoed in the background. “Step back,” he instructed. “Give her room.”

“It is within you,
Ma Reine
,” Naomi said, her voice getting thin and hard to hear. “Selene is not stronger than you. These things are a child’s plaything compared to your power. Eradicate the spell they carry from your being, using what Selene has left in you, and you will be free of her forever.”

Ma Reine.
I finally understood.

My Queen.

“Jess! Jess!” Tyler yelled straight into my ear canal.

His voice was so loud it shocked me.

“Wake the
hell
up. Do you hear me?” he continued. “Jessica! I’m not going to let you leave now, not after all of this.” I felt his hands on me, but they felt odd, like he was pressing on me from outside a bubble.

“She hasn’t moved in ages, not even a twitch,” Danny said, his voice filled with something that sounded close to remorse. “Even if she’s not dead, she won’t be the same. Did you feel that power? She blew herself up trying to fight off that spell.”

“If she was dead, we would feel it. I can still feel her energy. Can’t you sense it? Plus, she would’ve changed back into her human form. She’s still a wolf,” Tyler argued.
I was still a wolf?
I didn’t feel like I was in my true form; in fact, I felt insubstantial, like I was hovering. Our bodies changed back to human when we died. It’s an insurance policy so humans don’t come across a dead werewolf. “She’s alive. She just has to
wake the
fuck up
,” he yelled right next to my ear. I cringed inwardly, but I still couldn’t move.

“Well, that might be true. I do feel her,” Danny said. “But she hasn’t taken a bloody breath in hours! How many wolves do you know who don’t have to
breathe
?”

I wasn’t breathing?

How was that possible? My wolf twitched in my mind and I noticed for the first time she was lying on her side, facing away from me.
Can you hear me? Can you move?

No response.

“Go check the entrance for those insects and do a sweep,” Tyler said. “I’m not taking any chances letting one in here. If she gets stung again, she’ll never wake up.”

“Fine,” Danny murmured. “But when the vamps come back, we have to make a decision.”

“I already told you, we go for the cat as planned,” Tyler said. “Then we kill the bitch who did this to my sister. I’m going whether you join me or not.”

“We don’t stand a chance against a goddess on our own. It would be suicide to go in there,” Danny argued. “We can get Jessica home and have her figured out, and then come back with reinforcements later.”

“We go, Selene dies, and we save the cat.” My brother’s tone broached no argument. “When we’re finished, we come back here, Jessica wakes up because she’s dead, and we all go home.”

“I don’t give two shites about the bloody
cat
!” Danny shouted in frustration. His voice echoed, bouncing back to my ears.
We must be in a cave
, I told my wolf. No response. “What happens in that scenario is we go in there and die. Selene lives and Jessica rots here because she can’t wake up.”

Tyler jumped to his feet. His anger pressed down on me. His emotions swirled through my blood, pummeling me with
intensity. Pain, sorrow, and rage. “The cat is my sister’s
mate
. Whether she lives or dies doesn’t change that. We kill the Goddess and he
lives
. We are strong enough to do this ourselves.”

“You have a bloody thick skull, you know that? If we go in there, we all perish—including the
cat
.” Danny’s footfalls faded as he left the cave.

Why couldn’t I wake up?

I reached out to my wolf again, probing my mind for any clues. She was still lying on her side.
Wake up!
I shouted.
Can you hear me?
Her front paw twitched, but nothing more.

I gave a mental push outward.

My power flowed out, but then flexed back at me when it hit something.
I think we’re trapped in some kind of power bubble.
If that was the case, I just had to figure out how to break it open.
That sounds easy enough, right?
Nothing from my wolf. It seemed that for some reason my human side had woken up, but my wolf side was still asleep. I wasn’t going to argue; I was happy to be awake, but now I had to fix it.

Come on, Jess
, Tyler pleaded.
Just wake up.
His hand hit my fur at the same time he pushed into my mind.

A crackle of power ran between us at the contact, like a jolt from a car battery.

He gasped and I knew he felt it too.

He knelt down immediately, both his hands plunging deeply into my fur. The weight of him calmed me.
What’s going on? Tell me what to do. Are you trapped?

I pushed out to him with my mind, but I had to force it with all my strength.
I’m here. Can you hear me?

He stilled.
Yes
. His voice was excited.
But you sound far away. If I couldn’t feel you in my blood right now, I almost wouldn’t believe it was you talking.

My wolf is unconscious and I’m in some kind of suspended state.

Your heart isn’t beating, Jess
, Tyler said quietly.
And you’re not breathing. You should be dead.

Clearly I’m not dead, but honestly, I’m not sure I would’ve woken up had you not been here. Did you touch me before?

Yes, just a few minutes ago.

I think our blood connection is what woke me up. It feels amplified now with your hands on me. You’re bleeding some of your energy into me.

That’s the best fucking news I’ve ever heard. But why aren’t you shaking this off?

I don’t know. I think I have to pop the cocoon somehow, but my wolf is still out cold.

I can push more energy toward you, like a direct hit. Do you think that will help?

Give it a try.
I must be in a state of limbo of some kind. I wasn’t breathing and my heart wasn’t beating. I tried to gather some of my own power to me, but when I opened myself up, it felt completely empty. I couldn’t find anything to draw from. I pulled anyway, and as I did the bubble bowed, sucking back at me.

The totality of my power was being used to protect me. It had all shifted outward.

Tyler, all my power is on the outside. It’s keeping me safe in this enclosure.

I’m going to give you some of mine.
A current of raw power hit my senses immediately, igniting me. My wolf stirred for a second, shaking her legs and growling. It wasn’t enough to wake her, but we’d both felt it. Supernaturals, especially the older ones, could focus their power like Tyler was doing now. Witches were especially gifted at doing this with their familiars, who stored the extra power until the witch needed a boost. Tyler wasn’t that old, but the new connection between us made it seem like a natural thing to do.

I absorbed it greedily.
It’s working. It’s easier to communicate with you now. Once I accumulate enough, I’m going to aim it outward. If I can break whatever’s holding me in with enough energy, I think I’ll be free.

Be careful, Jess. I’ve never seen a wolf in this state. Are you sure if you pop it you won’t die? What if the cocoon is the only thing keeping you alive?

I paused. I had no idea.
I have to go with my gut on this one. It feels right to burst it open. Honestly, what other option do I have?

Fine
, Tyler grumbled.
But if you die, I’m going to kill you.
He continued siphoning power toward me, taking me at my word.

How long have I been out?

A couple hours.

I was relieved we hadn’t lost another day.
By the way, you’re my hero. I heard what you said to Danny about saving Rourke. It would’ve been the stupidest, most foolhardy thing to do, but noble and awesome at the same time.