Inhale…
… the taste of graveyard dust and dead man's hand on my tongue, and then he leaned down and kissed my forehead, marking me with a burning flame that scorched its way into the core of my being.
Exhale…
… and as I released my breath the second time, he let go, and I stumbled back, tripping over a loose root and falling on my tailbone. I scrambled away as best as I could, half scooting, half kicking myself along the ground. Camille let out a gasp and dropped to her knees beside me. I glanced up to see the others shaking themselves, as if they'd just woken up. Smoky motioned caution to Zach and Morio, warning them to stand their ground.
I stared up at the Autumn Lord, who stood silent and waiting. As Camille helped me to my feet, I realized that my forehead felt odd, as if something had embedded itself on my brow. I turned to her to ask if she could see anything, but before I could open my mouth, she started, staring at my face.
"Oh, Kitten," she said in a low voice. "Your forehead!"
"What is it? I can tell something happened to me, but I don't know what." Her expression was scaring me. Had I suddenly turned into a frog-girl? Or the creature from the Black Lagoon—who, as it happened, resembled the lemurans, one of our aquatic Crypto races back in OW?
Camille reached out and gently touched my forehead. "Delilah, you've got a black scythe branded on your forehead."
"What? What the hell?" I scrambled to my feet and whirled on the Autumn Lord, who was still standing, a silent figure. "What is it? What did you do to me?" My anger seeped through my fear, and I charged forward.
The Autumn Lord looked down at me—he easily stood six five—and gave me a cunning smile, his lips quirking the tiniest fraction at the sides. "You come seeking information. There will always be a price to pay when you call upon the world builders. Everyone who seeks my help pays me something."
I hesitated, wanting to argue that it wasn't fair, that he hadn't offered me a choice, but one look at his eyes told me it would do no good. What was done was done. There was no backtracking, no turning around, no running.
"What did you do to me?" I asked again.
He gave me the barest of shrugs. "When it's time, you'll know. Now, ask your questions before I get bored and leave." He motioned for us to sit on one of the nearby windfalls.
I hesitated, then led the way, wondering what had happened to me. Would any of us emerge from this unscathed? I took a seat on the mossy log.
The Autumn Lord sat beside me, and I scrunched away as far as I could without appearing rude. He gazed at me. "It's been awhile since anyone was foolish enough—or brave enough—to seek me out," he mused. "What do you want to know?"
I took a deep breath. Not too deep because I could still smell the smoke and graveyard dust and bonfires raging around him, but enough to steady myself.
"We're looking for information on a group of spiderlings. Werespiders. The Hunters Moon Clan. You rule over all spiderkin, so we thought you might be willing to help. They seem to be in league with demons from the Subterranean Realms, and we're worried they're working for Shadow Wing."
Zachary surprised me. He broke through his fear long enough to speak up. "Do you know why they're killing my people? I come from the Rainier Puma Pride, and the spiders are slaughtering us."
The Autumn Lord blinked, the first time he'd shown any sign of surprise. He pursed his lips, and a cloud of frost came whistling out from between them to form a tablet of snow in his hands. I craned my neck to see if there was anything written on it, but all I could make out were some strange glyphs.
After a moment, the tablet melted away. "You are all in danger. Kyoka has returned to life; he's taken a new body."
"Kyoka?" I asked.
The Autumn Lord cleared his throat. "A thousand years ago, Kyoka was a shaman here, on the North American continent. He led his tribe ruthlessly, and in the end, his greed caused his downfall. He lost sight of the balance and natural order of things and used his magic on his own people to turn them into abominations. I cast him out of my service and named him pariah. He defiled the nature of spiders."
He turned to Zach. "Einarr, one of your ancestors, traveled the seas to the New World and ran afoul of Kyoka."
"My ancestor?" Zachary looked confused but sat up straight and paid attention. Family roots meant a lot to him, that was for sure.
"You are a direct descendant of Einarr of the Iron Hand. When he reached the shores of North America, Einarr lost his first wife and several comrades to the werespiders. So he took an oath to track down Kyoka and kill him. And many years later, he managed to avenge his kin."
"Why didn't you kill this Kyoka, if you knew he was evil?" Zach asked.
The Autumn Lord barely glanced at him. "Why should I? Kyoka disturbed the balance, but so do many creatures and events. If I were to intervene every time the web is broken and rewoven, I'd never have a moment's peace."
Morio touched Zach's shoulder, shaking his head, warning him not to argue. He looked unhappy but kept his mouth shut.
"To continue," the Autumn Lord said, "as a sign of my respect for his bravery, I gave Einarr a gift. I gave him the power to turn into a mountain lion, and all of his descendents who bear his blood are born with that ability and walk under my shadow, whether they know it or not. Puma, panther, mountain lion, they are all my children."
And then I knew—I knew the secret the Autumn Lord hadn't revealed. "And did you give Einarr something else? A pendant perhaps?"
He looked into my eyes, and once again, I felt pulled toward him. I wanted to crawl inside his cloak, to nestle deep and sleep for a thousand years.
"You see too much," he said. "Yes, I gave him one of the spirit seals, but where it is now, I have no idea. It's been over a thousand years. I doubt that the Hunters Moon Clan has a clue as to what they're seeking, but the demons they work for probably do. Of that you can be certain."
I felt like I'd been punched. So the Degath Squad wasn't just out for a little rampage. They were in search of the second spirit seal, and they had a head start. I turned to Camille. "They must believe that the Rainier Puma Pride still has the seal, passed down from Einarr."
"When you're right, you're right, and I wish you weren't." She glanced at the Autumn Lord. "And Kyoka's return was the marshal needed to get the Hunters Moon Clan to work for the demons?"
He nodded and blew another tablet of ice, reading it slowly. When he spoke, his voice was angry thunder, rumbling through the grove. "Apparently he hasn't returned as one of their own. It seems the demons are more insidious than that. When Einarr destroyed Kyoka, his soul was sent to the depths, down to the Subterranean Realms. And there he remained until Shadow Wing took power. And Shadow Wing has given Kyoka a new body and a mission: rally his people and destroy the descendants of Einarr. Meanwhile, the demons slip in and steal the spirit seal. Kyoka returned in the form of a man. A Were, yes, but not a werespider."
"I knew it!" I jumped up. "The werespider who killed Cromwell and strung him up was accompanied by a werepuma. That must have been Kyoka!" I whirled around, grabbing Zach's shoulders. "He's hiding in plain sight—right in the middle of your compound, Zach. He's trying to find out where the seal is while he kills off members of the Puma Pride."
Zachary paled. "Then that means one of the newcomers is a traitor. I have to get back to the compound. What if I'm too late?"
I stared at him, realizing that his panic was going to increase tenfold once he realized just what the spirit seals actually were. As of now, Zach was clueless as to just how bad things were about to get.
"Another question," I said, turning back to the Autumn Lord. "Where can we find the Hunters Moon Clan? Do you know where their nest is?"
He blinked slowly. "Past a city east of where you dwell, where the water falls over rocks, you will find a foothill covered in tall timber. Look for a golden road and follow it back up the hill. There you will find their nest." The Autumn Lord rose and turned back toward the veil of flame, pausing briefly to look over his shoulder.
"You aren't too late. Not yet. But you must hurry. Now go and destroy them. They are abominations, no longer a part of my world, no longer my children." And with that, he vanished through the pentagram, and the barrier closed. We were left alone with our panic.
Smoky was the first to speak. "The second spirit seal?" He looked at Camille.
We'd done our best to keep him from knowing about the spirit seals, but when he accompanied us to visit the Elfin Queen, he'd found out about them. Our hopes that he'd forgotten were tempered by the fact that a dragon's memories are long and precise, especially when it comes to treasure.
I wondered if he'd turn on us and try to find it himself. He was helpful now, but it wasn't a good idea to forget that first and foremost, dragons were mercenaries, out for themselves.
"Didn't you hear him?" Zach jumped up and pointed to the trail. "There's a traitor living at the compound, and he could be killing off another one of my friends right now! I have to go home."
"Wait a moment," Smoky said. "I'll be right back. Don't attempt the trail without me." He disappeared through a door I hadn't noticed before, leading into the side of his barrow.
Camille stared up at the sky and raised her hand to salute the Moon Mother, who was peeking through the clouds. With a sigh, she glanced back at Zach and then at me. "Zach, we'd better fill you in on what's going down," she said. "You have a right to know what you're up against, but you have to swear to us you'll keep this on the q.t."
He blinked, then glanced at me. I nodded. Mad as I was, I'd have to put my ego on hold for a few moments. "She's right. You can't tell anyone what we're about to tell you."
"All right," he said, a touch of hesitance in his voice. "I promise."
"Not good enough," she said. "I want a blood oath. We can't take any chances. You have no idea how many lives could hinge on your secrecy."
Again, the blink. "Let's do it, then."
I pulled my silver knife from my boot. "I'll take your oath," I said. He gave me a questioning look, and I added, "We're both Weres, even if mine is from a birth defect?"
As he winced, I held up the blade. The edge glistened as I drew it across his palm. I wasn't squeamish when it came to blood oaths or injuries, just when somebody decided to slurp up the results. A thin line of red bubbled up on his hand, and I squeezed once to stimulate the flow.
Zach grimaced but didn't flinch.
"By the blood of your body, by the blood of your ancestors, do you vow to honor your promises and be cursed if you lie to us?"
"You have my word," he said slowly.
Blood oaths were binding contracts, at least among the Fae and the Earthside Supe communities. If Zach broke his word, we had every right to hunt him down and kill him without any ramifications, unless the police got involved.
"Tell me what's going on," he said.
"Remember, you're sworn to silence." I let out a long sigh. With a little help from Camille and Morio, I filled Zach in on what was happening in the Sub Realms and what ramifications the spirit seals held for Earth and OW. By the time we finished, he was sitting on the ground, speechless. Just then, Smoky strode back out of the barrow, waving for us to follow him.
He'd changed into a pair of white jeans, which showed off one hell of a nice ass, and a pale gray turtleneck. His near-ankle-length hair was neatly braided. I stared at him, suddenly aware of just how gorgeous he really was. I shot an envious glance Camille's way before I realized what I was doing. Whoa—shut down that train right now, I thought, before it becomes a runaway locomotive.
"Let's go. The trail isn't safe for you after dark," he said. Camille and Morio were hot on his heels.
I grabbed Zach's hand, but before I could drag him along, he whirled me around to face him. Without a word, he pulled me to him, his lips seeking mine.
Caught by surprise, I let him kiss me. The first taste of him was like a dusky port, smooth and warm. Zach growled low and deep in his throat as he pressed against me. He tightened his grip, one hand on my back, the other rubbing my ass. When I realized what we were doing, I pushed him away.
"Zach, no… not here. Not now."
He pulled me back into his arms and pressed his lips to my ear. "You want me as much as I want you," he whispered.
"I'm not a real Were, so you better just stop this now, before your clan finds out." I swatted him away. "We have to catch up to Smoky. We have to get out of here."
Zach grunted a soft assent and reluctantly let go of me. Unsure of what else to say, I turned and raced ahead, catching up to Camille and Morio. I could hear Zach's steps behind me.
"Delilah! Delilah?" he called, but I ignored him as I hurried through the woods. My body wanted Zachary Lyonnesse. But his comments about what the Puma Pride thought of us were still ringing in my ears, a vicious assault on my ego. I couldn't let them go. Not yet.
As we finally broke out of the trail into the yard near the house, reality hit, and I pushed thoughts of Zach to the side. We were headed home, all right, but who knew whether we were going to be too late to prevent Kyoka and the Hunters Moon Clan from finding the spirit seal? Wherever it might be.
By the time we reached Morio's Outback, all I wanted was a hot shower, a long nap, and a lot of food. Smoky elected to come back to the city with us.
