Fire with Fire (Demonblood Series #2) (18 page)

And Corrine. Why would she say those things? Is it really true? Or is she just upset because of what happened to her? And what am I going to do about that? I
have
to help her, somehow.

I shake my head and blink several times. My stomach flutters, causing my breath to catch. I stand up and pace around, hoping to shake off some of these nerves. I’m missing something important…something right in front of my face. I wish I could see what it is.

My stomach gives a funny little jostle again, and suddenly I know exactly what I need to do.

I need to go see Bones.

~~~

The twigs crunch under the weight of my steps as I wander aimlessly through the woods.

“Diablo… Where are you? Here, horsey, horsey,” I call out, snapping my fingers several times. Where does that blasted animal stay, anyways? I’ve never seen any sort of stable for him, yet I know Lucky rides him every night. Maybe he lives in Dryndara and only comes out when she needs him? I hope not. If I’m to have any hope at all of talking to Bones before nightfall, I need Diablo to get me to a Portal. It’s over ten miles away from my cabin…no way I’m walking that round-trip.

“Hor-sey! Here, Diablo!” I yell louder. I take a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart. Just the thought of Lucky’s enormous hellbeast coming for me is enough to make my knees literally shake. What am I supposed to do if he actually
does
come? I’ve never ridden Diablo before…or
any
horse for that matter.

I pace in circles, calling louder and louder. “Diablo! Lucky wants you to come here!” I shout. Maybe I should just start walking toward a Portal and see what happens. Maybe Bones will come to me.

I trudge in the direction we came from when Bones brought me back from Dryndara. After I’ve walked about half a mile, I hear a loud huff and a snort behind me.

I jump and spin around, then take several quick steps back from the massive ebony beast and his glowing eyes of crimson. I stumble over a tree root, twisting my ankle, and let out a painful yelp as I land hard on my butt.

The throbbing in my foot shoots like a hot poker up my leg. I know it’s sprained. How am I ever going to make it home?
Great.
Now what do I do?

Diablo snorts again and paws the ground with a hoof the size of a dinner plate. He glares at me warily through his blood-red eyes. I take a deep breath and try to ignore my pain.

“Thanks for coming, Diablo. Lucky will be proud of you,” I say bravely, brushing off my palms and sitting up straight. “She’d want you to do this teeny tiny favor for me. I need you to take me to see Bones. Can you do that?”

The stallion lets out a dignified grunt and shakes his head around with a figure-eight motion.

“Is that a yes?” I ask, not sure if I want it to be or not.

Diablo gives a low whinny, then slowly bends his front two legs so his knees are touching the ground. His back is still so high up…but maybe I can reach it…

I stand and hobble over to him. Clutching his long, silky mane with both fists, I attempt with my good leg to propel my body over the enormous stallion’s back. I miss by a mile, kick him in the flank with my achy foot, and promptly land on my back again, this time yelling more from frustration than from pain.

Dammit!

Clenching my fists into angry balls I pound the soft dirt beside me. This whole idea is
so
stupid. Why in the world would I willingly return to Thiberoux? And why do I want to talk to Bones so badly? Even if I don’t hate him as much as I used to, he’s still one of
them
. Why do I even think he can help me? And why am I risking breaking my neck trying to get on this oversized horse from Hell? And how am I going to get home with this busted ankle?

I feel like such a pathetic loser sitting here in the middle of the woods, tears forming pools in my eyes. I give Diablo a pleading look. “What am I gonna do, big guy?” I groan, defeated.

He raises his nose high in the air, and looks down on me with one fiery eye.

“Please. I need your help,” I whisper.

He takes a few steps back to me and lowers himself again, this time lowering his haunches as well so that his underbelly rests on the ground.

“Thanks,” I say, now able to clear his expansive girth. When he begins to rise, I clutch his mane tightly with both fists, and squeeze my thighs together as tight as I possibly can. I hold my breath and lean forward, praying I don’t fall off.

I manage to stay on, and once Diablo reaches his full height I feel a little better. This isn’t so bad. I don’t know what I was so afraid of.

“Okay, boy, I need you to take me to see Bones. You know where he is, right? Take me in his direction but DON’T RUN! Only walk. Okay? Can you do that? Go really
, really
slow. Okay?”

Diablo starts off at an easy plod into the thickets of the dense forest. I can see the well-worn path he’s traveled numerous times with Lucky on his back, but still the trail is narrow, flanked with low-hanging branches, jutting tree roots and perilous jagged rocks. Once or twice I’ve been aware of this journey as Lucky and Diablo raced to Dryndara in pitch darkness. Even in the bright sunlight, going as slow as he’s probably ever moved in his life, the path is nothing short of treacherous.

I feel Diablo’s frustration at our slow pace, and I’m almost tempted to let him go a little faster. But as I eye the sharp branches and other hazards in our path, I resist the urge. How does Lucky manage to not get herself impaled every night?

Almost an hour later, I recognize the familiar surroundings. Somewhere around here should be the Portal. Diablo stops, raises his long snout in the air and releases an ear-splitting neigh.

“Come on, guy…you gotta take me inside Thiberoux,” I say, giving him a light tap with my heels. He doesn’t budge. Great. He takes me all this way just to stop at the last minute?

And then I remember. The Boumeaux. I need the black diamond in my possession to pass through the barrier separating the land of Dark-angels from the world of Man.

Crap crap crap!

I let out another frustrated scream, inexplicably devastated. I
must
speak with Bones today…it’s now or never. I don’t know why, but the urgency is almost overwhelming. But there’s
no way
I can make another round-trip out here before the sun goes down.

“Bones!” I shout as loud as I can. “Bones, can you hear me? Bones!”

My voice strains against the silence of the forest, and Diablo echoes my cries with another high-pitched whinny.

I shout out his name several more times to no avail. There’s no one out here for miles other than me and Diablo. And right now I can only pray that he knows how to get me back home to the cabin.

“Hey, you…what are you doing out here?” a gentle voice asks.

I twist my neck around so fast I nearly get whiplash. “Bones!”

I eye the ground with apprehension; it’s quite a long drop from atop Diablo’s back. “Hey, wanna kneel again?” I ask him, leaning forward to stroke his muscular neck.

Bones wanders over to us. As Diablo sinks lower, he lifts me effortlessly into the air and sets me gently on the ground.

“Liora?” His toffee eyes are round with confusion. “Are you okay? What are you doing way out here?”

“I…I don’t know, exactly. I just know I need to talk to you,” I reply with a hint of a smile. No wonder Lucky loves being friends with him so much. Just looking at him and his tanned, ripped body and chiseled features that switch from being devilishly sexy to sweet and caring…it’s an irresistible combination. Deadly, almost. “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been okay,” he says, giving me his trademark smoldering gaze. “More important, how are
you
?”

My insides turn to butter. “How’d you know I was here?”

He cracks a half-grin. “I heard Diablo. And I felt you…”

“Felt me
?”

He shrugs. “Something’s wrong. What is it?”

I take a deep breath and stare at him, unsure where to start. Just the sight of Bones makes my stomach tingle with happiness and my skin grow warm. “I-it’s kinda a long story…”

He motions me to a clearing where there’s a fallen log we can sit on. As I start to hobble over to it, he stops me. “Wait, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

I shake my head and limp forward. “It’s nothing. Super stupid. I tripped and twisted my ankle. No big
whoa—!”
Without any warning, Bones scoops me up in his arms as if I’m a doll and carries me the rest of the way to the makeshift bench. I have to admit, it’s not exactly torture being in his strong embrace again.

He sets me down and wraps his hands around my ankle. The searing warmth emanating from his palms instantly removes any traces of pain. “You have to be more careful,” he says, sitting back up as I gape at him in awe. “You are very important. You need to take care of yourself.” His mouth is set in a hard line.

“I
do
take care of myself…I just tripped is all. How did you do that?” I ask, pointing at my miraculously healed foot.

He shrugs. “No biggie. Anyone can do it.”

“Can Lucky?” As I ask, a hidden memory surfaces…one of me touching Kayla’s leg and fixing it, just moments before we were attacked by the Amazèa.

“Sure. With humans it’s easy. Now, tell me what’s going on.”

I clasp my hands together and stare at the ground. Truth is, I’m not sure
why
I came to see Bones…only that I
had
to.

“Liora…?” he gently urges. There’s something in his eyes…something that wasn’t there the last time I saw him. They seem more intimate somehow, yet somehow...mysterious.

“Bones, there’s something going on and I need to talk to you about it. I don’t know who else I can go to.”

“It’s about saving Kieron, isn’t it? You’re worried about what Lucky’s going to do. Can’t say I blame you…” His handsome face is sad, and he glances away.

My throat constricts. “
What?”
I gasp.

Bones shrugs, still staring off into the forest. “It is pretty dangerous, I admit. But we
do
have a better chance of survival with Aria on our side. Not that it’s ever a great idea to attack an entire demon tribe with only a few fighters, but hey, what do I know? It’s Lucky’s world, I guess. We just live in it. Maybe we can actually save the poor guy. Maybe we can’t. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

“Bones,
what
are you talking about?” My head spins at his words. Lucky knows where Kieron is? And she’s going to save him? From what?

Bones gives me a quizzical glance. “I assumed that’s why you came…you’re worried about what might happen tonight. Just know that I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe, just like I always have, and just like I always will.”

“I don’t know
anything
…I haven’t seen or heard from Kieron since that night he took me and Lucky to see the Amazèa. I’ve heard
nothing
. Are you telling me she knows something?”

Bones shrugs. “Well, yeah. Don’t get too upset, ‘cause she really hasn’t known for very long. She thought he’d disappeared. Then after we were attacked, we discovered he’d been held hostage this whole time by some former allies of ours who were looking for some payback because of a…misunderstanding. ”

“Kieron’s being held prisoner somewhere, and Lucky is going to rescue him?” I reiterate, dumfounded.

Bones nods. “Well, we’re gonna at least try. That is, if she still wants to after what happened…” His voice trails off.

“After
what
happened?” I ask when he doesn’t finish. “Why
wouldn’t
she want to?! If Kieron is alive and trying to get to us, she has to save him!”

He squints his eyes and focuses on me. “Liora…do you have
any
idea of anything Lucky may have done last night? Do you feel any…
different
at all today?”

I shake my head. “No, I don’t know what she did last night, and I don’t care. But now that you mention it, I do feel pretty good today. Better, in fact, than in a long time. I figured she just took it easy last night and let me get some good sleep or something…”

Bones’ soft chuckle starts the butterflies in my stomach dancing. “Believe me, she wasn’t
sleeping
last night—”

I hold up my hand. “Ugh, stop. I don’t want to hear it. I learned a long time ago the only way for me to not go completely crazy at sharing my body with a demon is to not know what she does.” Bones smiles wickedly, and I flash him a look. “I’m serious, Bones. Don’t tell me anything. I don’t even want to hear that I might die tonight. That is what you’re trying to tell me, isn’t it?”