Night Finds (16 page)

“No!” Is shouted by enough voices that I swear the trees start shaking.

What did they really expect me to say? I love everyone here in some fashion. I cannot just hand one of them over to be the new play toy of Dr. Creepy and his wife, Mrs. Stabsalot.

“Are you sure about your answer?” the woman asks. She doesn't sound as upbeat.

“No, she wants to reconsider,” Sebby says before I can open my mouth.

“I do not. You guys said my answer would be final, so your question is moot.”

“I won't let you stay by yourself. I am staying with you and Sophia,” Sebastian states.

It would be really handy if Sophia would come out right now. I know I have said, or thought, that a few times, but I could hand her off to Sebby and let him go on his way. I was afraid he would stay behind, but I wouldn't change my choice.

“I will have to stay, too. I cannot let you two die alone,” Alex says and comes over to take my hand. “We are all in this together, to the very end.”

They are making me a little emotional, but I am going to be strong. I don't need other people deciding they should stay back as well.

“It won't be necessary,” the Grim says. “She answered the riddle correctly. I can't say that has ever happened before. It really takes the fun out of things.”

“Riddle?” I ask. What in the world is he talking about? If he thinks his little ultimatum was some kind of riddle, someone needs to get him a dictionary.

“This sucks. I was really looking forward to having some fun,” the woman claims. “She even had people offering and that doesn't tend to happen either. One claimed we probably wouldn't even be able to kill him. What kind of logic is that?”

“Wise logic. We have finally met our match, Helen.”

“It just isn't fair, Alastair. They won't even let us see her. We should be allowed that much, right?”

At least I have names for the duo. I do like the woman's name since it happens to be the same as one of my favorite knives.

“I think it is safe to stand down. I gave myself up anyway,” I point out. “I am still looking for some clarification on what just happened.”

No one makes a move to part, so I have to take matters into my own hands. Everyone is going to be in trouble later for make me waddle around. The closest exit point is straight ahead through Walt, which is about the equivalent of a beetle taking on Mount Everest. The fact that he looks like Sebastian at the present moment isn't abnormal at all.

“Walt, don't make me do something crazy.”

“I think you already did, Niece. You remind me more of your father every day. He is going to be so proud when he gets to see you again.” He moves out of my way and the guard in front of him does the same. Sebby and Alex are tight by my sides.

I am able to see the two figures standing in the clearing in front of us now. The Blue Hag looks just like I would imagine. She looks like an old crone with a huge misshapen nose and puffy, slightly distorted face. She is wrapped in blue rags, accounting for the blue in her species name. I see the staff Ian mentioned clasped tightly in her right hand. It looks like it is the only thing keeping her vertical.

The man is covered from head to toe in a black robe. With his hands crossed at his chest, I see no skin at all. He may as well be a green alien from outer space.

“This is her? She is so pretty, and young. Why do you glow?” Helen asks.

“My name is Nyx. I don't really know if you are seeing the true me or the one I am pretending to be.”

“The glamour doesn't work on us. Unless there is another spell in place, we are seeing you,” the man replies. “What are you?”

“Are you going to answer my question about the riddle?” I think since they have been toying with us, it is only fair that I get my questions answered first.

“Grims like to pose riddles to their victims before killing them,” Ian answers. “It didn't sound like much of a riddle to me.” Me either.

“Doesn't really matter. I consider it a riddle and it is my favorite one to ask a group. No one can ever solve it. I was sure when everyone started offering themselves to you I was going to win again. It really is too bad. You have such a strong force gathered here. Any one of them would have given us hours of enjoyment.”

I meet so many weird people. “There is three of her,” Helen gasps. Hilda and Phee skip over to get a closer look at the pair.

“The world is not ready for that,” Alex says under his breath. I am pretty sure I had earlier thoughts along the same line. If not, I should have.

“No, they are my decoys. Some idiots are holding my father hostage in your lovely woods and since I am pregnant, we devised this plan to hopefully protect me. Why I am telling you all of this I don't know. Is it okay if we are on our way? We are on a deadline here.”

“The baby would account for some of the glowing, but not all of it. You are otherworldly, right? Angels haven't been allowed in this land ever. How did you get clearance?” The man is looking me over carefully.

“I don't think it was known when my entrance visa was granted. Once I got here, it was too late to send me back.” They are showing no signs of being done with the conversation. I wonder what they would do if I just walked away.

“Interesting. Well, Nyx, maybe we will be lucky enough to meet you again. For now, you mentioned you were otherwise occupied, so my request that you come visit for some tea and crumpets will have to wait. A visitor is closing in fast and I am not sure if he is friend or foe to you. We will leave you to decide,” Alastair says and then him and Helen turn into smoke and float away on a breeze that came from out of nowhere.

“Nyxie, boy am I happy I found you first,” a voice says before sweeping me up for a bear hug. Only one person calls me that and I know his gesture isn't going to go over well with my mates. He has proven that he is still an idiot. I have my knives still in my hands and hugs are not wise with an armed girl. Add in that he is squeezing my belly and you have an armed, unhappy girl.

Chapter 15

A strange blast from the past

Alex starts growling to let Ryan know he is about to become reindeer chow. Ryan doesn't let that deter him and he gives an extra squeeze. Is he trying to push Sophia right out of me?

“I suggest you let go of her now or you are going to become a very dead wolf,” Sebastian says slowly with a dump truck full of menace.

“You guys have kept her away from me for months. Can't you let me just take in the new her? Congrats on the baby, by the way. The extra weight really suits you, especially in the chest. Holy cow.” He releases me and I take a second to put the knives away. He spends the time memorizing my milk jugs.

“The last time I saw you, Ryan, you weren't exactly happy with me. What gives with the hugs?”

“And how did you pick out the right one? There are three of us,” Hilda adds. Good question, I am supposed to be glamoured to look like Phee.

He makes an odd noise in his throat like he is trying to clear it or something. “The glamour isn't going to be an issue for any of the Collective agents here today. They are all on that stupid drug that made me nuts. It does have some really nice abilities loaded into it, but those side effects are killer.” Screw the side effects, seeing through the glamour is what produces three of us. His comment doesn’t make sense.

“Like aggressive tendencies and an unnatural obsession with my baby momma,” Sebastian says.

“Really? The baby is yours? I thought for sure Alex got those honors. You are deYork, right? The disguise is really good, but the look in your eyes is the one I remember from the day you took her out of my life. Anyway, yes those are the main side effects. How they target you specifically I don't know, but most people on the drug are triggered to want to be the one to put a bun in your oven. It's really the vampire's kid?” he asks again looking down skeptically.

“Yes, there is no way it could be anyone else's,” I assure him. “If you look really close you will see her little vampire fangs sticking out.” I find people staring at my stomach and I always assume that is what they are expecting to see.

Getting a good look at Ryan, not one thing has changed since the last time we saw each other. I take that back. There is something different about his face. The hardness is gone. He looks more like the teenager I used to have fun with. It’s nice to see the sparkle back in his eyes.

“But Alex is your mate, right?”

“They both are. Can we move on to how you were certain I was me and what is waiting for us, since you seem like a fountain of information.” I am still really leery about his motives. You don't go from Hell bent on keeping me locked up barefoot and pregnant with your child to you look great wearing someone else's kid just like that. It has been months, but that last meeting made me think we were going to come to blows.

“You shouldn't have to ask how I could recognize you. Even without the drug's effect, I was half in love with you from the first day we met. I would know it was you if you were physically altered to be a foot taller and a man. The other people at the meeting will just see three of you. Five of us were sent to scout for your group and report back how many you had and whether you brought any surprises.”

“Is my dad okay?” Those should have been the first words out of my mouth, but the shock of the joy in Ryan's voice made my mind freeze.

“Aaron? Sure he is fine. Frank roughed him up a little and Aaron is really going to be pissed that you actually showed up, but there wasn't any permanent damage done the last time I saw him. Frank is only mostly brain dead. He knows you would want to see your dad before you gave yourself over.”

That is a huge relief. Frank can be pretty vicious with just his bare hands and I imagine there was sharp metal involved in the original hostage taking. Aaron Gentry is no person of little consequence when it comes to fighting. I haven’t had the opportunity to witness him in action, but Jonas and Walt have tons of stories.

“Care to explain your meeting up with us and not trying to attack?” Alex asks. Looking around, the guards are still on high alert and scanning the trees for any movement. Ryan did kind of sneak up on us.

“First, you can't expect me to go against Nyx. That is so against every cell in my body that under mind control it wouldn't happen. A month after you left, I met a scientist by the name of Carl Tragger. Aaron had heard what happened to me and wanted to try to fix it because of me helping keep you safe all those years. Your dad is way cool, by the way.

“So, Carl took some of my blood and started doing all sorts of tests on it. That was after he spent a week convincing me it was a good idea. I was still pretty hung up on you and I was generally a dick to him. He persisted, though, and eventually he made an antidote for the side effects. I still have all the cool speed and sensory type add-ons, but I am not a jerk and I can be happy that you found someone you love.”

“She has more than just one person to love and don’t forget it,” Alex interjects. “You give a nice speech, but why should we believe you?”

“I am here to tell you what the Collective's plan is and help fight them in whatever capacity you think best. I have only been staying close to Frank so I can report stuff back to Carl and he can pass it on to the resistance,” Ryan explains.

“Have you heard of the scientist before?” Sebastian asks Alex. I really want to believe Ryan has turned over a new leaf. For years before I met Sebastian, he was my only friend. I know we had our issues, I still don't know when he found out I wasn't human and how long he kept it from me, but he was really there for me.

“Yeah, he is really good at his thing. I have been thinking about sending him some of Nyx's blood to analyze, but I decided the fewer people that knew what she was the better. At least until her trials are over. I don't think anyone is going to miss her wearing a halo.”

“You do know we don't actually wear halos, right?” Gabe asks. “That would be rather silly. If you believe that, you should be scratching your head trying to figure out why the vampires in the group didn’t spontaneously combust when I showed up.”

“The angel doesn’t have a sense of humor. If he is going to be hanging around you, Nyx, you are going to have to get him to lighten up,” Alex responds.

“What are you talking about? Angels? If you have one, that might be useful. Frank has a demon on his side and I was worried how we were going to get everyone out of this alive,” Ryan claims.

“We have one and a half angels, which I hope will be enough. If you say the demon is a succubus, I am going to start throwing things,” I reply and look around to find the biggest rock. Crap. I can't bend over to pick it up. Maybe Alex will let me throw some diapers around. They are light enough that I shouldn’t cause myself any damage.

“How did you know? Out of all the different kinds of demons out there, most of which I am sure neither of us have heard of, you picked the one that has got Frank in a tizzy to capture you.”

“Ben said he was going to keep her locked up,” Sebastian says and I can feel him tensing up thinking about Candace being on the loose. I have an overwhelming desire to start spewing every four-letter word my mind can come up with.

“I should have just let Peanut watch me kill her. It has to be her, right? You didn't turn down any more of them during your youthful foolishness stage did you?”

“No,” he replies and has now moved on to the pissed stage. Hey, I was already there when the word demon was mentioned.

“You think you know her? Tall blonde that would make most guys swallow their tongues for a chance with her. I want to go on record and say I am not one of those guys. She walks around like she owns the place and loves to wear tight leather.”

“Succubi can change their appearances if they want, so looks technically don't help. So far, they are on target for my nemesis, though. I thought my mom scared her off. Why would she bother to make an attempt on me again? If I don't kill her, Mom is going to do things to her even Candace wouldn't enjoy.”

“This one calls herself Candy; do you think they are the same person?” Ryan queries.