Blind Salvage: A Rylee Adamson Novel(15)

“Rylee.” Liam brought his face close to mine so I could clearly see his pale gold eyes. “We have to turn back; we need to get you help.”
“We do that, and then whoever is doing this will have time to plan something new to stop us. We don’t have a choice, we can’t go back.”
He let out a breath, his nostrils flaring. I thought he would argue, would try and force me to do what he thought was best.
“Then that means you’re up to bat, Pamela,” Liam said, his voice deadly serious.
“I can do this.” There was movement to my left, and then her hand curled around mine, giving it a quick squeeze.
He grunted. “You have to, or Rylee is going to die, and a good chance we will follow her shortly down that dark walk.”
Hell, I wasn’t in that bad of shape, was I? No, a punctured lung wasn’t that bad.
Liam’s arms tightened around me, and we started forward. With each step he took, the rib shimmied forward. Maybe only a breath forward, but still, it was working its way closer to my heart. Awesome.
A whoosh of something, and then there was a chorus of high-pitched screaming. My eyes were closed, and I drifted in and out of consciousness, the pain making me black out.
I saw Berget, somewhere in my in-and-out state, my mind playing tricks on me, no doubt. The Berget I remembered, yet not. She was older, but she wasn’t the bitch vampire I’d met in Venice. No, this was the girl I had called my sister. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a sweetness that she’d had in all of her early years. She reached for me, her hand brushing mine, fingertips resting on my pulse.
“Rylee, you’ll save me. I know you will. Don’t give up. Please.” Her fingers stroked down the length of my cheek.
“You’re gone.”
“No, I’m not. There is a way to untangle this monster that I’ve become.”
I didn’t want to hope for this, not again. Each time I believed her salvageable, her life was snatched away from me.
Maybe she sensed that. She leaned close and put her lip to my ear. “You will find the way to release me from the bonds they placed on my heart, soul, and body. I believe in you. You are my hero still.”
I turned my face from her, unable to say anything. And then we were below ground, and Liam lowered me to sit against a wall. “Stay here, and don’t move.”
Right, that was not high on my priority list.
Alex curled up beside me. “Pamie hurt.”
My eyes shot open and I Tracked her, felt her threads above me, and though they were strong, she was hurt and her last emotion before she blacked out was a fear so strong it could still be felt along her threads. With the last of my strength, I pushed myself to my feet, using the wall as a brace, and I started up the stairs. Two steps up, and Liam was rushing down, Pamela in his arms.
Blood, lots and lots of blood. Liam was covered in it, but I knew through the thread I Tracked Pamela with that she was the one hurt, not him.
I tried to speak, but that required a deeper breath. So I had to settle for snapping my fingers at Alex. He moved to my side and I buried my hands into his thick coat. Damn it all to hell and back, how was I going to walk when each step sent waves of pain and darkness my way?
Liam blocked my way. “Wait here, I’ll take her through, and then I’ll come back for you.”
I shook my head, swayed on my feet, and managed to whisper. “That’s what they want. Can’t split up.”
So in the most painstakingly slow parade, we inched through the dungeon. No red caps showed up, so I assumed that Pamela had taken care of them all. The girl was one hell of a witch.
I used the wall and Alex to brace myself, pain darkening my vision twice before we reached the exit through to New Mexico. At the last second, I remembered that the exit had been blocked, and I cursed under my breath.
Gods help us, let it be open now.
With the last of my strength, and with the gods apparently looking out for us, I stumbled through, crossing the veil into the icy blast of the New Mexico winter. There the morning had only just started; a hint of the night still clung to the edges of the land. Though, the fact that we had come out in a cave probably wasn’t helping any with the light. Stumbling forward, I didn’t see him until he grabbed me. Hands, big blue gentle hands caught me, shocking the hell out of me.
“Dox.”
“Hey, Rylee. Heard you were coming my way and might be in some trouble.”
Distantly, I knew that there was no way Dox could have known where we were going to come out, or that we’d need help. So how had he found us? Who had told him?
“Don’t try to talk, Rylee,” Dox said, his face coming into view as he carefully scooped me into his arms. “We need to get you two out of here.”