Blind Salvage: A Rylee Adamson Novel(57)

My jaw dropped and the triplets fell over themselves laughing. Even Calliope let out a soft nicker.
“It wasn’t that funny,” I grumbled, but I bit the inside of my cheek. Not for one second did I think Liam would ever get tired of me. Gods, I hoped not.
Dox dropped to a crouch beside me. “You killed the Roc, that’s why they were willing to help.”
Dev crawled toward the fire, stretched out on his belly. “Yup, you did what no ogre has been able to. You got rid of the big bitch of a bird. The ogres are in your debt.”
“What they say is true.”
I turned to see the rest of the ogres emerging from the lake, water glistening on their many-colored hides. They were surreal, the lava still erupting on the mountain behind them, the dark night above, and the reflection of the lake. The scene was damn near poetic.
Grey boy crouched beside me and held out his hand. “I am Sla, and I speak for all the ogres, all the Gangs. You are welcome here, Tracker. And we will stand with you when the time comes.”
I swallowed hard, and set my hand in his. “Just for killing the Roc?”
He smiled down at me. “Killing the Roc was the sign that you are the one who will lead us into battle.”
Oh, no. Not this shit again. “Nope, sorry, that isn’t going to happen; we threw him into the pit.” I tossed a twig into the fire, to illustrate my words.
Sla shook his head. “It is not so easy to kill a demon. If it was, there would be none left. You took away the body he possessed, nothing more.”
“How do you know all this? Are demons a past time hobby for you?” I lifted an eyebrow at him. Dox groaned softly, but Sla didn’t seem to mind my attitude.
He flopped to the ground and stretched out lengthwise as if he, and all the other ogres, hadn’t tried to kill us just a few hours past.
“We have prophecies too, though you will not find them in any ogre-skinned book.” His eyes flicked up to mine and I gave him a nod. No point in denying it. He shrugged. “If an ogre is stupid enough to be skinned alive, they deserve it.”
The ogres around us gave a resounding rumble of agreement.
“More to the point, you are the sign that the final battle is coming. When the Roc dies and the lava flows, the battle is nigh.” He eyed me up. “I’d hoped you’d be a bit more intimidating, though. The triplets speak true, you are rather puny to be a hero.”
I really didn’t like the direction of this conversation. “Orion isn’t coming back. There is not going to be a gods-be-damned battle. And I am no one’s hero.”
Dox put a hand on my shoulder. “You have their loyalty, whether you want it or not.”
I shook his hand off and stood. I didn’t know what to say, how to stop them from believing these prophecies. Or to get them to see that it was over, that Orion was done. So I walked away from the group to the edge of the firelight, where Liam caught up to me. “Hey. We’re alive, they aren’t trying to kill us, and we have Calliope. Don’t throw a fit because they want to believe in something that scares you.”
I could have slapped him. For telling me the truth and for pointing out that I was afraid. I didn’t do fear well, never had.
“You aren’t the one being set up as some gods-be-damned savior of the world. I’m nobody, just a Tracker. That’s it. There is nothing more to me. I don’t have any special powers; I don’t have any magic. Hell, if we’d been a little longer crossing the veil at the castle, I would have died. I am not cut out to be in any prophecy. If it comes down to me and Orion, he will win!”
Note to self: when anger is flowing, try to recall that you might be a lot louder than you realize. Like as in yelling at the top of your lungs.
All the ogres stared at us in the sudden silence after my outburst. I closed my eyes, shame flooding me. Liam stepped back, his face shuttered from any emotion. “I’m going to go and find a vehicle. Try to stay out of trouble while I’m gone.”
“Liam, wait.” I started after him but in an instant, he disappeared into the bush.
Once more, I’d screwed things up.
“Good fucking job, Rylee,” I muttered to myself. “Good fucking job.”
I made my way back to the fire and flopped down beside Calliope. I wished Alex was there to break the tension. Or Pamela to point out something good and beautiful. I Tracked Alex first, pinpointed him in a heartbeat. Almost directly east of us, his threads were strong and healthy, but he was afraid of something. Not totally unusual with Alex; he could sometimes get spooked by his own shadow.
Then I Tracked Pamela.
While she was in the same place, she was bruised and scared. I sat up straighter and Tracked Eve. No, this couldn’t be happening, not when I was all the way on the other side of the continent. Eve’s threads, I could barely feel them, weak and fading fast.