Legacy of Blood - By J. L. McCoy Page 0,73

close, Ruarc,” I warned as I stood on shaky legs and tried to focus. “He’s damn close. I’d say no more than fifty yards when you took the ring off. We need to go in after him.”

“Nay,” Ruarc sighed as he turned to Oleif who had just joined us. He spoke quickly to him in Gaelic and I watched as they drew their daggers, now on full alert. “We wait.”

Ruarc instructed me to slip the ring on every two minutes to see if Amun was still in the lake. For the next two hours, every time I did, I saw that he was… until one time he wasn’t.

“What do you mean you can’t see him?” Ruarc yelled at me for the tenth time.

“I can’t see him,” I growled back, my eyes flickering solid black in anger. I was exhausted, utterly spent, and in a foul mood. Connecting with Amun every two minutes turned out to be harder on my body and mind than I first realized. Ruarc, An Dilis, and I had been arguing for the past ten minutes; each minute that passed getting progressively worse. “He’s gone. I don’t feel him anymore. How many times do I have to tell you? And quit fucking yelling at me!”

“How can this be?” Oleif asked, roughly jerking my arm so that I faced him.

I pulled my arm out of his hand and slammed a hard and fast fist into his throat. Judging by the sickening crunch that followed, I knew I had crushed his windpipe again. “Touch me again motherfucker!” I dared as he fell to the ground. Scuffling sounded at my back and I flashed around to see a few of the soldiers draw their weapons.

“Stand down!” Ruarc barked, coming to stand in front of me, shielding me from his men. He then whirled on me and got in my face. “And you,” he jabbed a hard finger to my chest, “control your fucking temper!”

“Back. Up,” I seethed through clenched teeth as I stared at his finger, ready to rip it from his hand. I heard growling on my left and right and knew Dean, Zephyr and Primo had my back.

Ruarc dropped his finger after a few seconds and put some serious distance between us. “Everyone just calm down,” he said after a few moments of tense silence. “Skye is going to get a handle on her temper and so are we.”

“I’m done dealing with this shit,” I growled as I turned on my heels and started back toward the van.

“Where do you think you are going?” Ruarc yelled after me.

“Back to the club,” I snapped as I extended a finger in farewell. “I need a nap!” My temper was dangerously fragile at the moment and I needed to recharge before I killed someone.

“You can’t leave now,” Ruarc called after me. “We need you to track Amun!”

“I can’t!” I spun around and screamed it him. “Aren’t you fucking listening to me?! He’s gone! I can’t feel him, can’t see him, and thus…

I CAN’T TRACK HIM!”

Three wolves came to stand between me and An Dilis. They made no sound, but their haunches were raised in warning.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a few moments. When I opened them, I was a fraction calmer but my eyes still betrayed my fragile state. “I’m tired, Ruarc. So tired you can’t even begin to imagine. I need to eat, sleep and recharge. I’m holding on here by a thread. I’ve done the best I can for today. You and your soldiers should stay here and continue after him. I can’t.” I looked down at the wolves and spoke to them next. “Dean, I’m riding home with you so let’s get a move on.”

I saw the largest of the three wolves turn to me and I took that to be Dean. He was all black with a gray patch on his forehead and he looked much stronger than the other two. He stared at me a moment and cocked his head to one side.

“Please?” I sighed, rubbing my pounding forehead.

Dean pulled his lips back from his teeth and it oddly reminded me of his smile. I took it as such and rolled my eyes as I turned my back on Ruarc and his soldiers and flashed back the way we came.

I waited patiently by the motorcycle and Zephyr’s car with my back turned and gave the wolves privacy so they could transform back to their human form. The sickening sound of bones