Nick sighed, and for a second, he was again the smart-mouthed Cajun kid Ash had welcomed as a friend. "I can't promise that either, boy ... have you not been listening to me? I'm speaking English here. I can't stop my true nature. It's like asking the moon not to rise or the ocean to quit making waves." He spat each word out separately. "My nature is death. You're alive. That sheer fact, regardless of any other, makes me want to kick your ass and kill you. This is why I need help, and I can't go to a therapist. I just might eat them and I don't like the taste of human...." Ash didn't even want to know how Nick knew he didn't like the taste of human. "At least Artemis has a fighting chance if I go bad on her."
"We will get through this."
"You better be right, Ash. 'Cause if you're not..."
Ash's mother would finally win and the world of man would lose everything.
Ren took a moment to study Kateri while she napped on his bed. A bed he'd never shared with anyone before. One he'd never even dreamed of sharing with another.
Yet there she lay, naked and entwined in his dark brown sheets. Her long dark brown hair spilled over his pillows. She had one hand curled beneath her chin and one leg bent and jutting out from beneath the sheet.
Her right arm dangled over the side of the bed. Kneeling down, he touched her wrist and leaned down to inhale the precious valerian scent that she wore. A scent that would haunt him forever, along with the gentleness of her touch.
"I love you," he whispered as he pressed his lips to her wrist, then nuzzled his cheek against her palm. They had spent the last few hours together, exploring every inch of each other's bodies.
And he was definitely ticklish.
She thought this was the beginning of their future together.
He knew it was the end. It had to be. There was no choice. Grizzly would devour her and laugh while he did it. Worse, he'd make Ren watch.
I will miss you. Always.
His only hope was that one day she'd find a man worthy of her love, and that he'd make her as happy as Ren would have tried to had he been lucky enough to keep her with him.
But it wasn't meant to be.
You know, Ren. My grandmother always said that life isn't about knowing who you are so much as it is about knowing who you're not. Who you are can always change. We strive to be better, and we should greet every day we live with a desire to make it better. But who you're not never changes. And you, my precious, are a hero. Even when you were hurt and angry, you only went after the ones who hurt you. Never the ones who didn't. Because you're not that man who kills for no reason. You are not the person who lashes out against the innocent and hurts them. You will never be that man. And that is why you are a hero in my eyes, and why you will always be one.
He would carry those words for the rest of eternity and let them offer him comfort while Grizzly rained down misery on him.
Rising, he leaned over her and kissed her head. With one last look, he changed into his crow form and left her to the protection of his friend and allies.
Due to the coming storms, the night winds were against his wings. It felt as if they, too, were trying to destroy him, and drive him into the ground far below. In just over twelve hours the equinox would arrive and the path would open and unleash its hell.
Unless Kateri reached the Valley by 3 A.M.
She'd make it. The others would make sure. His job was to make that trip as easy as possible for them.
Dreading what he'd find on his arrival, Ren flew to the one place where his brother would feel safe. The cave where Coyote always retreated to whenever he wanted to draw strength.
Ren came in low to survey the landscape before making his presence known to his enemies. The shaft was empty. He took a second to transform into a man and cover himself with his armor. The Coyote was ever a trickster. He should never be underestimated.
With the same stealth he'd once used to track elusive game, Ren crept down the shaft until it widened into an earthen room. The red walls were decorated with ancient glyphs. Some appeared to be space aliens, but he knew they were ceremonial masks taken from the collective memory of the demons that had long ago been banished from this realm.
Before man taught himself science and reason, he had sought to blend in with demonkyn, hoping that the demons would be fooled into thinking he was one of them and would leave him alone.
It'd never worked, but it had been a nice effort and it had given the demons countless hours of entertainment as they laughed at the stupid humans who tried to mimic them.
Ren drew up short as he saw Choo Co La Tah tied against the wall. Thank the gods, his friend was still alive. Though, judging by the horrendous condition Choo was in, Ren was pretty sure his friend wasn't thanking anyone for the fact.
Least of all him.
As silent as a wraith, Ren crossed the room and touched Choo's hand.
Choo Co La Tah flinched, then let out a relieved breath as he saw Ren standing in front of him. "It is you, is it not?"
As ludicrous as that proper English accent had always sounded coming out of Choo's mouth, it was doubly so while his friend looked like he'd gone a few rounds posing as Mike Tyson's weight bag.