Page 37 of Call of the Ride
Tan and Asa smiled proudly, but Nox’s expression seemed strained. When he noticed me eyeing him, he sighed. “I’m sorry we weren’t here to help you...but it sounds like you had it handled on your own.”
Oh, someone’s feeling left out.
I approached my Darkest Midnight, resting my palms on his lower chest as I gazed up at him. “On the contrary, I realized just how much Ishouldrely on others to help me, especially the three of you. It wasn’tmypower alone that brought the water. I called upon generations of women—my ancestors and otherwise—andthatallowed me to tap into something greater than myself. However, I wouldn’t have been able to do that at all if I didn’t already have my Riders at my back.”
As if to illustrate my point, Asa crowded against me from behind, his steady presence like a balm to my soul. “We will always have your back, sweetness. And we are more than happy to serve you, however you need us.” This last bit seemed to be aimed at Nox, and while I appreciated the sentiment, it wasn’t how this was going to work.
It’s not how a team works.
I relaxed against Asa, sighing contentedly when Tan joined us in our huddle. “I appreciate your loyalty, but I don’t want you to blindly follow me.” I turned my head to smile at my Bright Dawn. “Tan was the first to insist I be treated as a member of the team, but I realize now that needs to go both ways.”
Recalling how shattered Nox had looked in the bathtub when he confronted me about my deal with Koschei, my gaze shifted to his face. “I’ve made choices recently that didn’t take into account how the rest of you would be affected, and for that, I apologize. I will try to do better—to think of theteamfrom now on, and include you in my decisions.”
Nox gazed back at me a moment before solemnly nodding. “Thank you, Vashka. We will figure things outtogether.Like Ace said, the three of us were created to serve you, for a greater purpose, and that’s what we will do, no matter what happens.”
“And now Noxy has given up control,” Tan playfully gasped. “It really must be love!”
“It is,” I earnestly whispered, before Nox could reply. All three men tensed around me, before I felt so much love and loyalty shoot down the bond that if I hadn’t been sandwiched between them, I might have fallen over.
I was immediately passed around for affectionate kisses and—in Tan’s case—some light fondling. While part of me wanted to brush off my half-confession as nothing special, I realized it was actually an enormous step in our relationships.
And I should celebrate it as well.
“We have some news of our own to share,” Asa smoothly brought us back to the task at hand, pointing at the pendant hanging from my neck. “Apparently, that necklace came from a ritual site not far from here, from a ‘heel stone,’ whatever that is.”
“‘While pointing your heel at the sun at its peak,’”I recited, allowing the buzz of intuition to wash over me and expand outward, seeking next steps. “We now need to determinewhichsacred site this stone is at…”
Ulysses—or whoever he was—laughed and shook his head. “They really don’t teach you kids anything, do they? One of the most famous stone circles in existence, complete with heel stone, is about 45 miles to the south of here. Any guesses, class?“
“Stonehenge?” I warily ventured, before hurriedly adding, “Unless that’s too obvious of an answer…”
The Fae grinned and tipped an imaginary hat in my direction. “Aye, my dear. Sometimes, the simplest answer is the right one. Now, off you go!”
I dubiously eyed my mortar, wondering how everyone would comfortably fit, when a familiar voice called out from the darkness of the surrounding woods, startling me with its urgency.
“ Vel?!” Marena appeared at the tree line, looking uncharacteristically panicked. “Oh, thank the Goddess, I found you! It’s Jarilo. Something’s happened to him and I…I don’t think he’s going to make it.”
Chapter 29
Vasilisa
What followed was a blur. Ulysses promised to transport our car back to London for us before climbing aboard my mortar and taking off into the night. My men and I followed Veles and Marena into the forest, as we all quickly headed for the nearest sacred grove, and I was surprised to see a small swarm of bees leading the way. A vague memory surfaced of a conversation with Tan around my own hives, but before I could ponder, we arrived at a grove with a towering willow, which we promptly entered.
Just as when we’d first traveled to London, it only took a few minutes of walking through the narrow tunnels of the World Tree before we were climbing out of a manhole—luckily, in the same neighborhood as Catty Lang’s this time.
“Tell me exactly what happened, Rena,” Veles gritted out as we all squeezed into the elevator, the sharpness of his tone betraying his own concern.
“I’m not sure,” Marena whimpered, wringing her hands in distress. “By the time Jar collapsed outside Anthia’s hotel room, he was barely conscious. I don’t even understand how he made it back from the lab with the state he was in! Harbison helped me get him into bed, but he’s been fairly unresponsive since then…”
I silently absorbed this information, deeply troubled that something associated with Matthew and the Facility would be powerful enough to injure a god. I stole a glance at my Riders as we raced down the hotel hallway, and judging from their grim expressions, they were also concerned about what this meant for our odds.
What sort of monsters are we up against?
We burst into the hotel room to find Jarilo lying on the bed, deathly pale and unnaturally still. Anthia was seated next to him, gently wiping a wet cloth over his forehead, and despite the circumstances, I couldn’t help but smile. My friend was a bit of a “prickly pear,” as Cassandra had called her, but I knew Anthia had a good heart—even if she tried to keep that fact a secret most of the time.
Harbison on the terrace with a cell phone pressed to his ear. “Yes, we gave him the dream tea…yes, yes, averylarge dose…where do you expect us to findthat?Well,you’rethe seer—you tell me!” He listened to the person on the other end for another minute before saying his goodbyes and stepping into the bedroom.
“What did Cassandra say?” Marena immediately cornered Harbison. “What else do we need to find?”
