Read Online Lost Ones-Veil 3 by Christopher Golden - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Christopher Golden
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will need all the help he can find.”
Kitsune took a chance, reaching out to touch his arm. Lycaon sneered but did not pull away. She met his gaze.
“Others are dying to protect you. Not only legends and the Lost, but your kin. Soon you will be sitting alone in this place. The fires will be dark, and the mead will be gone. What then?”
Lycaon seemed to hesitate. “I thought you weren’t here to recruit me.”
Kitsune released him. “We’re not. If you would rather die alone and hunted than on a field of battle, there’s little I can do to convince you.”
The beast seemed diminished by her words. He spoke quietly. “I know about wars, kings, and murder. I promised myself, when I opened the doors of this place, that those things were all behind me.”
Coyote stepped nearer to him. All the mockery had gone from his face. “You put them behind you, Lycaon. But they’ve caught up.”
The werewolf flinched, but kept quiet, lost in reverie.
“When we go, you’re welcome to come along. That will be for you to decide. But no matter your choice, there is something we need from you.”
Lycaon frowned and glanced up at Kitsune.
Coyote cleared his throat. “The old gods.”
The beast looked askance at him. “They’re dead. You know that.”
“No one has ever believed they were all gone, Lycaon, no matter how they wished their legends would end.”
“And if I refuse, then what? For millennia, people have called me a monster. The word is not inaccurate. Do you think you can force me to help you?”
“We are not enemies, Lycaon,” Kitsune said. “If we succeed—if those rallying behind Hunyadi succeed—you will benefit. If they do not, you will die. All three of us here will die. So understand me well when I say that if you do not cooperate with us, then at least one of us will not have to wait for the Atlanteans to end our lives. You will have to kill us both, or we will be eating your black heart for our dinner, cooked upon your own stove.”
“I’ve never responded well to threats,” the beast-man said darkly.
Kitsune shrugged. “As you like. But I wager your response to death would be even less favorable. We’d rather have you as an ally than a corpse. No matter how hungry Coyote might be.”
Coyote took a final drag from his cigarette, then dropped it to the floor and crushed it under his boot.
For long moments, Lycaon said nothing.
Then, at last, he nodded. “I’ll take you to the old gods. But do not be so deluded as to think we are now allies, or that the old ones will trouble themselves with the likes of you.”
Kitsune nodded. “Lead on, then,” she said, as she raised her fur hood, hiding her face once more.
When Wayland Smith led them through the Veil into the human world, Blue Jay felt strangely at home. He had traveled all through the Two Kingdoms and to other lands in the legendary world, but he’d never felt quite so at ease as he did in the badlands of America. The people who’d believed in him and who still told his stories…this was their land, no matter who supposedly owned it now.
When they stepped into the world, they found themselves in an arroyo that hadn’t seen rain in months. The sky had been the deep indigo that only came in the small hours, long after midnight. The moon hung low and cast its light across a hardscrabble land of tangled brush and cactus. Far off, a mesa thrust up from the flat earth, its striated layers lit up by the moonglow.
Blue Jay would have given anything to stop here, just for a while. He could have been at peace.
But Smith wouldn’t hear of it.
They started off immediately. Blue Jay danced into the sky, transforming into a small bird not usually seen at night. Cheval had likewise changed, shifting her form from exotic woman to silver-maned, green-tinted horse. Jay had never met another kelpy, but he wondered if they were all so tragically beautiful. Grin rode astride Cheval’s back. Li spread his arms wide
Kitsune took a chance, reaching out to touch his arm. Lycaon sneered but did not pull away. She met his gaze.
“Others are dying to protect you. Not only legends and the Lost, but your kin. Soon you will be sitting alone in this place. The fires will be dark, and the mead will be gone. What then?”
Lycaon seemed to hesitate. “I thought you weren’t here to recruit me.”
Kitsune released him. “We’re not. If you would rather die alone and hunted than on a field of battle, there’s little I can do to convince you.”
The beast seemed diminished by her words. He spoke quietly. “I know about wars, kings, and murder. I promised myself, when I opened the doors of this place, that those things were all behind me.”
Coyote stepped nearer to him. All the mockery had gone from his face. “You put them behind you, Lycaon. But they’ve caught up.”
The werewolf flinched, but kept quiet, lost in reverie.
“When we go, you’re welcome to come along. That will be for you to decide. But no matter your choice, there is something we need from you.”
Lycaon frowned and glanced up at Kitsune.
Coyote cleared his throat. “The old gods.”
The beast looked askance at him. “They’re dead. You know that.”
“No one has ever believed they were all gone, Lycaon, no matter how they wished their legends would end.”
“And if I refuse, then what? For millennia, people have called me a monster. The word is not inaccurate. Do you think you can force me to help you?”
“We are not enemies, Lycaon,” Kitsune said. “If we succeed—if those rallying behind Hunyadi succeed—you will benefit. If they do not, you will die. All three of us here will die. So understand me well when I say that if you do not cooperate with us, then at least one of us will not have to wait for the Atlanteans to end our lives. You will have to kill us both, or we will be eating your black heart for our dinner, cooked upon your own stove.”
“I’ve never responded well to threats,” the beast-man said darkly.
Kitsune shrugged. “As you like. But I wager your response to death would be even less favorable. We’d rather have you as an ally than a corpse. No matter how hungry Coyote might be.”
Coyote took a final drag from his cigarette, then dropped it to the floor and crushed it under his boot.
For long moments, Lycaon said nothing.
Then, at last, he nodded. “I’ll take you to the old gods. But do not be so deluded as to think we are now allies, or that the old ones will trouble themselves with the likes of you.”
Kitsune nodded. “Lead on, then,” she said, as she raised her fur hood, hiding her face once more.
When Wayland Smith led them through the Veil into the human world, Blue Jay felt strangely at home. He had traveled all through the Two Kingdoms and to other lands in the legendary world, but he’d never felt quite so at ease as he did in the badlands of America. The people who’d believed in him and who still told his stories…this was their land, no matter who supposedly owned it now.
When they stepped into the world, they found themselves in an arroyo that hadn’t seen rain in months. The sky had been the deep indigo that only came in the small hours, long after midnight. The moon hung low and cast its light across a hardscrabble land of tangled brush and cactus. Far off, a mesa thrust up from the flat earth, its striated layers lit up by the moonglow.
Blue Jay would have given anything to stop here, just for a while. He could have been at peace.
But Smith wouldn’t hear of it.
They started off immediately. Blue Jay danced into the sky, transforming into a small bird not usually seen at night. Cheval had likewise changed, shifting her form from exotic woman to silver-maned, green-tinted horse. Jay had never met another kelpy, but he wondered if they were all so tragically beautiful. Grin rode astride Cheval’s back. Li spread his arms wide
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