Witch's Pyre (Worldwalker 3)

Lily turned to face the soft voice. “I am not like other witches,” she said.

The soft voice chuckled. “And yet you still need our help,” it taunted.

“I need the Pack, the Pride, the raptors, the simians, and even the insect Woven, or I don’t stand a chance,” Lily admitted shamelessly. “And you need me or you don’t stand a chance. Because if I fail, the Hive will be coming for you next.”

There was a momentary silence. “The Hive can’t reach this far. Their range—”

“Their range will mean nothing in a few days,” Lily said, interrupting. “The witch who fuels them is going to learn how to appear anywhere she wants in the blink of eye. She’ll be able to be practically everywhere at once, and when she can do that, she’ll claim new Queens who will start new Hive colonies, spreading fa

rther and farther until she’s conquered the whole world. Unless we stop her.”

Lily stared into the silent darkness, her heart in her throat, as the seconds ticked by. Finally, the soft voice spoke again.

“Light a fire and let the witch see us,” it said.

A spark was struck and torches flared. Lily tried not to show her reaction to the half-human, half-wolf figures that came to light. Their faces were snouted and fanged, and their arms were elongated to reach the ground in a sloped-back posture that had them hunkering over their dog-like hind legs. Their hands were clawed and padded with thick calluses like a canine’s, but still five fingered and mobile like a human’s, and their eyes had round pupils.

“My name is Lily,” she told the one who sat on his haunches across from her.

“We don’t have names like your kind,” he responded. “Who we are is more complicated than that.”

“Who you are is a scent and a rank, both of which are always changing,” Lily said. She saw surprise flash across his eyes and knew she’d guessed right from what she’d gathered from sharing mindspace with Pale One and Blueback. “You’re the alpha. For now.”

“You may call me Alpha.” He regarded Rowan and Pale One in turn. “The western witch only claims Woven,” he remarked, “but you claim all kinds.”

“So you know about Grace,” Rowan said.

Alpha’s eyes flicked over to Rowan. “We’ve always known. She created us to hunt and kill your kind, and your kind hunted and killed us in return. Many of us died. She was a bad alpha.” His eyes went back to Lily. “We would not be ruled by a witch. Not during my ancestors’ time. Not during mine.”

Lily nodded understandingly. “I have no interest in controlling you or forcing you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“We don’t want to go to war.”

“Neither do we,” Lily rebutted.

“Witches always want war,” Alpha said, a faint sneer on his lips.

“Not Lily,” Rowan said. He and Alpha locked eyes. “I didn’t trust her at first, either, but you don’t have to trust her. You just have to decide what’s better—being claimed and having a chance at survival, or being free and getting wiped out by the Hive.”

The Alpha stood, obviously done with this interview. Lily called after him.

“You’ve seen them, haven’t you?” she asked, loud enough for the betas to hear. “You’ve seen the Hive flying through your territory, carrying humans back and forth. You’ve seen the Hive searching for someone. They enter your lands now without fear, and no matter how many of them you’ve tried to turn away at your borders, Grace sends more, doesn’t she?”

The Alpha turned back around and glared at Lily. He gave one curt nod.

“She’s not afraid of you,” Lily said. “Grace allowed the Pack to maintain this land after you defied her because she realized it was too far from her city for her to hold on to it remotely. She let you live, as long as you kept the eastern humans in the east, because she physically couldn’t be everywhere at once. That’s about to change. She’s coming back, and when she does it won’t be to claim you. It will be to exterminate you.”

Toshi ran the last few blocks back to the Governor’s Villa. He tried to imagine that he was just out for a bit of healthy predawn exercise and that the adrenaline pumping through his body was from enjoyment, not fear. He envisioned a stress-reducing jog followed by a little tai chi, and gradually the Workers clinging to his arms lifted off.

After spending the night going to every restaurant, tavern, nightclub and after-hours bar he could think of, looking for people who might want to be claimed by Lily, Toshi was running on fumes. He climbed the stairs two at a time, but stopped before he entered his apartment. He could tell that someone was in there.

He backed away from the door. It burst open and two Warrior Sisters stalked out of his rooms, their whips wrapped around their waists. They grabbed him roughly, tearing his skin with their barbed hands, and even though he struggled against the iron strength of their arms, he knew it was useless. They dragged him to a window. His gut lurched as the Warrior Sisters jumped.

This is it, he thought, and then it occurred to him. He wasn’t alone anymore. Lily! Help me!

Toshi—what’s happening?

The Warrior Sisters flew him around the building and into another set of rooms.