Banewolf (Dark Siren Book 2) (12 page)

Really hoping he wasn’t going to have to break his promise, Rhane cut down yet another rogue and swore inwardly when three more filled its position. His skin was burning, set afire by toxins in rogue blood. Their poison also caused nausea, weakness, and confusion, but the exceptional healing factor that came with being Banewolf’s vessel kept those symptoms mostly at bay. Mostly. Rhane was slowly being overwhelmed.

Several minutes before, Bailen had signaled he and Kali were with the others. She was safe. Next came the part where Rhane got his self out of this burning hell and over the ridge where the others waited.  But he couldn’t see an escape route that wouldn’t lead the horde of rogues, exactly the danger he’d sent her away from, right back to Kalista.

As things stood, there were far too many in the forest. If he took them over the ridge, it would be highly unlikely
that he, York, and Rion could defeat such vastly numbered opponents spread out over a large area. Orrin had proven himself a tremendous asset in battle, but wouldn’t be able to join this fight because the young kin’s overwhelmingly protective instincts would make it impossible for him to leave Kalista’s side. Forming a defensive circle around her wasn’t a feasible tactic. If something got through… Rhane closed his eyes at the thought.

Furious he couldn’t find the solution, he yanked Bellefuron from the chest of one rogue and buried the razor-edged blade into the head of another. Two more dropped behind him. Rhane turned, easily decapitating the first while ducking to avoid swiping claws of the other. A sharp pain drove through his side like a hot wire, grinding to a stop against bone. Nerve endings were
ravaged. Pain traveled all the way to his toes. Rhane fell to one knee. Twisting around was pure agony, but he did so anyway and relieved the rogue of its legs. With the creature’s weight off the spear, he managed to remove the weapon lodged between his lower ribs. He exhaled as he did, gritting his teeth to keep from screaming. The tip of the spear was blood silver. Great. The wound would be very slow to heal.

But what was poison to him was poison to them also. Rhane took the spear and drove it into his enemies, not stopping until three rogues were impaled at the end of it. He switched back to his sword, but lifting it was getting harder. Each strike sent a parade of pain marching through his injured side.
His right arm was beginning to feel like lead. If he kept this up, he would lose use of the limb before the fight was over. Sheathing Bellefuron, he drew the magnum handgun from its holster. Every shot had to count. Eye slits and throats were the most vulnerable points in rogue armor. He made quick work of the first clip and inserted another. Every bullet hit its intended mark.

The semi-auto carved out a little breathing space, and Rhane was grateful for it. He was done reloading yet again before he realized the rogues had stopped attacking.
This can’t be good.

He closed his eyes, letting his ears “see” what true sight couldn’t. Sounds became images in his mind, mapping out anything that moved or breathed in the surrounding forest. The picture wasn’t good. Nearly fifty more rogues would be on top of his position in under a minute. Rhane swore.
Definitely not good.

A familiar sound roared into his ears, announcing the presence of probably the last person he wanted to see at that moment. Dread twisted a knot into
his gut. At the same time, rage poured into his extremities. Things were about to get a lot worse.

#

“He promised he’d be right behind me.” Kali was frantic but trying very hard not to show it. It was bad enough being helpless against the element she should have mastery over. She should have been able to save herself. She should have been able to save Rhane. Yet, here again she stood behind a wall of Warekin ready to surrender their lives to save hers. But they shouldn’t have had to. “He’s in trouble.”

York and Orrin’s faces were like stone, hard and unreadable. Bailen sat a short distance away, staring diligently into the forest. Rion was fidgety. His left leg shook nervously. And when that stopped, he chewed his bottom lip.

“Rion, settle down,” York said for the second time.

“He’s in trouble,” Kali repeated.

York didn’t move. “I know.”

“But you can’t leave me to help him.”

He finally looked at her. “That’s right,” he said and resumed watching the forest.

#

Okay. The situation hadn’t exactly turned out the way Rhane expected it to. Actually, things happened nothing like he’d expected them to. The beastly roar heard earlier had definitely come from Gabriel. The monster was in the forest. But when all nine feet of him barreled onto the scene, it wasn’t to attack Rhane. No. Gabriel launched an all-out assault against the rogues and did a pretty good job of pounding them. After he’d ripped half their numbers to shreds, the remaining rogues retreated. At that point, they were less a horde and more of a crowd.

Quite a bit of the forest still burned, but there were no ugly monsters launching themselves at Rhane’s face. And once the rogues were all gone, Gabriel turned on
Rhane, hitting hard and fast. Weakened from toxins circulating in his blood, the arduous battle, and a somewhat serious injury, Rhane lost consciousness almost immediately. When he opened his eyes again, all he could see were the back of two grotesquely muscled legs and the fuzzy blur of a few passing trees. Gabriel’s hand had encircled his ankle like a shackle. The scythe-shaped nails dug into his skin, drawing blood as he was dragged through the forest. But Rhane didn’t feel any pain. Adrenaline had taken over.

Grabbing on to the thick tree root that his butt, back, and head had already slammed over, he anchored his upper body and brought his lower half up in a lay-out that put both feet over his head. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Rhane sprang upright and tensely waited for whatever would come next. Gabriel stopped walking. After a pause, the huge beast turned on him with gleaming red eyes.

The Desert Eagle’s weight was sorely missing from his right hip. Rhane didn’t think he could handle a sword. His left arm was a mess. More damage must’ve happened sometime between fighting the last two rogues and getting knocked out by Gabriel. As for the right…well, he couldn’t feel three out of five fingers on that hand. If Gabriel decided to give killing him another try, there wasn’t much Rhane could do to stop him. Readying himself to take a serious ass kicking, he wondered why Gabriel hadn’t already tried. And where had he been taking him?

As it turned out, the monster had
a few questions as well. He forced words through a mouth not designed to speak, his voice grating like stone against steel, compelling metal to bend.
“Why do
you not summon the bane wolf?”

Gabriel moved forward. Rhane stepped back. He really didn’t have an answer, at least not one he wanted to share.

“You have to help him.” Kali had pleaded against the kin’s stoic course of inaction since she and Bailen crossed the ridge. “I’ll be fine. Just go
help him
.”

York shook his head. “Don’t you think I want to?” His voice was soft but when he looked at her, his
dark eyes were angry. “As his friend, I want nothing more than to go in there and save his ass. But as a soldier, I can’t. He gave an order. It is his will that your life be placed above his.”

There it went again. As in her newly recovered memory, consuming pain tore through Kali’s body. She gasped. Both Orrin and York reached out for her.

“Are you alright?”

She backed away from their outstretched hands. Her extremities were growing hotter by the second. “I can’t…I can’t let him die for me.”

“Whoa. Kalista, hang on a second. Rhane isn’t going to die. He’s immortal remember? Having the mark makes him immortal. He’s not going to die.”

“But he can’t change on his own. I helped him—I
made
him transform.”

“We know. And it’s okay. He wears the mark again.”

“But Gabriel hurt him so badly the last time.”

“Yes. And he got through it. He’s okay now.”

“I don’t want him to get hurt like that again. He doesn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve to be betrayed.”

York’s eyes narrowed somewhat worriedly. “You’re starting
to not make any sense. Rhane is a soldier, a warlord. Fighting and battle scars kinda go hand in hand with the job. He wants us to stay out here, not just to protect you but to protect us as well. Rhane is immortal. The rest of us are not. He’s keeping us out here because what’s in there is too dangerous for us to face under these conditions.”

York’s reasoning made sense. But why had she mentioned betrayal? Kali told herself to breathe. “Okay.”

“Whatever happens, he’ll be alright. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Then the moment came they’d all been waiting for. Rhane appeared at the ridge. But he wasn’t alone. Gabriel was there…with a very large, clawed hand wrapped around Rhane’s neck. His boots didn’t touch ground as the monster carried him within a hundred meters of the other kin and flung his body forward. He tumbled through the grass wildly before gaining enough control to recover his feet. York and Rion were already moving forward, shifting skins as they did so. Rhane turned. The command came before they could get anywhere near the fight.
“Stand down.”
York halted immediately, grabbing Rion’s collar to stop the young kin’s headlong momentum. Orrin too had dropped to all fours, but remained at Kali’s side.

Gabriel made another lunge for Rhane. It was incredible, the amount of speed such a goliath could pour on. But even injured, Rhane somehow managed to be faster. Tucking into a roll, he dodged the attack. Barely.

The earth trembled as Gabriel uttered an angry bellow.
“Fight, Banewolf,”
he snarled with swipe aimed at Rhane’s head.

Again,
he scrambled away quickly enough to avoid what would have been a devastating blow. The nine-foot demon dropped to all fours, and over a thousand pounds of monster flesh came charging at Rhane. Massive jaws snapped hungrily as Gabriel closed the distance. Rhane maneuvered to protect his injured side, and Gabriel feinted, changing direction instantaneously. His claws sliced through Rhane’s shoulder, bloodily impaling the flesh. A short cry leeched from Rhane’s blanched and drawn lips.

“Show me the bane wolf.”
Gabriel twisted his claws deeper. Rhane endured in silence. His gaze darkened but remained steady.

“Resist me.”

A flick of the wrist flung Rhane into the air. Kali could only watch his battered body travel nearly fifty feet before it tumbled to a shuddering stop. He didn’t get up. Screaming his name, she started to go to him, but York held her back by both shoulders. She tried to shake him off. Cutting down a redwood with a spoon would have been easier. “Let me go,” she said.

“Not a chance.”

Gabriel turned his red glare onto Kali.
“If I kill the siren, you will summon the wolf.”

Orrin moved like lightning. Leaping between Kali
and Gabriel, his brown wolf belted a ferocious challenge. Rhane lifted his head. As he spoke, the canines in his mouth stretched to inhuman lengths.
“Stand down.”
His eyes were now completely black. The hair on his head turned white. Fur to match it lined his cheeks. He crouched in the grass. And when he moved, it was on all fours like a predator. “You want the bane wolf? Come get it.”

Gabriel rushed in without hesitation, and the two clashed like titans on a battlefield. In his partially transformed state, Rhane had gained both height and mass, making the size difference between him and Gabriel considerably less. Gabriel’s heels actually slid backward as he and Rhane grappled for footing.

Kali didn’t know what to make of it. She wasn’t responsible for the changes. Somehow Rhane had done it. He had summoned, at least halfway, Banewolf on his own. She knew it wasn’t necessary to worry about him, but an uneasy feeling enfolded her like a blanket. She couldn’t shake it. Something was wrong.

The fight seemed mostly even, but Gabriel’s strength was incredible to behold. Rhane mounted the goliath’s back and held on with every n
ail. Gabriel tried to reach him with his jaws, but Rhane was too quick. Staggering, Gabriel dropped to one knee. Emitting a venomous roar, Rhane bit into flesh, carving chunks from the monster’s back. Shoving off one foot, Gabriel lifted his body up and over, slamming Rhane into the dirt with his entire weight coming down on top. The giant got up first and barreled toward Rhane for another attack. But a Spartan kick sent him flying. Screaming and hissing, Gabriel charged again. He clawed at Rhane’s legs, bellowing, hungry for victory. The sound abruptly became a choking rasp as Gabriel grabbed his own neck. Blood was spurting from between his fingers in thick streams. Kali gasped. It had happened so fast. She didn’t understand. Looking at Rhane, she retrieved a crucial clue.

The sword was in his hand,
covered in fresh blood. Rhane had slit Gabriel’s throat.

No.

Rhane stood as the monster swayed, still gurgling and spitting blood. He kicked Gabriel’s legs from beneath him. The goliath fell. It was strange to see the creature she feared so much, kneeling and helpless to stop his destruction. Somewhere outside her body, she felt herself moving forward.

No.

A part of Bellefuron’s blade that was not blood-soaked caught the sunlight. The silver glinted, winking as if heaven had at last sanctioned Gabriel’s death. Mid arc. Downward sweep. Gabriel was about to lose his head.

“NO.”

She envisioned flames, and they appeared exactly as in her mind’s eye, exploding from her chest and tunneling forward. The fire blazed higher as it reached Rhane and Gabriel, forming a wall between them.
Don’t hurt him.
An eruption of black and grey matter threw Rhane backward, shaking the earth with powerful intensity. Then her fire encircled him, shrinking back to form a thick barrier. There the wall remained, constricting Rhane’s movements until Gabriel staggered to his feet and into the forest. Rhane watched him disappear, raising his arm as if to shield himself from heat. He turned to Kali. She banished the flames and looked away, unable to bear the fury in his eyes.

No one moved. No one spoke as
Rhane stalked toward them. She felt his eyes and the eyes of the others drilling into her. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut. Orrin was still at her side but retreated a few steps when Rhane’s boots stopped right at her feet. Kali took a shaky breath and lifted her head. He was covered in blood, from his self and two other species, but he was fully human…except for the eyes. His eyes were still that of the wolf. Fear pinched at Kali’s gut. What she had done looked bad, very bad. Unsure of what to say, she was silent. Kali wondered if she would remain beneath his burning glare until she withered.

Finally, he spoke. The words were directed at York, but the inhuman eyes never left her face. “Is anyone hurt?”

York answered directly, without charm or humor. “Bailen has a deep laceration in his left hindquarter. Twenty-four to thirty-six hours will be needed for healing.”

“And Kalista?”

There was a brief pause. Then York answered just as formally. “She is unharmed.”

Rhane nodded and moved away. Kali released a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “Rhane, please don’t be angry. I—”

“Not now.” He didn’t look back.

The other kin followed wordlessly. By the time they reached the truck, most of Rhane’s injuries had healed. Only the gashes in his side and shoulder were still visible. The wounds were raw and open but no longer bled. He leaned against the truck. Opening the door, Rion helped him inside and gestured for Kali to get into the backseat as well.

After all that staring, now he refused to look at her. But Kali watched him openly. Confronted by his extensive injuries and the exhausted way he lounged in the seat, she was forced to face her betrayal. Only, she didn’t feel as if she’d betrayed Rhane. It was only a hunch, but somehow she knew she had saved him. Kali had no idea how to explain herself. She didn’t even know how to get him to listen long enough to try.

“Rhane…I’m sorry.”

He closed his eyes. “Not now, Kali.”

She didn’t know if he slept. But she would let him rest. And then somehow she would make him understand.