Banewolf (Dark Siren Book 2) (18 page)

When Kali awoke, a pair of green eyes unlike any other stared down at her, narrowed with concern. She tried to sit up, but things kept shifting in and out of focus, keeping her unbalanced. A hand cradled her shoulder, steadied her efforts. A cup was pressed against her lips, and she drank from it gratefully. Cool water drizzled down her parched throat, almost painfully soothing the ache there. She clutched Rhane’s wrist to signal she’d had enough. He took the cup away.

“Did I hurt anyone?”

“Only yourself.” His voice sounded rough. “Why would you take from her, Kalista?”

“She grabbed me.” Kali
swallowed. “She was hurting me. It was the only thing I could think to do. It was either that or set the bitch on fire.”

She felt rather than heard a soft laugh rumble in Rhane’s chest. “York will beg
in training you soon. I promise.” Taking her shoulders again, he eased her body around so that she faced him. “This can’t happen again.”

“I know.”

He pulled her close, folding her into his strong and capable arms. Kali quietly savored the warmth and security of that embrace, knowing he and the others would always be there to protect her, no matter how much she deserved to be abandoned.

“Did you remember anything while you were out?”

Kali hesitated. Then she nodded. “I was in a cave…looking for you.”

Rhane exhaled deeply. “That’s all?”

“Yes. The memory just sort of stopped after I found you.” That wasn’t entirely true, but it was all she could tell him. Something else nudged at her. “I thought I heard Wesley’s voice.”

“In your dream?”

“I don’t know. It was like his voice was echoing inside the cave, calling to me.”

He gave her an
odd look. “Well, that’s…weird.”

She nodded. “I think it’s what brought me back.”

“I’m glad you came back.” He planted a soft kiss atop her hair and sighed. “Shannon works for Gabriel now. She’s a servant. Likely hosting a Reaper.”

Shock rippled through Kali. “Are you certain?”

“York and Orrin have gone to confirm it.”

“Are they going to kill her?”

“Um…” Rhane looked rather taken aback. “Reconnaissance doesn’t usually involve executions.”

“Sorry,” she muttered contritely.
His arms were still wrapped loosely about her waist. She crawled into his lap, snuggling into the crook of his shoulder to rest her head against the side of his neck. His grip tightened. That made Kali smile. “It makes sense the way I reacted, then. I’m glad I didn’t hurt you.” Her mind drifted back to the night she’d killed the kindred by draining every ounce of life from its monstrous form. Smile fading, she peered up at Rhane. “Does this mean you won’t let me go back to work?”

He groaned. “Don’t look at me like that.” Effortlessly lifting her, Rhane positioned her
body so they were face to face. It meant her legs now straddled either side of his torso.

She could see
he was torn and figured a chance still existed to convince him to see her side of things. “I don’t want to make you unhappy,” he said.

She batted her eyes and spoke earnestly. “You make me very happy.” Lifting her head, she grazed her lips against his. As she began to pull away, Rhane’s mouth clung to hers. The kiss deepened, spreading warmth through her limbs down to her toes. When they finally parted, she was dizzy with heat. Rhane seemed equally affected. His eyes had glazed and were unfocused. Catching her breath, Kali risked speaking. “I know you only want to keep me safe. Tell me. I’ll do whatever you ask.”

“My god,” he whispered roughly and rubbed a hand across his face. “You’re learning how to handle me too fast.”

She stared at him silently, waiting.

He jerked his head in an abrupt nod. “Let’s talk to Wesley. Maybe he will let you work from home for a little while. It will give us time to figure this out. Is that okay with you?”

Kali nodded excitedly. She decided to take a gamble and press him a bit further. “And how soon will my training start? The sooner I can fight, the sooner you can stop worrying so much. I’m too young to claim a boyfriend who has gray hair.”

He growled playfully. “You’re pushing your luck.” A slight smile hinted at his lips, making Kali want to start kissing him all over again. “Tomorrow after school should be soon enough.”

#

The next day, school couldn’t end fast enough. Her training was finally about to start, and Kali could hardly wait. She felt confident about acing the calculus test taken earlier, and had turned in a passing makeup quiz for Mr. Pile. Then it was only an hour and fifteen minute suckfest of detention to sit through. Nevertheless, when Kali walked out of the science room, there was a definite spring to her step.

Students were not allowed on school property after hours unless participating in sports or punishment, so Rion and the kindred were waiting outside. She smiled to herself. Today, she was going to learn how to defend herself. Rounding the corner,
her bouncy pace came to a dead halt as she bumped into Gabriel. His hands shot out quickly to steady her as she almost fell backward. Kali knocked the help away. Taking two steps back, she considered the cameras mounted on both ends of the corridor. Unless she wanted to be found out as a freak of nature by the entire community, she was gonna have to not panic.

“Get away from me.”

“Take it easy, Kal. It’s me.”

“Callan?” Kali was confused. Gabriel never let Cal have free dominance. Yet, her ex appeared to be in control.

He smiled. “Yeah.”

“How are you here?”

“I may be the host to an alien entity now, but this is still my school. And I’m still the captain of every sports team. I’m allowed to be here.”

Kali narrowed her eyes. “You know what I meant.”

With a shrug, he tugged at the scarf wrapped about his neck. “After your boyfriend almost cut his damn head off, Gabriel is still weakened. Something about the weapon was especially toxic, even to him.” Cal rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Wolf’s bane is it called?”

“Banesilver.”

“Yeah, that’s it.” Loosening the scarf gave Kali a frank gaze at the ugly pink slash across Cal’s throat. She winced. Cal nodded. “Oh yes. It felt like I’d swallowed barbed wire for the first few days. Apparently, banesilver affects the host body as well.” He tied the fabric back into place. “Anyway, I’m my own man for now. And I wanted to come back.”

“Why?”

He frowned with a look of impatience. “To see you.”

“Cal—”

“I love you.”

She shook her head, refusing to hear him. “Whatever sick fantasy of the twisted triangle you envision between me, you, and a murderous sociopath is not going to happen.”

“What kind of hold does that guy have over you? Things were good between us before he came along.”

“We weren’t good together. All I ever did was hurt you.”

“But I understand why now. And I understand why you couldn’t tell me…certain things.”

Cal touched her arm. She shrugged him off, retreating another step. “No. You don’t. If you really understood, you’d know that we can never be together. And you would stop this.”

“If I’ve learned anything these past few months,” Cal said stubbornly, “it’s that anything is possible.”

“You and I are not.”

“Kal—”

“No, Callan. Stop. If you don’t get over this—”

“What? Is your boyfriend going to beat me up?”

“You mean, beat you up
again
.” Though trying very hard to make him understand, she got the feeling that it was only a waste of words. “I’m telling you. Rhane can be dangerous. And you’re not high on his list of favorite people right now.”

Cal’s eyes flashed. “I can be dangerous. I can be anything for you.”

Kali bristled. Her protective instinct for Rhane had almost grown as strong as his was for her. “The last time you fought Rhane, I saved your life. Don’t count on me to do it again.”

Specks of red animated Cal’s blue eyes. “We didn’t need your help.”

“He almost cut your damn head off.”

His glare was heated
enough to melt the skin off of bones. Kali waited for him to lose it. In the past, his temper had usually gotten the best of him. But Cal remained in control, though he practically shook with the effort.

It made f
or a good opening to get away, before something happened they both would regret. “I’m going to walk away now. Don’t follow me.”

Her back was as tense as a trip wire
when she strode away, pretending to be brave and not look back. Rounding the corner put her out of his line of sight. Turning a second corner, Kali sagged against the wall. Cal had let her go.

Spitting dirt out of her mouth for the third time, Kali grunted in frustration. Learning how to fight required getting beat up a lot. Defense was her current lesson. All afternoon, York had been trying to get her to move with an opponent’s momentum as a way to minimize the impact of an unavoidable blow. He was doing a great job of delivering the unavoidable blows. Kali just wasn’t doing so great with moving with the momentum. And York’s incessant harrying wasn’t helping.

“Pretend we’re dancing. Move with me and not against me.”

Kali picked herself up and hit the ground again ten seconds later.

“You’re gonna flatten that sweet ass of yours if you keep landing on it.”

“I’m trying.”

“Try harder.”

She held
both hands up and shifted her weight onto her back foot, ready to block the dowel York was about to swing. The wooden weapon slammed into her forearms instead of her head. That was good. But the impact was still agony, splintering through her bones with so much force that it took her breath away. She gritted her teeth, trying hard not to cry out. Her footing slipped, bringing more pain as she slammed into the ground. It was a struggle to breathe against the hurt. 

York’s huge form loomed above her. “That was better. Still bad though.”

“You hit too hard.” She didn’t want to whine, but her entire body was hurting. Getting up again meant getting hit again. She was already in too much pain. And it really didn’t feel like she was learning anything.

“Do you think your enemies are going to go easier on you?”

“No. But you’ve been doing this for like a thousand years. This is my first lesson.”

“So, you think they’ll care that you’re inexperienced. Or maybe they’ll care because you’re a girl. Guess what. Both make you an easier target.”

Feeling her temperature spike, Kali smothered her anger and rolled to her knees. York knelt down beside her. “Look around you. All of us know how to take care of ourselves except you. Each of us will fight for you, has sworn to die for you. But maybe we won’t have to die if you get your pretty little head in the game.”

Hot tears stung her eyes. All of the others silently looked on. Even Ander and Matthias were there. Kali was glad Rhane wasn’t around to witness her embarrassing failure at something she’d pushed so hard to do. She stubbornly blinked
back the tears, hoping York didn’t see. Usually so funny and kind, he had become this militant jerk who seemed determined to make her cry.

“That’s what you want. Isn’t it
? You want War and Orrin to have to die for you. What about Bailen? I think you want him to die too.”

“Shut up!” She jumped to her feet with fire licking at her fingertips. The thought of hurting York had never felt so appealing.

“That’s good. I’ll take anger over those sorry tears any day.”

Kali said nothing. Facing
him, her chest heaved as she fought to control her temper.

Not at all intimidated, he twirled the heavy stick and smiled wickedly. “If you use fire, I get to use teeth. I don’t think you want that, babe.”

“I’ve never wanted anyone to bleed for me.”

“Then stop being a victim. Stop being afraid. Hold onto to
your anger when I come at you.”

He attacked. She waited, not caring how bad it was going to hurt. She was determined not to be the only
one who left the field in pain. Just as Kali felt the breeze of the coming blow sweep against her skin, she grabbed the stick and shifted her weight, heaving with all her might. She felt no pain. She didn’t taste another mouthful of dirt. There was a loud thud as a body hit the ground, but it wasn’t hers.

Warren and Rion stared
on with open mouths. Orrin nodded in approval. Kali turned around and couldn’t believe it herself. York was flat on his back and grinning like the Cheshire cat. With a chuckle, he folded his arms behind his head. “Now that’s the Kali I remember.”

She looked down at her hands and back at him. “H--how?”

“Fear had you tense, and you were reacting way too soon. You can’t beat an opponent while being afraid of him.”

“You were trying to piss me off because you wanted me to be angry.”

“Not just angry. I want you to be in control. For a lot of people, anger is easier to control than fear.” York stood up. “Also, I needed to see if those pre-reincarnation-as-a-sexy-teenager combat skills were completely wiped with your memories. But it’s obvious. You can still ride the proverbial bicycle. It just takes a lot to get you there.” York’s voice took on a thoughtful tone. “It’s similar to how your siren abilities seem to kick in whenever someone is seriously about to die. Then you unconsciously tap in, creating and controlling fire as if you never forgot.”

She nodded. “I don’t think of how to do it. I just see what I want to happen and it does.” Finally understanding why York had been so mean, Kali grinned. “Can we do it again?”

York returned the smile. “Absolutely.”

After that, Kali received a few more bruises but pain was forgotten behind the thrill of taking down an opponent more than twice her size. It was a good feeling. She didn’t want to stop. But the was sun setting and York called her lessons to an end.

“That’s enough for today, young grasshopper.”

“I’m good for more.”

York shook his head. “No. You’re not.” He turned to the others. “One of you, go get a bath ready for Kali to soak in.”

Orrin stepped forward and dipped his head. “You did well today, Kalista.”

“Thanks.”

“I will have things ready when you come inside.”

“You don’t have to—”

“I would be honored.”

Kali blushed, still not used to Orrin’s regal mannerisms. He was the only kin who nearly rivaled York in size. And yet, he was about as threatening as a stuffed bear.

Returning his gesture, she inclined her head. “Thank you.”

He smiled, apparently pleased, and strode away to the manor. She watched him until York nudged her side. “Tomorrow, I want to run this again with Rion.”

“Why Rion?”

“Partly because I don’t need to hit you as hard.” York’s brown eyes filled with mischief. “And he’s the softest hitter.”

“Hey!” Rion exclaimed.

“He could also use the practice.”

#

Whatever oils Orrin infused into the bath water were from heaven, working magic on what felt like one big head to toe bruise on Kali’s body. Pain was a pit bull, latching on each time she even thought about moving her left hip or shoulder. But lying still was wonderful. The hot water cradled her like a loving mother bringing her baby to the sea. It whispered to Kali, beckoned her under. The whisper grew louder as she slid lower, became distinct voices when her head slipped beneath the fragrant surface.

“The Golden Army will be here soon.”

“Our people suspect nothing. The armies are away.”

“Things are going according to plan.”

“Success is a certainty.”

The first voice didn’t sound as sure. “This child could ruin everything.”

“She will do as told or her son will die.” The other turned its coldness to Kalista. “You know what we ask of you, daughter?”

“Yes,” she answered.

“You will kill Jehsi of Whytetree, Prime of the Warekin, former leader of this triumvirate.”

“I will kill Jehsi.”

“Your husband will not forgive you. You will be dead in his eyes.”

“My son will live.”

“Yes.” The first voice was pleased. “Rhaven will be spared.”

The other spoke. “Tell anyone, warn anyone, and we will know it. There will be consequences.”

Anger sharpened Kalista’s answer. “I will do as you ask. If you harm my son, there will be consequences.”

“Save your ire, daughter. We are not the ones who brought such a creature to this mountain so far away from her home, fating her to this life, to this decision.”

The first voice interrupted. “Ptolen, it is not wise to provoke a dragon’s wrath, especially when it is tame. What will we do about Banewolf?”

“It can’t be killed, but it can be controlled. Rhane will do anything for this pitiful creature he calls a mate…and for that abomination of an heir.” Ptolen’s ice blue eyes flashed in the darkness, glowing with
ruthless ambition. “It is time for our kin to rise anew. We can take this earth away from the humans.”

“And rebuild with royal blood,” the first voice added solemnly.

Cold air burned Kali’s skin as she was snatched away from the water’s warm embrace. She gasped. Her lungs filled with air that now felt foreign.

“Kalista. Kalista.” This voice belonged to Rhane. Had he been there too?

“Kalista, please look at me.”

Kali opened her eyes. It took a moment, but she remembered taking a bath upstairs. She had been alone and must’ve fallen asleep. The dream.

“Kalista, what happened?” Rhane’s hands held her suspended above the tub. It was he who had pulled her from the dream. Or was it a memory?

His green eyes were worried,
looking rather large so close to her face. Kali started to tremble, whether from cold or from fear, she wasn’t certain. It wasn’t a dream. The voices were real. They came from a distant past, maybe, but were real.

Rhane folded a thick towel around her
shaking shoulders. She sat at the edge of the bed. Funny. Kali hadn’t noticed being carried from the bathroom. At first, Rhane sat next to her. Then resting a hand on either side of her face, he knelt in front of her. “Kali, right now you’re scaring the shit out of me. Please. Say something. Talk to me.”

He’d never actually said the words, but Rhane’s love was undeniable, especially in that moment. She could tell him the truth. “I remember why I wanted to leave.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“They were plotting to kill your father. They wanted me to kill him.”

Rhane looked utterly taken aback. “Who?”

“I’m not sure. The memory was only of their voices. One of them was Ptolen.”

He pulled away slightly. “Ptolen is dead. He was killed in the massacre.”

Nodding slowly, she turned her face so he couldn’t see
the shame there. “I killed him, Rhane.”

On his feet in a flash, Rhane moved back into her line of sight. His fingers tugged roughly at his hair. “What the hell, Kalista?”

She had to tell him everything. Quickly. “Do you remember the night we spent together? You had just returned from a campaign. It was right before you left to defend the northern border against the barbarians. I was afraid. And you could tell something was wrong, but I wouldn’t say what. I couldn’t tell you.”

Rhane started pacing. After a while, he nodded. “Yeah, I remember.”

“Ptolen and another planned the massacre on your people. Warriors in gold came while you were away.  It was deliberate. The attack on the northern border was only a distraction meant to keep your army busy and leave the plains defenseless.”

“Silas and my father, Jehsi, were the other Primes of the ruling triumvirate at that time. Are you telling me my father was in on this?”

“No. No. He knew nothing. I was supposed to kill Jehsi.”

“Kalista! Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve stopped this.”

“They would not have let you. They were holding Rhaven’s life hostage.”

Hurt, disbelief, and then rage cycled Rhane’s features. He stopped pacing nearly ten feet across the room. To Kali, it felt as if he were a mile away. “If I didn’t help them, they were going to kill Rhaven. We were practically prisoners in that mountain. There were spies everywhere. If I had warned you, they would’ve known, and they would’ve killed our son.”

“He died anyway!”

She flinched. Rhane had never raised his voice to her in anger. “Don’t blame me,” she whispered. “I’m telling you now.”

“I don’t. I’m sorry.” Rhane sounded like he was about to choke. Looking at Kali, he took a deep, shuddering breath. “Shit.” He started pacing again.

“I must have thought Rhaven was safe,” Kali muttered to herself. “Your army was coming but wasn’t going to make it in time. I went back to help. I was too late. Everyone was dead, except Rion, War, and Orrin. They were just children. Ptolen tried to hurt them, so I killed him first.”

“And you just suddenly remembered all of this?”

“I’ve been remembering bits and pieces. Now everything fits together. I didn’t tell you before because at first, all I remembered for sure was that I knew I was about to betray you. I didn’t understand why. There was no context to explain any of it.” She tracked Rhane’s movements. Never had she seen him so distraught, expressing such diverse and raw emotion
s. “Rhane…I’m sorry. I thought he was safe. I should have never defied them.”

Rhane whirled. Crossing the room in two strides, he snatched her from the bed, slamming her body against his. He kissed the top of her head and pressed his face into her hair. “A messenger brought Rhaven to me. You had every right to think he was safe.” Hugging her tighter, he drew in a long breath. “I wasn’t blaming you earlier. None of this is your fault. Do you understand that?”