Banewolf (Dark Siren Book 2) (4 page)

Rhane glanced at his watch. “Kalista, you need to move butt if you’re going to make it to school on time.”

“Are you taking me?” 

He smiled at the hope in her voice. “Sure.”

She dashed up the stairs to get ready. After assigning War and Rion to the dishes, Rhane went out to his truck. If he hadn’t heard from Orrin by the time he dropped Kalista off at school, he would have to call him. Hearing footsteps, he lifted his head from the black finished tool box. Apparently, Rion and War weren’t the only two knuckle heads determined to continue a quarrel this morning.

York folded his arms. “Is it now yet?”

Grunting indifferently, Rhane went back to checking the stash of guns and ammo. But York was going to have this conversation with or without his participation. “I’ll take that as a yes. There’s no sense in letting this keep you up at night. River told me his theory. Maybe you really can’t summon the bane wolf at will because of what’s in your head. But Banewolf is the ultimate, unstoppable weapon. He’s also the best chance we’ve got. When Gabriel shows his ugly face again, we’re going to need unstoppable. We’re going to need ultimate. Rhane, give Kali the stone. You can’t change on your own, but maybe if she had her memory, she could help bring back the bane wolf.”

“Giving Kalista the stone won’t magically summon the bane wolf. I’ve already told her what happened on the day of the massacre. She doesn’t need the memory imprint.”

“By the same logic, there’s no harm in letting her have the real memory, then.”

“Maybe.”

“Okay.” York leaned over the tailgate. Given his height, it was a fairly easy thing to do. “It must be emotion holding you back.”

Rhane finished checking a semi-auto and slammed the clip into place. “I’m not being emotional.”

“Right. Throwing raw egg on my otherwise lovely breakfast was also you not being emotional.”

Methodically filling an extended clip with glowing, bluish-green bullets, Rhane glanced up at York but didn’t say anything.

“Seriously, why aren’t you guys talking? All she wants is for you to talk to her. And like you said, she already knows the big plot points of the horror story you call a life. You only have to fill in a few more details.”

Rhane set the gun aside. “Gee, when you put it that way, everything suddenly seems to make sense. I don’t kn
ow why I haven’t already bared my soul to her before now.”

York grinned. “That’s the spirit. Now aren’t you glad we had this talk?”

Rhane rolled his eyes. “She’s only been back a week.”

“A week is a long time.”

“I don’t want to distract her from school.”

“Tell her this weekend.”

“It’ll be her first day back at work.”

“You’re allowing her to go to work?”

“She wouldn’t like it very much if I tried to stop her.”

“Rhane.” York shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you avoid anything so desperately.”

Closing the steel box, Rhane stood up and rubbed his hands across his face. “I know. There’s just so much history between us. I really don’t know where to start. The last time we talked about things, she bailed on me. I don’t want to scare her away again.”

York blinked. “First of all, your timing wasn’t all that great the last time. Actually, it was crap. You waited until precisely
the last minute to sign a confession when Gabriel, her dad, and the cops were all converging. Of all the previous opportunities you had for full disclosure, you picked that moment to say, ‘You’re a siren. Dozens of small children have died so you could be reincarnated. I’m immortal. You’re a suspected murderer. I’m definitely a murderer. We both have death sentences hanging over our heads. Oh, and we’ll be executed if we ever set foot on my homeland.’” Intentionally omitting any mention of Rhaven’s death, York paused for effect. “Dude, if she didn’t go screaming for the hills then, I don’t think there’s much else that could scare her away.”

Rhane didn’t bother to hide a grim half-smile at York’s breakdown of events. “It sounds different when you put it that way.” Jumping down from the tail bed, he landed lightly next to York. “You’re right. I’ll talk to her.”

“When?”

Rhane scowled.

“What?” York shrugged his shoulders innocently. “Commit to this. Then the both of you can move on to the next crisis.”

“Pretend I’m you. Commitment gives me a rash.”

Caught off-guard by the quip, a short burst of laughter escaped from York’s lips. “Yeah well, guilt makes you a cripple.” He winced. That wasn’t the best comeback. It was like joking with a chronically depressed clown about suicide.

Rhane leaned back against the pickup, his expression growing distant. “Have you told War and the others?”

Frowning, York turned his head. He almost didn’t want to validate such a stupid question by answering. “I wouldn’t do that,” he finally said.

Rhane had noticed the heat in York’s reply but ignored it. “Sometimes I think it’d be easier if you did. At least then they’ll stop thinking I’m a hero. And she believes I’m some sort of martyr.”

York sighed. At times he forgot he was the only one who knew about the commander and legion of soldiers Rhane had killed to protect Kali. Their kid had died in the same fight. Rhane deserved credit for making that admission to Kali, but she was still missing some of the context. And in this instance, context was everything. But her knowing wasn’t the same as War, Orrin, and Rion understanding the truth. Tough thing to find out the guy who raised you was actually the one who made you an orphan in the first place. Well technically, Rhane only finished the job of making them orphans by killing their sires for standing against him. Not a huge saving point, considering his beloved siren was accused of killing their dams. Looking at things that way, Rhane and Kalista were a pretty well-matched couple.

“You’re gonna have to tell them someday. I think they’ll understand.”

“Yeah,” Rhane muttered.

Kalista strolled over with a purple messenger bag thrown across her shoulder. “Hi!” She’d called to both of them, but anyone could see her eyes were only for one guy.

The grin that filled Rhane’s face turned him into a different person. “Hi.” He smiled down at her like she was the prettiest thing on the planet. York couldn’t blame him for it. The skinny jeans Kali wore made her butt look amazing.

#

Rhane parked in front of Ridge Creek High School, feeling a little weird about using the parent drop-off.  Kalista kissed him goodbye and hopped out. Then she turned around uncertainly. He waited. She rarely needed encouragement to say what was on her mind. 

“There’s something I need you to do for me. I’m sorry I haven’t done it sooner. It’s probably going to be a little awkward for you, considering how you feel about things. Well, I guess it will be. I really don’t know how you feel because you never really talk to me.”

“Kalista,” Rhane gently interrupted. “What is it?”

She lifted a very large book out of her messenger bag. “Could you return this to the library for me? I sorta got Max and Orrin to make a scene sneaking it out, so it would probably be better if someone else took it back.” She bit her lip. The gesture made Rhane want to give her a real kiss goodbye.

He held his hand out to receive the large volume. For a moment, he simply stared at the cover. It was a record of every nefarious figure throughout history renowned for cruelties against humanity. “
Темные Лорды
,” he read to himself and then translated aloud, “
Dark Lords
.”

“So, you speak Chinese
and
Russian.”

“I’ve been around for a while.” Rhane ran a finger across the worn leather. “It leaves plenty of time to learn new things.”

The book smelled of age and secrets. Rhane recognized many faces that leapt out from the yellowed pages as he flipped through. Few of them were truly human. He stopped on the reproduction of a crude painting that was meant to be him, the green-eyed warrior of the plains, sitting astride Megiddo. An awesome sight to behold and even better to ride, the horse had been one of his most faithful soldiers. Rhane’s eyes flicked over the print quickly. History saw him as a traitor and a murderer. It was true.

Kalista cleared her throat. “I didn’t mean for you to see that.” 

“It’s alright.” He remembered her mentioning the book some time ago. “Tell me again how you knew what was written here.”

“I-I took it to a bookstore. There was someone there who knew the language.”

Dread nipped at his gut. “Someone there could read this?”

“Yes.”

“What was his name?”

“It was a she. Her name was Lara. Red hair. Oddly pretty. Way creepy.”

“Where’s this store, Kalista? What’s it called?”

“Clever Dust Booksellers. Is something wrong?” A shadow of fear crossed her face.

Rhane shook his head and told himself to lighten up. “Sorry. Nothing’s wrong. I can take care of this for you.” When her expression didn’t change, he mustered up his most reassuring smile. “Really, it is nothing.”

Accepting that, she turned and hurried off to class. He watched her until she disappeared into the building. Why had he just lied? It was far from nothing. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Rhane flipped the book over. The stamped signature was definitely less than a hundred years old, probably put there within the last decade. He squinted and took a closer look. The ink was much fresher. “Property of Aiken County.” Huh.

Stopping at a red light, Rhane turned right onto a one way street that led to the county library and found a space. Swinging his long legs out of the truck, he grabbed the book from the seat but stopped when a slip of paper fluttered from the worn pages. He caught the slip mid-air. It was a receipt for the Wok and Roll restaurant, the place where he and Kali had their first date. An address and phone number were scrawled on the back. Rhane pocketed the piece of paper. He wasn’t a fan of coincidences.

He climbed back inside the pickup to reexamine the volume. Opening the front cover, he ran his fingers down the hinge and across the endsheets. Then he flipped to the back and repeated the process. Something was amiss. The feel against the pastedown was slightly different. He bent the covers backward until the old joints gave in. They seemed more than ready to do so, tired of guarding their secret after so many years. Peeling away the endsheet revealed a piece of parchment bound in the same leather as the quarter-million dollar map stashed away at the manor. His Chinese contact, Tsai, had given him that map. Rhane exhaled. Things had just gotten more complicated.

He slid the book underneath the back seat, deciding to go inside the library after all. One of the librarians greeted him as soon as he entered. It was a pale, skinny college kid who was more in need of a haircut than Rhane had ever been. He asked if Rhane had renewed his membership for the year.

Two lies came out without him thinking. “Yeah, I have. I’m just here to pick up my kid.”

“Okay. Let us know if you need anything.”

“I will. Thanks.”

Following the trail no human could, he went up the stairs and headed straight for the reference section. It didn’t take long to find the book’s former hiding place. The scent on the aisle was overpowering. Something else had been there recently looking for it. That was all Rhane needed to know. He went back to the lobby, not missing the scrutinizing glare from the skinny kid as he slipped through the front door.

Rhane’s next stop was Clever Dust Booksellers. He thought the quaint design of the building fit the name perfectly until he noticed the flower arrangement in the front window. It was comprised of wolf’s bane and the deep blue blossoms of monkshood. They were a warning to keep away. He pushed through the front door and the smell hit him like a freight train. It was the same from the library.

The shopkeeper, a mirthful looking fellow with many miles and stories behind him, stood at the counter. “Harry” was written on the name tag clipped to his collar. The old man broke into a smile. “Welcome, sir. How may I be of assistance today?”

Rhane got straight to the point. “I need to speak with a woman who works here, Lara.”

Harry seemed confused. “Excuse me?”

“Lara,” he repeated, “I need to see her.”

“I’m sorry. You must be mistaken. There is no Lara working here.”

Rhane slowly moved closer to the counter. Harry wasn’t being truthful. His heart had started to race. His jolly body trembled with the lie. Rhane leaned in next to the old man. “What if I told you I was certain she was here?”

Harry’s eyes widened with panic and roamed to the back of the shop. “Please,” he whispered. “Lara does not wish to see you.”

Rhane heard footsteps that abruptly stopped. He smiled, putting a conscious effort into making himself less frightening. “You don’t mind if I have a look around,” he said, striding toward where the noise had come from. Past several rows of bookshelves, he came to a workshop where numerous projects lay uncompleted. His eyes swept the area but noticed nothing unusual. Rhane stepped into the room. Immediately, a different feeling sank upon him. Something else was there. It was watching him, carefully hidden.

With
a few cautious steps, Rhane went forward. A curtain hung conspicuously in the back corner. He grabbed the tattered material and yanked the curtain aside. A flurry of motion exploded behind him, leaping from the shadows with a hiss. Even as the sound split the air, the heat of its breath grazed Rhane’s neck. He whirled to deflect the attack, closing his hand around a slender but strong wrist. Rhane pulled forward and sideways, using momentum to change its direction like a whip. The thing went flying across the room and landed with a crash, sending everything cascading from the back wall in a tumble. But his attacker was up in a flash. It fled the room, a blur of red hair spilling from a dark cloak.

Rhane ran behind it, banging the door against the building as he burst outside. But as fast as he had moved, the alleyway was empty when he reached it. He dropped into a low crouch, listening and smelling for the other presence. Nothing. The rogue, she was long gone.