Banewolf (Dark Siren Book 2) (8 page)

Kali sat in AP English only half listening to Mr. Willis give out the chapter and essay assignment for
Night
, a novel by Elie Wiesel. She pressed her forehead against the cool surface of the desk, every now then lifting her head a few millimeters to bang it softly against the wood. Disappointment…bang. Anger…bang. Horniness…bang. Frustration…bang.

While the teacher droned on about Nazi social structures, Kali
wallowed in regret. Her mind replayed the scene at the manor over and over. Again, she was lying on the couch. Again, Rhane’s long body with all its hard muscles and woodsy scent was on top of her. Hours later and her fingertips still tingled when thinking about it. She pushed her mind to explore how far they would have gone if not for the incident.

The stupid incident. The stupid coffee table. Stupid abilities. Stupid siren.

Ugh.
Bang.

Kali hadn’t even known a fire could be started with her mind. The bursts of flames had always come from her hands in the past. And she still hadn’t exactly figured out how to do it at will.
Great.
On top of everything else, now she had to worry about setting random objects on fire.

After calmly putting the fire out with
an old blanket, Rhane had doubled over in laughter. Kali was stunned and confused. But Rhane’s fit of amusement quickly caused her to abandon those emotions. She got mad. Trying to pacify her, he had kissed her cheek and then her lips, very softly. The passion was short lived, and Rhane became all business again. He sat her down and demanded to know everything leading up to her being soaked in kindred blood. So she had told him about Callan.

She gave Rhane the abridged version of events, explaining how Cal had cornered her. And inadvertently she had taken some of his spark. She
fudged a few details, conveniently leaving out any mention of Gabriel. It was stupid. She knew that. She also knew there was no way in heaven or on earth Rhane would let her return to Ridge Creek High if he knew her ex-boyfriend was hosting a monstrous sociopath who may or may not be interested in killing her, or at the very least, possessing her powers. 

Bang. Kali rapped her head against the desk again. It was such a bad decision. Lying to Rhane was always a bad decision. But the last time he went up against Gabriel, she’d ended up separated from him and from her family for nearly a month. She kept reasoning that if Gabriel/Cal truly wanted to hurt her, he wouldn’t have let the perfect opportunity pass.

She needed to see Cal again. And she couldn’t have Rhane killing Gabriel until she’d had the chance to see if Cal was really in there…or if the only one left was a murderous psycho.

“Ms. Metts?”

Kali’s head snapped up. Mr. Willis was watching her expectantly.
Crapola.
She sat back in the chair and cleared her throat. “Um…could you repeat the question?”

Mr. Willis sighed heavily but gave her a second chance. “Does Wiesel believe that God is dead, or is it the narrator who feels so?”

Kali had read precisely one page of last night’s reading assignment. Actually, she’d only read one page of the entire book and had no idea of the answer. But Mr. Willis had given her a multiple choice question. She could just pick one. As long as Mr. Willis didn’t ask her to explain anything, it’d be okay. “Um, it’s the narrator who feels God is dead.”

“And why do you feel that way
, Kali?”

Dang it. She fidgeted. “I feel that way because…” Her brain worked in overdrive to come up with something. Sometimes an answer could be made from the question itself. “You know he doesn’t believe in God anymore because of the way he talked about God.”

It sounded pathetic even in her ears.

Mr. Willis was a young guy. It was his first job out of college, so he probably hadn’t forgotten what staying up too late did to the brain or how to fake that you hadn’t skipped last night’s reading assignment. His mouth quirked at the corner, and Kali could tell he knew she was trying to sell him crap. Mr. Willis wasn’t pulling out his wallet to buy any of it.

The English teacher spun around in a slow circle, taking a good look at the room of thirty students. “Someone who has truly read the assigned chapters, please tell me what you think.” 

A hand shot up at the front of the class. It was the new kid, showing off again.

Mr. Willis raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Go ahead, Mr. White.”

“The answer is neither. Both the author and Eliezer’s faith in God, while damaged, remained intact.”

Mr. Willis smiled. “Very good.”

She glared at the back of the boy’s shirt until “THE REAL WOLFMAN” started to get blurry.  Finally, Rion turned around with a grin and tossed an apologetic wave in her direction. Kali rolled her eyes. It was bad enough being sent to high school with a babysitter. Things were way worse when the babysitter was a total geek who upstaged her and everyone else in the entire grade. Finding out what was up with Cal was going to be to be ten times more difficult with the junior bodyguard patrol shadowing her every move.

Under Rhane’s orders, York had enrolled both Warren and Rion as students at the high school. War looked old enough to belong to the graduating class and started as a senior. Rion enlisted as a junior.

Bentley, the co-captain of the basketball team, had immediately taken notice of new meat. True to form, he and his goon squad ritualistically hazed any new kid who came through. Kali found it amazing how quickly kids could spot differences in others and then try to victimize them for it. Between Rion and War, she figured if anyone got teased it would have been Rion because he just seemed more like the type. He wasn’t a big guy. He was o
f average height with a slight build. And he wore silly shirts designed to incite a reaction. But Rion really had a way with people. Everyone who met him took an instant liking to his affable personality, even the teachers. So Bentley had diverted his full attention to War. Actually, he practically nailed a target to the guy’s back.

At lunch, Kali watched War patiently endure as the entire varsity team cut him in line. She saw him again in the hallway just before the start of third block. Bentley knocked the baseball cap off of War’s head while two other varsity players made rude comments. One of them called War “Abercrombie Red.” His only reply had been a dark look that followed th
e boys until they entered a classroom. After the end of the period, Bentley and his crew took another shot at War, hitting him in the side of the face with a basketball as he rounded a corner.

Kali saw War again for the last time, seated outside of the principal’s office and wearing a rather Rhane-like scowl. Red paint was all over him, in his hair and covering his clothes. Four basketball pl
ayers sat across the hall, also layered in red. But the splatter that ruined their clothing was mostly blood.

She couldn’t tell which of them was in the worst shape. One of the boys, a shooting guard named Lloyd, cradled an injured hand. His fingers looked like they would not be holding a ball for the rest of the season. The guy who’d called War “Abercrombie Red” repeatedly coughed up a mixture of paint, spit, and vomit. Bentley sat in the chair furthest away from Rion, nursing a bloodied and broken nose. His right eye was nearly swollen shut.

Kali slowed, stopping in front of War. “Are you okay?”

War smiled. “I’m fantastic.”

“So…” Rion grinned around the toothpick clenched between his teeth. “How mad do you think Rhane is going to be? You just can’t seem to stop screwing up lately.”

War reached out and shoved Rion in the shoulder, pushing him several feet off the path. Brown leaves rustled up as his feet skidded through them. War looked almost guiltily at Kali. “I’m sorry for losing you yesterday.”

“Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault.”

War and Rion were walking her home from school, to the only home she’d known since she was eight years old. Lisa, her adoptive mom, had been absolutely delighted to hear Kali was coming for dinner. She even
took a day off from her busy schedule to prepare a special meal that was also Kali’s favorite—vegetarian lasagna.

Kali had to admit she was a little nervous about seeing Rozzy again. Since the day at Cal’s apartment, when Rozzy and her ex-boyfriend had spent a night together, things had been a little awkward between the sisters. Really, Kali didn’t know if Rozzy and Cal were dating, having meaningless sex, or if the attraction had fizzled out. Either way, dinner was going to be uncomfortable. If Rozzy and Cal had broken up, she would blame Kali for the separation. If Rozzy and Cal were still together, she would make known her jealousy for the past Kali
shared with Cal. It was a loss either way. Kali already had enough drama to deal with. What she needed was to spend a little quality time with her family.

“Yeah, man. Rhane was cool about you losing Kalista. He blamed himself for not putting us in place sooner.” Rion spit the toothpick out. “Said he shoulda seen it coming.”

“Little good it did, considering I managed to get suspended on the first day.”

“Buffet of turds, dude,” Rion offered, sounding genuinely sympathetic. “He’s not going to be happy.”

Kali shook her head. “But those guys were being total jerks. One look at you and Rhane will see that.”

“War lost his cool. That’s a huge no-no, especially with humans.”

War nodded in agreement.

“Then pretend you didn’t,” she argued.

“I broke one guy’s hand and the other’s face.”

“And left T
yler puking up the pint of paint you made him swallow,” Rion added helpfully.

“They deserved it,” she said with stubborn finality. “I’ll tell him that for you.”

“Don’t.” War’s brown eyes were pleading. “Rhane is big on owning up to responsibility. He won’t like me letting someone else making excuses for me.”

Kali sighed. “I don’t get you guys.”

She walked ahead ten paces or so before realizing Rion and War were no longer beside her. Turning around, she saw them with their backs to her. They were frozen on the trail like a pair of deer caught in headlights. She looked ahead to what they were staring at.

It was Cal. About a hundred feet away, he stood near the tree line of the forest.

Everything had grown still. Even the birds roosting high up in the pine branches quieted their songs. Kali wasn’t sure what to do. Should she call out to Cal? He never came this way, not even once to walk her home. Why had he followed them?

Neither War nor Rion were moving. Her instinct figured it best to follow their lead. And so for an awkwardly long time, everyone did nothing. Finally, Cal turned away and disappeared into the woods.

Rion was the first to speak. “Well, that was weird. I’ve got goose bumps.”

“
Yeah,” War agreed grimly.

Wh
en something cool and wet bumped her skin, Kali tore her eyes away from the spot where Cal had last stood. She looked down and saw Bailen. He whined, and a tremor rippled through the black, silky waves of his fur.

War tilted his head. “Was that the guy who got in your face yesterday?”

She cleared her throat. “Um, yeah.” Too many pairs of brown eyes were watching her expectantly. She wasn’t sure of what else to say.

The silence stretched on until Rion nudged War and started walking. He tugged at the strap of Kali’s messenger bag. “Come on. Let’s go see your family.”

#

Wesley sat in the chair, looking as jumpy as the last time Rhane had visited his office. On that occasion, the warlord had lost his temper and threatened to kill him. Wesley tried not to think of it. Rhane felt there was no point in dwelling on it. At present, he lacked any desire to cause the Builder harm. Rhane was in fact willing to bet he’d get more information if he could put Wesley at ease. Making a conscious effort to seem less intimidating, he reached slowly for the opposite chair. Wesley flinched.

Rhane stopped.  “Would you prefer I stand?”

“No.” Wesley shook his head and gestured to the chair. “Please sit.”

Rhane did so. “Does my being here cause you discomfort?”

“It’s not that.” Wesley smiled tiredly.

“What is it?”

“Others of my race are making their interests known here. It is not wise for us to be seen together.”

Rhane stiffened. “Other Builders? What do they want?”

“They want to win.”

That didn’t tell him much. Rhane felt like he was speaking with Ian all over again. “What bearing does that place on you and me having a conversation?”

Wesley shifted in his seat and sat a little straighter. “Builders are not absolute. We are limited by rules. When those rules are not followed, the errant one suffers.”

“How so?”

“His immortality is diminished. Enough violations would make him mortal.”

“Oh.” Rhane had really not been expecting to hear that. “Are you breaking the rules by helping me?”

“We are all breaking the rules. The Faction fights to see this world burn. Those I stand with are trying to save it. The cause is slowly killing us all. We don’t know how long this struggle will last. Another cycle may pass without either side claiming victory. Therefore, we restrict our moves to limit the amount of immortal life bled from us as punishment.”

“That sounds like a pretty nasty game of survivor. Whichever side becomes completely mortal first, I’m guessing, will lose.”

“Unless the world dies first.”

“Wait a second. The last time we spoke, you said you were slaves and I had to be your champion and fight for everyone.” Rhane wanted to add blah, blah, blah to the end, but restrained himself.  Being around York so much had a funny way of making him take things less seriously. “Now your entire race is dying and the world might burn? If you want my help, you’ll have to do a better job of connecting the dots. The one who makes your rules, is he your master? Is he the one who enslaves you?”

Wesley shook his head. “I have already revealed too much, almost enough to forfeit your freedom…just as it was with Gabriel.”

Rhane mentally cringed at the thought of Gabriel’s punishment. He couldn’t help wonder if Gabriel was a monster when he went into the tomb or if it was the millennium of imprisonment that had turned him into one.
The chicken or the egg…

Wesley interrupted his thoughts. “You were told to kill Gabriel.”

“I haven’t gotten around to it. But it’s on the weekend agenda.”

“Your Kalista will not be returned until you have killed him.”

“Yeah. You see that’s what I have a problem with. Kalista is getting her memory back.”

“Didn’t I explain that fragments would be delivered by the stone?”

Rhane opened his left hand. In it was the object the Builder spoke of, resembling a tiny red jewel. The stone shimmered in his palm, reflecting the afternoon light. “I haven’t given her the imprint.”

Wesley’s brow furrowed. “Then what is she remembering?”

“Our son.” Rhane forced himself to answer evenly, to ignore the burning pain that seared through his chest. “Twice she has touched me and seen him. I thought maybe it was only then. But Kalista confessed she has been seeing the boy all along.”

“Have there been any more blackouts or memory lapses of her present?”

“No,” Rhane lied. Blackouts and memory lapses meant Kalista’s human body was becoming unstable. But physically, she was fine. He couldn’t have Builders going body swap happy again. There had to be some other reason why she had attacked the kindred. Rhane just wasn’t sure what that reason was yet. “She’s seeing glimpses of us and the child from our life before you took her.” He rolled the stone between finger and thumb. “Is she going to remember everything without this or not?”

Wesley stood up abruptly. “You must leave now.”

Rhane remained as he was. “Why? Has something happened?”

“Banewolf, you must go.”

The urgency in the Builder’s tone made him rise. But he still hesitated to leave without answers.

When Wesley looked at Rhane, the loathing in his eyes was nearly startling. “One of them is coming. You cannot be found here. Leave past hatreds and find new allies. It’s the only way.”