Bedeviled (17 page)

“Oh my,” Nettles gasped, blinking as though trying to clear her vision.

“What the—” Kyana felt a tap on her shoulder, spun around, and found herself standing nose to nose with Sixx.

“Something in the genetic Vamp DNA,” she said, grinning. “Cool, huh? Only lasts a couple seconds but has saved my ass more than once.”

Kyana expected her to try to throw a punch, but Sixx surprised her by broadening her smile. “I'll leave your friend alone, Kyana, if you can handle her on your own. But in return, you're going to have to cool your temper. You can be badass without being a bully.”

She picked up one of the bags Nettles had dropped in her moment of shock, and slung it over her shoulder before continuing down the path. Kyana contemplated popping Sixx's braids out of her head one by one, but discarded the idea. She might not like the Witch, but Sixx had piqued Kyana's curiosity enough to make keeping her around intriguing.

Who the hell is this woman and what other tricks does she have up her sleeve?

Chapter Twenty-Four

N
ettles's house was as dark and quiet as when they'd left it. There was no trace of Haven, and Kyana was hoping against hope that this meant she hadn't yet arrived. She and Sixx made quick work of turning off most of the lights while Nettles did her part and prepared for bed. This, Nettles had insisted, would be the most believable scenario for Haven to walk in on since only Dark Breeds tended to be awake at this hour.

Besides that, this was how she'd seen it in her vision, so this was how it had to go down.

When Nettles reappeared in the hall outside her bedroom, Kyana stopped her task of turning off lights. Her hand dropped to her side and she blinked in disbelief, her jaw agape as she struggled to hold back her laughter.

Despite her efforts, a snort escaped. “You actually wear that to bed?”

The Seer's pink pajamas were covered with tiny gray mice and there were feet . . .
feet
. . . sewn in, a hood stitched into the back.

Nettles shrugged and wiggled her mousy feet. “I get cold.”

When she lifted the hood and gently placed it over her spunky hair, Kyana couldn't help it. Her struggle to keep her laughter quiet made her eyes water.

“You . . . have . . .
ears
!”

Nettles pierced her with a glare that might have killed her if the old Seer had been bigger than a mouse herself.

“You just make use of your charms so I can get this over with,” she grumbled.

Sixx appeared at the end of the hall, took one look at Nettles, then looked at Kyana and rolled her eyes. “Oh my gods, turn around. I have to know if you have a tail.”

Sixx was just teasing of course, but Nettles turned around, and sure enough, about seven inches of pink yarn hung from her saggy little tush. Kyana was going to have to use her charm. Right now. If she didn't, Haven would hear her laughter long before she arrived. But it felt so good to laugh. So good to forget, even for half a second, what they were here to do.

She pointed to the bedroom and fought to clamp down her laughter. “You go . . . get in . . . bed. Sixx will be watching you . . . from the hallway.”

Nettles shook her head so hard the ears on her pajamas came around to pop her chin. “You both should be in the room with me. I'd feel better knowing you were there even if I can't see you.”

Her composure finally gathered, she gave Nettles's shoulder a pat of reassurance. “I need to have a clear view of the house so I can see Haven and make sure she's alone.”

“It's going to be fine,” Sixx said, wrapping her arm around Nettles's shoulder. “You lay quiet and I'll be in the corner until the psycho bitch shows.”

“Watch it,” Kyana scolded. “She's not to blame for what she's become.”

“Just go do your thing and let me do mine.”

Forcing herself not to draw the woman into another round of who-hated-whom-more, she nodded at the bed, then at Nettles. “Let's get this going before Haven realizes something is up and decides to be a no-show.”

If that happened, they'd be right back in the middle of a guessing game. Haven wouldn't give up until she had the Eyes of Power. She believed Nettles could find them for her. The old Seer didn't stand a chance of avoiding Haven for long.

She made her way back through the house, shutting off more lights as she went, bathing the house in enough darkness to create the illusion needed to bring Haven out of the shadows.

She sat in the dark for what felt an eternity but in actuality was only a couple of hours. The sky outside was lightening, but only by a fraction. Gray skies instead of black loomed overhead, and it was becoming difficult not to doze off. Sixx had surprised her with her ability to stay alert. So far, she hadn't complained once about how long it was taking for them to see action. Maybe she wasn't half bad.

Or maybe Kyana was just too tired to care anymore.

Finally, a soft birdcall whistle brought her back to the stairs, where she found Sixx waving her down. The Witch pulled her charm out of her pocket. “Time to don the accessories. Your friend is on her way.”

Kyana sniffed the air. Only Nettles's scent hung in the room. “How do you know?”

“The Seer said so.” Sixx rubbed at her arms as if trying to massage a sudden chill from her body. “And there's a charge in the air that wasn't here two minutes ago.”

She felt it too. It was as though someone had poured a static fog into the house, making every hair on her body stand at attention. “Protect the Seer. Leave Haven to me.”

Sixx pulled the charm over her head and disappeared from sight. With a sigh, and a tiny prayer that this time Haven wouldn't get the upper hand, Kyana slipped her own charm over her head, moved onto the front porch, and waited.

No more than ten minutes had passed before she picked up the sound of determined footsteps coming up the deserted street. There wasn't a trace of Haven hanging in the air, but by the electricity dancing on the wind, she was close.

Bracing her hands against the railing, she watched the street. A lone cat, bathing itself on the walk, suddenly stilled. A low hissing, almost a growl, filled the night air. Slowly, the cat pushed to its feet, watching the darkness. With a screech, it shot down an alleyway, knocking over a trash can in its rush to escape.

The footfalls closed in and she found herself holding her breath. When her head started to spin, and still Haven hadn't arrived, she forced herself to pull in small breaths. When the sound of her heartbeat faded from her ears, she realized the footfalls had stopped too.

Adrenaline set fire to her blood. Her gaze darted around the yard, the darkness hiding nothing but silent houses. Had she imagined the footsteps? The feel of Haven on the wind?

She'd just about convinced herself that it had all been in her head when a sound pulled her gaze back to the door. Haven stood two feet away, her hand on the knob, her head tilted as she peered through the gaping hole in the door.

Kyana quickly played out all the options in her head. Bringing Haven down before she entered the house was her best bet. If she failed to stop her, maybe Haven would flee without going after the Seer.

Not bothering to uncloak, she threw her invisible form forward, hitting Haven square in the back. Haven let out a loud
oomph
, her eyes wide as she tried to see her attacker. Wrapping her arms around Haven, Kyana shoved her to the ground, landing on top of her, her forehead connecting to the back of Haven's skull.

Haven hissed and shimmied away, but Kyana grabbed hold of an ankle, jerking her back to the ground. As she knelt with one hand braced on the rough wooden planks of the porch, Haven's gaze darted in every direction, searching.

“Come on, Kyana,” she all but sang. “You won't get the satisfaction you want if you don't fight fair.”

With the fluidity only a goddess could possess, Kyana pulled the chain from her neck and launched herself forward. Her fist connected with Haven's jaw at the same time her leg swung out and knocked Haven into the porch railing behind her. Fully visible now, she straddled Haven and looked her in the eye. She didn't recognize the person staring back at her, but she had to believe that somewhere in those black depths, Haven still existed.

“I'd offer to help you, but I'm guessing you still won't accept.”

Much like her eyes, Haven's laugh was cold and bitter. “Don't you think you've helped me enough?”

Guilt loosened Kyana's hold, but not enough for Haven to break free. “I can't take back what I did, but I can make it better. You don't have to be a pawn. You don't have to do these things. He can't control you if you don't let him.”

Haven hissed. “Cronos's pawn now, or the Order's later. At least this way, I can embrace what you've made me.”

She bucked with enough force to throw Kyana off balance and slipped out from under her.

Determined not to let Haven get away again, Kyana quickly regained her balance and spun around. She grabbed the back of Haven's hair and snatched her to her chest. A whistle rang out above their heads and she glanced up to find Sixx leaning over Nettles's railing, a chain dangling from her fingertips.

It fell with a soft clink at Kyana's feet, and she recognized it right away. A Binding Charm like the one Silas had made in Cassadaga. As she bent to pick it up, Haven's eyes widened and her mouth fell open.

“Cheater,” she said, a grin spreading across her face. She swung out, catching Kyana in the chin with her sharp nails, but Kyana knocked her head back with her elbow, securing Haven once more.

She wrapped the chain around her left wrist, looped it again into a figure eight, then slipped the other circle around Haven's right hand. The chain sealed itself closed.

The door opened behind her and Sixx stepped out, followed by a very nervous-looking Nettles.

“Am I safe?” the Seer whispered, keeping her distance from Haven.

Kyana nodded, tightening her hold around Haven's waist.

The Binding Charm Sixx had given her was completing its work, and she could feel Haven's energy draining as she slumped against Kyana's chest. Weak as a newborn, she'd give no more fight. She was safe.

Kyana hung her head and wept with gratitude.

Chapter Twenty-Five

R
yker itched like hell. It was hard to concentrate on what Zeus was trying to explain when he felt as though he were on fire. And what was that damned buzzing noise? He bent his head over his knees, the stone bench beneath his ass as cold as a glacier.

“You must focus, Ryker.”

Zeus's voice was like a freight train in a tunnel. Booming, echoey, and getting on Ryker's last nerve. “It's hard to pay attention when I feel like you just forced me to eat fire ants.”

Even for a demigod, having his body infused with such powerful blood made him feel like his soul was trying to ooze right out of his pores. Why hadn't Kyana warned him about this? Or Geoffrey? Hell, even Silas had undergone the same thing a few hours ago, and he hadn't said a word either. All right, so neither man liked Ryker much and the feeling was mutual, but Kyana—

He shook his head. She didn't like him much either, since he'd abandoned her.

Zeus stared down at him with disdain. “If you can't handle it now, how do you plan on surviving when the full power of my blood surges through you in seven days? Perhaps your lineage doesn't make you strong enough to handle the transformation, after all.”

Ryker rose, swaying as the grass around his feet swelled and receded. “I just need a few minutes to acclimate—”

“It's been an hour!”

Zeus's roar bounced off the bronze statuary all around them. The temple grounds were deserted save for a pair of guards, but a dozen birds shot out of pear trees nearby and let out brain-impaling shrieks as they zoomed overhead.

“Show me again.” His queasiness subsided and his flesh began to cool. There were still insects building a small city beneath his skin, but he could cope with that part. If Geoffrey and Silas had been able to deal with this and go straight out to do their jobs, he damned well could too.

Zeus stuck out his hand and he took it, wincing at the enormous strength behind the ancient god's squeeze. His fingers crackled under the pressure, but he steadily held the god's gaze.

“Now,” Zeus said, “focus on that itch beneath your skin. Bring it to the surface so that the finest hairs on your arms sizzle with electricity.”

He focused, just as he had been trying to do for the past hour, but the itch and fire remained buried beneath his flesh. He'd never worried about being in over his head before, and he didn't like it. Staring into Zeus's icy blue eyes, Ryker let his frustration build. Frustration over not grasping Zeus's powers quickly enough. Over the stupid games he and Kyana insisted on playing with each other. Over doing everything in his power to not become like his father and fearing he was failing.

The resentment over Ares's devotion to his duty and the Order had worn away most of Ryker's desire to be a real son. Or so he'd thought. But these days, he'd been faced with very similar choices and he was too close to following in Ares's footsteps for his own liking. How could he ask Kyana to give up everything she believed about herself long enough to give him a real chance when he kept letting the Order get between what he felt for her and what he hoped she was beginning to feel for
him
?

“You're not worthy of her,” Zeus declared after several agonizing seconds of silence. “She's to be the Goddess of the Hunt, and with no time to prepare herself, she is out there trying to fix what is broken. And you . . . you can't even manage the most simple of my powers.”

Ryker tensed. He knew he was being goaded but that didn't stop the ire from boiling inside him.

“Shut up,” he said between clenched teeth, squeezing his eyes shut to tune out Zeus's voice and concentrate.

“Ah, there it is. That weak center of yours. You know you're not good enough for her and my words only confirm that fear. Isn't that right?”

Ryker's grip on Zeus's hand tightened and he wished with everything inside him that he could snap the god's bones in two. “Shut. Up.”

“I know you've bedded her,” Zeus continued as though Ryker hadn't spoken. “You know, women are my weakness. Willing. Unwilling. Buxom or lean. Tell me. Does she taste as good as she looks? Perhaps I'll sample her soon.”

Ryker's blood gave a violent jolt and sent energy through his veins and into his hands. An electric charge exploded from his fingertips and Zeus was lifted off his feet and sent to his ass just a few feet away. The guards who'd been granted permission to stay on Olympus came running from their posts at the foot of the temple stairs, swords drawn.

Zeus held up his hand to keep them at bay, a large smile lighting up his face. “Your weakness seems to also give you strength. Odd, that.”

Hoping Zeus's ass would be black and blue come morning, Ryker reached out and helped him to his feet.

“Hold close that feeling.” Zeus patted down his robe and adjusted the staff hanging at his hip. “I won't always be there to piss you off.”

His gaze drifted to the conduit. He hadn't yet entrusted it to Ryker, and wouldn't until Ryker could master a few of Zeus's most common skills. Like emitting lightning from his damned pores. Trivial things like that.

As Zeus turned away from him, however, Ryker's body warmed and tingled again, but this time, it wasn't unpleasant. “Do you . . . feel that?”

Zeus turned back, his blond eyebrows raised inquisitively. “I feel nothing but a sore tailbone.” He stepped toward Ryker, his cold blue eyes warming a tad. “Describe what you're experiencing.”

He couldn't name it. Couldn't figure out what exactly felt so strange, and yet so right. But the ants had stopped construction and his body was becoming all gooey and soft. “I feel like I'm dissolving into mush.”

It was the best he could come up with to explain.

Zeus's smile was one of mockery. Placing his hand on Ryker's shoulder, he turned them both so they were facing the newly constructed portal to Below several yards away. “You are, I believe, experiencing what I experience every time Hera is nearby.”

“Hera . . .” Zeus's wife. Ryker swallowed. “Kyana.”

Zeus closed his eyes, his body swaying slightly as his grip on Ryker's arm tightened. “Yes. She is near. And it seems she has done what we all suspected she could not. She is bringing Haven home.”

Confirming Zeus's words, Hermes flitted through the portal from Below, his wrinkly face beaming, giving him the appearance of a drunken Keebler Elf.

“She has done it!” he yelled. “She has captured the one who was to raise the dark god!”

A cheer rang out, startling Ryker. He looked around at the two dozen minor gods stepping out of what he'd thought had been vacant forest lands. Apparently, they'd been watching Ryker's training from a safe distance. But with Hermes's pronouncement, their hiding places were forgotten as they grouped together to talk with vivid animation.

As Hermes drifted toward Zeus, Ryker ran toward the portal, knowing Kyana would be taking Haven to the prison Below. Zeus called out after him, but he didn't slow or turn around. He had to see with his own two eyes that Kyana was okay.

“Do not leave the safety of Below!” Zeus shouted.

Ryker raised a hand to acknowledge that he'd heard, then slipped through the portal.

She probably wouldn't even want to see him, but whether she knew it or not, she needed him more right now than she'd ever admit. She'd just captured her best friend and was about to throw her in prison to face a hearing that might end with the very outcome Kyana had been trying to avoid.

He couldn't make his feet move fast enough as he sprinted down the streets of Below toward the beach and leaped over the jet black stones and geysers outside the prison. He ducked inside the musty, dark cave that held the gods' criminals and didn't stop running until he caught a glimpse of Kyana at the magically charged barrier that would hold Haven captive.

He finally stopped in the large archway and forced air into his lungs. She'd been gone only hours, but the worry that had filled every single minute had extended her absence into an eternity. He wanted to grab her. Hold her. Kiss her.

Instead, he waited.

She stood so stiff, he feared one strong wind would snap her in two. When she issued orders to the Witches and Mystics attempting to restrain the screaming captive, her voice shook. Anyone else would've guessed it was anger controlling her, but Ryker saw the trembling in her hands, heard the panic and worry in her demands.

“Ky?”

She spun around, her face blotchy, her eyes red. She'd been crying. The sight ripped through his heart and urged him forward. He waited, his breath hitching as she took one tentative step toward him. He made it easy on her and closed the distance. The minute she was within reach, she fell into his arms and pressed her face to his neck.

Kyana was so happy to see Ryker, she forgot to be angry with him. She simply held on as tightly as he'd let her and drank in the beautiful scent of sunshine emanating from his neck and hair.

“You did it, Ky,” he whispered, his breath momentarily warming some of the chill that had settled into her soul.

“Tell me they're not going to kill her after everything I've done to save her.”

She wasn't crying anymore, but her voice was tight with the struggle not to. He ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her temple. “She'll have a fair trial. Artemis wouldn't have sent you after her if she wasn't planning on doing everything in her power to redeem Haven.”

His words didn't give her the reassurance she needed. Kyana pushed away and leaned against the wall to stare blindly at the cleansing going on behind the invisible barrier.

“It's too late to purge her. They can cleanse her to make the need to feed less urgent, but that takes months to complete. And we both know that even a nonfeeding Vampyre or Lychen is
still
a Dark Breed. I'm proof enough of that.”

Gods, she ached for Haven. Ached with guilt, remorse, and empathetic pangs from the link that existed between her and her Childe. But more than that, she ached with the link that bonded them as friends. As sisters. She wanted to be cleansed like Haven, wanted to be free of the ugliness that coated every organ in her body.

“You're proof that a Dark Breed doesn't have to be condemned, Ky.” He kissed her brow. “You've done far more good for the Order since joining us. Give yourself a break.”

“Maybe,” she sighed. “Maybe when all this is over and Haven is all right. Until then, I don't deserve a break.”

The urge to weep again was overwhelming. She hung on to the thread of pride she had left and turned away in case it snapped. Ryker reached out to her again, but she stepped away and turned her attention to Haven's cell. Sixx and a Healer knelt on either side of Haven. Two sentinels at Haven's head and feet held her pinned to the ground.

“Why is she here?”

Kyana offered a weak shrug. “She helped me catch her. She'll help the Healer with the cleansing. Make sure everything's done quickly and with the least amount of pain as possible.”

“You trust her?”

Shaking her head, she turned away from him to better watch the scene inside the cell. “No. But Silas seems to. He wouldn't be with her if she was complete trash.”

Sixx took hands with the Healer to complete their circle and began chanting the ancient words of a calming spell. Haven's curses and promises of a very slow and very painful death screeched above their whispers.

“Where's Geoffrey? He's going to want to see her,” Kyana whispered, her emotions slowly calming as the realization hit her that, whatever else happened, Haven was safe. “Maybe he can bring our Haven back. I obviously couldn't.”

“I'm sure he'll come when he can.”

Kyana nodded. To distract herself, she studied Ryker. He'd changed. A lot.

It had been only a few hours since she'd seen him, and already he'd taken on a few of Zeus's traits. His hair had lightened a bit, as if the rays of the sun had dipped down to run their golden fingers through it. It had grown a little longer too, now brushing the tips of his collar.

His silver eyes . . . the sight of them caught the breath in her throat for they were no longer silver but icy, cold blue. Nearly white. Like the turquoise seas of the Mediterranean tipped with ocean foam. But one thing about those eyes remained the same. The way they looked at her.

Worried. Caring. Soft. They offered her so much that she wanted to take, but for his sake, probably never would. Not until she knew without doubt that she could commit to him the way he seemed to need her to.

“I'm surprised you're not in there with her.”

Pulling herself together, Kyana gave a light shrug. “Sixx asked me to leave. Apparently the sight of me makes Haven more difficult to restrain.” She smiled. “I tend to bring that out in people, don't I? The anger and frustration? I think I've found my talent.”

She caught a glimpse of Ryker's fangs as he returned her smile. The sight of them calmed her even more. The reminder that just because a breed had fangs didn't make them destined to do evil gave her hope that Haven could be saved. She ran her tongue over her own fangs, noting with dismay that they were virtually gone now. In a few days, they would be gone forever. So would Ryker's.

She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Ryker traced the line of her jaw with his finger. “Your talents are many, Ky. Every day you show me a new one.”

“Yeah, like what?”

Haven's screams of protest interrupted Ryker's reply.

Kyana spun, her body tense again as she rushed toward the cell. “What are you doing to her?”

Ryker grabbed her shoulder and yanked her backward as though he thought she might throw herself through the invisible bars. “Let's get some fresh air, Ky.”

Because Haven might feel better if her worst enemy wasn't watching the show. That's what he'd really wanted to say, and exactly what Kyana was thinking herself.