Blood Chained (Dark Siren Book 3) (26 page)

Rozzy’s usual mocha complexion did look a bit pale. Kali felt her forehead. It was what Lisa would have done had she been there. “You do seem kinda hot. Have you seen a doctor? And I don’t mean Tim.” Maybe the last bit was a low blow, but it was too good to resist.

Brushing away Kali’s hand, Rozzy flopped back onto the bed. “Of course I did.”

“Well, what did he say?” she said when Rozzy failed to continue.

“I’m fine. The old geezer didn’t know what he was talking about.”

“Rozzy—”

“Kali, I’m fine!” Her dark eyes flashed with anger.

“Okay, okay.” Backing off, Kali held up both hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t come here to fight with you.”

Rozzy’s face scrunched in annoyance. “How’d you know I was home, anyway? Did Dad call you? I told him not to do that.”

Both the sudden mood swing and stinging admission caught Kali off guard. The truth tumbled from her lips. “Cal stopped by the manor. He told me that you were home and wanted to see me.”

Mentioning Cal’s name did nothing to help ease Rozzy’s irritation. “So what, are you two together again? I knew as soon as Rhane was out of the picture, you’d go crawling back to him.”

Gritting her teeth, Kali clung to her last shred of patience by the edge of her fingernails. “One: Rhane and I are still together. Two: There is nothing going on between me and Cal.”

Rozzy narrowed her eyes. “Then why are you still seeing each other?”

“Why are you jealous?” Kali retorted loudly, throwing her hands up into the air. “I thought you were over him. You come back home from school and suddenly he’s your territory again. I had him first, remember?” The instant she said it, Kali wished she could take it back. “That was out of line,” she said quickly. “I’m sorry.”

Rozzy’s voice dropped to a cold whisper. “You were a bitch then and didn’t deserve him. I don’t see where anything’s changed.” She stood up. “Excuse me. I have to go meet your
ex
-boyfriend for dinner tonight.”

“Rozzy, wait.” Concern for her sister overrode the stabbing anger and pain as Kali blocked Rozzy’s exit. “Don’t be so quick to rekindle things with Cal. He’s not himself these days.”

“Seriously?” Rozzy snorted. “You’re pathetic,” she said. Shoving past Kali, she ran out the door and down the hall.

Eventually, Kali followed. Her steps were slow. Her body felt a bit numb.

Orrin and Bailen were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Armed with supernatural senses, they had little choice in listening to every word of the argument. Greg’s absence was a good thing. If her dad had heard the war between sisters, he would have surely come running and ordered an immediate cease fire. But he was nowhere in sight, probably lounging in his man cave upstairs, watching a bit of television before retiring to bed.

“Is everything okay?” Worried creases marred Orrin’s usually placid features.

In the last year, Kali had made a lot of progress in opening up emotionally, especially to her family. So the fight with her sister felt more painful than any before. Hurt formed a ball in her stomach and tightened the back of her throat as tears threatened to fill her eyes.

Straightening her shoulders, Kali lifted her chin. “I’m fine,” she said. “Let’s go home.”

Chapter 37

Rhane picked his way along the Warekin outpost, cast into shadow by a waxing moon. It was difficult to feign interest in recon he didn’t see a point to. The ruins were supposedly situated exactly within the map coordinates of “rock.” Searched before his cooperation as a member of their unit had been ordained, the rogues claimed a need to revisit the Gobi site, reasoning that Rhane’s history might unveil something secreted from creatures of their sort. It wasn’t a bad cover. Yet, Rhane wasn’t convinced. “There’s nothing to find here,” he muttered, casting a quick glance to the only rogue who dared walk near him. Eris wasn’t a big enthusiast of conversation, but he was the singular member of the unit who had bothered to offer his name. He and Rhane chatted fairly often during these covert operations, to the obvious disapproval of the other unit members. But Eris didn’t seem to mind the menacing stares or threatening hisses speaking to Rhane earned him.

“Cronus thinks differently.”

Rhane grunted. Eris had the grating habit of stating the obvious.

He had yet to see the rogue without the tarnished mask, and didn’t know if Eris was young or old. There was nothing extraordinary about his dark blond hair or average build. In fact, the only thing that set Eris apart from the others was the slight slant of his shoulders and awkward hitch of the right hip when he walked. Rhane wondered on more than one occasion what had happened to the rogue, but really, there was no way to ask without the risk of ostracizing the closest thing he had to an ally in the field. 

Rhane tried again. “We searched the coordinates for tree and mountain and found nothing. What makes this place any different? It’s just more misdirection in this sadistic game Builders are playing with all of us. No offense to Cronus, but anyone with a half a brain should have realized that after the first visit.”

Eris walked in silence for so long Rhane feared he must have offended him and gave up hope for any answer. But the rogue finally spoke, so softly that Rhane’s ears strained to hear. “When it comes to matters of intelligence, I’m afraid Cronus wades in only the shallowest end of the pool. His command of this unit was a gift from his brother.”

“Is it your custom to select leaders that way?”

“Sometimes,” Eris answered vaguely.

“So this entire squad was created for him?”

“No.” His low tone hinted at anger and regret. “It was taken from me when I was injured.”

“I’m sorry,” Rhane said. He couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy. It was a rotten thing to happen to anymore, regardless of their species.

“You are not what I expected, Banewolf.” Eris had spoken without inflection, but Rhane got the sense that beneath the mask, the rogue had smiled. Adjusting his pace, Eris fell back to blend in with the rest of his unit, leaving Rhane once again with only his thoughts for company.

He still thought the mission was a waste of time and was beginning to see how it might essentially be his fault. The rogues didn’t know the Heart had been discovered in the hidden realms beneath the bank vault. They could still be searching for it here. Rhane shook his head. No. Something wasn’t right. He wouldn’t second guess himself on that.
Trust your instincts.
He closed his eyes at the memory of Kalista’s words, and then opened them as Cronus began hissing. Looking directly at him, the creature craned its neck and hissed again. This time the noise ended in a birdlike chirp.

Rhane scowled, realizing it spoke to him. “Use your words.”

Though capable of communicating in several languages Rhane understood, the rest of the unit was always careful to speak in only their tongue around him. With some help from Eris, he had come to understand the basics, mainly when someone told him to stop, go, come, or wait here.

Making a noise that sounded rather hostile but whose translation was lost to Rhane, Cronus then said in perfect English. “Why have you not found anything?”

“Maybe that’s because there is nothing to find,” Rhane retorted. After needlessly wandering in the desert for hours, he was starting to feel somewhat belligerent.

“There is always something. Even when there is nothing.”

Rhane rolled his eyes. He hadn’t liked Cronus before, and his recent chat with Eris had done nothing to elevate his opinion of the rogue leader. “Oh that’s profound. Did you come up with that on your own?”

Cronus hissed angrily, rushing forward to stick his pewter mask within inches of Rhane’s face. Feeling his temper slip, Rhane counted to ten. It was neither the time nor place for a confrontation. Fighting with the rogue meant they’d be in the ruins longer, and he really didn’t want to stay there a second more than necessary. This place was really getting under his skin. Something about the abandoned city was quite unsettling. The feeling was probably attached to a memory he no longer possessed. Rhane sighed mentally. He shouldn’t have provoked Cronus.

“You are not trying.”

“Okay,” Rhane said, conceding. “What else would you like me to do?”

“Find the stone.”

Looking around at the literal thousands of rocks that decorated their surroundings, he bit back his initial and slightly sarcastic reply. “I’m not sure what you’re referring to,” he began, stubbornly suppressing the insolent tone that begged to slip through. “According to my understanding, this area
is
the rock. We’re not looking for an actual stone.”

“Find the stone,” the rogue repeated.

For Christ’s sake.

Rhane patted the ground with his foot. “This. This is the stone.”

A different rogue, one who seemed to be a beta of some sort and had taken a much bigger issue with Rhane’s involvement in their missions than the others, pulled out a 9mm and shoved it directly into his face. “If you cannot find the stone, then we no longer require your service.”

Okay, that escalated fast.
Rhane looked around uneasily. He still knew the city. At some point he’d been to this place as Banewolf. Less than one hundred yards to the left was the Courtyard of Primes. Two monuments stood there. Sentinels built in the likeness of Primes, one looked to the heavens, calling out to Warekin ancestors. The other, he who was killed in the massacre, held a protective gaze over the city. Once upon a time, there existed a small network of tunnels beneath the city, a sanctuary for only the most royal blood. A memory he couldn’t connect to stirred the farthest edges of his mind. Looking at the sentinels again, Rhane knew it was an important one.

He decided to try a different tactic. He would play along and see where things led. Besides, it was entirely possible that The Siren’s Heart wasn’t the only item on the list of this global treasure hunt. “I need more information. Is this stone big or small? By rock, do you actually mean mineral? Because then we’re talking carbons, oxides, or platinum. Those have an entirely different scent.” Rhane held his hands up in a placating manner. “Just tell me what you’re looking for and I will find it.”

The creature responded by lashing the butt of the handgun across Rhane’s temple. “Find the stone.”

Seeing the rogue lying in the dirt with its mask splintered into separate halves and blood dripping from its mouth and nose, for an instant Rhane was confused. Then he noticed the faint throb in the knuckles of his right hand and realized he must have hit it—hard.

The dizzy beta stirred up an impressive amount of dust as it struggled to its feet. Using their strange language of hisses and clicks, Cronus called out to the beta. Rhane didn’t understand the words, but the tone was clear. The beta was to stand down. Apparently a bit of a hothead, the rogue did the exact opposite and charged, firing the gun twice as it did so.

Rhane twisted out of the way easily enough. The creature was in too blind of a rage to really take aim. Before it had time to register the miss of its intended target, Rhane had shifted his weight to balance on one hand, disarming the rogue by planting the heel of one boot into the base of the rogue’s skull. The creature crumpled to the ground, twitched a few times, and lay still.

That pretty much put everyone in a tizzy. A dissonance sounded as all sorts of screeches, hisses, and wails erupted into the desert air. Several more guns and a couple of spears were brandished in near synchronicity as the rogues assembled into formation around him.

Perfect.

He tried to keep everyone calm. His eyes searched for Eris in the crowd but couldn’t place him. “Relax. He’s not dead,” Rhane said. To be sure, he honed an ear on the unmoving rogue. There was a heartbeat. “He’s not dead,” Rhane repeated more confidently. “I was only defending myself and have no intentions of hurting anyone else. The spears can stay if it makes you all feel more comfortable. But the guns really need to go away.”

Taking two steps back, Rhane weighed his options. He could kill them if necessary, but it would be a tough story to sell the need for such extreme measures, especially since the rogues were supposed to have his full cooperation. And if the Primes didn’t believe his account of what happened here, War could end up paying the price. The beta had drawn first, said they didn’t need him anymore. That was troubling. Rogues hadn’t somehow found a way to the Heart, had they?

“Guys—” Faint tremors travelled beneath his feet, negating the need to finish that sentence. With the rumble came the memory that had eluded Rhane before. But it was too late. “Okay. We’ve got bigger problems.”

If the rogues harbored any ill thought or plan against him, both were without a doubt forgotten as the booming cadence of approaching footsteps shocked their senses. To make such a sound required a mass not possessed by any animal that currently walked the planet.

Without looking, Rhane knew the Courtyard of Primes was missing at least one of its sentinels. The thunderous clap of stone pounding against earth came from a creature that did not live but yet had somehow come to life. Never a witness to the phenomenon firsthand, the legend of the sentinels was firmly instilled in Rhane’s mind from childhood, as it was with all Warekin younglings. The energy of a fallen Prime never truly died but lived on in any monument designed in his image. As long as the tribute remained, so would the Prime, always serving, always protecting the city.

He watched as, one by one, each rogue’s gaze lifted upward. Rhane turned, and he too saw the massive head looming ominously above a partially disintegrated wall. An eerie blue light emanated from the eyes. In a glow of the same hue, symbols of the old language lined the legs and flank.

Rhane clenched his jaw to keep his mouth from falling open. A part of him still couldn’t believe it was actually happening. “I suggest we run now.”

But the rogues did the very worst thing they could have done when facing a fifty-foot wolf formed entirely of stone—they open fired.

Wasting no more time not heeding his own advice, Rhane broke for cover. To a certain extent, he ran to avoid getting hit by a stray bullet laced with bane silver that would only serve to complicate an already deteriorating night. But mostly, Rhane reacted to avoid what would come next.

It took the rogues a second too long to appreciate the futility of their weapons against the lifeless creature. Two of their comrades were pulverized beneath the giant pillar of the sentinel’s hind foot before the others scattered. Crushed rock and sand rained from above, cascading to the desert floor as the great stone mouth parted. Scooped up mid-stride, the beta met a gruesome end, smashed between the sentinel’s stone jowls. Rhane looked away as its remains spilled to the ground in pieces.

He was torn.

Only moments before, rogues were about to attempt to cause him serious bodily harm and he had been ready to defend himself at any cost. But somehow, sitting there, it was difficult to watch them be slaughtered like helpless livestock. Maybe a bond of fellowship had sneaked up on him during some point of their missions together, despite the divide in both species and cause. More likely, the pull he felt to help was because of Eris. Somewhere amongst the carnage was a creature he had never thought he could form any sort of connection with. But Rhane had come to empathize with the old soul and had possibly even befriended him.