Blood Warrior (33 page)

My words seemed to hurt him, but a second later his face was unreadable again.

“That’s because you’ve just recently inherited your Warrior. I’ve been struggling to control my beast for years now, and I would be willing to bet that when yours comes out, you have trouble controlling it as well.”

I thought back to my most recent fight with Victoria and my fight with Daniel. I had kind of blacked out during both of them. All I’d been able to see was red; like it ringed my vision and made me burn all the way down to my soul. With Daniel, I’d almost killed him because I couldn’t control it. With Victoria, the very sight of her blood had made me want to stop her heart from beating. Kayden was right, I was having trouble controlling myself, and I knew it was only getting worse.

Kayden got up and left the room, returning a few minutes later with blankets and a pillow. He laid them out on the couch and laid me back so that I was resting on them. After he pulled the blankets over me, he leaned down and ran his rough fingers down my cheek. “Rest now, Warrior,” he said, with that soft Scottish accent. “You can save the world tomorrow.” Then, he kissed my forehead and left me to my own thoughts.

Chapter 62

The next morning, Kayden was walking me back to my dorm room. We didn’t say a word to each other the entire way. When we got to my building, I noticed that there was a warrior standing on the steps. I didn’t know why, but I got the feeling that he was waiting for me. It made my chest ache that it wasn’t Mark.

Sure enough, when Kayden and I approached the building, the warrior came down the steps to greet us. He turned to Kayden with a smile. “Wallace. Didn’t expect to find you here.”

Kayden just shrugged and they shook hands, then the warrior turned to me.

“Warrior, your presence has been requested at the Council building.” Kayden asked the question that was on the tip of my tongue. “What for?” The warrior raised an eyebrow at Kayden. “Well, actually, both of you have been requested. I was going to retrieve you next, but seeing as how you were together, you saved me a trip.”

Kayden and I exchanged looks; why would the Queen request both of us? I wasn’t sure, but all the possibilities that ran through my head were not good ones. I asked the warrior if it was alright if I went up to my room and changed clothes first. I didn’t want to go to the Queen looking like I’d just been mauled by a bear. He told me to hurry and I ran up to my room and pulled on some fresh jeans and a gray t-shirt. As I reached into my dresser drawer to retrieve my brush, my hand brushed something smooth and cool. Pulling my hand back out, I saw that it was my Gladius, the sword my Mother had given me. I’m not sure why, but I tucked it into the back of my jeans and pulled my shirt down to conceal it. After running the brush through my hair and brushing my teeth, I headed back down to meet the others.

We walked in silence to the Council building. Well,
I
walked in silence. Kayden and the warrior who came to get us knew each other, and they talked along the way. The guy’s name was Sam and he seemed to be friendly enough, but my stomach was too tied up with nerves to attempt chit chat. Kayden was trying to play it casual, but I could tell just by looking at him that he was as nervous as I was. We had no idea what we were walking into.

When we reached our destination, Sam told us he had some other errands to run, but before he left he asked if he could look at my arm. I pushed up my sleeve and he stared in wonder at the silver tattoo. Reaching up, he touched his fingers to the sun on my shoulder.

“Beautiful,” he said. Turning back to Kayden, he smiled widely and said, “She’s absolutely amazing.”

Kayden gave a small nod. “She is.”

Sam headed off after that and Kayden and I ascended the steps of the Council building. When we reached the doors, I looked up at him and smiled. “So, I’m amazing?” He didn’t laugh, but I could see the smile behind his eyes. Instead, he just pulled open the door and waved his hand for me to go through. When we reached the inside, I saw that the Queen was standing in the foyer. She was wearing an elaborate purple gown and had her hair and make-up styled to perfection. Standing with her were a few men and women dressed in equally elaborate clothing.

Kayden stiffened beside me, and I leaned over to him and whispered, “What is it?”

His eyes were locked on one of the men standing with the Queen. The man had on a perfectly tailored black suit and diamonds and rubies and sapphires seemed to drip from everyplace on him that could hold jewelry. Kayden’s lips barely moved as he spoke. “That’s the King.”

My eyes snapped back to the man, and I decided that he didn’t look so scary to me. In fact, he was just kind of old. With gray hair and a short gray beard, he looked like someone’s rich grandfather. I wasn’t fooled, though. I don’t look dangerous either, so looks can be very deceiving.

The King’s eyes met mine, and I found that it was surprisingly difficult to hold his gaze. There was something silently intimidating about him, and I knew then that this was indeed a very dangerous man. He whispered something to the Queen and she spun around to face Kayden and me.

“Warriors,” she said. “Please, join us.”

Kayden and I approached the group of royals, and I was suddenly really glad that I’d changed clothes before coming here. I still wished that I’d chosen something a little nicer to wear though; these people had a look about them that just made me feel insignificant.

When we reached them, the Queen placed a hand on my shoulder and introduced us. I wasn’t sure why, but I got the impression that she was just as uncomfortable as I was. “This is Kayden Wallace,” she said to the King. “The man whose victory you witnessed last night in the Arena.” Kayden gave a small bow and the King nodded in return. “And this,” the Queen continued, “Is Alexa Montgomery, the Sun Warrior you’ve heard about.” Everyone’s eyes fell on me and I knew that they were waiting for me to bow. It was harder for me to do so than it should have been. I didn’t want to bow to this man. I wanted to slam him against the wall and make him give me an explanation. But I’m defiant, not insane.

So, I clenched my teeth and lowered my head a little in what probably looked like a low nod.

The King raised an eyebrow and stepped forward. Holding out his hand, he said,

“Warrior, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am King William.” I shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you too,” I lied.

He held his grip on my hand for a moment and I felt an unmistakable tingling go up my arm. I didn’t jerk my hand away, though the impulse was certainly there. Instead, I threw up my walls. I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right, but I just focused hard on building a wall between him and me. A second later, the tingling stopped.

He didn’t release my hand immediately, and I saw small lines of concentration cross his face before he finally broke contact. I took a quiet, deep breath; that had taken more energy out of me than I’d realized.

No one else seemed to notice what had just happened, except for Kayden. I could tell he wanted to tell me to watch it, but he couldn’t do that with these people around. The King smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Where have you been all this time, Warrior?” I shrugged. “Living among the humans.”

The Queen added, “She did not know of what she was until recently, your majesty.”

Hearing the Queen address the King with the same title that everyone else used for her made me realize that I needed to tread very carefully. This was a King of Kings indeed. If other royalty was made to grovel, I could only imagine what was expected of a lowly citizen like me.

The King gave one slow nod and turned back to me. “Are you trained?” I wanted to say that I knew how to use the toilet if that was what he was asking, but the Queen responded for me. “Absolutely,” she said. “Alexa passed her entrance exam with flying colors.”

The King seemed to be considering this, but I couldn’t tell by his face if he was impressed or just disappointed. Finally, he said, “I would like to see a demonstration then.” The Queen smiled and shot me a sympathetic look. “Very well, I’ll have someone go retrieve a student from the Brocken school to-“

The King held up his hand, cutting her off. “There is no need. We have a warrior right here who can assist in the demonstration. She is a Warrior and his skills are impressive. I will see them fight each other.”

Kayden and I stood in shocked silence as the royals discussed us as though we weren’t even there. The King’s assumption that I would just follow his will made me incredibly angry, and if it weren’t for Kayden standing right next to me, I might have attacked him right then and there. But really, what choice did I have right now? Glancing around I saw that the King was not alone; five warriors were standing nearby, and I had no doubt what they would do if I were to attack the King. I’d probably be dead before I was able to get my hands on him.

If I’d thought the warriors at Two Rivers were intimidating, then the King’s warriors were just downright scary. They stood only a few feet away from us; all of them perfect statues. They pretended not to hear what was being said, but I knew they were focused intently on the King. Their uniforms were slightly different as well. They had on all black with what I assumed to be the King’s crest on their right shoulder, instead of a sun. To add to that, they were all enormous, reminding me yet again of how small I really was in comparison to others.

While I was studying the King’s guards, the Queen was trying to convince him that a demonstration was not necessary. After one look from the King, she conceded, saying,

“Allow us to prepare the Arena, then, so that you may have a proper showing.” The King waved a heavily jeweled hand in dismissal. “Nonsense, nothing needs to be prepared for me. Let us go to the Arena now. I am taking leave tonight.”

Chapter 63

God must hate me. Either that, or I was the unluckiest girl in the world. Okay, that may have been a little dramatic, but really, this just sucked. As we made our way to the Arena, I snuck a glance at Kayden, who was staring straight ahead. It was kind of surreal; walking to a fight with a man I might be willing to give my life for.

Now that I was going to have to fight him, it was impossible to deny the feelings I had for him. I didn’t want to do this at all. Kayden meant too much to me. As much as I claimed that I didn’t need him, I knew now for sure that was nothing but a lie. Even if he didn’t love me, I felt like I loved him. Or, at least, I cared about him enough to want to protect him, never hurt him. And for me, that was enough. I wouldn’t fight Nelly no matter what they threatened me with, so I wasn’t going to fight Kayden. Not now, not ever. I just couldn’t do it.

We reached the Arena and I clenched my fists tight to keep them from trembling.

It was deafeningly quiet, a sharp contrast to the noise that filled it the two times I had been here. The stone bleachers and walls seemed to stand like a beast, waiting for victims to fall into its clutches. Or maybe I was just really nervous.

The royals took up positions right next to the plexi-glass wall, leaving Kayden and me standing out in the middle of the Arena. Some part of me was surprised that they would want to be this close to a fight, but a glance at the warriors standing near them told me that they had no reason to fear for their safety.

The King nodded his head and I cleared my throat, about to tell him that I was not going to be fighting. But, then, I saw a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye, and my body spun out of the way on pure instinct. I stood in stupefied shock for a moment before I had to spin out of the way of another one of Kayden’s attacks.

I didn’t even have time to think, I just reacted. Fighting with Kayden was like fighting with my Mother. He was obviously more skilled than I was, and I couldn’t seem to muster the anger I needed to win. This didn’t stop my body from reacting when I caught a blow to my shoulder.

I spun around yet again and threw my elbow into his back with excessive force.

He stumbled, but recovered quickly, catching me with yet another blow; this time to the head.

It was like being hit by a dump truck; the sheer force of it nearly making me black out. I hit the ground hard and immediately flipped to my belly and hopped to my feet.

“Stop,” said the King, causing both Kayden and me to freeze in our tracks. “Do the warriors not fight with swords?” he asked.

Two of the King’s men retrieved swords from bins near the side of the Arena and tossed them at our feet. Kayden retrieved his first, and I took an involuntary step back. This could not be happening.

When he started to advance, I felt a cool sensation run up my back, and reached back and retrieved my Gladius from underneath my shirt. I tightened my grip on it and the blade shot out from the end of it, with the silver gleaming in the bright lights of the Arena. Kayden met my eyes then, and I could see the remorse behind his. He didn’t want to fight me, but he was going to. It took me a second, but I resigned to this fact and, finally, let my body do what it did best; fight.

Our swords clanged every time metal hit metal, but it became obvious that Kayden was far more skilled with his weapon than I was with mine. And soon, I was on the defensive, blocking strikes more than delivering them. I had just blocked a slash of his sword, our weapons locked in a test of greater strength, when he swung around a delivered a blow I still can’t remember clearly.

I just had a split second before I saw Kayden’s elbow connect with my face and send me straight to the ground. I lost consciousness for what only could be a few seconds, because when I opened my eyes again, with my face throbbing and covered with blood, I saw that Kayden was standing over me, with his blade pressed firmly against my throat.

I only had time to tilt my head to the side, and see the smirk on the King’s face, before I passed out.

Chapter 64

The last time I had blacked out, I’d woken up in Kayden’s arms. This time, I woke up in the infirmary. For a moment, I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten here, but then, it all came rushing back to me. The King’s taunting grin, and the coldness of Kayden’s sword as he’d held it snuggly to my throat. A whole range of emotions ran through me, ones that I was completely unfamiliar with.