Demon Retribution (Shadow Quest Book 3) (35 page)

“Did your father tell you what he read in
the book?” Kyra asked Tristan.

His brows knit together. “He would no’ speak
of it, but it seemed to distress him somewhat. Did it no’?”

“I thought so too.”

“If it is important, he’ll tell us in
time.”

Cale couldn’t help it. “He cut out of here
pretty quick. You sure he wasn’t spooked all the way back to his
castle?” The disdain on the dragon’s face was satisfying.

Tristan growled through his teeth, “My
father is no coward.”

“I’m sure you think so.”

“Cale!” Kyra scolded.

Rex and Zoey sat to the side, wide-eyed and
uncomfortable. Rex cleared his throat. “I think we’ll head back to
the ship.”

“Great idea,” Zoey said, already quitting
her seat.

“We should all get back,” Sebastian ordered.
“Cale, maybe you should go find Sonya and Ethan.”

Cale was about to declare that there was no
way Sebastian could expect him to leave his “mate” with a rival
male when, to his surprise, Kyra offered to join him in the
search.

A triumphant grin spread across his lips.
That is, until he saw the wrath behind her eyes. Still, when he got
her away from that dragon, the feeling returned, but he tried to
keep it to himself.

Once they were far away from the others, she
rounded on him. “What is your damage?”

“My what?”

“Are you mental? Bipolar?”

He frowned.

“After everything you said? Why are you
acting like a jealous lover?”

“Because I am,” he said honestly. “I can
give you a reminder if you need.”

She threw her hands in the air. “You risked
us losing the dragon’s assistance. I would think you’d be a little
smarter than that. Especially since whatever it is you feel for me
is false.” She flinched on the last word, and it sent a crack
through his chest.

“What I’m feeling might not be real, but
it’s too strong for me to ignore. My kind are very protective of
their…mates.” As expected, surprise flashed across her face. Saying
it aloud had been like a quake inside him as well. One that he
liked.

“You can’t possibly mean that.”

“Seeing you only smile at that dragon makes
me murderous. Knowing you have a past with him”—he grit his
teeth—“is killing me.”

She seemed to be digesting his words, not
bothering to disguise her emotions. Anger. Confusion. Horror.
Finally, resolution. He didn’t like the way that one looked.

“In the training room, you were revolted by
the idea of wanting me. Thinking I used magic on you in some way.
You said we were impossible. I took that as the end of our
relationship.” She air quoted the last word.

Something in him snapped. “Nothing ends
between us,” he hissed, grabbing her elbow and steering her into a
darkened corner. Stubbornly, she jutted her chin. He longed to kiss
that look off her face, until her lips were swollen from his touch
and the heat that drove him mad with lust ignited behind her dark
lashes.

Instead, he pressed his body against hers,
pinning her to the wall. She stilled, and he knew she could feel
his stiff erection straining between them.

“That’s for you. Only you. Do you
understand? I only want you.”

Her mouth opened, but she said nothing as
she searched his eyes. For a moment, he imagined she had the same
desire to kiss him until everything else drifted away.

Then her expression fell, and it was like a
knife through his heart. “We’re finished, Cale.”

“No.”

“I don’t want you.”

“You lie.” Finger bent under her chin, he
forced her to gaze up. She looked wrong, cold.

“Don’t,” she whispered, predicting his next
move.

In an act of desperation, he claimed her
lips with his, cupping the back of her neck to hold her in place.
But she didn’t return the kiss.

Defeated, he pulled back with a growl. “Is
it the dragon you want? I’ll kill him if he touches you.” Then a
mind-numbing thought nearly drove him to his knees. An image of a
younger Kyra and the blond male...together. “Has he…? Have
you…?”

She ducked her head, cheeks burning, giving
him his answer. An icy rage broke inside him.

“It’s none of your
business,” she snapped, pushing at his chest. He didn’t budge. “Are
you forgetting all the women
you’ve
had? Is there a single woman on
Marada
who hasn’t seen
your O face?”

O face?

“And you have the gall to judge me?”

“I have the gall to rip your pretty boy’s
face off when next I see him.”

“You’ll do no such thing.” She thrashed, but
he easily quelled her struggles. When she went limp in the next
instant, he grew alarmed. Her features twisted with grief, her eyes
glistening. “Why are you hurting me like this?”

Instantly, he released her. Had he been too
rough? Then he realized she wasn’t talking about physical
wounds.

“My heart can’t take it, and you’re
distracting me from what’s important. I need to focus on saving my
people. They need me.”

I need you.

The plea rose up from the depths of his
soul. He managed to choke it back, but the truth of it rocked him
to the core.

Slipping past him, Kyra had one more dagger
to throw before she left him reeling. “Once this is over, I don’t
want to see you again. For now, if you have anything to say to me,
you can go through Anya.”

It had been nearly impossible to get the
words out. After telling him she didn’t want him, she’d nearly
broken down in tears, her mind screaming to take it back. But she’d
been resolved. Cale occupied most of her thoughts, and she found it
difficult to focus when he was near.

The meeting today had been a prime example.
Aside from the fact that she was a rusty diplomat, she had been too
concerned about Cale meeting the dragons—Tristan, specifically—than
procuring their help. And it had gone as horribly as she’d
feared.

A dark part of her had been pleased to see a
jealous Cale, thrilled at the sight, because in a small way it
proved that he did care for her. At least a little.

Unfortunately, a little wasn’t enough, and
she would not be cowed by a rampaging demon who wasn’t even sure if
he liked her, or if he was just under a spell.

She traveled back to the ship alone, finding
herself musing over a bit of self-discovery. She’d lived her entire
life never knowing she could be turned on by scary sexy.

Just remembering the intensity of his gaze
had a shiver streaking through her.

Thankfully, he hadn’t followed her. If he
had, and continued with his barbaric you-are-mine talk, she feared
her resistance would have faltered.

Many of the crew had yet to return, so she
managed to make it to her room without being seen. A small gift
from fate, because once inside, everything she’d been holding back
burst out of her as if a dam holding back her frayed emotions had
just crumbled into dust.

Sebastian entered the control room,
signifying the end of Cale’s shift. They’d been traveling for weeks
now, and were nearly to Evlon. After stopping at a few more
spaceports, the crew was now replenished…mostly by hired
mercenaries. And they’d found others who showed an interest in
joining the fight, whether for a price or just for kicks. Didn’t
matter. They’d take it either way.

Cale glanced at his brother. “Have you seen
her?” It was always the first thing he’d ask.

“She’s with Anya and Nadua in the
Sanctuary.”

Cale let out a relieved
breath. It was when Sebastian couldn’t answer that question that
things became difficult for him. It meant she could be anywhere…or,
more specifically, with any
one
. Which she was, often! That
bastard dragon was practically her shadow.

After Kyra had ordered his “banishment”,
he’d sought out the dragon for a “conversation”. The confrontation
had been a destructive one. Both walked away bloody and bruised,
cursing the other, with nothing resolved. Tristan refused to heed
his warning to stay away from Kyra, and Cale could do nothing about
it, save locking Kyra in her room for the rest of the trip.

Knowing her, not even that would stop
her.

He’d tried to reason with her a couple of
times, after giving her a few days to cool off. Unfortunately, she
was less than thrilled with his “stunt” as she’d called it.
Apparently the dragon couldn’t keep his mouth shut, although the
bruises on his face might have given the story away. And before
Cale could even get a word in, she’d stuck her palm in his face,
saying, “Didn’t I tell you to go through Anya?”

“I’m not one of your subjects, Your
Majesty!” he’d roared. Looking back, he had to admit, sneering at
her like that may not have been the best method of persuasion.

Since then, Sebastian kept him busy with
double shifts and odd jobs. Then Marik started to spend time
watching over him, though Cale knew Marik would rather be with his
mate.

And for the first time in ages, Cale could
empathize. It was possible Kyra truly was his.

As it turned out, Velicia had been just as
wretched and conniving as his mother, and his mother as cunning as
she was selfish.

Yesterday, Cale had approached Nadua after a
dream jerked him awake. It was of a memory that hadn’t belonged to
him until he’d accidentally pulled it from Nadua that day, who in
turn had garnished it from someone else.

Nadua had been reluctant to help him at
first. Aside from the fact that she was still struggling with her
gift, he was the man who had upset her sister.

When Cale heard that, his
heart had clenched painfully, remembering Kyra’s words.
Why are you hurting me like this?

But there must have been something Nadua saw
in his expression, because with a curt nod she had taken pity on
him.

It took some time, and a lot of patience on
Cale’s part, but eventually the girl was able to pluck at that
memory again and transfer it to him without being overwhelmed.

Cale rolled into the past
like a heavy mist. He watched, boiling over with rage as his mother
sat in Velicia’s home, plotting to induce a mate bond—with
either
of her two
sons—using an elixir she’d discovered years before while a very
young Sonya played at their feet. Worse, Cale discovered that his
father had been proof that it worked.

By the time Cale came out of the trance, he
had gone far past the Edge and had terrified Nadua with his
unending bellow. At some point Marik had entered the room. They
must have fought, but Cale couldn’t be sure. He was too far gone.
He awoke some time later to Nadua pressing a cool rag to his head
and a very pissed, yet mitigated, Marik.

“So how ‘bout you tell me what’s going on,”
Marik had barked. “Or do I need to knock you out again?”

“Your mate hasn’t informed you?” Cale had
asked, a bit surprised.

“Just that something from your past set you
off,” Marik gritted in response.

“It’s not my place to say more,” Nadua
proclaimed.

“Then that’s all you need to know,” Cale
said to Marik before leaving without a second glance.

Marik had yelled after him, “Get your shit
together, Cale!”

That was exactly what he planned to do.

The Serakian’s room had been his very next
stop. “Is there anything you can do to break the bond?” he’d asked,
still catching his breath.

Portia’s first response had been to shriek
and then to knock him on his ass with a blast of heavy magic.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have burst into her room in the middle of the
night, but what else could he do? He must rid himself of Velicia
and regain the ability to claim Kyra, or lose her forever.

Haven’t I already lost her?

Once the Serakian stopped screeching at him,
she’d informed him that she could do nothing to help. “I’ve been
researching the thing you call a mate bond since I boarded the
ship,” she’d said after exhaling a tired yawn, “even though the
Seer threatened to take my life if I even thought about it.”

“Seer?” Cale had never heard the word.

“The red-head,” she’d explained with a roll
of her hand. “Nadua, I think her name is.” Then she continued, “The
bond is too solid, like nothing I’ve ever seen…though we do have a
name for such things.”

“Spare me,” Cale snapped. If the witch could
not help him, then he had no use for her at all. He’d spent the
next few days shamelessly wallowing, alone and on the Edge, cursing
his mother anew, and now Velicia as well.

Finally, Sebastian had dragged him to the
training room and knocked the shit out of him for a time, which
marginally helped.

Kyra still wouldn’t talk to him.

Now all he looked forward to was rivers of
Kayadon blood and their headless corpses, writhing under his
feet.