Gideon's Promise (Sons of Judgment Book 2) (61 page)

He spread his knees. “Why not start with the fun parts first? While you’re down there, why don’t you use that pretty mouth of yours for something useful?”

Footsteps on the stairs distracted Valkyrie. She turned away from the creature leering at her to watch as Gideon joined her in the dark space. His gray eyes seemed to shine in the dimness. They went to her and stayed. When she didn’t back away, he took her face between hands that were torn and bloody around the knuckles.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

Valkyrie shook her head. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I should have protected you.” His jaw clenched. “That was my job.”

She peered up into the anguish darkening his beautiful face. “We’ll find her. We’re hunters. It’s what we do.”

He nodded. “Yeah, we will.”

“Aw, this is such an exquisite moment,” Devlin cut in. “Can someone get me a barf bag? I think my spleen is coming up.”

Without taking his eyes off of her, Gideon took the dagger from her hand and in one powerful thrust, buried it straight into Devlin’s thigh. His howl was a sound that sang through Valkyrie like a melody. Yet his pain only filled her with an ounce of satisfaction. She watched him flail and try to dislodge the blade that had embedded all the way into the wood with little to no pleasure.

“You better start telling us what you did with my kid, or I’m going to turn your legs into Swiss cheese,” Gideon warned.

“Gideon!” Kyaerin cracked down the stairs in her pretty pink pumps. “Stop!”

Gideon and Valkyrie both turned as the woman pushed her way between them to stand in front of Devlin.

“What are you doing?” Gideon demanded.

“This is not how I raised you,” Kyaerin panted. “You are better than this.”

Gideon stared at her, his expression as bemused as Valkyrie felt. “He attacked my wife, stole my baby ... what—”

“I know.” Kyaerin put her hand on his arm. “He needs to be punished, but not like this. Please!” she added when Gideon didn’t move.

“Aw, still as sweet as ever, eh, Kiki?” Devlin taunted, breathing hard. “It’s what I loved most about you.”

Kyaerin turned to him, her eyes pleading. She reached down and tore the blade out of his leg. He made a sound between a sob and a growl.

“Then tell me where my grandchild is!”

“And what fun would that be?” He smirked up at her with his one good eye. “I mean, I got your full attention right now. But,” he added. “I might be willing to talk if you do something for me.”

“What?” Kyaerin demanded.

“Untie me.”

“Hell no!”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Devlin went on over Gideon’s growl. “We’ll talk and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

Kyaerin turned and looked from Gideon to Valkyrie, her pretty features conflicted. “It might be our only way,” she murmured.

“I say you leave him alone with me for a few minutes,” Gideon argued. “I’ll get him to talk.”

“You already tried that,” Kyaerin retorted sharply. “It didn’t work. We need to try something different.” She drew herself up. “I’ll speak to your father, see what he thinks.”

They followed Kyaerin back through the trapdoor, not because they were curious to hear Liam’s thoughts on the matter, but because Kyaerin refused to leave until they did. Maybe she was worried they would skewer Devlin in her absence, which was a very strong possibility.

Liam and the others, including Serinda and her warriors, were packed in the dining area, waiting. They all glanced up when Kyaerin stormed in, bloody dagger in hand, followed by Valkyrie and Gideon. She gave Valkyrie back her knife and faced the room.

“He has agreed to tell us everything,” Kyaerin announced. “But only if we untie him.”

No one thought that was a good idea, not even Imogen who looked appalled at the very idea.

“If this is the only way we can learn the whereabouts of the child,” Liam began, speaking over the chatter. “It may be our only hope.”

No one could think of an argument to that. Magnus and Octavian were sent down to haul Devlin up and keep a close eye on him. That didn’t seem to be an issue when they had to carry him in between them. He was dumped into a chair in the center of the room.

“You have been untied,” Liam stated. “Now tell us what you know.”

Devlin continued to pant for several long minutes. His face was ashen beneath the bruises due to blood loss, but he was still breathing and that was more than he deserved, in Valkyrie’s opinion.

Gradually, he lifted his head. He scanned the faces around him and settled on Kyaerin.

“What happened?” he asked. “We used to be such friends.”

Kyaerin shifted uneasily. “That isn’t what you promised to tell us.”

“No,” Devlin agreed as he shifted his weight back in his seat. “But I would still like to know. You just stopped talking to me one day. You imprinted on
him
.” He gestured wildly at Liam. “
Him
, Kyaerin. The guy we used to make fun of for being the town bicycle.”

Liam slanted his wife a questioning look that she blatantly ignored.

“Where’s the baby, Dev?” Kyaerin asked instead.

Devlin sighed. “I loved you so much. I thought we would be together forever.”

“That is illogical!” Kyaerin snapped, losing her composure. “We knew eventually one of us would imprint and I did.”

“Well, I didn’t!” Devlin shot back. “What I did get was losing the only girl I ever cared about to
him
, especially after everything I did for you. Everything I did for
us
.”

Kyaerin frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Devlin shook his head slowly, eye never leaving her. “How could you not remember?” When Kyaerin continued to look bemused, he scoffed. “Typical. You knew I would do anything for you so you used me, is that it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking—”

“I’m talking about making a path for us to finally be together!” he snapped. “I’m talking about getting rid of the only thing standing in our way.”

Kyaerin started to shake her head when something clicked. Valkyrie could see the exact moment realization dawned and Kyaerin lost all coloring in her face.

“You didn’t.”

Pleased that she finally clued in, Devlin grinned. “He didn’t think I was good enough for you. He thought I was beneath his precious Kyaerin. Oh, if only he knew what a saint you weren’t, eh? If only he knew the things we did behind the—”

“Enough!” Liam’s growl punctured whatever disgusting image the other man was about to unleash upon the room.

Devlin smirked. “I may not have sampled the whole pie, but I sampled enough of it.”

“Stop!” Kyaerin cried when Liam took a step forward.

Liam looked on the verge of ignoring her and pummeling Devlin with the fists he had clenched at his sides. But he stopped.

Kyaerin turned to Devlin, her cheeks holding just a hint of green. “Tell me you didn’t.”

Devlin said nothing, but the cold grin on his face said enough.

“He was my father!” Kyaerin gasped.

“He was an asshole,” Devlin countered. “You hated him.”

“No!”

“Yes!” Devlin hissed. “You all but told me to end his life that night you came running to my house in tears, because he wouldn’t let you take part in the harvest celebration. Do you remember what you told me?”

There were tears running down Kyaerin’s cheeks and she was breathing so hard, Valkyrie half feared she would throw up.

“That wasn’t what I meant.”

“You told me you wished he was dead,” Devlin threw back at her. “You didn’t think it was strange he mysteriously died the next night? The night before the harvest celebration?”

Kyaerin’s head rocked side to side in disbelief. “He was ambushed. There was a spy...” Her blue eyes went enormous against her abnormally pale face. “You?”

For just a moment, he almost appeared remorseful. “I told you, I would have done anything for you.”

With a sound of horror riddled with pain, Kyaerin spun on her heels and ran from the room. Liam hesitated a full second, visibly torn between beating the ever loving fuck out of Devlin and hurrying after his wife. He chose the latter.

“That is enough of your games.” Serinda took Kyaerin’s place, hand resting on the hilt of her sword. “Where is the child?”

Devlin never got the chance to speak. The kitchen doors flew open and Liam strode back in, his face a murderous mask of rage unlike anything Valkyrie had ever seen. He stormed straight for Devlin and grabbed the ruined remains of the other man’s shirt.

“It has been a very long time since I have killed anyone,” Liam snarled. “But I will relish every moment of sinking my dagger into your cold, black heart.”

Devlin seemed unperturbed. He peered into the beast’s eyes and shrugged.

“We all must do what we must do.”

It was unclear if Liam shoved Devlin, or if Devlin heaved himself out of Liam’s grasp, but he slammed into Serinda and the pair crashed to the ground. Valkyrie started forward, but Serinda was already untangling herself from the wheezing man. She clambered to her feet and stared with disgust at the figure attempting to do the same.

It took a lot of effort on Devlin’s part to drag himself to the chair and into it. He sat doubled over as sweat trickled from his temples and streaked down his face.

“I ... I relent!” he gasped. “I will ... I will tell you.” He motioned for Liam to draw closer. “I gave the baby to...” The rest of his words were a series of mumbles that no one could hear.

“What?” Liam got closer.

In a move no one as badly injured as Devlin should ever be able to pull off, he catapulted out of the chair and launched himself at Liam. The two collided with a sickening crunch. Their combined weights sent them flying backwards into a table and collapsing to the ground in a heap.

Octavian and Magnus bolted forward. They wrenched Devlin off their father and flung him carelessly to the ground.

“Liam!”

Riley’s cry tore through the room a second before the kitchen doors slammed open and Kyaerin tore through. Her hair was a riot of wild curls framing a face blotchy with tears and smudged makeup. No one else in the room seemed to grasp what was happening until she threw herself down at Liam’s side with a scream.

“Liam! No, oh God, please no!”

“Dad?” Gideon ran forward.

Magnus was already on Liam’s other side, blocking Valkyrie’s view. Octavian was holding Devlin to the ground with a boot to his throat.

“Move and I’ll snap your fucking neck!” he spat.

Devlin didn’t look like he had the strength to do anything but lay there.

Across the room, Imogen was clinging to Riley. Her sobs muffled by Kyaerin’s hysterical wails. Valkyrie moved forward, not sure what was wrong, but determined to do what she could to help.

“Do something!” Kyaerin was crying to no one in particular. “Liam? Liam, no!”

He lay unmoving in the ruins of a broken table. His eyes were closed as though in sleep, except for the crimson blossom spreading over the crisp, white material of his dress shirt. An arrow protruded from the center. The shaft was broken and only a jagged shard of it jutted from his side, just beneath his ribs. Valkyrie didn’t need to see her sister searching the pouch at her side to know it was the poison arrow.

“H
e does not have very much longer.”

Serinda closed the door leading into Kyaerin and Liam’s bedchambers and faced the small crowd gathered in the corridor.

“How much longer?” Octavian demanded.

At his side, Riley was weeping softly into her hands. Imogen was behind her, huddled on the ground with her knees pulled to her chest and her face buried in the folds of her arms. Valkyrie stood next to Gideon, wishing she could cry, but all she felt was numbness and a profound sorrow that seemed to bloom from the very depths of her soul. She hadn’t known Liam very well, but he had been more of a father to her than her own father. The thought of losing him left a hole in her chest she didn’t know what to do with.

“Another day at the most,” Serinda was saying when Valkyrie focused again. “I have given them both a very strong sleeping drought. I doubled his. It will take the poison longer to circulate if his heart isn’t beating as fast as it usually does. It isn’t much, but it will give you time.”

Valkyrie remembered Devlin telling her to calm down or the poison would spread faster.

“What’s the antidote?” Gideon asked.

Serinda shook her head. “As far as I know, there isn’t one for siren’s blood.”

“There is one!” Gideon snarled at her. “I gave it to Valkyrie.”

“Then you need to find the person who gave it to you and ask them.”

“He’s dead!” Gideon cried.

Serinda looked almost remorseful, at least as remorseful as a Harvester is permitted.

“I am sorry there is nothing more I can do.”

With that, Serinda left them, leaving a silence in her absence that was broken only by weeping.

“Fuck this.” Magnus spun on his heels. “I’m not waiting around here for him to die. I’m going to find the cure, even if I have to kill someone to get it.”

No one stopped him.

Riley slid down next to Imogen. Octavian, Gideon, and Reggie stared at the door as if waiting for the answer to appear there. But none did.

“There has to be something in Dad’s books,” Octavian said after what felt like hours. “Someone made the cure once. We just have to find out who and if we can get more.”

“I’ll stay with them,” Riley volunteered. Her bottom lip trembled. “He ... they shouldn’t be alone, in case he wakes up and needs something.”

Octavian nodded. He brushed a kiss to her brow before motioning everyone else to follow him. They spent the rest of the night poring over every book in the room and there were many. Liam had collected volumes on everything from rocks to lore and dinosaurs. Yet not one of them had any information on siren’s blood.

By dawn, they were blurry-eyed and exhausted. Magnus still hadn’t returned and Liam was getting worse. Kyaerin still hadn’t woken up, but they all agreed that was for the best.

“We need a demon,” Gideon said after their twentieth cup of coffee. “We’ll give them freedom, or whatever they want if they can heal him.”