Hunters (Spirit Blade Part 1) (8 page)

Nadia watched him, unaware of the shadow creeping upon her.

"Not in the mood tonight?"

Emotions spiked at the accusation. She jabbed her elbow into the gap in his armor, making an adequate but less than satisfactory contact against Kaelen's ribs. "Leave me alone!"

Needing space from him, she marched away to the fire. At least Lord Je'Kaoron had a heart, which was much less than she could say for Kaelen.

Chapter 5

The next day came too soon after a sleepless night pondering what Lord Je'Kaoron might know of the First Ones. An avoidance of a subject like that was easy enough to interpret. And then there was his avoidance of her, which concerned her with worries that she had upset him. He had remained a tiger through the night, an easy way to avoid conversation, even if he stayed near.

He was a demonlord, and she shouldn't worry. The lingering stare from Kaelen while he lay on the opposite side of the fire had said it.

In the quiet of the night, the dagger's darkness had invaded her thoughts, twisting them into hating both men, until she realized what was happening. She wanted to toss it, but that would involve admitting that Kaelen was right and that she was weak.

Rather, she tolerated its presence for the sake of proving herself to him, although she had nothing to prove. She had taken down Je'Rol, the half-blood that no Li'Ador or Adepts had survived in encountering, of those who had actually caught up to him. That counted for something.

She thought of him in the quiet of the morning, the grief gnawing at her once again, and it passed into other thoughts and memories. At least while hunting Je'Rol after he escaped from Je'Rekun, she had something to occupy her mind and give her purpose. Now, she could only wonder what would happen after she destroyed the dagger and what Lord Je'Kaoron knew of the First Ones and what that meant for their world.

As the journey resumed, she let the thoughts slide, but while traveling, the weight of the dagger grew heavier in her mind. Kaelen said nothing, but he would take what he wanted when it suited him. When that was, Nadia couldn't be certain, but as long as the demonlords stayed close, he wouldn't get anything.

On the fourth day since leaving Acropa Je'Gri, she started to think they would reach the Nik'Terek Gate without any trouble.

She was wrong.

During the midday break, the tigers stirred. One in particular moved in close to her, one whose stripes she recognized from the many times he had stretched out next to her, his fur soaking up her tears as she cried herself to sleep. After spending so much time among the Je'Gri, she had come to recognize the subtle differences in some of their markings.

In his tiger form, Lord Je'Kaoron moved close to her, his head high and nostrils and whiskers twitching.

After several seconds of sniffing, his ears went back and his tail started lashing.

The others did the same, their teeth bared while they faced outward at the brush and trees around them.

Kaelen rose from the ground and drew his sword. He'd do better with a bow and arrows against trouble—his most proficient weapon—but she supposed he'd left that behind in his haste to catch her. And demonlords didn't use external weapons, not that she had ever seen, since they couldn't effectively carry them in their natural forms. They only used what they were born with, but mortal weapons couldn't hurt them.

Mortal weapons.

Nadia reached down at her side to the dagger. It was more than a mere mortal weapon. Whatever could rile the demonlords might require something more powerful, like the spirit blade.

Lord Je'Kaoron hunched, his lips curled back from pointed teeth in a snarl.

"I wish you could talk like this," she said in a low voice. "Tell me what you sense. Is it natters or something else?"

The tiger's tail lashed and, in the midst of a growl with his ears pinned back, he shook his head as if clearing something away…or shaking his head.

The other tigers positioned themselves to attack.

Their horses stood with their heads up and bodies rigid. The guards holding them had transformed their simple clothes to armor, but they gave the horses their full attention, likely using some form of magic to keep them from fleeing.

The tension thickened around her.

With one hand, she flipped the covering from the top of the dagger and pulled it. Power pulsed through her to hold it in anticipation of battle.

The sudden roar from Je'Kaoron startled her, but she stood ready.

A second later, the clearing where they rested exploded in white and orange as tigers poured from the trees and brush.

Like the battle of the Nik'Terek Gate all over again, the melee took her back.

The tiger-form Je'Kaoron stayed by her, and Kaelen joined them. The tigers didn't seem concerned with them as much as mauling each other.

Nadia caught Kaelen's questioning glance.

"What are they doing?" he asked, his sword in his hands.

"I'd guess Je'Rekun's supporters," she said. The realization twisted her stomach. If Je'Rekun's allies were determined to undermine High Lord Je'Dron, they would want revenge on the man who had taken out their leader—Lord Je'Kaoron.

"They're after him. We have to protect him."

The tiger glanced at her, those pale blue eyes meeting hers with understanding. Already, many of the guards lay wounded, but they took down many of the other tigers with them.

However, it seemed that the others had a larger force; more emerged from hiding and joined the fight, overwhelming the numbers who had accompanied her and Kaelen.

"There are too many," Kaelen said.

"We can't let them take him."

His face hardened.

"Don't even say it!" He'd done enough insinuating of her and Je'Kaoron already.

Two orange tigers made it past the falling guards and approached them warily, tails lashing and teeth bared.

Nadia swallowed her anxieties about facing the demonlords and tightened her grip on the dagger.

Je'Kaoron snarled, teeth bared and ears back as he put himself between the other tigers and her.

The bloodlust of the dagger called to her to protect the one person there she cared about, but she didn't need the dark power to realize that he couldn't defeat them and needed help. And it would test the extent of the dagger's power, which might not be as powerful as its aura projected.

The tigers circled wide to where Je'Kaoron couldn't protect her from both. They would attack together, she was certain of it.

Nadia moved with the tiger nearest to her, and noticed the tall shadow next to her. She didn't have to look to know it was Kaelen sticking next to her as if she couldn't protect herself. He said nothing, but the sword made it clear.

The tigers snarled at them and continued moving.

Something brushed along the back of her legs, Je'Kaoron's tail most likely.

A white tiger approached, its teeth bloody and bared, and joined the others circling them. None attacked, but other white and orange tigers joined, until the three of them in the center of the circle were too far outnumbered and Lord Je'Kaoron pressed into the back of her legs, nearly knocking her forward.

"They want him alive," she said aside to Kaelen.

One of the white tigers blurred and transformed, a woman of scathing beauty with a white and black tail of hair from the top of her head. She stood in white leggings and a coat belted at her slim waist with a back that hung behind like half a skirt, white with jagged horizontal stripes. "He will pay for his crimes against High Lord Je'Rekun. You are another matter." Her voice was smooth and calculated.

Behind her, Je'Kaoron transformed.

"Lady Je'Diri," he said calmly.

The snarling around them ceased as the others transformed.

"Lord Je'Kaoron. It is my pleasure to bring you to justice before Lord Je'Tiren."

Her pleasure. Nadia bristled at the brutality which that "pleasure" might involve.

Kaelen adjusted his sword, and Nadia imagined him trying to behead the lady with it, and failing utterly. Those who supported Je'Rekun considered humans no better than livestock. Their lives meant nothing. They were lucky not to be dead already.

Not wishing to start a fight they couldn't win, Nadia reached over and pressed the sword down. He turned with a cold fire in his eyes. She shook her head. His hatred for the demonlords would get its chance, if he stood down this time.

After several seconds, Kaelen sheathed the sword.

"Wise choice, Hunter," Lady Je'Diri taunted in her smooth voice.

Kaelen's eyes narrowed and he stood rigid and ready to fight.

The lady's lips curved into a malevolent smile. "Your pets may leave."

"No." The word left Nadia's lips without hesitation, the dagger hilt biting into her tightening fingers.

Je'Diri scowled. "Do not argue, Huntress." A second later, her expression changed as she looked Nadia up and down. "You are the one I heard about. Did you too betray High Lord Je'Rekun?"

"I am a demon hunter," she said with confidence. "I serve no demonlord. I only do what must be done, whether it be for Je'Rekun or Je'Dron."

The lady's lips curled in disdain. "So you say, yet you travel with this traitor."

Nadia clamped her jaw on a rebuke. Her only defense would get her killed.

"Adepts claim no alliance to any demonlord," Kaelen said with a warning glance to her.

"This is not your fight, Hunters." Lord Je'Kaoron gave her a scolding look, but she knew him better than that.

"But it is." Nadia searched her head for an excuse. "You have a promise to keep."

His face darkened. "You cannot force a promise from a dead man."

Je'Diri snickered. "None of us are indebted to any human." Her face darkened. "Leave, Hunters, before I change my mind."

"Nadia—" Kaelen reached for her.

"No." She stepped away, unafraid of her own mortality or the air of superiority of the lady, typical of most demonlords. She had almost taken her own life in her grief for taking Je'Rol's life, when Lord Je'Kaoron had lifted her from that despair. It would mean nothing if she let him suffer.

"Go, Huntress," Je'Kaoron growled. He shoved her away so hard that her feet tangled and she fell to the soft grass.

Kaelen rushed to her side. "Nadia," he murmured.

She shoved his hands from her and sat up herself while the demonlords closed in on Je'Kaoron and secured his arms.

Pale blue eyes caught hers for only a second before they escorted him away. She saw the sorrow in that instant. He didn't want to go, but he couldn't fight that many and win, nor could she; but she would find a way to rescue him.

"We have no supplies. At least return our horses," Kaelen said.

The demonlords said nothing but continued away with Lord Je'Kaoron at the center as others gathered around them in tiger and in human form, many bloody and injured.

Kaelen helped her to her feet. "Let them go."

Nadia stood and shook off his hands. "They'll kill him."

"What's one less demonlord?"

An orange tiger passing them snarled but continued on its way.

Nadia grabbed the cloak at his throat and pulled him close. "One less demonlord ready for peace. Do you want a war we can't win? That's what we'll get if Je'Rekun's allies take over. Lord Je'Kaoron is working to make this world better for everyone."

His eyes studied her with the same disgust she had seen when she first admitted her feelings for Je'Rol, after she had mistakenly trusted Kaelen enough to reveal that.

If that's how he felt, he could stay there. She shoved him back and started after the demonlords through the killing fields. Bloody orange and white tigers lay strewn about the area, their bodies already attracting swarms of insects. It wouldn't take the natters long to catch the scent of fresh blood. The bodies would likely be gone within a couple of days. She didn't intend to be anywhere near it to be attacked as fresh meat.

"Nadia."

She ignored him, determined to stand up for Je'Kaoron…somehow. Even returning to tell High Lord Je'Dron might be too late.

But that didn't mean Kaelen couldn't.

She halted and turned to see him marching through the grass to meet her. "Return to High Lord Je'Dron and inform him what's happened."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Hah! You've already proven that's not true." She turned and hurried after the retreating demonlords, as much to do something for Je'Kaoron as to get away from Kaelen and the threat of succumbing to the ghosts of the past that returned with him to haunt her.

Heavy steps crunched through grass behind her.

"That wasn't my choice."

Damn liar, it wasn't. Only one man had stood by her and never once pretended to be something he wasn't, and he was drawing further ahead of her, about to be skewered for fighting against the oppression that ruled their world. Nothing Kaelen could say would change her decision, despite her fear of what Je'Rekun's allies might do to her.

"Nadia. This isn't our fight."

"Yes, it is. Why are you still with me?" She quickened her steps to keep pace with the pack ahead. The least she could do was to learn where they were heading.

"Maybe I still care. I don't know."

She let out a huff. "You never cared. It was all about embarrassing me, making me seem weak and unfit to be a demon hunter. I was just a game." The betrayal cut through her, pushing her after the demonlords. She didn't want to be alone with Kaelen and hear his excuses.

One of the tigers looked back with a warning growl.

"They'll kill you," Kaelen said from her side.

"At least I'll die for a friend…something you might learn from."

"Nadia. Nadia, wait."

A hand clamped on her arm pulled her to a stop. She tried to pull away, and when she couldn't, she put her fighting skills to use. He was not holding her back.

Kaelen blocked and moved with her, avoiding punches. When she thought she might finally have him, he twisted and caught her around her throat with his other arm. Thick and hard, his muscles tightened around her throat while he held her wrist twisted aside.