Vengeance Born (The Light Blade #1) (12 page)

Kalan grimaced and scrubbed a hand over his face. “In exchange for her help getting out of the fortress, I promised to take her to Sacred Lake and protect her.”

“An honor debt.” Vash grunted. “Perhaps you could turn this to your advantage then. Hand her over to the Blade Council. Being who she is, who knows what sort of information she might have about
Na’Reish
warrior numbers and the like.”

The Blade Council knew next to nothing about the
Na’Rei
’s defenses. They were going to need every advantage available if they had any hope of stopping Patrols from raiding across the border.

He peered over his shoulder. Annika sat by the small shelter, leaning back against the wooden wall, her arms clasped around her drawn-up knees, looking as tired as he felt.

And alone.

Don’t be fooled by her looks
. She’d used him. She didn’t deserve his empathy. Did she?

“Here.” Vash’s gravelly voice broke into his thoughts. The older man handed him a small pile of faded clothes, worn but in better condition than Kalan’s garb. “They’re not much but they’re clean and certainly warmer than what you have on. Change in the all-weather cabin.”

Nodding his thanks, Kalan took them and glanced at Annika again. She’d placed her head on her knees. A vulnerable pose. Deceptively so. He shook his head. She had a strength of will most men lacked. That, coupled with her skill when it came to killing demons, or humans, proved she was as accomplished as any Light Blade warrior.

Something he’d better never forget.

“I’ll watch her.”

Nodding his thanks to Vash, Kalan headed for the small cabin. Changing would only take a few minutes, then Annika was going to need that inner strength. It was time she answered his questions.

Annika drew in a slow, deep breath to ease the thumping of her heart as Kalan’s footsteps retreated to the all-weather cabin. Over the sound of the ferry disembarking, she’d caught parts of his conversation with Vash. What were his plans for her? He’d neither confirmed nor denied any suggestion made by the river-trader.

“Sometimes Light Blade warriors take their honor too seriously when it would benefit them more to bend a little.” Vash’s voice sounded closer than before. Annika glanced up to find him, Maren, and another walking toward her. “But I have no problem dealing with rock-scum like you.”

The pungent scent of their hostility raised the hairs on the back of Annika’s neck. A rush of adrenaline cleared away her fatigue.

“I don’t care why you helped this Light Blade escape from Savyr’s fortress but I do care that your father will come looking for you. We both know he won’t be happy.” Vash’s grey eyes narrowed. “What I need to know is how many Patrols will he send to my village looking for you?”

So that was to be the way of it. Kalan had left Vash to question her, unable to stomach doing it himself? Annika scrambled to her feet, unwilling to face them all while sitting down.

Maren seized her injured arm, his fingers clamping directly over the newly healed wound. Gritting her teeth, she tried to pull away only to find her other arm caught. Both Maren and the other man hauled her back toward the wall of the all-weather cabin and slammed her against it. The impact drove the breath from her lungs.

“I noticed you favoring this arm earlier,” Maren hissed. His fingers dug into her shoulder. Pain shot through it, numbing every muscle along the length of her arm. “How many Patrols track you?”

“I don’t know.”

He scolded her with a tongue clucking noise. “Wrong answer,
Na’Chi
.”

He twisted her arm until every muscle, tendon, and ligament screamed in protest. Nausea flooded her belly. She bit the inside of her cheek, her temper flaring at Maren’s brutal tactics.

“Think carefully, demon, and answer my father with the truth. Claim you don’t know again and I’ll break your arm.” The whispered threat increased her anger. Compared to her father, Maren’s technique was amateur.

“What are you doing?” Kalan’s sudden question saved her from answering. She couldn’t turn her head without putting more pressure on her wrenched arm but she heard his rapid approach. “Release her.”

Maren and the other man made no move to obey until Vash nodded. Sensation rushed back into her arm. Light-headed, she slumped against the wall, and bit back a groan.

“I thought you’d appreciate a few answers.” Vash folded his arms. “Her kind don’t tend to tell the truth without a little persuasion.”

“I’ll ask my own questions, river-trader.” Kalan’s voice was clipped, short. “I don’t need your… help.”

Disappointment speared through Annika. So much for Light Blade honor.

Vash grunted then signaled his men to return to work. “Suit yourself.” He retreated to stern.

She glanced warily at Kalan. Was his anger for Vash or her? She straightened, unwilling to cower like she’d been forced to do with her father as he’d punished her for some infraction; defenseless, too vulnerable.

Kalan turned his stormy gaze on her. “Why’d you lie to me?”

Her mouth dried. The muscles across his broad shoulders were bunched, tight, and his knuckles had whitened where they grasped his folded arms as if he was restraining himself from grabbing her.

Fear clawed in her gut. Would he pick up where Vash had left off if she refused to answer him?

“I didn’t lie to you.” To her shame, her voice trembled. “I neglected to tell you something important.”

“You used deflection and deception.” His accusation cut like a whip. She flinched. “When were you going to tell me who you were?”

“Would you have helped me had you known who I was?” she demanded. His silence answered for him. “Hesia might have had faith in your reputation as a Light Blade but I didn’t, not when my life hung in the balance.”

His face darkened with her reckless tone. “Your life? Your lineage ensured your status among the
Na’Reish
.”

Blood drained from her face. She sucked in a ragged breath. “You think that gave me an advantage?” Her voice rose and cracked. “My father barely tolerated me.”

“Then why did he let you live?”

“Revenge.” She bit out the word even before she had the chance to think.

Kalan blinked then a slow frown marred his brow.
Merciful Mother,
surely he didn’t imagine her father
cared
for her? Her temper soared higher.

“Savyr’s firstborn son was killed by a Light Blade warrior.” Trembling, she ground out the facts past stiff lips. “He wanted the human responsible dead, but that was before he learned the warrior had offspring of his own. A
daughter
. So, he captured her instead then raped her until she fell pregnant.”

Chills raced along her arms. The memory of watching her father’s dark lips peel back over his fangs in a malicious smile terrified her even now. He’d taken such pleasure in telling her how her mother had screamed and fought him. Even knowing how sadistic and malicious he could be, the thought of him forcing her mother, time after time, made her sick to her soul.

While raping slaves wasn’t condoned by the
Na’Reish
, it was a practice rarely spoken about. Especially considering bloodline purity played such a prominent role in their culture. Many talked about Savyr’s obsession for revenge but few were naïve enough to question him about it in his presence.

Annika clenched her hands. “He made sure she couldn’t kill herself or injure the baby inside her so that she’d lose it. For nearly eleven months, he’d kept her chained to a bed in his private chambers, her every move observed by loyal blood-slaves.”

Kalan still watched her, his gaze intense, his expression shuttered. Unlike the other humans in her father’s household, he hadn’t flinched or grimaced with the details of her mother’s story. Did he believe her?

It shocked her to realize she wanted him to, badly. Blood pounded in her head. Had it been a mistake to tell him anything? She couldn’t hold his gaze and stared at the wooden boards beneath her boots. When would she learn not to care about what others thought?

Her fingernails bit into the skin on the palms of her hands. He was going to hear the rest of the story whether he believed her or not.

“Once I was born, Savyr intended sending us back to her father. The disgrace of returning with a
Na’Chi
child would’ve satisfied my father’s need for revenge, but the birthing was difficult. It took too long. My mother died. If I believe his version of events, she did it just to spite him. Sending me back to my grandfather alone served no purpose. There was no proof of my bloodline. So, he kept me and has reminded me daily of why I existed.”

His blood runs through your veins.
Savyr’s angry mantra echoed in her head.
Breaking you is the only satisfaction I have left.

Defying him had brought her a great amount of satisfaction. She wanted to believe her endurance and strength were traits inherited from her mother.

The smile that stretched her lips felt brittle, crooked. “Someone had to pay for the death of his son.”

Her past was distasteful, yet worse was the hope and assumption that Kalan might accept her. The expressionless mask on his face gave away nothing but his recent actions proved he was just like everyone else. He didn’t care.

Annika buried her disappointment and hurt deep but couldn’t stop trembling. She’d made a mistake thinking her life could be anything different. Hesia’s love was a blessing and she’d abandoned her to follow a
haze
-induced dream.

She met Kalan’s eyes, her gaze steady but inside she felt as frozen as the water rushing beneath the ferry. Her next words, forced from between numb lips, felt like shards of ice slicing her throat. “Tell me, Light Blade, what privileges do you think I inherited being
bred
as a tool of retribution?”

Kalan stood silently, reeling from shock as the rawness of Annika’s emotions washed over him. Hesia had warned him but he’d never realized the full extent of what she’d meant. Until now.

While instinct cautioned him not to believe her, he suspected Annika wasn’t lying. Savyr’s brutality was legendary. In the last five years alone he’d slaughtered every member of two
Na’Reish
clans who’d dared raid across the border without his sanction. To use a child, someone so innocent and vulnerable, to satisfy a blood-debt was unthinkable. Immoral. Her tale left an acrid taste in his mouth.

Annika turned her back on him and walked to the other side of the ferry. Kalan tried to hold on to his anger but the revelations of the last few minutes and her hunched shoulders projected such aching loneliness and despair that maintaining it was impossible.

Mother of Mercy
, how had Annika dealt with being told every day of her life that she was only a means to an end? She had as much reason to despise her father as he did. He very much doubted anyone could fake the stark loathing he’d heard in her voice as she’d recounted her story. The shadows in her gaze hinted at more, at a dark self-hatred only a lifetime of abuse could cause.

The memory of stripping her naked in the cave was vivid. The scars on her back came from being beaten. And there were too many marking her skin for it to have happened only once. Savyr’s behavior would’ve encouraged others to treat her in much the same fashion. What additional horrors had she endured at the hands of her father? The other
Na’Reish
? The human-slaves?

How could he have accused her of living a privileged existence? She was an outcast. Ostracized by all except the old healer.
Lady of Light
, it was a miracle she hadn’t become as embittered and vengeful as her father. Instead, she healed others and dreamed of freedom.

Annika had deceived him, but
Lady
forgive him, she hadn’t deserved his anger, especially considering the secret he hadn’t shared with her.

Kalan sighed roughly and moved toward Annika. She tensed. The flecks in her eyes were black as her gaze slashed up to meet his.

“So, do you now slide a knife between my ribs and slip my body overboard to save everyone the trouble of what to do with me?”

Her tone was biting, caustic. Unsurprising considering how he’d treated her but the remark wasn’t aimed at provoking him. He recognized it for what it was. Armor.

She’d lashed out at him to keep from being hurt again. And he had hurt her. Unforgivably. He’d blamed her for his own weakness and desperation to escape. Her actions were a convenient scapegoat for him to hang his guilt. The injustice of what he’d done ate at him.

Honor demanded he make amends. The path the
Lady
encouraged him to walk was undeniably a challenging one.

“I should have listened to my own instincts back in the dungeon, when I believed you were evading my questions. The responsibility of what I chose to do then lies with me, not you. Implying otherwise was wrong. Hesia tried to warn me your life among the
Na’Reish
hadn’t been easy. I should have listened to her. I’m sorry.”

Her involuntary start reminded him she rarely expected apologies. She remained silent, her breathing uneven as she fought for control of her emotions. Her pain was very much his fault.

“Are you going to hand me over to your Council?” Astonishment must have shown on his face because one side of her mouth curled upward into a cynical smile. “
Na’Chi
have excellent hearing, Light Blade. Did you forget that?”

He had. “Despite what’s happened, our bargain stands.”

“I misled you.” Her chin lifted. “I don’t expect you to honor it.”

A convenient out, if he wanted it. His estimation of her grew. Few men could have made a decision like that; most would have begged to renegotiate. Somehow he doubted Annika had ever pleaded for anything. It just wasn’t her way.

Deep inside, he rejected the idea of taking the coward’s way out. Curiosity prompted his next question. “What would you do if we part ways?”

She shrugged. “There’s always the need for a healer somewhere.”

Too general an answer for his satisfaction but he didn’t press her.