Vengeance Born (The Light Blade #1) (6 page)

She blinked back tears. Perhaps because she had healed and then saved him. What did she have to do to make anyone value her beyond what her gifts could provide them?

Without her, this human would be dead. Annika lifted her chin. She wouldn’t let him make her feel like the dirt under his feet. She was
Na’Chi
, and if he couldn’t see past his own fear of the
Na’Reish
then his preconceptions were his problem.

The brisk night breeze whistled through the branches of the trees. She peered skyward to watch them sway and dance in the moonlight. Many in the fortress feared the forest, claiming it was too quiet, eerie in its stillness, but she loved it. She inhaled the pleasant, earthy odor of leaf litter carried on the night air, and allowed it to calm her frayed nerves. But with peace came the niggling of her conscience. Her steps slowed. She stopped in another clearing and closed her eyes.

What if Kalan decided to strike off on his own? He’d eventually find a trail out of the valley but he knew nothing about the
Na’Hord
Patrols. He was a warrior, but unarmed he’d stand little chance against a pair of hunting
Vorc
. Free of their restraints and unleashed the vicious animals would kill a human on sight.

Behind her a branch snapped, the sound crisp and sharp. Her nostrils flared. An earthy, spicy scent, heavy with salty sweat and the dampness of river water filled her lungs. A familiar bitter tinge of controlled fear underscored it.

The human.

“So red means you’re hungry.” Kalan’s deep, low-pitched voice came from one side of the clearing. “What does yellow mean?”

The comment was an opening, even though he couldn’t quite manage a neutral tone, if she wanted to take it. He stood in the shadows of one of the trees, his arms folded, his stance wide, still wary.

She mimicked his pose. “Why would I want to expose myself to your arrogant, narrow-minded attitude again?”

The muscles along his shoulders bunched. His lips thinned along with his gaze. He took a deep breath, then another before inclining his head. “I deserved that.”

The words were stilted, bitten off, grudgingly given but as close to an apology as she was going to get.

“We need each other,
Na’Chi
.” His admission came from between clenched teeth.

The idea of relying on someone who could barely stand her presence had her temper flaring again. She cast a quick glance at the forest. Three steps, that’s all it would take. Three steps and the darkness would conceal her. Without the benefit of night-sight, he wouldn’t be able to follow her, not with any speed.

But what was she going to do once she left him? She couldn’t return to the fortress. She couldn’t enter human territory without his protection. That only left hiding in the forest. Surviving off the land was possible, but years of unending loneliness stretched before her. What sort of life would that be?

Annika fixed her gaze on the Light Blade warrior once more. She wasn’t willing to concede anything yet. “Out here you need me, human.”

A muscle in his cheek twitched. “And once we reach human territory, you’ll need me.” One eyebrow lifted. “Do we keep arguing until a Patrol hears us and the problem is resolved or will we begin cooperating as your friend Hesia encouraged us to do?”

Just like that, he resurrected her long-sought-after dream.

“Your eyes still have yellow flecks.” His reminder lacked subtlety. The last thing she wanted to do was to give him an advantage over her by answering him. He shrugged. “Have it your way,” he said and pivoted on his heel. “I’ll make it to the border without your help.”

He was leaving her? As he reached the edge of the clearing he showed no signs of slowing. She licked dry lips and took a breath.

“Yellow is fear.”

He stopped. Her heart thudded so hard she could feel it against her ribs. When he turned back to her, his expression was slack with surprise. “You’re afraid of me?”

“You’re the first Light Blade warrior I’ve met. You kill demons. How do you think I’d feel? If you’d had your sword a moment ago, would you have drawn it?”

“You said you were hungry.”

“There’s a lot of difference between hungry and starving.”

“The
Na’Reish
aren’t known for curbing their impulses when they’re hungering for blood.”

“I’m
Na’Chi
, not
Na’Reish
!” She bit back her anger, unable to refute the truth in his statement. Their conversation was rapidly deteriorating. Again. She wished Hesia were with her. She’d have handled this situation much better.

Annika’s legs trembled as Kalan walked toward her and halted an arm’s length away.

“Let’s stop bluffing one another.” Weariness leeched into the tone of his voice. “You’re the first
Na’Chi
I’ve met. With five hundred years of conflict between the
Na’Reish
and us, can you fault me for being wary of someone who has inherited their penchant for blood?”

He had a point.

“I’ll give you the same promise I gave your friend. I won’t harm you, if you don’t attack me.”

Annika peered up at his shadowed face, looking for a flicker of deception. His scent remained the same but caution urged her to make sure. “Swear it by the
Lady
.”

He frowned. “My word is my oath.”

Hesia had always told her Light Blades would honor any oath they made but he’d already turned on her once. “Swear it by
Her
name. Now.”

He stiffened as if offended. Too bad.

“By the
Lady
I swear I won’t harm you if you don’t attack me.” Again his words were uttered from between clenched teeth. “Satisfied?”

She gave a curt nod. “It’ll do.”

“You mentioned
Na’Hord
Patrols earlier. We need to avoid them. Your night vision is better than mine. I almost broke my ankle following you in here.” His jaw flexed. “If you’d lead me through this forest I’d appreciate your help.”

Kalan extended a large hand. She stared at it. Was this some trick? His expression was tight, angry, and he made no move to hide it from her even as the silence between them grew. She chewed her bottom lip.

Trust has to start somewhere
. Hesia’s wisdom echoed in her head.

Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand in his. Her palm tingled as his warm skin touched hers. For the first time since fleeing the fortress, she felt hope and something more. He unsettled her in a way no other man or demon ever had.

“There are some caves just ahead of us,” she said. “We can hide in them during the day when the Patrols or any other people from the fortress frequent the forest.”

“How long will it take us to get there?”

“An hour, perhaps a little more given the dark.”

“Then lead on…”

For the moment he seemed willing to trust her. The idea warmed her more than it should have. She pursed her lips. Perhaps
tolerate
was a better, safer word to use. The memory of too many years of being betrayed hovered at the back of her mind. And they still had to get out of
Na’Reish
territory unscathed.

Would he abandon her once they reached the safety of the border? Hand her over to the humans at Whitewater Crossing? Kill her? Annika rolled her tense shoulders as she led the way through the trees.

For now, they were allies. She’d guide them both to freedom. For now she’d trust him, but if he thought she’d be an easy mark later on, he’d discover his error soon enough.

KALAN couldn’t recall how many times he stubbed his toes on tree roots or trod on rocks hidden beneath the debris littering the trail in the journey that followed but exhaustion dogged his every step. Time narrowed to putting one foot ahead of the other.

The cold no longer mattered but the days spent in the dungeon had waged an exacting toll on his body. His muscles ached, despite Annika’s healing, yet he was determined not to complain. They needed to get away from the fortress. A day, maybe two, in his weakened state would see him at the boundary between
Na’Reish
and human territory.

“There’s a log ahead of us.” Her soft voice drew him from his thoughts.

He felt a change in their grip as he heard the quiet scrape of her dress brush over something rough. He’d given up straining his eyes trying to see his surroundings. The world had narrowed to shadowed forms and whatever his other senses could decipher. About waist height in front of him, he touched smooth bark.

“If you sit down you’ll be able to swing your legs over more easily.”

Being dependent on someone else was a humbling experience. He’d expected Annika to take advantage of his blindness, to punish him for his earlier attitude, but she hadn’t. And that went against everything he knew about her paternal heritage.

Was that because of Hesia’s influence? Or was she planning something more devious?

“Rest here.” She released her hold on his hand and, for a moment, he regretted the loss of her touch. There was a soft rasping sound as if she was looking in her pouch. “I see the river over to our right.” He heard the rushing sound of water over rocks. “I have a flask in here somewhere. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Kalan sighed wearily, content to rest on the log as she headed for the river. The night air was cold and still around him. The trek had left him warm but he knew they didn’t dare rest for too long. As she returned, Annika’s tread was deliberately heavy.

“Here, drink this.” She pressed a wet flask into his hand. The cool water tasted sweet. Despite the temptation, he only drank half then offered it to her. “Keep it. I drank at the river.”

“Thank you.” He drank again then recapped it. “The ground is steadily rising. We’re headed up an incline. How much farther to the caves?”

“Perhaps a quarter-hour.” She touched his arm. His skin tingled. “I know you’re tired. Would you let me… help you?”

“What do you mean?”

“A part of my Gift is being able to feel energy levels. It’s how I know when to stop healing someone.” She paused again. “I can pass some of my energy on to you, if you would permit it.”

He could feel the
Lady
’s power inside her through the touch they shared, the resonance so similar to his own. He knew of no other healer capable of doing what she claimed she could. It wasn’t unheard of, the
Lady
’s power being passed from one generation of Light Blade warriors to the next. It was rare but possible. Her mother must have been exceptionally talented.

Annika was
Na’Chi
, an anomaly. Not that he’d voice that thought aloud. But having already experienced her healing touch, Kalan inclined his head. “All right.”

His arm grew warm as the power of her Gift increased. It poured into his body, gently at first, like waves lapping against a bank, but then steadily grew in strength, sweeping away his exhaustion. With it he could feel his senses sharpening, becoming more alert. As the power faded, she withdrew her hand. It left him feeling refreshed and warm once again.

“Thank you.” Although her face was shadowed, he saw her duck her head as if uncomfortable with his gratitude. “Why do you do that?”

She was silent a moment then her gaze met his, level, steady. The flecks within her eyes glowed a burnt crimson. The skin between his shoulder blades crawled. She was hungry again.

“Very few want me to touch them once they know what I am. And those who do allow me are often too afraid to remember.”

Her reply gave him pause. He couldn’t imagine living without belonging, without approval, without a loving family. With all the suffering she’d experienced, why did she continue to help those who rejected her? He didn’t know if he’d be so noble. “Then why do you keep healing?”

“Because I can’t imagine doing anything else.” She jumped off the log. “We’d better keep moving. Dawn isn’t far away.”

Kalan grunted and pushed to his feet. She held out her hand and he took it. They followed the edge of the river using an animal trail. Underfoot the ground was smoother, compacted by hooves and paw prints, and the moonlit sections were more frequent, much to his relief. It gave him some independence.

“How do you know about these caves?” he whispered.

“I found them by accident while out foraging for herbs. I needed shelter from a summer storm. Most of the caves are too small for anything but animals, but the one I found is large enough to shelter in. I’ve used it for overnight stays before. No one else knows about it.” Annika spared him a glance over her shoulder and he heard her take a deeper breath. “It’s my safe haven. A place where I can find peace and forget about who and what I am.” Her gaze held his a moment longer then dropped away, as if she expected some ridiculing remark.

The stark loneliness of her life struck Kalan low in his gut. Anyone else would have sought out the company of friends. She’d found solace in a cold, empty cave. Was she expecting him to respond? Should he? In the end, he couldn’t think of anything to say. Her truth was something he just had to accept.

Passing through another clearing he peered upward. The stars were no longer bright pinpricks of light in a curtain of black. Grey tinged the eastern sky. Ahead he could see the silhouetted shape of a small, rocky hill covered in bushes.

Annika’s arm suddenly slapped against his midriff. “Stop!” she hissed and glanced to her right.

He could see nothing but shadows along the opposite bank of the river. “What?”

He heard her inhale. “Can’t you smell that?”

The pungent odor of mud from the river and the scent of his own sweat filled his lungs as he took a deep breath. Whatever she sensed eluded him.

A howl shattered the quiet of the forest.

“Vorc!”

The word sent a cold shiver skittering down his spine. The predatory animals were used by the
Na’Reish
to hunt humans. It was how he’d been captured. They’d been used to sniff out humans who’d run from the raiding party and hidden within the woods. If the beasts hadn’t been muzzled and controlled by their trainers, he and the half-dozen villagers hiding with him would have been torn to shreds.