“She confessed,” I panted. “She wasn’t coerced. She was here, in the swamp, waiting to meet Sariah.”
His gaze shot to my hands where they clawed at him, to the bangles clanking on my wrists. “No.”
“She’ll get a fair trial.” Wu appeared behind Knox and rested a hand on his shoulder. “It will be up to her peers, not the cadre or their coteries, to decide what punishment she’s earned.”
“You’re hurting. I understand that.” Thom prowled over to us, his fingers tipped by claws. “But you’re taking your anger out on Luce, and I won’t abide that. It’s not her fault your daughter made the choices she did, and you will not punish her for them.”
A flicker of betrayal brightened Knox’s eyes, but then he nodded, almost to himself, as if remembering Thom was coterie first. He was no longer living among the enclave, and no longer subordinate to Knox.
One by one, Knox loosened his fingers then pried them from my throat like the effort cost him.
“I want to see Kimora.” He took a step back, metal hand flexing down by his side. He wasn’t done with me yet, but he was lucid enough to recognize he was outgunned. Payback, when it happened, wouldn’t come in front of witnesses. “Where is my daughter?”
A door creaked open, and heavy footsteps hit the planks. Cole rounded the corner with Kimora in tow. He had zip tied her hands behind her back, but she otherwise looked fine. In contrast, he noted the tender skin on my throat that would bruise, and then he turned a glacial stare on Knox.
“Luce ordered leniency for your daughter on your behalf.” Cole stopped an arm’s length away from Knox. “Touch my mate again, and I won’t show mercy.”
Knox paled under the threat, but he barked, “Release my daughter.”
“This isn’t your daughter.” Cole drew a pocket knife, flicked it open, then stabbed her in the gut. “Show him.”
Knox roared his fury, but Wu caught him around the middle before he could attack Cole.
“Daddy.” Kimora writhed in Cole’s grasp, pain washing the color from her cheeks. “Help me.” Blood spilled down the front of her shirt, saturating the waistband of her pants. “Please, Daddy. I’m sorry. Don’t let him hurt me again.”
Mouth tight, Cole ripped the knife free then plunged it in again. He repeated the process three more times while Knox fought Wu for every inch he gained, but Cole stood firm. The fifth wound broke her, and her skin bubbled, stretched, ripped. At the last second, Cole turned her loose, and a Drosera exploded from her body, almost landing on top of Knox.
“No.” He hit the pier on his knees and stared into the gaping mouth of the beast who had murdered his daughter for her body. “No.”
Shock glued Wu’s feet to the planks, and he made no move to scoop Knox out of harm’s way.
“Shit on a shingle.” I dove for the Drosera, landing on its back. “Get out of the way.” I locked my thighs around its heaving sides and pummeled the base of its skull with my fists until the skin split. “Move.”
Cole lunged for Knox, shoving him back into Wu, and they all three hit the water seconds after the Drosera’s meaty jaws snapped closed over the air where Knox had been kneeling.
“Little help here?” I slid down the gator’s spine as it whipped its body back and forth. “My eight seconds are up.”
Light of foot, Thom leapt onto the Drosera’s back. Thanks to its attempts to death roll me off its back, he sat in front of me. Claws out, he sank those sharp anchors into that tough hide and held on. He opened his mouth, and his canines elongated into needlelike points he drove into the Drosera with each savage bite he delivered to the heavily plated neck.
The narcotic effect of Thom’s saliva wasn’t working fast enough. We were all too tired, too beat, for yet another fight. Eager to end things, Miller piled on in front of Thom with a dagger he sank into the Drosera’s side. With a sawing motion, he started cutting down its body until blood and organs spilled across the planks. Thank God Knox was too shocked to equate what was being done to the Drosera with his daughter from where he watched from the water.
Kimora was gone. Just as Uncle Harold had been gone. Until this moment, I hadn’t realized a viscarre charun could take another charun as a host. But she had been a demi, at least half human with plenty more in her family tree. That must have given the Drosera enough of a toehold to slip into her skin. What it bargained for, how it tricked her, we would never know. Though I could guess their deal involved protecting her father and the enclave.
After the fight went out of the gator, we hopped off and watched until it quit twitching. Once we were certain it was dead, we rolled it off the pier into the water where it landed with a splash and floated belly-up, bobbing slightly.
The chaos meant I hadn’t noticed when Cole climbed onto the pier. I wasn’t sure if he bodily hoisted Knox onto the planks or if Wu, who sat beside him, had helped. Then again, Wu wasn’t looking so hot. Cole might have fished them both out of the swamp.
“Kimora didn’t give up the enclave.” That much was clear now. “Based on Sariah’s half of the story, I’m guessing she spotted Kimora during an aerial patrol over the warehouse. Maybe she even followed us to find her the first time. Once she puzzled out Kimora’s link to Wu and Ezra, she sicced a member of her coterie on her. Sariah wanted intel on Ezra to plan her strategy, and that was the only way they could get it.”
The fact remained Kimora would have had to agree to a bargain for the Drosera to claim her skin, but she was just a kid. A few years younger than me, but lifetimes younger by any definition. They could have hurt her, scared her, God only knows what, until she gave in.
Knox kept right on ignoring me, but I don’t think he was capable of processing anymore.
When my phone rang, I was tempted to ignore it. Whoever was calling couldn’t have good news, and I was full up on bad. But I couldn’t risk it being a call from Dad or the Rixtons, so I answered. “Boudreau.”
“She ate the cat,” Dad bellowed. “What do I do?”
“Back up.” I rubbed my eyes with my fingertips, grimacing when I smeared blood on my face. “Who ate the cat? A real cat, right? Not a charun cat?”
“Phoebe,” he panted. “And no. I don’t think so. I’m not sure.”
“Phoebe,” I said slowly. “She ate a cat of undetermined species?”
Cole’s head shot up at the mention of his daughter, and I gave him a thumbs up to show she was okay.
“Yes.” Dad grunted. “Where did — ? Oh God. Miranda. Don’t run. It will make her … ” His panting voice filled the line. “Don’t chase her. No. Don’t — Biting is bad. No biting.”
“You’re telling me the pod we left with you hatched?” That Luce, always quick on the uptake.
“You’ve got to help me. I don’t know what to do. What can she eat? Do I walk her or … ?”
“She’s a kid.” I gestured Cole over so he could weigh in. “Feed her what you fed me. Walking her makes her sound like a pet. Just play with her.”
A miniature prehistoric roar so tiny it could have been background noise from one of the dinosaur documentaries Dad enjoyed watching pricked my ears.
“She’s a dragon?” I fisted the front of Cole’s shirt when he got close enough to reach. “Phoebe is a dragon?”
Portia coughed into her fist. “You do understand what happens when a daddy dragon and a mommy dragon bump scales, right?”
“I thought she would be a child. A humanish child. I … ” I banged my head against his chest. “I’m an idiot. Of course she would revert to her natural form. It’s instinct. This way she’s got teeth and claws to defend herself.”
“Put Cole on,” Dad urged. “He knows what to do. Right?”
The edge of panic in his voice clinched it. “We’ll be right there, Dad.”
I ended the call with no clue how to make a graceful exit. Cole’s daughter — our daughter — had woken. It was cruel to plan a reunion in front of Knox while his daughter’s blood cooled on the planks. She might not have been K
imora when she died in front of him, but she had looked like her, and he would carry those images with him for the rest of his hopefully long life.
“Go.” Wu stared at nothing in particular. “I’ll take care of Knox.”
Knox didn’t respond to his name or anything else. Eyes hollow, he stared at the spot where Kimora had stood before the Drosera ripped her body to shreds as it shifted forms and obliterated any hope of him getting his child back.
Miller crossed to me, rested a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll keep an eye on them.”
“I’ll bite them,” Thom decided. “Rest will do them both good.”
Rest did nothing to mend the heart or heal the soul, but sleep allowed for a temporary escape, and I was grateful for my coterie pulling together to tend our allies while Cole and I handled personal business.
Certain the bunkhouse was empty, I asked, “Any word on Rixton’s whereabouts?”
“He left a note.” Miller passed it over. “He’s with the enclave. Says he’ll catch a ride back.”
“All righty then.” Linking my hand with Cole’s, I puffed out my cheeks. “We should hurry before she decides Dad looks tasty.”
Amusement danced in his eyes. “If she ate a cat, she won’t be hungry for a while.”
Clearly the unexpected awakening of his kiddo had done wonders for his disposition. He might have been on the fence about waking her, but what was done was done, and it was obvious he was eager to see her again.
Worried for Dad in light of this news, I pressed Cole. “How long is a while?”
“An hour or two.”
“Oh God.”
This time I didn’t wait for Cole to sprout wings and fly me. I embraced my inner dragon and let her carry me away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Despite my head start, Cole beat me to Haven by a mile, which was a good thing considering I had no idea where I was going when I blasted off in a vague direction I hoped found my dad at the end of it. Another time, I might have wallowed in awe at the sight of the dragon gliding beside me, his majesty and grace breathtaking. Especially when I wasn’t on his back. But I was too winded to do more than grunt when he called to me, and I couldn’t return the tender caress of wing along wing, somehow more intimate than holding hands as humans, because any deviation in my flight pattern caused me to sink like a stone.
When Haven came into view, I hit upon another problem. The ledge entry was narrow, meant for humanoid charun with wings. Not dragons. Cole had managed the feat, but he was born in this shape. The problem registered too late for me to do anything about it but backbeat my wings and hope for the best.
My best resulted in me smashing chest-first into the side of the mountain and sliding down onto the ledge where I traded skins and just lay there, spent.
A dragon’s roar bounced off the rock and rang in my ears, giving me an instant headache to go alongside the brutal aches and pains from impact.
“Luce.”
Eyes closing, I groaned an answer.
A shadow fell across my face. “Anything broken?”
“Everything.” I winced. “All of it’s broken.”
A soft laugh escaped him that irked me enough to crank open my lids. He was there to kiss my forehead, right where it hurt, and then to examine me with gentle fingers for lasting injuries.
“You’re lucky. You’re scraped and bruised, but you’ll walk it off.”
“That implies I’ll be standing and moving around anytime soon.”
A feminine shriek, faded from distance, reached my ears, and I shot upright, hissing through the throbbing agony. “Miranda.”
Cole helped me onto my feet and got us through the door. “I’ll track her down.”
“You do that.” I limped along, keeping a hand on the wall for balance. “I’m right behind you.”
Right behind him. Right … a few feet behind him. Maybe several yards. How long was a mile?
The skittering of claws alerted me I had company. Given the fact other charun lived here, the source might have been one of the residents, but I didn’t have that kind of luck.
A flash of silvery scales was my only warning before a bundle of baby dragon the size of a corgi plowed into me. Her front legs hit me in the dead center of my chest, right where I was bruised the worst, and I fell back, cracking my already tender head on the floor.
Oxygen whistled through my teeth as I panted through the worst pain. I couldn’t draw breath to scream or speak or much of anything else, so I let my head hit the stone floor a second time and waited to see what Phoebe would do.
A pudgy face, covered in scales so thin and shimmery they showed pink skin underneath, peered down at me. Phoebe trilled a question, and I wheezed. The sound delighted her, and she ran three quick circles from my chest to my groin before butting me under the chin with her head. The fuzz masquerading as her mane tickled my nose, and I sneezed. The sound startled her, and … she peed on me.
With great effort, I wedged myself into a sitting position. The second I was vertical, she ran up my arm and curled her tail around my throat to anchor her as she perched on my shoulder. Black spots danced in my vision, but I inserted two fingers gently between her lithe body and my neck, forcing her to loosen her stranglehold on me.
Damp, smelly, achy, and lightheaded, I got to my feet and went in search of Cole and Dad.
The whole time, Phoebe trilled, clicked, and chirped a mile a minute. I got the feeling she was filling me in on her adventures, and I wished I could understand what she was saying. Her tiny shudders of laughter reminded me of Cole’s larger ones, and I was curious what mischief had struck her funny bone.
Ahead of us, Cole turned a corner, putting him at the end of the long hall we had been wandering. “I should have stuck with you.” Eyes bright on Phoebe, I don’t think he was breathing. “Where did you find her?”
“She found me.”
The sound of his voice caught her attention, and she puffed up her chest, flaring her wings.
“She’s protecting you.” His voice went soft. “I won’t hurt you, Phoebe. Do you remember me?”
Her low snarl made it apparent that no, she didn’t remember him. And I could see it breaking his heart even while he kept his smile pinned in place.
“Did you find Dad?” I started closing the gap between us. “I haven’t heard any more screams.”
“He’s calming down Miranda. She heard the commotion and went to investigate. Phoebe liked the smell, fish have always been her favorite meal, and gave chase. The others locked themselves in their rooms once they spotted the trouble. They’re all nonpredatory species, so it’s for the best.”
The small dragon on my shoulder wasn’t impressed with the hulking male who couldn’t take his eyes off her. The closer we got to each other, the more vicious her growl until she was using her grip on my throat to hang forward by her tail while swiping her kittenish claws at him.
I had to admit — It was adorable having my own pint-sized defender.
While I wasn’t sure how well I would mesh with a kid, a dragon was a whole different matter. She was the most precious little thing I had ever seen, and I could imagine dressing her in dog sweaters and carrying her around in a purse like a chihuahua. On second thought, seeing as how she was Cole’s daughter, he would likely have an opinion on that.
Footsteps had me turning, expecting Dad to round the bend, but it was Kapoor who emerged.
“Hey.” I offered him a tentative smile. “I didn’t know you were here.”
No emotion crossed his features. His eyes remained blank and dark, like he was seeing a stranger.
“Oh.” I clutched at Phoebe when she wiggled. “Wait. No.” Her tail slid through my fingers. “Cole, catch her.”
There was no point in telling him. His hands were already there, his daughter cradled safely between them. For a split second. After that, she raced up his arm to curl around his throat and rub her cheek against his while trilling, clicking, and chirping her little heart out to h
im.
“She didn’t recognize you,” I realized. “Once you got close enough to scent, she connected the dots.”
Oddly enough, while most of the catlike coterie wanted to eat their avian counterparts, Kapoor sent off predator vibes rather than prey. Likely a result of his past versus his species. Either way, he made Phoebe anxious.
Scratching under her chin, I searched Cole’s face. “Check on Dad for me?”
“All right,” he said with reluctance. “I’ll be right down the hall.”
After Cole disappeared from view, Kapoor turned fever bright eyes on me.
“There’s something you should know.” He wet his cracked lips. “Adam is using you.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” I bit my tongue. Wu wasn’t here to feed me random trivia, but the quip was habit. “Any particular way he’s using me that I’m not aware of?”
“Has he explained what happens after you kill Ezra?” He stalked closer. “Assuming you get that far?”
“He’s been vague on that part,” I admitted.
“There’s only one way to save this world and to protect its people, and that’s for Conquest, the Seal-Breaker, to die over the breach site. Her blood will lock it. Forever.”
Ice swept over my heart, but this wasn’t Conquest’s doing. It was fear. No, it was terror. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“I didn’t think he would do it.” Kapoor looked at me, through me. “He had a plan. I was onboard. But I didn’t … ” He shook his head. “I wasn’t prepared for how far he was willing to go to see it through. I should have been. I agreed to his terms.”
The time Kapoor spent with Ezra must have broken some vital thing in him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so chatty. His position as a janitor, and his job with the NSB, didn’t lend itself to loose lips. His wouldn’t be flapping now if his very foundation hadn’t been cracked.
“Other Conquests have come before me.” I grasped at straws. “They died here. Why didn’t that work?”
“Sacrifice,” Kapoor hissed. “For the lower terrenes to be blocked from this one forever, you must take your own life.”
Rise Against: A Foundling novel (The Foundling Series) Page 26