by Eden Ashley
“Hey, Kal.”
She punched him in the arm as hard as she could. “I worried about you! What the heck do you think you’re doing?”
“Ow.” He rubbed his shoulder. “I thought I was looking after my girl.”
“I’m not your girl. And you’re an idiot.”
He grinned. “Love makes you do crazy things.”
“Callan, this is serious. That monster you’re harboring inside your body is psycho.”
The amiable smile slipped away. “You’ve only heard one side of the story.”
“Oh yeah?” Kali folded her arms. “Tell me what I missed.”
“Gabriel isn’t the bad guy in this.”
“Wow. So, you mean I misjudged him for killing two police officers and almost a third, ripping a car to shreds—one that my dad and I happened to be inside of—and for trying to kill the man I love? How silly of me.”
Cal shrugged. “Okay, so he had some anger issues. You would too, if you’d lost what he has.”
Kali shook her head. “You have no idea what I’ve lost,” she said hotly.
“I don’t want to fight, Kali.”
“Tell me what Gabriel really wants.”
“He doesn’t let me see that part of him.”
She searched his eyes. After four years of dating, she could tell when Cal was lying. This time he wasn’t. “Then tell me what he lost.”
Cal looked briefly at something over her shoulder. “I have to go,” he said and started to walk away but Kali grabbed his sleeve. “Tell me, Callan. Tell me what Gabriel lost.”
Cal turned to face her. And tracing a thumb slowly across her jawline, Gabriel answered, “I lost someone very special to me.” His eyes flashed. “I’ll see you soon, Darkesong.”
Chapter 20
“Is Rhane going to kill Gabriel?”
Rion and Warren had returned a few minutes after Cal/Gabriel left. But this time, York was with them. Kali sat in the backseat of the truck as they raced along the dark countryside at nearly one hundred miles per hour. Based on what Rhane had told her about York’s discomfort with tight spaces inside vehicles (which was one reason why York’s pickup was so big), she developed a theory. York used high speeds to channel anxiety into adrenaline. As a bonus, the faster he got to his destination, the sooner he could get out of the car.
“I can’t really speak for Rhane these days.” York waved a hand in the air. “He’s being all emotional and unpredictable. But if I had to hazard a guess, I’d say he’s definitely going to give it his all.”
“We can’t let him do it.”
“I hope you won’t think less of me for saying this, but the list of people I’d step in front of a bullet for is pretty short. And your new friend Gabriel ain’t nowhere on it.”
Riding shotgun, War turned so he could see the backseat. “Kalista, it may feel like you have a connection with Gabriel due to your history with the host body. But that is probably why Gabriel chose it. You should stay away.”
“Cal is still in there. I spoke to him.”
“Okay then, look at it this way.” York met her eyes from the rearview mirror. “No Reaper, not even one as powerful as Gabriel, can inhabit a human against their will. Your ex is in this mess willingly. He made the choice to ally himself with a lunatic.”
“Yeah, but he was being a stupid kid when he made that choice.”
“Sometimes bad decisions get you killed. That’s a fact of life.”
“That’s pretty insensitive.”
“It’s pretty realistic.”
“York.” Kali huffed out his name in a frustrated breath and pulled herself forward against the driver’s headrest. “Isn’t there some way to help him?”
“Come up with something reasonable and I’m all ears, sweetheart.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“Sorry.” York grinned unapologetically. “I’m open to any logical suggestion you probably don’t have.”
“What if Cal wasn’t Gabriel’s host anymore? Is there any way for them to separate?”
Rion looked at her like she was nuts. “Do you mean can a Reaper host be un-hosted?”
“Well…yeah.”
York shook his head. “I’ve never heard of it happening.”
“Just because you haven’t doesn’t mean it isn’t possible.”
“What I’m saying is, don’t get your hopes up.”
Kali flopped back into her seat. “I don’t understand why he would’ve done something so stupid.”
For about a mile, everyone was quiet. A sigh from York ended the silence. “Gabriel has had several opportunities to hurt you and he hasn’t. Figuring out his motives needs to be a priority. That could buy Cal some time to come to his senses. I’m not making any promises, but I’ll talk to Rhane. Just don’t you say anything.”
“Why not?”
“Because you sound like you still care about him too much.”
“I can’t stop caring whether someone lives or dies just because we’re not together anymore.”
“No one is asking you to. I’m just saying that—oh hell.” The tires squealed as York emerged from a sharp curve and braked hard, swerving to avoid two cars that were burning in the middle of the road. He swerved again to miss the woman who staggered, bleeding and crying, into the truck headlights.
Kali gasped. Inside of the crumpled sedan, the silhouette of a man slumped over the steering wheel. “Oh my god,” she said.
York stopped the truck near the side of the highway. Debris was everywhere, most of it charred or still smoldering.
War shook his head. “I don’t like it.”
Nudging Kali aside, Rion took her spot between the two seats for a better vantage point. “The blood smells human.”
“It is.” York nodded gravely. “But I don’t like it either.”
Kali looked out the window behind them. The woman had collapsed. And she wasn’t moving. “That woman is really hurt. She needs help.”
“Maybe so.” York’s foot was on the brake. But the gear was still in drive. Rolling down all four windows, he and the kin sat quietly with their ears trained on the darkness outside. Kali couldn’t hear anything past the pounding of her heart. Apparently, sirens didn’t have the super human ability of extra-heightened senses.
“Okay,” York finally said. “This is how this is going to work. Kali, you are going to remain exactly where you are. War, stay with her. If things get hairy, you do not join the fight. Get Kali to safety. Got it?”
“Understood.”
“Rion, you’re with me.”
“York, wait!” Kali slid into the front seat just as he vacated it. “If you really believe this is a trap, then don’t risk it. We don’t know these people. I’d rather not see any of you hurt.”
“It’s alright, kiddo. I’m going to pull this guy out while Rion watches my six, and then we’re out of here. Put the windows up. Lock the doors. Wait a few minutes and then call 911. Now get in the backseat.”
He and Rion quickly moved toward the wreckage and danger that could be waiting in the shadows. Tearing her eyes away from the window, Kali dug her cell phone from her purse.
“Heads up,” War said as she pressed the first one. Something slammed against her window a second later, leaving behind a bloody smear. Kali yelped before she recognized it was the woman.
“Help me.” Her eyes were frenzied and terrified. “Someone, please help.”
“War?”
“We have to stay put.”
Kali looked at the woman’s pleading, tear-filled face and couldn’t just ignore her. “Can we let down the window? At least tell her she’s not alone and help is on the way.”
“I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
With War’s permission, Kali opened the window and soothed the old woman as best she could. “I know you’re hurt, but it’s going to be alright. Help is coming.”
Fresh tears spurted from the woman’s eyes. “I think my husband is dead.”
“My friend went to check on him. He’s going to help.”
“My husband tried to miss them. We hit another car. He tried to miss them but they came out of nowhere. They came out of nowhere! I think he’s dead.”
Kali connected with an operator and tried to give their location while still listening to the woman’s frightened chanting.
“He tried to miss them. They came out of nowhere. Oh god, I think he’s dead.”
York had pulled the man from the car and lowered him to the ground. Kali’s gaze roamed back and forth from the husband to the frantic wife. “Yes. She is conscious. I’m not sure about him.”
“They were big…huge, ugly wolves. Where could they have come from? And that monster…I think I saw the devil. I saw the devil. It was the devil.”
The phone slipped from Kali’s fingers. At the same time, York stopped dead in his tracks.
There were shadows…moving through the darkness. Moans and whistles traveled with them. Leaves shook violently as the trees seemed to vibrate. A wolf skin slid out of York, becoming immense as his human body was swallowed. Then a much smaller wolf of the same color stood next to him, snarling furiously. The shadows erupted, and a dozen Reapers swarmed over the two Warekin. One climbed atop the big wolf’s shoulders, biting at York’s neck and flank. The smaller wolf leapt lithely away from the snapping jaws of a pair of Reapers, spring-boarding off their shoulders to clamp down on big wolf’s attacker. Grabbing the Reaper by the throat, he snatched it from York’s shoulders and flung it aside.
For every Reaper York and Rion put down, two more filled its place. The battle was a heaving mass of fur, teeth, and claws. And the kin were steadily losing ground.
War turned to Kali with determined eyes. “I have to help them.”
She nodded. “I’m okay. Go.”
His fingers flew over the GPS screen in the truck’s dash. “I’ve put in the address for the manor. Get up front. If we can’t put these dogs down, drive away. Don’t stop until you have eyes on Rhane.”
A boy opened the door, but a big russet wolf launched from the truck to join the fray. Together, the Warekin drove the Reapers back until less than half of them remained.
But then the darkness roared.
Kali could feel him. His anger and hunger echoed within in the pit of her stomach. He bellowed again. The asphalt trembled. Gabriel.
An enormous, monstrous form leaped onto the highway, splitting pavement where he landed. Charging forward, Gabriel barreled through the line of Reapers. The ones that didn’t move in time flew like bowling pins as he shoved them aside. He was fast. Too fast. War and Rion scrambled to remove themselves from Gabriel’s path, but there wasn’t time. Kali watched helplessly as York put himself between them and the monster. Even from where she sat, she felt the impact as Gabriel’s mass collided with York and sent him hurtling. The big wolf landed on its side with a sickening thud, nearly fifty feet from where it had stood.
Gabriel’s paw was a blur as he swiped at War. Scythe-like claws destroyed muscle and tendon as they ripped into the red wolf’s shoulder and lifted it into the air. Rion threw himself at Gabriel but was batted away with equal violence. His small form struck the earth and shuddered, not moving again. War’s wolf screamed as Gabriel began pulling it apart from the shoulders. His cries must have roused York for the big wolf rushed back to the fight. Gabriel roared in challenge, digging his claws deeper into War’s hide. Another scream. Bloodcurdling, it rippled with agony, both human and animal with the sound of its pain. The sound shocked Kali…and then she realized the noise had come from her.
At some point, she had exited the truck and now stood only a few yards from the melee. Gabriel had hurt Warren. Was hurting Warren. Her blood boiled, became saturated with fury. A glow emanated from her body, lighting up the night. The strange aura swelled into grey and black flames that pulsated around her. She used her hands to direct the fire, and it obeyed, doing exactly as her mind asked. The fire concentrated and intensified, blasting between Gabriel and the other kin. She brought the wall of fire closer to Gabriel. He half turned his face away. Those red eyes locked hungrily on Kali. She winked, and a Reaper burst into flames.
“Put him down.” Her voice was unrecognizable in her ears.
Obediently, Gabriel dropped War and stepped toward Kali. The red wolf wasn’t moving. The wall of fire surrounded Gabriel, tighter and hotter. Kali closed the circle.
And Gabriel burst into flames.
He howled as the fire ate his flesh, unable to resist the power that fueled it. The remaining Reapers backed away. Kali felt their fear, small and pathetic. She felt a hunger to feed from them. Raising her right hand, another Reaper was engulfed.
Looking back at Gabriel, she saw his monstrous form began to shrink. And then it was Cal kneeling before her.
Instantly, she silenced the fire with her mind. The grey glow expired and the night was dark again.
Gabriel lifted his head. “I meant you no harm.”
“Then why did you attack my friends?”
“I needed to see this beautiful creature inside of you.”
“Seen enough?”
“Ah. Yes. You have grown stronger since our last meeting.”
“I don’t care what body you choose to burn in. I’m going to ask you one more time.” Kali lifted her hand. A sphere of black fire pulsated within it. “What do you want?”
“I want you to remember.”
Gabriel reached for her. She didn’t know why she didn’t stop him. She could have. But she didn’t. Gabriel touched her. And Kali remembered.
Chapter 21
Kalista was alone. Barefoot in a frozen field, she stood listening to sounds of slaughter in the valley below. She looked behind her. The army would return soon. For months, they had campaigned against a horde of barbarians pressing the northern borders of the homeland. Kalista closed her eyes and could almost hear approaching hoof beats. They would not arrive soon enough. Her feet started running.
It took forever to reach the valley. But as she surged through the trees, a sight more horrible than she could have ever imagined greeted her. The people…they were all dead…or dying. Men wearing strange bronze masks carried torches as they rode amongst the carnage. Her stomach made a sickened twist when the masked men began setting bodies on fire.
The voice of a youngling caught her attention. Crying for his mother, his small hands clutched desperately at the garments of a dead woman. Her heart ached so deeply for him, she feared her chest might rupture. Rion. She ran to the boy. Dreading a masked rider might see him, she would not call out.
“Mommy!” Rion kept trying to rouse his mother, shaking her with his tiny fists. A mixture of mud, tears, and blood covered his skin and clothing. “Mommy, please get up.”
A horse screamed. Kalista stopped. One of the riders had turned and was headed straight for the boy. He would reach him first.
She brought her hands together. A tunnel of grey flames came forth by her demand. The fire swirled, climbed higher until it formed a barrier between the boy and the masked rider. Neighing shrilly, the horse leaped back from the heat.
“Blyjourse,” she whispered, commanding the flames to stay in place. Scooping Rion up in her arms, she turned to run but was unsure of where to go. Everywhere was burning. Masked horsemen were all over the valley. More were coming to finish the slaughter.
She thought of the special place. Only Rhane would know to look there. Clutching the boy to her tightly, Kalista ran across the frozen earth as fast as her legs could carry her. She shielded Rion’s face from their gory surroundings. No child should have witnessed such horror.
Directly ahead, she spotted a charred mass of bodies. Just as she would have passed it, something within the mass moved. Did someone else live?
Checking to be certain it was safe to stop, Kalista dropped to her knees. “Keep your eyes closed,” she whispered firmly to Rion. “I’m going to sit you down. Listen for me. I will not leave you.”
The child
’s lowered lip trembled, but he nodded and obediently kept both eyes shut.
Kalista moved cautiously toward the pile of burnt villagers. There it was again. Movement. Rolling the body aside, she gasped. Beneath it was a boy close to her son in age. How he had escaped death was lost to her. She patted his cheek gently. “Orrin.” She repeated his name until at last, the boy’s eyes opened.
“Where is my brother?”
She shook her head. “I do not know.”
Despite the devastation surrounding them and the trauma he had no doubt endured, the boy’s voice was steady. “What has happened?”
She answered his question with one of her own. “If I get you out, can you walk?”
Orrin nodded. Gritting his teeth as he climbed to his feet, the boy’s bravery lingered even as he looked upon the lifeless remains of those he had loved.
“It is not safe. We must move quickly.” She picked up Rion again and ran with Orrin close behind. The trees were only a few hundred yards ahead when she heard the snort of an animal over her shoulder. There was only a moment to react. Shoving Orrin aside into a nearby stone dwelling, Kalista dove in behind him. Seeing a riderless horse go by, she breathed a sigh of relief.
As Orrin started to creep toward the open door, she grabbed his shirt to stop him. “Wait.”
A commanding voice had entered her mind. Darkesong, daughter of Whytetree, what have you done?
“This is not my burden,” she said.
You craved their souls. Now you have them. By your hands, prophecy has been fulfilled. The child with bane eyes has brought death to his people.
That feeling…was it her heart breaking?
Come out, daughter.
Cautiously, Kalista emerged from the shelter with Rion still in her arms. Orrin followed eagerly. Then she and the boy dropped slowly to their knees. It was a sign of respect, to kneel before a Prime. They were the oldest and wisest kin of the royal families, honored leaders of Warekin society.
The huge white wolf regarded the trio with glacier blue eyes. Did the little ones see what has happened?