The Keeper (The Endless Chronicles Book 1)

by Nikki Mccormack

  She took a quick step back from him.

  He stared at her, the desire giving way to confusion. The lines in his brown deepened. “What’s wrong?”

  “Have you no respect for life at all?”

  “More than you could know.”

  He turned away and stalked to a credenza along the wall. A well-stocked array of bottled alcohols waited within. Glass clinked loudly as he shoved the bottles around, finally drawing out an unmarked, dark bottle tucked toward the back. He poured himself a glass then glanced back at her, holding the bottle up.

  “Do you want some?”

  She shook her head. There was no way to know how this body would respond to alcohol. None had passed its lips since it had become her host.

  He shoved the bottle back in and kicked the door shut. With glass in hand, he sank down in a wide chair and took a long drink, grimacing as he swallowed. He’d barely settled when someone rapped on the door in a playful cadence.

  Naago scowled into his glass. “Not now, Kaira.”

  “I know you’re in there. I just need a minute.”

  Naago smacked the glass down on a table. He stood and stormed to the door. The Keeper stepped back against the wall, intrigued by both his anger with her and by his response to the visitor. The very well-endowed crossbreed woman standing outside when he opened the door smiled and leapt into him. Her hand came up to run through his hair and she pressed her hips forward into his groin.

  He turned his face away from her attempted kiss and gave her a firm push away, though it wasn’t hard enough to be more than a mild discouragement. “I’m not in the mood.”

  “Fine.” She gave a sultry pout and pushed herself further away from him with a quick shove against his chest. “Now isn’t a good time anyway. I brought someone who needs to talk to you. I’ll leave you boys alone.”

  With that, the crossbreed spun on her rather substantial heels and sashayed from the room.

  Someone else stepped into the doorway, a younger man with long black hair and dark blue eyes that carried sadness beyond his years. His features were strong and yet refined enough to give a softening beauty to his masculinity.

  It wasn’t his attractiveness, however, that made her catch her breath at the sight of him. It wasn’t anything she could name. Her chest tightened when he stepped into the doorway and she felt dizzy. She moved silently across to a hard chair in the corner where no one was likely to notice the change in weight upon the seat and sat down.

  “Deynas-ra.” There was a harshness to Naago’s tone, but she spotted a glimmer of something more like respect in his eyes. “I’m a little surprised to see you here.”

  The man, Deynas, strode into the room, not waiting for an invitation. His eyes skimmed the surroundings then came back to Naago, his gaze sharpened with an edge of contempt.

  “I see life in the Undercity has been a trial for you.”

  Naago glanced back toward the still open door, quickly connecting the dots. “A little judgmental coming from someone who has spent his time here playing guard for Kato and enjoying Kaira’s pleasures.”

  “As I’m sure you already know, Kato can be very persuasive.” Deynas bumped the door shut with his heel, making it clear he didn’t intend to leave without whatever he’d come for. “At least I didn’t abandon my tribe to come here.”

  Naago stepped toward him, his frame rigid with aggression. “Didn’t you? I’d bet my life you didn’t get Master Kochan’s approval for this adventure. What do you think he will do when he finds out where you are? Go back to your village now, while you still have a tribe to return to.”

  Deynas’s voice changed, a whisper of some deeper sorrow in it, tempering the judgment and anger he’d bandied about so far. “I still need your help.”

  The tight aching in her chest intensified, turning to a twisting pain.

  Naago walked to the table and picked up his drink. He downed the contents in one swallow and stood there with his back to Deynas.

  “I can’t help you. Find someone else.”

  Deynas closed his eyes and ground his teeth. He stood that way for a moment, the muscles in his jaw working as he fought some inner battle, then he turned and stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him.

  The Keeper rose and walked across the room, letting herself be seen. She placed a hand on the door, feeling the fast fading traces of the energy he’d used to slam it shut. It felt as if someone had torn a hole inside her. Why?

  Naago moved up beside her. “You know him?”

  “No.”

  “But she does?”

  She looked at him, taking in the furrow in his brow and the tension in the set of his jaw. “What makes you say that?”

  “It could be instinct.” He reached up, brushed a finger over her cheek, and held it up to show her the dampness on it. “Or it could be your tears.”

  She brought her left hand up and touched her other cheek. There were tears there too. What madness was this?

  She looked at the door again, every detail of the man she had seen there still crisp in her mind as if she’d seen him a thousand times before. “You should help him.”

  Naago exhaled. “Which part of you is saying that?”

  She knew the answer to that, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit it aloud.

  He went to the credenza and dug the bottle out to pour himself another drink. “Will you come with me?”

  “I can’t. I don’t think it wise for me to be around him… or you. I will go back to the Halls of the Blooded. The Keeper needs a new host.”

  He froze, his hand holding the bottle poised above the glass, the alcohol stopping a fraction from the lip. “What?”

  “The mind and spirit in this body are too strong and too active. It is no longer a suitable host.”

  He poured the drink and slammed it then set the glass down and poured another. “You would kill her?”

  “For a man who makes his living dealing in the lives of other creatures, you are very quick to question my ending one life.” She regarded him, gaining insight through the distress in his face, the weight in his movements. “But it’s different, isn’t it? It isn’t just any life. It’s the life of an Endless woman, one you find attractive no less.”

  “Of course it’s different. It would be different for you if I were to…”

  “To kill another Keeper?” She shook her head. “There has only ever been one of me. I will never understand the difference of which you speak.”

  He set the bottle down then carried the glass to the bathroom and dumped the contents down the sink. Leaving the glass on the counter, he walked out to her forcing a smile that didn’t reflect in his eyes. “Come with me. Let yourself live a little more before you move to a new host.”

  “I have lived longer than you can remember, Endless.”

  He denied her words with a shake of his head, moving close enough to brush his fingers into her hair. He placed a light kiss on her lips. “You have only existed.”

  She couldn’t argue with that. It felt true.

  “Perhaps this is your chance to experience something more. Besides, I won’t agree to help him unless you agree to travel with me.”

  When she didn’t answer, he kissed her again, a deeper kiss this time, and she opened her mouth to him. The mind within the body compelled her to press into him, seeking solace from uncertainty in his arms.

  Drawing back from the kiss, he murmured, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  Then he slid his hands inside the cloak and around her waist. Pulling her tight against him, he began to kiss her again, igniting a fire in the body that was no longer entirely hers and chasing her disconcerting response to Deynas to the back of her mind for a time.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Deynas stormed through the lobby, aching to punch something. Anything. The whole journey had been a waste of time. Kochan was right to turn Naago away. The man was worthless. He could only hope the master wouldn’t do the same to him after this.

&
nbsp; He burst through the front doors and the two valets on duty started. The crossbreed youth took one look at his face and yanked open a drawer, scrambling through it to pull out the proper key tube. Deynas thrust out his arm for scanning. When the tube opened, the crossbreed took the key and tossed the empty tube to his companion who snatched it from the air without looking up.

  “I’ll bring your flyer right up, Sir.”

  Deynas gave a sharp nod as the crossbreed darted through a door behind the valet desk.

  He’d been standing there only a few seconds when Kaira walked up beside him. He hadn’t even noticed her on his way out. She slid her hand over his far shoulder and rested her chin on the other.

  He tensed. “I already told Kato I was leaving.”

  She chuckled in his ear, the warmth of her breath on his skin bringing back the nights they spent together, the smell of her sweat, the taste of her, the way she touched him. The memories still aroused him, forcing him to adjust his stance in spite of his anger with Naago and with himself for being fool enough to go after the man.

  “I know.” She brushed her fingernails down his neck. “I almost feel like I should have paid you for your services.”

  He felt warmth rising up into his cheeks, uncomfortably aware of the other valet watching them, or watching her at least. “What do you want?”

  “Don’t be upset with Naago. He’s broken…inside.” She placed a hand on her ample chest, perhaps meaning to indicate that the Endless man’s heart was broken, but the gesture didn’t have the desired effect.

  Deynas forced his eyes away from her breasts and stared out into the crowded nighttime street in front of The Firelight. Whores worked through the crowd, looking to snag customers, while two voluptuous waitresses from the casino offered up free shots on trays to any passers willing to come inside.

  “He’s a coward.”

  “Maybe he is.” She seemed willing to let it go at that. Her lips brushed his neck in a soft kiss. “Don’t be a stranger.”

  He held his silence, though he couldn’t resist turning to steal a last glimpse of her shapely ass as she walked back into the hotel. She’d succeeded in muting his anger a bit, turning it to more of an intense frustration that opened the door to the slow rise of despair. At least Kato hadn’t tried to keep him there. Deynas wasn’t sure he could have fought the demon’s glamour if he had. It would be good to put this place behind him and forget the whole mess, assuming he still had a home to return to.

  The crossbreed came up on the red flyer and Deynas tossed him a few stones from the money he’d barely had to touch thanks to working for Kato. Then he strapped in and sped away from the building.

  Night in the Undercity wasn’t much different from any other time. There was a small increase in the population due to those residents of the upper levels who dared to come down and patronize the gambling dens and taverns at the end of their work day. He darted through the crowds, going faster than he should, though he doubted any of the few Undercity enforcers were going to bother challenging him. Lawlessness was the law in the Undercity now. Criminal order maintained by the warlords with the most power.

  He was about to angle up out of the Undercity when he spotted a couple of men crowding a young woman a little beyond the ramp. At a glance, the youth looked disturbingly familiar. Deynas veered off toward them and gunned the throttle. He swung the craft around to an abrupt stop alongside the three and jumped off next to the girl. After giving her a quick a reproving scowl he faced the two men.

  “This girl is with me. Go find your entertainment elsewhere.”

  The men, burly and blockheaded both in build and, he suspected, intellect, gave him boorish sneers and Deynas dropped a hand to his sword hilt. One man’s lip, swollen and bruised from some recent altercation, lifted in a quiet snarl, but the other held up his hands.

  He smiled a greasy smile that Deynas didn’t trust for a second. “We don’t want trouble, Mister. We’ll just move on if ye don’t mind.”

  Deynas nodded and kept his hand on the sword hilt until the two disappeared into a nearby building. Then he sheathed the weapon and spun around, rapping Misa firmly on the forehead with his knuckles.

  “Ouch!” She ducked away from him and rubbed at her head, glowering. “What was that for?”

  “For being a fool! What in the name of The Undying are you doing here?”

  “I came to look for you.”

  “Why?”

  “I…” She lowered her eyes, her face flushing. “You’d been gone a long time. I was worried about you. What if something bad had happened to you?”

  His chest ached with a twist of sympathy and grudging appreciation for her concern, but it had been a foolish thing to do, no matter the reason. “What if something had happened? What exactly were you going to do about it?”

  Her shoulders drooped and she stared at his feet, her sullen silence filling the space between them.

  Deynas exhaled and ground his teeth. Kochan was going to skin him alive. Maybe not literally, but it would certainly feel like it when the master was done. At least he’d come upon her before she got into real trouble.

  “Where is your flyer?”

  She chewed her lip, moisture welling in her eyes. “A demon took it.”

  Bastards. He wiped away a tear that raced down her cheek. “This place isn’t safe, Misa. You knew that before you came.”

  Her lower lip trembled as she nodded. Then something in her stance changed, a straightening of her posture, and she lifted her chin to meet his eyes. “So did you.”

  The stubborn defiance brought out her beauty and he found himself almost wishing she were a little older. Before he could say anything, her eyes focused on something behind him and widened. Deynas turned, placing his hand on the thick staff grip at his belt this time.

  The two men who’d left them moments ago were coming back with another two large chaps flanking them now. He’d been right not to trust them. The man who’d said they didn’t want trouble was smirking.

  “Changed your mind?” Deynas asked, keeping his voice steady.

  The man in front spit to one side and stopped a few feet back from him, out of reach of a sword. The others moved out to either side of him.

  “I did. Pretty thing like that’ll sell real well. Lots of folks pay a tidy sum for them young ones. Can’t expect me to pass her up.” His gaze moved to Misa.

  “You’d best keep your eyes on me if you mean to make trouble,” Deynas warned, pulling the staff grip away from his belt.

  One of the big men drew a wicked looking axe from the sheath on his back and the other pulled a club from a loop on his belt.

  Deynas switched the safety off on the staff handle with his thumb and flicked his wrist. The staff telescoped out both ends, the last foot of each end narrowing down into a sharp blade. He gestured Misa back and shifted his weight into a better stance for fighting.

  The men did the same, but they didn’t get a chance to attack. A band of seven crossbreeds raced over on their flyers and pulled up around them. The men backed off a several strides, lowering their weapons. A red-skinned part-demon youth with gold eyes and hair like flame grinned down at them. The expression was distinctly predatory, made more menacing by a mouthful of pointed teeth.

  “You wouldn’t be harassing these two, would you, Barl,” the crossbreed purred, his tone made sinister by those bared teeth and narrowed eyes.

  The lead man held up his hands in the same gesture he’d given Deynas, though this time he looked genuinely concerned.

  “We was just having a chat, Settek.” He nodded to the other men who put their weapons away.

  Deynas wasn’t comfortable yet doing the same.

  Settek smirked. “Chat’s over. Slink back to your holes.”

  The four men backed up several steps, then turned and made a hasty retreat into the building they had come from.

  Deynas eased his stance and offered a wary nod of gratitude to the youth. “Thank you.”

 
Settek gestured to the red flyer with one claw-tipped finger. “Did you kill the man who had this flyer?”

  Was that the reason for the timely rescue? “No, he traded it to me.”

  That answer washed all trace of good humor from those gold eyes. “Did he tell you he stole it from me?”

  Deynas tightened his grip on the staff. There was a pattern of escalating trouble going on and he wasn’t sure whether to hope that it would come to a head with them or that some greater threat might come chase Settek and his band away.

  “The man I got the craft from said he won it in a wager. I had no reason not to believe him.”

  Settek hopped down from his flyer and his six companions followed his example, gathering behind him. The red-skinned youth was the tallest of them by several inches, his reach long, his bare chest ripped with lean muscle.

  “Then I will make you a wager.”

  Misa stepped closer and Deynas put a hand out, motioning her back again. “I’m not interested in wagers.”

  “I am and, if you want to leave here alive, I suggest you develop an interest.”

  Deynas felt vaguely sick. He couldn’t make a run for it, not with Misa to think of, but he couldn’t afford to get in a fight with her there either, not with all of them. The men he would have most certainly outmatched, but crossbreeds were different. There was no way to know for certain what advantages their mixed blood might give them. They had him in a corner. All he could do was hope for a better option to come up in conversation.

  “I’m listening.”

  Settek grinned, his better humor returning. “If you defeat me in single combat, then you keep the flyer and your life. If you lose, I take the flyer…” his gold eyes flashed brilliantly, as if a fire had ignited within him, “and maybe, I take your life too.”

  “No. If I lose, you take the flyer and leave me alive to get her out of here.”

  The gold eyes moved to Misa and his expression turned thoughtful. After a few seconds, he nodded. “It is agreed. I would not bring the girl to harm.”