Frowning, Kayla waited until the man acknowledged their presence. She tapped her foot while they waited. Five minutes passed before the man looked up. Steepling his fingers, he looked over the top of them and pursed his lips.
“Well then, who do we have here?” Covington asked.
“I have a package from Keaton,” Kayla said.
“Ah yes, Keaton.” The man smiled evilly. “Well, let’s have it then,” he said, motioning with his hand.
Kayla glanced at Gannon before strolling to the desk and tossing the bag down. She stepped back. The man gathered the bag carefully in his hands and Kayla’s heart sped.
He looked up after a moment, glancing at her. “It appears you’ve broken the contract and opened the bag.” His black eyes flashed. He nodded at the yellow eyed guard who’d stayed behind them as they stepped into the office.
“I’ll be taking my payment for your indiscretion out of your hide,” he said as the guard lunged for her.
She dodged the man, stepping out of his way just before he reached her, throwing him off balance.
“There was a compulsion spell on the bag,” she said.
Covington held up a hand to dissuade his men momentarily from another attack. “Was there, now? No matter. You’re still standing there, breathing. I’d say you’re a far more valuable asset than the bag now.” He spoke as if explaining the cost of a side of meat.
“What are you talking about?” Kayla asked, stalling, trying to keep him talking.
“Gannon there knows of what I speak, and I suspect that, by showing up in his presence, you know as well.”
Whipping her head, she looked at Gannon, realizing that she’d missed something. “What is he talking about, Gan?”
Gannon sneered. “So, do the others know you’re a turncoat, Covington? How many of our numbers’ disappearances of late have been your fault? Is Catrine here?” Gannon glared at the man with a look of pure hatred, he moved purposefully towards Covington.
“No,” Covington said triumphantly. “You and your little pet won’t live to tell anyone, either. No, wait. I have a better idea. I’ll make you my personal slave, you and your daughter my pets. Either way, I win. I wonder, my girl, how did you get him to leave his protection? Keaton is smarter than I’ve given him credit for.”
“What? Wait. This is about Gannon?” Kayla asked, trying to keep him talking. All the time he’d spoken, she’d watched his henchman transform. The MoonSkin thought they wouldn’t notice.
Kayla felt Roo tense as he pressed into her leg, giving off a low warning growl. Before the MoonSkin could attack, he leapt into action. Kayla wanted to turn, but didn’t dare take her eyes from the man before her. Gannon joined Roo, bringing his sword down on the hindquarters of the Wer.
Nyx solidified, slowly coming into view; he wrapped himself around Kayla’s legs. Covington backed up against the desk, giving Kayla an opening. She whipped her sword out and checked her strike right under his neck. She paused and looked at Gannon out of the corner of her eye, wondering if she should end this now. Not knowing the whole story, she was reluctant. When she looked back at Covington, he sneered at her.
“You think that little knife will help you now?” he laughed.
Then she heard the rest of them coming and increased her pressure on the blade.
Roo took down the wolf, ripping a gaping hole in his flesh. The wolf fell to the floor, air bubbling in the wound.
The MoonSkin began to shift back to human form as his dying body lost control of the change. Then something heavy slammed repeatedly against the thick metal door. It was only a matter of time before they broke in. Roo sat, panting, next to Kayla as Gannon put his back into the door.
“You can surrender now, and be handed over for judgment,” Gannon said, grunting against the force of the door. “Or I could kill you now,” Gannon spat.
“I don’t think so,” Covington said before disappearing in a cloud of sulfuric smoke.
Gannon swore before turning his attention to the more urgent threat. “It’s not over with, Covington,” he snarled, leaping out of the way as the pack burst through the door.
17
Kayla hurled a blaze of blue fire as Gannon knocked the pack flat. Roo clamped his jaws around the leader, cutting off his life force in one snap. Shaking his head to and fro, he tore out the last alpha’s throat, leaving the pack leaderless.
The pack froze mid leap, falling back, disorganized. Roo stood his ground in front of Kayla.
She watched in disbelief as the rest backed off, cowering before her beautiful dog. He’d already killed their leaders. One-by-one, the Wers transformed, blurring back to men. They knelt before Kayla and Roo.
“What’s going on, Gannon?” Kayla asked, one hand buried in Roo’s fur, the other grasping her sword.
Gannon released the power shielding them from the pack and answered, the awe in his voice apparent. “The pack has accepted Roo as their new leader. It’s rare,” he said, eyeing Roo.
“Why would they do that?” Kayla asked, confused. “Roo’s just a plain, ordinary dog.”
Roo pressed against her leg. “Yes, he may be an ordinary dog, but he’s just killed three of their leaders with barely a scratch on him. And he’s subservient to you, so indirectly, you’re the new pack leader. Isn’t that right, Roo?” Gannon asked.
The dog whined, keeping his eyes glued to the changing MoonSkins.
One of the naked Wers came forward, crawling prone on the floor. “If I may speak?” he said to the floor to show proper respect.
“Yes,” Kayla said, uncomfortable with the concept of someone asking her permission to do anything.
“I am called Karn. I speak for the pack. What is it the mistress would like of us?”
Kayla looked at Gannon, unsure of how to proceed and hoping he had some suggestions.
Gannon shrugged. “It’s your show.”
A scream sounded in the distance.
“I want to know where that’s coming from,” she took off at a run following the sound. She found the hall where they’d come in. Not knowing where to turn, she looked up and down the hall before she spun around and almost ran into a very naked Karn coming up behind her.
“If you will forgive me, mistress, for my assumption, but I thought you might want some help finding the rooms you seek.” He bowed his head so as not to make eye contact.
“I want you to take me to the source of those screams.” She glared at his bowed head, debating if he could be trusted. Looking past him, she saw Gannon just rounding the corner, with Roo close on his heels. Wondering what had taken them so long, she turned back to Karn.
“If you will come this way, mistress,” he took off at a lope.
Surprised at his lack of resistance, she worried at the unexpected turn of events. It might be nice to have MoonSkins on her side for once.
“There isn’t a thing can be done for them now, you know?” he called over his shoulder as he led the way.
“What do you mean there isn’t anything to be done?” she asked, trying to keep up.
“You’ll see when we get there.”
Kayla couldn’t get him to say any more on the matter. She could hear Roo and Gannon running behind her. Relieved that she wasn’t in this alone, she pressed on. “What of the others?” she asked Gannon when he pulled up beside her.
“I’ve held them where they are,” he replied. “But that one was too quick, though I felt that he meant well, so I let him pass. I wouldn’t have been able to hold them for long in their battle rage, but now they’re quiet, content to wait until you’ve decided their fate.”
They rounded a corner at the top of a steep flight of stairs. She swallowed, not wanting to enter the darkness below. A strong stench wafted up from the depths.
Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, Kayla decided it was better not to think. When she heard the next scream, she took the stairs three at a time. In the darkness, she located the faint outline of a door.
Wond
ering why there were no lights. Sharp cries urged her on. She nodded to Karn when she could make out his faint outline as her eyes adjusted to the dark.
Stilling her mind, she kicked the door in, not even trying the handle, wanting to surprise whoever was behind it. A large man in a leather mask turned from the table. A heavy iron rod in his hand glowed red hot at the tip.
The form on the table had blackened pits where he’d burned holes in her skin, searing the wounds before they had a chance to bleed. Kayla felt a dark rage well up inside of her. Without thinking, she threw a ball of blue-fire at the man, hoping to obliterate him.
It rolled over his body as he came towards her, not fazing him. Instead, he grew larger as the flames licked his body.
It shocked Kayla that, since she’d learned to use fire, it didn’t do anything. About to ask Gannon what she should do, a geyser of water shot from behind her, hitting the daemon.
It weakened, staggering back, then straightened and kept coming. When the daemon slammed into her, she felt her arms burn from otherworldly fire. In pain, she fought the daemon for her life.
Something grabbed her from behind, pulling her to the side. Two canine forms blasted past her. Working in tandem, they launched themselves at the daemon, tearing out bits of flesh. Their efforts only further angered the creature.
The daemon hit the wolf and the smell of burnt hair swirled through the air. As Karn slammed hard into the wall, she feared for Roo. When Gannon began to chant, she crawled to him. They clasped hands; she willed him some of her power to give the spell strength.
A portal opened in the floor, colors swirling at its edges. The daemon looked up in pain before vanishing into the abyss, screaming. Roo jumped back in time to stop from being pulled in.
Relieved that it seemed to be over, they paused, gasping for breath.
Karn took time to transform into a man. “I never liked him anyway.” He pushed himself up from the floor, holding his bruised side.
“Gannon, go see what else you can find on this floor.”
Kayla stared at the floor, waiting for it to solidify again, before rushing to the girl’s side. The daemon had tortured the girl into unconsciousness. Kayla thought it might be a blessing that she wasn’t awake. No one should have to suffer that much pain.
A band of darkness strangled the life out of the girl, tendrils of blackness networking through her body. Fury rose inside Kayla and, before anyone could stop her; she snagged the filthy thing from the girl’s neck, throwing it to the floor.
Her focus stayed solely on the wounded girl. The girl let out a relieved breath as if she could, even in her unnatural sleep, feel the release of the horror that had trapped her soul.
Kayla stood, cradling the girl. “We need to find out if there are more of them here.” Glancing at Karn, she shook her head in disgust. “How could you let them do this to her?” Her anger needed an outlet, not caring who it hit.
He looked down in shame. “I had no choice,” he said, begging her to understand. “If I had free will, it wouldn’t have been this way, but the leaders fell in with Covington. I did what I could for them, risking my pack’s anger.” His defiance showed through.
She looked away, unsure of her position. Karn stepped up next to her.
“If I may?” he asked, gesturing to the girl. Kayla hesitated before giving her up. He grunted under her weight before saying. “Covington kept the new arrivals all along this corridor. I’m glad that someone can finally help them.”
Karn ducked out of the room, walking slowly so as not to jar his burden. “I’ll tell the others you need help down here. Then I’ll see if someone can help the girl until we can find a healer,” he spoke over his shoulder as he left the room.
“Karn, can you find the lights?” Kayla called after him, staring into the darkness. “We’ll start down here, looking for those we can help.” Kayla glanced at Roo before moving into the hall. “Stay close, boy.” Listening intently as she walked, she tried to sense what was on the other side of the doors she passed.
Gannon came back at a run as the lights flickered on. Panting, he drew up beside her, followed by Karn and several other Wers. Some of them muttered among themselves. She was sure they chafed at the sudden change in leadership. “Gannon are there any more daemons around?”
“Karn says as far as he knows, there aren’t. But this pack was recently brought into this business and the old leader knew more than he told them.”
Nodding thoughtfully, she moved to the nearest door, pausing as she felt a resistance humming in the air around it.
She felt something flutter against her chest and opened her coat to find Jubi staring up at her.
“How’d you get in there?” she whispered, surprised.
“Have Gan disarm the dungeon’s wards before you run into one,” Jubi advised, ignoring her question.
She looked at Gannon, hoping he knew what to do. “You want to tell me what’s blocking this door?”
18
Gannon looked up from his conversation with one of the Wers. “What’s that?” Gannon asked, breaking off his instruction to a large Wer mid-sentence.
“I asked if there was something wrong with this door.”
“Just a moment; let me see. There’s a large ward on the door, don’t touch it.”
She waited while he focused on the door. He nodded at her. She pushed through the door into a darkened room as the rest of the group moved along the corridor to do the same.
“Jubi, do you think you could give me some light?” she whispered.
“Sure thing,” he said, flying out from his hiding spot.
They walked into the darkened room, lit only with the small light of the Sprite. Kayla saw movement out of the corner of her eye and turned in shock. Curled into a tiny ball in the far corner of the room, sat a small, dirty child dressed in rags.
The poor thing flinched away from the light, then looked up at her with listless, pain-filled eyes. Her heart shattered as she looked at the tiny, trembling girl. A sharp pain hit her in the eye, flashes of a little girl curled around a cat smiling up at her.
She grabbed her eye and flinched at the what? Hallucination? Memory? She didn’t know. Kayla shook off the pain and studied the child in front of her. Dark tendrils wormed through its body and anger welled that someone could do this to a child. What kind of monsters did this? she wondered. She slowly approached the crouching form, even more determined to stop this madness, no matter the cost.
The child whimpered when she slipped it into her arms, careful not to jostle her. Reaching for the collar, she pulled it from her neck. When the collar lifted, the child gave a sigh of relief and snuggled closer, falling fast asleep. She looked at the collar, wondering if she could destroy the vile thing, and flung it at the wall.
“Don’t leave it lying there, Kayla,” Jubi warned. “It's very dangerous magic. No Mage has ever touched it and not been caught in the magic’s snare. Gannon created one after finding out how they were made in hopes of being able to reverse the spell, but everything he’s tried only made them stronger.”
Her heart skipped a beat, realizing that’s what Gannon must have been trying to warn her about before she removed the other one. Shuddering, she picked up the darkened ring, careful to keep it away from the child.
“You’d better hide again, Jubi. I don’t quite trust these Wers,” Kayla said, and the small Sprite tucked himself back into her coat without comment.
Kayla carried the child into the corridor, looking for Gannon. Seeing him walk by with his own burden, she fell in step with him. Several of her Wers walked ahead of them. She could smell the stench of the dark rings all over the battered prisoners and realized she’d smelled it since entering the dungeons. Wondering if Gannon could smell it too, she made a note of it and decided to speak with him later.
She reached the top of the stairs and headed towards the office, following the rest of the men around a corner. They’d made a makeshift hospital in the large living room. She
was relieved that they wouldn’t all be cooped up in Covington’s office. The battered prisoners varied in age, and she needed to get them to a safe place.
Gannon might need more information about the situation from the Wers. She went to him. “Do you have a moment, Gan?”
He looked up from where he’d laid down his captive. “Sure. What can I do for you?” he said as they moved away from the group. Roo stood guard between them and the Wers.
“I think we need to get them somewhere safe as soon as possible,” she said. “This doesn’t feel right. It was almost too easy to get in here and rescue these people.”
“Agreed, but I don’t want to take them to the T’ween, and I don’t trust most of the Wers. Most of the Mages still wear collars and I can’t even take them into the T’ween.” Gannon pleaded with her to understand that right now his hands were tied.
Kayla pursed her lips. “I can solve one of those problems now.”
Handing the small child to Gannon, she strolled into the common room where the others were gathered. They moved away from her in awe, whispering behind their hands.
She pushed it from her mind, refusing to be bothered by people talking about her. She began directing people to put down the wounded and moved from person to person, removing the rings, thinking it would be nice to crush the things out of existence.
Her left hand filled with rings and, as she removed the last one, she flexed her fingers around them. A blue glow flared to life around her fist and anger burned in the pit of her stomach. She stared at the things, hating what they stood for. Wishing they could never hurt anyone again, she crushed them with her hand. Kayla stared in surprise as they shattered into dark motes, momentarily spreading through the air before being overcome in a bright blue light.
19
Gannon feared for her, knowing that someone was bound to come looking for the Mage using so much careless magic. He decided they needed to go before someone sent the Mage Hunters. Most of the MoonSkins had gotten their clothes on, but Karn still stood naked. Knowing that he was the most trustful of the Wers, Gannon went to him and placed Kayla’s precious burden in his arms.
Unbound (Kayla Blackstone) Page 9