by Nikki McCoy
He waited just long enough for the group to get comfortable then flew to the back door and shifted to his human form. After picking the lock, he crept inside and made his way to the study. He put his ear to the closed door and listened to the muffled voices within. Only pieces of their conversation came through, but one word came out loud and clear.
Vane.
Tailor tensed at the mention of the name. Vane was Keenan’s half-brother, another demigod who had escaped during the battle waged to rid Roh Se Kahn from their realm. Where Keenan had the power of Miel Se Luuda’s light in him inherited from his Ba’Kal mother, Vane had been birthed from a human woman. The darkness in him eclipsed whatever good might have come from his mother, making him pure evil.
Tailor knew with Roh Se Kahn gone, it would only be a matter of time before Vane gathered his father’s followers to his side and made another attempt to take control over the races. Vane had nearly succeeded once in overthrowing Rowan’s crown and reigning over the Vam’kir in his place. Whatever his plans were now, death and chaos were sure to come with them.
He screwed a silencer onto his revolver, palmed a knife then kicked in the door. The looks of alarm on the faces of the men as they jumped up were priceless, and lasted for only a second. Tailor focused himself in that moment then sprang into action.
There was no fear, no guilt or hesitation. The rage that always burned inside him was masked behind a layer of detachment. Not even the lust for blood fueled him as it did so many warriors who faced battle. All the emotions that came with the deliverance of death had been beaten out of him years ago. With a weapon in his hands, he was no more than a machine trained to kill.
He sank his knife into the gut of the nearest man and yanked upwards, splitting the man from belly to sternum. With a vicious kick, he shattered the kneecap of a second man then put a bullet between the eyes of a third. Three more men charged him at once and he took the form of his eagle, hooking his talons into the eyes of one of them. The man went down with a howling screech that rose above the angry shouts.
Instinct alerted Tailor to the immediate threat at the other end of the room. The Ba’Kal in charge was standing behind his desk with a gun pointed at him. Tailor shifted back and let loose one of his shuriken before his boots touched the ground. Blood spurted from around the blades in the Ba’Kal’s throat as he dropped to the ground in a lifeless heap.
Tailor ducked the left hook of a Vam’kir coming at him, then twisted the man’s arm behind him. He used the man as a shield to block the attack of a second Vam’kir who lunged forward with a small dagger. When the attacker paused in shock at his mistake, his dagger buried hilt deep in the man Tailor held, Tailor shoved them both out of the way.
A strong punch caught him in the ribs from the side and he turned to face his newest opponent. He slammed his knuckles into the man’s nose three times, then brought up his gun and fired two rounds into the man’s skull. He spun around to aim his gun at the man still writhing on the floor from his gouged eyes and put an end to his screams.
Movement at the door made him pivot and put a hole in the back of the head of the human who was trying to flee. Behind him, the loud shot of a pistol rang out, but the bullet ricocheted off a cast-iron end table three feet away. Not even close. He turned around and sneered at the Ba’Kal who had inadvertently killed his own associate, more out of annoyance than any kind of emotion. The first lesson he’d learned in his warrior training was to never draw a weapon unless you were sure of the kill.
He holstered his own gun then kicked the one from the trembling hands of the Ba’Kal. The man flinched away as Tailor yanked him up by his shirt and brought their faces to within inches of each other. “Where is Vane?” he growled.
The man only shook his head vigorously.
“Where is he?” Tailor yelled. “Does he have Dhani?”
“H-h-he’ll kill me if I tell you,” the man stuttered.
“I’ll cut off parts of you that’ll make you wish for death before I kill you if you don’t.”
With a pathetic whimper, the man shook his head again. “I d-don’t know where Vane is. He’s only contacted us by phone and told us to gather our forces. I’ve never heard of a Dhani.”
Tailor bared his teeth in a feral snarl and paused for a moment, feeling out the man’s energy to sense if he was lying, but there was only truth. He took another knife from his belt and slit the man’s throat. Eight down. One left.
He stalked the last Ba’Kal still lying on the floor from his shattered knee. The man’s eyes widened with fear then narrowed to slits in false bravery. Tailor could smell the nauseating stench of panic on him. He knelt down, fisted the man’s hair in one hand then brought the edge of his blade to the man’s throat with his other. “Same question. Where are Vane and Dhani?”
The man thinned his lips in a look of mockery. “He will come, and he will surpass his father and take his rightful place as ruler. Nothing you do will stop that.”
The madness in the man’s eyes was enough to make Tailor recoil within. He knew most of Roh Se Kahn’s followers had been bought with promises of riches and grandeur, but this was one of the few who offered his devotion freely. Despite the fact that he was obviously no warrior, it made him twice as dangerous.
In one last effort, Tailor pressed the tip of the blade into the man’s jugular, piercing the skin. “Tell me how to get Dhani out of Roh Se Kahn’s realm and I’ll let you live.”
Before the man could respond, another knife was thrown from somewhere on Tailor’s left and embedded itself deep into the side of the man’s neck. A gurgling sound passed the Ba’Kal’s lips as he slumped to the ground in death. For the first time since entering the study, emotion flooded into Tailor. Fury filled him, swift and fierce. He jumped to his feet and aimed his gun at the person who’d thrown the knife.
It had come from a woman who met his rage with a calm expression. Tailor instantly felt the presence of a spirit in her, letting him know she was a shifter as well. She was petite, yet held the build and carriage of an experienced warrior. Her pants and vest overlaying a black top were brown, supple leather that fit snugly on her pronounced curves. Tailor was momentarily caught off-guard by the striking angles of her face. They were stunning and vaguely familiar. Creamy skin lent the perfect contrast to her shaded, hazel eyes and dark red hair pulled back into a ponytail.
She was exactly the kind of woman Tailor would’ve have gone for if he hadn’t met Dhani. Beautiful and independent. His tastes had leaned toward men when he was younger. And when he’d found his first mate, it had come as no surprise that his mate was male. Then, after his world had shattered with Dominic’s death, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to touch another man. They had all reminded him of the one he’d lost.
Since then, there had been only women. Endless scores of women who could never affect him the way his first mate had. They had been a safe escape from the desolation of his soul.
With Dhani’s appearance, though, his need to fill that empty space inside him with the warmth of women had fled. Dhani had consumed him, in spite of his efforts to push the younger man away out of his own insecurities.
Yet, there was something compelling about this woman—who had just killed his target.
He shook off the odd sense of familiarity and cocked his gun. “Who are you?”
She raised her hands in a gesture of submission and tilted her head to the side. “I’ve never seen anyone fight like you do. I didn’t think it was possible, but the rumors were true. You hold no equal.”
Cy seemed to materialize from the shadows on her right and put the muzzle of his gun to her temple. “He asked you a question.”
The woman stiffened, then flexed her jaw with a piqued expression. “We don’t have time for this. The gunshot from that Ba’Kal was loud enough to alert his neighbors. The police will be here soon. We need to go.”
Tailor approached her menacingly and touched the muzzle of his silencer to her forehead. Familiar or not
, she was an unknown, and therefore a threat. “Why did you kill the guy I was interrogating? Who. Are. You?” he asked, punctuating each word with his anger. If there was even the slightest chance he’d lost out on information from the Ba’Kal regarding Dhani, this would be the first time he’d felt the urge to kill an unarmed woman.
Precious seconds ticked by as she bit her lip in deliberation. Finally, she lowered her hands and took a deep breath. “My name is Layzani. You can call me Laya. I’ve been tracking Roh Se Kahn’s followers for years. I was at the battle when he was cast out of this realm. Since then, I haven’t been able to find any information on their whereabouts until I heard of a man who was seeking them out and killing them. A blond warrior who looked like he should be holding a surf board instead of a gun.”
Cy lowered his gun and let out a bark of laughter, then sobered when Tailor shot him an ominous glare. He shrugged, not at all intimidated. “You do look like a surfer.”
“I heard of a man searching for a Ba’Kal named Dhani,” she continued, “who had been pulled into an alternate realm by Roh Se Kahn. I also have a vested interest in finding Dhani. I’ve been tracking you for the past four months, or rather, the trail of blood you’ve left behind. I had to find out if you were trying to find Dhani for the right reasons. I had to know…” Her voice faltered, then she cleared her throat. “I had to know whether I could trust you.”
“Trust me for what? What is Dhani to you?”
More seconds ticked by before she exhaled, as if in resolve. “He’s my son.
Chapter Two
The gun became a lead weight in Tailor’s hand and he let it fall to his side.
Her son. It couldn’t be.
Dhani had been adopted at the age of six following the deaths of his parents. His foster mother had died five years ago after being beaten to death by his foster father. From what Tailor had discovered, the couple hadn’t been mates and had abused Dhani from the start of his time with them. Dhani had no known living family and the woman standing in front of Tailor was definitely not his foster mother.
Which could only mean…
“You’re his birth mother.”
Laya gave a reserved nod.
A slew of questions crowded into his mind, but the woman was right. This wasn’t the time or place for that particular conversation. He turned and began rifling through the clothes of the Ba’Kal in charge.
“What are you doing?” Laya asked.
“One of the men said Vane had contacted them by phone. There’s a chance I can trace the number back to him.” He found the Ba’Kal’s cell phone, slipped it into his pocket then took Laya by the arm. “You’re coming with us.”
She tried to wrest her arm from his grip as he hurried out of the house, but he refused to let go. “You don’t have to use force,” she hissed. “I was the one who sought you out, remember? Besides, I have my own car.”
“Which I’m sure you were smart enough to park where the cops won’t find it. I’m not letting you out of my sight until I get more answers.” All three loaded into his car and he took off. After the distant lights of the police cars faded from his rearview mirror, he released the vice-like grip on his emotions and glanced over at Laya threateningly. “Tell me everything. If I detect even the slightest lie, I won’t hesitate to use any means necessary to get the truth out of you.”
It was harsh, but he couldn’t take any chances. If she was working with Vane and meant to sabotage Tailor’s search for Dhani, he had to know immediately.
She turned to face him squarely. “You first. I’ve told you who I am. Now tell me why you’re so desperate to find my son.”
He ground his jaw in impatience. Dhani’s relationship with him was still a sore subject. Then again, he no longer held the desire to keep it secret. He’d come to terms with the fact that somehow, against the natural laws of his kind, he’d been given a second mate. All that mattered now was what he did to fix the mistake of driving Dhani away. “He’s my mate,” he said tensely.
Laya merely nodded. “I thought as much. No one would go to the lengths you have unless it was for love. Having said that, if your intentions toward my son are anything less than honest, I’ll kill you myself.”
Her words rang with truth and made Tailor wonder just what kind of mother she could be to abandon her son into the care of an abusive foster family then worry about his safety years later.
Before he could get off a sarcastic reply, she asked, “This must mean he’s still alive, right? Or else you would’ve sought out your own death by now.”
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Dhani and I never bonded. When we met, it…wasn’t the right time.”
She was quiet for a moment, then shifted her gaze to the dark scenery outside. “My mate and I bonded the night we met, about three decades ago. I loved him madly. He was a fierce warrior like you, proud and strong. He fought with passion in our war against the Vam’kir. Later, when I became pregnant with Dhani, he started to grow distant. He hid parts of his life from me and would leave for weeks at a time. Whenever I confronted him about his secrecy, he would always say he was doing what was best for our family. That, one day, he would reveal what he was hiding and I would join him when the time was right.”
Her voice took on an edge of animosity. “Eventually, I grew tired of his disappearances and decided to follow him all the way to England. He met with a large group of others in a remote location. Some of them I recognized as Ba’Kal. The others were a mix of Vam’kir and humans. I couldn’t believe he was conversing with our enemy. Then I saw five men being taken in as prisoners. These were Ba’Kal. They were being handled as if they were the traitors and not the ones my mate was meeting with.”
“They were trying to release Roh Se Kahn,” Cy said grimly from the back seat. When Tailor looked at him sharply, he said, “Keenan was born nearly thirty years ago, and all of Roh Se Kahn’s followers you’ve found in the past year have been Ba’Kal, Vam’kir and humans all working together. That’s never happened before under any circumstances.”
Laya nodded. “He’s right, only my mate and the others didn’t try. They succeeded. I heard awful screams coming from inside the building and had to know what was going on. The others wanted to kill me as soon as they saw me, but my mate convinced them I wouldn’t interfere. He explained to me that they’d been in contact with Roh Se Kahn and that the dark God had revealed to them his plans for peace.
“He claimed Roh Se Kahn knew the Mother’s children would annihilate each other in their hatred and that the only way to stop it was for all the races, including humans, to acknowledge one true God. My mate said Roh Se Kahn would lead them into an age of peace under his rule and they would be saved.”
Her tone grew hushed and she brushed briskly at her eyes, as if wiping away tears. “I loved my mate, but what I saw in his eyes that night took everything away from me. He was insane. While most of the other followers boasted about Roh Se Kahn making them wealthy, I knew my mate was following out of blind servitude.”
Tailor thought back on the zealous look he’d seen in the eyes of the Ba’Kal he’d been interrogating before Laya had killed him. It raised chills across his flesh that Dhani’s father had given in to that same madness. It must’ve taken extraordinary strength for Laya to resist the lure of darkness that had consumed her mate, yet it didn’t explain why she hadn’t followed him. Mates were alike in almost all areas. Why had she kept her faith in Miel Se Luuda when her mate had forsaken it?
When he asked her this, she looked at him and didn’t bother to hide the moisture brimming on her lashes. “The bond of a mate is strong, but the bond between a mother and her child is even stronger. I knew if my mate was caught for his treason, my child and I would be put in danger as well.”
Though Tailor didn’t doubt that, he couldn’t help but notice her choice of words. She hadn’t said that worshiping Roh Se Kahn was wrong. Rather, that she’d been afraid of the consequences.
“The spell they perform
ed to free Roh Se Kahn from his realm failed the first four times they tried it,” she continued. “They succeeded on the fifth Ba’Kal. His spirit was torn from him, and the separation of his animal’s soul from his own caused a rift in our realm that allowed the dark God to pass through. The creation of the rift broke the spell that kept him from taking any form in our realm and his essence entered the body of a willing human.
“I wasn’t a warrior then. The fear I had caused me to go into labor and I gave birth to Dhani that night. For the next six years, my mate held me and our child captive. He couldn’t kill me even though I defied him since it would mean his own death, so he tried everything to convince me that his allegiance to Roh Se Kahn was right. Finally, I managed to escape with Dhani. I knew my mate would never stop looking for us, so I took Dhani to a faraway community and told them to give him to a good family. I never gave them my name or the name of Dhani’s father. I couldn’t risk my mate finding him.”
She took a shaky breath, then said, “I disappeared after that. I was too afraid to keep in contact with Dhani, in case my mate ever found me. I did what I had to do to keep my son alive.”
And delivered him into the hands of monsters, Tailor thought. The cynicism and hatred that rose up made him look away in disgust, although he had to admit, only a portion of his hatred was for the woman next to him. What had he done to keep Dhani safe? He’d been so wrapped up in his own pain and confusion after meeting Dhani that he was responsible for delivering his mate into the hands of a much worse monster.
He cleared the ache in his throat and asked, “If you let him go, how did you find out he’d been taken by Roh Se Kahn?”
“When the Jaes’din had his men search for the families of the Ba’Kal who had been kidnapped by the old Vam’kir king, I heard that Dhani was one of them. I tracked his location to the Jaes’din’s mansion, then to the Magnique’s palace. I went to Ireland to fight in the war against Roh Se Kahn, hoping to hear more about my son. That was where I learned he’d been taken by the dark God. Since then, you’ve been the only link I have to my son.”