“No,” Tiani said and handed me back the photo, looking awkward. “Not exactly…”
“Way to ruin the moment, Elkhadi,” I teased and tucked the photo into the box, rising to my feet. In the back of my head, there was a faint disconcertment that she was right. But at the same time, I wanted to laugh at the look on her face. “You can pick up the rest.”
“No, I didn’t mean…I just—you know you’re serious,” Tiani said, hopping up and putting her hands on her hips. “That’s all I meant. I mean, you have to be. But not here, I guess.” She stopped herself. “I don’t even know what I’m saying. I mean, I like your face and—”
A gale of laughter escaped me, and I grinned at her as she stopped again, mortified. “What’s that? You like my face?” I rubbed my jaw. “That’s right, you said I was a heartbreaker.”
“No, I said your friends were,” Tiani said and crouched down, gathering papers into her arms. I leaned against the wall and watched her. A smile crept up into her cheeks. “Xander, stop smirking at me, I swear. I’ll make you regret it tomorrow.”
“I’m fine with that.” I paused. “So, tell me more about why you like my face.”
Snapping upright, Tiani’s face worked furiously as she began to pile things on a lower shelf and sort through them. I continued to smirk at her until she whacked me with a book and then marched out of the room. Following her all over the house, I kept teasing and asking her to explain herself, commenting on how I’d noticed she was always careful with my face when we were fighting. She got more and more flustered, to a point I’d never seen before.
Finally, I relented when she threatened to go spend the rest of the day with Iris.
“Don’t do that,” I said and slung an arm around her shoulders. “I don’t know what I’d do without you around.”
“Exactly,” Tiani retorted and then tensed up a little. “Exactly,” she said again, a little more softly.
“Hey, I don’t think you’d know what to do without me,” I said and grinned down at her.
She gave me a quick smile and then pulled away. “Me neither.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tiani
As clichéd and meaningless as it was, I left a note.
My two weeks were up, and it was nearing midnight as I left the one place that could’ve been a home. The place I’d fallen in love with. The place where I belonged.
The place where he was.
I missed Xander with every pulse of my stupid heart, the miles slipping away too quickly as I gritted my teeth and made for the border of Winfyre. Every step was a betrayal, every breath was a wish to go back, and every second hurt a little bit more.
Finally, I made it to the edge of Northbane territory, the stern behemoth shadows of the Farthing Mountains behind me. A cold breeze blew across my burning eyes, and a sob dragged itself up into my throat, fighting to get loose.
Leaving behind Iris and all of the people of Winfyre was hard enough. It made my heart lurch in my chest. A kick of pure anguish I hadn’t been expecting.
But leaving behind Xander didn’t make any sense.
It was a yawning, endless pit in the center of me. Dizzying and unsettling. With every step, I seemed to slip further in, and I didn’t know what would happen if I did.
Except I was terrified I wasn’t strong enough to handle it.
Iris was safe—she would mourn and be hurt, but she would recover. She had Kal and her friends, and she would make it. The other people may have felt affection for me, but they’d be okay.
He’ll never forgive you.
The words jabbed at me again, and my eyes closed. Xander cared about me: he trusted me, and he’d done everything to give me a home. Now I was walking into the arms of his enemies.
A flash of his angry, disbelieving face cut across my brain, and my eyes flew open. I was gripping my chest, sinking down into a crouch and trying to catch my breath. Gripping the lapels of the jacket I’d stolen from him, I inhaled his scent and pretended he was here with me. Giving me one of those amazing hugs. How could I…
I couldn’t. I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t do this.
You made a deal with the devil, said a small and resolute voice.
You have to pay up. You have to try to stop them.
I lifted my head and forced a deep, shaking breath down into my lungs.
You have to save Xander’s friend.
Getting to my feet, I walked out of Winfyre Ridge and didn’t look back.
“Who the hell are you?” The speaker was a tall man with a handkerchief around his face and a thick hunting knife in his hand. Brandishing it at me, he sneered, “Know where you are, girlie?”
“Kizin?” I said and tipped my head back, looking at the mountain. “I’m expected.”
His friend emerged from the trees behind me and grabbed my upper arm. “We’ll see about that.” Roughly, he dragged me inside the twisting tunnels, their lanterns spluttering overhead. Lifting his voice, he bellowed for backup, and a muffled holler answered, “Don’t see many of you around.”
I’d been traveling for days. In that state of exhaustion, despair, and overall longing for a warm bath, I was numb. I didn’t know if, by “you,” this Skror ass meant that I was a woman or that I was brown. Nor was I remotely afraid of what was going to happen next. I kind of just wanted to eat something.
“Better hope someone comes for you soon, or—”
“Or what?” interrupted a dangerous, soft voice. The man jerked away from me, and I saw him go pale in the dim light. “You’re not stepping out of line again, are you, Korcher?”
I blinked as I recognized the man, and he started, staring at me again. This time, I thought I saw a line of sweat appear on his forehead, and I wondered how he’d escaped.
“No, no, ma’am, not at all—simply dealing with an intruder.”
“Intruder?” Lind came around and smiled at me. “Oh no, no. Tiani is our guest.” Her smile grew wider as I glowered at her. “You’re early.”
I’d been hoping against hope that Lind was still far away in the Tiselk. She seemed to gather that and let out a light chuckle, before gesturing for me to follow her into the mountain. We walked for a while in silence, with Lind humming, until bright light from outside and the rush of water greeted us. I wasn’t sure where we were, but it looked like we were leaving the mountain for the moment. A sense of relief filled me. I hated this place.
Lind spoke, then. “I just got back.” When I didn’t answer, she shot me a pouting look. “What, no questions or small talk? You and I are Orion’s girls, you know.”
Rearing back, I clenched my fists and glared at her. “I am not Orion’s girl.”
“Oh dear,” Lind said and swung around to give me a sardonic smile. “After everything you’ve done for her, too.”
I saw a figure move out of the corner of my eye, peeling away from the shadows, and I spun, stifling a gasp.
He was taller than I remembered. Always, he’d been a nondescript man whose face I could never quite call up in my mind. After all, the real danger lay in his voice.
“Did you not miss me, Tiani?” Orion asked and tilted his head, smiling down at me. “I missed you.”
“I would’ve preferred for you to stay in hell, to be honest,” I bit out.
Dark hair, dark eyes, and pale skin. Bland features. A voice that slipped under your skin and between your ribs. That whispered your nightmares even as it made you promises.
“It wasn’t hell, Tiani,” Orion said lightly. “It was home.”
He was wearing dark clothes, finely made, and a long cloak with the hood up. Those dark eyes danced as they took me in, and his smile curved with that cruel edge I remembered.
“I understand,” he continued in a soft tone. “You’ve never known what a home was.” My fists clenched. “Not until a month or so ago.” Orion paused. “Tell me, how is Xander?”
I didn’t realize I’d moved or lifted a fist until Lind grabbed me and hissed, Try me, princess, in
my ear. But I nodded, and she let me go, lightly shoving me away.
“Come, stop this,” he said. “It’s time to talk about our deal.”
With that, Orion walked away, stepping outside, and I blew out a sigh. Lind was watching, waiting, practically begging for me to make another mistake she could exploit. Forcing myself to move, I followed him outside and nearly stopped.
We hadn’t left the mountain, not exactly. Orion was standing on a wide ledge of stone that abruptly ended and plummeted straight down into a thick, twisting mist. The roar of water echoed up and was accompanied by the musical drip of water down the walls. Bare branches scraped against the rock, with a few buds here and there. It was hard to believe it was almost spring.
Will I live to see it? I wondered, and my stomach twisted with terrible, lonely fear.
Water settled onto my skin, gemming my eyelashes, and a shiver ran up my spine. Orion was standing at the edge of the cliff, hands clasped behind his back and face tilted up. The breeze whipped his hood back and tugged at his dark hair. The cloak whipped around him like a living thing, and my neck prickled with alarm.
"I thought you would have taken it off by now," he said softly. My fingers gripped my left wrist, but I said nothing. Orion continued, "I thought that the temptation would be too great, that the draw of the shifter in you would overwhelm your instincts to protect Iris." He half-turned and smiled at me. "Glad I was wrong."
Go to hell, I raged in my mind.
“What do you want?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“I want Xander Bane to know that I have won,” Orion said and turned around, his smirk growing. “I want him to realize that all his plans, his Coven, his trickery and strength, did not matter in the end. Not against me. Beyond that…” His smile became patronizing. “I need nothing else.”
“You haven’t won,” I spat. “Winfyre Ridge is safe, and they are more than ready for you.”
“Oh, I know that.” Orion nodded and looked oddly serious. “Even brute force attacks with massive forces—it would be for naught. The wards would hold. The augris might be able to wriggle in, but they don’t stay undetected unless they’re at the edges. No, we tried that. Bane would never let it fall.” He tilted his head and ran his eyes over me. “So, we find the crack in the dragon.”
I started, and my fists clenched. Dead giveaways. Orion ran the tip of his tongue along his lips, and Lind laughed. Shaking, I was about to lunge at him and try to drag him over the edge when he spoke again.
“Oh, Tiani. You are so clever, strong, and resourceful. But your fatal flaws are what made this possible. You never ask for help, and you’ve got a blind spot when it comes to just how savvy you are. No one can trick you.” Orion looked positively diabolical. “Except, maybe, you.”
A nasty, gnawing feeling began in my gut. “What do you mean?”
I’d meant to demand it, but it came out like a whisper.
"You just left the safest place you could possibly be from me."
My stomach cramped, and I shook my head. No. No. No.
“You could have escaped. If, while in Winfyre, you’d removed that bracelet, my plans would’ve been meaningless. After all, what’s the point if I don’t get the head of a Dragon?”
“He’ll stop you,” I snarled, and tears pricked my eyes. “Whatever it is. And I came here for him—Xander Bane inspires loyalty and dedication. You’re nothing but a fearmongering monster lurking in the shadows and trying to destroy everything that’s good about this world.” Orion raised an eyebrow. “He’ll stop you.”
Orion looked around, and I glanced around, too, breathing hard. There was nothing. No one except me, Lind, and him. The gnawing foreboding got worse.
“Well, I don’t see him, do you?”
“What?” I breathed. “No, of course not. I left—”
I stopped, abruptly, cold ice seizing me.
“Yes, yes.” Orion beamed at me. “We found you first. You were the keystone of my plan, not Iris. Yes, she’s dangerous—and useful—and she certainly caused me more trouble than I anticipated. Plus, now Kal has his mate and is more powerful. Irritating circumstances, but manageable.” He held out his hands as though to embrace me, and I stumbled back into the stones. “But you, Tiani, you.”
“No,” I whispered and pressed back into the damp stones. “Oh, oh no.”
“The Hidden Shifter.” He took a step closer, and I cringed, my heart slamming in my chest. “The Keystone.” I went to turn and run, do something, but I was pinned to the wall by the arms of an augris. It held me fast, hidden in the wall, and Lind laughed as I struggled.
Orion came in closer and caught hold of my left hand, holding it in an almost tender way. Tears were swimming in my eyes, and I tried to look up at the sky, anywhere but his gaze. But his dark eyes caught mine like a snake. His fingers curled around the bracelet as he leaned in and whispered.
“The Dragon’s mate.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tiani
The entire world warped, my heart pulsing in my ears, my vision blurring and then becoming as sharp as glass. And, for a brief moment, I was back in Winfyre.
Home. Safe. Family.
It was a hill I recognized. Xander stood on top of it, head bent against the wind and clenching something in his hand. Then he held it up, and I realized it was my note. Ragged and torn at the edges, but my note. He held it, unfolded, maybe unread, and that muscle in his jaw tightened.
No, it’s not what you think. I had to…
In my nervous habit, I touched my left wrist and went to tug on the bracelet.
But my fingers met only skin.
Xander turned to look at me, but I was already hurtling back or falling, twisting down into a void. Pain and fire licked up my bones, splitting me, unmaking me, and agony shuddered through me. The whole world collapsed on top of me, and I let out a final, aching breath.
Then another, clawing at life and gasping.
I didn’t understand what was happening at first. Where I was. Or who.
Somewhere, I thought I sensed Xander, but he was hard to find amidst all the pain. Still, I reached out in hopes that maybe this time, I could be found.
But all I had was the sense of our hands passing by each other, only the tips of our fingers skimming together. Then I was lying on my side, my cheek pressing into cold, wet stone, and my ears ringing. I couldn’t move, but I was breathing and alive, from the pain crackling in my skull.
In my peripheral vision, I could see the broken, twisted metal of the bracelet.
This doesn’t feel like freedom.
“My dear Tiani,” Orion crooned. “It worked, don’t you see? You should be thanking me. I freed you.” I tasted blood as I tried to move and fell back down, tongue numb. “It’s gone.”
Gone?
I heard the rasp of a word come from my throat, but it didn’t sound like me.
“The beast inside of you. It’s gone.” Orion's face hardened. "All I need now is one moment. One moment of weakness and despair. It happened before, you know. When he couldn’t save Brody.”
I let out a snarl of rage, trying to propel myself up, but all I managed was to prop myself somewhat upright. My hair fell in my face, and I looked through the curtains of my hair to where Orion was pacing.
“That’s all it will take to administer the Bloodlust, turn him into a beast, and begin the hunt. Once I have the head of the Dragon, Winfyre will fall. Strong wards, one keeper. It’s a trade-off, Tiani.” He came closer and crouched down. “I do apologize for deceiving you. You probably thought that I was doing all of this for something else, that it couldn’t be this.”
A pained sound escaped me.
In trying to save one, I’d condemned another and all those he protected.
“Iris probably won’t take it well, either,” Lind mocked from somewhere. I looked up at her, and she tossed me a contemptuous smile. “All for nothing.”
What was wrong with me? Why wasn’t I fighting? Running? Clawing
my way out of this? I was a fighter. Yet I could draw on none of my usual stamina or willpower. I was hollow.
“I mean, unless I'm wrong. If the beast is still there...if you can shift, feel free to fly out of here.” My eyes rose to meet Orion’s, and he gestured at the rising mist behind us with a careless cruelty. “You did keep up your part of the deal.”
“Just kill me already, and get it over with,” I hissed, in too much pain and exhaustion to think straight. But the words sounded weak to my ears, and Lind laughed. “They won’t fall for it.”
Orion doesn’t know I left that note, one for Iris and one for Xander. Together, they’ll figure it out. My eyes squeezed shut against the tears threatening to spill. They won’t fall for his lies.
“They won’t,” I murmured to myself.
An iron grip suddenly yanked me to my feet, and I let out a cry of pain. It was the augris, its cold breath rattling in my ear, and its long fingers digging into my skin.
“They will.” Orion almost sounded pitying, and a cold finger lifted my chin to his face.
This close, I could see the oil-slick darkness of his eyes and jerked back, realizing his eyes had gone all black. Whispers crowded into my ears, and old, sodden memories of loneliness and loss clogged my chest. I remembered long days waiting and hoping desperately for a foster family to take me in. Narrow beds, cold nights, and dark corners. An afterthought, a neglected scrap of girl.
His finger left my chin, and I gasped, the visions falling away. I darted a glance up, but Orion's eyes seemed normal now, if shadowed and satisfied at the same time.
“I went through the Rift, Tiani,” Orion said and held up a hand, twisting it to and fro, admiring it. “If you thought I could persuade men before, rifle through their weak minds, their hopes and fears, you’ve no idea what I can do now.”
“Looks like I’m not the only one who made a deal with the devil,” I spat, sounding more like myself. This bastard. Rifling through my hopes and fears, was he? I only hoped he saw the one where I kicked him squarely in the balls.
“There’s that spirit,” Orion said and grinned at me. “Good, still not quite broken. Getting there.” A shudder went through me. “Most men crumple so easily. Not women, though. And not you.” He sighed. “You were always my favorite.”
Dragon's Oath (Northbane Shifters Book 5) Page 19