Kindara ignored his orders. “Just leave us alone! We have nothing for you!”
“You can tell me why you are in my lands, violating the edict! And tell me what you’ve done with my daughter!”
“We know nothing of your daughter, and this is where we were told to stay.” Kindara dropped to the ground beside Belnus. She checked him for a pulse and found it strong and steady beneath her fingers. Just knocked out, then, as she’d suspected. She jerked toward Auri. Belnus would live—but Auri could bleed to death so easily. The creature stood watching, surprise and suspicion on his features.
“Bronwen, you’ll have to give her blood. I cannot, it’s not safe. I’ll work on stopping the bleeding in her side.”
“Kinney, take Bronwen and call for the demon. I know you can.” Auri’s words were faint. “I don’t think you’ll be able to stop this—or that it will even matter. Get away from here before he takes you and Bron.”
“Shut up, Auri. I am not explaining to Aod that I lost his sister in demon land.” Kindara touched the ring the demon had given her. She closed her eyes and whispered his name. “I need you now.”
With a pop, he appeared before her. “Pet?”
Chapter Nineteen
Rathan had been in the middle of speaking with Phelius, after ordering the maids to prepare chambers for his woman and her friends. He’d spent the last hour being reassured that it was safe to bring his woman to his home. When he’d heard her call his name through the ring’s connection, he’d answered immediately.
His stubborn woman would not call him unless she truly needed him.
His eyes took in the tableau in front of him. His woman on her knees with blood on her hands, the Dardaptoan who’d been charged with protecting her was prostrate on the ground. The warrior woman lay bleeding beneath his woman’s hands.
Renakletos stood watching it all, confusion and anger on the face so much like Rathan’s father’s. Well, if his father had been purple, that was.
Rathan’s hand clenched the sword he’d taken up the moment he had walked into what used to be his father’s castle. He had not bloodied it in more than one hundred years.
If his woman was hurt, he would run it through his younger brother without a breath of regret. Rathan raised the sword. “Explain yourself, Renakletos Malickus!”
“My daughter is missing!”
“That does not mean we took her, you bastard!” Kindara snarled the words, her eyes flashing Dardaptoan fire. She slashed at her friend’s clothing with a small knife, pulling the blood-soaked material back. “Do you kill first and ask questions later? She may well die because of you!”
Rathan dropped to the warrior woman’s side though he kept attention on his brother. Renakletos’s loyalty had long been questioned, and he was not about to drop his guard where his woman’s safety was questioned. “Can I help, pet?”
“She’s in so much pain, Rathan. Can you do something? Just...make it easier on her.” Kindara’s fear was plain in her face and Rathan’s heart hurt for her. Aureliana was a particular friend to her. All could see that. He touched his horns, then brushed the warrior woman’s lips once. He whispered a soft command. She slid into oblivion.
“How badly is she hurt?”
“I don’t truly know. We need to get her coat off, check the damage. I can’t give her blood. I don’t have enough...and Bronwen is too small herself to help someone Auri’s size and need.”
“I can give her mine, pet. It is not the same as Dardaptoan, and can be slightly addictive. But it may help heal her some.”
“Please.” Kindara went to work removing the ruined white coat while Bronwen pulled back from where she had been giving blood.
Rathan sliced his wrist with his teeth, ignoring the slight pain it brought and held it to the woman’s mouth. He slipped into her mind, past the red cloud of pain and fear coating her thoughts and commanded her to drink. She obeyed, a need to survive strong in her. A need to protect. Images of Kindara and Bronwen were centered in her mind. As was her love for the two.
This woman would easily die to protect them. That earned her a place of honor in Rathan’s mind and a loyalty he would always keep.
“The bleeding is slowing,” Kindara spoke with a hope that Rathan wanted to meet. “We need to get her to shelter and proper medical care. It’s too dirty out here. And Gods knows what was on the blade of that bastard’s sword.”
“We will. It’s an hour walk from here.” Rathan motioned toward his father’s castle. His castle now. He thought a moment. “I will flash the male there, then come back for you.”
“Can you not flash them all?” Ren watched, a curious look on his face. “Would take far less time.”
“I cannot flash a wounded female; nor my own. It is not safe. You know that. Some of us are concerned with the well-being of others!” Rathan could not begin to describe the anger that his brother’s actions had caused him.
They had once been close. But someone was responsible for their father’s disappearance and the upheaval in Charleston, 1900. Ren was the most likely one. Yet Rathan had not been able to prove that, in more than one hundred years. And he had tried, spending over a hundred years in the human realm of Gaia. He had never found the proof he needed.
Now it was time to put that aside and focus on moving his realm forward. If that meant annihilating his own brother, so be it. No matter how much it would hurt him.
“Your own? You’ve mated.” Renakletos’s tone held a jubilance that had Rathan’s attention narrowing to only his brother. “It is about damned time, brother. You have neglected our kingdom long enough.”
“Shouldn’t you be gone? Looking for your missing child?” Kindara’s words had Rathan turning toward her. “Instead of distracting us from what we are needing to do?”
“Oh, I will find the ones responsible for taking Cerridwen. And I will slice them into pieces. But first, I will carry your friend. If I harmed her in error, I beg your pardon.” His tone was contrite, but the arrogance that characterized his brother was still there. Renakletos was the son of a Warrior woman, making him a warrior demon. Unlike most other crosses, children born of Warrior parents were often more Warrior than anything else. This was extremely true for Renakletos.
They did fight first and question last. It was how they had preserved through so many millennia of being the armies involved in every conflict. Warriors were often hired as mercenaries to fight battles between the species that populated Relaklonos.
“I beg your pardon? That’s it? You’ve nearly killed her and could have killed Belnus, and that is all you have to say?” Bronwen sat at Belnus’s side, stroking the dark brown hair that was now matted with dirt and blood. “What are you, anyway? You’re not like Rathan.”
“I am warrior, girl. And demon.” He looked at her, then at the large male at her side. “I will flash him to the gates of the castle. Someone put a curse on the grounds—I cannot flash inside them, just outside.”
“Protecting my interests,” Rathan said, but his brother and the male Belnus were already gone.
“Who was that?” Kindara asked as she wrapped part of her green sash around the cloth she had pressed to her friend’s side.
“That, I am ashamed to say, is my brother, Renakletos.”
“You’re related to that monster?”
“He is no monster, pet. Just a creature of his roots. Ren is a fighter through and through. He once commanded my father’s army. We should be thankful he is searching for his daughter and needed questions answered, or he would have slaughtered all of you in the time it takes to blink.”
“This habit of getting attacked when you leave me alone is starting to concern me.”
“That is why you will not be away from my side ever again.” He meant every word he spoke. He would never leave her so vulnerable again. Renakletos had proven that even with a Dardaptoan male of great skill guarding her—not to mention the warrior woman, as well—she was not safe. That was now Rathan’s top priority.
“I don’t think we have any choice but to move her now. We need to clean the injury as best we can. Infection sets in so easily in our people. It’s one of the three things that can kill us.”
Rathan knew the others, bleeding and hypothermia. Before he could lift the woman, his brother returned.
Rathan tensed, hand going back to his sword.
“Relax, brother. You and yours are safe. I gave the male to Phelius. He’s taking care of it.”
“His name is Belnus and he’s not an it.” Bronwen glared at Renakletos. “He’s got a family, too. A Rajni. And a daughter. She’s sixteen. What makes you so special?”
“Sorry, little girl. I did not mean to offend.” Renakletos was playing the game, saying the right words. Rathan hated that he could not trust the one brother who he had once cared about the most. Of the sixty half-siblings he possessed, Ren and Danae were the ones he cared for. Loved. Had loved.
One hundred years was apparently not long enough for betrayal to fade.
Renakletos stooped beside Aureliana. “She is cold. I have a blanket in my pack.”
“Where is your pack?” Rathan asked. “Their Kind can freeze to death in forty-degree weather. Even when not injured.”
“Behind that outcropping of rocks, two hundred feet that way. I was searching for Cerridwen when I heard your voices.”
“And you reacted without provocation.” Kindara condemned him with her eyes. “And Aureliana paid the price, and may very well pay further.”
“Tis a little scratch. Why would it cost so much? What are you all that this is so? Even your male, strong though he was, was easily taken down.” Derision was clear in Renakletos’s voice.
“They are Dardaptoan. From the Gaian realm.” Rathan referred to the name of the continents before they broke into the landmasses they were today. “The ones cursed by Eiophon, the wolven god.’’
“To be forever weak.” Renakletos lifted Aureliana into his arms, tucking her head—now free from its hood—onto his shoulder. “She did not fight like one so weak. Had she not slipped and fallen, I would not have gotten her so quickly. Had she had a longer sword, I would be bleeding.”
Admiration was in his tone. Rathan knew his brother valued fighting ability above all else; rather than the woman’s uncommon beauty, he would remark upon her skill with a sword. A common thing with Warriors.
“Were that it was you.” Kindara adjusted the blanket over Aureliana, tucking it gently over her friend’s shoulders. “If she dies because of you, her brother and mine will find you and rip you apart.”
“Kindara. If she dies, I will deal with him. He will not go unpunished. But we will not be letting her die. We will stop that from occurring. I can promise you that.” No matter what he had to do, Kindara’s friend would not be lost.
“I hope you can keep that promise.”
Chapter Twenty
Kindara felt ill. So much had happened in so little time. Would Auri be alright? Could Rathan keep the promise he had made? The warrior that Rathan claimed as brother walked ahead of them. Rathan had not let Kindara walk near the other male. Instead, Bronwen stayed at his side to assist with Auri. Auri’s chestnut hair blended with that of the male who carried her. Her face was turned toward the warmth of his neck.
He walked as if her weight mattered little. Kindara hated him; he should have been the one in need of medical care, not Aureliana. If Auri died, Kindara would see him dead. Even if she had to do it herself. It would go against her gift, but she would do it.
“Why does he not seem so concerned with finding his daughter?” Kindara asked Rathan as he walked at her side. “I’d be going crazy now, searching for Ji.”
“Warriors do not show emotion, pet. And young Cerridwen is quite a prize for the warring people. She is the closest in heir to me, you see. She was taken by my people to protect from his.” Rathan studied his brother, a puzzled expression on his face. “I suspect my brother thinks the same. And he knows my people would not hurt the girl.”
“Why? If he thought that, why would he attack us? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Renakletos rarely does make sense to me. And I think it was more that he saw you as trespassers more than kidnappers. Apparently, my brother has claimed a portion of my kingdom for himself while I was away. A portion we had entered. Now that I have returned, he knows that all lands revert back to me unless I state otherwise.”
“Crazy.”
“Just politics, pet. And I am sorry your friend got caught in the middle.”
“I just hope she doesn’t die because of politics.”
****
Rathan threw orders to the staff the moment they entered, and had them scurrying to find the items Kindara would need. The warrior demon carried Auri up a large set of stairs and into a room at the top. It was large, and decorated opulently with blues and greens, accented by silver.
The Warrior lowered Aureliana to the bed, then stepped back. Rathan turned to the two maids who hovered by the doors. “Help prepare her for the healers; remove the bloodied clothing and bathe her. Kindara will state her needs, and you are to fulfill them. And someone please fetch Phelius. He will be needed, as well. Above all, this room must be kept warm and clean.”
His people obeyed without question though for many it was the first they had seen him for more than one hundred years. Kindara stood over her friend, watching her closely. Rathan hurt for the despair on his woman’s face.
“I’ll need an antiseptic of some kind—the strongest you have. We need to be aggressive in cleaning the lacerations. I am flying blind here; I don’t know what type of bacteria exists in your world compared to ours. I’ll need something to stitch the opening. And two strong men to hold her down while I do it. Even out like she is, thanks to those devil horns of yours, she’ll still feel it. And Auri will fight. If she does, she can do more damage around the stitches. And bleed out.”
“I will assist.” Renakletos knelt beside the bed. “Brother, you take the other side?”
“When the time comes.” Rathan wanted his brother out of the castle; at least until he knew more of what motivated Renakletos. If Ren learned that Kindara carried his spawn and that spawn would supersede Cerridwen as heir, Renakletos could pose the biggest threat to Kindara yet.
If his brother had betrayed him once—killing their father in the process—what was to keep him from slaying Kindara to prevent the spawn from ever making it into this world?
It was one reason why he had blocked Ren from being able to flash into the castle at will. Danae still lived on the grounds, in a beautiful tower wing that faced the western rising sun. Rathan would do anything to protect his sister, as well. Even though she and Ren had been close through the years. Danae had not been born for the events of 1900. She had never known the betrayal Renakletos was capable of. Rathan would keep it that way.
****
Auri lay writhing on the bed covers, a white sheet beneath her and towels beside her to stop any flow as Kindara and Bronwen flushed the bacteria from her injury. Rathan and his brother held her down, but still she fought. Even with Rathan’s magic horns, it was obvious Auri still felt what they were doing. Still suffered. Kindara fought the emotions pushing in on her heart and focused on what gruesome tasks lie ahead. “I’ll need access to her back. The blade went clear through. We’ll have to flush that out, as well. Rathan, if you will hold her around the hips? I’ll need you to hold her from the front.” Renakletos did as she ordered, though it was clear he resented taking her direction.
Kindara held her breath and poured the green liquid the healer Phelius assured her was the strongest astringent his people possessed and prayed to her goddess that it would be enough to cleanse her friend’s injury.
The cut on Auri’s back hissed and even bub
bled as the green liquid filled it. Auri let out a piercing scream, the kind that Kindara still heard in her nightmares. It was the same type of scream that her young sister-in-law had made before she had died at the hands of Boltier at the TI complex thirty years ago.
The big warrior demon barely flinched. He turned Auri’s head into his neck and murmured sounds into her ear. He jerked his head back. “She bit me!”
Rathan laughed softly. “They are bloodsuckers, brother. Do not put your neck where one can bite—unless you want them to.”
“Damned vampires.” The Warrior cursed, keeping his head tilted from Auri’s face.
“She needs blood then. Demon, is there some who can donate? Bronwen cannot afford to give more.” Kindara was leery of using too much demon blood. She’d not had an ample opportunity to study it and its effect on her Kind. Too much may be just that—too much for a Dardaptoan body to handle properly.
“I will have some brought up. We do have other creatures besides demons in Relaklonos. There is blood here for those who need it.”
“I will give. My blood is strong and has the properties of both warrior and demon.” Renakletos tilted his head forward toward Auri. “And she already has a preference.”
He pulled his hair back to reveal Auri’s face. She was already feeding from him, tucked as close as a lover.
Kindara didn’t like it, but the faster the volume Auri lost was replenished the better it would be for her friend. “She’ll stop when she has enough.”
“It’s not as if he’ll bleed to death, pet. A demon such as Renakletos never runs out of blood.” Rathan brushed a hand down Kindara’s arm. She found the touch soothing, comforting in a way that would have shocked her only three days before.
“Why? What does flow in your veins?”
“It is a blood of sorts, but not based on oxygen and cells the way yours does. Phelius will describe it to you later.”
Kindara nodded. “Demon, I’ll need you to hold her as steady as you possibly can. Bronwen, prepare me two needles. The back we can use a small, 6-0 thread. The front is more gaping, I want 4-0.” Kindara waited until her assistant handed her the two packages. “Rathan, it’s vitally important that she does not move for this. We’ll take a break in between front and back.”
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