Blood Chained (Dark Siren Book 3)

by Eden Ashley

  “Yes and no.” Memory also told him that he and York were closer than brothers. Rhane trusted him more than anyone else in the world. So instead of making York suffer a painstaking search for information, Rhane decided to volunteer it. “They beheaded me. While it didn’t kill me, I’ve lost the majority of my memories, especially from the years when I was not Banewolf.”

  York’s face flushed bright red. Then he expelled a string of expletives that would have made a sailor blush. “I hate them.” He paced across the room. “And your father, he just stood by and let them?”

  Rhane exhaled. “He had no choice.”

  “So how do you…” York fumbled for the right words. “How exactly do you know who we are?”

  “I’ve always controlled the wolf using emotion and memory. If I enter the mindset just before the change begins and think about a person hard enough, the experiences connecting me to them come back. Sometimes it’s a flood of memories. And sometimes it’s just a general feeling.”

  Understanding settled York’s features. “So the wolf didn’t know Matthias.”

  Rhane nodded. “But that wasn’t all. Before I was formally released, Jethra came to warn me of the Builders’ plans to come after Bailen. She was badly hurt. I healed her. Then I fought the two Builders responsible for her injuries. It took a lot of energy to destroy them.” He omitted any mention of Jethra’s subsequent death.

  “I think I see where you’re going with this. Then you had to help Bailen too.”

  “I did,” he said quietly. “Rion couldn’t deactivate the device that imprisoned him. As Banewolf, I absorbed a lot of damage in freeing Bailen. He was injured.” Rhane fought hard to keep his voice from cracking. “I brought him back from the brink. After that, I had barely enough left to stand. But when the Builder attacked, I saw no other choice. I forced the next transformation, and the wolf was raging. I could hardly rein it in.”

  “How do you feel now?”

  “About eighty percent.”

  York raised one eyebrow. “And before the marathon sex with Kali?”

  Rhane’s mouth twitched. “Seventy-five.” The comment earned a laugh from both men. Only Rhane’s was tempered by the secret he had not told his friend or anyone else. If he could ever accept it, maybe then. But some things were not meant to be shared…even between brothers.

  “There it goes again.”

  “What?”

  “That look.”

  “What look?” Rhane said. He was stalling and knew exactly the look York referred to.

  “The one of absolute self-loathing that you eventually default to whenever Kali is not around.”

  Rhane gritted his teeth. Any continued attempt to feign ignorance was pointless. “York, I can’t.”

  “Whatever it is, there’s no need for you to deal with it alone. It doesn’t have to be me. At least tell Kalista. You shouldn’t be hiding it from her anyway.” Seeing Rhane had started to shake his head, York added, “She already knows something bad happened to you.”

  Rhane calmly turned away so York wouldn’t see his hands were shaking. “I told her about the beheading the first time I saw her.”

  “Damn it,” York said loudly, refusing to let the matter go. It was for Rhane’s own good. “That’s not what we’re talking about.”

  Rhane’s temper flared from zero to sixty, and he couldn’t stop the growl of frustration from ripping free. “Just drop it,” he said and felt razor sharp canines prick his bottom lip. But in case York couldn’t obey that request, he spun around and left the room in one swift motion.

  Downstairs, everyone else had crowded in the den. It was an informal gathering, revolving around pizzas and beer, and meant to take advantage of what little down time existed before the next adversity struck. Too long had passed since they had all been together. And there was no better time to remedy that than the present.

  Laying eyes on Kalista, Rhane immediately felt a huge weight lifted from his chest. The sight of Bailen lounging beside her perch on bean bag furniture hauled from Rion’s room eased the pain a bit more. If only he could keep York off his case long enough to enjoy the reprieve.

  Kissing the top of Kalista’s hair, Rhane eased onto the oversized chair designed to seat two. He smiled at the way her gray eyes lit up on seeing him. “Hi,” he said.

  She returned his smile. “Back at you.”

  All around them, it was just like old times. Rion and War almost immediately resumed their bitter rivalry in the virtual realm. But now their feud seemed even more intense as the boys made up for a six month loss of game play. Matthias manned a third remote. He and War had formed an onscreen alliance against Rion, taking his avatar out of play at every available opportunity. This reduced an infuriated Rion to yelling insults and finally hurling the controller at the wall.

  The whole room erupted in laughter. Rion tried to storm off in a dramatic pretense of anger, but Orrin seized him from behind and wrestled him to the ground in a bear hug, tousling his hair playfully. When that failed to crack the charade, Orrin resorted to tickling. Rion caved in five seconds. “Okay, okay. Well played, Matt. I guess I had that coming.”

  As he and Orrin separated, the doorbell rang. “Pizza!” War and Matthias yelled simultaneously.

  Rhane’s stomach gave an excited flip of its own. Pizza was a nonexistent luxury in Golden Mountain. But then the door opened and Rhane caught a scent that was definitely not the delivery guy. The excitement he felt promptly evaporated, replaced by something more akin to grief. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kalista watching him worriedly. She had no doubt noticed his grim mood swing, but Rhane attempted a smile to reassure her anyway.

  “Uh, Rhane,” Rion called from the doorway. “Yeah, I guess it’s okay,” he said in normal volume to the unexpected visitor. “Come on in.”

  Needing to be on his feet when Gabriel entered, Rhane stood. The fallen Prime studied him for a moment before speaking. “I extend my apologies for the intrusion, but the fear of waiting far outweighs a necessity for good manners.”

  “What is it, Gabriel?” Rhane said coolly.

  He knew the others were watching closely and might think his behavior was a bit callous since Gabriel had helped protect everyone during their warlord’s absence. Hopefully they’d chalk it up to lingering animosity for the guy who had wreaked too much havoc in Rhane’s life.

  Rhane watched Gabriel look around the room and take in the disarray of empty pizza boxes, discarded beer cans, the suspended video game and how mostly everyone remained in their pajamas at five in the afternoon.

  “I believe your guard has failed too soon, Banewolf.”

  Feeling no need to justify his actions to Gabriel, Rhane did so anyway. “We’re enjoying the homecoming, Gabriel. This family hasn’t been whole in a long time. And as for my guard,” he said, folding his arms and letting his voice take on a harder edge. “It never fails.”

  “Set our differences aside and consider it. Last night was far too easy.”

  Rion balked. “You call that easy?”

  Gabriel continued as if the boy hadn’t spoken. “Why imprison the young one in a facility solely in the keep of humans? Only one Builder attacked when their numbers are far more. Attacking as one, we could have never defeated them. Bailen would have been theirs if they truly wanted him. Doesn’t any of this concern you?”

  “Of course it concerns me.”

  “So what will you do about it?”

  Rhane gritted his teeth. He had already considered the possibilities. Builders never played a straight game. Who could ever know what they wanted? But Gabriel’s doubts returned Kalista’s fears to the fore of his mind. What came next to hurt them, to tear their family apart? He had just wanted to give her one day when survival wasn’t their focus. So much for that.

  Rhane took a pause to figure out the method to remove Gabriel from his home with the least amount of hostility. But when Rhane opened his mouth, the doorbell chimed again.

  The sight of the two creatur
es escorted in by Rion nearly knocked him off his feet. One he knew all too well. The other, obviously also kindred, was a complete mystery.

  Rion’s cheeks burned all the way through the introductions. “Rhane, this is Dmiri. He is sort of Ian’s advisor.” Rion rubbed his neck. “And, uh, this is Cixi. Maybe you two already know each other,” he mumbled while quickly moving far away from a potentially explosive situation.

  Rhane’s throat went dry. He glanced at Kalista, sorely wishing she were closer so he could have squeezed her hand and offered some shelter from what surely bombarded her thinking. He knew it didn’t help that both Cixi and Dmiri were stark naked.

  Since the dark skinned kindred was introduced as Ian’s advisor, Rhane addressed him. “This had better be an emergency.”

  “It is. So much so, we did not have time to acquire dress in transit. Otherwise we would have conformed to your sensibilities.”

  “And why is she here?” Rhane still did not look at Cixi.

  Of course the self-governing beauty would speak for herself. “Dmiri is a prize to all kindred,” she explained in a voice that clearly communicated indignation at being ignored. “With the eclipse approaching, none like he should travel alone. It is by Ian’s order that I am here.”

  “Fine,” Rhane said. He’d just have to deal with Gabriel later. “What’s the emergency?”

  To Rhane’s surprise, Dmiri leveled an ancient stare at Bailen. “I hope one last time. If the child will not tell you, I will.”

  Bailen exploded to his feet with bristling fur and burning, golden eyes. But he did not speak.

  Undaunted, Dmiri continued. “The danger is not yet over, Banewolf. Your enemy is at your doorstep and the child knows it.”

  “He is lying!”

  Rhane reeled at the sound of Bailen’s voice. The rest of the kin stirred as one, led by Kalista’s gasp. The boy had abandoned the canine form at last. For the first time in recent memory, Rhane laid eyes on his son.

  But the face he saw was contorted with rage. Bailen’s human eyes were gray like his mother’s, only flashing with betrayal. A tide of crimson shaded his naturally bronzed skin all the way to the collar bone as his chest labored beneath the weight of his fury.

  “Your anger is misplaced, little one. You trusted my sight in Asia to know if your plan would work. Trust it now. Someone will die if you do not abandon this course. Don’t lose what you’ve struggled so hard for.”

  The kindred’s words began to sink past the shock of seeing Bailen. Rhane looked at Dmiri uncertainly. He knew nothing of this strange creature except that Ian held Dmiri’s counsel in high esteem. The kindred alpha’s intelligence was nothing to be taken lightly.

  “Bailen,” Rhane said gently, but the boy did not lift his unforgiving gaze from the kindred.

  “You’re a fool,” he hissed.

  “Bailen,” Kalista tried. “Are we still in danger?”

  He looked at them then, and something in his eyes changed. Something Rhane did not trust. Bailen was near hysterical. “How can you say that to me? I—I am in danger,” he yelled. “You were supposed to protect me. But you were never there. Neither of you.” His shouting became dangerously shrill as his eyes switched from gray to gold and back. “You have no idea what they did to me…the experiments they put us through. Their endgame was always me. Where were you when I needed saving?” Taking a deep breath, he showed signs of calming. Though his voice still shook. “But I forgave you. I found you,” he finished quietly with tears glistening against his cheeks. Kalista reached out to him as any mother would. But Bailen dropped to all fours and whirled on her with a snarl before he barreled through the open front door.

  Kalista looked to Rhane with wide eyes. Then her face cleared with a steely sort of determination, and she too ran outside. There was time for one command. If there was ever a moment when Rhane needed an order followed to the letter, it was then. “York,” he said, fueling the word with every ounce of authority he possessed. “No one follows us.”

  York nodded. “Understood.”

  Rhane shifted his glare to Gabriel and the kindred. “No one.”

  Dmiri’s warning had not gone unheeded. If their kid really was involved in a twisted plot that could get someone killed, Rhane had to make damn sure it wouldn’t be anyone but him.

  Chapter 48

  He caught up to Kalista before she reached the tree line and slowed to match her stride. “I will find him,” he promised. “It’ll be okay.” As soon as he uttered the words, a pang of guilt hit him hard and fast. Between his doubts, Gabriel’s misgivings, and Dmiri’s warning, Rhane had no idea of how things were going to turn out.

  Using the wolf to find Bailen was out of the question. Banewolf was a weapon of bloodshed and destruction. Maybe in battle, the sight of the immortal brought a certain comfort of assured victory to those who fought alongside it. But for a weeping child undergoing intense abandonment issues, Rhane imagined leading with the wolf was the wrong way to go.

  The tracks he followed told him the boy remained in canine form and was running at top speed. Toward what, Rhane didn’t know. But he did know he wasn’t far behind. Low brush and tall reeds still stirred from Bailen’s flight. His scent was loaded with fear and sadness, but at least those markers hadn’t grown stronger. Maybe the run itself would calm him down before Rhane reached him. Bailen definitely hadn’t taken an easy path. In the opposite direction of Ian’s den, the landscape here was forested but much rockier. Trees had anchored their roots deep into hillsides and ledges. Those roots spilled from steep drop offs, cascading like wooden waterfalls only to plunge into the hard packed earth below.

  Rhane could see Bailen ahead now, running across the small valley below. Rhane quickened his pace, hoping to catch him on the other side. But as he took the leap that would put him within the gorge, the very air came alive. Energy rippled across his skin, ringing an alien frequency through Rhane’s ears. As he hung motionlessly, that force reached into him, spreading agony from the inside out, cocooning his body, and delivering what felt like the pain of a thousand lifetimes in a single blow.

  Rhane couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, and couldn’t scream. All he could do was feel merciless, excruciating pain. Looking down in the valley, he could no longer see Bailen, but seven other figures had emerged. He recognized Wesley. The other six were strangers to his memory.

  A deafening roar built in his ears, and his suffering impossibly intensified. Rhane thought it must be the worst thing he had ever felt. Whatever it was that Builders wanted, he could feel them taking it. But Rhane also felt his body fighting their efforts. This thing clung to his insides, struggling against their irresistible will, but was slowly losing ground.

  The roar renewed itself. Louder. Angrier. Rhane still couldn’t move, was still suspended midair. There came a final, mighty tug that rearranged organs, separated ribs, and fractured bones. At last, the pain stopped. The roar ceased. And gravity reclaimed him.

  Rolling to his side, Rhane opened his eyes and finally understood.

  A white radiance in the form of a wolf now stood over him. Builders formed a circle around the immortal in seven colors of glowing light. Their eyes were closed, and their faces were thick with concentration.

  Rhane was empty inside. He and the wolf were no longer one. As the Builders opened their soulless eyes, he wondered if this was what it had been like for Gabriel. The thought became a fleeting one as the sentence passed from the mouth of a glowing figure. “Kill the vessel. Show the immortal there is no choice.”

  This time the pain lasted only an instant. Then Rhane felt nothing at all.

  #

  Kali knew Rhane was in trouble. She had felt his pain and the shattering loss of something irreplaceable. But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

  Rhane’s body lay outstretched on the valley floor. His neck rested at an awkward angle. His limbs were limp. The smell of burned flesh stung her nostrils, growing stronger with every leaden step made toward
him. As her eyes adjusted, she made out the ethereal shape of a wolf, standing over Rhane’s fallen form. Seven figures encircled it, each glowing in a unique hue of light. But with every passing moment, the radiance emanating from them dulled, until finally their faces were revealed. She recognized Wes immediately. Recalling the familiarity of Tsai’s misshapen facial hair took only an instant longer. Five other faces completed the circle, but none of them Kali knew.

  Eyes closed, their arms reached toward the lustrous immortal. Their lips moved in unison, repeating a chant. “From sire to son, it shall pass again. By their chained blood all will be freed.”

  Beyond the circle was Bailen, still canine and seemingly transfixed by the sight of the immortal. The wolf watched him too, advancing closer with each cycle of eerie chorus.

  White-hot anger burned in Kali’s belly, spreading outward until it became an all-consuming force of vengeance fueled hatred. Her scream came next. As if reaching from hell itself, the wail of the siren rocked the earth and shook the trees as it echoed through the valley. The Builders saw her then, and their chanting became more urgent.