“What did you need to see me so urgently about?” Kaylan asked.
She felt desperate to rush up to her room and start searching for some reasonable explanation as to what had happened to Elijah. Yes, she wanted to learn more about that strange creature too, but after months of searching, she’d finally found him.
“It’s Freya.”
She sighed. “What’s she done now?” The last thing Kaylan wanted to think about was her wayward sister and the havoc she normally caused.
“She’s missing.”
Kaylan’s heart skipped a beat when she saw the worry in Sierra’s eyes. “She’s just run off with her latest boy toy. Like she always does.”
Freya went through men like most people their changed clothes, and was known to be careless with her magic. Kaylan had always feared Freya would expose them all, and had been relieved when their uncle had stopped giving her assignments.
“She was seeing someone at the High Lord’s house. We’re not sure who, but we think it was Flynn Zegan,” Sierra explained. “She never came back and no one has been able to contact her since.”
“Is this Cedric’s way of trying to get me to come back?” she asked, eyes narrowing.
“Kaylan, Freya mentioned seeing something up at the mansion,” her friend replied. “You need to stop searching for a dead man and help us find your sister.”
“Elijah isn’t dead. He–” She shook her head. “What did Freya see?”
“I don’t know much. Just that she thought that they were suing dark magic up there.” Sierra reached out and took her hand. “Please, Kaylan. I know how much losing Elijah hurt you, but we need you now.”
Kaylan nodded. “Okay.”
“There have been five deaths in the past eight months and the Order says they were heart attacks, but I don’t believe it. From what Geth and I have found, the bodies were broken and mutilated. As if something tore them from the inside out,” Sierra went on. “Freya offered to look around when she heard. Kaylan, we need to find whoever is behind these attacks before they strike again. I have all my notes here for you. I know Freya’s disappearance is connected to them somehow.”
Typical Freya, always willing to help but always getting herself stuck in the middle of trouble.
Kaylan took the file from her. “I’ll take a look. I’ll be in my room.” She turned to go.
“Kaylan? I’m here if you want to talk,” Sierra added.
Her brow creased. Her first instinct was to pretend that she didn’t know what she was talking about. But they both knew better than that.
The thought of Elijah brought back a familiar ache in her chest. It had been months before she could even think of him without wanting to cry. Instead she’d spent that time trying to find out what had happened.
“I’m fine,” Kaylan insisted. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
Her room was large with rustic red wallpaper and a worn oak floor with a four-poster bed, a lounge area and bathroom. She pulled the files out of her bag and laid them on the table. They contained everything she’d been able to gather so far on Norbert, the drug and anything related to what had happened to Elijah. But a scan of the intel told her nothing new.
She opened the patio doors and she stood on the balcony. The sounds and smells of the city greeted her as she closed her eyes. The drone and snarl of traffic, the smell of smoke and steam were all welcoming and brought back memories of days long past.
Kaylan sighed and gripped the railing as memories of fire and death came flooding back. She bit her lip and tried to banish the memory of Elijah’s hand reaching for her, and instead focus on the good memories. She and Elijah had spent hours sitting on the balcony while they worked or just enjoyed spending time together.
Now, Freya had disappeared, too. Kaylan knew it was time. She could no longer avoid the inevitable. Rummaging around in her suitcase, she pulled out a small crystal orb. She hadn’t used it in months but had kept hold of it just in case. It pulsed with light as she closed her eyes and let herself be swept away.
She reappeared in the study. Books lined the walls, crystals and other precious stones glistened from other shelves as flames sent shadows dancing across the gleaming oak floor.
Cedric stood in front of the fireplace. Age lined his dark hair with scatters of white and wrinkled his sharp green eyes which looked like coal in the semi darkness. “You’ve come home,” he remarked, without looking at her.
“No doubt Freya’s disappearance proved to be the perfect way to lure me back.” Kaylan folded her arms. “I told you I’m not part of the Amaranthine anymore.”
“Still blaming me after all this time?” He met her gaze then. “What happened to Elijah was tragic, but you gave up your entire life. You–”
“After my parents died, Elijah helped me carry on with my life. I can’t give up when I know he’s still out there. Not now.”
“You need to let go of this suicide quest. Your sister is missing.”
Kaylan’s fists clenched. As much as she wanted to see Elijah, to learn the truth, if something had happened to Freya, she’d never forgive herself for doing nothing. “What do you know?”
“Not much. Just that it is somehow connected to the High Lord,” he replied. “No one has been able to find out anything. That’s why I had Sierra call you. Our people within the Order can’t get close enough to gain any credible information.”
“How do you expect me to get close enough, then?”
The Amaranthine had spies within the Order’s ranks. Elijah had worked with them in the Guard and she’d been a healer, but that had all changed the night she lost him. She’d walked away from her old life to find out what had happened. What good could she do now? She had been away almost a year. Kaylan didn’t have the contacts or trust of anyone important any more.
“Sierra got your job back at the hospice.”
Kaylan tried not to groan. “What good does that do?”
“Flynn – the High Lord’s grandson – is a frequent visitor there. You can talk to him. He might be the one Freya was seeing,” Cedric said. “Return to work tomorrow. Get close to him and discover what he knows.”
“Fine, but I’m only doing this for Freya. I’m not interested in coming back,” Kaylan told him. “And that doesn’t mean I’m giving up on Elijah, either.”
Chapter 3
Elijah bounded along the tunnel, through the metal door, water splashing against him as he passed through the river. Moving along the tunnels he now called home, he ran until he reached the outer door.
He took a deep breath, feeling flesh and bone move with agonising pain as he shifted back into human form. He knelt down and splashed his face with water from the underground stream. Elijah braced himself against the wall, breathing hard. Kaylan. She was here. He couldn’t believe it.
“Elijah?”
He turned to see Geth. Geth’s dark skin gleamed under the luminescent light. His hair was braided and a ring glittered on his nose. “What happened?” his friend asked as he appeared in the makeshift doorway to Elijah’s cave, holding out a clean pair of jeans and a black shirt.
Elijah grabbed the clothes and slipped them on. “Kaylan’s back,” was all he said.
“You’ve been watching her again? I thought we talked about this?” Geth asked. “Do you want her to find out about you?”
Elijah sighed. “She knows.”
Geth’s mouth fell open. “How?”
“She hit me with a fireball. I shifted right in front of her,” he explained. Hell, it wasn’t like he had control over it.
“What did she do after that?”
“Nothing. I ran away after telling her to stop looking for me.” He buttoned up the shirt, ignoring the ache in his muscles from changing twice in one night.
“We’ve been through this. You need to stay away from Kaylan. Now she knows what you are, she won’t stop looking. What were you thinking?”
In truth, he hadn’t been thinking at all. He had just wanted a glimps
e of her again, to make sure she was alright. “I just – had to see her,” Elijah admitted. “Just because I’m different now doesn’t mean I don’t care.”
“Well, we’ve got more important things to worry about than your ex-fiancé. I found another body.”
He flinched and looked down at his hands, half expecting to see them covered in blood.
“Don’t worry, you didn’t lose control again,” Geth told him. “It’s another victim of the Stardust drug.”
Elijah breathed a sigh of relief. One of his greatest fears was losing control again and having no memory of what he might have done. “Where is it?” he asked.
Geth led him down the tunnel until it opened up into a larger cavern. Tendrils of light danced around the glistening grey rock walls. Elijah had no idea where the magical lights came from, since they were several metres underground, but he always found this place peaceful.
The body of a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties lay off to one side. His skin looked pale and waxy underneath the shock of red hair.
Elijah knelt and did a quick examination of the body. Blood covered his hands and feet, with deep gouges around his hands and ankles, as if he’d been shackled. He looked worse than the last victim: the others had all been bloodied and bruised, but these wounds all appeared much worse.
“I can’t smell the drug on him,” he told Geth. “Does he have any connection to the other victims?”
“The only thing the Amaranthine have found that link the victims is that they’re all male,” Geth replied.
“Any luck in finding out what the money is paying for?” Elijah continued to examine the body in the hope he would finally spot something different. A clue, a scent as to who was behind the killings. “Hey, there’s a black burn mark on his left wrist.”
Geth leant closer. “You’re right. Do you think it’s from the drug?”
“Maybe. I’ve noticed it on a couple of the other victims as well, but I’m no expert.”
“Perhaps we should pay a healer to have a look at him.”
Elijah shook his head. “No, that’s too risky and not worth doing it again. All the healers in the city are either under the Order’s thumb or too scared to go up against them.” He rubbed his chin. “But now Kaylan is back…”
“It’s been almost a year. You need to let her go, Elijah.”
“I just don’t want to see her wasting her life away by searching for me.” He rose. “Kaylan’s the best healer in the city. There’s no harm in asking for her help.”
“That’s a bad idea. I still can’t believe you showed her what you are now. We’ve all tried talking to Kaylan since your “death”, but she won’t listen to reason,” Geth said. “What do you expect to do now she knows?”
That was a good question.
“If I talk to her–” He ran a hand through his hair.
“I think you’ve done enough damage for one night.”
Elijah thought back to the moment he’d seen Kaylan again. Same long, blood-red hair, and those dark eyes. The same fire. As they moved back through the tunnels, he told Geth what had happened. Light streamed down, casting away the gloomy shadows.
“That’s the third attack this week,” Geth remarked. “I need to tell Cedric immediately.”
Geth turned to leave back down the opposite tunnel.
“Wait, I could–”
“You’re not an Amaranthine anymore, my friend. You know Cedric won’t let you come back now.”
“Fine.”
Elijah grudgingly went back to his chambers. There was a large room cut into the rock with a small window that looked out onto the rest of his underground home. After he’d been turned, this had been the only refuge in the city he could find without the Order hunting him. Even Cedric, the Amaranthine leader, had turned against him after he’d tried to go home.
Leaning against the stone column, he sighed. Kaylan was back. He’d been restless by not being able to watch over her for the past few months, but it had been too dangerous. Every time he went above ground, he risked being captured by one the Glistans and being tortured all over again.
Geth left him alone, and Elijah settled on his makeshift bed. He heard the faint groan from the city above, but otherwise there was only the faint babble of water in the distance. He remembered the look of shock on Kaylan’s face. Damn it, he couldn’t just leave things like this.
Unable to settle, Elijah decided to go out again. Everything in him demanded that he go and find Kaylan. Try to explain things. But what good would it do? They could never be together now. He needed to stay away.
Elijah went back to the bridge. The faint scent of jasmine still hung in the air as he padded across the road. Both man and beast wanted to follow that familiar scent to its owner. Elijah growled, pacing back and forth. He only felt this restless when he sensed Kaylan’s presence. Seeing her again had stirred up old memories. The pain and heat of fire. Of darkness and agony as his body was forced to change. He pushed away the memory of the night he’d changed and stalked away. Feeling sorry for himself would do no good. Instead, he’d find the ones responsible and have revenge.
Elijah moved through back alleys and quieter roads. Music and the sound of laughter drifted through the night, but he paid little attention to it. If anyone saw him, they thought him a stray dog, or he moved away before they ever had the chance to make contact.
After his first change, he’d wanted blood and death. Nothing had been able to stop him from getting it. But his blood lust had sparked interest from the city Guard, known as Glistans. Now there was a price on his head. The sorcerers didn’t stand a chance against him, but the Glistans were another matter.
He stopped outside the stone walls of the Higher Lord’s house. Home to the Order’s leader. Elijah scaled the wall, feeling the charge of static against his fur from the ward. Not that wards detected him anymore.
He landed easily. Light poured from the windows, feeling like a thousand eyes watching him. The sweet smell of flowers wafted from the pristine flowerbeds as he edged along the wall.
He’d spent the past year trying to find out what had happened to him and why. Sierra and Geth had never proved Norbert’s involvement with the Stardust drug. More bodies had been piling up ever since then and the Amaranthine hadn’t found the person behind it. The drug wasn’t just a money-maker. There was more to it than that, and Elijah knew there was a connection between it and his being turned into a shifter. Others were being turned but so far none had survived – none that he knew of.
Elijah kept to the shadows as he moved closer to the house. He sank low as he got to the window. Magic never seemed to work when he was in wolf form, and he couldn’t risk being spotted.
The sound of voices rang out followed by a scream.
He used his front paws to hoist himself up, pressing his nose to the window. A spell circle stood in the centre of a gleaming oak floor. The figure of a woman in a billowing black robe stood at the head of the circle. Her face was hidden by a long hood. Beside her stood a young woman. Her gold hair fell past her shoulders and her green eyes were wide with fear. The half-naked body of a man with sandy blonde hair lay in the centre of the circle. Only the sound of three heartbeats in the room confirmed that the man was still alive. Elijah’s claws dug deeper into the sill as he recognised the woman as Freya Avilion. Kaylan’s sister. What the hell was she doing in there?
Blood dripped from Freya’s hand onto the man’s chest, causing smoke to rise, and Elijah let out a low growl. Blood magic was dark and dangerous. This was more than calling spirit to do someone’s bidding. He had to get Freya out of there.
Elijah’s muscles rippled as he prepared to make a jump through the window. He drew magic, hoping it would protect him from the brunt of the force.
“It’s not working,” the woman complained. “Your blood isn’t strong enough.”
She knelt beside the unconscious man, jabbing a syringe of purple liquid into his right arm. Elijah sniffed but couldn
’t make out what it was from his position.
He leapt and threw himself at the window. Static flashed and charged against him, knocking him to the ground. He grunted as the power made his fur stand on end and jolted through his nerve endings. Damn it! No ward had repelled him before now.
A shrill alarm rang out and a shout told him that they knew about his presence. Elijah growled as the figure dressed in black leather came out of the shadows, and he glimpsed green cat-like eyes underneath the hood. A Glistan. One of the elite guards of the Order and dangerous enforcer of their laws. The woman’s dark hair fell in a long black plait and silver glinted along the three-sided curved blade. Dakrons could channel the user’s power.
Elijah crouched down, teeth bared and eyes flashing gold as his beast came awake. He could almost taste the woman’s blood. The coppery scent mixed with incense wafted from a crack in the window and made him long for the taste. For the kill.
“Avock!” she cried. A burst of blue shot from her hand, hitting him in the side.
Elijah yelped and howled. He couldn’t give up. He had to get in there and help Freya.
The Glistan hurled knives and curses, forcing him to retreat to the wall.
He let out a breath, feeling the burn of the last attack. Come on! I need to get in that house.
“Run, little wolf or I’ll do much worse,” she told him.
He snarled. If the beast couldn’t help, perhaps the man could. Bone and muscle popped as he shifted back into his human form. Elijah grunted from the pain. Shifting so often took a lot of energy, but the anger fuelled him now. He muttered a curse and threw a strike.
She deflected it and laughed before muttering another spell.
Pain tore through his body, ripping through his nerve endings. He shifted, and forcing his body to change only intensified the pain. Elijah let out a low howl, then turned and fled into the night.
Chapter 4
Kaylan woke up and stared at the familiar ceiling. She felt amazed that she’d slept at all after a night of going through her files, trying to find a reasonable explanation as to why Elijah had changed into an animal and what might have happened to Freya. But her files had provided no answers. Getting up, she passed Iris, who lay curled up asleep at the end of the bed and padded out onto the balcony. The smell of smoke and the sound of traffic and people greeted her. She smiled. It was good to be home.
The Amaranthine Chronicles Complete Series: Betrayed By Blood, Dark Revenge, The Final Battle Page 2