Falling Blind: The Sentinel Wars

by Shannon K. Butcher

  “No, you’re not. You liked it.”

  “Maybe a little. I’ve never torn a man’s clothes off before.” She pulled her panties and jeans on, covering the most tempting ass he’d ever seen.

  He pulled his own jeans on and buckled his sword in place. “Feel free to do it again whenever you like.”

  Her smile brightened his whole world and warmed him all the way to his bones. It struck him in that moment that he could love her if she let him. Part of him already did, maybe, though to admit it would make him too vulnerable. Once the colors in the luceria solidified, he wouldn’t survive without their bond, and the last thing he wanted was to tie her to him with guilt.

  No, it was his duty to her to make sure that didn’t happen. She deserved a choice that wasn’t swayed by her feeling responsible for his life. So he’d hold his heart closed, his thoughts tight, and do his best not to fall in love with her.

  * * *

  Rory felt . . . cheated. The sex had been great—that man nearly blew the top of her head off making her come that hard—but it wasn’t like before. Cain had held back, and she didn’t like it. She liked feeling what he did, knowing what turned him on and how her touch drove him crazy. She liked the intimacy of their connection and knowing that he’d never shared that with any other woman before. That he was holding out on her now pissed her off and made her feel insecure, which pissed her off even more.

  The sun was low on the horizon, giving each blade of dead grass a long shadow. They headed back toward the house, him all shirtless and beautiful under his gaping leather jacket.

  Given the chance, she’d gladly rip another shirt from his body and see where it took them. But now was not the time for that. Now was the time for reality, for impending danger and tough decisions.

  Reality sucked donkey dick.

  Rory wanted to hold his hand or put her arm in his—anything to connect them—but he was too far away, his gaze watchful on their surroundings as if expecting trouble. It made her nervous, driving away the languid heat of their erotic interlude.

  “What happens to me if we find the person who blocks my visions before we kill the demon in my head?”

  “I can only guess.”

  “So guess.”

  He spared her a quick glance before he hurried ahead and opened the back door for her. “If you’re not able to pull on my power to defend yourself, then there’s no end to the damage the demon could do. He could simply haunt your dreams, tormenting you for fun, or he could use your body against your will, wreaking untold havoc.”

  “How long do I have before Ronan’s cage fails?”

  “Years. Hours. There’s no way to know.”

  She slipped past him, dragging in the scent of his bare chest and leather jacket as she went. So yummy. It went to her head and rolled around there, derailing her train of thought for a second. “So until we kill it, I’m a ticking time bomb to everyone around me.”

  “Yes.”

  At least he didn’t bother to lie.

  “Including you,” she guessed.

  “Better me than someone weaker.”

  That was just like him to think of it in those terms—like his safety was an afterthought.

  She turned to face him. “It would kill me if I hurt you. We need to find that demon.”

  “Ronan may know where he is, or be able to locate him. He’ll wake soon now. I think we should wait for him.”

  “Is he a walking time bomb, too? I mean, he’s got the same demon in his brain, right?”

  “Yes, but his mental control is better than yours.”

  “Because I’m a woman?”

  “No, because you’re a Theronai. Sanguinar have abilities that exceed ours. I meant no insult.”

  Too bad. A nice, screaming fight would have gone a long way toward easing her growing tension.

  “You need to rest while you can.”

  “I feel fine,” she said.

  “For now. The power I fed into you will fade soon, leaving you just as weak as you were before. You really don’t want that to happen at the wrong time, do you?”

  “No. But if I go to sleep, I’m afraid you’ll leave.”

  Cain shook his head. “I won’t leave you alone right now. Until that demon is dead, you’re at risk. And if Ronan comes with me, then you’ll have to come, too. Unless you’d rather I call someone else?”

  She didn’t want anyone else around. Even now, she could see the fleeting images of a couple in the distance as they sat down to dinner. Once Ronan was up, she’d start getting feedback from him, too. Even Cain fed her visions once in a while. The only thing that stopped it all was his touch, and she really doubted that whoever he’d send to take his place as her guardian would have the same soothing effect.

  “I’m going with you,” she said.

  “Then you should sleep.”

  “Can’t. Too wired. But I’ll lie on the couch and rest until we go.”

  He followed her into the living room, and the next thing she knew, she felt his presence brush her mind, sending her into sleep.

  Her last conscious thought was that she was going to have a long talk with him about boundaries when she woke up.

  Chapter 23

  Joseph looked up from his desk as Tynan walked in shortly after sunset. Anger vibrated through the Sanguinar’s lean frame. “None of my people show any signs of having taken the dead woman’s blood.”

  “I thought you were sure she was drained.”

  “I was. I am.”

  “What about the blisters? I’ve seen the effects your efforts to filter Tori’s blood left on you. Those would be really hard to miss.”

  “I missed nothing. Every Sanguinar who was inside the walls of Dabyr at the time of Beth’s murder has been accounted for. I saw no signs on any of them.”

  “So where does that leave us? Could a Dorjan have drained Beth of blood?”

  Tynan shook his head and eased himself into a chair as if sitting too fast might make him shatter. “I didn’t want to raise suspicions, so I was careful in my investigation. I could, however, question them more thoroughly.”

  “You mean search their memories,” guessed Joseph.

  “Yes.” The single word spoke volumes of his disgust for the idea.

  Joseph sighed and called Nicholas, who had spent the last several hours searching through security camera footage. “Any leads?”

  “Yeah. Just found something—something you’re going to want to see.”

  “In my office. Tynan is here, too.”

  “Good. Maybe he can shed some light.”

  Joseph hung up and asked Tynan, “What about the sleeping Sanguinar? Is there any chance one of them woke up for a midnight snack?”

  “I checked the sleeping vaults. All were there. None showed any signs of tainted blood.” The way he said it, with a weary hesitation in his voice told Joseph there was something else to say.

  “But . . . ?”

  “But two more of my people are near death. I hadn’t realized how frail they’d become. I need to go hunting for them. The blood available here is simply not enough.”

  “You can’t leave. No one can leave until we find who killed Beth.”

  “Can I at least request one of the Sanguinar in the field come home, then?”

  “Of course. And I can give you some more blood to tide them over until help arrives. It’s not like I’m headed into battle anytime soon.” No matter how much he hated stagnating behind this desk.

  “Thank you, Joseph. Your generosity will not be forgotten.”

  Joseph knew a thing or two about desperation. And while he didn’t trust all of the Sanguinar, Tynan had proven himself willing to sacrifice for Joseph’s race over and over recently. A little donation was the least he could do.

  Nicholas walked into the office, a laptop clutched in his hands and a furious glare on his scarred face. He plunked it down on Joseph’s desk, aligning it so that both Tynan and Joseph could see. “I caught some video footage of someon
e walking into Beth’s suite.”

  “Who was it?” Joseph demanded.

  “No clue. But check this out.” Nicholas brought up a split image. On the left was the photo of the man who had sabotaged the cameras a few months ago, allowing Dabyr’s walls to be breached. The traitor who’d done that had yet to be found.

  On the right was another image of a man. Like in the older image, all that was visible was the back of a head that was cloaked by a hooded sweatshirt. There was not even a glimpse of his face, as if he knew how to avoid the cameras.

  Both men were wearing the same brown sweatshirt.

  “The traitor is the one who killed Beth,” said Nicholas.

  Joseph fell silent in shock, unwilling to voice the truth that hung so glaring and obvious in front of them.

  “It was one of my people,” whispered Tynan. “A Sanguinar is our traitor.”

  Nicholas’s hand settled on his sword. Joseph doubted the man even realized the silent threat.

  “We don’t know that for sure,” said Joseph, hoping to defuse the situation before it got out of hand. “That’s only a guess.”

  “No,” said Tynan, gliding to his feet. “You do not understand blood the way I do. I’m telling you that Beth was forcefully drained. If the man in these images is the same, then it is one of my own.”

  “I ran the photos through a program, comparing height and proportions. Everything was the same except the man who went to Beth’s door was quite a bit thinner than the one who disabled the cameras. Much thinner than the man who walked out of her suite.”

  Tynan’s body shook with rage. “He was desperate for blood. Starving.”

  “How many Sanguinar are under our roof?” asked Joseph.

  “Dozens,” said Nicholas.

  “Most of whom are sleeping,” added Tynan.

  Joseph gave Tynan a level stare. “You know what I’m going to ask you to do, don’t you?”

  Tynan nodded. “I will question them directly.”

  “If they resist?” asked Nicholas.

  “I would like to say that I would subdue them, but I’m far too weak for that. I’m afraid I’m going to need backup.”

  Nicholas nodded. “Sure. Whatever you need, man.”

  The hair along Joseph’s arms lifted in awareness the second before Lyka appeared in his open doorway. Just seeing her sent a surge of relief washing through him, cooling the searing, furious corners of his soul.

  Her golden gaze swept over the gathering, and she came to a rocking halt. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  Joseph wanted to tell her to come in, but he knew better than to waste his breath. If she was here, it wasn’t because she wanted to see him. In fact, the paleness of her complexion and fine tremor running through her fingers told him that the visit wasn’t for fun.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “Do you need something?”

  She looked at the other men gathered and her lips went tight and flat, as if she was trying to hold back what she’d come here to say.

  Joseph knew better than to send his witnesses away, but the chance to be alone with her, even if she hovered well out of reach, was too much for him to resist. He looked at Tynan. “Go do what you need to do. Nicholas will back you up.”

  The men left. Lyka stayed in the doorway, gripping the frame so tight it drove the blood from her slender fingertips. “I don’t know how to say this.”

  “Say what?”

  “I’m not even sure you’ll believe me.”

  “Just say it. Whatever it is. Then we’ll go from there.”

  “I’ve been babysitting Ella’s son Ethan for a while now, taking care of him while she worked. She asked if she could stay in my suite for a few days. I told her I’d be happy to have her, that I’d be happy to watch the baby whenever she needed. She’s dealing with so much right now, you know?” Her chest heaved with emotion, and for a second, Joseph was completely distracted from his duties by the sight. The swell of her breasts was emphasized by the clinging sweater she wore.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, resisting the urge to take even one step toward her. He couldn’t stand the thought of her fleeing. He needed her here for some reason he couldn’t name, calming his nerves and easing his nearly constant headache.

  “I don’t know, Joseph. This is all so fucked up.”

  The sound of his name on her tongue made him shiver. He didn’t even try to hide it. There simply wasn’t enough strength left in him to preserve his pride. He had too much left to do before he could rest, and all of his energy had to go into finding this traitor before he killed again.

  “Just tell me what’s going on,” he urged. “Let me try to help.”

  She nodded. “Ella finally cried herself to sleep a few hours ago. Ethan was fussy, so I sat down to rock him.” She paused and pulled in a deep breath. “He . . . showed me something.”

  “What? I don’t understand.”

  “Neither did I at first. Ethan has always been a little strange—so sober and quiet. And he’s grown so fast.”

  Warning bells went off in Joseph’s head. Small details all clicked together with an audible snap. Ella had been found in Synestryn hands. She’d said she hadn’t been there long—that she’d been pregnant when they’d taken her, but what if she’d lied? Joseph hadn’t seen Ethan at the day-care facility—not even when both Beth and Ella were working. In fact, he hadn’t seen the baby since he was born.

  Ella hadn’t wanted the Sanguinar to help her through labor. She’d had the child in her suite, without medical help. Joseph hadn’t known her intent to go through labor alone, but even if he had, he wouldn’t have questioned it. Why would she want to trust a Sanguinar who would take her blood when she’d just escaped demons who had fed from her?

  Unless she wasn’t sure of the child she carried—wasn’t sure if it was human or something else. Like its father.

  One other half-Synestryn child had been born recently and survived. He was being raised by a Gerai family, well away from Dabyr. Few people even knew he existed, and even fewer knew how different he was from a human baby. He, too, had grown too fast. He, too, had been able to touch the minds of others, showing them things he’d seen.

  “What did he show you, Lyka?”

  She swallowed twice, and then squared her shoulders. “He saw Beth’s murder. He saw who did it. That’s what he showed me.”

  This time, Joseph was unable to keep himself from approaching her. Only the sudden coiled tension radiating through her—as if she were poised to flee—made him stop in his tracks.

  His voice came out cold and hard enough to make her flinch. “Who was it?”

  “One of the Sanguinar. The one with the baby face and grass green eyes. I think his name is Connor.”

  Joseph knew exactly who she was talking about. “Connal.”

  Dread pooled in his stomach. A killing rage suffused his limbs. His sword was drawn before he’d realized what he’d done.

  Lyka’s eyes had grown huge with fear. She hugged the frame of the door, making herself as small a target as possible.

  “Stay here,” he barked, pissed that she’d even think she could be his target. “Close the blinds and lock the door behind me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re a witness to murder.”

  “Ethan was the witness, not me.”

  “Yes, but he has no words. You do. Stay here while I go deal with this.”

  “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  “First, I’m going to get Ethan to show me what he showed you. And then I’m going to execute a Sanguinar.”

  * * *

  Connal knew from Tynan’s not-so-subtle snooping that he had discovered that Beth’s death was not suicide. He was looking for signs of tainted blood—even going so far as to check the sleeping vaults of their own kind.

  There wasn’t much time before Connal’s act was discovered. The compound had been locked down, but he’d compelled one of the human security guards to open the ga
te for him later, when he was ready to leave.

  And he had to leave. There was no choice but to go. He would be discovered. Tynan’s next act would be to scour the memories of those here and pull the truth from Connal’s mind. As strong as he was with Beth’s blood flowing through him, he wasn’t strong enough to thwart Tynan’s efforts. Of all of them, Tynan was the strongest, even when he was weak.

  Connal’s mind raced for some kind of plan. He’d already collected his things and stowed them in his van. But where would he go? There was nowhere he could run that they would not find him.

  Unless he turned to the Synestryn. They’d already fed him—albeit for a price. Maybe they would shelter him as well. They would no doubt demand payment for that, too, but it had to be better than what the Theronai would do to him if he was caught.

  What Connal needed was leverage. Tribute. The only thing the Synestryn cared about was food, vessels for their progeny, and access to the Gate.

  He wasn’t strong enough to move a Sentinel stone, and he didn’t have the time to create a way in through the walls. But what he did have was access to one of their offspring. And its mother. Ella had lived through birthing one of the Synestryn young. She could do it again. That had to be worth the price of admission and the protection the demons could give him.

  Connal suffered only a moment’s hesitation at the thought of trading two lives for his own. Perhaps there had been a time when that would have bothered him more, but that time was past. He’d been backed into a corner, and like the animal he was, he would react accordingly.

  He sensed Ella inside Lyka’s suite. He didn’t bother to knock on the door. He simply barged in. The child stared at him in accusation, so Connal sent him to sleep. The mother was already asleep, but he urged her to drift deeper into its clutches. He flopped Ella over one shoulder and scooped up the child in the other arm. The power he used to mask his presence was precious, but the loss necessary if he was to get out of here with his tribute in tow.

  No one saw him as he rushed to his van. A couple of particularly sensitive humans frowned in confusion as he passed, but that was all. He stowed both Ella and Ethan in the back of his van, and drove out of the garage.