by Aliya DalRae
“I hate that place,” she said. Her voice sounded like it was coming from far away, even to her own ears. “Hate it and everything it stands for. Somebody should have burned it to the ground years ago, but here’s the thing. Once Stivali and Carabas killed those murdering bastards, I never gave it another thought.”
Truth was she’d thought about Stivali more than a few times over the years. The rest of it not so much, so she didn’t feel like she was lying.
Harrier’s arm rested on the back of the couch. He stretched a finger out to touch her hair and she shivered. “How in the world did you get mixed up with a couple of mercenaries in the first place? Shifter mercenaries at that?”
Kythryn grinned. “A cat Shifter walks into a bar,” she said, but he didn’t bite. “Seriously, it’s a long story, and I’d rather not go into the gory details. Let’s just say a broken heart can make you do some crazy shit.”
Harrier frowned, but he nodded. “That’s the truth of it,” he said, and she wondered…
“You ever get your heart broken? I mean you’re old, right?”
Harrier withdrew his arm and glared at her.
“You know what I mean,” Kythryn said, laughing. “Surely, in all your millennia, you’ve fallen in love a time or two.”
Harrier’s brow creased as the frown deepened. “How old are you thinkin’ I am?”
Kythryn shrugged. “I don’t know. A bazillion?”
Harrier laughed, but his humor was short lived. He grew quiet, his eyes fixated on some faraway place. After a long moment, he whispered, “Once.”
Picking up on his mood, Kythryn grew serious. “Really? Only once?” He nodded and she said, “Must have been one hell of a woman.”
Harrier nodded. “She was. Bella was my world. It was the last time I was truly happy.”
“What happened?” Kythryn couldn’t help asking.
Harrier’s whole body visibly tensed, but he answered. “Life happened. The Primeval happened.”
He took a drink of his beer, leaned over and slammed the bottle on the coffee table. Foam oozed out the top and onto his hand, but he didn’t seem to notice. He turned to Kythryn, and she gasped when his eyes sparked with the brightness of the sun.
“Fucking Raven happened.”
Chapter Forty-Five
H arrier couldn’t sit. This part of his story with Bella was exactly why he’d chosen to lock all memory of her away. He stood and put some distance between himself and the little cat who was bringing too much of the past into the here and now.
“Talk to me, Harrier. What did Raven have to do with it?”
Harrier turned to find her kneeling backward on the couch, following his every move. “You know who he is, right? His history?”
Kitty nodded. “Sure, everybody knows about that, even in the Shifter community. He was the boogeyman. Still is, if you ask me. You know what he did to Malcolm.”
“He nearly destroyed the Vampire race, single-handedly. He was next to impossible to trace, and you never knew when he would be there, ready to rip away everything you loved.”
Kitty rested her chin on her hands. “Tell me.”
Where to begin?
“I grew up in a house divided. My father loved me. I never doubted that, but my mother…”
Harrier raked his hands through his hair, resisting the urge to pull it out by the roots. “My mother was another story. She was wild when she was young, rebellious. When she met my father, he was not only handsome, but forbidden. My father told me that her family threatened to disown her if she mated with him, but she was not one to take orders. He thought she was with him out of love. Truth of it was, she was thumbing her nose at the Primeval, at her family.”
“What happened?”
Harrier paced the room, unconscious of the path he was wearing in the floor. “She got bored, is what. It was all fun and games when she was in control. But then I came along, and there wasn’t a Vampire of any worth who would have a thing to do with her. She missed the parties, the status that being blooded brought to her. Now, as far as the Primeval and those at Court were concerned, she was ruined. She’d given birth to the worst kind of spawn, a Vampire/Shifter hybrid.”
Kythryn hissed, but he carried on. “Of course, she blamed it all on my da. He’d seduced her, put a spell on her. None of it was her fault. I spent countless nights hiding in a closet while they fought over me. Sometimes I’d fall asleep in there, end up spending the entire day folded up in that cramped space, afraid to show my face.
“I learned to steer clear of Mother. It was best for me, and better for my da as well.”
Harrier paused, lost in the past. Memories of Cook pulling him from his bed, shoving a meager pack in his arms. Yer father’s dead, she’d whispered, her eyes wild with urgency. You need to leave now, boy, or you’ll be next.
“My father died when I was twelve, and no, it wasn’t natural causes. The cook expelled me from the house with a loaf of bread, a hunk of cheese and the clothes on my back. I was lucky she liked my father. She probably saved my life.”
“What did you do?”
“I ran. I made it as far as the next town over, where I lived on the streets. I did work for people to earn a meal, but most of the time I lived as one sort of bird or another. It was a lot easier than trying to hide amongst the humans.
“Eventually, Mother remarried. A lesser noble, desperate for a mate I suppose, agreed to take her on and they had two children, purebloods of course. When I heard, I flew home to see if I could catch a glimpse at what kind of child it took for my mother to love. I watched them grow up, eventually revealing myself to them, and we became close for a while. Rachel, you’ve met, and Rebecca. Rebecca was our mother’s child through and through, rebellious to the core. Eventually, we were discovered and I left to spare the girls from any trouble.”
“Your mom sounds like a real piece of work,” Kitty said, frowning. “She still alive?”
Harrier’s expression was grim. “To the rest of the world, yes. To me, however, she made it clear I was to forget she ever existed.”
“You’ve seen her then? Why?”
“To help Raven, believe it or not. But that’s another story.”
Kitty nodded. “So, what happened next? Where did you go?”
“I traveled north, to Inverness, where I managed to settle into a semblance of a life. I found a job working in the stables for a lesser Primeval royal. That’s where I met Bella.”
“Wonder woman?”
Harrier smiled at the comparison, but it wasn’t far from the truth. At least not in his eyes.
“She was a beauty, aye,” he said. “She would sneak down to the stables to visit me, and we would talk for hours as I went about my duties. Being half Shifter, I was able to do a lot of my chores before the sun went down. I would rise early, get everything done, and then have the rest of the night to spend with Bella.”
“You’re a daywalker?” Kitty had curled into the corner of the couch, her knees pulled to her chest, her arms wrapped around them.
“Not exactly, but I do have a certain level of resistance. Anyway, Bella and I would meet in a clearing, far from prying eyes. It was our special place, private to us. It’s where we first made love.”
Kitty winced at that last bit, but Harrier chose to ignore it, too caught up in the past to consider what it meant.
“There was a ball coming up, a masquerade sort of deal where everyone was to wear a mask. Bella convinced me that I should meet her there. No one would know who I was, and I could leave before the reveal. I don’t know how, but she managed to talk me into it. She found proper clothing for me to wear, and a mask of course. And she taught me to dance.”
Kythryn’s laughter rang in his ears, but it didn’t offend. “You?” She giggled, threw her hand over her mouth. “Sorry, it’s just…”
“You’re not wrong,” Harrier offered her a crooked grin. “She swore the bruises on her feet were worth it, but…” Harrier shrugged, then grew serious
again. “It was a lovely evening, my first—and last—ball. And everything went off without a hitch. I left before everyone removed their masks, and no one was the wiser.
“It was more than a week before we learned that we hadn’t been as stealthy as we thought. Someone, we never learned who, had recognized me. That still baffles me. Royals never look at the help, but someone had. They told Bella’s father, and as you can imagine, he was less than pleased to learn his daughter had been cavorting with the likes of me. They didn’t know I was half Shifter. If they had, they might have killed Bella themselves for being ruined. As it were, they never got the chance.
“I was going about my normal tasks, up early as usual and anxious to see my Bella later in the night. She hadn’t shown for our previous night’s tryst, and I feared that something was terribly wrong.”
More than that, he’d no longer felt her essence within him, as if the Link had somehow broken. This he chose to keep to himself. He cared for Kitty, trusted her even, but some things he still held sacred between himself and his first love.
He glanced at Kitty. Her eyes were wide and he could hear her pulse racing as she hung on his words.
“Two soldiers came, not Legion Soldiers, but part of Bella’s family guard. They tore me from my work and hauled me into the woods. I knew where they were taking me. I’d walked the path a hundred times.
“We were still a ways out when I smelled the blood. Her blood. It hit me like an anvil, and I stumbled. The soldiers half-dragged me into our clearing. There, at the edge, beneath a particularly dense copse of trees, was my Bella, her body ravaged and torn, her blood staining the forest floor. I fell to my knees, unable to move, and the soldiers released me to the ground.
“Her father knelt beside her, his head in his hands. When he heard us, he turned his eyes to me. They sparked a shade of green I’d never seen before. It was like an unnatural fire, and when he bared his fangs, I knew I was in trouble.”
“They suspected you?”
“Aye. Bella’s father screamed some orders and the soldiers unsheathed their swords. It must have been innate self-preservation that triggered the change. I sat frozen with grief, but my birds had other ideas. I felt myself soaring above the trees, the horrible scene drifting farther and farther away, but I left my heart in that clearing, my very soul. I died that day. My body just forgot to lie down.”
Chapter Forty-Six
M erlin remained with Mason in the War Room long after the others had gone to their suites. They needed to work through the details of the current situation, figure out their next move. Once their Soldier representative arrived, they would be able to devise a clear plan.
Merlin sensed him before he reached the doorway. He glanced up to see Martin at the threshold, his broad shoulders filling the entry, his knuckles posed to knock. When their eyes met, Martin dropped his hand and cleared his throat.
Mason looked up from the maps they had been studying. “Martin, come in.”
“Yes, sir.” The Soldier gave Merlin another quick glance before joining them at the conference table.
“Are your Soldiers ready?” Mason asked.
“Absolutely, sir. You give the word and I’ll have them geared up and awaiting your command.”
“Excellent. Merlin, fill Martin in on what we’ve learned, and we’ll get to it.”
They spent the next two hours going over maps and strategies. Martin was smart, often pointing out potential traps or pitfalls that the seasoned fighters had overlooked. Merlin could tell Mason was impressed with the young male, knew his Warlord was even more convinced that Martin would be joining the Warrior ranks sooner rather than later. He had a lot to learn yet, but there was no denying he had great potential.
Mason sat back in his chair and rubbed the back of his neck. “Good work, guys. Martin, get back to your bunk and grab a few hours’ shuteye. Then get your platoon together and fill them in. We’re taking these bastards out tonight before they have a chance to relocate. Right now, we have the element of surprise on our side. It’s time to end this nonsense once and for all. Merlin? You get some rest, too. You look like hell, and we need you to be sharp. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
Merlin nodded, but frowned at the Warlord’s retreating back. When had he ever let Mason or the Legion down? Was his lack of sleep really showing?
Frustrated, he packed up his laptop and slung his bag over his shoulder. He was so troubled by Mason’s comment, he’d become unaware of his surroundings. When he looked up, he was alone. He hit the lights and shut the door behind him. He knew sleep was a long way off, but that wouldn’t stop him from being there for the Legion.
Lost in his thoughts, Merlin jumped when someone spoke.
“Merlin?”
He looked up to find Martin leaning against the wall by the elevators.
“I thought you’d gone.”
“Yeah, well, I made a detour and let Mason go on ahead.” He pushed off the wall and took a few steps in Merlin’s direction. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“About?” Merlin hitched up his computer bag and glanced over Martin’s shoulder at the elevator, his escape so close and yet so far away.
“I…wanted to thank you for the other night.” It came out in a rush and the male was looking everywhere but at Merlin.
Crap. He knew he’d made a mistake. He’d convinced himself that offering the kid a beer was a way for him to lighten up so they could work together. What it had turned into, though, was more intimate. More fun. One beer had turned into several, and he’d allowed himself to open up a bit, to enjoy himself. He should never have let it happen. Now, the way Martin was looking at him? There was hope in those eyes, an expectation that said he’d liked it and wanted more. Much more.
He had to nip this in the bud, immediately.
“Yeah, well, we needed to be able to work together without you being so uptight. Consider it a lesson learned, and we can move on.” He stepped around the kid and hit the call button.
“Merlin?”
Merlin sighed. “It was a one-time deal, kid. A means to an end. Don’t go reading anything into it. Just do your job, don’t be so godsdamned formal and we’ll be all right. Got it?”
Merlin stepped into the waiting lift and faced forward. Big mistake. Martin had turned toward him, eyes once excited now sad and confused. It yanked at his heart, it really did, but he couldn’t help it. Better to hurt the kid now then to see him dead down the road.
Merlin reached for the panel and pushed a couple of buttons, then slid his hand into his pocket. His fingers brushed the cool, smooth metal of the bottle cap he’d saved from that night, the one Martin had tossed to him. It was a little part of the Soldier, something he’d touched, meaningless really, but a souvenir of sorts. Merlin knew all too well that he could never be with Martin or anyone for that matter. That crimped piece of metal in his pocket served as a reminder, not only of the male he wanted, but of all the reasons why it could never be.
The doors slid together, closing off any chance of Martin riding up with him, and leaving Merlin with the memory of those haunted grey-green eyes, yet another vision to disturb his sleep.
Chapter Forty-Seven
K ythryn listened as Harrier poured his heart out to her. He leaned against the wall, staring at nothing as he talked, and she got the impression that this was the first time he’d spoken these words out loud. Afraid to break the spell, she tried real hard to keep her trap shut.
“I learned later that when her father found out about us, he confronted Bella. They argued, and he placed a guard at her door. That was why she hadn’t turned up that night. However, Bella being Bella, she’d managed to sneak out beneath the nose of her jailor and she’d run to find me. Only I’d already left, assuming she’d been detained by family obligations. It happened now and again.” Harrier shrugged, but she could see the pain, the guilt behind his yellow eyes.
“Of course, I was their prime suspect. However, what they didn’t know was that sever
al others were found that night, dead by the same methods. It soon became clear that the Vampire’s boogeyman, as you called him, had paid our town a visit, leaving a path of destruction in his wake. Three males, two human women, and my Bella all met their ends that night. There was no rhyme or reason to it, but their deaths were too similar to each other, and to others that monster had left behind to have been committed by any other.”
Harrier leaned up against the wall and folded his arms over that big chest, closing himself off to her, to everything, as he relived his painful past.
“They laid Bella out on a raised cedar platform beneath a sun-proof tent, as Vampire custom required. There she stayed for three days. They placed guards around her, directing the peasants who came to pay their respects, and the family members who came to sob at the base of the pyre. They’d covered her in a gauzy material, her tattered body a ghostly image beneath the fabric.
“Bella loved birds, did I mention?”
Kythryn didn’t think he saw her shake her head, but it didn’t matter.
“Probably why she only balked a little when she found out about my unfortunate parentage. Anyway, I shifted into a kestrel, a smallish sort of falcon, and I perched myself near her shoulder. Several tried to shoo me away, but I always came back. Eventually someone mentioned that falcons were thought to indicate spirituality and freedom, and I don’t know. Maybe they saw it as a sign. Either way, I stayed with her until the third night when a huge crowd gathered for their final goodbyes. When they removed the tent, I flew into the top of the nearest tree. From there, I watched them lay torches at the base of the platform. The smoke was blinding, but I couldn’t look away as the flames consumed the only woman who had ever loved me.”
Harrier grew quiet again, lost in the past she supposed, and she left him to his memories. After a long moment, he cleared his throat and stood away from the wall.