by D. N. Leo
“Th-that about sums it up. Except for the getting into your pants part. That wasn’t my intention.”
“Oh, so you didn’t even plan to come back? If that creature hadn’t been about to blow my head off, you wouldn’t even have stopped by to see me?”
He moved closer to the bed. “That didn’t come out right. I mean—”
She stood and swung a kick at him. The moment the heel of that pretty foot landed on his chest, his world exploded.
He staggered backward. He couldn’t breathe. His vision wavered. Pain spread through his chest like a flash flood.
What had his father said? The critical point of his eudqi was on the right side of his chest. If he was hit at that point, the blow would be lethal. He had turned on his eudqi to use his mind’s eye to access the database, and he had left it on. Was this the end? He hadn’t even begun his mission.
His knees buckled. He saw Sedna reaching out to hold his shoulders. “Caedmon, I’m sorry. I didn’t think I kicked you that hard. Look at me, Caedmon… Come on…”
He saw her concerned face. And maybe even some tears. And then he couldn’t see anything.
Chapter 5
Afton searched the area frantically. “Sedna!” he called out, although he knew that was a stupid thing to do. Fear stabbed at him. He said he’d send Anatole to go after her, but Anatole was a contract killer—an assassin who killed for a living.
When it came to Sedna’s safety, he trusted no one but himself. It had been a mistake to send her to see the client on her own. Her stubbornness aside, he should have been more insistent about her taking bodyguards with her. The day of the leadership contest was coming close, and this round would be brutal. The power hungry would have sent out assassins. After more than a hundred years of being a mage, he should have known better.
He knew he was at the scene where the incident had taken place. Afton crouched. There was a trace of blood and gore right here. But it wasn’t Sedna’s. By the looks of it, whoever had spilled blood here couldn’t possibly be alive. But if Sedna killed the assassin, where is she?
And then he saw the sculpture, broken in half. It was fake! He shook his head.
The falling snow didn’t work in his favor, but he was a damn good tracker. He looked around and saw some tracks. He was sure they were from Sedna. Afton concentrated and looked harder. He saw a second set of tracks. There had been someone else here. He ran his fingers over the imprints in the snow. He sniffed to try to pick up the scent.
This was very unusual. It was something he hadn’t come across before. Sedna’s tracks ended, but the second set went on. Afton checked to be sure his weapons were in place, then he followed the trail.
Sedna shook Caedmon’s shoulders. He was breathing, but he didn’t respond. He didn’t look like he was dying. She shook him again. His eyes fluttered and opened slightly.
“Caedmon, can you hear me? Can you get up? I’ll get you to the hospital.”
“No. Just let me lie here for a slot. I’ll be fine,” he said then passed out again.
“A slot?” she asked then realized he hadn’t heard her question.
It was strange, but then again, she was used to strange languages. She was the last line of her Alaskan tribe in Greenland. She spoke some Eskaleut, but she didn’t use it for communication. There weren’t many people around to warrant the use of the language. It was useful mainly to read old manuscripts.
Let me lie here for a slot, he had said. What the hell does that mean? It didn’t really matter, though. What mattered was that he was injured. She was a mage, and she could heal him. She opened the front of his shirt and admired the defined muscles of his chest. She shook her inappropriate thoughts out of her mind and concentrated on her healing. She had kicked him on the right side. She couldn’t see a bruise, but the blow had apparently hurt him nevertheless.
She focused, placing her palm on the spot where she thought the injury was. There was a spark of light. She felt as though she was being electrocuted. The vibration was so strong it numbed half of her body and shot her back several feet. Her head hit against the wall, and she blacked out.
After a while, she opened her eyes and sat up groggily. She rubbed the back of her head. “What the hell? What kind of a creature are you, Caedmon?” she asked out loud. But he was out of it, and she didn’t expect a response. His body had rejected her light. How strange.
She would have to let Caedmon heal himself. She fetched a blanket and tucked it around him. She brushed the hair out of his face and took a long look at him. It had been four years since she’d last seen him. She didn’t want to admit it, but she couldn’t get the last night they’d had together out of her mind. Since then, she hadn’t been able to…well, never mind. She sighed.
He looked the same but a few years older. Time had worked in his favor.
She was sure he had reasons for leaving. But whether she would listen to him and allow him back into her life now remained to be seen. A lot of things had happened in those four years. She was now moving toward becoming the leader of her tribe.
Back then, it was different. She had been carefree. She’d had her own life, and she had been in love with Caedmon. Back then, it had been her cousin who was going to lead the tribe. But then he had died in an accident two years ago, and the tribe reached out to her. Afton took her in for training, and one thing led to another. Now here she was, unsure about whether she could have a normal love life ever again.
Thinking of Afton, her head perked up. Shit! She should call him. Where is the bloody cell phone? She searched around the room and couldn’t find it. Damn!
Then she sensed him. It was the connection between trainer and trainee. She assumed it was a merely a professional connection, but whenever she sensed him around, she always felt as if she were a kid about to get caught sneaking lollipops to bed. Like she hadn’t been working hard enough and hadn’t been doing her homework.
Sedna whirled around. She knew Afton was coming for her.
She shivered.
Afton hated scholars, and when he said he hated something, he meant it.
When she first met Caedmon, he was a college boy from Oxford University, a British scholar researching Native American culture. She hung on his every word. He had incredible knowledge, and he was sexy as hell.
She had never planned to tell Afton about Caedmon. Not back then. And absolutely not now.
Caedmon was still on the floor, unconscious.
She heard Afton’s footsteps. They were the sort of footsteps that most people wouldn’t be able to hear because he walked like a cat. But her mind’s ears, if there were such things, must have been attuned.
“Sedna!” Afton’s voice came through the door. This time, her human ears heard him. She darted over to Caedmon and pushed him under the bed.
She tidied her hair and yanked open the door.
“Afton!” she grinned. But he didn’t smile back.
Chapter 6
Nikki finished polishing the nail on her left little finger and gave all the nails a gentle blow of air. She looked at her beautifully manicured nails and smiled. Although she had put only a sheen of an almost transparent silver dust color on them, the nail polish made a world of difference to her look.
The only girl on this planet who would leave her nails plain because of martial arts practice was her friend Sedna. Nikki shook her head. No wonder Sedna had never had a boyfriend. They’d been friends for a long time, and she knew Sedna was a mage. Sedna had introduced her to the tribe and had been the one who’d recommended her for this job.
They needed a human to manage the natural medicine clinic—someone who could understand the tribe, be discreet, and handle problems caused by humans. As this was the only natural medicine clinic in Nuuk—the capital of Greenland run by creatures—they anticipated a number of problems caused by their human fellows. The most sustainable solution was to have a human on staff.
This clinic was the main training ground of the contenders for the upcoming
leadership. There had originally been twelve candidates. After several rounds of competition, however, there were only three left—Sedna, Neva, and Keeve. But only Neva and Keeve trained here. Sedna practiced at Afton’s exclusive martial arts hub.
Nikki felt her day brighten as Keeve walked in. He looked at her with his striking blue eyes. They didn’t talk much to each other, but his eyes were always warm. “Hi, Keeve. You’re early today.”
“I’m not practicing today. I just left something in my locker,” he said and pointed to the changing room.
“All right then.”
As he turned down the hallway to the changing room, she pulled out an invitation and put it on the counter. When Keeve came back out, she called, “Keeve!”
“Yes, Nikki?”
“This is to thank you for the fishing trip last week.”
“It was my pleasure. We had a good time, didn’t we?”
“We did.” She pushed the invitation across the counter.
Keeve looked at it. “Jazz?” He raised an eyebrow.
“You don’t like jazz?”
“I love it.”
She grinned. “They’re a local band. Opening day.”
“We should support the locals, shouldn’t we?” He smiled at her. “Thanks. See you next week.”
When he turned to leave, she asked, “Is it a date?”
He slowed down and turned around. Those blue eyes grew pensive, and she hated that. “You know we can’t, right?”
“Why not? So what if I’m human and you’re a mage.”
“It won’t work.”
“Says who?”
“I need to think about this…” His voice trailed off, and he turned around and walked out of the clinic.
Nikki didn’t know how long she stood there, staring at the door. She swallowed the lump in her throat when she saw Anatole bolt into the reception room.
“Sedna’s in trouble. Do you know what’s going on? Afton called to tell me, but then he just cut me off and didn’t say anything else,” Anatole blurted out before checking to see if Nikki was paying attention or even cared what he was saying.
Nikki arched an eyebrow. “And you came here to ask me because?”
Anatole leaned in close, glanced around, and lowered his voice. “Have Neva and Keeve been using the training room?”
“They aren’t stupid, Anatole. If they wanted to hurt Sedna, they would send someone to do that and show up for practice as usual.”
Anatole nodded. “Sorry. You’re right. I overreacted.”
Nikki rolled her eyes. “I’m surprised!”
“Come on, cut me some slack. Their leadership challenge is coming soon. I’m a little tense, okay?”
Nikki clucked her tongue. “It’s not their leadership challenge, it’s Sedna’s. You couldn’t care less about Keeve and Neva.”
“I thought you guys were friends. Which camp are you in, Nikki?” Anatole tugged absently at the side of his jacket. Nikki knew well that there was an arsenal in the lining of that jacket—special weapons used especially for assassination jobs.
“I’m a business manager—I don’t take sides. All members of the tribe who use this venue are my clients.”
“Put your New York manner away. Nuuk is a small town.”
“Too small, I’m afraid. Everyone knows everyone else’s business.”
Anatole shifted his stance. “What do you mean?”
“Two men came here yesterday. They were asking to join the training club. I knew they had sniffed around and found out this clinic belonged to a mage tribe. I told them we sell natural medicines and offer no training, but they left unconvinced.”
Anatole narrowed his eyes. “What did they want exactly?”
“I think they wanted to see a mage in training.”
“And when did they come?”
“Just before I closed for the day.”
“That’s actually at night.”
“Well, if you’re thinking they were vampires, I didn’t see any fangs.”
Anatole shook his head. “Well, if they weren’t hunters, they had to be paranormal creatures of some kind.”
Nikki waved her arms in the air. “How would I know? If Sedna hadn’t told me she was a mage when I caught her drawing energy from the sunlight, I would have never been able to tell. But judging by what they wore, I’m sure they aren’t locals.”
Anatole nodded. “That’s good enough,” he muttered and started to walk away.
“Where are you going?”
“If they aren’t locals, that narrows things down a lot. Again, just in case you don’t know this after being here for two years, Nuuk is a small town.”
She saw him smirk before he turned around again, and she asked, “You’re not going to do anything to incriminate the tribe, are you?”
Anatole stopped in his tracks. “Incrimination by which law?”
“Greenland’s criminal justice system! That’s not good enough for you?”
Anatole laughed. “Yep. It’s good enough for a law-abiding citizen of Greenland.” Then he pushed open the door and left. Nikki frowned. She knew Anatole didn’t abide by the law. She weighed her options and then picked up the phone to call Afton. Before she had finished dialing, Moss walked in.
Moss was a mage. He looked to be in his late fifties, but Nikki knew he was more than a hundred years old. In terms of power, he was of the same caliber as Afton. He had originally wanted to train Sedna, but Afton beat him to it, so he took Neva, who, in Nikki’s opinion, had no chance against Sedna.
As Moss cast a glance at her, she could see the anger in his eyes and could smell the blood on his breath. She was willing to bet that the rumor about him eating children for breakfast was real, and that was why Sedna hadn’t picked him as a mentor.
“What did Anatole want?” Moss asked as he moved closer to her. His proximity was too close for her comfort. He peered down at her, waiting for an answer.
If he got angry and attacked her, Nikki didn’t think her manicured nails would serve very well as weapons. “He…”
“Why are you hesitating? Did he want something you can’t tell me?”
“It has nothing to do with the tribe.”
“Really? Then tell me.”
“He…he asked me out. Is that against the tribe’s policies?”
Moss arched an eyebrow. Then he grabbed her hips to hold her in place. His fingers dug into her flesh. “Let me tell you something, young lady. I know you’ve been spying on us for Afton and Sedna. I know you think Neva isn’t good enough to win the challenge. But this isn’t about Neva. It’s about me. And the good news is that Afton has never beaten me. Never. If he thought he stood a chance against me, he wouldn’t need a spy.”
He shoved Nikki to the wall and strode toward the long hallway, heading for the training room.
Chapter 7
Caedmon opened his eyes. He could feel the cold hard floor underneath him, and the ceiling seemed to be right above his face. Was he lying on the floor in a basement crawl space? Was he in a box? Where was he, and why would he in a box? He tried to clear his mind and think, but everything was a blur. Then he heard Sedna’s voice and a deep male voice. He blinked. The male voice didn’t sound friendly, and whoever it belonged to appeared to be questioning Sedna. They couldn’t be in the same room as he was because their voices seemed to echo in from a distance.
He blinked and concentrated again. The fog in his mind gradually lifted. He felt a surge of energy, and he knew it was the Silver Blood kicking in to heal his injury. His mind cleared even more quickly. He recalled he had switched his eudqi on to access the database, leaving the Silver Blood on. Sedna must have contacted him close to his fatal point.
Idiot, he scolded himself. Father had said he had to be very careful when he used the power. This was his first serious lesson. If the kick had been a couple of inches further to the right, it would have been his last lesson. He flexed his muscles. His system was healing fast and was already about eighty perc
ent complete.
“Don’t lie to me, Sedna,” the male voice scolded.
Is Sedna in trouble? He tried to recall what had happened in the room, but nothing else came to mind. Then he felt hands grab at his legs. He was only eighty-five percent healed, but it would have to be good enough. He switched his eudqi off. Immediately, he felt the disadvantage of being an injured human—he was weak. The hands gripped at his legs tighter and pulled him out from under what he now realized was a bed.
As he sat up groggily, Sedna darted over to help him. She tried to shove the man who had pulled him out away.
“He’s harmless, and I injured him, Afton,” Sedna said sternly.
“If he’s harmless, why did you hide him under the bed?”
“He’s my friend, and I didn’t know how you would react seeing him in my room. He saved me from the bastard who stole the sculpture.”
“On that note, I’m sure your friend isn’t human. A human can’t kill that assassin.” The man Sedna called Afton approached him. He pushed Sedna aside. He didn’t like the idea she was protecting him, and he saw an opportunity to approach the tribe. He wagered this man had significant rank given Sedna had shown respect to him.
“I had help. I have a special weapon,” Caedmon said.
“Really?” Afton raised an eyebrow, and as fast as lightning, he landed a punch in his abdomen. Sedna squealed some profanity, and Caedmon slumped to the floor and heaved. The punch was so hard it made him nauseated. He was tempted to switched his eudqi on but refrained from doing so. His second lesson of the day was that being human sucked when it came to a fight.
Afton shoved Sedna away and pulled Caedmon up to his feet. “I don’t believe you. If you’re this helpless, how did you kill that assassin?” Afton cocked his arm began to throw another punch, but Caedmon grabbed his fist in its track.