Seducing Death

by Cassandra Lawson

  He sniffed the air and smiled nervously. “I’ve heard about you,” the shifter said.

  Kyleigh froze. Damn shifters and their sense of smell. He probably would have ignored the smell and stayed in the room under normal circumstances. That was the way it was supposed to be. Instead, he seemed curious.

  “You don’t need to stay hidden if you don’t want to,” the shifter said. “I’m the only one here who’s not locked up at the moment.”

  Kyleigh sighed and faded back in. There really wasn’t any point in keeping herself hidden. “Aren’t you worried I’m here for you?” Kyleigh asked.

  The shifter grinned. “Of course I am, but after my brother freaked out, I need to act cool about this meeting. The name’s Cam. Are you here for me?”

  Kyleigh shook her head and felt the waves of despair coming from down the hall. “Suicide,” she said softly.

  Cam followed her gaze. “The human down there?” he asked.

  Kyleigh nodded.

  She couldn’t have released his soul. It wasn’t possible with suicides because the soul had to sever its own tie to the body. In the end, they were almost always confused and tormented. That’s where her role came in. She needed to help the soul move on. Despite what many religions had preached, there was nothing inherently evil about suicide. It was mostly the result of a fractured mind and a tortured soul.

  “I have to go help him,” she told Cam before making her way down the hall.

  “What happened?” the soul asked as soon as she entered the room.

  “You don’t remember?” she asked, because she didn’t really tell them things, just helped them stabilize and move on.

  “I think I hurt myself,” he said. “Why would I do something like that?” Then he stared at the body on the floor. Blood pooled around his nose, which he’d obviously hit when he fell. Based on the smell, she guessed he had poisoned himself.

  “You’re safe now,” she assured him.

  “I brought the poison with me,” he said. “It was always my plan to die once I’d told them the truth.”

  This was going smoother than many of her suicides, which she was grateful for. “Are you ready to move on to the next phase of your existence?”

  “Will it be bad?” he asked. “I mean, I’ve heard people say you suffer for eternity if you kill yourself.”

  “It won’t be bad,” she said in a calm voice. “No suffering now.”

  “Can you do something for me?” he asked.

  Kyleigh hesitated.

  “Please,” he begged. “It won’t be much. Just tell my daughter, Faith, that I’m sorry and I love her. Tell her I was wrong.”

  “I’m not really supposed to do that sort of thing,” she said.

  “Kyleigh?” Danny asked from the door as he took in the scene. “What are you doing in here?” Then his eyes fell on the body. “Did you help him do this? What the hell am I saying?” he muttered to himself. “Of course you didn’t help him do this. You’re here for the soul.”

  The soul looked at Danny. “Have Danny tell Faith. He knows her.”

  Kyleigh nodded. “Danny, I need you to tell his daughter, Faith, that he’s sorry and he loves her. Tell her he was wrong.”

  Danny stared at her for a long time, looking more than a little freaked out, which she supposed made perfect sense. “I’ll tell her,” Danny said.

  With that, the soul faded away, no longer looking like the man but like bright lights that slowly faded to nothing.

  “He snuck poison in here,” Kyleigh said without looking at Danny.

  “I guessed that part,” Danny said. “I don’t want to know anything about what you were doing in here, do I?”

  “Probably not,” Kyleigh said with a weak smile. “Cam said there wasn’t anyone out of cells in the building, so I didn’t expect to be caught back here.”

  “I’m not really supposed to be here, but I got a bad feeling. How the hell did we miss the poison when we searched him?” Danny muttered and looked over at the body. Kyleigh didn’t look in that direction. She tried to avoid looking at the body because that wasn’t what she dealt with. She was only responsible for the soul.

  “I’m going to call Connor now, so you might want to slip out of here quickly,” Danny said as he pulled his phone from his pocket.

  Without a word, Kyleigh hurried out of the building and headed back to Ian’s house.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Kyleigh was surprised to find Ian sitting on the sofa when she walked in the front door. Watching Ian clutch the photo of his wife holding their daughter as a baby, Kyleigh knew he wanted to be alone, but it was too late to turn and leave. She decided it would be best to quietly slip past Ian and up the stairs, but she only made it up the first three steps before his voice stopped her.

  “Why did you let them die?” he asked softly. “You were the one who took them, weren’t you?”

  Kyleigh didn’t turn around, wanting to be ready for a hasty escape to her room when things turned ugly. “I can’t just save people,” she said quietly.

  “If that were true, I’d be dead. Why me?” Ian asked, and she felt him coming up behind her. Kyleigh fought the urge to scurry up to her room and hide. “Why am I still alive?”

  “I broke the rules saving you,” she said, still refusing to look at him.

  “That wasn’t an answer to my question. Turn around, Kyleigh,” Ian ground out.

  She did and saw anger, hurt, and confusion in his eyes. “This is not a good time for this conversation,” she said, trying to step around him to get to the front door. Escaping upstairs no longer offered enough distance.

  Ian’s hand closed around her upper arm in a vice-like grip. “Don’t you dare run from me!” His voice was a low rumble that vibrated along her skin.

  Kyleigh jerked her arm from his grip and stomped down the stairs to the middle of the living room. Ian was obviously angry, but she knew he wasn’t going to hurt her, at least not physically. Emotionally was something altogether different. Ian was going to destroy her because he couldn’t move past his loss.

  She was an idiot on so many levels. She was an idiot for giving up her chance at freedom, an idiot for breaking such a huge rule to save Ian. Worse, she was an idiot for loving a man who was ultimately going to hurt her. Now, she was also seriously pissed off. Ian had no right to be angry with her for what she’d done.

  “We need space,” she said, reaching for the door.

  “You could have saved them,” Ian shouted. “Instead, you let my wife and daughter be tortured and killed.”

  The last threads of her frayed temper snapped. “I am not a guardian angel,” Kyleigh replied angrily. “I am no one’s savior. I am death! The most I could do was release their souls from their bodies early to ease their suffering.”

  “You saved me,” he said again.

  “I saved you because I made a stupid impulsive promise to prevent a soul from lingering. I promised to take care of you so that soul wouldn’t be trapped here like I am.”

  Understanding lit Ian’s eyes. “She didn’t want to leave me,” he said more to himself.

  “She wouldn’t have been able to see you,” Kyleigh reminded him. “I’m not supposed to tell them that. I’m just supposed to let them decide so I can be released and move on. The Fae would have moved someone else to cover this area and assigned her somewhere far from here.”

  “Will the next soul who refuses to move on replace you?” Ian asked.

  Kyleigh shook her head. “You heard what I told Seth. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, so to speak.”

  “Why would you do that for a stranger?” Ian’s anger was fading as the confusion grew.

  “I’m not entirely sure. The purity of her love warmed me for the first time in longer than I could remember. I couldn’t banish her to this existence. It eats away at you and makes you forget about love.”

  “You saved my life because of the promise?” Ian asked.

  “Yes, but not for the reasons y
ou think. Death isn’t a bad thing. It is the end of time on one plain, but not the end. That is, unless your soul is too blackened.”

  “So, you saved me from dying, because I’m a bad person and my soul would have been destroyed,” he said in a hollow voice.

  “I didn’t believe there was hope for you until recently,” Kyleigh explained. “Your soul has lightened, but the shadows were coming for you. They devour souls that aren’t pure enough to move on, and I couldn’t let them take you.”

  “You should have,” he practically snapped. “Why the hell would you condemn yourself for a stranger not worth saving? Or were you already in love with me? Did you already have feelings for me when you promised my wife you’d watch after me? Was this what you had in mind? Did you plan to keep me with you forever?”

  Kyleigh jerked back, fighting tears. Ian’s goal had been to hurt her, and he’d succeeded. She edged toward the door, hoping he wouldn’t try to stop her. “It was your daughter,” she said softly.

  Ian jerked back, eyes wide with shock. “What did you say?”

  Kyleigh met his eyes with a level stare. “Sarah was the one who didn’t want to leave you.”

  “No,” Ian said, his voice rough with emotion. “There is no way they’d force a child into your role.”

  “Do you really believe that?” she asked. “How old do you think Seth was when he died?” Kyleigh didn’t give Ian a chance to answer. “He was twelve. Oh, I know he looks older, but that’s how old he was. I’ll never forget the day he was introduced to us. The terror he felt almost choked me, and that’s when I knew I’d made the right choice with Sarah. She was around the same age as Seth, and she would have been subjected to the same depravities as the rest of us. In fact, the younger and more innocent they are, the more determined the Fae are to corrupt them. It’s just a game to them. Go ahead and judge me and hate me for binding you to me. Right now, I’m too tired to fight with you anymore.”

  Kyleigh started to leave but turned one last time. “You’re not just an asshole, you’re an idiot. For years, you’ve wallowed in your own self-pity. This isn’t you grieving— this is you refusing to live. The one thing you should be really grateful for is the fact that Sarah wasn’t able to stick around and watch you, because I’m pretty sure she would have been ashamed to see what her father had become.”

  While Ian processed what she’d said, Kyleigh threw open the front door and took off at a run. She had to put as much distance between them as possible before Ian pulled himself together enough to react to what she’d just said.

  She’d deal with the questions later. For now, she was far too humiliated by what he’d said to talk to him. No, she hadn’t loved him then, but she did now. Dead or not, Kate was still the only woman he loved. Kate was the only women he’d ever love.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Ian was too stunned by Kyleigh’s confession to move. Sarah had been so sweet and innocent. The idea of her being forced into Kyleigh’s existence made his blood run cold. Ian couldn’t imagine Sarah dealing with the evil Kyleigh did. Just the mere thought of her being exposed to the Fae frightened him, and he had no doubt Kyleigh was telling the truth about what they would have done with Sarah.

  Kyleigh had saved his daughter, and he was treating her like the enemy. She’d saved him, but he couldn’t just be grateful; no, he had to look for some selfish motive to explain it. Shame washed over him.

  Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Ian took off after Kyleigh. Problem was, he had no idea which way she’d gone. Catching sight of Connor, he raced in that direction, hoping he’d seen her.

  “Connor!” he shouted.

  Connor held up a hand because he was on the phone. “So, what did you find?” he asked and waited. There was obviously a problem because Connor was practically grinding his teeth while he listened to the person on the other end of the line. “Okay, well, just get it cleaned up, and I’ll decide how to handle the body later. Traitor or not, he did come forward, and his daughter deserves closure.”

  Connor slipped the phone back into his pocket before looking at Ian.

  “What’s going on?” Ian asked, torn because he really wanted to go after Kyleigh.

  “We found out who told Roger how to find the human settlements,” Connor said.

  “And you didn’t mention this to me in the meeting we had before patrol?” Ian was more than a little annoyed.

  “We were keeping it quiet until we had more details and checked out the homes of the others who were involved,” Connor explained.

  “I could have helped with that,” Ian insisted.

  “Other than me, Danny is the only one who knew, and he only knows because the guy confessed to him in the middle of the night. Danny just found the guy dead in his cell, so we aren’t likely to get much out of him. What did you need from me?”

  “Have you seen Kyleigh?” Ian asked.

  Connor shook his head. “Man, I never thought I’d see you this tied up about a woman.”

  “It’s not like that,” Ian insisted. “I just need to find her.”

  Much to Ian’s annoyance, Simon picked that moment to join them, and he had obviously overheard their conversation. “Uh oh! Looks like someone screwed up.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Ian practically growled at Simon.

  “Si sees the same look in the mirror when he messes up with Layla, so he knows what he’s talking about,” Connor explained.

  “I don’t see it often,” Simon insisted.

  Connor snorted. “Yeah, right. So, what did you do?”

  “Don’t even try pretending you don’t have feelings for Kyleigh. We’ve all been placing bets on when you’ll pull your head out of your ass and admit it,” Simon said.

  “You’ve got nothing better to do than place childish bets on my love life?” Ian asked in disbelief.

  “As I recall, you placed a bet on when I’d end up with Raven,” Connor said. “So, you screwed up pretty bad if you’re desperately looking for Kyleigh.”

  Ian wanted to tell them it was none of their business, but that would just delay him getting to Kyleigh. “Fine, we had an argument and she stormed off. Have you seen her?”

  “Was it about Kate and Sarah?” Simon asked.

  “None of your fucking business,” Ian said.

  “I figured you’d have this argument sooner or later,” Simon said. “I even told Layla you’d screw things up when you did. You confronted her because she didn’t save Kate and Sarah. She releases souls, so she released their souls, right?”

  Ian’s fists were clenched at his sides. “First, I didn’t assume Kyleigh released them because she’s not the only one of her kind in this area. Second, don’t you dare judge me. No matter how long you’ve known me, you don’t have any fucking idea what I went through when I lost them.”

  “You’re right,” Connor answered. “None of us know what you went through. We also don’t know what Kyleigh went through, and I’ll bet you don’t either. You’ve probably been trying hard to keep your distance.”

  That wasn’t exactly true. Before they’d come to the settlement, he’d gotten to know Kyleigh very well. It was only here that he’d tried to keep his distance.

  “But it hasn’t worked, has it?” Simon added.

  Ian shook his head. “I just need to find her. If you want to tell me what an idiot I am, do it later. Have you seen her or not? If you haven’t, I’ll start asking other people.”

  “I’ve got two words for you,” Connor said.

  “Yeah, I’ve got two for you, too,” Ian grumbled. “Care to guess which words?”

  “No need to be so moody,” Connor said, placing a hand on Ian’s shoulder. “The words I was going to use are blood bond.”

  Ian cursed himself for being such an idiot. Of course, he could find Kyleigh, no matter where she was. Why the hell hadn’t he thought of that?

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Kyleigh’s first thought when she burst through Ian’s door had been
to find a secluded spot and flash out of the settlement. A few hours in the woods would give her the space she needed. When she’d tried, nothing had happened. For some reason, she couldn’t transport herself anywhere. That’s when she’d started walking as quickly as possible. Now, she was moving down the street with no particular destination in mind.

  Desperate to get away from Ian’s house before he decided to pursue her, Kyleigh was definitely not paying attention to her surroundings. A solid wall of muscle stopped her, and strong arms wrapped around her.

  “Where’s the fire?” asked an amused male voice.

  Looking up, Kyleigh met the teasing eyes of the shifter named Zane. He was grinning but looked genuinely concerned. That was an improvement over terrified.

  “I need to get out of here quickly,” Kyleigh said, taking a step back.

  “Come with me and I’ll hide you,” the shifter said, holding out a hand.

  Kyleigh figured she could question Zane’s motives later. For now, she’d take any help avoiding Ian. The shifter pulled her through a series of yards until they reached the training center. From there, he led her to an exercise room on the third floor.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Sorry about scaring you my first day here.”

  Zane’s cheeks flushed “You can pay me back by never mentioning that to my siblings. They would never let me live it down. Cam already knows, which is bad enough.”

  “Your secret is safe with me,” she assured him. “Although, they likely would have reacted the same. When I met Cam, he seemed nervous too.”

  Zane laughed. “Cam won’t show fear now because he wants to one up me. If my siblings had been around, I would have acted tough too. Impressions are everything when you’re a shifter.”

  “It seems to be that way with the Fae too,” Kyleigh said. “Maybe it’s males in general.”