Stone Heir (The Kahlian Series Book 1)

by Aimee Hunter

  I’ll contact you later, brother. This is something I must do; I hope you understand. She glanced over at him again, offering a silent apology at his enraged countenance, before severing their mental link.

  “He’s gone.” She told the silent woman watching her. Lana sighed heavily, running her hand through her damp hair.

  “Sylvan was the one who gave me the message that not only had my people been going missing, but one had just been found brutally murdered. I asked him to tell you why I didn’t have time to find you and take you with me.” Sylvia scoffs in disbelief.

  “Right, how convenient. You are called home, to search for missing members of your clan the day my city is sacked by your people!” she accuses hotly. Lana rears back in shock.

  “What?!”

  “Oh, please. Don’t even try to play innocent, wolf. I know you told your people about us. I know that’s how they were able to attack us. You were the only one outside of our city that knew of its location.” Lana is furiously shaking her head.

  “No. Sylvia, I would never do that to you!” The infuriated mutant crosses her arms.

  “Really? How else would they know where to find us, Lana? How else would a small army of wolves and people be able to breach our walls so quickly and slaughter so many innocent lives, if you hadn’t told them where and how? My family, my whole family, died that night, Lana!” Sylvia raged, unaware that she was openly crying. Lana saw the tears streaming down her face, but is unable to contain her own anger.

  “I don’t know what crap your brother fed you and I am so very sorry about your family, but I never revealed you or the location of Moon Valley to anyone. All my sisters knew about you, was what you told them yourself. I didn’t even know your people had been attacked until I went back to find you and found nothing but a smoking ruin. God, Sylvia! I thought you had betrayed me and killed your own people! I have no idea why you would think we were behind it. If anyone was betrayed here it was me!” Lana shouted at her, trying to reconcile her own hurt and anger with the utter relief and joy coursing through her at finding out that Sylvia was not the monster she had believed her to be for so long. The pale mutant rolled her eyes at Lana’s words.

  “How is that exactly?” she asked, crossing her arms and staring at the beautiful woman she had once loved so fiercely, disbelief and distrust written plainly across her face. Lana growled low in frustration and stalked closer to her, leaning down into her face so there was no way for Sylvia to misconstrue what she said next.

  “The day I left Moon Valley, it wasn’t to escape before an army of my people razed it. It was to help search for people who had gone missing and were starting to turn up murdered.” Lana moved even closer to her, causing her to take a hasty step back to put some space between herself and the woman she now realized, from looking into those expressive eyes that had always reminded her of brushed green velvet, was far angrier, and hurt than she had believed. Lana took a calming breath before continuing. “We discovered that far more people than we realized had gone missing. They had been disappearing for longer than anyone had suspected, and do you know where we eventually found them, Sylvia? What dank hole, I found my people strapped to tables in, with tubes and machines hooked to them? Or how about the cages, where we found twisted, grotesque versions of what they had once been!? Do you know where that was!?” Lana roared, only realizing she had continued advancing on the other woman when her back hit the wall with a soft thud. Wide, slightly fearful, lavender eyes stared defiantly at her despite the tears in them as Sylvia shook her head silently, not knowing how to respond to this side of Lana she had never seen before. “In the old tunnels outside of Moon Valley. Your people kidnapped mine, performed terrible experiments on them. Meshing Kahlian DNA with mutant DNA, causing them to become some monstrous being caught somewhere between human and beast.”

  “What?” Sylvia gasped in disbelief. “That’s not possible.” She denied. “No one even knew that your people existed! I never told anyone but…” she trailed off weakly as she gazed at Lana’s hardened features. Sylvia shook her head harshly, pushing her way past Lana to pace the length of the room. “No. I don’t believe it. Sylvan wouldn’t do something like that.” The red head turned to watch her pace. As the pieces of the puzzle formed in Lana’s mind, she abruptly continued.

  “That’s not all we found in the tunnels, Sylvia.” Lana stated quietly, causing the other woman to stop her pacing, waiting to hear what she had to say. “We found evidence that whoever was behind it, created a small army of those creatures. Enough to force us to relocate Wolfhaven.” She paused.

  “Enough to destroy Moon Valley.” Sylvia finished, her entire body going numb with the implications, as Lana continued speaking.

  “The army that destroyed your home, took your parents from you, didn’t need to break through your defenses. They were already inside.” More tears streamed down the younger woman’s face as the numbness gave way to a tingling sensation that started in her fingertips. “Was there anyone else who could have known about us? About my people, what we are?” Lana asked gently, believing finally, that Sylvia truly didn’t have anything to do with what had happened so many years ago.

  The white haired woman shook her head wordlessly, having wrapped her arms around herself, feeling like that was the only thing holding her together. Lana slowly approached her, reaching out to touch her shoulders, pulling her hand back quickly when Sylvia flinched from her touch.

  The Nightkin woman gave herself a few minutes to feel her heartbreak, she allowed herself to lament who her brother had been, to allow the grief she always carried with her to consume her, before taking several deep breaths and slowly straightening her spine. Her mind began racing furiously, if this was true, and her brother had been behind the kidnapping of the Kahlian people. Then it was also true that he had created an army for the express purpose of sacking Moon Valley, killing his own people. He was directly responsible for their parent’s death, not to mention the deaths of so many others. They had lost nearly everything that night, their beautiful home was nothing more than rubble now. It had taken them years to find a new place to rebuild, to regain their strength, and all of it, all the suffering, all the pain, all the death, could be laid at her twin’s feet.

  Even though the only evidence she had to go on for Sylvan’s treachery was Lana’s word, Sylvia knew it was true. Thinking back over the intervening years, she was surprised she hadn’t figured it out sooner. That one night saw them loose their entire family, but gain leadership of their people. Sylvan had not been pleased when the Nightkin nobles had insisted that they share the role equally, as had been the case with their parents. He had been livid, she had half expected him to murder the entire court with the way he had raged at them, but he had managed to restrain himself. That was when she had begun to grow suspicious, he had gone from outrage to acceptance far too easily. He’d become almost too cooperative, after immediately seizing control over what was left of their military, quickly rebuilding it to become stronger than it once was. She should have known then, that he had a plan. Sylvan left nearly every other aspect of governing to her, which kept her quite busy and nearly completely distracted as she worked tirelessly to find and build a suitable home for their people. Her brother had only ensured its defensibility.

  The Nightkin looked to her to settle internal disputes and to merit out justice where it was warranted, she became the one they looked to for reassurance when all seemed lost in the search for their new home. While Sylvan played soldier, she made sure what was left of their race didn’t starve to death. Sylvia grew in leaps and bounds during that time, becoming wiser and more patient. She realized very early on that there was always two sides to every story. Her compassion, had quickly endeared her to the Nightkin people.

  Thinking back even further, to when she first told him about Lana, about her people, she realized that was when he began to change. He became more secretive and disappeared for long stretches of time with no explanation. At the time, s
he thought nothing of it, to wrapped up in the excitement of young love to pay attention to her brother’s mysterious behavior. Maybe if she had, her family would still be alive. Moon Valley would still be her home. She shook her head at herself, there was no use thinking about what could have been, what’s done is done. She had to deal with what was happening right now. With that thought she turned to look at the Kahlian standing patiently behind her and sighed wearily.

  “No one else but Sylvan knew about the Kahlian people, Lana. Not even our closest advisors knew anything about you and I swear to you. I didn’t know.” She closed her eyes, trying to will the tears away that burned behind her eyelids. Lana ached to take her in her arms, to be able to take even a small amount of the hurt onto herself. She believed her, no one could fake the kind of devastation that was written all over the mutant and Sylvia had never been very good at lying.

  “I realize that now.” She replied softly. The Nightkin woman, was half sitting on the bed allowing everything that had been revealed to wash over her, when Lana spoke again. “Sylvia,” Lana called gently. Not getting a response, she tried again. “Sylvia.” She said a little louder, causing the other woman to finally look at her. “You never said what you were doing outside of my window.” Sylvia stared at the Kahlian vacantly for a moment, then surged to her feet as her mind kicked into overdrive. She moved quickly towards Lana, gripping her arms firmly, panic starting to set in.

  “Lana, listen to me, I have to tell you what’s about to happen. What I’ve done.” She was interrupted by a pounding on the door.

  “Lana. Lana! Open the door!” Mason’s muffled voice sounded from the hallway. The youngest Stone sister glanced between the door and Sylvia apprehensively. She knew that the moment Mason saw a Nightkin, especially this Nightkin, her sister may very well kill her.

  “Wait here.” She told the mutant woman, who didn’t move as she watched her slip out of the door. Sylvia could hear multiple muffled voices going back and forth rapidly, assuming that Lana was telling both of her sisters that she was in here and what had transpired just moments ago. As the voices became more heated, the pale woman suppressed the need to be closer to the window in case she needed to make a quick escape. A decision she quickly regretted when the arguing in the hall stopped and the door swung open to reveal all three Stone sisters in the doorway. Once through the door, Mason strode quickly over to Sylvia, seizing her by her shoulders before she could flee.

  “Tell me the truth.” She demanded in a low commanding voice, pinning her in place with a deeply penetrating gaze that she found she could not break free from.

  “It wasn’t me. I didn’t know, Mason.” She told her, her entire body shaking, as the Stone heir took in everything about her. Her scent, her expression, the way Sylvia had tensed then relaxed as she spoke. As if finally letting go of a weight that had been hanging over her for decades. Mason relaxed as the truth behind the Nightkin’s words washed over her and she gently released her, stepping back to give her room to breathe. She turned to her sisters, nodding to them.

  “She’s telling the truth.” The tension seemed to evaporate from the room as everyone finally relaxed. Lana came over, placing a supportive hand on Sylvia’s shoulder while turning to face her sister.

  “What has you pounding on my door at this time of night?” she frowns when she feels the woman beside her tense up, she wasn’t the only one who noticed.

  “The scouts we sent out last night are back.” Mason now had both women’s undivided attention. “They found an army on the move, two days’ march from the walls of Culville.” Sylvia sucked in a shocked breath causing all three women to frown suspiciously at her. She looked down at her feet, anger at her brother’s betrayal finally taking root deep inside her. She knew that as soon as she had severed their link he had made moves to get the army moving. Bracing one hand on her hip, she brought the other up to rub the center of her forehead as she tried to figure out Sylvan’s plan. She was fairly confident that she could guess as to why her brother was marching the army to Culville five days ahead of schedule, he planned on attacking as soon as possible. In her heart, Sylvia knew it would be Moon Valley all over again. She became aware that Lana was already dressed, and discussing plans with her sisters to go spy on the army to gather any information about who or what they were.

  “Wait.” She said, her voice soft with trepidation over what she was about to confess to. When no response came she cleared her throat, speaking louder. “Wait.” The sisters turned to look at her as one, causing her to pause briefly before centering her attention on Lana. “I know who is leading the army. I know where they’re coming from and why.” She silently pleaded with Lana to understand, hoping that when she finally divulged everything that the Kahlian wouldn’t hate her. The taller woman stepped towards her with a frown marring her beautiful features.

  “How? Who is leading them?” she was quietly asked. Taking a deep breath, Sylvia hesitated before answering.

  “Sylvan and myself.” A short stunned silence followed that soft admission before Diana moved. One minute she had been hanging back, content to let Mason and Lana deal with the Nightkin, the next Sylvia’s feet were off the ground, her back against the wall, dangling from the eldest sister’s hand that was wrapped around her throat. Metallic gold eyes glared up at her, as a vicious snarl met her ears.

  “You say you had nothing to do with what happened all those years ago. Yet, here you are, dooming another innocent city to the very same fate!” Pale white hands frantically grasped at the one gipping her neck as a tear leaked out of the corner of her eye at the other woman’s words. Mason moved quickly to her sister’s side, placing her hands on Diana’s shoulders gently, trying to get through to the normally calm and collected woman.

  “Diana. Let her go, you’re choking her.” Diana didn’t seem to hear her so Mason leaned closer, speaking tenderly. “Killing her won’t bring them back, Sister. She is not the one responsible for what happened. Let her go.” The eldest Kahlian’s face contorted with pain and anger, before she wrenched her hand away from the mutant, letting her drop to the floor with a thud. She spun around, storming out of the room into the hallway not caring that she left the other woman gasping on the floor.

  Lana remained frozen for a moment longer, stunned by the scene that had played out. She blinked, becoming aware that Sylvia was still struggling to draw in enough air. She went over and knelt beside her. Meeting the mutant’s eyes, she saw the sorrow and regret, she could only shake her head. Everything was just so messed up, nothing was the way it should be. Lana had planned on spending her very long life with Sylvia. Then Sylvan’s machinations for power had torn them apart, just as it had torn so many other people’s lives apart. She glanced around the room, seeing that Mason had followed their sister out into the hall, hopefully she could calm her down.

  “Who did she lose?” Sylvia rasped painfully, startling Lana from her reverie, who shook her head. “I know all consuming grief when I see it, Lana. I’ve felt it.” The red haired Kahlian sighed and looked at the door her sisters had left through.

  “Her husband and son.” She said quietly, turning back to see Sylvia’s devastation. “He was barely six years old and all that remained of her husband, Jackson, who was the first one we found dead, that’s why I was called home.” Lana explained, helping the Nightkin to her feet then continuing, “They had been together for a couple of centuries before they finally had Connor. He disappeared as we were relocating the city, we never found any trace of him. She never stopped looking for him, even though he’d be almost sixty years old by now if he were still alive and not immortal.” She finished speaking, bending at the knees to get a better look at Sylvia’s throat, noticing the hand print Diana had left behind was already fading. Lana looked back up at the smaller woman, not sure she wanted to know the answer to the question she was about to ask.

  “Why is your army marching on this city?” Sylvia flinches, looking down at her hands before glancing back up, surprised a
t the lack of anger being directed towards her.

  “We were repaying a debt, at least that’s what I thought we were doing.” Lana frowns at her answer.

  “A debt? You’re about to attack a city that is known for its military might and defensive capabilities. What debt could you possibly owe, that doing this would settle it? Who would even ask such a thing?”

  “Damian Augustus.” Was Sylvia’s simple answer. Lana shook her head in bewilderment. “Damian saved my brother’s life several years ago, and when he asked for help, Sylvan was only too happy to be of assistance.” Lana snorted.

  “I’ll bet.” She gave her former lover a measuring look. “What about you? Why are you helping them?”

  “I was curious. Not even I know what really transpired between my brother and Damian that would compel him to go along with this. I had hoped that if I tagged along that I would find out, I never expected to find you here. Or to learn that my brother is a treacherous snake.” She shakes her head angrily. “Even now he shows his true colors.” Lana tilts her head slightly, questioningly. “The army wasn’t supposed to begin its journey here for another three days. The attack on Culville was to take place in five days. Sylvan knows that we’ve talked, he more than likely knows that we figured out that he was behind it all and has moved up the time line. He’s hoping to take us by surprise.” She looks away. “He’s hoping to kill me.” Her sister’s voices were becoming clearer, signaling that they were coming back into the room when she asked.

  “Why would your brother want to kill you, Sylvia?”

  “For the same reason he orchestrated our parent’s death. Power.” She shrugs indifferently, inside she’s anything but. “With me out of the way, he’ll have absolute power over our people. Especially if I die here during the attack.” Mason and Diana moved back into the room during Sylvia’s explanation, they stood behind Lana. Upon hearing her words, Diana felt a wave of guilt settle in her stomach, perhaps she had judged this young woman too harshly.