“Let’s go,” he called across the roof. He had unlimited energy and slid into the leather seat with an eagerness that was irritating.
The car purred and growled as it entered the freeway. Killian drove with one hand on the wheel and the other wrapped around mine. I leaned back and closed my eyes, listening to the music.
I was about half asleep when he said, “How do you feel about staying in Romania for a few days? I’m beginning to think these trips are one big distraction. Jordan’s playing us.”
I was beginning to think the same thing. In the past two weeks, we’d been all over Germany and Austria. Sgaine Dutre would pop up on the radar and then disappear as soon as we got close to it. We chose to drive to avoid draining Killian’s saol to nothing. He couldn’t take me with him and teleport everywhere. It was too draining and he’d have little strength left to confront Jordan. So we had tried this approach. As each place was a dead end so far, it seemed reasonable that Jordan wasn’t really there. Somehow he was moving the ancient blade around without using its powers. Killian hadn’t felt the crushing pain in his chest that had signaled the blade was being used.
I said, “You’re the boss. What do you want to do there?”
“We’ll do some training. I’m feeling soft; it’ll be good to workout. We have a place we can use. No neighbors.”
“Hmm, with thick walls and a comfy bed too?”
He squeezed my leg and let his hand linger. He shook with head with mock confusion. “You’re always hungry. I must be doing something wrong.”
Giggling, I said, “Oh, no, you’re doing something right!” I leaned over and nuzzled the warm skin of his neck. Inhaling him, I sighed in bliss. “Doesn’t this car go any faster?”
Hours later, he finally exited the M3 and veered towards the city of Miskolc, Romania. The country around us was thick with trees and rolling hills. We’d stayed on the main highway so we’d bypassed some towns. I’d hoped to get a good look at them but we didn’t get close enough. I looked at the GPS screen and shook my head again.
“Are you sure you know where we’re going? How come you don’t want to use the GPS?”
“The last time I trusted one of those things, I ended up in Miami.”
“Where were you going?”
“Boston.”
Fizzing with giggles, I gave up. He had the world atlas inside his head.
The road got bumpier after we left the two-lane highway. We made so many turns I was completely lost. After about 15 minutes, we pulled up in front of a small house hidden under a huge canopy of trees. The tiny house was whitewashed stone and had an adorable thatched roof. Some of the thatching dipped low above the front windows as if it needed a haircut.
“It’s awesome! Look how cute this place is!” Grabbing his arm, I pulled him up the stairs. “Come on, hurry! I want to see the inside!”
“Patience, Princess,” he smiled as he put his hand against a security pad. After a second, its tiny light turned green and the door opened with a click.
The inside was plain and simple, but no less adorable. Whitewashed walls and exposed ceiling timbers made a simple background for the flowered curtains and overstuffed couch. A small corner fireplace completed the living room. On the other side of the entrance was a small dining room with table and chairs. I could see into the kitchen from here. A curved wooden staircase led to the upstairs. Bounding up the stairs, I threw open the first door I came to and stopped short with a yelp.
“You!”
Rivin rubbed his eyes and sat up from his napping position on the bed. His faded jeans were unbuttoned and rode way too low on his hips and the rest of him was bare except for a gleaming silver cross that hung around his neck.
“Come on in, love. There’s plenty of me to go around.” His face fell comically when Killian showed up behind me. “Bloody hell, you’re here too?”
Not rising to the bait, Killian snapped, “What are you doing here?”
Shrugging nonchalantly, Rivin buttoned his jeans and said, “I needed a break. I always use this place…its creepiness suits me.”
“Creepy? It’s a cute house.”
Grinning hugely, Rivin said, “Oh, the house is bloody fine, lass. It’s what’s outside that amps up the creepiness. Just wait till after dark.”
Alarmed, I turned so abruptly I bounced my head off of Killian’s chin. His teeth came together with a clack. Rivin dissolved into barks of laughter and collapsed back onto the bed.
“Oh, geez! I’m so sorry!” I turned pink with embarrassment but Killian only rubbed his chin.
With an exasperated look at Rivin, he said, “Nice job!” To me, he said, “Come on, killer, let’s get our stuff inside. It gets dark early in these forests.”
“Rivin? Baby, I can’t find the towels!”
The woman was raven haired and built like a stripper--A really talented, really expensive stripper. She was tall with a tiny waist and breasts that Mother Nature could never provide. When she screeched to a halt, her, uh, nipple rings swung violently back and forth. With a squeak of surprise, she held one hand out in front of her Brazilian.
Moving at warp speed, Rivin hopped up and stood in front of her. She peered around his bare shoulder.
Killian simply raised an eyebrow at Rivin and closed my mouth with a finger.
Still grinning mischievously, Rivin adjusted his jeans. “Sorry, lass, but you’ll have to take a number.”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “In your dreams.”
After unpacking our limited wardrobe, I was in the middle of a huge yawn when Killian wrapped his arms around me. Leaning tiredly against him, I didn’t protest when he suggested a nap. I was beat. “Are you coming?”
“Not this time. I need to talk to Rivin. You get some rest; you need it.” Before leaving the room, he checked the locks on the two windows, closed the outside shutters and then pulled the curtains closed.
The stripper was gone when I came downstairs a few hours later. Killian and Rivin sat at the dining room table studying a large map. Their voices were quiet as they talked and pointed to locations. I hung back so I wouldn’t interrupt them. They were completely focused on their plans. I decided to find the kitchen. They had to be hungry; maybe I could find some food for us. Killian glanced up at me the moment I crossed into the room. He gestured for me to join them.
Rivin acknowledged me with a slight incline of his head. He said to Killian, “Do you think the little woman can whip up something to eat? I’m near famished.”
“Little woman?” I repeated carefully.
Killian leaned out of the way and smothered a smile. “I don’t know, Rivin. Mica, are you feeling domestic just now?”
Rivin totally missed the warning. He leaned back in his chair and said, “Oh, don’t go to too much trouble, love. Any old thing’ll do. I worked up an appetite this afternoon.” He winked and added, “Gotta keep the juice flowin’, if you know what I mean!”
Smiling sweetly, I fluttered a hand to my heart and did my best Scarlett O’Hara impression, “Why Rivin, darlin’, you should’ve woken me up to fetch you some food! I had no idea you were too stupid to make a sandwich.”
I sashayed dramatically to the kitchen to the faint echoes of laughter inside my head.
Nice exit!
Rivin’s incredulous tone carried to the kitchen. “Did she just call me stupid?”
Little woman? Was he serious? Who says that? Moron! I scrounged around for five minutes and put together a tray. Killian was listening intently to Rivin’s report from Switzerland and I didn’t want to break their concentration. I sat the tray down and went back for drinks. I’d managed to find some kind of dark bread and lunchmeat…not anything I recognized exactly, but it smelled okay. I added some sliced apples and a handful of olives that were left in the refrigerator. Everything smelled okay; I just hoped they wouldn’t poison us. A couple of beers added some nutrition to the feast. We seriously had to go shopping…
I was about to slip out to the other room whe
n Killian stopped me. “Mica, you have to eat too. You’re not interrupting. Come and sit down.”
Rivin eyed me with annoyance but nodded too. “Yeah, come and sit. I’ll be on me best behavior, I promise.”
Killian piled some mystery meat on top of a slab of bread and handed it to me while he continued talking to Rivin. Turning to me, he said, “This concerns you too.”
Rivin stood up and came up behind me. With an expression of doubt, he carefully looked me over. Like evaluating a horse, he ran his broad hands down my shoulders and arms, squeezing my muscles along the way.
Before I could protest, he shook his head. “I won’t do it. I’ll hurt her. You know I will. I only know one way to fight.” His eyes glittered and he added, “To the death.”
Choking on my bread, I sputtered, “What?”
Helpfully pounding me between the shoulder blades, Rivin answered, “I’m your new sparring partner, love.” He didn’t look too happy about it.
I whipped around to Killian for confirmation and he nodded. “Are you serious? I thought you were going to spar with me?”
“This is a better option for you. The change will help you. You’ve trained with me so often you can predict my moves and counter them.”
“That’s not true!” I denied too much.
He laughed and said, “Really? Are you sticking with that? We both know better.”
Rivin still looked doubtful. He warned, “Man, you don’t know what you’re asking me to do. I’m not good at playing nice.”
Now that I’d gotten over the surprise, I was a little insulted by this attitude. I wasn’t exactly a novice. Plus, I had powers that he didn’t know about. I buffed a fingernail and looked down my nose at him in a perfect imitation of Killian. “Rivin, how are your healing skills?”
Killian barked a laugh and warned, “Play nice, babe. We’re going to need Rivin’s help.”
The next afternoon was sunny and warm. I wiped a bead of sweat away from my eye and watched for the exact second of decision. Counting in my head, I waited. One, two, and…there it is! His lunge was nearly impossible to see but I anticipated it. Rolling to the left, I bounced back to the balls of my feet and threw a roundhouse kick to his ribs. Grunting at the impact, he grabbed for my leg but I pushed off to the other side. His hand caught nothing but air. Instead of attacking again, he paused to regroup. He was dripping with sweat now and not laughing at me anymore. An hour earlier, we started with a few simple warm ups. Rivin wasn’t exaggerating when he said he didn’t know how to play nice. He had no kind of restraint at all. My Primani always toned down their killing instincts when we practiced. Not so with Rivin. On our second match, he threw me into a tree. We had to take a break for me to heal a cracked rib. After that, I was pissed. He wasn’t too cocky after I landed a solid kick to his jaw. The blood from his cut mouth ruined his favorite t-shirt. That was about 30 minutes ago. Now we were both out to prove something.
Killian watched from the side. Yelling at me to push harder, he watched me fall; he watched me learn. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of silver. Before I could lift a hand to block him, Rivin tackled me from the side throwing me into the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of me. Stars danced around my head as I lay gaping like a beached fish. He was crushing me with his shoulder in my diaphragm.
Expecting Killian to step in, I searched around for him. He stood next to us with arms crossed; his expression said “handle it.” Still not getting any fresh oxygen, I willed myself not to panic. I can do this. Rivin’s eyes were inches from mine and burning with the urge to finish the kill. His breathing was harsh and hot on my face. He curled his lip into a smirk and that did it. Gathering my strength, I head-butted him and threw him off of me with enough force that he landed on his back. Forcing myself to move before he could get up, I sucked in a lungful of air and kicked him in the ribs. The crack was gratifying.
His grunt of pain less so.
“Fuck!” He hissed in his breath as the pain registered. He glared up at me and heaved himself to his feet again. Breathing shallowly, he felt his side and grimaced.
Killian gave me a nudge towards the house. “That’s it Mica, you’re done for now. Go get cleaned up.”
Panting from the adrenaline rush, I shook my fingers to disperse some of the extra energy racing through me. It was getting stronger every time I switched into soldier-mode. I was getting physically stronger too. I felt a pang of guilt over breaking Rivin. Even though he’d thrown me into a tree…
“Wait! Rivin, are you okay?”
“He’s fine, babe.”
As I walked away, I heard Rivin complain, “She’s not normal!”
Killian’s laughter drifted on the breeze. “You haven’t seen the half of it. Don’t piss her off. You could lose an arm.”
Rivin was lounging across the couch flipping channels when I came downstairs. He studiously ignored me when I walked by. His shoulders were tense but he didn’t turn around. The air practically simmered around him. He was most unhappy with me…
“Hey, loser, what’s on?” I called over my shoulder on the way into the kitchen.
Without seeming to move, he appeared next to me and shoved me into the counter. His eyes were cold and flat when he sneered in my face, “Watch yourself, human! You’re not my charge. I might get careless with you.”
“You’re hurting my back.”
“So what?”
Reacting from pure instinct, I whipped out my Primani blade and slipped the tip into the open space above his jeans. His belly contracted like he’d been electrocuted. I nudged him a bit for good measure. His skin popped like a grape.
“Shit.”
“Now what?” I sneered into his face and he looked wildly behind him.
“Do you have a death wish?” Killian clapped his hand on Rivin’s shoulder and firmly pulled him away from me.
“Nice reflexes,” Rivin said grudgingly to me. He stepped back and rubbed at his belly.
“Oh, don’t whine. You’re not even bleeding--much.”
I sheathed the blade and gave Killian a long look. He gave me a wink and took my hand. “Do you want to go for a walk?”
The forest was dense behind the house, but a small trail wound like a serpent through the brush. It wasn’t wide enough for us to walk side by side, so Killian took point and I walked behind him. I didn’t mind; the view was spectacular…and the woods were nice, too. Now and then birds called to each other and I thought I heard the tapping of a woodpecker. The forest was alive around us; there was a sense of hushed waiting, a watchfulness that gave me the creeps. After a while we came to a small grassy clearing where someone had set up a fire ring and some logs. The stones that were used for the fire ring were weathered and smooth as if they’d been exposed for a long time. Bright green moss sprawled over some of the smaller stones. The fire had long since been put out; there was nothing left but greyish dirt. There were eight perfectly straight trees that formed a large circle around us. Each tree had a symbol carved into it. They looked like runes.
“How are you feeling?” Killian asked with serious eyes.
Surprised by the question, I hesitated. “Fine…I guess…Why?”
“I need you to do something for me. Can you look around us and see what you sense? It’s important.”
Slowly, I asked, “The trees? What is this place?”
He waved away my questions. “It’s a protective circle. We’re safe here. Just look around.”
Nervous now, I peered into the dense growth and felt a million evil eyes looking back at me. Chills went down my spine and I inched closer to Killian.
He put his arm around me and said, “It’s safe enough now. Stop scaring yourself.”
Not entirely reassured, I said, “Sit with me then and I’ll do it.”
He sat on one of the logs and patted the space between his legs. There wasn’t a lot of room, but I managed to perch my butt on the log and leaned against him. He pulled my braid from between us and draped
it over my shoulder. “Ready?”
Closing my eyes, I inhaled slowly and cleared my mind. Letting conscious thoughts evaporate, I focused on sensations. The gentle breeze on my face, the scent of earth and fire, the steady beat of Killian’s heart against my shoulder…inhaling and slowing my heart, I settled my mind and got to work.
Reaching out, scanning, searching…the forest teemed with life. I sensed mice, moles, insects…tiny creatures living out their part of the plan; feverishly searching for food, watching for predators, just hoping to survive long enough to reproduce. Larger animals burrowed in for the day…foxes, badgers, skunks…curled up in dens with their noses tucked under their tails like dogs. One skunk seemed to sense my presence and blinked sleepily into my eyes. Smiling faintly, I left him to his dreams and went back to my searching.
A howl drifted through the trees…answered by another lonely howl. They were far away, the sound barely there, but it sent a shiver down my back.
Killian murmured, “Wolves. Keep searching, I’ll keep watch.”
Searching farther away, I caught something. The barest hint…the fleeting sensation of evil, but then it was gone. Zeroing in on the location, I narrowed my eyes and scanned again. There it was again! Like a wraith, it moved in front of my eyes…gossamer, sheer, not fully formed…come on, show yourself!
It stared directly at me.
With eyes and a shape now, it screamed, its black mouth an open void. I backed away, it surged forward lunging at me. Retreating at full speed, I pulled my eyes back to the clearing and jumped away from Killian.
“It’s coming!”
“What happened? What did you see?”
Turning slowly, I whispered, “It’s here.”
Killian turned to follow my gaze and said, “Holy God.”
Chapter 7: Penance
The Lost Soul Trilogy (Primani Book 5) Page 79