Vengeance Born (The Light Blade #1)

by Kylie Griffin

  “Do you think I’d bring her into the heart of our city if she was such a risk?” he asked.

  “Their nature has been proven time and again on the battlefield.”

  “You judge too swiftly, my friend.”

  A muscle ticked in Arek’s cheek. “I also find it hard to believe the Lady would share a rare healer’s Gift with a demon.”

  Kalan ground his teeth together. Challenging his decisions or risking his anger was part of the warrior’s job. That he would do it despite the close friendship they shared was what made Arek such a valuable Second. But his stubbornness tested Kalan’s patience.

  “Annika,” he called. Arek stiffened as the door to Kalan’s room cracked open. “Could you come out here, please?”

  Reaching across the table, Kalan claimed the dagger and sliced open the skin on his forearm. The wound was shallow but it began to ooze blood. His gaze met hers.

  “Would you please demonstrate your Gift?”

  “The Lady frowns upon this sort of display. Her Gifts aren’t for show.”

  “I think She’ll excuse us just this once.”

  She shot Arek a narrow-eyed look. “Are you going to attack me if I approach Kalan? I have to touch him so the healing can work.”

  Her challenge earned her a deadly glare. Her chin lifted as she met the glare head-on. Kalan admired her grit and determination.

  “It’s all right, Annika,” he assured her. “He’s just going to watch.”

  She came over and placed her hands above and below the cut. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. Through the touch they shared, he felt the familiar surge of raw power as she drew on her Gift.

  A warm tingling began around the site of the wound then spread deeper. The bleeding stopped, the skin healed over. In less than a minute there was no evidence of the cut.

  “Thank you.” He looked at his friend and lifted an eyebrow. “You felt it.”

  His statement was met with a sharp nod and folded arms. “Ever since the Na’Reish started taking humans as blood-slaves, rumors about half-blood children have existed.” The corners of Arek’s mouth pulled downward. “Why haven’t any records confirmed their existence?”

  Kalan shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe there are some annals we aren’t aware of.”

  “Secret records?” He shook his head then snorted. “That would mean years of hiding the truth.”

  “Do you think the historians or the Blade Council would reveal something like this to our people voluntarily? Rumors can be dismissed, facts cannot.”

  “Even from the Chosen?”

  “Perhaps. Depending on who they were.” He shared a pointed look with Arek. “It’s certainly worth investigating, don’t you agree?”

  “I’ll have Jole begin searching the library tomorrow.” The warrior scrubbed a hand over his face. “Whatever the case, her presence will cause chaos.”

  “I’ll handle it,” Kalan promised. “Just remember, Annika has my protection. Make sure no one dishonors that agreement.”

  The blond warrior’s brow dipped. “I won’t compromise my responsibilities.”

  “I don’t expect you to, but Annika isn’t a threat.” Kalan hardened his tone of voice. “Do you doubt my word?”

  Arek did little to hide the fact he wasn’t happy. “No, but there’s more here at stake than just your word.” Suspicion and doubt shadowed Arek’s gaze as he glanced at Annika. His lips thinned. “She has your protection… but I shall remain vigilant.”

  “I expect nothing less, my friend.” Kalan relaxed, knowing that like any Light Blade warrior, Arek never gave his word lightly. “Thank you.”

  “I’d feel better if she slept elsewhere. I can arrange guest quart—”

  “No. She stays here.” Kalan rose from his seat, went to the door of his apartment, and held out the dagger. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Arek collected the blade from his friend, his fist curling so hard around the hilt his knuckles whitened. “Will you at least let me post a guard outside your door?”

  “Good night, Arek.” Kalan closed the door behind him. He raked a hand through his hair as he turned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect any of my warriors to learn of my return until tomorrow.”

  “He’s your friend.” Annika’s quiet reply held no condemnation. “I was frightened by him, but he was only doing what he thought was right. His concern was for you.”

  She deserved some sort of explanation. “Arek lost both parents when he was young. The Na’Reish captured his mother. His father couldn’t reconcile her loss.”

  “I suspect many warriors have lost someone close to them. Being angry over those losses is only natural. And finding me here had to have been a huge shock.”

  “You handled this situation far better than I’d have, Annika.” His gaze slid slowly over her and for the first time he noticed what she was wearing. “My shirt looks good on you.”

  Clearly not expecting such a comment, her cheeks flushed with color. He wasn’t about to tell her that standing in front of the fireplace made the material sheer enough to see the outline of her body. He grew instantly hard as he realized that she wore absolutely nothing beneath it.

  Sucking in a sharp breath at the pleasurable sight of her rounded curves and sleek limbs, it didn’t take much to imagine untying the laces of the shirt and slipping his hands inside to cradle and caress her warm breasts. She was a passionate woman but would that quality extend to intimate relationships? The idea of being the first to find out made his entire body burn.

  Annika’s nostrils flared and her startled gaze lifted to meet his. The scent of his arousal had to be strong for her to pick it up across the room.

  “Bath, bed, sleep,” he muttered. A frown creased Annika’s brow. “It’s what I should do. Right now.” It was difficult to focus on the present when he wanted to strip his shirt from her body and touch and taste the tawny skin beneath. He headed for the bathing room. “We’re going to need rest before meeting with the Blade Council.”

  Tomorrow was going to be hard enough on her without losing what little sleep she could get now. He knew the Councilors and what to expect from them. She didn’t.

  Pausing in the archway, he glanced back over his shoulder, unable to resist a final look at her. The shirt barely covered her to mid-thigh. She fiddled with the hem, the slightest tinge of blue in her eyes. An encouraging sign but one that tested his resolve.

  Smothering a groan, he turned away. “I’ll see you in the morning, Annika. Sleep well.”

  Chapter 15

  “WHAT are you doing out here? It’s barely an hour past dawn and cold enough to freeze the horns of a furry-bleater.”

  Kalan’s sleep-roughened voice came from behind Annika. She jerked in surprise, so totally absorbed in watching the people in the garden below she’d missed hearing the balcony door open.

  She had to take a deep breath at the picture he presented standing in the doorway. In the pale dawn light, the cloak wrapped around him had been hastily tied. As he adjusted it she saw plenty of bare skin and partly laced breeches riding low over his ridged abdomen. Some of his hair had pulled free of its tie during the night and her fingers itched to smooth it back off his face.

  Seated on the wall, wrapped in her cloak, she gave a shrug. “I couldn’t sleep.”

  There was something very appealing about a man just roused from sleep. She looked away, over the compound, not willing to let her eyes betray her thoughts.

  “Why not?”

  She heard a smothered yawn, and the sound of the door closing. “Strange place, unfamiliar people.”

  His boots crunched on the thick layer of frost on the stone balcony a moment before he appeared beside her. He blew on his hands, and his breath steamed into the cold morning air, dissipating slowly.

  “Instead of waking you with my restlessness, I headed out here.”

  Kalan leaned right beside where she sat on the balcony ledge, his shoulder pressing against her. His presence was peace
ful, comforting, something she’d only ever felt around Hesia. Something she could easily let herself become used to with him.

  “What are you watching?”

  “The people down there.” She pointed with her chin, fascinated by the sleek, dapple-furred animal that followed them. “They’ve been walking a lira around the garden.” It was smaller than those she’d seen stalking prey in the forest. “I never thought something so wild could be led on a leash.”

  “If you raise one from a kit it’ll learn that the family is its new pack.”

  A tamed carnivore. She shook her head and watched the man walking it. He actually talked to it and the small predator’s pointy ears flickered as if it was listening to him. Its graceful gait slowed so that it could arch and rub its body against the man’s leg.

  “So, do you always perch on balcony ledges?”

  “Not always.” She shot Kalan a sideways glance. The pale mauve sky silhouetted his strong profile. “Usually I sit on the pitch of a roof.”

  His eyebrows rose and the changing expression on his face said he was trying to work out if she was joking. She wasn’t. He was curious but she knew he’d never question her, not unless she continued the conversation. He gave her the choice to share her past with him. Another thing she was coming to like about him.

  With her fingernail, Annika scraped a design into the frost coating the stone beside her. “I was chased up into one of the fortress towers by some Na’Reish children once. I think I was eight or nine at the time. They were several years older than me and considered it sport to try and catch me. The winner got first-rites.” She smiled crookedly as his brows dipped. “They got to hit me first before the others joined in.”

  He issued a soft, vehement curse. “Did that happen often?”

  “Two or three times a week.”

  In her mind’s eye, Annika could see her father’s angry face as she’d dared complain the first time it happened. Inwardly she cringed remembering the sharp sound of the blow as he backhanded her, the pain just becoming the freshest ache in her body.

  You deserve whatever you get! Maybe it’ll teach you to run faster, think smarter.

  She stopped scratching the ice and took a deep breath. “Getting caught in the tower, hearing them charge up the stairs and knowing what awaited me if I didn’t escape forced me out the window. My limbs shook so badly as I pulled myself over the eave I thought I’d fall before I reached the pitch of the roof,” she said softly. “After that I learned every hidey-hole, every dark corner, and possible escape route around the keep.” She pointed to several places around the compound. “I’ve counted six good places here already.”

  She sensed his gaze on her and tried to remain unaffected by it, but the intensity increased the longer the silence went on between them.

  “You’re safe here, Annika.”

  She trembled at the deep tone of his voice. “Am I? I know last night Arek was acting on instinct but what if it happens again, with someone else?”

  “I think I’d better explain something to you,” he said. “My protection means you’ve been given sanctuary and the protection of my house. You’re free to go anywhere, do anything I would, without fear of being harmed.

  “Arek mightn’t like my decision but he’ll ensure everyone’s told. Offering sanctuary and protection are traditions we hold dear. Anyone who breaks with them risks death.”

  This time Annika stared at Kalan, searching his gaze for any hint of untruth. She was so used to doubting everything said to her. Her cheeks heated as his eyebrows arched high, as if he sensed her disbelief. He deserved better.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She bit her lip. “Why would you stand against your own kind to protect me?”

  “Isn’t that what you asked for back in the dungeon?”

  She blinked then shook her head. “I thought you might help me show them I’m not a danger. I don’t expect you to kill anyone for me!”

  “You saved my life. Twice.”

  “So you feel like you owe me?”

  “Earlier I would have. Now? No, not at all.” His mild response was at odds with the sincere look in his eyes. “Why would I do anything less than what you did for me?”

  Annika swung her legs around to sit on the ledge facing inward, her gaze fixed on him as she tried to sort out the tangle of emotions his words evoked. He was treating her as if she were human, and making it easy for her to forget the fact that she wasn’t.

  She shouldn’t like that but she did. She clenched her hand around the edge of her cloak. His recent behavior was making it safe to share things she’d never have thought to reveal to anyone else. He didn’t criticize her, didn’t laugh at her ignorance, hadn’t taken advantage of her weaknesses. Other than Hesia, no one had ever kept their promises to her.

  He treated her like a friend.

  Annika started to shake. Not in fear, but with the strength of an unknown emotion filling her heart. With every beat, the warmth of it spread through her. He stood close enough that she could feel the heat of his body, even through two cloaks. She lifted her hand toward him then hesitated.

  Touching Kalan, exposing her need for him, lifted the hairs on her neck. She hated being vulnerable. But she wanted to show him the same amount of trust he’d finally given her.

  Mouth dry, she cupped his cheek then trailed her fingers along his stubbled jaw and shuddered, liking the rough sensation of it be-neath the palm of her hand. Her gaze dropped to his lips. They looked soft, unlike the rest of his lean body. She wanted to kiss him but wasn’t sure if she had the courage. The scent of his arousal filled her lungs.

  “I don’t bite.” The corners of his mouth turned upward ever so slightly. “Not unless you want me to.”

  The subtle challenge was like throwing a striker-light into tinder. Annika slid her fingers into his hair, loving the silky feel of it caressing her fingers, its color matching the night heavens, so dark it absorbed the morning sunlight. The sleek strands felt like the gentlest of caresses against her skin. She stroked his hair, again and again, liking the sensation. It was enough to set her blood pounding in her veins.

  Winding the long strands around her fingers, she tugged him forward until his lips touched hers. Heat exploded in her belly. She moaned as his tongue stroked hers, as she tasted his scent, on his lips, in his mouth. Rich and raw. Addictive.

  Kalan moved toward her without breaking their kiss, his body nudging her legs apart so that he could stand between them. His hands skimmed the sides of her legs, before cradling her hips, a move that parted his cloak.

  She gasped, unintentionally breaking their kiss as he brought her flush up against his body. Hard curves of muscle, from his shoulders to his hips, pressed against her softness. Every breath he took gently caressed her breasts. Her nipples peaked and the tingling sensation shot straight from them to the knotted heat burning between her legs.

  “Wrap your legs around me.” His voice had dropped, deepened with desire.

  With very little thought, Annika complied, burying her face against his neck as he lifted her effortlessly, his arms linking behind her rear in support. Then he carried her back inside the apartment, to his room, and carefully laid her on his bed.

  Here his scent hit her much more strongly. It was in the blankets underneath her, the cloak he discarded over a chest, the pillow she lay her head on. Each held the unique spiciness that was him.

  “Your eyes are so blue.” A smile kicked up the corner of his mouth. He toed off his boots then tugged at hers, rubbing each of her feet with strokes of his strong fingers before coming to lay on his side next to her. He toyed with the hem of the shirt, stroking it as if he was caressing skin. His scent intensified. “I want to kiss you again.”

  He sat there watching her, as if waiting for her to give him permission, the hunger on his face enough to send goose bumps rippling down the length of her body. It felt surreal knowing Kalan desired her enough to want to be intimate with her. Annika half expected to wake up
in the next room and realize what was happening was the product of a tired but active imagination.

  Hoping it wasn’t a dream, she gave a small nod, her breath catching in her throat as his green gaze blazed brighter, in triumph and raw need. The ache between her legs became a throb. How could just a look excite her so swiftly?

  Kalan plucked at the ties of her cloak and pushed the fabric from her shoulders, keeping his movements slow, unhurried. The blue flecks in Annika’s eyes had the slightest tinge of yellow.

  “Do you realize how much pleasure I feel knowing you want me to kiss you?” He caressed the shell of her ear as he tucked a lock of hair away from her face. He hid his smile as she trembled and trailed his fingertips along her jaw to rest just under her chin. “I want to slide my tongue across your lips and tease myself with the sweet taste of them. After I’ve done that I’m going to enjoy the honey of your mouth, taking as much of it as I can before I run out of breath…”

  The blue in her eyes intensified, changed to a pale mercurial color. The yellow was gone. Her lips parted in unconscious invitation. He leaned down and placed his mouth on hers, softly nibbling at the fullness of her bottom lip, teasing her with feather-light nips and licks, working his way from one side to the other and back again. He savored the small groan that came from the back of her throat.

  “Kalan…” Her breath was hot against the skin of his cheek.

  He slanted his mouth over hers, muting her cry, holding her still for his kiss with the pressure of his fingers beneath her chin. He swept his tongue along the length of her lip, sampling her sweetness, then he allowed himself the briefest of forays, past her lips, delving into the deeper, hotter part of her mouth. He delighted in her taste and gave a groan of his own.

  Her body undulated against his and he felt the softness of her breast pressing into his ribs. He cupped it with his hand through the material of the shirt. Even through the layer separating them, he could feel how hot she was. Her body arched into his touch, encouraged him. Her nipple grew taut as he caressed it.