Stormfront (Undertow Book 2)

by K. R. Conway

  Dragging himself to standing, Rillin stumbled into the woods, mumbling something about finding us later and keeping me warm.

  * * *

  Raef had climbed into the far back of the Rover with me in his arms. I was freezing – FREEZING, as if I had been packed in ice. Everyone layered their coats over me, but I couldn’t get warm, and I shook violently as my body tried to produce a scrap of heat. My back was on fire as my kill mark once again began burrowing up my back, contorting itself into a larger mark thanks to what I had just done.

  Kian drove with Marsh jammed in the passenger seat, while Ana hung over the back seat, trying to stop Raef’s bleeding. The puncture wounds from the arrows were already starting to heal, but Mortis blood was toxic to me. Bleeding around me was a sizable no-no.

  Ana had managed to get Raef’s shirt off and he held me tightly to his warm chest as she used duct tape to cover the holes on his body. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked, and I was grateful for the contact with his skin. He watched me carefully, every so often checking my pulse and trying to bring my frozen body in closer with his. He talked to me to keep me awake and at one point he unwrapped some of the jackets from my stomach and raised my shirt to press me to his warm skin. Whatever Rillin had done, he fixed my heart but dropped my body temperature to Siberia.

  Once at Torrent Road, Raef carried me into a beautiful bathroom and turned on the shower, kicking off his boots as he did so. I understood what his plan was and I managed to toe off my sneakers, though my whole body was shaking. He grabbed me around the waist and pinned me to his body, stepping into the shower and the fantastic liquid heat.

  The water rained down on us, soaking our clothes and hair. I was still shivering, but the water felt like it was slowly warming my bones. Raef wrapped his arms around me, using his own body heat and that of the water to bring my core temperature back up. We just stood there while the water flowed over us, catching every curve of my face and every angle of his chest. Once in a while he would turn the hot water up higher and my body slowly stopped shivering.

  I felt exhausted, but focused on his hand that held my shoulder blade, and the simple action of his thumb tracing back and forth over my wet shirt. “I’ve never seen you kill someone before,” I said quietly, as I rested my cheek against his wet chest, and his thumb stilled.

  He was quiet for a while, but then he finally spoke, his voice echoing deeply in his chest, mixing with the sound of his heartbeat. “Did it bother you, E?”

  I simply shook my head no. I knew what Raef was capable of, but somehow I had never visualized him murdering another person – even a soul thief. It made the experience all the more real and a stark contrast to the life I hoped I could lead. I realized then that such pipe dreams of teenage nonsense and movie nights were just that: dreams.

  “I killed them,” I whispered, guilt beginning to crush me. I felt Raef’s arms tightened around me and he rested his head on mine.

  “You saved our lives. They would not have stopped until we were dead. You scared the hell out of me, but I am proud of you,” said Raef, his words rumbling in his chest.

  “I’m a murderer,” I replied, my throat burning with the need to cry. I had killed before, the night of the Breakers, but I didn’t remember any of it. Seeing what happened to the Mortis tonight when my power sliced through them was just awful. Some of their faces were frozen in fear as their bodies turned to dust.

  Raef let me go and brushed my soaked hair from my face as he turned my head to look at him.

  “You are a survivor. A selfless fighter, and it wasn’t murder. It was self-defense and damn heroic. You’re not a murderer, Eila. I am. I kill people for their soul. That day I picked you up with my motorcycle, I had killed a man while you were in school. He was a bad man, had done terrible things, but he begged for his life when I killed him, and I did not show him an ounce of mercy. That is murder.”

  I shook my head as I traced the edge of the tape on his chest, “I know what you are Raef, and what you do in the name of justice – and to protect me. You’re not the one I’m afraid of.”

  He brought his face closer to mine, gently sweeping the water drops from my cheeks, “Who are you afraid of E?”

  “Myself,” I replied.

  34 Raef

  Eila was wrapped in layers of blankets as she sat curled up at the end of the couch by a roaring fire. Ana had grabbed her some clothes from my closet, and they hung loosely from her, making her look even more petite than she already was. I did love seeing her in my clothes, illogically believing they added another layer of protection to her.

  Christian, who had been searching for Rillin in Boston when we called him, knelt beside her, one hand on her knee as he talked to her. When he learned what had happened, he drove back from Boston, probably breaking every speed limit possible. As he spoke with Eila, I realized he truly loved her, as if she was the daughter he never knew.

  MJ had phased back into his human form while we had been in the shower, and I had to give him credit – he fought like a pro out on Sandy Neck. His speed and accuracy as Marsh made him entirely lethal, and the least banged up. He had left a little while ago, heading back to his own home before his mother grounded him for the next century.

  Kian looked the worst, covered in fading bruises and slices to his brow, lip, arms, and back. He sat on the floor at the other end of the couch, while Ana, her hair now a coffee color, tended to his back from her perch near Eila’s feet. Her tiny fingers worked to cover each cut and scrape with small pieces of bandage, even though Kian would be entirely healed by dawn.

  I suspected the need to just do something led to her insisting on taking care of Kian. Ana had kept her cool under fire tonight, as had Eila. Neither of the girls, or MJ, were simple teenagers anymore. They were fighters, comrades, and a whole lot more. I listened as Kian pretended to complain about Ana’s nursing skills, while Ana told him to suck it up and deal.

  I handed Eila a cup of hot chocolate, and she wrapped her hands around the wide mug, warming her palms as Christian thanked me. Her body temp was almost normal and her cheeks held a flushed quality that I adored. I thought she was going to die tonight.

  I thought her power was going to stop her heart and I would be left with her dead in my arms. It was very probable that that is what would have happened if it hadn’t been for Rillin Blackwood. Eila had told me what had happened earlier in the evening and how they all ended up on Sandy Neck. I was not pleased about the human visitors, but Eila seemed to have found an inner peace regarding her and Teddy. I chose not to react to their visit, especially since several Mortis had been wandering around her home in the dark . . . and Rillin had killed one.

  Christian finally left Eila’s side and headed into the kitchen. I followed him and found him pacing back and forth along the granite island. He was stressed and so was I. Rillin had said he would find us later, and “later” had come and gone a few hours ago.

  Could this beast of a dealer really be an ally or was the assault on Sandy Neck a set-up?

  “Whoever attacked you knew exactly what they were doing and they were old school fighters,” said Christian. “Using weapons during battle was fairly standard in my day – it was the best way to take out a Lunaterra at a distance, or weaken another Mortis so you could more easily kill him. Those that Eila killed must have been tracking us for a while, testing us to make sure we were Mortis. It would explain the slashed tire and you getting hit by an arrow a few weeks ago.” I didn’t follow his logic on the tire and my incident while hunting and I gave Christian a confused look.

  He crossed his arms, the tension flowing through his body. He too could have lost Eila tonight. “I think the tire was to see how fast you and Kian could move, and the accidental arrow was to see if you were bothered by it. A human would have been writhing in the sand, screaming.”

  I sighed, “I think whoever was buying details from Sollen had to be part of the group that attacked us. And I don’t think they are aiming to abduct Eila. I think
they are out to kill her. To kill us all. They must know what she is and because we protect her, we are traitors as well.”

  “I agree,” replied Christian, rubbing the back of his neck.

  What a nightmare.

  As the ornate clock on the wall edged on towards midnight, I finally heard a knock at the front door. Christian and I looked at each other and headed into the living room, where Kian was already on his feet, nearly blocking Ana from view. I looked to Eila. “Last chance to leave this guy at the door,” I said, hoping she would decide that her leap of faith in Rillin was an unacceptable risk.

  “Let him in,” she ordered, wiggling her small frame more upright, a determined look on her face.

  I glanced to Kian and Christian and I knew they stood with me when it came to letting this guy in, but he had saved our lives. Savior or not however, if he made a wrong move the three of us would be on him in an instant.

  Christian opened the door and there stood Rillin in a t-shirt that revealed numerous tattoos, inked over many scars. The jacket he had lent to Eila was laying over the back of one of the chairs near the girls, and he looked over his apparel, and then the entire room. His eyes finally landed on Eila and he spoke to her, ignoring the rest of us.

  “You’re looking better, though you should have listened to me and stayed by the car,” he said to her from his spot just outside the front door.

  Eila didn’t respond and the way he looked at her set my nerves on edge. I wanted to instantly build a steel wall around her.

  Christian stepped aside, “Come in.”

  Rillin stepped into the room and turned to me, sensing somehow that I was her lead guard of sorts. “May I check on her?”

  I glanced to Eila and she nodded, sliding her feet out from under her. She walked over to where we stood, a blanket still wrapped around her shoulders, and I took up the space immediately next to her.

  “Can I have your wrist?” he asked and I tensed, but Eila simply extended her slender arm out in front of her. He took her hand in his, and felt her pulse. “You seem fine – all the excess energy is gone from your system. If you’re going to throw the Light, you need to make sure you tether all its pieces, otherwise you can fall into cardiac arrest.”

  “How do you know that? How did you even know what I was?” asked Eila, tucking her arm back into her blanket.

  “The explosion at the Breakers was all over the news, and at first I thought it was a terrorist attack, as the FBI believed. But then certain details emerged, including Mr. Raines’ involvement, your injuries, and the FBI’s inability to list an explosive. Our meeting in the woods was by sheer luck, but at the football game you were identified as the girl from the Breakers. I started searching for details about you, which linked me to your home and a picture of someone I used to know. You’re just like her, you know? She wouldn’t have stayed by the car either . . . if we had cars back then.”

  Christian stepped forward, his face tense, “Who are you talking about?”

  “Elizabeth. And she was just as stubborn as Ms. Walker,” said Rillin.

  35 Eila

  We were all watching Rillin, a tangle of curiosity and distrust on all our faces. Christian however, had stilled into a creepy sort of statue the moment he heard Elizabeth’s name. He was gripping a mahogany desk so hard, I was sure the edge would have a permanent imprint of his fingers.

  “You need to start talking,” ordered Raef, placing his hand to my back.

  Rillin looked at Christian oddly, clearing his throat. “The Lunaterra are normally trained by their parents to fight. But those of the royal houses utilized enslaved trainers – Mortis – known as Trials. I was one of their Trials.”

  I heard Christian mutter a curse. I looked at him, “What? Is this true? They had . . . Mortis trainers?”

  “Supposedly, though as far as I know, none ever left the palace alive,” replied Christian.

  I crossed my arms, not buying this ridiculous idea of enslaved trainers for one second. “That makes no sense. Why in the world would the Lunaterra use their enemies to train?”

  Rillin leaned back against the door. “The best way to learn how to defeat an enemy is to know the enemy in every way possible. It was a brilliant idea – imprison your enemy and force them to fight, but control how far they can go. Learn and practice your fighting technique with those you seek to destroy. We were a combination of gladiator, target, and personal trainer.”

  I snorted, refusing to believe such a tall tale. “I don’t see how they could force you to obey them.”

  “Every Trial, the moment they were captured, was fitted with Limiting Link.”

  “What the hell is Limiting Link?” asked Raef, outrageously tense.

  Rillin pulled down the neck of his t-shirt, revealing the left side of his broad chest and the brand I couldn’t quite make out before. It was a perfected version of the strange atom that had been haunting us.

  I sucked in a short breath. “What is that?” I asked, desperately wanting to run my fingers over the raised mark.

  “This is my Limiting Link. It is a bunch of carefully entwined rhodium wires and gears that the Lunaterra implanted in every Trial the moment they were captured. Well, technically a Feon would implant it. They prevented us from leaving the palace grounds and would bring a Trial to his knees if he tried to kill a Lunaterra during training, or anywhere else.”

  I finally pulled my eyes off his chest, “You mean that’s not a scar? There are actual wires under your skin?” Rillin nodded and I suddenly felt itchy, as if such a nasty device was crawling around in my own body.

  Kian jammed his hands in his pockets, “I’ve never heard of a Feon. What are we talking about?

  “Feon are very rare, now-a-days. They are humans who have the ability to control and contort metal and its properties. If any survived the Lunaterra Wars, they would have gone into hiding. To control a Feon means you control the key to any vault, lock, bridge, jetliner. If it’s metal, it follows their command. The Links bound us to a device inside the palace.”

  Ana had squeezed in next to Kian, whose protective arm was around her tiny frame, “So basically you had, like, a doggy containment system – the ones that buzz the dog if they try to take off or bark too loud.”

  Rillin looked at Ana, one eyebrow curved in a curious arc. “You must be Ana Lane,” he replied, ignoring her analogy . . . though it actually sounded dead-on. Rather than answer Rillin, she sealed her lips tightly shut and Kian pulled her closer.

  “How did you know Elizabeth?” asked Christian, his voice so low my own toes curled.

  Rillin eyed Christian warily, no doubt confused as to why he was so tense. “I was her Trial. As a female, she was with a Trial from the time she was eight until she was fifteen. Boys remained with a Trial until 20. Older trials were considered more valuable as we could take more severe hits from a Lunaterra and we wouldn’t be killed.”

  “So that’s why my energy didn’t kill you when I, uh, threw the Light. You really are like a gladiator,” I mumbled, disgusted by my family tree.

  Rillin shrugged, “Technically I was a knight. A Templar, when I was still human.”

  “You were a knight? A real knight in shining armor?” asked Ana, floored. “Like, with the shield and the horse and the maiden in the tower?”

  “I do not recall any maidens in towers,” replied Rillin.

  “What happened to Elizabeth?” demanded Christian, knowing that something had occurred to condemn Elizabeth to die when she was fifteen, but she mercifully escaped execution.

  Rillin looked suspiciously at Christian who was boring holes through his head with his stare. “She escaped the palace into the woods, but you know that, don’t you? There were rumors that Elizabeth had been taken in by a group of Mortis. Rebel fighters from the north. You were part of that group, weren’t you?”

  “Yes, I was, and when I found her, she had been beaten. Badly. Left to die!” Christian’s anger seemed to literally fill the room, like a smoky layer to the
air.

  Understanding hit Rillin. “Wait. You think I beat her? Good god no. I was her trainer and she was the most brilliant fighter I had ever seen. She could control her power and literally form it into a physical weapon. I consider training her one of my greatest accomplishments.”

  “Her family was going to kill her!” snarled Christian.

  “And they didn’t! I got her out!” snapped Rillin. Both pissed off men started toward one another, but I yelled at them to knock it off. I felt Raef angle himself in front of me and I realized I had forgotten he was even next to me. I had forgotten everyone except Rillin and Christian.

  I touched Christian on the arm and lowered my voice, “Can you handle being here?” His jaw was set so hard I thought he might crack a tooth. “I get this is difficult for you. I do, but we need answers without fist fights. So can you be here, or no?”

  Christian stalked back over to the desk, leaning against the edge of the curved front.

  Rillin looked between the two of us, no doubt trying to figure out what the hell was going on in Christian’s head and why he was so upset. He had no idea Christian had been in love with Elizabeth – had no idea I was descended from their affair.

  “Just for the record, I didn’t hurt Elizabeth. I mean, training she got a few scrapes, but she gave as good as she got. And yes, she was sentenced to death because she killed another Lunaterra – her suitor.”

  WHOA! WHAT?

  I pointed an accusing finger at Christian, who looked just as stunned as the rest of us. “YOU said she was condemned to die because she was feeding the Mortis information on pending attacks!”

  “That’s what she told me!” protested Christian.

  “Wait – Elizabeth was the one who was leaking attack info?” asked Rillin, equally floored. “I thought it was one of the other Trials – somehow getting information to the outside,” Rillin swore angrily. “I should have known. She was so unique. She thought for herself. She wasn’t just a drone like the rest. She . . . she wasn’t linked to the rest, was she?”