by Lizzy Ford
“Seems that way. Kiki’s men are at the village now to protect it.”
Jade was quiet, struck by the importance of such a move. Darkyn had said nothing of this to him! It was one thing for the demons and Immortals to fight, but to attack the innocent humans was madness. He would never go so far.
“I am happy to see you. I was worried,” Kris said in a soft voice. Jade’s pulse leapt at the words. “A lot has changed in so short a time. The Council is working together for once, and Sasha tricked us into thinking he was returning to the Council, disappeared and washed up at the Caribbean Sanctuary. Our father’s body was stolen.”
“I saw Sasha take the body into the forest,” Jade said carefully. “He was shouting at the demons. Said he’d done what they told him and given them you and the castle so they’d leave him alone.”
Kris’s gaze darkened, and he stood, pacing to the window. He stared into the dark night, watching the snow fall.
“I guess they changed their mind. They slashed him up good, but he’s still alive,” Kris said. “I wonder how they got him away from the coffin. He should’ve known to stay put.”
“I don’t know. He did say something about the Sanctuary,” Jade said, seeking some lie to keep Kris’s suspicions from turning to him. “It’s all I heard. I was fighting the demons.”
“In any case, I’m pleased to see you again, my friend,” Kris said. He seemed to shake his dark mood, and Jade relaxed. “I have more good news for you.”
“We need good news!”
“I found my mate.”
Jade drew a sharp breath. “Katie?”
“No, her sister. There were two Ancient’s mates born into her family. I discovered this when her sister arrived here.”
Jade saw his chance of returning to his ex-lover’s side disappear. The pain returned, and he realized he hadn’t noticed its temporary reprieve until it clutched his chest again. His thoughts turned to Katie. He’d give anything for the vial and the feel of her blood on his hands! She’d brought him nothing but pain, and now her family had taken Kris from him. His whole life was in shambles because of her.
“You need some rest and a shower. The guest room is open. Please, go take care of yourself,” Kris said, not unkindly.
Jade couldn’t bring himself to ask about the vial for fear of giving himself away. His battered body felt heavy, and his emotions grew chaotic. He stared at the ground in front of him, heartsick.
“Is Katie all right?” he forced himself to ask. “Was she pleased to know her sister was joining our … family?”
“Not exactly. She and her mate have become even larger thorns in my side. I’m sending her back to the Sanctuary in the morning.”
Jade looked up again, interested as much in the sudden anger in Kris’s voice as he was in the knowledge that Katie was in the castle.
“But, that’s for a different time,” Kris said with a small smile. “Go and rest.”
“Thank you, I will.” His voice sounded mechanical to his own ears. Jade opened the door to leave when Kris’s voice stopped him.
“Jade, you know I’ll always care about you.”
“It’s too late for that,” he said and walked out. He went to the guestroom next door and closed the door. The chamber seemed … foreign to him. It would be his last night with the Immortals, for no one would forgive him once he followed through with the plans forming in his mind.
Kris waited until the guest bedroom door closed before he motioned to one of the Immortals posted on either end of the hallway. With a sinking heart, he realized he’d lost the Jade who’d been his friend and lover for a few hundred years. Something was drastically altered about his friend, and the thin collar around his neck told Kris everything he needed to know. What he didn’t know was what happened to his other lieutenant, Iliana. If Sasha was telling the truth, the chances of her being alive weren’t good.
“Post six guards in this hallway. No one leaves this floor unless it’s me. Understood?”
The Immortal nodded and trotted away to gather more. Kris waited until five Immortals were present in the hall before he retreated to his conference room. Once more, he caught himself thinking of Andre and missing his brother’s— and best friend’s— guidance.
Andre was dead-dead. He had to do what Andre would have done.
Kris crossed to his burnt-out bedchamber and dug through a trunk in the closet. He withdrew a dagger he’d purposely buried there, never intending to follow in the footsteps of Andre’s enforcer role. It was the dagger used to kill Rhyn’s mother, and the same one Andre would’ve used to kill Sasha for breaking his sacred oaths and trying to kill his brothers.
It was the same one he’d use to kill Jade and Sasha.
Kris closed his eyes. He didn’t want this role. It wasn’t in his nature. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, this was a role for Rhyn, who had brought the Council back. He gave his youngest brother no credit for understanding either the importance of the Council or the good intentions behind bringing the Council back together, but Rhyn knew how to use brute violence when it was needed.
“You going hunting?”
He whirled to face the man of whom he thought.
“For me?” Rhyn asked with a cunning smile. “You’re the best Immortal warrior there is. It’d be an honor to kill you.”
“Believe it or not, I was thinking of killing someone else,” Kris replied, rising. He tucked the dagger into his belt and shoved Rhyn out of his way as he exited the closet.
“It’s gotta be Sasha.”
Kris said nothing.
“I came to tell you something else.”
“I take it more bad news?” Kris said. “It’s my day for that shit.”
“I think you’ll take this as good news, knowing how much you like to see me suffer.”
“Then tell all.”
“I let Katie go.”
Kris turned, surprised. “I didn’t think you were smart enough.”
“It’s the only way to keep you and the other Immortals from treating her like shit.”
“You really did this?”
“I did.”
“So you’re going back to Hell?”
“No, brother, sorry to disappoint you,” Rhyn said dryly. “I’m staying here. With you and the Council. It’s where I’m supposed to be, isn’t it?”
“I don’t understand,” Kris said with a frown. “You’re leaving her but staying here.”
“I’m going to make sure you and the Council do what it must to protect her and everyone else like her.”
Kris looked at his condemned brother anew, not sure how to take Rhyn’s newfound intent and resolve. Rhyn’s gaze fell to the dagger Andre had carried.
“You don’t have the heart or stomach for what that entails.”
Kris’s face felt warm, but he knew Rhyn was right for once.
“Andre and I were more alike than you know,” Rhyn added.
“You were nothing alike. What he did was for the good of Immortals and humans alike,” Kris said.
“Right, because killing in cold blood isn’t something a Council member does.”
“It’s not something I do,” Kris retorted.
“I will. Whomever you want, and whomever you don’t want, I won’t.”
“You’ll take orders from me?”
“On this. On everything else, probably not. But, I’ll keep the Council together to protect Katie and our hatchling.”
Kris stared at him. “Humans don’t hatch,” he whispered, not sure what else to say.
“I don’t give a shit how it works.”
“Dear god, Rhyn!” he said and shook his head. Now he understood Rhyn’s powerful motivator, and he was both impressed and horrified.
“And she wants to become a nun at a Sanctuary,” Rhyn added. “Good place for her, Toby, and the hatchling. I only ask one thing of you, Kris, in exchange for doing your dirty work.”
“I’m all ears at this point.”
“You take car
e of her like you said you would after the Council meeting. No more of the shitty treatment you’ve been giving her. She’s no longer my mate. Treat her like she’s the sister of your mate.”
Kris hesitated. He’d never had a conversation with Rhyn where the two of them didn’t behave like testosterone-plagued teenagers. He didn’t want to agree to Rhyn’s terms, but the side of him willing to take in a creature like Sasha emerged again. At the end of the day, he’d try to do what was right. If Katie wanted to go to the convent, he’d be the last to argue with her. It’d keep her out of his hair, safe, and the powerful force that was Rhyn working for him.
“We have a deal,” he said. He withdrew the sheathed dagger and tossed it to Rhyn. “I still can’t believe … I shouldn’t be surprised. You fuck up everything.”
“I know,” Rhyn said, unaffected. “Who do I kill first?”
*
Katie stood in the back doorway to the castle, hoping Rhyn returned soon. Snow fell from the sky to be either burned by the pyre or to cover the red mess that was the rest of the park. Immortals lined the perimeter of the park shoulder to shoulder and roved the interior of the castle. Kris had assigned her a babysitter and ordered her to spray herself down with the skunk spray so she wouldn’t draw any unwanted attention.
Something tickled her neck, and she looked down to see the first of the letters of her tattoo flutter to the ground. They fell delicately one by one, like feathers. She grabbed at one of them, then let it fall. It was what needed to happen. He had to let her go, but the sense of yearning and pain was too strong for her to sleep.
She sank down with her back to the door, not caring about the cold day or the snow that seeped through her clothes to chill her. She stared at the blood-colored letters as the snow buried them. She’d tried opening a portal soon after Rhyn left to return to the Sanctuary but failed. Though there was a wall of Immortals between her and the forest, she felt the demon watching her, waiting for its opening, now that she was no longer protected. Again she found herself hoping Gabriel took her soon.
Darkyn. He wasn’t like the other demons. None of them had gotten into her head.
“You’re like bait out here.” Kris’s voice made her tense. “Go to your chamber. I’ll have you taken back to the Sanctuary tomorrow.”
“I want to go back today,” she replied.
“Not until I find Ully and test the vial you brought me. If it’s not the immunity blood, then Ully will need you here in his lab.”
She rolled her eyes, once again a test subject to the great overlord of the Immortals. She rose and shook out the chill.
“Besides, you should be resting,” he said with a forced note of kindness. She looked up at him questioningly. To her surprise, he walked with her toward the stairs. “I understand you want to go to the convent.”
“Rhyn told you?”
“He told me many things, such as he’d let you go.”
“Convent would be nice,” she whispered. Her chest was clenched so tight, she felt physical pain. “Safe place for us.”
“I’ll arrange it as soon as I can.”
“Thanks, Kris.” She left him at the base of the stairs and ascended alone. It was as it should be. Rhyn wasn’t coming back for her, yet her heart felt as if it’d fall out of her chest. She hadn’t been certain about the kind of life she’d have with him, but she was certain she didn’t want a life without him. At least she wouldn’t be around long enough to find out.
She entered the chilly chamber. Her Immortal guard poked his head in every corner and door and looked under the bed before he left her in peace.
How she hated this room!
Her suitcase was on the trunk. Tears rose as she realized she was about to leave for good. She didn’t want to sleep for fear of the demon from her nightmares— or Gabriel— coming for her. Dragging a blanket to the warm fire in the hearth, she wrapped herself in it and sat.
She dozed and awoke to the sound of something bumping her door. The fire was lower but still burning. She hadn’t slept too long. The bump sounded again, as if someone ran into it. Frowning, she rose to see if her Immortal guard was nodding off at his post. As she neared the door, she heard the sounds of scuffling.
Her heart slowed, and she stepped back, imagining the Immortal fighting off some demon that had stayed hidden until dark. Before she could search the room for something to use as a weapon or run, the door wrenched open.
Jade stood before her, blood spattered across his otherwise clean clothes. She gasped, not expecting Kris’s traitorous lieutenant but knowing his presence was an awful omen. His bloodied knife was out at his side, his dark gaze blazing.
“I will ask you this once,” he said. “Where is the vial the demons seek?”
“Good God, Jade, are you working with them?”
He strode to her and snatched her arm, squeezing until it hurt.
“I don’t know!” she cried. “I gave it to Kris!”
His face mottled with anger, he released her with a curse and paced. She noticed his limp.
“What happened to you, Jade?” she whispered.
“Shut up! Everything that’s gone wrong has been because of you!” he returned. “If you hadn’t appeared, Kris …” He stopped suddenly. “Where’s your mating tattoo? Is Rhyn dead?”
“Not hardly,” she said and turned away. “Sounds like he did the same to me as Kris did to you.”
Jade was silent. She wondered if Kris would check on her then dismissed the idea he’d seek her out for any reason. Her guards changed every eight hours, and this one would’ve started his shift at midnight. Two hours ago, according to the clock on the mantle. If she called for Rhyn, he wouldn’t come. Desolation absorbed her into her thoughts, until Jade spoke again.
“Demons. They’ll take more than your soul.”
She looked at him to see the haunted look that crossed his face.
Rhyn.
Jade was lost in his thoughts for a few minutes, staring without seeing. Rhyn didn’t come. Crushed, she realized she had six hours to keep Jade busy in the hopes he didn’t kill her. By the wild look in his eyes, she doubted she’d make it one. Jade shook his head, as if tormented by his own thoughts.
“I can ask him for it,” she ventured.
“Like I’d trust you.”
“If it’s what you came for, then what choice do you have?”
“I’ve got you if I can’t get the vial,” Jade said. “Darkyn said— ”
“Darkyn?”
“You know him?”
“Only from my nightmares. He’s been tracking me for weeks.”
“So you’ll take him from me, too, will you?”
“I’ve never taken anyone from you!” she said, baffled. Fury she didn’t understand crossed his face. He raised the knife, lowered it, raised, lowered. His gaze burned into her, and she held her breath, awaiting his decision of whether or not to leave her alive.
“I’ve crossed that line,” he muttered to himself and moved forward. He snatched her arm and sheathed his knife. Hauling her to the bed, he shook out a pillow from its case and draped the case over her head like a hood.
“What line?” she asked.
“The one where I kill innocents to get what I want.”
He opened a portal so fast, the shadow world sucked her breath out. He dragged her through it, and she dug her heels in. It was worthless— he was too strong. She pulled off the hood just as they emerged in a place she’d never thought she’d see again. The black fortress and dark skies made her heart drop to her feet. There was no Rhyn to rescue her this time. She was going to die.
He made his way through the fortress to a bedroom and slammed the door behind them. She stood in the middle of the chamber, quaking and praying he wasn’t the sadistic bastard Sasha was.
Jade ignored her and crossed to a trunk in the corner. She watched in horror as he pulled out a crumpled woman’s body, even more shocked to realize she recognized the woman’s face when Jade set her on the bed. She ha
d been one of Kris’s lieutenants, Iliana. The woman’s hair was red with blood, and her face clammy, but she appeared to be alive.
“What’re you doing, Jade?” she whispered, inching closer.
“It is called a proof of life,” he said and withdrew a knife. “Darkyn wants you alive, if I can’t get the vial. Kris will need to be convinced to turn it over to me.”
He lifted Iliana’s hand, and Katie realized what he intended.
“Jade, no!”
Chapter Seven
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Rhyn said, taking in Gabriel’s muscular form as he fought the sparring dummies behind the Sanctuary. He assumed Gabe brought the dummies with him; he’d never seen them before. Nearby were more of the assassin’s belongings: a few books in a large crate full of dark clothes. “You moving in here?”
“Maybe,” Gabriel grunted and continued his merciless beating of the dummy. “What’re you doing here?”
“Kris gave me one of Andre’s old jobs.”
Gabriel stopped and looked at him, taking in the dagger at his belt. Sweat coated his exposed chest, and he wiped his brow with his forearm. Considering how much Gabriel couldn’t tolerate sunlight, Rhyn was surprised to see him during daylight at all, let alone without his shades.
“Makes sense,” he said at last. “You’ve got the guts to do what he won’t.”
Again, Rhyn heard the uneven note in Gabriel’s voice. His friend was troubled, and he didn’t know why.
“You here for Sasha?” Gabe asked.
“Yes, though Kris said I have to wait for him to wake up and give him a chance to defend himself,” Rhyn replied. “Fucking rules.”
“How’s Katie?”
It was midmorning on this side of the world, and Rhyn squinted up at the sky. He purposely didn’t think of her, even though she was the reason he’d chosen this path. He felt the loss of their bond like he’d felt the isolation of Hell. He hated it.
“Fine,” he said. It was the assassin’s turn to give him a hard look. “How long do you think Sasha will be before he wakes up? I don’t want to stay long.” And risk seeing her again.
“I don’t think he’ll wake up soon. The healer’s been working with him constantly. Seems to be in some sort of coma.”