by Heather Karn
"I'm afraid." I buried my face in my hands. A warm, slimy tongue started licking the back of my hands and dog breath assaulted my face. "Ugh, Jackson, that's gross," I squawked, raising my voice far too loud, almost yelling at the wolf shifter.
"Jackson, whatever you're doing, cut it out," Raven bellowed from his room, his voice loud enough to carry through our door, making Jackson chuff a laugh.
"See?" Shannon snickered. "He's doing everything but peeing around you. If he wasn't worried about us teasing you more, he'd have pounced on Avery's idea of you and him sleeping in here. And don't worry, there's no reason to be jealous of Luella. The two of them could never work."
That had never bothered me. It was easy to tell how he felt about Luella. He liked her well enough as a member of the team and a friend, but otherwise, he tolerated her and the way her romantic life twisted and turned.
"Well?" Shannon prodded me with her foot. "We know how he feels. What about you?"
"You sure he can't hear me?" I whispered, leaning closer to her.
"Girl, I can barely hear you. There's no way he can."
"Okay. Well, I guess I feel-."
Pounding on the outer door interrupted me, choking off my voice as my throat closed.
Chapter 9
We sprang from the bed, Jackson reaching the door first and pushing his way out the moment Shannon had it open far enough for the canine to fit through. He raced past Raven to the unit door where he sniffed at the crack in the frame and nodded at the vamlure. I was too busy staring at the muscles in Raven's back to notice Kayla stood on the other side of the door until Raven stepped back and let her enter. Before he could catch me gawking, I changed my focus to his mother.
She caught sight of me standing in the bedroom doorway and smiled. "Alexander just called. Gerald is awake and when Alex told him a young woman was asking for him, Gerald refused to go back to sleep. He's waiting on the phone for you if you want to speak with him now."
"Yes, yes of course," I told her. Not bothering to take the time to change, I dug a hoodie out of my bag and tugged it over my head. It would hide the fact that I wasn't wearing a bra, and the shorts I wore were comfortable, long, and loose enough to leave much to the imagination.
Raven had pulled a shirt on while I'd changed, and I was a bit disappointed that I didn't have a clear view of his chiseled torso still, but it was also a good idea. I needed to be paying attention to Gerald, not drooling over Raven. He gave me a forced grin as I followed his mom, both of us ready to have this conversation over with and know the answers that would reveal why I'd been attacked and why I was in possession of a pendant that would get me killed if I wore it in the open.
"You were still up?" Raven asked Kayla as she led us down the hallway, back toward Edgar's office.
"Yes. Your father and I are...on opposite sides of a discussion."
"I hope it's not my fault. I've caused you too many problems already."
She shook her head. "No, it's something we've been discussing for some time. Your arrival only serves to prove my point, and it irritates him."
Smirking, Raven shook his head. "That doesn't surprise me." He cleared his throat, his smile vanishing. "So, who'd Hailey marry?"
Kayla grimaced. "Buckley."
Halting mid-step, Raven stared at Kayla. "Buckley...my brother Buckley?"
Ouch.
Coming to a stop, Kayla turned around and closed the distance between us since I'd stopped a step after Raven. "Yes, your brother. After you left, she was alone. Neither one of you branched out much and played with the other kids your age, so she didn't have anyone to associate with. Buck took pity on her and started including her in his activities, and after a while, they fell in love. You can't blame her for this, Raven. You're the one who left her behind."
This was too private a conversation to have in front of me, and I wanted nothing more than to be able to slink away and come back when they were done. Whether Raven's relationship had ended with Hailey all those years ago didn't seem to matter. He still had feelings for her, even if they were for a friend instead of a woman he loved. Either that or he was in love with the memories and not the woman who she was today. Obviously her feelings for him had changed.
Kayla set a hand against Raven's cheek. "Move on, Raven, and don't blame yourself. I know the two of you were close, but as your mother, I feel the responsibility to tell you that I don't think you two would've made a good couple. You had too many petty arguments as friends, and you two were much like you and your father: both of you heading in two different directions. Time would've shown you that."
"I think it did," Raven murmured. "I left. It was where I was supposed to be."
"And she was supposed to be here." Kayla grinned at me as I tried to study anything but them. "Let's not leave Gerald waiting any longer than is necessary and give your trainee the answers that she needs."
The rest of the trip to Edgar's office was filled with the sound of shoes hitting the stone, or in my case, my bare feet. I hadn't thought to put my boots on, but it didn't seem to matter as the stone had been walked on so much it was polished smooth. No sharp ridges poked at my feet, and there weren't any loose stones to step on or kick.
Edgar was the only person in the room when we entered, and his eyelids were droopy until he caught sight of us. That's when he leaned back in his seat and took a deep breath. Hitting a button on the phone, he spoke as the door closed.
"Alex, they're here."
"Good. Here's Gerald."
Static crossed the line as the phone shuffled on the other end of the call, and I was certain I'd pass out from the wait before a deep, gravelly voice spoke.
"This is Gerald. Who is this?"
After a second where it was difficult to find my voice, I swallowed and stepped up to the desk when Raven guided me forward with a hand on my back. "It's Koda, Wilde's daughter."
"Wilde's daughter?" Awe made his already light voice airy and weak. "After all this time. How did you find me?"
"My father's letter to me sent us to St. Louis-."
"Please tell me you didn't go searching in that monstrous place for me," Gerald barked before his voice was lost to a string of deep coughs.
"She didn't go in alone," Raven announced, trying to ease the man's fears for my life. "I would never have allowed her to do so."
"And you are her mate?"
Funny how everyone kept assuming...
Raven eyed me as if he was thinking the same thing before quirking a grin. "No, not her mate."
"Then you need to leave so I may speak with her alone," Gerald bit out much sharper than I expected, and by Raven's arched eyebrows, he appeared to be in as much shock as I was about the reaction.
"Please, Gerald, I want Raven to stay," I pleaded. "He understands this world, it's history and traditions. I've only known about it a few weeks."
"Who is he to you?"
My eyes darted to Raven, who stared back with a heavy dose of curiosity. That was a loaded question. It wasn't fair. And Gerald wasn't the only person wanting to know the answer. Raven may have been paying keen attention to what I said, but even Edgar leaned closer, waiting.
Rubbing my face, I breathed in a long breath. It was like my conversation with Shannon had spilled over into a different audience.
"Let's just say that Raven is the one person in my life who I trust more than all others, even my brother. He would never let anything happen to me."
Gerald grunted, which was lackluster to all the emotion I'd tried to pack into my words. "Okay, you trust him, but who is he to you? Not your mate, so what is he?"
"My Elite trainer and a friend. Can we move past this? He's staying. Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of him."
More silence. Right when I was sure that he'd hung up the phone and we'd have to call back and beg him to speak to us, Gerald grunted again. "Fine, but what I have to tell you can't be said over the phone. It's extremely private and I want to meet you to make sure this is no tri
ck, but you have to hurry." A string of coughing made my lungs hurt for him.
"What's wrong?" I asked, stepping closer to the phone, trying to imagine the man on the other end.
"I've held out as long as I can," he gasped. "I don't have much time left. When can you come?"
My gaze whipped to Raven, but words failed me. My jaw moved up and down, but no sound came out. He gave me a small smile of encouragement before turning to the phone.
"We'll gather our belongings now and travel to the festival location. Have Alex send someone to meet us there to escort us to you. We'll have a group of just over a half dozen people with us, but they'll wait elsewhere while you speak to Koda and I." Raven lifted his eyes to Kayla. "Will you provide us an escort? Someone that you trust?"
She nodded. "Go grab your friends and belongings. I'll have a small group come for you when they're ready."
"Tell them to hurry," I called over my shoulder as Raven pulled me after him out of the office.
With Raven knowing the way back to our unit, the trip was made at a jog. It helped we both could see through the tunnels with ease, and the worn path meant I didn't have to worry about loose stones to step on, so footing wasn't an issue. Minutes later, we were busting inside the apartment, making Shannon squeak from where she sat on the couch, her bag sitting beside her.
And she wasn't alone.
Everyone was blurry-eyed as they sat and stood around the living room or in the kitchenette. They were all once again in their street clothes, and bags and weapons rested near them. It was easy to see they'd been prepared for us to return, and just in case we were leaving, they'd been prepared.
"We heading out?" Avery asked from where he leaned his elbows on the bar as he stood in the kitchenette.
"Yes, but we have to wait for our escort. We spoke to Gerald. He's dying and doesn't think he has long left to live. Koda and I need to finish changing and packing. Hopefully by then our escorts are here, and we'll explain more on the way."
We bolted past them to our separate rooms where we finished dressing for the day. Then we shared the bathroom as we both brushed our teeth and made our hair not look like we'd been ignoring it for days. It would have been an intimate moment with a man if that man hadn't been my trainer and if we weren't racing an unknown clock.
"How long will it take us to travel to the rendezvous point?" I asked Raven as we stepped out of the bathroom with our bags. Picking up my sword where I'd left it leaning against a wall, I strapped it to the belt at my waist. It would be easiest to carry this way, even if I doubted I'd need it. All the other weapons we had with us were already in place on their owners.
"Twelve to eighteen hours, depending on how many breaks we take and how fast we walk."
"Then we'd all better be ready to hoof it," I warned the room, not ready to miss my chance at finding out the truth. It certainly wasn't like Gerald was likely to die within the next few hours, perhaps the next few weeks or months and I was overreacting, but life had already shown me that it was fragile and unpredictable. I couldn't chance this for anything.
A firm knock sounded on the wooden door, and since Avery was closest, he answered it, with Jackson on his heels. The wolf shifter wasn't going to let anyone past Avery if the snow leopard shifter was attacked. It was highly unlikely, but I'd been learning not to take anything for granted. There was no such thing as absolute safety.
"We're here to escort you to Second House," a male voice spoke, as silky smooth as Raven's voice, and oddly about the same tone.
Raven stiffened behind me as Avery stepped aside to allow three men into the room. I could assume who the speaker had been. His appearance was startling, or rather how similar in appearance he was to Raven, who had to be this man's younger brother. The newcomer searched the room until his eyes caught on Raven, and he gave a small smile.
"Hello, brother," he greeted.
"Buckley." Raven's voice was cold, and it chilled the blood running through my veins. So, this was the brother who'd married Raven's old girlfriend. This was awkward.
"Can we leave now?" I blurted, interrupting their uncomfortable reunion. The others sensed the same unease that I did and shifted where they stood and sat. The moment I spoke, they moved as a group, grabbing bags and weapons.
"Thought you'd never ask," Lee grumbled, following Avery from the room, with me on his heels. Everyone else followed, and the other two vamlure who were escorting us started walking down the hall while Buckley brought up the rear, right behind his brother. Neither attempted to speak to the other and silence continued through the group, not that anyone had much to say. Exhaustion clung to us.
While the others continued on, I dropped back to keep Raven company and keep the peace if Buckley tried speaking with his brother. We didn't need a fistfight breaking out down here. Tensions were high already, and if they went at it, I wasn't sure either of our magic users wouldn't try to intercede. Well, they'd have to beat me to it.
"How're you holding up?" Raven asked me when I was walking beside him, his voice carrying in the tunnel. There wouldn't be any such thing as privacy for the next twelve to eighteen hours. He had to know that, but was either truly concerned about my well-being after everyone's worry for me earlier, or he wanted to distract himself and didn't know how else to do it without being weird.
Never mind. This was Raven. He didn't ask unless he wanted to know, and he was never weird. A bit surly at times, but never weird.
Instead of muttering a quick, "Fine," I thought about my response.
"I'm surviving. And how are you?"
Like me, he took his time answering. I had a feeling it was due to the man walking behind us and the fact that Raven was an incredibly private person. "The same, I suppose. I'll feel better when we find out what Gerald has to say."
"I sure hope so," I murmured. "You know, it could always make the situation worse rather than better."
"I know. If it's what I fear, then yes, it'll be worse. Much worse."
"Then let's hope it's not what you fear."
Raven nodded in response, and silence hovered over the group once again. If I was going to stay awake, and not fall flat on my face with exhaustion, I needed something besides thinking about Gerald to distract me. For one, only thinking about Gerald made every minute we walked feel like eternity. Even counting my steps was useless. There were only so many times that I wanted to count to one hundred. I refused to count higher than that.
One fact was certain: I'd be getting my steps in today.
"I can't imagine growing up down here," I murmured, but my voice still carried. Buckley made a disgruntled sound, but Raven and I ignored him.
"It's not so bad when you have nothing else to compare it to, and it's also nice not to have the sun shining on you every day."
"But it's so…bland? Maybe that's the word. Claustrophobic. I don't know. Maybe if I'd been born and raised here, I'd be comfortable with it, but I think there's too much on the surface that I'd miss out on if I stayed down here." Grinning over at him, I caught Raven's eye. "And besides the fact that the sun blinds me now, I still love it."
Raven's deep chuckle echoed up the tunnel. "You still think like a human."
"And I'm pretty sure I always will."
About halfway through our journey, we stopped for a meal. The three vamlure escorts each carried food with them, which they split up between all of us. It was nothing special, jerky and crackers, and it made me miss our team lunches and dinners back at our mansion. Only a few days had passed since we left, and already I wished we were home so someone could cook a tasteful meal, and one that wasn't all grease and processed foods.
Half the team, including me, scarfed down their food and tried for a quick twenty minute power nap, but Raven let us sleep longer. An hour after we'd called for a break, we were back on our way. It'd shocked me that I'd fallen asleep at all, and I was sure that I was the main reason he'd called for an extended stay. If I'd been awake, we would've been on our way after the initial deadline.
Fourteen hours after we started, we strode up to a metal gate with two vamlure standing on either side of it. One of our lead escorts handed one of the men a folded letter, and after a quick scan, the man opened the gate and let us pass. The tunnel opened up into a large cavern. Not only was it wide, but the ceiling's height was daunting. I could only imagine that the only thing keeping the vaulted ceiling intact was magic. We were deep underground, but I was certain we weren't that far underground that someone building a house or city on top of this area wouldn't be enough to cave it in.
"All right," Buckley announced, striding around our group as everyone but Raven stared up above. "Everyone except for Raven and the vamlure female-."
"Koda," Raven snapped at his brother. "Her name is Koda."
Buckley wasn't put off by his brother's tone. "Thanks for the information. Okay, everyone except for Raven and Koda will stay here with Rivera and Yates. I'll take the two of you to meet at the rendezvous point with Alexander."
"Fine. Let's move."
Raven grabbed me by the elbow and directed us to follow after his brother, who was already crossing the expansive room. It didn't take long to catch up to Buckley, and I took a moment to study him. His facial features were similar to his brother, but since I couldn't see those, I concentrated on the rest of him. Where Raven's coal black hair was longer and wavy, Buckley kept his cut short, short enough it was spiky from its coarseness. If Raven's hair didn't hang down to his ears, his would likely have the same style. I had to admit to myself that Raven's was more to my liking.
We passed through another gate, with the help of another letter, and walked for a few more hours. By now my feet were killing me, and I was certain I had blisters all over my feet. My feet had been sweating in my boots, and I didn't dare stop walking now or I'd never be able to start again.