Chapter Twenty-One

Kal

 

Stomach churning, chest aching and filled with rage, I couldn’t gather my thoughts for several moments. Now I understood the frantic nature of my brothers, their slip of self-control.

Finally, we had to admit Orion had done it. There was no other explanation.

Directly after the Rift, the Stasis Bureau had capitalized on the confusion of the public and whipped it into hysteria. One ruthless, cruel way was the rumors of something they called “Bloodlust.” It was said to happen randomly to any shifter—a sudden loss of self and an unchecked appetite, leading to a murderous rampage.

What had really happened was that a few poor souls couldn't make sense of being shifters and had died painful deaths, often after lashing out at their families. But from what we knew, no shifter who was in the throes of that intense, post-Rift pain, a kind of Rift-PTSD, had killed anyone. Families were adamant about that. The shifters in question had been angry and sullen, but that anger had been turned inward.

Orion, we knew, wanted to turn that anger outward.

“Overriding the instincts to protect, unleashing a feral, unchecked, and primal anger,” I murmured and watched as one man tried to twist away from Niles. “A need to survive.”

“If they hadn’t turned on each other a few miles after breaching the border, who knows how far they would’ve gotten in?” Xander said. To me alone, he said, I can’t sense them.

For the first time in almost five years, I saw something leap into my friend’s eyes.

Fear.

Gripping his arm, I hissed in his ear, “Xander, we will figure this out. We always do. We survive. Winfyre is proof of that—proof of resiliency and hope.”

Xander blew out a breath and seemed to come back to himself, a smile flitting over his face. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I lost my head there for a moment.” Raising an eyebrow at me, he leaned in and drawled, “Hey, you’re late. Iris?”

“No,” I grunted and went to turn away when Xander let out a laugh. “What? You’re laughing now?”

“Yeah, ’cause it took me a second to realize…” Xander put a hand to his chest. “At least something is going right.”

“He’s trying to use these feral fools as what, some kind of advance guard?” I asked and sniffed at one. I could tell the poor fool didn’t even know his name. “Doped out of their minds, nothing but adrenaline and insanity at this point.”

Suddenly one of them began to shake, gargling, and we all rushed towards him. He fell over, going rigid, and blood trickled from his nose. Niles attempted to heal him, and the clearing fell quiet.

“He’s gone,” Niles said a few moments later.

“Guess it’s not perfected after all,” I said. “This was to disconcert us. Make us worry.” I stood up and looked at the other men. “Can you cure them, Niles?”

“I’m not sure,” he said. “I don’t know what they were given…” Niles also stood up and gestured with his head, away from the men and other shifters.

“Watch them,” Xander said, and immediately shifters converged. “A few others, take care of the other one. Burn the body.”

“What is it, Niles?” I asked.

“It’s not just physical,” Niles said. “Their minds are altered.” We both stared at him. “Their brains are atrophying in specific ways. It’s like whatever Orion or perhaps the SB did was to try to hack away at their humanity while increasing their shifter abilities.”

“So, shifters can’t just be infected with this,” Xander said in a gust of air. His relief was palpable, and even I felt a knot loosen around my heart as Niles shook his head.

“Their blood contains traces of the poison that was used on Kal,” Niles said.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“You’re fine,” Niles said, and I scowled. He laughed lightly. “Apologies, Deacon, I didn’t mean to undercut you…I meant to point out that these toxins are living in their blood. Remember, it took you a while to succumb to it. It is the same for them.” He blew out a sigh. “I think Orion means to use them like kamikazes or suicide bombers.”

The silence that fell at that was electric. Horror and rage filled me.

“Do they know?” Xander asked after a moment.

“It’s hard to say,” Niles said. “Their minds are gone. I doubt any of them will last the night.”

“So, Kal was right," came Luke's quiet and thoughtful voice. Rett, Tristan, and Luke had finally joined us. "This was to shove in our faces that the SB is still lurking in the shadows. That Orion is still working against us. And that our borders are not as safe as we’d hoped.”

“Is there any way to detect it?” Tristan asked.

I stared at him, a little confused until it clicked into place.

“Dammit,” I swore, now about to lose control myself.

Orion could sneak in Bloodlust shifters right under our noses. Disguised as travelers, waiting until the toxins unraveled them and they went on a rampage. They could even be here now.

“The Coven will need to double-check, but I believe the poison will be a giveaway,” Niles said. “And they’ve been checking for that already.”

“Will you attend to the last two?” Xander asked. “We need to speak.” Once the five of us were alone, he sighed. “This oughta be fun.”

“We’re going to need to sweep the settlements,” my cousin spoke up, voicing my thoughts. “Check on new refugees. And warn our citizens without sending them into despair or panic.” His voice was now wry. “No problem.”

“It’s not a problem,” I growled. “I’ll go to Veda tonight with one of them.”

“I’ll go with you,” Luke said, and there was silence. He scowled. “Reagan can handle it.”

“Can you handle it?” Rett asked bluntly. “I’ve been there. Caleb is still a baby.”

“I have no choice,” Luke said, and a cold look settled into his features. “We’re Alphas.”

“We should let the other one go,” Tristan said. “Scare him into shifting and then follow him. I’m sure Orion will be expecting that, but perhaps we can get a trail.”

It was a callous and bleak suggestion, said in the voice of a soldier. I had to close my eyes and go to the place deep inside to find calm. When it stole over me, I had the strangest sense that I was being embraced by Iris, her head on my back, and her arms around my torso.

“Niles said he won’t last the night,” Xander finally said. “Go. Take Fallon, Jeques, and whoever else can be spared. Don't split up.” Rett and Tristan hurried off. Xander glanced into the distance, probably talking to Beylore, and a second later, a Riftborn appeared at his elbow. Hooded and masked, she nodded at us. “Thanks for coming.”

“I will help with the transfer,” she said in a low, husky voice.

Not Beylore but someone older. We didn’t know every member of the Coven. That was Beylore’s job. Seeing as how the Coven had made far fewer mistakes than the Alphas, they’d earned the right to call those shots.

A few moments later, the four of us were on a cold hilltop near Veda. Beylore was waiting, and she prowled forward, along with other members of the Coven. The man began to whimper and thrash, trying to break the inhibitor bonds that kept him human. Somehow, the noises he was making sounded more animal. Abruptly, they were cut off as the hooded figures moved in.

“Deadly and deluded,” said the Riftborn standing between Luke and me. She reached up, pulling off her mask and shaking back her hood. The wind ruffled her graying curls, and she turned to us, smiling as we both gaped at her. “Hello, boys. I can’t believe you didn’t recognize me,” she tsked. “Losing your touch?”

“Yana,” Luke said, recovering first. “What are you doing here? I mean…”

"Ah, I've been getting better at leaving more often," Yana said and inhaled the breezy air. "So long as I'm not in too crowded a place, I don't get overwhelmed." She cut her eyes at us. "Both of you can stop fussing like old women since I'm the only old woman here."

Yana was a powerful Riftborn and an eagle shifter, a rare, if not unheard-of, combination. But usually one overtook the other. For Yana, though, her empath powers had been so great, she’d been forced to retreat from society. Yana had the ability to read people, to gauge their abilities and intentions and so forth. Other Riftborn had powers like hers, like Tello at the gates, who could sense if someone might pose a threat to Winfyre, but not on her scale.

Even now, she smiled at me and tilted her head. “Something’s different about you, Kal.” My face began to warm, and Luke’s eyebrows flicked up. “I can’t wait to meet the woman responsible.”

“Nothing is different,” I said in a patient, almost bored voice. “Don’t listen to idle gossip.”

“Who do I gossip with?” Yana demanded. “I’m looking in your eyes, boy. And I can see the way you are trying not to smile, even as your heart rate increases…”

“Enough,” I said with a laugh.

Luke snorted and then looked grave as Yana glanced at him. “Her name is Iris.”

“Oh, I know her name, Lukas,” Yana said. “Need I remind you of a man who came to me, sweating and desperate, about a woman named Reagan?” Now I looked at Luke with smug interest. “More than once, I might add?”

“All right, fair enough. So, what’s his story?” Luke asked, nodding at the man ahead of us. “I know that’s why Xander called you.”

"Hard to say," Yana mused. "Right now, there is too much darkness and conflict in him. A storm choking off his soul and throttling his life. Beylore is trying to drive it back.”

As Yana and Luke discussed it in an undertone, I turned away from the scene to watch the distant lights of Veda. I thought, suddenly, of Laia, Rett’s mate. She’d been manipulated and marked by Orion and the Excris, sent to Winfyre in a not dissimilar way. A weapon to sneak by us, although her soul hadn’t been tainted—though Orion did try to rip her sense of self away from her.

“Was it the crian shard?” I asked during a lull. I realized Luke had walked away to talk to one of the Coven, leaving me and Yana alone. “Was he marked by an augris?”

“It might’ve been used, though there is no augris mark,” Yana said. “You think of Laia and her pain, remembering when you all thought she’d perished in the sea.” She paused, and I remembered the way Rett had barely held himself together during those days when we’d searched and searched, knowing full well we might never find her body. “The first time you met her, you recognized a kindred spirit.” I winced, even though I knew Yana couldn’t help it. “That’s why you were worried for your cousin. You didn’t want him to tie his heart to someone as ruthless and determined as you were, someone who might hurt him because of their past.”

I said nothing. It was all true. Laia probably still thought that my initial dislike of her, now long past, had been because I didn’t trust or like her. It was the opposite. Years later, and we weren’t on the best terms, but it was because I kept my distance. Laia had healed and brought a joy to Rett’s life that was undeniable. How could I dislike someone who did that? If anything, I was grateful.

“Oh, Kal. You think yourself so different from Rett,” Yana went on. “But at first, he held Laia away from his heart, thinking only of Winfyre. You and Tristan were away, Luke was busy with Reagan, and Xander was distant.” She sighed. “Deacons are addicted to duty.”

“I saw the way he looked at her, though,” I said. “He should’ve known it was futile.”

“I could say the same to you,” Yana said and dug her elbow into my side. “And yes, I’ll come inspect her, make sure she’s all right. Although if Beylore’s met her, I’m sure there’s no point.”

“But I didn’t…”

By the time I’d turned around, Yana was gone.