Chapter Thirty-Nine

Kal

 

There was a brief splinter of a moment where I wasn’t sure I could handle the pain in Iris’s eyes. I was terrified she would fall apart and fall away from me, retreating back into that dark hollow in her heart.

And suddenly, it hit me that I’d probably caused this pain for everyone I cared about.

But instead of shutting down, Iris’s eyes blazed with fury, and she lifted her tearstained face, fingers gently closing around the ring. She took several deep breaths, and her steel shone.

"Who?" Her voice didn't shake; she was as icy, sharp, and furious as a raging winter storm. Awe and pride filled my veins.

“We’ll find out,” Xander said.

“So, we don’t know,” Iris said. “Let me clean this off and compose myself.” She held out the letter, and Xander took it back. As she passed me, going into the kitchen, she squeezed my arm.

I glanced at Jeques and Fallon, who looked a little shell-shocked, then at Xander. There was amusement and admiration in his gaze, as well as a cold fury. He was already running through a hundred plans in his head, I was sure, asking Tristan, Luke, and Rett for help.

Iris came back, a towel in her hands, and her fingers working methodically over the ring. At first, I had been sure that the Greyclaw had sent it, perhaps even stolen it to use for dramatics. Norson did have a flair for them, and Hamlet was definitely not his real first name.

But this would be a monumental betrayal. It would turn the other territories and the Tiselk against them. So, either they had someone in their ear promising to make it worthwhile, or this was someone else. Maybe the Skrors, maybe an old cohort of the SB, or even a new packless faction.

“Was it common knowledge that you and Tiani were close?” Fallon asked gently.

“Yes, probably,” Iris said and sighed, moving to sink onto the couch. “We met when we were teenagers and lived together for years. After the Rift, we worked together for the freedom fighters, which, as you know, became the Bloodfang…”

“That’s how you knew Orion?” I asked and sat down next to her. “Iris, I wish you’d said something sooner.”

“It didn’t seem relevant since I didn’t last long with our new leadership.” Her lips twisted.
“Orion had just taken over and was culling the ranks. He wanted fighters, shifters, and so forth. Not Riftborn like me.” She blew out a breath. “But he wanted to keep Tiani because she was a doctor. She didn’t stay, though—we went and became frogs, bouncing from territory to territory. But our home was in the Greyclaw.” Iris’s lashes fell onto her cheeks. “She’s like the sister I never had. I should’ve said something sooner. Dammit! I knew something was wrong.”

“Orion got rid of Riftborn when he took over the Bloodfang?” Xander asked.

“Not all, but most. Especially those of us with quieter gifts.” Iris’s jaw gritted. “It was devastating to be told in soft, condescending tones by this great hero that you were basically a burden to the cause. That you’d get in the way, more a hindrance than a help.”

“You listened to him?” I asked, surprised and more than a little outraged. That bastard.

“I didn’t have a choice,” Iris said. “At least not about staying. And, like him or not, he does have a persuasive power. Plus, the way he treated those that he respected or admired, it gave them a glamour. Especially for shifters, it was like he was justifying their existence. Riftborn were an afterthought, and someone like me was useless.” I went to speak, and Iris’s cool fingers covered mine. “Kal, I know that none of that is true. He was a charlatan, a con man, and it was a good thing I left. I know what happened, and Laia filled in the rest.”

“You never met?” Xander asked.

“No, we probably missed each other by a month or so. I went to the Greyclaw, the Burnfur…they were more focused on shifters, and, well. It doesn’t matter. I always felt like I’d turned my back on my friends, that I’d let them down by not being stronger.” Iris’s breath came out in a sharp burst. “And then, when I found out what the Bloodfang became, who Orion was—I was shocked. Tiani wasn’t. But we were concerned for our friends and tried to find them, the shifters and Riftborn we left behind…”

Iris took several seconds before she spoke again.

“They were dead.” Fury and grief broke through her voice. “Most of the freedom fighters, the shifters who’d worked so hard for their friends—they were gone. The ones who survived were different, angrier and violent. The others we were never friends with, the ones who liked spilling blood and didn’t mind working with Skrors…Tiani and I, along with our friends from other territories, we began working to take Orion down.” She looked at me. “But you beat us to it.”

“Those Bloodfang shifters died? How?” Xander asked, and I shot him a glare. “We have to know, Kal.”

“According to the one person we could find whose mind wasn’t completely ruined by what he’d seen—our friend Dare—it was mainly the experiments. Or the fights with other shifters. Or being pitted against Excris.”

“How many?” Fallon asked in a cracked voice, and Iris shook her head. “How did we not know about this?”

“How could you?” Iris asked. “They weren’t part of a pack; they were kept a secret on purpose to foil the Stasis Bureau. Even after the SB fell, it was a secretive group. But of all our friends, I think three survived. Only Dare could talk about it, and only because he was so angry with Orion. Dare blamed him for his mate’s death. I think he’s in the Tiselk now.”

“Is this why we couldn’t find the corrupted shifters after Orion vanished?” Jeques breathed, looking ill. “Was there nothing to find?”

Thinking back, I tried to recall how many had been at Kizin Mountain. Perhaps fifty, for sure. But the freedom fighters and Bloodfang ranks had once been in the hundreds. Maybe the thousands.

“Was Orion working for the SB all along?” I wondered.

“We’ll have to figure that out another time,” Xander said. “So, Orion knows you, what you can do, and your relationship with Tiani. So did the Greyclaw. Damn.”

"Guess we'll find out when they come to get me," Iris said. There were exclamations from Xander, Jeques, and Fallon. My head bowed, my heart a dull, thudding wound tearing in my chest. Iris caught my hand. "No, listen. Give me a Hopper. I'll go with them, get Tiani, and come back."

“That is a reckless, stupid plan!” Fallon cried. “You could be killed. You could be…”

“They want the translations,” Iris said. “So, if it is Orion, at least he’s now realized what a huge mistake he made.”

“Iris,” I said, and my eyes lifted to hers.

“Can you think of anything else?” she asked. “Any other ideas where Tiani isn’t killed because I was a coward?” There was silence in the room. “You would all willingly leap into the fray for someone you cared about.”

Sitting there, it was like the walls were crashing in around me. The thought of Iris not being here with me, alone at the mercy of these cruel bastards…I couldn’t tolerate it. I couldn’t let her go.

The plan came together, and I glanced up at Xander, who started. His eyes bored into mine, and he wanted to say no, but he couldn’t deny the logic of it. It made perfect sense.

If we could get them to bite.

“You all right, boss?” Jeques asked, looking at Xander.

He forced himself to smile and nod, even as a muscle in his jaw worked. "Sure. Let me talk to Finch and Beylore. You guys sit tight."

“I should get changed,” Iris said and got up, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

There was silence, and when I looked up, Fallon and I were alone. “You’re going to let her go?” I shook my head. “You’re going to stop her?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“What?” Fallon demanded, and she paled. “Kal, no, whatever you’re thinking—”

Getting up, I crossed over and hugged my cousin. “You’ll tell the family?”

“You’re such a stupid jackass of a bear,” she said and gripped me more tightly. “Kal, there has to be another way.”

“And you’re the best cousin a guy could ask for. Tell Rett that, too, in case I don’t see him.” I ruffled her hair when I stepped away. “I can’t let my mate face this alone.”

Fallon gave a tight nod, and I went upstairs.

Iris was in what was now our room, wearing camo pants and a black shirt, the old Winfyre standby. Her back was to me, and I watched her checking over things, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she stepped up to the window. I stepped in and shut the door, not sure what to say until the words were in the air between us.

“I love you.”

She whipped around, eyes huge and red. “Kal, I…”

“I’ve been in love with you since I first saw you,” I said and softly snapped my fingers. “Like that. Gone. Completely yours. Started falling and haven’t stopped.” Letting out a laugh, I crossed the room and sank down on the edge of the bed. When we’d woken up this morning, I’d never thought… Iris half-turned, watching me. “It scared the shit out of me. You did, too.”

Iris took several deep breaths. “Kal, I’m trying really hard to keep it together right now.”

“And I should have told you sooner,” I said. “You’re my mate.”

She nodded and rubbed at her face. “I thought so.”

“You don’t have to say anything, Iris. I wanted you to know.” I blew out a breath. “There’s something else I should tell you, before you say—”

I was cut off by Iris’s crashing into me, arms around my neck and lips against mine. We kissed savagely, sweetly, and everything in between. Until we broke apart, gasping, and simply held onto each other.

Finally, we heard Fallon calling for us up the stairs.

“Tell me when I get back,” Iris said and kissed me again. “And I’ve got something to tell you, too.”

“Can’t wait,” I said.

 

“Everything in place?” I asked Tristan and Luke in a low voice as we strode along. Ahead of us were Xander, Fallon, Jeques, and several other shifters. Behind us were Sierra and Iris, Sierra trying to give Iris pointers in a shaking voice. “Tristan?”

“What?” he snapped. “Yes.”

“Now you know how it feels,” I said lightly, and Tristan gave me a stricken look. “Dude, I’m kidding. Tryin’ to lighten the mood.”

Luke and Tristan both knew of my plan, the former in a silent rage, and the latter in a not-so-quiet one. These idiots were going to blow my cover if they didn’t chill.

This is why Rett isn’t here, I thought wryly.

“There are so many friggin’ things that could go wrong,” Luke suddenly said in a harsh whisper. “You tellin’ me this is the best damn plan we could come up with?”

“Unfortunately,” I drawled. “We’re a bit short on time.”

We’d gone over it from as many angles as we could. At the very least, Iris had to be there to meet whoever it was that wanted her. But we would demand proof of life. There was always a chance they’d taken Tiani’s ring and not her. Or that Tiani might have already departed this world.

Grimness hung over my thoughts. There was no doubt in my mind the Greyclaw were somehow involved. Or was this Orion trying to get back at Winfyre again?

“Did we let our guard down?” Tristan muttered.

Neither of us answered him. We’d arrived, and Tristan moved off to the side, folding his arms tightly across his chest. Sierra went up to him, and he pulled her against him, hard. Luke briefly gripped my shoulder.

Then Iris was standing next to me, and my arm was around her waist. Inhaling her scent and letting her soft hair rub across my cheek, I said softly, “We need proof of life, Iris. No proof, you don’t go.”

“I can’t leave her to die, Kal.”

“It could be a trick.”

“She’d never take off that ring,” Iris said.

“Kal.” Xander’s voice pulled me away from Iris after I gave her a reassuring squeeze. His dark hair was messy, and his blue eyes stormy. “What if we brought in Yana?”

“There might not be time for that,” I said. “If we’re lucky, Tiani will be with them. I don’t think she will be, though. My guess is that it will be a guard and an augris.”

“Clever and risky to keep so much in the dark.” He paused, and we both glanced at Tristan, who scowled darkly.

“Think he’ll ever forgive me?” I asked.

“It was his idea,” Xander replied, as we both looked away as Tristan kissed his mate rather vigorously. “You were against it.”

When we looked back, Sierra had vanished, and Tristan had shifted into a tiger, tail lashing in absolute fury. Luke, shifted into his massive wolf form, came up and nudged him.

Then his hackles went up, and around the clearing, everyone tensed. Xander and I moved over to either side of Iris, while Fallon stepped out in front, radiating cold fury.

“Hello, Winfyre.” Shauna Lind, Luke’s murderous ex, was grinning at us. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a neat bun, and she was wearing a military-grade black coat buckled to her chin and camo pants. Shifters and men in masks flanked her. “Miss me?”