Chapter Forty

Iris

 

There were some people you despised at first sight. Some primal instinct jumped up your throat and made you recoil in disgust. And, as pretty as the blonde leading the charge might be, the way her skin stretched with her smile made me shudder to think what monster was hiding beneath.

She looked at me, and I suddenly felt absurdly young. Too foolish to be involved in such machinations. But my fists clenched as I got a grip and glared at her.

We were standing in a clearing a little beyond the gates, an agreed upon neutral meeting spot. Nothing about it felt neutral now as Xander stepped forward and held out a hand.

“You’re working with her, Norson?” he asked coldly, and one of the men took off his mask, revealing Hamlet Norson, fair-haired, arrogant, and handsome. “Do you even know what she is?”

“Helpful,” Norson said, and his men chuckled.

Oh, so this was all showmanship and posturing. I rolled my eyes. Next to me, Kal crackled with rage, and I suddenly wished I hadn't been coy earlier. I should've told him how I felt. I'd thought those words, unsaid, were like a talisman. I had to come back.

Now I wasn’t so sure. Everything was happening too fast.

“You’re holding the life of one of your own for her kind of help?” Xander was revolted, and I could see his calm cracking. “When the other territories—”

“Wake up, Bane,” Norson interrupted. “There’s a war coming with the Tiselk. They’ve aligned themselves with the Excris, and they are coming for us.”

A barking laugh escaped Kal, who strode forward. "So, this is the poison you've been dripping in their ear, Lind?" His question was low and dangerous. "There is no war with the Tiselk, you shithead. The Bloodfang and the Stasis Bureau are your real concern." Kal was glaring at Lind, his chest rising and falling with the kind of fury that made me wonder what she'd done. "No matter what mask or mouthpiece they're using. We didn't realize yours was still in rotation."

"Spare us the self-righteous speeches, Deacon," Lind said with a familiarity that made my stomach twist. "Still think it could've worked between us, big guy." Her voice dropped to a purr, and I saw the malice in her face as her eyes darted to Luke. "Hear my ex is a daddy these days. Too bad grandpa isn't around to meet him, huh?"

There was a soft, terrible snarl to my left, and I saw Luke standing there, staring her down. Tristan had maneuvered himself between them, and a bone-cracking sadness seemed to come from all four Alphas. I remembered something Reagan had told me, then. How withdrawn Luke had been when she’d first met him, how he’d held himself together as carefully as Kal. And she'd alluded to an ex who'd used the information against Luke to go after his father.

I pulled in a gasp, remembering the bounties and the way people had turned on each other.

No way, I thought, and a hand went to my head, a sudden sharp headache pounding through it. She turned in Luke’s dad for a bounty, and they killed him.

I had no idea how I knew it, but I did. It was one of those strange, sure moments of clarity, and I shook a bit from the shock of it. And for a second, it was like I was seeing into the oily sheen of her black heart, the swirl of hatred and fear, the never-ending torment behind her cruel smile. How much Lind relished causing pain because it was all she knew.

“Where’s Tiani?” I asked and pushed forward. Kal caught my wrist. “What do you want with me? The book?” I held up Orion’s original. “Fine.” I met Lind’s cold eyes and didn’t quake, although something in me recoiled. “Nothing is worth more than a life.”

I thought I could see the nightmares in her eyes, the way the cash she had earned was splattered with dark red.

“What about yours?” Lind asked mockingly, and her eyes went to Kal’s. “She’s cute.”

“No matter how much you get, Lind, it always has that stain, doesn’t it?” I asked.

“Oh, dear, did you ask me something? I forget.” But something about the twist of Lind’s mouth said I’d discomfited her. “Norson.”

"Tiani is fine, Iris," Norson said in an unexpected and warm voice. "She can't wait to see you. And I promise she's alive. Unhurt."

I let my lip curl as I ran my eyes over him. Trying so hard to be the big bad boss and not caring how he got there. He’d let his ego get the better of him, and the pride of the Greyclaw wasn’t enough. He wanted the Tiselk; he wanted the kind of respect that the Northbane carried.

“Why was her ring covered in blood, then?”

Norson’s eyes flickered and darted to Kal. There was a clarity to everything that I couldn’t understand. But I did know, knew in my bones, that Norson had thought the Alphas would shelter me from it. That my mate wouldn’t want me to worry.

“My mate doesn’t coddle me or condescend,” I said. “He respects me. And if you hurt her…”

Norson laughed, a sneering expression coming over his face. “You’ll do what? Oh my, Iris, thinking you’re so important because someone paid attention to you for a change. Please, there’s no way the likes of you can keep him entertained for long. Pretty or not, he’ll—”

Kal let out a snarl, and Xander made a movement, probably holding him back. “Norson,” the leader of Winfyre said, “I’m about three seconds from letting my shifters tear you apart.” The soft, deadly promise of those words made the hair rise on my neck. “Answer Iris’s question, politely, or I’ll be happy to let Kal teach you some manners.”

Norson’s face contorted, and Lind stepped forward. “You’ve already screwed this up once, Norson. Let me handle it.”

Something flickered in the air between them, and Norson fell back, abashed. Bits and pieces were coming together, something nudging in the back of my mind. I put a hand to my head again, the lights around me suddenly too bright.

“Iris, are you okay?” Kal asked in a low voice, his hand on my neck.

‘Yes, I’m…” I looked at him and blinked. “You’re keeping something from me.”

“What?” he asked, startled. “I…”

“You’ll get no proof of life, Northbane,” Lind said. “You got the ring, the letter. You brought Iris and the book. We take her, and we let Tiani go. We don’t, and Tiani dies. It makes no difference to me.”

Something about that struck me as wrong, and I shook my head.

“Take me instead.”

My entire body went cold, and I whipped my head around to Kal. He wasn’t looking at me but at Lind, sure and steady. “I was a codebreaker in the service. Iris has no part in this. I didn’t take her because she was a Riftborn; I took her because she was my mate. And you know the lengths that I’ll go to if something happens to her. This is easier. No fuss, no complaint.”

“What?” I cried out. This is what he'd been keeping from me, the bastard. “No, Kal, you can’t.”

“Kal will help you, and we will owe you one favor for his safe return in one month.” Xander was struggling to keep his breathing even, the first time I’d seen him lose control, and mine cracked. “As well as Tiani Elkhadi’s. Don’t comply, and we come looking. You don’t want that.”

“Kal, no, no,” I said and grabbed his arm, trying to get him to look at me. “You are not doing this. You’re—I’m the one you want.” I pointed at myself and tried to rush forward, but someone grabbed me, strong hands keeping me in place. “Stop, let me go. I’m the translator. Billy Sarrow knew that! That’s why he went after me. Kal, don’t you do this—don’t you dare.”

“Shut her up so I can think!” Lind barked, and I choked with rage. “Mm, can’t say I saw this coming. What’s the catch?”

“No catch,” Kal said and pulled out black cords from his pocket. Fallon made a sound in her throat, and other shifters stirred, muttering. For the first time, a dark panic seemed to swamp the Northbane, and they understood they weren’t getting out of this one. They were going to lose. We were going to lose Kal. I was going to lose Kal.

“A gesture of goodwill,” my mate added.

“Inhibitor bands,” Lind said, and I started, staring at them. “On an Alpha. This I have to see.”

I resumed fighting, and the man behind me let out a grunt. Tristan. “Don’t let him do this,” I screamed. “Stop—stop, Kal, no, no you can’t.” I was becoming incoherent, and sobs were pushing up my throat. “You’re-you’re my—”

My family.

“Come on, Iris, calm down; he’s got this under control,” Tristan was whispering.

“No, no, no!” I begged.

I watched as Xander took the bands and put them around Kal’s wrists held out in front of him. Kal winced, and I watched as they switched off his ability to shift. Sierra had told me about them, in a jovial and laughing voice, but now there was nothing funny about them.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Tristan said in my ear. “I promise. Please calm down.”

“What’s to stop her from killing him like she did Luke’s dad?” I snapped, and he made a shocked sound. “And something—they’re not saying something. About Tiani and Orion.”

“This has nothing to do with Orion, sweetie,” Lind called over.

“Bullshit,” I spat.

“You’ve served your purpose, so shut up,” Lind snapped. “You’re giving me a headache.”

“Kal,” I pleaded. “Kal, let them take me, please. I can’t…”

He glanced back and gave me a soft, sweet smile. One that said everything.

You’re stronger than me. You can handle it. And I have to do this, for you, for Winfyre.

“Kal, no,” I whispered.

He was going to get Tiani back and see what they were up to. It was the perfect spy situation. So perfect, in fact, that it sounded like an exploit worthy of the Sphinx herself.

Suddenly, I became conscious of the furious heartbeat and ragged control Tristan had. Sierra was going to go with Kal, invisible and in disguise. She had a Hopper and would get them out.

For a moment, I relaxed. It was a wild plan, but it would work.

Until I saw the leap of loathing and triumph in Lind’s eyes.

She’d find another way to get the damn codebreaker if that’s what it came to. But she wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to take out one of the Northbane Alphas. It would teach the Greyclaw not to screw things up like they had with Lisay.

How hard was it to have the girl find the book? Now they’d been delayed months in getting Orion back, not that Norson knew that, or that the Greyclaw were in for a rude change of leadership…

I came back to myself with a gasp, realizing that Kal was stepping up to Lind and that Xander had fallen back, his entire body taut. What the hell was going on?

“She’s going to kill him.” My voice was a ragged cry. “You can’t trust her. She’s going to bring back Orion and take over the Greyclaw. She’s-she’s a monster.”

Lind was white with fury as she stared at me. “How the f—” Too late, she tried to compose herself and then grinned. Xander was moving towards her, but he was too far. Kal pulled back only to be hustled forward by Greyclaws. “Orion was afraid this might happen. Good thing I’m—”

Her words were lost as a fist connected with her face and Sierra appeared, reaching for Kal’s bonds to rip them off. But Norson shifted and attacked, slamming Sierra to the ground. She hadn’t even had time to shift.

“Sierra!” Tristan cried, and his grip loosened. “Hey, wait, Iris! No!”

I ducked through the melee, focused on Kal and the book. He’d been knocked aside by Norson and was now getting to his feet, gritting his teeth in pain.

Suddenly Lind appeared, face twisted into a snarl, grabbing him, the book held out, and a hooded creature appeared. It took hold of her shoulder in a bony hand, and the woods began to warp away. They were going to leave and kill Kal.

I reached out, fingers stretching, and managed to catch hold of his jacket as the sounds of fighting vanished around us, and we tumbled into a void.

Darkness and space and color rushed by, pressing and pulling, roaring in my ears and utterly silent. I couldn't breathe and was sure I was dead or worse, when it stopped.

We landed on a distant shore, waves crashing and light snow swirling down. I was in front of Kal in an instant, my arms spread wide and head spinning.

Lind was a few feet away, the augris hovering at her back. She pulled out a knife and eyed me warily. “How did you know?” she asked. “Was Orion right?”

“Right about what?” I asked and glanced back. The sand under Kal was turning red, and his eyes were closed. “All Orion ever said about me was that I was useless to the Bloodfang.”

Lind let out a rasping laugh and turned to the augris. "Go get back up." It vanished, and it was the two of us. "Please, Lisay. You could have brought the whole thing down. Secret-Keeper. One of the rarest Riftborns. Takes a special kind of kindness and sorrow, I guess."

“I’m not…” That was what the Unseen had called me, wasn’t it?

“I sent in the Unseen to get the damn book, to get you, and they couldn’t do it. Got chased off by Deacon and destroyed by Bane.” She made a guttural, angry sound and began to pace. “Orion was stupid, though. I don’t know why he went the way he did. We could have used you. We can still use you.”

“As long as you let Kal go,” I said, a modicum of relief piercing through my horror and fear. “And Tiani.”

“Oh boy,” she sneered. “If you knew how to look out for yourself, you wouldn’t be in this mess, you know that, Iris? Caring too much gets you killed.”

“What the hell would you know?” I asked. “You’ve never even had a friend.”

Suddenly, the augris reappeared, with Norson and several other shifters, all looking the worse for wear. Lind barked out a laugh and went over to him. I tried to drop down and free Kal, but she leveled the knife at me.

“I’m a good shot,” she warned. “I’ll kill him if you move again. The ice bear stays down.” She walked up to Norson and jabbed the knife at his throat, then looked at me. “Did he double-cross me?” I stared at her, shaking my head. “Oh, you know, goldie. Spit it out.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Norson snarled and tried to push away, but the augris was behind him, holding him in place with one finger. “He-hey! Let me go!”

I hesitated, and Lind shook her head, sneering. “Why the hell do you think you were in the right place at the right time, Lisay? We coordinated it, me and Norson. I was supposed to meet you outside of the Greyclaw territory. Imagine my surprise that Billy Sarrow got you first.”

“We were both surprised,” Norson said, and I saw the sweat on his upper lip.

“Tell me the truth, or I kill the bear,” Lind said. “And Tiani. Slow.”

“He double-crossed you,” I said quietly, the truth spilling from between my gritted teeth. “He told Billy Sarrow where I would be, but not what I had. When Sarrow saw, he freaked out and brought me to the auction, trying to buy time. Or see if he could get me and the book off his hands.”

“You stupid bastard,” Lind said.

“You’re gonna believe this bitch, Shauna?” Norson asked. “After everything—”

He didn't finish; instead, he staggered, and I blinked, not sure what had happened. Then I saw the lick of red on Shauna's knife, and Norson dropped to his knees, then keeled over.

A horrified scream worked up my throat as Lind wiped the knife without concern on her shirt. "I told you not to screw with me, Norson." She glanced at me. "Don't worry—he was terrible. Not at first. No, it took time to get him to give in to his dark urges. But then he became insatiable. I stopped him from torturing your friend, by the way. You're welcome."

“You killed him,” someone cried out, and a man ripped his mask off. Versk. “What the hell, Lind? This wasn’t part of the deal.”

“Deal’s off,” Lind said, and they started forward, only to be knocked back by other shifters. “You’re outnumbered, Greys. Stand down, or I gut you next. Or let the augris have some fun.” She looked over at me. “Now, you, Iris Lisay. You’ve worked very hard to be such a positive, righteous little ray of sunshine, haven’t you? Oh, we’ll have fun turning you inside out.”

“You can try,” I growled, and my fingernails bit into my palms.

I was wasting precious time—I had to check on Kal; I had to figure out where Tiani was. Pressure was rising in my chest, pumping through my veins, and unfurling into the air. Desperation pitched high in my brain, and my thoughts were in such disarray, it hurt.

Then, between one eyeblink and the next, I was calm. Centered. Free.

Who was to say what caused it? The years of self-doubt shattered? Finding my place in Winfyre? Fear of losing Tiani and Kal? Or meeting Kal, taking down my walls, and being brave in ways I didn’t know I could be?

Maybe all of it. Or maybe just me, finally answering the question in my heart.

Like the crack of a match, I blossomed.

I stared Lind down, saw the dark purpose in her eyes, the way she enjoyed watching other people squirm and beg. She was all darkness and in her own personal hell. I almost pitied her.

But behind me was a wave of breaking light and absolute love. Caring and conflicted, generous and gruff. A warrior, but humble. He knew when to fight and when to be gentle. Observant and oblivious. Rough around the edges, and messy yet a neat freak.

A contradiction that was all mine.

Kal. He’d been awake the whole time.

I knew what to do. I had to get Orion’s book back, stop her, and save Tiani.

Kal. His presence was so familiar as I reached out for it, it was like I’d been there before. He wasn’t even startled; his reaction was a sigh of relief and an embrace in one. I have a plan.

Oh yeah? Just the two of us can pull it off?

I glanced back at him and grinned. You know we can do so much more than that.