Awakening the Demon's Queen (18 page)

One hundred years was apparently not long
enough for betrayal to fade.

Renakletos stooped beside Aureliana. “She is
cold. I have a blanket in my pack.”

“
Where is your pack?” Rathan
asked. “Their kind can freeze to death in forty degree
weather.”

“
Behind that outcropping of
rocks, two hundred feet that way. I was searching for Cerridwen
when I heard your voices.”

“
And you reacted without
provocation.” Kindara condemned him with her eyes. “And Aureliana
paid the price, and may very well pay further.”

“
Tis a little scratch. Why
would it cost so much? What are you all that this is so? Even your
male, strong though he was, was easily taken down.” Derision was
clear in Renakletos’s voice.

“
They are Dardaptoan. From
the Gaian realm.” Rathan referred to the name of the continents
before they broke into the landmasses they were today. “The ones
cursed by Eiophon, the wolven god.’’

“
To be forever weak.”
Renakletos lifted Aureliana into his arms, tucking her head—now
free from its hood—onto his shoulder. “She did not fight like one
so weak. Had she not slipped and fallen, I would not have gotten
her so quickly. Had she had a longer sword, I would be
bleeding.”

Admiration was in his tone. Rathan knew his
brother valued fighting ability above all else; rather than the
woman’s uncommon beauty, he would remark upon her skill with a
sword. A common thing with warriors.

“
Were that it was you.”
Kindara adjusted the blanket over Aureliana, tucking it gently over
her friend’s shoulders. “If she dies because of you, her brother
and mine will find you and rip you apart.”

“
Kindara. If she dies, I
will deal with him. He will not go unpunished. But we will not be
letting her die. We will stop that from occurring. I can promise
you that.” No matter what he had to do, Kindara’s friend would not
be lost.

“
I hope you can keep that
promise.”

Chapter Twenty

Kindara felt ill. So much had happened in so
little time. Would Auri be alright? Could Rathan keep the promise
he had made? The warrior that Rathan claimed as brother walked
ahead of them. Rathan had not let Kindara walk near the other man.
Instead, Bronwen stayed at his side to assist with Auri. Auri’s
chestnut hair blended with the auburn of the male who carried her.
Her face was turned toward the warmth of his neck.

He walked as if her weight mattered little.
Kindara hated him; he should have been the one in need of medical
care, not Aureliana. If Auri died, Kindara would see him dead. Even
if she had to do it herself. It would go against her gift, but she
would do it.

“
Why does he not seem so
concerned with finding his daughter?” Kindara asked Rathan as he
walked at her side. “I’d be going crazy now, searching for
Ji.”

“
Warriors do not show
emotion, pet. And young Cerridwen is quite a prize for the warring
people. She is the closest in heir to me, you see. She was taken by
my people to protect from his.” Rathan studied his brother, a
puzzled expression on his face. “I suspect my brother thinks the
same. And he knows my people would not hurt the girl.”

“
Why? If he thought that,
why would he attack us? It doesn’t make sense.”

“
Renakletos rarely does make
sense to me. And I think it was more that he saw you as trespassers
more than kidnappers. Apparently, my brother has claimed a portion
of my kingdom for himself while I was away. A portion we had
entered. Now that I have returned, he knows that all lands revert
back to me, unless I state otherwise.”

“
Crazy.”

“
Just politics, pet. And I
am sorry your friend got caught in the middle.”

“
I just hope she doesn’t die
because of politics.”

****

Rathan threw orders to the staff the moment
they entered, and had them scurrying to find the items Kindara
would need. The warrior demon carried Auri up a large set of stairs
and into a room at the top. It was large, and decorated opulently
with blues and greens, accented by silver.

The warrior lowered Aureliana to the bed then
stepped back. Rathan turned to the two maids who hovered by the
doors. “Help prepare her for the healers; remove the bloodied
clothing and bathe her. Kindara will state her needs, and you are
to fulfill them. And someone please fetch Phelius. He will be
needed, as well. Above all, this room must be kept warm and
clean.”

His people obeyed without question, though
for many it was the first they had seen him for more than one
hundred years. Kindara stood over her friend, watching her closely.
Rathan hurt for the despair on his woman’s face.

“
I’ll need an antiseptic of
some kind—the strongest you have. We need to be aggressive in
cleaning the lacerations. I am flying blind here; I don’t know what
type of bacteria exists in your world compared to ours. I’ll need
something to stitch the opening. And two strong men to hold her
down while I do it. Even out like she is, thanks to those devil
horns of yours, she’ll still feel it. And Auri will fight. If she
does, she can do more damage around the stitches. And bleed
out.”

“
I will assist.” Renakletos
knelt beside the bed. “Brother, you take the other
side?”

“
When the time comes.”
Rathan wanted his brother out of the castle; at least until he knew
more of what motivated Renakletos. If Ren learned that Kindara
carried his spawn, and that spawn would supersede Cerridwen as
heir, Renakletos could pose the biggest threat to Kindara
yet.

If his brother had betrayed him once—killing
their father in the process—what was to keep him from slaying
Kindara to prevent the spawn from ever making it into this
world?

It was one reason why he had blocked Ren from
being able to flash into the castle at will. Danae still lived on
the grounds, in a beautiful tower wing that faced the western
rising sun. Rathan would do anything to protect his sister, as
well. Even though she and Ren had been close through the years.
Danae had not been born for the events of 1900. She had never known
the betrayal Renakletos was capable of. Rathan would keep it that
way.

****

Auri lay writhing on the bed covers, a white
sheet beneath her and towels beside her to stop any flow as Kindara
and Bronwen flushed the bacteria from her injury. Rathan and his
brother held her down, but still she fought. Even with Rathan’s
magic horns, it was obvious Auri still felt what they were doing.
Still suffered. Kindara fought the emotions pushing in on her heart
and focused on what gruesome tasks lie ahead. “I’ll need access to
her back. The blade went clear through. We’ll have to flush that
out, as well. Rathan, if you will hold her around the hips? I’ll
need you to hold her from the front.” Renakletos did as she
ordered, though it was clear he resented taking her direction.

Kindara held her breath and poured the green
liquid the healer Phelius assured her was the strongest astringent
his people possessed, and prayed to her goddess that it would be
enough to cleanse her friend’s injury.

The cut on Auri’s back hissed and even
bubbled as the green liquid filled it. Auri let out a piercing
scream, the kind that Kindara still heard in her nightmares. It was
the same type of scream that her young sister-in-law had made
before she had died at the hands of Boltier at the TI complex
thirty years ago.

The big warrior demon barely flinched. He
turned Auri’s head into his neck and murmured sounds into her ear.
He jerked his head back. “She bit me!”

Rathan laughed softly. “They are
bloodsuckers, brother. Do not put your neck where one can
bite—unless you want them to.”

“
Damned vampires.” The
warrior cursed, keeping his head tilted from Auri’s
face.

“
She needs blood then.
Demon, is there some who can donate? Bronwen cannot afford to give
more.” Kindara was leery of using too much demon blood. She’d not
had an ample opportunity to study it and its effect on her Kind.
Too much may be just that--too much for a Dardaptoan body to handle
properly.

“
I will have some brought
up. We do have other creatures besides demons in Relaklonos. There
is blood here for those who need it.”

“
I will give. My blood is
strong and has the properties of both warrior and demon.”
Renakletos tilted his head forward toward Auri. “And she already
has a preference.”

He pulled his hair back to reveal Auri’s
face. She was already feeding from him, tucked as close as a
lover.

Kindara didn’t like it, but the faster the
volume Auri lost was replenished the better it would be for her
friend. “She’ll stop when she has enough.”

“
It’s not as if he’ll bleed
to death, pet. A demon such as Renakletos never runs out of blood.”
Rathan brushed a hand down Kindara’s arm. She found the touch
soothing, comforting in a way that would have shocked her only
three days before.

“
Why? What does flow in your
veins?”

“
It is a blood of sorts, but
not based on oxygen and cells the way yours does. Phelius will
describe it to you later.”

Kindara nodded. “Demon, I’ll need you to hold
her as steady as you possibly can. Bronwen, prepare me two needles.
The back we can use a small, 6-0 thread. The front is more gaping,
I want 4-0.” Kindara waited until her assistant handed her the two
packages. “Rathan, it’s vitally important that she does not move
for this. We’ll take a break in between front and back.”

The males both nodded; Rathan braced his arms
around the sides of Aureliana’s waist. His brother tightened his
grip around her shoulders, tucking her head tighter to his chest.
“I will keep her tight against me.”

“
Ok. Here we go.” Kindara
plunged the first stitch through the flesh of her best
friend.

Auri keened, the sound tearing through the
room. Sweat beaded on Kindara’s forehead. Rathan wiped it off.

“
Is this normal for their
people?” Renakletos’s arms were clenched tightly around Auri, all
that prevented her from jerking away from the needle.

“
We are cursed to feel pain
more than the average kind. To be weaker than all but humans. To
have little medical care. Every time I stitch through her skin it’s
like I’m stabbing her with your sword over and over
again.”

Leo Taniss had taken great advantage of that
fact when he’d had her and Iavius trapped in his lab. Studying them
like rats beneath a microscope. In her own research, Kindara
refused to use live subjects—even rats—unless it was absolutely
necessary, instead she tested everything out on herself that she
could. They were testing demon blood out in a trial by fire. If it
worked for Auri, Kindara would give the demon anything he wanted if
he’d provide more demon blood for her people.

If he helped her save her people, there
wasn’t anything she wouldn’t give him. Even herself.

Finally, the incision on Auri’s back was
closed. Kindara stood, wiped the blood off her hands. “We need to
lay her flat for this. You’ll still have to hold her.”

“
Can you give her nothing to
help the pain?” Renakletos asked, running a large hand through
Auri’s hair.

“
I’ve been a healer for four
hundred years, warrior. This magic potion in your brother’s horns
is the first chemical to ever work on my people.” Kindara prepped
the skin around Auri’s laceration. “She’s out from it, but she
still feels everything. Every. Thing. And she will not forget it.”
They spoke little while Kindara closed the wound. Once she was
finished the maids moved in to strip the soiled bed clothing and
finish prepping Aureliana for sleep. “Hopefully, she will rest now.
Let the healing begin.”

“
Phelius will be here
shortly. He was called away to tend an injured child. He will sit
with her.” The demon stepped to her side, ignoring the rest of the
room’s occupants. “You, pet, need to change out of those soaked
clothing and eat something. You’ve done all you can for your
friend.”

“
I can’t leave her here. She
may wake.” Kindara knew he was right; she wasn’t doing anyone any
favors by being in wet, blood soaked-clothing—not Auri, not
herself—not the babe.

“
I will stay, Kinney. I
won’t leave her.” Bronwen stood by the bed, holding one of Auri’s
hands in hers. “You’ve been through a lot these past several
days—take a break.” The younger woman nodded toward the bed as she
spoke. “I know what to look for, and what to do. If not, I can send
for you easily, I’m sure.”

Kindara nodded. “Watch for fever. It’s almost
a given, and you’ll know the signs.”

They stared at Auri for a moment. They both
knew the odds. If the initial blood loss didn’t take Auri, fever or
blood infection very well could. It had taken so many.

****

His woman was nearly staggering as he led her
down the long hall to the king’s suite. His suite, decorated in the
colors of his family, as it had been for thousands of years. She’d
sleep there for the first time tonight, and for every night for the
rest of their nights. He wrapped a supportive hand around her
waist. “Come, precious.”

“
Where?” Kindara’s voice was
so soft he almost struggled to hear her.

“
To sleep, is all. And to
feed.” Rathan stopped walking and pulled her to him. He lifted her,
with no resistance from her. That, more than anything, told him her
true state. “Tuck close, woman. You will be sleeping in
moments.”