Beloved (19 page)

His face twisted with confusion. “Why would you sit on a baby?”

“Ugh! That’s not what I meant.” She dropped her arms to her sides. What she wanted to do was hit him right in the face, but she didn’t dare. There was no way to tell if he was angry or needed to feed—his eyes were already yellow—and she didn’t want to piss him off.

“Do what you want. I obviously have no say in the matter.” She spun around and left him standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face. If only he hadn’t gotten her all riled up. Now it would take the better part of the day for her to get it out of her system. Too bad Jaya wasn’t there to help her control her emotions—she could have used a dose of her laughter right about now.

Octavion finally conceded and let Altaria lead their search. She was determined to follow her instincts and let her connection to Kira guide her. In theory, it should work—but only if Kira chose to lower her resistance. If her mental abilities were as strong as he suspected, it might be an impossible task, but at this point he was willing to try anything.

They’d only traveled a short distance when Altaria stopped. She motioned for the men to join her, so they did. At her feet they saw the remains of a Jrak. Knowing the animals eat their own, it surprised him to find it untouched by any other animals. There weren’t even signs of parasites living on its shriveled carcass.

Luka poked the creature with a stick, turning it over and examining it. “I have heard of this happening only once, when a pack of Jraks attacked a Darkord. Their blood is poisonous. Even their pack mates will not touch them.”

Cade searched the area around the animal. “Look here.” He pointed to a set of scratches on the bark of the tree that stood nearby. “These are from a young tiger cub.” He scraped a darker piece of bark off with his knife and held it to his nose. “This is Darkord blood, several days old.”

Octavion moved in for a closer look. “Could it be Nigel’s?”

“There is no way to tell. Darkord blood does not carry a scent that is distinguishable, one from another, especially if it has been out in the elements.”

Cade climbed onto the bottom limb and followed the blood up the tree. He disappeared, reappearing in the next tree, then the next until he stopped and crouched to examine something. “Octavion, come see this.”

Octavion joined him. “What did you find?”

“I am not sure. Look.” He pointed to a section of the tree where branches had been woven together. “Could it be a bed of sorts?” He cautiously crept out onto it. “It holds my weight. Amazing.”

“Can you catch a scent?”

Cade examined the structure a little closer, then stood with a single hair clasped between his fingers. “Black hair.” He held it so Octavion could see it closer. “I am sorry. I thought for sure it could be Kira’s. There’s little scent left, except from an animal—that tiger cub, I think. There are white hairs stuck in one of the branches.”

“White tiger cub,” Octavion clarified.
Mahli
. His heart filled with joy. Kira loved that cub and knowing Mahli kept her warm at night made him smile—and renewed his hope.

Octavion took the hair and held it to his face, breathing deeply. “This is Kira’s. Look here.” He pointed to the root end where red was barely visible. “She has dyed her hair.”
Good girl
, he thought. She’d learned to change her appearance so she’d blend in and not be noticed.

Cade climbed to a higher branch and searched the other trees with a quick glance. “There’s another one up here.” He leapt to a nearby tree. “This one is older. I think Nigel may have used this one, there’s long black hair and more Darkord blood.”

“What did you find?” Altaria yelled from below.

Octavion appeared next to his sister and presented her with the single black hair. “This is Kira’s. See the red?”

She took it from him and drew it between her fingers. A smile spread across her face as their eyes met. “We are close, aren’t we?”

“I believe so, yes.”

She gave the hair back to her brother. “Cade, get down here. We need to keep moving.”

His sister had suddenly become the leader of their group, giving orders like a time proven captain.

“You heard the woman,” Octavion called to his cousin. “Daylight is wasting.” Altaria wasn’t the only one who felt the urgency. They all knew if they didn’t find Kira by nightfall, it would be at least two days before they’d be able to look again—their cravings would take over and they would be powerless against their wild hearts. He already felt the pull of the moons and it took a great deal of his strength to control even a partial transformation. The tiniest scent on a single strand of Kira’s hair hadn’t helped, even though it didn’t burn as much as he thought it would.

They all fell in single file behind Altaria, her steps a little faster and more confident now that they’d found solid proof that Kira was alive and, as of a few days ago, seemingly well. Even his own steps seemed lighter and for the first time since she disappeared, he could feel the hole in his heart begin to heal, though his arms ached to hold her.

For the better part of the afternoon, they traveled deeper and deeper into the B’Kari forest, only stopping once so Altaria could try to contact Kira through her thoughts. Once again she was unsuccessful, but it didn’t affect her determination. She continued to drive them, sometimes leaping from one location to another to avoid climbing over rocks and fallen logs. The rhythm of her long black braid swaying back and forth was almost hypnotic. So much so, that he eventually switched positions with Luka, who was bringing up the rear.

At some point, Altaria began to slow. It wasn’t like she’d grown tired, but as if each individual step was previously thought out and placed cautiously.

Everything all right up there
? “Perhaps we should stop and rest for a while,” Octavion said.

“No, I want to keep going.”
I am fine, but something is definitely different
.

Octavion appeared in front of her, nearly causing a head-on collision.

“Octavion!” She shoved him aside and continued walking.
I said I was fine. Now be quiet and get out of my way.

He caught up to her and tried to stay close, but didn’t distract her with anymore of his thoughts. They went a little farther before she stopped without warning. Octavion moved around her so he could see what had caused her to stop in mid-stride, frozen in place. She held her wrist in her other hand, her focus on the welts that had driven her into a scratching frenzy more than once over the past two days.

“What is it?” Luka asked.

Octavion touched her arm and her head jerked up as if he’d scared her. “What happened?”

She shook her head, then looked back at her wrist. “It stopped.”

“What do you mean? Are we going the wrong direction now? Should we turn back?”

“No, it was weird. A while back, something came over me. It was like tiny invisible threads were pulling me closer and closer to Kira. I swear I could feel her, like we were both reaching and our fingertips almost touched. Then nothing. No itching. No pain or sensation, as though our connection was suddenly severed.”

Octavion took a step back, the hole in his heart suddenly a little larger. “Severed?”

“Yes. What does that mean?”

A strange sound echoed through the trees and they all looked up to see what had made the noise. Tree branches creaked and swayed in the distance.

“What was that?” Altaria whispered.

“I do not recognize it as any animal I know,” Cade said.

“Nor do I,” Luka added.

Octavion adjusted the position of his knife and tightened the strap that held its tip in place against his thigh. “Perhaps we should keep moving. I will take the lead for a while.”

“Turning back would be a better idea.” A voice rang out from high up in the trees.

Octavion shoved Altaria behind him with one hand and drew his knife with the other. “Who are you?”

Cade and Luka spread out through the trees to distract the stranger and give him more targets to worry about.

“You need to go back. This area is too dangerous.”

Altaria stepped around her brother. “We are looking for a friend. Her name is Kira. She came through here with a Darkord by the name of Nigel.”

There was a long pause before the stranger answered, his voice noticeably softer. “No one comes through here and lives.”

“You did,” Cade blurted.

“Show yourself,” Luka added.

Movement above sent black pine needles raining down as a dark shadow appeared on one of the lower branches of a nearby tree. “My warning is not a courtesy. I have summoned others. If you do not leave before they arrive you will be killed.”

Octavion moved closer, putting himself between the man and his sister. “This land belongs to Panthera, unless you have King Ramla’s permission to be here, you are trespassing and have no more right to be here than we.”

Cade moved swiftly and without warning as he appeared next to the man one minute and deposited him on the ground in front of Octavion the next. Luka joined them, circling the stranger like a pack hunting its prey. The man, or boy, couldn’t have been much older than Altaria, his disheveled black hair flopped over one of his yellow eyes. He cupped his hands together and blew into them, making a loud whistle that carried up through the trees.

Altaria, back away from this and do not argue with me
. Octavion let a deep throaty growl escape his chest while listening for his sister’s footsteps behind him.
I mean it
.

A loud snap followed by Altaria’s blood curdling scream, drew his attention away from the boy. He flew to her side only to find the claws of an animal trap clamped around the calf of her leg.

She grabbed his arm. “Get it off!”

“Do not touch that!” The boy yelled. “You will further injure her.” He made a move toward them, but Luka grabbed his arm to hold him back, earning him a swift kick to the chest. Octavion didn’t even see the boy twist around. One minute he was standing there and the next the battle was on. This boy could fight like no other he’d ever seen. At one point, it looked like Luka and Cade would be the victors, but then the boy gained the upper hand.

“Go help them,” Altaria called through her tears.

“They are doing fine. I need to get this off.”

She reached for his arm and pulled him away from the trap. “No! He said it would make it worse.”

Before he could answer, another boy—this one younger and much smaller—swung down from a tree at the end of a whip. He immediately joined the fight. Octavion couldn’t see his face, but his wavy, black hair was like tiny threads of silk and flipped around as he moved. He jumped on Luka’s back and grabbed him around the neck, sending Luka to his knees in a convulsing fit.

Octavion swore. Now he had to help. Cade would never take both of them. “I will be right back.”

He completely transformed and ran full force toward the smaller of the two attackers. He could take him down with very little effort, then help Cade with the other one. He leapt into the air and went crashing to the ground when the boy dropped and rolled. He kicked Octavion’s ribs then jumped out of the way when Octavion tried to grab his ankle.

Octavion changed his tactics. He vanished and reappeared behind the boy, then wrapped one arm around his waist and the other around his neck.

The boy gasped. “Octavion?”

“Kira?” Octavion’s heart rose into his throat as he released her and turned her to face him. He brushed her hair away from her face, exposing her bright green eyes. “It
is
you.” He lifted her into his arms and crushed her to him.
Cade, stop! It’s Kira
.

He buried his face in her hair and breathed her in, making the back of his throat burn like fire. But he didn’t care. She was alive and wrapped in the security of his arms.