Binding Ties (21 page)

E
ric couldn't look any of his students in the eye when he was tossed back in the stone room where they were being held.

Treszka had given him a sheet to cover his nudity, but she'd taken away a hell of a lot more. Promised she'd do it again. Soon.

He wasn't going to think about that now. Hell, he wasn't going to think about it later, either. It was over. Done. Time to move on.

He tore a strip from the sheet and scrubbed himself with it the best he could, then tore off another and fashioned himself a loincloth.

His feet were bare now, though he couldn't remember how that had happened. Maybe his shoes had been torn off at the same time as his jeans. Right before—

Nope. Not going there.

“Anything new to report?” he asked the young.

Kayla didn't even glance his way. Her head was down and she was hugging her knees—not at all like her.

“We've been trying to count demons,” said one of the boys, “but they all look the same. There seem to be about
twenty in the next room all the time. We can hear and smell more, but we're not sure how many.”

He tossed the rest of the sheet to the boys and said, “Tear this into strips. The thinner, the better, but not so thin they'll break easy.”

The boys went to work. Eric crouched beside Kayla, facing the same direction so neither one of them would have to look at the other.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Fine. They took me right back here, like you said.”

“Why are you off by yourself like this?”

Anger flooded her words, making them sound much older than her years. “You let her hurt you.”

“It wasn't that bad,” he lied. “Do I look hurt?”

She barely flicked a glance his way. “I can smell you, you know. You're lying to me because you're ashamed. You didn't smell like that before she sent me away.”

Eric had no way to explain reality to a seven-year-old. Not without fucking her up irrevocably. “Listen, kid. We all do things for the good of the pack. That's all I did. I just wish she hadn't taken my clothes away. That's why I'm ashamed.”

“You're lying again, but it's the good kind.”

“What's the good kind?”

“The ones for birthdays and not hurting people's feelings.”

He nodded. “Maybe I am lying a little, but there really is nothing for you to worry about. I'm not hurt. You're not hurt. And we're going to fight our way out of here.”

That sparked her interest. She turned to him, her eyes bright with excitement. “We are?”

“I'm done playing by Treszka's rules. It's not going to be easy, and it's dangerous as hell, but I'm not going to stay down here and never see the sun again. You with me?”

She nodded eagerly, making her moonlight-blond tangles bob. “What do you want me to do?”

“Gather up some rocks the size of your fist. We need to make weapons.”

*   *   *

Lyka ignored the carnage as much as she could this time. Seeing her home in this state was almost more than she could stand, but Joseph was nearby, and for some reason that helped.

He kept soothing her through the connection they shared, and, strangely, when she let him, the thin pipeline between them seemed to expand.

She still hadn't forgiven herself for taking the time to fuck him when her people were in danger, but at least the outcome had been a good one. Besides the mind-blowing orgasms.

Whether it was pleasure or trust or some other magical power his cock possessed, their bond had strengthened. If not for the lack of time they were dealing with, she might have even experimented with taking him for another spin, just to see if her theory was right.

She paced the perimeter of the area where the ground had been disturbed by battle. With every deep breath, another bundle of scents came to her. She blocked out the smells created by the surrounding forest and concentrated on those that didn't belong. The rancid stench of oily demon fur. The sweet smell of sunshine on children's skin. Blood of both her kind and Synestryn. Beneath all that was the acrid scent of fear and hunger. Desperation.

Exhaustion bore down on her. Another night had passed and she hadn't slept nearly as much as she needed to, especially with the strain she'd been putting on her body. The worry over missing children and trying to
learn new magic was more than enough to wear out even the toughest girl.

She'd tried to sleep in the truck on the drive here, but every time she closed her eyes, she imagined another horrible fate for the missing young. And Eric. He was as badass as they came, but even he had a breaking point. Her only hope was that the Synestryn had taken prisoners for a reason, rather than simply killing them outright, as they had so many others. Surely if there was a reason to abduct them, they were still alive, right?

“I'm sure they're fine,” said Joseph, obviously sensing her anxiety.

She still wasn't used to sharing such a deep connection with anyone, but she had to admit that it was nice to have someone propping her up right now. If not for the thin thread of hope she held on to, she was certain she'd be a complete basket case. Joseph's nearness and natural optimism helped her cling to that hope a little easier.

“Anything new?” asked Joseph from a few feet away. His sword was drawn and his watchful gaze was on the land around her.

“I'm finding the same scents as before.”

“Try using my power this time.”

“I'm not exactly sure how.”

“You're smart. You have good instincts. Just listen to them.”

The truth was, she didn't like the idea of becoming dependent on another person. She'd already tied her life to his. Asking her to lean on him for things she'd always managed on her own grated against her sense of independence.

He let out a faint sigh of impatience. “You're the same woman you were before you took my luceria.”

“Will you please get out of my head?”

“Not a chance. You were born for this, Lyka. There's no shame in doing what you were created to do.”

“It's a lot easier to say that when you've grown up knowing what your position in life was going to be from day one. I grew up thinking I'd find some way to be a Slayer—stay with my own kind.”

“You are with your own kind. You were just wrong about who that was before.”

If they went down this road, she was going to get pissed, and right now she couldn't afford to get angry at the man who held the power she needed. Like it or not, she had to suck it up, lean on Joseph, and take the blow to her ego. She might not be able to find Eric on her own, but she would find him. As long as that was the outcome, she could accept whatever she had to do along the way. That's what Eric would have done for her.

Lyka closed her eyes to focus her senses. Just beneath the skin under the luceria, she could feel Joseph's power sparking and eager to do her bidding. She'd grown used to the soft warmth coming from the necklace, but now that she gave it her attention with the intent to use it, the supple band began to heat.

She shivered against the sensation and immediately tried to block it out. Instead, she concentrated on the dancing strands of magic waving around, trying to get her attention.

Lyka grabbed onto a bundle of them and pulled them into herself. Instantly, her body let out a giant sigh of relief, as if she'd been starving to death and had just put the first bite of steak in her mouth.

As her cells rejoiced at the fuel she fed them, she pulled in a deep breath through her nose.

The difference in her sense of smell was like the difference between jumping through a backyard sprinkler
and shooting down a three-story water slide at an amusement park. Everything was amplified, nearly choking her with the potency of it.

She gagged on the stench of demon, but forced herself to take another breath.

Eric. His scent was everywhere. And now that it was amplified, she could smell something even more familiar than her own brother.

Herself. Parts of his scent were identical to hers, thanks to their shared maternal blood.

She dropped to the ground and sniffed again. Eric hadn't been here for the battle. There wasn't enough of his essence here for him to have fought to protect the young here. He'd been taken from somewhere else.

Lyka pulled in more of Joseph's power, revving up her senses even more. The animal in her was unfamiliar with what she was doing, and that made it uneasy. Fearful. Angry.

She felt her teeth lengthen, her skin tingle and itch, her fingernails grow and thicken into sharp claws.

“Lyka?” Joseph's voice was filled with worry. “Are you okay?”

Her voice sounded odd, coming out around too many teeth. “You've been in my head, Theronai. You know what I am. What I can do.”

“Yes, and I accepted that, but this is not . . . normal. Even for you.”

She looked down at her hands. Her fingers were short and thick, tipped with sharp claws. A fine layer of golden fur covered her skin. She'd seen some of her kind shift this far into their animal forms, but she'd never been able to do so. Until now.

Joseph's power. It had to have something to do with her sudden change.

She looked up at him, seeing surprise and a huge helping of worry in his hazel eyes. He tightened his grip on his sword as if she might lunge at him at any time.

Lyka tried to tell him that she wouldn't hurt him, but the wind shifted, and she caught scent of something.

She took off toward the woods, ignoring Joseph's worried voice behind her.

A few hundred yards into the dense woods, there was a clearing. In that clearing was the nexus of smells she'd been hoping to find. Eric, several children, fear and determination. Plenty of demon blood.

This is where he'd fought the demons to protect the young. And based on the bloody drag marks through the brush, this is where he'd fallen.

She took off, following that path at a dead run. The sound of her clothes ripping distracted her, but she didn't slow down. Thorny branches tugged at the loose fabric, but she didn't dare stop, not when she was hot on the right trail.

There wasn't enough blood lost for Eric to have died. And the young were mostly unharmed. She couldn't smell much of their blood, though she could detect the distinct stench of fear next to the sweet innocence on every leaf and twig that had grazed one of the young's skin.

The trail went on for a mile through the woods before it emptied out onto an old farmer's road. She'd lived in this area long enough to know the terrain, and this road hadn't been used in years. Deer had woven a narrow trail along the road, but there were small trees growing up to reclaim the path. Those trees had been knocked down recently, and the tire marks of some kind of all-terrain vehicle were visible in the mud. She could smell exhaust fumes and rubber tires trampling over the scents of grass and trees.

Joseph ran out of the woods behind her, breathing hard. He came to a dead stop, his jaw slack with shock. “Lyka? Are you in there?”

She had no idea what he meant for a second. And then she saw one of her hands. It wasn't a hand anymore. It was a paw. A big one. She had four of them, along with all the other parts of a tiger.

A little streak of panic lit through her. She tried to open her mouth to ask him what had happened, but all that came out was a mewling growl.

“It's okay,” said Joseph, sheathing his sword. “I can feel you freaking out, but I'm sure this is all completely normal. Just keep those claws and teeth to yourself, and everything will be just fine.”

He reached through their link with a timid kind of reluctance, as if he worried what he might find on the other end. When his thoughts touched hers and that instant flare of recognition lit between them, his shoulders drooped in relief.

“Okay. That's good. My girl is still in there.” He moved toward her slowly, hands lifted in front of him. “Can you change back?”

She wasn't in control of such things. Even when it was only her teeth and fingernails that shifted, they would always go back to normal when they wanted, not when she did.

Lyka tried to convey that information to him. It must have worked, because he nodded.

“Then we'll wait. No worries.” He stroked her head, sliding his fingers through her fur.

His touch felt good, reminding her just how much she loved feeling his hands on her. The purr she let out was beyond her control.

Joseph laughed. “You know, when I pictured what my
life would be like when I found my mate, this was not at all what I imagined.”

That made two of them.

“I saw the tire marks,” he said. “I've heard of demons using vehicles lately, but it could have been humans. Dorjan.”

Lyka had never seen one of the human blood servants the Synestryn sometimes used to do their dirty work. Unlike demons, Dorjan could move about in the daylight, making them a useful tool to have.

But that's not what happened here. There was no recent scent of human around, even one who fed off the blood of demons. At most she detected a faint hint of human, likely coming from whoever had once owned the vehicle.

It's not like Synestryn could walk into a dealership and fill out loan paperwork. Chances were they'd killed whoever had owned it and taken it from them.

She shook her head, hoping he would understand.

“We've been seeing this for a while,” he said. “The demons have been stealing human children and altering them so they can breed with them. There are more and more sightings of human-looking Synestryn all the time.”

Lyka had heard rumors but wasn't sure they were true until now. This knowledge was the kind of thing that could cause a panic among humans and Sentinels alike. If a demon couldn't be recognized on sight, then that gave it more time to get close enough to kill.

Do you think that's how those things were able to attack us before the sun had set all the way?
she asked through their link. She hadn't even stopped to think that it wouldn't be possible for him to hear her, which made her realize just how much her instincts were running the show right now.