Blood Chained (Dark Siren Book 3) (33 page)

“He is lying!”

Rhane reeled at the sound of Bailen’s voice. The rest of the kin stirred as one, led by Kalista’s gasp. The boy had abandoned the canine form at last. For the first time in recent memory, Rhane laid eyes on his son.

But the face he saw was contorted with rage. Bailen’s human eyes were gray like his mother’s, only flashing with betrayal. A tide of crimson shaded his naturally bronzed skin all the way to the collar bone as his chest labored beneath the weight of his fury.

“Your anger is misplaced, little one. You trusted my sight in Asia to know if your plan would work. Trust it now. Someone will die if you do not abandon this course. Don’t lose what you’ve struggled so hard for.”

The kindred’s words began to sink past the shock of seeing Bailen. Rhane looked at Dmiri uncertainly. He knew nothing of this strange creature except that Ian held Dmiri’s counsel in high esteem. The kindred alpha’s intelligence was nothing to be taken lightly.

“Bailen,” Rhane said gently, but the boy did not lift his unforgiving gaze from the kindred.

“You’re a fool,” he hissed.

“Bailen,” Kalista tried. “Are we still in danger?”

He looked at them then, and something in his eyes changed. Something Rhane did not trust. Bailen was near hysterical. “How can you say that to me? I—I am in danger,” he yelled. “
You
were supposed to protect
me
. But you were never there. Neither of you.” His shouting became dangerously shrill as his eyes switched from gray to gold and back. “You have no idea what they did to me…the experiments they put us through. Their endgame was always me. Where were you when I needed saving?” Taking a deep breath, he showed signs of calming. Though his voice still shook. “But I forgave you.
I found you
,” he finished quietly with tears glistening against his cheeks. Kalista reached out to him as any mother would. But Bailen dropped to all fours and whirled on her with a snarl before he barreled through the open front door.

Kalista looked to Rhane with wide eyes. Then her face cleared with a steely sort of determination, and she too ran outside. There was time for one command. If there was ever a moment when Rhane needed an order followed to the letter, it was then. “York,” he said, fueling the word with every ounce of authority he possessed. “No one follows us.”

York nodded. “Understood.”

Rhane shifted his glare to Gabriel and the kindred. “No one.”

Dmiri’s warning had not gone unheeded. If their kid really was involved in a twisted plot that could get someone killed, Rhane had to make damn sure it wouldn’t be anyone but him.

Chapter 48

He caught up to Kalista before she reached the tree line and slowed to match her stride. “I will find him,” he promised. “It’ll be okay.”  As soon as he uttered the words, a pang of guilt hit him hard and fast. Between his doubts, Gabriel’s misgivings, and Dmiri’s warning, Rhane had no idea of how things were going to turn out.

Using the wolf to find Bailen was out of the question. Banewolf was a weapon of bloodshed and destruction. Maybe in battle, the sight of the immortal brought a certain comfort of assured victory to those who fought alongside it. But for a weeping child undergoing intense abandonment issues, Rhane imagined leading with the wolf was the wrong way to go.

The tracks he followed told him the boy remained in canine form and was running at top speed. Toward what, Rhane didn’t know. But he did know he wasn’t far behind. Low brush and tall reeds still stirred from Bailen’s flight. His scent was loaded with fear and sadness, but at least those markers hadn’t grown stronger. Maybe the run itself would calm him down before Rhane reached him. Bailen definitely hadn’t taken an easy path. In the opposite direction of Ian’s den, the landscape here was forested but much rockier. Trees had anchored their roots deep into hillsides and ledges. Those roots spilled from steep drop offs, cascading like wooden waterfalls only to plunge into the hard packed earth below.

Rhane could see Bailen ahead now, running across the small valley below. Rhane quickened his pace, hoping to catch him on the other side. But as he took the leap that would put him within the gorge, the very air came alive. Energy rippled across his skin, ringing an alien frequency through Rhane’s ears. As he hung motionlessly, that force reached into him, spreading agony from the inside out, cocooning his body, and delivering what felt like the pain of a thousand lifetimes in a single blow.

Rhane couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, and couldn’t scream. All he could do was feel merciless, excruciating pain. Looking down in the valley, he could no longer see Bailen, but seven other figures had emerged. He recognized Wesley. The other six were strangers to his memory.

A deafening roar built in his ears, and his suffering impossibly intensified. Rhane thought it must be the worst thing he had ever felt. Whatever it was that Builders wanted, he could feel them taking it. But Rhane also felt his body fighting their efforts. This thing clung to his insides, struggling against their irresistible will, but was slowly losing ground.

The roar renewed itself. Louder. Angrier. Rhane still couldn’t move, was still suspended midair. There came a final, mighty tug that rearranged organs, separated ribs, and fractured bones. At last, the pain stopped. The roar ceased. And gravity reclaimed him.

Rolling to his side, Rhane opened his eyes and finally understood.

A white radiance in the form of a wolf now stood over him. Builders formed a circle around the immortal in seven colors of glowing light. Their eyes were closed, and their faces were thick with concentration. 

Rhane was empty inside. He and the wolf were no longer one. As the Builders opened their soulless eyes, he wondered if this was what it had been like for Gabriel. The thought became a fleeting one as the sentence passed from the mouth of a glowing figure. “Kill the vessel. Show the immortal there is no choice.”

This time the pain lasted only an instant. Then Rhane felt nothing at all.

#

Kali knew Rhane was in trouble. She had felt his pain and the shattering loss of something irreplaceable. But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

Rhane’s body lay outstretched on the valley floor. His neck rested at an awkward angle. His limbs were limp. The smell of burned flesh stung her nostrils, growing stronger with every leaden step made toward him. As her eyes adjusted, she made out the ethereal shape of a wolf, standing over Rhane’s fallen form. Seven figures encircled it, each glowing in a unique hue of light. But with every passing moment, the radiance emanating from them dulled, until finally their faces were revealed. She recognized Wes immediately. Recalling the familiarity of Tsai’s misshapen facial hair took only an instant longer. Five other faces completed the circle, but none of them Kali knew.

Eyes closed, their arms reached toward the lustrous immortal. Their lips moved in unison, repeating a chant.
“From sire to son, it shall pass again. By their chained blood all will be freed.”

Beyond the circle was Bailen, still canine and seemingly transfixed by the sight of the immortal. The wolf watched him too, advancing closer with each cycle of eerie chorus.

White-hot anger burned in Kali’s belly, spreading outward until it became an all-consuming force of vengeance fueled hatred. Her scream came next. As if reaching from hell itself, the wail of the siren rocked the earth and shook the trees as it echoed through the valley. The Builders saw her then, and their chanting became more urgent.

All that happened next seemed to be experienced remotely, as if from some other part of her. A full armor of scales took over Kali’s flesh. Her teeth elongated, doubling in number, as her nails lengthened to razor sharp tips. Black fire exploded around her form, sprouting wings that lifted her several feet off the ground.

The siren’s cry continued, building in decibels, while the flames surrounding her body matched its intensity. She folded her wings inward, calling the darkness to her as if it were her offspring and nurtured it to full nuclear potential.

And then she released it.

Abandoning their spell, the Builders scattered. Three were too slow to escape, and Kali’s devastation consumed them. Transforming their mass into figures of light, survivors fled in all directions. The siren levitated into the valley, choosing the one who dared the path closest to her fallen mate and quickly cut off his escape. Reaching into Builder’s golden radiance, she seized his spark and crushed it.

The Builder dissolved into a shimmering mist that floated slowly to the earth. It fell like glitter onto Rhane’s body and gradually faded into nothingness. Seeing Rhane again stilled the rage in the human part of her that remained. Her mate was gone.

The siren retreated from the pain, and it was Kali who stumbled to Rhane. Sobbing, she fell next to his side and pulled him into her arms. He was still warm. As she closed the lifeless eyes that once shone so brilliantly and pressed her cheek against his, Kali wondered if she would ever breathe again.

#

Clutching his side and gasping for air, Wesley ran through the woods. Rocks tripped him. Branches clawed at his face, drawing blood. The uphill climb sapped the last of his strength. Wesley was mortal. Their last desperate act had cost them all dearly. Worse yet, their attempt to unite the immortal with the child had failed. Somehow the boy had resisted the wolf and rejected the gift of immortality. They had not counted on such a resilient bond between the immortal and Rhane, reaching even beyond death. Centuries ago, when the same ritual was performed on Gabriel, the connection between mortal and immortal had not been so strong. But the separation had nearly drained their powers completely, making him and his brothers easy fodder. And then the siren had nearly destroyed them all. 

Wesley knew running was the coward’s way out. But he couldn’t face her. Despite his claims to humanity, he had committed a monstrous, unforgivable act against the one person who cared for him in this entire world. Seeing the reflection of what he’d done in her eyes would be worse than death. So, Wesley ran.

Picking his way over the remains of a massive tree, Wesley slid down the trunk, carefully letting his feet touch the earth again. Turning around, he saw Bailen had appeared like a phantom and now stood stock still, blocking his path. Wesley smiled. The child looked so much like his mother. And if his suspicions were correct, Bailen possessed the same streak of ruthlessness that belonged to his father.

“Bailen,” he said tenderly. “Why have you done this? We could have won.”

“I have no interest in your games, Builder.”

“We didn’t raise you to pursue such a selfish course.”

The boy’s eyes grew unbelievably colder. “You shouldn’t have raised me at all.”

Wesley spread his arms. “I guess you are here to exact vengeance for all the wrongs you suffered. Just know, what we did was to serve a greater good.”

Bailen’s hands balled into fists. “All you ever did was to serve yourselves. You tore my family apart. We never had a chance thanks to your meddling.” Just as suddenly as the anger had flared, calm settled over the boy. His face became serene. “You destroyed my family, so I set out to destroy you. But the only way to annihilate such a mighty race was to let you wreck yourselves. So I escaped. I found my parents, waited until they were strong enough, and then dangled myself in front of you, knowing you wouldn’t be able to resist taking what you wanted.” The boy’s lips curled cruelly. “You took the bait. And now you’re weak.”

“Go on then. Have your revenge,” Wesley said. He was ready to be out of his unbearable misery. “I am mortal now. You can kill me easily.”

“Revenge is not what I want.”

“Then what do you want?”

“Bring him back.”

Wesley recoiled. “You know that’s impossible.”

“The immortal clings to his side, so there is hope. Bring him back.”

“I can’t.” Wesley shook his head. “Even if I were strong enough, the process would surely kill me.”

Bailen’s head tilted to one side. “There is no scenario in which you do not die, Builder. How would you have my mother remember you? Will you be the man who professed to love her and yet destroyed her world, or will you be the one who gives everything her back to her?”

“Bailen, this is wrong. Please, remember your brother. Remember how the restoration changed him. It corrupted his very soul. The act is forbidden for a reason.”

The boy was unmoved. “You will bring him back,” he said as sparks of fire twinkled from the corners of his eyes. “Or I will drag you to my mother and let her kill you herself.”

Wesley understood then exactly how wrong he had been. Bailen’s ruthlessness far exceeded his father’s. “Okay, Bailen. I will do this thing you ask. Perhaps when we are all gone you will at last find peace.”

“I will find peace when my family is returned to me…my
entire
family.”

“Bailen—”

“Walk.”

Wesley bit his tongue. He’d known from the beginning the folly in separating mother from child. But what other choice had they? Builders were never meant to raise offspring. Treated like one of their many experiments, Bailen had not received nurturing or affection. His pitiless nature reflected that. Wesley could only hope the boy’s alleged love for his family was not false. If the Faction’s champion could not be defeated by strength alone, love would be the last hope to temper the abomination.

The trek back to the gorge was a long one. Unsympathetic to Wesley’s weakened state, Bailen urged him forward with all the patience of a rabid sheepdog. As they reached the valley, Wesley grasped the boy’s urgency. Human again, Kalista cradled Rhane’s body, weeping into his hair. The great wolf stood over them like the most terrifying of all guardian angels. But the immortal’s light was fading.

Kalista lifted her head at their approach. Instantly darkening, her eyes narrowed into slits. Patches of scales spread across her exposed skin. Hissing, she uncoiled her body and began to rise.

“Wait,” Bailen called. “He can help.”

“He has taken everything from me.”