Bound (17 page)

“No, this is not who she is. She is a
princess, the youngest daughter of the king of Xantara and she
needs to be reminded of that.”

“Maybe she was in your world, but here . . .
she’s . . . my friend.”

Octavion didn’t answer, just gathered all the
photos and walked out the back door to burn them in the yard. When
he returned, Kira surrendered the memory cards—that he crumbled in
one hand—and deleted the pictures she’d saved on her computer.

Shortly after he left, it began to rain. It
only added to her somber mood. Kira tried to keep busy by catching
up on the homework she’d missed the week before, but she just
couldn’t concentrate.

As evening drew near, someone knocked on her
front door. Thinking it might be Lydia coming back to talk, she
opened the door without even thinking about who might be on the
other side. To her surprise, a young man stood on her porch,
dripping wet.

“Sorry to bother you, but my car died and I
need to use your phone to call for a tow.” He looked honest enough.
He had long, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail and wore black
jeans and a blue T-shirt. He had strong facial features, but his
smile seemed nice. Kira guessed him to be nineteen or twenty.

She looked over his shoulder to find an old
beat-up Camaro sitting on the side of the road. Most of it was
blue, but the front fender and passenger door were red. The hood
was propped up with a stick and steam spewed from the radiator.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t have a
phone.” Another thing her mother packed up and took with her.

A gust of cool moist air hit her and goose
bumps rose on her arms. If it weren’t for the chilled air coming
through the door, she’d have thought her sense of danger was
warning her. She tried to laugh it off, but then she caught a
glimpse of something strange in his brown eyes—an emptiness, like
looking into a hollow abyss. She’d never seen eyes like that. She
took a step back to put more space between them.

“Oh,” he said. He looked past her at the
sparsely furnished room. “You have a nice home.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry I can’t help, but there’s
another house a ways down the road that will probably have a
phone.” She pointed, so he’d know which direction to go.

His eyes left her face just long enough to
look at her extended hand—and wrist. “Nice bracelet.”

Kira’s chest tightened at his words and the
hair on her arms pricked at her skin. She slowly lowered her hand
and met his eyes again. This time she
knew
it wasn’t the
cool air that made the hair on her arms stand up. “What did you
say?”

A sinister grin spread across his face. “I
said . . .
nice bracelet
.” His voice deepened and suddenly
held the same accent Octavion’s did.

Before Kira registered what was happening
he’d entered the room and closed the door behind him. She stumbled
back against the arm of the couch, then stepped around it so she
could increase the distance between them. “Who are you?”

He didn’t answer, just grabbed her by the
neck, and slammed her back against the wall with so much force, the
mirror that hung there fell to the ground and shattered. He
gathered her hands and held them above her head with one of his
while pressing his right thumb to her windpipe. “Where is she?”

Lydia! I’m in trouble!
“Where’s who?”
Kira tried to catch her breath, praying Lydia wasn’t so angry about
the pictures that she would block her thoughts.

“Do not play games with me, little girl.
There is only one way you can have that thing on your wrist.
Where is she?
” The muscles in his face tensed. Veins bulged
under his skin, and his glaring eyes were black. An evil, sick
feeling crept into her stomach and twisted at her gut.

Kira, what’s wrong?
Lydia’s voice
seeped into her frantic thoughts.

A man. He can see the Crystor
. . . “I
don’t know what you’re talking about. I found it,” she lied.

He let out a ferocious cry, then lifted her
off the ground and tossed her across the room. She landed on the
flimsy coffee table, smashing it. A sharp pain struck her left
side. “Stop!”
Lydia! Help! He’s gonna kill me.

Altaria’s voice filled her head.
We’re
coming. Hold on
.

Kira couldn’t breathe. She tried to get up,
but as she pulled her knees under her, the man shoved her down on
to her stomach with the weight of his body and yanked her hair
back.

“Tell me now, wench. Where is she?” He
tightened his grip on her hair and pressed the cold blade of a
knife to the base of her throat as the front door exploded off the
hinges.

“Looking for me, old friend?” Octavion
roared.

The man withdrew the knife and shoved her
aside with a swift kick of his boot. What Kira had witnessed in the
canyon was no comparison to the transformation she saw Octavion
make now. In the time it took him to fly across the room and take
the man to the ground, his entire body changed.

The muscles across his shoulders and back
exploded into a bulging mass of lean tendons. The bridge of his
nose widened as the pupils of his fiery yellow eyes widened, and
his teeth—she couldn’t stop staring at his teeth. They weren’t as
big as Toran’s, but they were still that of a wild cat, with razor
sharp fangs that would easily rip the flesh from any animal or
human. His form was still that of a man, but there was enough of
him that wasn’t—a mutation of wild animal filled with rage.

Octavion picked the man up and threw him
against the kitchen doorframe. He stumbled to his feet, flashed a
wicked grin, and turned toward the kitchen with Octavion on his
heels. Kira heard the shatter of glass as they blew through her
back door and into the yard.

The stabbing pain in Kira’s side wouldn’t let
her take in more than tiny, ragged puffs of air. It was all she
could do to stay focused and not pass out.

“Kira!” Altaria ran through the doorway,
jumping over the broken door that now lay on the living room floor.
“What happened? Who did this?”

Kira couldn’t take in enough air to speak, so
she pointed in the direction of the kitchen.
Where were you? I
was so scared.

“There was another one in front. I had to
take care of him.”

“What?” Kira squeaked.

“He’s gone. You’re safe, for now. Can you
sit?”

Kira shook her head.
I think my ribs are
broken. One may have punctured my lung. I can’t breathe, and it
really hurts.

“We need to get out of here. Let me help
you.” Altaria reached under Kira’s arm and tried to pull her
up.

“Stop!”
It hurts too much
, Kira begged
as the room blurred.

Octavion entered from the back of the house.
His breathing seemed heavy, but he’d returned to his normal form.
His
human
form. Kira didn’t want to think about that. Not
now.

He motioned for Altaria to move aside and
knelt beside Kira. He seemed gentle and calm and there was no sign
of the beast he’d become only minutes before. He slipped one arm
under Kira’s back and the other beneath her knees, lifting her into
his arms.

Kira screamed, exhausting what little air
she’d managed to pull into her lungs. She tried to draw in more.
“It hurts,” she cried.

“I know,” Octavion said. “I will try to be
gentle, but you must be brave. We need to go. There might be more
of them.” He stepped through the front door into the yard.
“Altaria. Hold on to my back.”

“Who was it?” Altaria asked.

“Bastian.”

“I should have guessed.” She wrapped her arms
around his neck. “Go!”

“Kira, close your eyes,” he said, but as he
tightened his grip on her body, the pain took away her breath and
her world went black.

Bastian’s sadistic glare held Kira in place
as his hateful taunts echoed in her mind. He shoved her against the
wall, making the pain in her side seize her breath. She tried to
fight, hitting and kicking him with every ounce of energy she could
summon. The blows she managed to deliver only increased his
anger—and her pain.

“
Let go of me!” she screamed.

“
Kira, wake up. It’s me.” The distant
voice sounded almost familiar, but she couldn’t give in. She had to
fight.

Kira took another swing at Bastian’s face and
connected. “Get off me!”

“
Kira, please wake up.” The voice seemed
closer now, but still only a whisper.

She screamed out loud and the sound of her
own voice silenced Bastian’s words and brought her from her
nightmare. Her living room faded away and the calmness of the
forest engulfed her. She lay in Octavion’s arms as he held her
trembling body close to his.

“He . . . hurt me. Why did he have to do
that?” she sobbed.

“Shh. It’s okay. You are safe.” He brushed a
lock of hair from her face.

Altaria crouched at Kira’s feet. “You should
make something to help with the pain.”

“I have a better idea.” Octavion slowly
released Kira to lie on the mattress of fur and stood. “Stay with
her and do
not
let her fall back to sleep. I will be right
back.”

Kira watched as Octavion walked from her view
and Altaria came closer. She knelt by her side and drew a blanket
up around Kira’s shoulders. The pain in her side was so severe, she
felt herself drifting in and out of consciousness. Altaria’s face
began to blur again.

“Kira! Don’t. You need to stay awake.”

“It . . . hurts,” Kira said between short
pain-filled breaths.

Altaria’s brow furrowed with concern. “I
know. But you are the only one who can heal your injury. You must
stay awake.”

Kira tried to listen, but Altaria’s voice
became more and more distant until an uncontrollable spasm struck
the back of her throat and the muscles in her chest tightened into
a cough. She tried to hold back, fearing more pain, but something
was lodged in her throat and she’d choke if she didn’t get it
out.

Altaria must have sensed her need because she
rolled Kira onto her good side and held a piece of cloth to her
mouth. A mass of fresh and clotted blood hit the cloth and trickled
to the ground.

“Octavion!” Altaria cried. “She’s spitting up
blood.”

Kira felt the darkness engulf her. She heard
voices, but they seemed so far away and she couldn’t quite make out
what they said. Strong hands clamped down on her shoulders. She
jerked her eyes open to see Octavion beside her.

“Kira, you
have
to stay awake. If you
fall asleep, you will die.”

All Kira could think about was the first
night they met and how she’d somehow cheated death when healing
Lydia. She wrapped her trembling fingers around his forearm. “I was
supposed to die . . . remember?”

“Stop that! You have to stay awake. Do you
understand?”

Kira nodded.

“Toran, come,” Octavion ordered.

Kira turned her head to see a blur of black
and white fur drop to the ground next to her. Toran stretched his
neck out and laid his head on her side. The slightest pressure on
her broken ribs was almost unbearable at first, but then she felt
his body tense and the pain began to diminish. His rhythmic purr
vibrated through her chest and she welcomed its comfort.

“Is that better?” Octavion asked. He took her
hand in his.

“Yeah.” She tried to smile. “He’s so
warm.”

“You have to heal yourself,” Altaria said.
“We cannot do it for you.”

“I know, but—I don’t think I can.” She
remembered the energy it took to heal Lydia, and there was no way
she could go through that now. It would kill her.

Altaria stepped closer. “Yes, you can. Do not
think of healing everything at once. Concentrate on just the rib
that has pierced your lung—then on the lung itself. See it in your
mind filling with life. Can you do that?”

Octavion placed his hand on the side of her
face and looked into her eyes intently. “You are strong, Kira.” A
grave expression crossed his face. “It will hurt, but Toran will
help with that.”

Kira swallowed hard. “Okay.”

Octavion carefully slid Kira’s hand between
her ribs and Toran’s fur, leaving his hand on top to keep hers in
place. “Whenever you are ready.”

Kira drew in as much air as she could, closed
her eyes, and tried to see the broken parts of her body becoming
whole again. Her ribs shifted and twisted beneath her skin and she
actually felt the bones mending as though being welded together
with the heat of a torch. It burned clean through to her back and
down her spine. The fragile lung tissues mended as well.

When her breathing returned to normal and it
was no longer as painful, she opened her eyes and stopped the
healing process. She still felt two cracked ribs, but they would
have to wait. She could heal them when her strength returned, but
for now, all she wanted was to sleep.

Altaria patted Toran on the head. “Good boy.
Come with me.” She motioned for him to follow.

“No,” Kira protested. “Can he stay here?
Please.” She rubbed him behind one of his ears. “Would you like
that, buddy?” He began to purr again.

“You will spoil him,” Octavion chastised.

“He deserves to be spoiled after what he just
went through.”

Toran stretched out beside her. She pulled up
the covers and snuggled against the warmth of his thick, lush
fur.

Octavion sat back on his heels and held her
gaze.

“What’s wrong?” Kira asked, struggling to
keep her heavy eyelids open.

He shook his head. “I will find a place
tomorrow where you will feel safe.”

“Safe?” The image of Bastian’s attack
returned and no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t hold back
her tears. How would she ever feel safe again? “They know where I
live, Octavion. I can’t stay with my mom, I don’t even know where
she went—not that she’d want me.” She paused for a moment to stifle
a sob. “Lydia . . . she’s the only family I have now. Where am I .
. . supposed to go?”