Dark Flight (The Shadow Slayers) (11 page)

He felt the tickle in his chest that always preceded a growl, but he cleared his throat instead. If he wanted a female he could keep safe who would actually take his advice, then, as Kara had already pointed out, he’d picked the wrong one. She might make his head hurt sometimes, but his heart didn’t give him a choice.

Gavin scanned the horizon and saw one of Nefren’s men trailing them. “Wonderful. We have another escort.”

From a distance, the man almost seemed to have mottled wings, like Gavin’s brother Gable—may he rest in torment. But speckled wings like Gable’s were impossible. Gable had been truly unique in that way.

“Hey, that’s weird. Do his wings look kind of salt-and-peppery to you?” Kara asked.

So maybe
impossible
was the wrong word for it. “I’m sure it’s just the play of moonlight and shadows.”

Suddenly Julian’s words came back to him about the brown-haired scout who’d been tracking Kara and how his wings had played tricks on Julian’s eyes. With a snarl, Gavin’s fangs tore through his gums and his claws burst forth. He took to the air with a shout. “Go back to Nefren’s court, and wait for me there! Hurry!”

“What in the hell is going on?” she called after him, but he would have to trust her to do as instructed, because that scout wasn’t getting away this time. And if the bastard flashed, Gavin would stick to him like lice on quills.

“You, there!” Gavin bellowed when he was a stone’s throw away from the other man. “What business do you have on Nefren’s land?”

The mottled-winged warrior glanced to Kara, as though deciding if he should flash to her. “I wouldn’t,” Gavin warned.

Up close, the strange thing about this man was that he didn’t look much like a man at all. Even though his body was heavily muscled, his features were youthful, as though he hadn’t yet reached maturity. “Who are you, boy?”

“Boy? Honestly, old man, I’m getting so sick of being called a boy. If I was living on the surface, I’d be graduated from college by now.”

Gavin stilled. This lax attitude wasn’t what he’d expected. “I’ll ask you one more time. Who are you?”

The boy shrugged. “I can’t tell you that. Sorry.”

“Then maybe you can answer what you want with Kara Reed.”

“Sure. Call her over, and she and I can talk—one on one.”

Gavin’s growl vibrated through the air around him. He was a calm man most of the time, but he wouldn’t play games where Kara was concerned. “You are trying my patience, boy.”

“That’s your version of patience? Wow, you must be seriously uptight.”

When Gavin flexed his fist, getting ready to lunge and take the smart-ass down a notch, the boy put his hands up. “Now, hold on. I’m not trying to cause trouble here. I just want to talk to the woman you call Kara Reed. Just a few minutes alone. That’s all I’m asking.”

Gavin was finished with this discussion. The boy could have a few minutes alone in hell with that attitude. He saw it in the boy’s eyes when he decided it was time to go. Too bad this scout had chosen an adversary who was legendary for his ability to track a silver-wing when he flashed.

The mottled-winged lad winked out of existence, and Gavin threw himself into the stream, letting his energy flow in the same direction. A moment later, he materialized in the middle of his worst nightmare—smack dab in the center of Ailexon’s kingdom. All hail the chief of the fallen angels.

Kara watched Gavin posturing with the other warrior, exchanging words, but one second they were talking, and the next they were gone. She debated high-tailing it into the gates of Nefren’s city, but before she could even list the pros and cons, Gavin popped up in front of her with skin the wan shade of overcooked spaghetti.

“What just happened?” she asked, almost scared to know given Gavin’s pallid state.

“I tracked the scout.”

“Okay. And…”

“He’s one of Ailexon’s. Holy mother of Eve. Ailexon knows of you, Kara.”

She swallowed. “Uh…and that’s bad, right?”

Gavin cursed under his breath and kicked his boot against the pebble-strewn grass. “We need to leave. Now.”

Kara cupped her hands over her upper arms, suddenly feeling like the night wasn’t so warm after all. “Don’t overreact. He didn’t look too scary or anything. Matter of fact, now that I think of it, he almost looked like this young guy who’s been coming into the bar recently.
Donald
…I think it was.”

He glared at her. “And you are just now telling me this?”

“I thought he was O.P.A.! And we have the treaty with them, so I wasn’t really worried. And then I thought he wasn’t O.P.A., just some sad, boozy kid. Should I have called the National Guard?”

“He’s been following you! Julian is going to go ballistic over this.”

“I think you guys are continuing to overestimate how much Julian cares. He
dumped me.
Remember?”

“I know he did. But he was—” Gavin ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “He was…aware of the scout, princess. Julian saw him on your second-to-last visit, and he was concerned.”

Kara squinted in thought, like her brain needed to kick into low gear to make it up that mental grade. “The second-to-last time? Why didn’t he say anything? If I remember correctly—” and it was a time she would never forget, “—we were ‘together’, you know, and then you came and picked me up. He never said a word or showed any sign that something was wrong.”

“I’m sure he didn’t want to worry you before he knew if there was something to be worried about.”

“Wait. Just hold on a second. Did that have anything to do with him telling me that I should stay on the surface where I belong?”

Gavin shifted on his feet and his guilty expression answered before his lips even formed the words. “Yes,” he finally admitted. “And now that we know for certain Ailexon is involved, I’m even more convinced that Julian was right. You shouldn’t be here.”

“If you think that, then you’re as big of an ass as he is. The only difference I see between you two right now is that you didn’t feel the need to
break my flippin’ heart
over it.” How could Julian have done this? How could he have made the decision to hurt Kara instead of simply trusting her with the knowledge that she was being tracked?

She shook her head slowly. “I’m not really as foolhardy as you all seem to think. I appreciate the concept of self-preservation. I just think it takes a backseat to self-determination.”

“I’m trying to respect your decisions, but sometimes I feel it’s a constant battle between giving in to you and keeping you safe. Growing up in San Diego gave you an unrealistic view of your place in the world, as though you would never come up against a thug you couldn’t put in his place. When it comes to power here, princess, you are a small, supremely attractive fish, in a very deep pond. I’m not sure you truly comprehend yet what you’re swimming with.”

Kara buried her face in her hands. This night had been too flippin’ much for her. She couldn’t even begin to process what it all meant. Not Nefren’s orgies or her carnal reaction to them. Not Gavin’s perpetual need to protect. Not being stalked by young servants of big-time black-wings. And certainly not Julian’s rationalizations for what he’d done.

If her former lover could crush her under his boot so easily instead of simply asking her to stay home for a while, then maybe he truly wasn’t a man she wanted in her life anyhow.

“Gavin, I think I’ve reached the point in my life where I need to give and receive brutal honesty, or I might just say screw this whole thing.”

He nodded. “I understand.”

“So this is what I need: I need to find the next stop on the map. I need to feel like an important part of saving your son. I need a place in the overall plan, even if just to feel like I haven’t lost you to Rachel. And I need to talk to Julian—but I don’t want to talk to him right now.”

“Brutal honesty?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, mockingly punching her fist into her open palm. “Lay it on me.”

“I need to know you’re safe for my world to keep spinning. You don’t have to earn a place in my child’s life, Kara. I am his father, and you are an integral part of mine. I feel like a monster for what happened to Rachel, even though I was as gentle as I knew how to be and…without being too graphic…she did request my attention. But to cave to Brakken and get her with child and have her be in this position now—I expect to spend decades making that up to her.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” she told him.

“Now is not the time for comfort. Now is the time for truth. Do you want to know what I think of my own father? I long to feel his flesh tearing apart in my bare hands. I abhor him for forcing me to make the decision between you and the son I’ve always dreamed of. I’m not sure what else I could have done, but it haunts my dreams every night.

“And as for Julian, I
rejoiced to the heavens
,” he shouted, his face lifted to the sky, “when he broke off his relationship with you. I didn’t care if his reason was noble or idiotic or sadistic—all I knew was that I wouldn’t have to take you to see him anymore, and it made my heart soar like a falcon untethered from a cruel master’s glove.”

Kara blinked. “Wow. When you put your mind to it, you’re fairly good at brutal honesty.”

He met her eyes with a melancholy smile. “And one last thing…I am exhausted. I am discouraged. And I am frightened for your safety. I want to take you home now.”

In all her years, she’d never known she was such a sucker for an honest speech. Gavin could have confided anything in that moment, and she felt like as long as he was honest, she could handle it. It had been so difficult getting him to open up in the past, and she wanted to reward his effort.

She stepped close to him and took his hand. “Then what are you waiting for?”

Chapter Nine

“Uh… Why are we here?” Kara looked around and sure enough, they stood in the middle of Gavin’s oversized suite. “I thought you said you wanted to take me home?”

“I did take you home,” he answered. “Would you mind sleeping in your room here on the island for the night? Can I ask you to do this for me, just once, princess, so I can sleep without waiting for your summons, fearing something has happened to you when it comes, or fearing something worse has happened when it doesn’t?”

Kara frowned and bit her bottom lip. “Is that really what it’s like for you? Do you worry about me that much?”

Gavin sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making the dark blond pieces stand away from his scalp. “Every hour of every day.”

“Hmm… Have you thought about a support group of some kind?”

He laughed, and his smile turned coaxing. “Your room is beautiful, and I’m not sure you’ve even visited it since the night you claimed Jaxon as your own. You’ll find it clean and ready for you whenever you care to visit.”

Something about her room always being ready warmed her heart. Having a place nestled between Gavin’s quarters and the old Julian’s abandoned room was almost starting to feel right. “I wouldn’t mind sleeping in my room here in the palace tonight.”

Gavin’s tired eyes lit at the news. “Really?”

“Really. But since we’re being honest, you know what would help me rest even better?”

“What?”

“Sleeping in yours.”

His chin drooped as he stared back. “My room? With me in it?”

Kara giggled, and it wasn’t a sound she made often. “Of course with you in it. I mean, we’ve been spending almost every day together for the past eight months, rolling around, wrestling and practically kicking each other’s asses. I’m sure we could handle sleeping in the same bed if we’re just sleeping, right?”

His mouth opened and was working as though he was trying to say something, but it took a few seconds before he finally made a sound. “Er…yes. Sleeping sounds delightful.”

When he turned to rifle through his drawers and came back with a huge white T-shirt, Kara lifted it to her nose. Whatever laundry soap they used here on Mercury Island did little to wash away Gavin’s scent. She inhaled deeply and sighed. Why hadn’t she thought of this sooner?

She slipped into the bathroom, noticing that servants had already cleared away the soiled rags she’d used to cleanse Gavin’s chest earlier. She used the restroom and removed her clothes, taking a moment to readjust her thin slash of underwear when she slipped on the shirt. A thong, a T-shirt and night beside Gavin… This was a good idea, right?

When she emerged from the bathroom and stepped into the bedroom, the lamp was already switched off, but since the sun had just gone down, she could easily see Gavin stretched out beneath the covers.

She crawled in bed beside him and fluffed her pillow then rolled onto her side, facing away from him. Trying hard not to be seduced by the thick fragrance of him all around her, she closed her eyes. “Good night.”

“Kara.” The low timbre of his voice, quiet yet crystal clear in the deepening night, went straight to her core.

She looked back over her shoulder. “Yeah?”

“Come here.” When he patted his bare chest, there was no force on earth strong enough to keep her from sidling up to his warm body and laying her cheek against his skin.

He brought his thick arm under her head, as Kara draped her forearm across his waist and flattened her hand against his ribs. His heartbeat was loud in her ear, faster than she thought it should be for falling asleep.