Katie's Hellion (Rhyn Trilogy, Book One) (21 page)

"Gabriel, he’s protected and helped me more
than once since the dungeon and done it out of some sort of sense
of duty. Even if he’s done bad things…I don’t know. I don’t think
he’s the lost cause you’re making him out to be," she said,
disturbed.

"You saw what he did in St. Louis."

Her gaze shifted from him to the dark form
seated on a boulder. She assumed…she
hoped
…all of the dead
were bad guys. Even so, she’d seen what he could do to a
human-esque body in a few seconds.

"Are you saying I
should
go with you?"
she asked.

"I believe your choice to be the right
one."

"Do you think…why do you think he chose me as
his mate?"

"Daniela seems to think it was preordained.
You're an Ancient's mate, and maybe you were meant for him and only
him," he said.

"He told me he chose me."

"You didn’t ask why?" he challenged, amused
again.

"Of course I did. He said he wanted me. He’s
not a man of many words, Gabriel."

"Maybe that’s the truth of it."

"I know there’s more," she insisted.

"Maybe you stabilize his wild power, though
he doesn't know it yet."

She considered the new possibility. He
certainly didn’t seem to have much control, as far as she could
tell. He’d massacred every human she’d run across to date.

"You mean he was
worse
than this
before?" she returned, surprised.

"Much. Would’ve wiped out the island by now
and half of Cuba without realizing he’d done so."

"He’s using me."

"He needs you and wants you. He needed his
brothers and still left them. As much as he’s done wrong in his
life, he’s not a liar."

The information filtered through her
skepticism until she admitted he spoke too logically to be anything
but right. Her disbelief that Rhyn had chosen someone like her over
a supermodel was softened by the rationale that he would also
innately recognize his intended mate, even if he didn't recognize
her ability to help him control his power.

What a horrible life he’d lived, if this was
the best it’d ever been for him! Yet he didn’t seem too affected by
a life of pain, exclusion, and conflict. If anything, he seemed
absolutely sure of himself and what he wanted, even if his nature
didn’t allow him to control his own wild talents.

"Kris may want to come here to talk to you,"
Gabriel added. "He knows he can’t take you anywhere, but if he
asks…"

"I don’t care if he comes to me. I can’t
trust him enough to go to him. And he comes alone, Gabriel."

"Understood."

He was gone before she could tell him
goodbye. She leaned against the wall, eyeing the distance from her
position to the rock on which Rhyn sat. She doubted he’d come if
she called.

The conversation with Gabriel turned over in
her thoughts as she descended the stairs and left through the
opened gate. She felt bad for Rhyn, though she suspected the
emotion was wasted on someone who didn’t have a drop of self-pity.
She crossed her arms as she neared. Rhyn watched her, unmoving,
like a predator watches its prey.

"You don’t have anywhere else to be aside
from sitting here day and night staring at the wall?" she
asked.

"I’m immortal. I have time."

She drew a deep breath. Instead of retorting,
she said, "That’s not how I wanted this conversation to go. I came
out to thank you for bringing me here and saving me more than once
from those things."

He stared at her.

"So, thank you. If you’re hungry, just let me
know."

He said nothing, his tense frame never
relaxing. At the silence, she turned away and started back to the
compound, irritated.

"What did Gabriel want?" he asked before
she’d gone more than a few steps.

"Kris sent him to fetch me," she replied
without turning.

"And you said
what
?"

"No."

She didn’t hear his silent step. He gripped
her arm hard and stepped in front of her, his size sending a tremor
of unease through her.

"Why?" he growled.

"He can’t make me, and I don’t want to go,"
she said archly.

"Until he offers you something you want."

"He did. He offered me my life back."

He bristled more.

"You’re the lesser of two evils," she said at
the unspoken command. She pulled her arm away and returned to the
Sanctuary. As she walked, she began to wonder how to train a wild
animal. She’d had cats before, but she’d never even owned a dog.
She couldn’t imagine potty training one let alone training some
ancient creature to contradict his nature.

"You turned down returning to your life to
stay with me," he stated with one of his low, evil chuckles. She
hadn’t realized he was following her. "Foolish human."

"Maybe I know he’s promising more than he can
deliver. Really, why do you all think we mere mortals are all
idiots? I’m so sick of this whole better-than-thou attitude you all
have!" she snapped, facing him with her hands on her hips.

"I never said you were stupid."

"Whatever, immortal overlord of the universe!
Every time one of you opens your mouth, you patronize me. It gets
old and I think I’ve done damn well in this sick world of
yours."

He said nothing, and she raised an eyebrow.
He was impossible to read. He wore all black, though he was dressed
more simply than she’d seen him, in dark jeans and a black
long-sleeved T-shirt and heavy boots. His hair was tied back, his
jaw and chin scruffy from a couple days’ growth of hair. His liquid
eyes were assessing but not flared, his large frame still
imposing.

"No smart-ass comment about your blood
monkey?" she challenged.

"Nope." He looked amused, if a statue could
look amused.

"What
are
you waiting here for?" she
asked.

"Nothing a blood monkey could
understand."

"Son of a bitch!"

She marched back to the Sanctuary, wearied by
the exchange. Daniela just inside the entrance, and her normally
calm face took on an expression of sudden irritation.

"Oh no you don’t!" Daniela cried, and flew
past her toward the rocks. "Sacred ground!"

She couldn’t imagine what Rhyn had done and
hesitated to look. Curiosity drew her to the gate again, where tiny
Daniela was animated and angry as she stood between Rhyn and Kris.
Katie couldn’t help but pity the woman; it was her fault they were
both there. She felt beat already but forced herself to once again
leave the confines of the Sanctuary.

Kris’s white hair, fair complexion, and amber
eyes were at odds with Rhyn’s darkness and glowing pewter gaze.
Both were outwardly calm, though tense enough that a hair landing
on their arms would make them snap.

Daniela finished her lecture on the
Sanctuary's rules and waited. Neither spoke. Katie approached
uneasily.

"What do you want, Kris?" she asked, crossing
her arms.

"I came to talk to you. Alone."

"You’re not allowed in the Sanctuary, and I
doubt Rhyn will agree to disappear. He’s a stubborn jackass like
that."

Both looked at her. Daniela paled.

"It’d do you well in our world to learn some
respect, especially for the Ancients," Kris snapped.

"What do you want, Kris?" she repeated.

Kris looked at Rhyn, who refused to take the
hint. Kris lifted his chin at Daniela, and the woman offered a
curtsey before hurrying back to the Sanctuary.

"I couldn’t believe you wouldn’t want your
life back and wanted to hear it from you," he replied, facing
her.

"You don’t have the power to offer me
that."

"Of course I do."

"Obviously one of us is confused. I haven’t
lived for millions of years in your world, but I believe Rhyn here
would have to die permanently so his claim on me was nullified. And
then you’d have to find someone older than Andre to wipe my memory
and put everything the way it was. All of this would assume that
you’ve decided you have no further use for me."

"You’ve learned a lot but not everything.
There are ways of releasing you from Rhyn’s claim, and there are
ways of erasing your memory."

"But are you done with me, Kris?"

He didn’t respond. She frowned.

"You don’t seem to understand how important
you are," he said at last with barely restrained impatience. "You
can right the imbalance of our world so that evil is held in check.
Do you want humanity to go down the toilet because you didn’t feel
like helping?"

"You had no intention of returning my life to
me."

"Eventually, yes."

"Kris, you can’t use people! Do I want to
help you save the world? Yes, I do. But I don’t trust you. If you
lied to me about everything so far, why the hell would I trust your
word about anything, even saving the world?"

He wiped his face, and she sensed again he
was unaccustomed to being challenged. Andre had claimed Kris was
highly combustible. She didn’t want to find out, but she wasn’t
following him blindly.

"You used Jade, too, didn’t you?" she
accused. "Look where that gets you!"

"I trust Jade with my life! You think I
believe the word of some stupid mortal?"

"I know what I saw, Kris!"

"So, what is your solution?" he ground out
between clenched teeth. "You stay here with
him
while the
world falls apart around you?"

"He’s the only reason I’m alive, Kris," she
reminded him. "You dropped me into this world, and he’s kept me
alive."

"How noble of the beast that nearly destroyed
the world once!"

"You didn’t come here to talk. You came here
to do the typical immortal thing and boss me around."

They stared at each other. His gaze turned
from amber to fire, and she wondered if she’d pushed him too far.
Rhyn, for once, was quiet. She’d never seen his attention stay any
one place for long, but today, he was actually calm. His arms were
folded across his chest, his frame growing more relaxed as his
brother grew tenser. With effort, Kris drew a deep breath and blew
it out.

"I am one of the leaders of the immortal
world. Yes, I am used to giving orders, orders that
everyone
follows. I understand that you don’t know our world, and that you
have the disadvantage of having been through some truly awful
things since being thrown into our world."

Despite her anger, she recognized the
physical effort he put into his words.

"For what it’s worth, I apologize for
treating you like you were subhuman. I need your help for the sake
of humanity."

She softened at his obvious struggle. Her
gaze went to Rhyn, who looked almost amused again, then back.

"And how can one puny little human save
humanity?" she returned.

"Sasha and the Dark One will destroy
everything they can. Ully is experimenting with your blood to find
a way to create a sort of antidote we can inject into our immortals
to render them immune to the powers of Sasha’s creatures. He’s
close but needs more time and more blood."

She took in his words, surprised he’d admit
to needing a human.

"Thank you, Kris. I’ll help you on two
conditions."

"Name it."

"You take the bounty off Rhyn’s head and
readmit him to whatever weird immortal society you belong to AND I
get to leave whenever I want."

"You gave me three conditions, not two. I’ll
allow you one in the angel of
compromise,
" he said with
distaste.

She sensed a brick wall and hesitated,
considering. She really did want to help humanity, and she really
did want her freedom from stupid immortals bossing her around. Her
gaze settled on Rhyn, who was waiting as tensely for her response
as Kris.

"Bounty," she said with some effort. "No more
hunting, tracking, targeting, hurting, killing, or anything else.
He’s your brother, for God’s sake."

Kris’s gaze flared again, and she assumed
he’d expected her to ask for her freedom. She heard him grate his
teeth, then say, "Rhyn, bring her to the compound."

He turned and stalked away, disappearing with
a puff of cool breeze.

"Foolish human," Rhyn said more quietly.

"Everyone deserves a second chance, even you,
you jackass," she responded. "I’m going to get my things."

He was silent as she turned and walked away.
He was watching her, a predator who’d either figured out his prey
wasn’t edible or needed more study to kill. His penetrating gaze
gave her a different kind of chill, one that made her blood quicken
as well as her step.

She gathered her things and searched for
Daniela --or anyone --but no one was around. She left the Sanctuary
one final time. Rhyn stood in the same place she’d left him,
unchanged in any way. She stood before him and waited. This time
when he reached for her, she knew it was for blood. She closed her
eyes and tilted her head, anticipating the pinch. He drank long,
until she was swaying and leaning against him. When he released
her, he touched her arm. Warmth shot through her, energizing
her.

She looked up at him. She hadn’t noticed his
pallor beneath his copper skin, but she saw it now. He returned her
gaze, steadying her with a possessive hand on her hip.

"Were the guys you killed in St. Louis all
bad?" she asked in a measured tone.

"More or less."

"What does that mean?"

"Trust me."

God help me, I think I do.

As if hearing her thought, he gave a slow
smile. Before another insult could leave her lips, he kissed her, a
commanding, intense kiss. One arm looped around her and she braced
herself against his chest, vaguely realizing that --by not refusing
him the day before --he’d taken her response as a blank check. The
familiar warmth, his intensity --both lit her blood afire, and she
couldn’t help but imagine what his hot, talented tongue could do to
other parts of her body. The vision in her mind made her bones too
weak to hold her on their own.