The Binding (6 page)

“What the …?”
W
hat just happened ?
“Who are they?”

“I think they were the enemy, but good thing for me you’re here to scare them away.”

I turn to face Tharin and see him still amused.
He’s making fun of me. What a jerk! Here I am trying to save him .

“Are you laughing at me?”

“W
hy would I be laughing at you?
”
His tone is moc king and I feel my back stiffen.

“It’s o
bvious you’re serious about protecting me as I do seem like I need it, especially protection from someone who looks like you .”

“You son-of-a-biscuit eater!”
I swing at him but the pain in my back stops me in my tracks .
His coat feel s heavy as the pain from the earlier hit cramps my entire body.
M
y knee suddenly gives out and I feel myself falling. Tharin catches me , but the pain shoots through my entire body . To my shame, my eyes start to water .
There’s a buzzing sensation in my ears, and the world seems to spin around me. Tharin quickly picks me up and turns away from the alley heading back to the front of the building.

As he carries me, I close my eyes and try to silence my cries of pain.
His movements are smooth, but t he pain is so excruciating that I find myself drifting in and out of consciousness. At some point , I sense we’
re join ed by others . They’
re all silen t, like Tharin, but I know they are there. I can feel their presence . When we finally come to a stop, I try to pull away and look around me .
Tharin put s his hand on my head and gentl y pulls me back to him. I’m exhausted and in too much pain to fight him.
When I drift back into consciousness, I feel a difference in the motion in the way I’m being carried. I’m still held against someone, but I’m not certain who. I hear Tharin’s voice in the distance, but he’s not talking to me.
My last thoughts are of the young clerk. His face…then everything goes dark.

*

My coat prevented the glick from cutting through her, but its impact had finally hit Lily hard .
I’m surprise d that she held it together for as long as she did. I look her over as I carry her away from the alley. What was I thinking? Putting her in danger like this when all I had to do was call Mellis? I only thought to give us some time to talk, to talk about the treaty , about the wedding . I wanted to let her know that after the wedding, I wouldn’t hold he r to anything. Damn. If I weren’t so angry about my situation with Lily and Kalis I would have had my wits about me . I would have called for Mellis and the others to meet us at Lily’s house. I was too arrogant, too sure of my self that I would know what Lucas’ next move would be.

If I
a m to be honest, I must admit I also wanted to show Lily that she means nothing to me but an oath to be kept…o r was it that I wanted to prove that to myself ?
How did I allow this to happen? I repeat to myself once again that my duty is to bring her back safe, to marry her and unite the two most powerful houses of the Thirteen Clans. Then after that, she would be free to go.

Lily moans in my arms and tries to lift her head. I gently lay it back down , and for once she doesn’t fight me . Her face is pale and her breathing shallow. An unexpected and unknown fear grips me that I just can’t shake . I underestimated Lucas. I expected him to wait until he was fully healed before coming after us. Instead, he sent the Ange ahead without him. The two days that I had hoped for are gone.

As Mellis and the others appear beside me, I feel the ground shake as the building behind us explodes. I know that either Alorn or Phoris would have moved the clerk away from the explosion before sending the building and Rinis to oblivion. I think of the young clerk. Just a kid, only a few years younger than me, than any of us, Lily included . Lily. She risked her life to try and wa rn him to get down. If she hadn’t hesitate d , she would’ve been through the door without being hit. A sense of pride comes over me, follow ed by anger. A lot of good it d id her to warn him, the kid didn’t listen. And what did Lily get in return? She got a glick to her back. If I hadn’t put the coat over her I would be carr ying her in two separate bags to Velesi.
T
hat thought bothers me more than I want to admit.

We
move ahead four more blocks within minutes. The vehicles are waiting on a deserted street, but the night is waning and we need to leave. When word gets back that we took Rinis out, Lucas will send the others. This time he’ll know that I’m not alone with Lily and may send all four of the Ange, including Harlu, their leader. If that’s the case, I’ve even less time to get Lily to Velesi.

“Tharin,” asks Mellis, coming to a stop next to me, “how was it that Rinis found you?”

“I don’t know, c ousin . W
e need to make it to our next destination before word gets back that he’s no longer breathing .”

It’s
not that Rinis was killed in the explosion, but that he’s killed here, in this realm . He was a deadly enemy, but even your worst enemy deserves to be laid to rest in his native soil.

Looking down at Lily, Mellis says , “She’s not what I exp ected.” I pass her over to him.

“Did you see how she tried to protect you?” asks Alorn coming up from behind. “She’s got nerve, that’s for sure.”

Without thought, she had pushed me beh ind her. I knew she was afraid ―
no, she was terrified. T
here was no way that she would have been able to defend the two of us against Mellis and the others. Yet, she didn’t hesitate. She put herself before me, to protect me. I shake my head giving up trying to figure her out.

Mellis is right.
She’s not what any of us expected, but I do know this . F
rom this point on , no more risks. I will not let my emotions about this situation with her and Kalis distract me from doing what needs to be done. She won’t leave my side until she’s safely back at Velesi. I give orders to the others and turn back t o find Mellis still holding Lily .

“Mellis put her in my car . You ride with Phoris and Alorn.” I command, maybe a little sharper than I mean to. He stares at her a moment longer , and then looks at me . A n uneasy feeling slowly creeps into my chest. What i s going on here? Why this feeling of distrust, first with Tolan and now with Mellis? Before I can put my finger on it, Mellis swings her around and puts her in the passenger seat.
H
e walks up to me after he shuts her door . He places his hand on my shoulder and gives it a brotherly squeeze.

“She’
ll suit you well, c ousin,” and with that, he walks pas t me to the waiting SUV ahead of us. I watch him walk away, not sure what just happened. I must be exhausted from constantly being on my guard all night ―
against the attackers and the girl in the car.

I wait along the side of the car when Tolan pulls up behind us. A young girl in black jeans, black t-shirt and torn sneakers bursts out of the passenger side running toward Lily.
S
he tries to open the door but it’s locked. She slaps at the window with her palms calling for Lily to wake up. Before I make a move, Tolan comes up behind her and pulls her away roughly .
I’m stun ned by my brother’s treatment of her. I stand aside and watch as the girl, who I assume is Julia, turns to face my brother. They stare each other down, breathing hard , both their faces are furious ly red . I watch my brother’s reaction to Lily’s friend, and then I look her over. Unlike Lily, Julia is tall and lean. Her blonde hair rivals my brother’s in color.
While Lily’s hair falls down her back, Julia’s hair is crudely cut in a short bob the same length as Tolan’s. They a re like two burning stars compl e menting each other. That is if it didn’t look like they wanted to kill each other first .

“Tolan
?
”

Witho
ut losing eye contact with Julia , he answers, “What is it , Tharin?”

“Will you introduce me to Lily’s friend?” I ask lean ing against the SUV.

“No! She isn’t worth an introduction, ” sneers my brother. If he weren’t so serious I would fall down laughing.

“Why
, you pig! I should have hit you harder!” yells Julia .

I look over at Tolan and see a knot forming at the side of his left temple. I also note the murderous look on his face. I glance over at Julia , but she’s beyond murder and stands her ground, facing my brother with steel resolve.
H
er feet set for any move that Tolan might make.
Unlike Lily, here was a trained fighter.
Before either Julia or I know of his intentions, Tolan swoops in on her, grabbing her by the waist, pulling her roughly against him and kisses her hard.
Julia struggles for a moment, but then leans into him, letting him take her weight.
It takes me a few seconds to realize that I’m staring with my mouth wide open.

When he finally pulls away, they hold on to each other without a feeling of romantic intent .
Instead they’
re hold ing on to one another for support , having lost their equilibrium. Tolan looks down at Julia then bends to take her lips again. This time the kiss is more gentle, but not less urgent. When he finally releases her, they are both weak and dazed. He walks Julia , who is leaning against him, to the car they came in.
Once he has her inside, he shuts the door and nods once at her when she thanks him in a quiet voice. H
e then walks back toward me , still breathing unevenly .

“You okay, b
rother?” I ask still stun ned by the whole scene.

He nods
his head several seconds before looking at me. As he continues to catch his breath , he turns once again to look at Julia . She sits in the passenger seat staring back at him in the same dazed state .

“I’m going to have Mellis drive her,” he finally says not taking his eyes off Julia .
Abruptly, he turns and makes his way to the first SUV. I watch as he knocks on the window and waits for Mellis to roll it down . He moves back as Mellis steps out trying to figure out what Tolan is saying. Mellis looks over at Julia , takes t he key from Tolan and walks past me with a smile. He makes his way to the car and gets behind the wheel. I look back at Tolan, but he’s already in the passenger seat. This has been an unusual night. I make my way to the driver’s side, climb in and just sit for a second.
What just happened?
I look over at Lily and reach past her. I find the latch at the side and slowly let the seat recline as far back as it will go. Once I buckle her in, I adjust her head so that it lies in a more comfortable angle. I trace her jaw line, pushing some of her hair from her face.

“Lily Michaels,” I whisper softly, “what am I to do with you?”

*

I don’t know how long I’ve been out, but when I come to, I’m sleeping with my head on the softest pillow ever made .
I bury myself into i ts soft silkiness and never want to wake up. If only someone would turn off the loud air condition er . Something heavy is resting on my shoulder and as I open one eye I find myself facing something furry and black. I try to push away only to discover a huge panther arm ending in a massive clawed paw. I wake fully with a start and then freeze. I tilt my head up and see Cessa sleeping with her head pushed back so that my view is of her whiskered jaw and sharp fangs.
Her purring sounds like a well—
oiled machine and I’ve been using her arm as my pillow. I slowly try to pull myself away and just when I think I’m in the clear, she wakes with a start, her head coming up and releasing me at the same time. She looks at me as if to ask what I’m doing.

I scoot away from her as far as the wall behind me will allow.
We are in a small dimly li t deserted room.
Cessa puts her head back down and turn s to lie on her back, with all four of her legs up in the air. She starts to rub her back and head on the floor, wiggling as if trying to scratch an itch. She pauses for a second looking at me upside down. She wiggles her body again and moves her large head closer to me until it’s only inches from my drawn up legs. She stares at me again with her green feline eyes as if waiting for me to do something. I have no idea what she wants. She places one of her paws over her eyes and lies there for a minute until she peeks from under her paw. At that point I can’t help myself .
I laugh at her silliness, forgetting that she’s no ordinary cat.

“Aw,
is this what you want?” I ask as I reach out and start to scratch her head, then with both hands I begin to rub her ears.
A look of complete ecstasy comes over her face and I find myself laughing harder as I continue scratching and massaging her head.

“Aw,
it is, isn’t it? You big kitty cat,” I coo as I move to kneel beside her and start rubbing her stomach. The cat is beside herself. She continues to lie on her back, stretch ing out her legs to give me complete access to her stomach area. Her coat is rich and soft. I can feel her heart pounding steadily as her soothing purring grows louder.