Warrior's Rise (26 page)

The hand around Logan’s throat loosened enough so that he could open his eyes and peer at his captor. Tall, taller than him, with a massively strong build. His hair was to his shoulders, white and bedecked with braids and beads. His eyes were pale blue, the color of ice. He was dressed in skins and furs and actually reminded Logan of a Viking. The angles of his face were hard and his features, sharp. The glower he gave Logan was deadly, but he shifted his gaze to Lucy. “And why, human pup, do you seek the Kaleydia?”

Lucy stood tall, her chin raised in defiance. Logan blinked, wondering where she’d been storing this sudden reserve of courage. It made his heart twist because the stubborn look in her eyes reminded him of Willow.

Lucy stabbed her finger towards Logan. “He
is
Alveda d’Kai and we seek an alliance with the Kaleydia to save the Avari people.”

The man holding Logan snorted. “We have no allegiance to the Avari people.”

“No, but you have the same enemy,” Logan volunteered. The icy eyes returned to him and a shiver went down his spine at the primal, dangerous look in them. Regardless of his body’s reaction, he met the man’s eyes in challenge. “A certain black-haired fairy queen with a penchant for wearing wolf pelts into battle.”

The man’s eyes turned from dangerous to shocked, then went back to a look that was even more dangerous. His upper lip curled into a snarl. “Cyrcinus,” he growled. “She tried to slaughter my people, and she killed my daughter, then had the audacity to wear her skin into battle.” His fingers tightened around Logan’s throat as if he’d had something to do with it.

“Who would do something like that?” Aki cried suddenly. She shook her head and adopted a look that resembled the one Logan’s captor had. “People disgust me!” she went on, ignoring the way the men guarding her pushed their spears closer in warning.

Logan’s captor cocked his head to the side in curiosity as he turned his attention to Aki. “What do the affairs of wolves have to do with you, human pup?”

Aki snorted. “Wolves are beautiful, intelligent creatures and they should be treated with respect and admiration. No one has the right to think that they are so superior that they can just kill a bunch of wolves and then parade around in their fur! What kind of sick world do we live in anyway?”

Logan smirked in spite of the situation. Leave it to Aki…

To his surprise, his captor regarded her for a moment, then turned to Logan and studied him. “Do you share this sentiment?”

He arched an eyebrow. “Definitely,” he replied without hesitation. “I don’t think wolves should be slaughtered anymore than I think a bunch of pacifist fairies should be slaughtered. We can give you Cyrcinus if you just help us free the Avari.”

He stared into Logan’s eyes for a moment longer, as if assessing his worth, then stepped back, released his hold on his throat, and motioned for his men to leave the kids be. He folded his strong arms over his equally as strong chest and faced Logan. “You have my attention. Speak, human.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

After the spears had been lowered and the Kaleydia had apparently realized that Logan and his passel of kids were no threat, the men busied themselves with setting up camp for the night and Logan now found himself sitting across a fire, staring into the icy eyes of the leader through the flames. It was dusk and not a whole lot had been accomplished. He’d told the leader the entire story, but he felt like his presence was more of a nuisance than anything else. He felt like he and the kids were being tolerated and nothing more.

“So you wish to engage my people in your war against the Supporo?” he finally drawled.

Logan sighed and tried to keep his temper from getting the best of him. They were running out of time. He’d wasted an entire day trying to find the Kaleydia and then convince them to help. So far, nothing was happening. It was frustrating and discouraging. “Actually, I’m putting my masculine pride aside, and I’m begging you,” he grumbled.

The leader arched an eyebrow.

“We cannot take on the entire Supporo army by ourselves,” Logan went on, indicating the kids. “They are human and barely know how to use their weapons. I am half human, and apparently my human DNA knocked out any cool abilities I might have gotten as an Alveda d’Kai. I’m formidable; I can hold my own, but not against a hundred armed troops. I have one weapon from my world that I can use properly.” He pulled his gun out and showed it, then set it on the ground. “I might be able to knock down quite a few if my aim is perfect, but that’s before Cyrcinus shoots me with a poison dart and I die a painful death.”

“Please, Mr. uh…” Colt jumped in, then indicated that he had no idea what their host’s name was.

“Fangborn,” he supplied.

Colt blinked and arched an eyebrow. “Mr. Fang…born, you guys are the only shot we have. Darien is my best friend. He means so much to all of us; he means everything to the Avari people. And Miss Willow, she’s amazing. And Logan loves her.”

Logan blinked. Okay, then. Apparently, Colt thought that little bit of information was necessary for persuasion. He sighed and averted his eyes. Was that what he felt for her? He didn’t know. He’d never loved anyone before. No one but himself anyway. Was that what the strange, wrenching, heavy feeling around his heart was? Love? Love for Darien? Love for the Avari? Love for a stubborn and prideful queen who would rather run and hide than teach her people how to fight? Logan had spent his entire life fighting. It was his solution to everything. In the past, he would have thought that Willow was a coward for hiding her people. He would have thought the entire village was made up of cowards. He would never have done what he was currently doing to solve a problem. He’d always been an act first, think later kind of guy. He would never have tried to outsmart Cyrcnius in the past. He would have charged into the village half-cocked and probably would have gotten everyone killed. And he would never have sat across from a wolf who looked like he wanted to eat him, begging him for help. He probably would have fought him too… And would have ended up getting everyone killed.

He’d learned so much about himself and about life in such a short amount of time. Willow had taught him more in one month than he’d learned in his entire life. There was a time to fight, but there was also a time to think. A time to put your pride aside and do what you needed to do to get something accomplished. He thought that it may have required more strength of character to do that than it did to attack someone.

Fangborn’s smile was pure malice, showing off a pair of menacing fangs. “There are some things in life that are more terrifying than death. Cyrcinus thinks she is the one supreme ruler of the realm. She would welcome death at my hand rather than be enslaved to my people.”

Logan raised his eyebrows. “Slavery… That suits her, I think, considering she loves it so much. Maybe it’s about time she felt what it was like.” He nodded. “Very well. Cyrcinus is all yours. For that guarantee you will help take back the Avari village and free the captives. Fair trade.”

Fangborn’s smile remained and he shook his head. “I didn’t say I would free the captives.”

Logan frowned.

“When the Kaleydia engage in battle, they take the spoils for themselves. For Cyrcinus alive, we will free the Avari people. The two captives, however, will be ours as well.”

Logan felt like someone had socked him in the stomach. This man was promising to free the Avari, but then take Willow and Darien as slaves,
along
with Cyrcinus?

Fangborn looked back to Logan. “The Kaleydia need helpers in the winter. Our women are scarce and that leaves few to help make preparations in the village while the warriors are hunting. Slaves are sometimes necessary. Therefore, that is the bargain. Our help for the enslavement of those three.”

Logan’s world felt like it was spinning. Rage like he had never known filled him and told him to leap across the fire and beat the man black and blue. He fisted his hands and forced himself to remain where he was, but he couldn’t banish the image of Willow being a slave to these barbaric people. What would they do to her? She was a regal, elegant noblewoman. She was not meant to serve a bunch of shape-shifters who were no better than pirates. And Darien… he was a warrior. The thought of him having to stoop to such a low standard when he had so much to offer the world made Logan shake with the force of his anger.

“I see my offer does not please you,” Fangborn continued. “Do you have something else you wish to trade?”

Logan looked up at him in confusion. He had nothing. He was out of options. He was backed up against a wall.

Fangborn raised an eyebrow. “Though the Kaleydia need slaves to help with the work in the village, they also need slaves to help protect the women while the hunters are away. A strong man might be more useful than a boy and a woman.”

“Your freedom will be forfeit.” His eyes narrowed and he sneered at Logan. “The choice is yours. Do you love these two enough to give up your own life, your own freedom? Would you sacrifice all you have to see them go free?”

Images flashed through Logan’s mind at high speed. Images of Willow. Her smile, her laugh, her kiss, her touch, her fiery, stubborn temper. He would never experience those things again… But she would be free. Her people would be free. And Darien, his brother… He would be able to have a life better than him. He would be so much better than him. He already was.

Cyrcinus’ words echoed through his mind.
Then you have to ask yourself, which is more important? You being a slave and the Avari people you love being free? Or you being free and the Avari being enslaved?
He knew the answer. There was only one answer. Willow and Darien had done everything for him. They had taken a useless waste of a person and turned him into something altogether different. Someone with honor. Someone with dignity. Someone who had a purpose, who knew what love was, who knew what it meant to live life and not just exist within it. They had freed him already. They had freed his soul. Nothing could take that away from him. No one could put a shackle on that.

He knew in that moment what it meant to have real courage. Courage wasn’t beating a man up because he looked at you funny. Courage wasn’t belittling people. Courage wasn’t pretending to be the king of the mountain because it made you feel better about yourself. Courage was doing what you never thought you would do to help another. Courage was giving up everything for love.

He looked down and swallowed hard, then met Fangborn’s eyes. “Deal.” His voice sounded raspy even to his own ears.

Fangborn looked surprised. “You willingly give your life over to us?”

He sighed. “Do what you will with me,” he said. “If anything happens to them, my life is over anyway. I was nothing before them. They are all that matter.”

He gave a curt nod. “Fine. It is done. We will attack tomorrow morning.” He stood and left the fire, ending the conversation.

Logan felt a sinking feeling settle into his stomach, but it had nothing to do with knowing that he would be a slave. He wasn’t afraid of the Kaleydia, and he could handle himself well enough. And he didn’t care that he would never be able to go back to the human realm. It had little to offer him anyway. It was Willow… Knowing he would never see her, or touch her, again. It was surprising, for he had never felt it before, but knowing he would be giving that up hurt worse than anything else.

“Logan,” Lucy murmured, coming up to sit next to him.

He looked down into her tear-filled eyes and felt stinging behind his own. “It’s the only way, Luce. It’s all right.”

She shook her head and bit her bottom lip, then flung her arms around him and cried. He would have been okay if that had been it, but all of the others surrounded him as well, holding onto him and crying quietly. It shattered his heart. Everything he had gained, everything he had become, was being taken from him. For once in his miserable existence he had known what love was, what family was. Now, he would have to go back to being alone. Always alone. He was meant to be alone.

He could handle it. That wasn’t the problem. It wasn’t a question of
if
he could deal with it. What killed him was the fact that he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to let all of it go. He didn’t want everything he’d come to love to disappear like a dream. He didn’t want to go back to his cold, solitary existence. He could never be what he once was. Traveling backwards was impossible. Not now that he knew what he
could
be. He’d never be able to fully feel nothing again, never be able to indulge himself in mindless pleasures to drown the empty feeling. He’d been able to before because he hadn’t known what the empty feeling was. He knew what it was now, and he knew what would fill it…