Kaliya Sahni: Volume One (Kaliya Sahni Volumes Book 1)

by K. N. Banet

  It was a death sentence. Even if I saved him from this, he was a dead man.

  He lifted his head slightly and began to howl quietly. It was echoed, though. Somehow, his pack heard and howled.

  I grabbed his hand, squeezing it, knowing I needed to sit and stand witness even as my heart grew cold and hard. I couldn’t get emotional now. I had my survival to think about.

  He took another breath and died, his song trailing off like the end of a beautiful song.

  “Kaliya?”

  I turned slowly to Raphael and saw the blood covering him. His eyes were black as night, and the black veins radiating from them extended down his throat, over his chest, abdomen, and arms. He seemed bigger than normal—taller, wider.

  “Did you kill him?” I asked softly.

  Something terrible passed over his face as he nodded. I knew he hated killing, but I could only be grateful he knew what was at stake.

  “Did you see where any of the others went?”

  “Most ran out of the cell block—”

  A chunk of the building’s ceiling fell, and I realized why they hadn’t stuck around.

  “Shit.” I jumped to my feet, ignoring the wave of dizziness and the pain. There was no time for either. Just because the body hurt didn’t mean it couldn’t function, and I only needed it to function. “We need to move. Let’s go. Into the yard before this fucking building comes down. Let’s go.”

  I staggered the first couple of steps, but Raphael grabbed my elbow and helped me steady by the time we made it to the stairs that were covered in debris like the walkway. We jogged down the stairs and made our way out of the building into the yard, watching guards and prisoners fight all around us.

  It was war and that meant it was pure chaos. By the look of it, the southern cell block also had a breach. The smart criminals were running for the border of the compound. There weren’t enough guards. The werewolves had just lost their Alpha, and I knew Korey was probably reeling as she took over the pack and tried to stop this at the same time.

  “What’s the plan?” Raphael asked. I heard a gun cock and looked down to see him with his sidearm out in his free hand. “Do we run, or do we help?”

  “We help,” I said, coughing again. I must have breathed in another lungful of dust and smoke. Someone yelled, and I watched as Raphael grabbed a prisoner running for us and tossed him out of my sight.

  “How much do we help?” he demanded, looking down at me.

  “They’re officially escapees if they left their cell. We kill them.” Straightening, I pulled my sidearm and looked over the yard. I took a shot at someone wearing a prisoner jumpsuit and watched them go down.

  “That’s it?” Raphael was still next to me, staring at the mayhem around us. There was so much going on, our appearance outside had gone mostly unnoticed.

  “Kaliya!” a woman yelled. I turned to see Korey running for me, followed by several of her men, all decked out for war with both modern and ancient weaponry. “Tarak is—”

  “I know,” I said, gesturing back to the northern cell block remains. “His body is in there. I was with him until the end. Tell me where you want me.”

  “I don’t want you here,” she answered, looking past me for a second. “There’s already been breaches of the outer barrier. Our communications are down. We’ll be lucky if the Tribunal even got a message saying there was a security breach on their systems. I need you to get to your car and get out of here. Put Phoenix on Code Black, large scale breakout.”

  “Can do. How’s inside?”

  “Bad, but probably safer than out here. You were in the northern cell block when it happened…how are you still alive?” She seemed confused for a split second. Truthfully, I had the same question. Before I could say anything more, she shoved me aside and raised her gun, firing twice. “Get out of here. Until they leave the compound grounds, they’re ours to deal with. Hopefully, we can manage this, but you’re going to be needed on the outside.”

  “See you on the other side,” I said, nodding sharply as I turned to see what she had shot. A southern cell block prisoner lay dead ten feet from us. Whether he had been coming after us or not, I didn’t know. “I’ll make sure the word gets out and call in backup.”

  “Thank you.”

  I grabbed Raphael’s shirt and pulled him to follow me toward a guard gate in and out of the yard. Testing the halls was going to be safer than the war zone outside, something I agreed with Korey about. Prisoners were going to be thinking about escaping, not storming the fucking castle.

  The gate was unlocked with none of its normal security to slow me down. I tugged Raphael through the door and checked my weaponry while we had a moment.

  “Get to the car and get out. Those are our new objectives. If we run across any escapees, we’ll provide assistance and take them out. Clear?” I looked up at his black eyes, seeing he was still channeling his non-human abilities. His face was nearly black from the concentration of the veins radiating from his eyes. I was over getting freaked out by his magic, or whatever it was, but it was still disconcerting to see. At that moment, it didn’t faze me at all.

  “What’s Code Black?” he asked, keeping his cool better than I would have guessed. I was glad he understood the severity, not that it was hard to miss. More importantly, he was willing to do what was necessary, something he had already proved by the blood covering his arms and chest.

  “Lock down the city and surrounding area.” I started checking myself for injuries once I was satisfied that all of my things were on me, not lost in the rubble of the northern cell block. I wasn’t moving until I knew what my limitations were, and we were somewhat safe for the moment. I explained while I worked.

  “Phoenix will be the first place escapees hit because they can’t travel through the desert and live to tell of it. There’s a scale, based on the danger of the escaped prisoner and how much we consider them a public threat. Code Black is the order to shut everything down, lock your doors, and hide. We’ve never had to call it because we’ve never had anyone from the northern cell block escape.” I was finally satisfied and looked up at him.

  “Let’s get moving. The sooner we get out of the prison’s territory, the sooner I can call back to Phoenix and let everyone know what’s happened.” I started walking for the other end of the small hall, normally where guards would prep for their time in the yard.

  “Let me lead,” he said sharply, grabbing me before I could move out of the small guard hallway. When I turned to hiss at him, he slammed a hand over my mouth. “I heal through it all, remember? I’m less likely to die. Just tell me where to turn and how to get out of this fucking place.” He removed the hand once I nodded.

  “Don’t ever do that again,” I snapped.

  He chuckled darkly and opened the door at the end of the hall, checking the next hall before going out. I followed him, leaving only a foot between us, constantly checking over my shoulder. There was no such thing as being too cautious.

  “Jog,” I ordered softly, and he picked up the speed. “We’re close to the northern cell block. Head for administration signs, those offices are closest to the exit.”

  “Roger,” he said, pointing down the hall to a sign, leading us into a sharp left, then a quick right. The prison could be a little bit of a maze of rooms and offices—administration, interrogation rooms, medical wing, and even living quarters for most of the guards, though the living quarters were on the second and third floors. I didn’t think we’d have to go up there, but with everything happening, who knew.

  “Left here,” I sharply ordered, causing Raphael to veer down another hall. I ran into the back of him when he stopped. “What the—”

  I looked around him, and something threatened to eject from my stomach at the blood covering the hallway. I recognized Eliphas from behind, his scraggly long blonde hair, his signature black trench coat with symbols around the bottom. I’d seen that ugly trench coat enough to know no one wore it like him.

  “Elipha
s,” I exclaimed, jogging past Raphael. I couldn’t blame Raphael for not coming closer. He didn’t know who the warden was by a simple glance. “Hey, Eliphas—”

  The witch turned around, and for a moment, his wavy blond hair blocked my view of his face.

  “Run,” he said softly as he finished his turn. “The magical wards are down…”

  “Oh, gods,” I gasped.

  Where the witch’s eyes should have been were gaping holes.

  “I’ll live,” he said slowly. “Protected now. You need to get out.” His words grew clearer and stronger with each sentence, and I noticed the waviness, the lack of opacity around his edges. He was projecting himself.

  “Where are you?” I demanded.

  “It doesn’t matter. My fellow Wardens will be able to find me. You need to get out. Tell the Tribunal what’s happened—”

  “Who took your eyes, Eliphas?” I snarled.

  “Kartane,” he answered. “He tried to kill me, but the power transfer wasn’t completed, so he failed. Don’t worry. I’ll find him and win, even without my eyes.”

  His second in command attacked him. That had serious repercussions.

  “Why did you project here?”

  “I was trying to reach you. It worked, not exactly, but it worked. You’re the only person allowed to leave—”

  “I hear talking. Is there anyone here?” a singsong voice called from the hallway Raphael and I had just left. I quickly pulled an old, pure iron knife from my right boot, knowing it was possible I might have to use it.

  “Go,” Eliphas ordered, then disappeared.

  I didn’t say anything, turning back to grab Raphael and hauling ass.

  “Who—”

  “Don’t ask,” I whispered harshly as we turned around a corner. “Fuck.” We were staring at an elevator and stairwell access.

  “Kaliya, I could—”

  “Kaliya?” a giggling woman asked. “I’ve been looking for you.”

  I shoved Raphael toward the stairwell, my heart pounding. I didn’t look back, didn’t want to.

  “Run!” I yelled, knowing we were being hunted. “Now! Don’t fucking argue. Go!”

  He pulled open the door to the stairwell and started running up, which was the right choice. Going down would have been a dead end. Up, I could work with.

  “Don’t you want to play, Kaliya?” she asked behind me as I followed him. I knew who it was, an important reason I wasn’t looking back. It was also why I didn’t answer her. She was weaving charms into those words, a sweet trap she used to catch all of her victims. If I gave in and turned around, she would trap me in a living hell, then skin me alive. Knowing the outcome was the only reason I didn’t fall for it, feeling the tug of her magic as I ran up the stairs.

  “Don’t turn around. Don’t tell her your name. I won’t say it, so if you don’t, you’ll be safe,” I told Raphael as we made it to the top. “Go, find a window. We can’t stop.”

  “Okay.” He was short and simple with his response, and I was grateful for his focus. He held the door for me to run through, then slammed it closed. I found a hallway table and started pushing it over. He was able to move it in front of the door with ease. “Who is that?” he asked as we started running again.

  “That fae princess I was telling you about,” I answered, my heart pounding as we ran through the halls. “Find a window. Keep an eye out for one we can jump out of,” I corrected, seeing one too small for Raphael to fit through. I could get through any of them and be okay with it, but I couldn’t leave him to find another way out. If one of the northern cell block inmates was out hunting, that meant more probably were.

  “Isn’t there iron in this building that stops her from using magic?” he asked as we entered a guard lounge, panting together as we blocked one of the doors with couches before we stopped to rest in the back of the room.

  “Yeah, mostly in the actual cell blocks. The fae guard need to be able to work everywhere else. With the magical defenses down, there’s really nothing stopping any of the prisoners from having most, if not all, of their powers. Except the werewolves. They have silver in their systems.”

  “Are we going to get out of here alive?” he asked, and I felt the weight of the question.

  “Yes,” I promised. “But first, let’s hope we lost her. Who knows who else we’ll run into.”

  8

  Chapter Eight

  We took only a of couple minutes to catch our breath, but it was enough. The lounge had no windows, which meant we had to leave and go looking for one or find another staircase and get back to the ground floor. I gave Raphael a look over for injuries, but he was already healing nicely from the cuts and bruises. When he looked me over, I heard grumbling.

  “You’ll have a mean knot on the back of your head tomorrow, but no bleeding. There are a lot of scrapes and bruises and cuts. How does the rest of you feel?” His hands were large and probing, touching different areas, from my shoulders and ribs to my thighs and calves. My shoulders and back were the worst of it. Nothing seemed to be broken, but they would be sore for a while as the bruising healed. He came back up, his fingers grazing my cheek and jaw. I didn’t move as he stared me down.

  “I was punched in the face,” I said, shrugging a little. “We don’t have time to do this right now, not all of it. With any luck, we’ll get out, and I can treat the worst of it at home.”

  “I don’t know how you’re still on your feet,” he mumbled, his eyes once again moving up and down my body.

  “I trained for this. I learned how to move, even when my body wants to collapse. I learned how to focus while taking a physical beating. There are some things no one can just walk away from, like explosions going on right next to them, but a fight? That’s easy to walk away from.” I compartmentalized pain. Pain didn’t help me escape. Pain didn’t tell me much of anything. Hisao had trained me hard, and it was a valuable type of endurance training I recommended to every Executioner or whoever found themselves throwing punches against other supernaturals.

  “I fucking hate this place,” I mumbled as we went back to the door. “Are you ready?”

  “Whenever you are,” he said sharply, looking over me at the door, those pitch-black eyes giving away nothing. He was handling the situation well enough, better than me, but maybe that was because he didn’t know all the horrors that had been locked away.

  I opened the door and went out first this time since I knew who our possible enemies could be. This time, I noticed the quiet. Everyone was probably pulled to the cell blocks and the yard by the breach, leaving the living quarters eerie.

  “Okay, we’ve been getting turned around. Head west, pick a big window—” I was turning to look back at him as we walked slowly, whispering, but just beyond him, I saw her walk around a corner, and our eyes met.

  “There you are,” she crooned, smiling viciously. “Kaliya.”

  Her eyes were a pretty grass green, innocent, and large, doe-like, her hair wheat blonde and curly. She was tall and lithe, a view of perfection as many of the royal fae were. There was not a single thing wrong with her except her mental state.

  I was paralyzed in her gaze as the charms wrapped around me and held me still.

  Inside, I was screaming.

  Raphael turned quickly, realizing something was wrong. With a flick of her wrist, the fae used shadow bindings to send him into a wall and cleared her path to me.

  “I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” she whispered into my ear. A hand skimmed over my stomach and up, eventually caressing my face. “I’m going to see what’s so special about you that you could woo one of my nephews. A dirty, scaly thing like you had no right to touch something so perfect. You aren’t the type of person I normally want to kill, too dirty to touch, but sometimes, an exception must be made.”

  I tried to move my eyes to Raphael, who had hit the wall hard enough he went down to the floor and stopped moving. He was out of sight, and all I could hope for was he got moving.

 
Get up. Raphael, please get up. You need to get her to stop looking at me. Please.

  A nail grew sharp on my face and started to cut in at my jawline, very slowly cutting a line. Horror grew in my chest as I realized she was going to start right now. I couldn’t even blink as my mind screamed for freedom. I tried to twitch even a finger, thinking of my iron knife in my hand. I couldn’t scream as the pain grew, and her nail dug deeper as it went toward the center of my throat.

  I heard the rustle of clothing, then a black fist flew across my vision and hit the bitch square in the jaw. The moment her eyes were off mine, the charm snapped. I took my chance and brought the knife up into her ribs, hearing her scream as it slid between bones into a lung. Before she could try any magic, I shoved it into her again and kept stabbing into her chest as she fell to the floor. I didn’t realize I was screaming until Raphael grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me off her, forcing me to his chest.

  “She’s dead. She’s dead, Kaliya,” he whispered urgently.

  I was shaking as I pulled away from him, looking down at my bloody hands.

  “Yeah, I know,” I finally replied, shoving the knife back into my boot. I unsheathed my talwar instead, hoping for better weaponry for the next fight if there was one. My family had given it to me, and for a moment, I let that comfort me.

  She’s dead, and I’m still here with my skin attached. That’s a win. She won’t be doing that to anyone ever again. That’s a win.

  It took several deep breaths to be ready to move again.