Captive By Night: A Dardanos, Co. Taken Collection

by Calle J. Brookes

  Kindara was about ready to caution her friend when a shout sounded outside the hall. The room began to shake. Paintings fell from the wall and crashed to the floor.

  Kindara jerked to her feet. “Auri?”

  “I don’t know, Kin. Cerridwen?” Auri’s words were tight. She clutched the child as close to her chest as she could, using the arm opposite of her injury to shield the child’s head and chest area. “Do you know what that is?”

  “No…I want my daddy.” The girl popped her thumb in her mouth as she cuddled close to Auri. “I’m scared.”

  The walls shook again. Tile displaced from the ceiling and fell to the floor, narrowly missing Kindara. She took the child from Auri. “Come. We can’t stay here. We’re going to find your father and uncle. Auri, goddess knows I don’t think you should be moving around, but we can’t stay here.”

  The other woman was already struggling to her feet. “Let’s move. You got her?”

  “I’ve got her. Tell me if you need to stop for a moment.”

  “I’ll manage. Let’s get her out of here before the damned walls come tumbling down.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Rathan recognized the sound of an antiquated canon being fired the moment the first ball hit. He ran, his brother on his heels.

  Kindara. Where was his woman? He flashed to her side, as the tell-tale pop that signaled his brother’s flashing out sounded behind him. He knew Ren would be finding Cerridwen and getting her to safety.

  He repopulated in the back hall of the west wing of his ancestral home. His brother was half a second behind him, his larger body taking longer to repopulate. Kindara carried young Cerridwen clutched in her arms and had her healer’s bag upon her back, as she helped the warrior woman limp down the hall.

  “Take them.” Rathan pulled his woman close to him as the walls around them shook. Someone was aiming all their arsenal toward the west corridor. Toward his woman and spawn. “Take them to Gaia. To her brother. Keep them there and safe!”

  “I fight with you!” Ren had his sword drawn, his face angry and fierce.

  “You protect them! They’re my life, brother! Go!” Rathan pulled the warrior woman up into his arms and shoved her toward his brother. “Pet, tell your brother and your king the threat is to you and the spawn. You must be kept safe until I come for you myself. No one else! My brother will stand in my stead until I come for you!”

  ****

  Kindara stared at him for a moment, her arms clutched tight around the demon child. Fear was clear on his face, fear and determination. “But…I can’t leave. Bron and Belnus…”

  “I will find them and send them and Danae to you as soon as I can. But you must go!” His eyes were wild as he opened the portal back to Colorado.

  “What is it?”

  “Canons, most likely. Laced with some kind of dark magic.” Renakletos held Auri close, tucking her head under his chin as the walls continued to shake. “This wing is the weakest. It will not be able to sustain much more damage before it collapses from the force of the canons. Add in whatever dirty spells the warlocks have created, we do not have much time!”

  “But why?” Auri demanded, her words muffled into the large warrior demon chest where he refused to let her raise her head.

  “They want Kindara and Cerridwen.” Rathan waved his hands, parting the ether to reveal the inner gardens of Kindara’s home. Several shadows were present moving behind the ether, but she could not make out their features. “As my heirs, they are the main threat to Agmendias.”

  Kindara’s hands tightened around Cerridwen and she said a quick prayer to the goddess that she would be able to keep her babe safe. “What are you going to do?”

  “Defend my damned castle and rip Agmendias and his men into shreds. Ren, take them to her brother or a man named Rand Taniss. The wolf will keep them as safe as I would, and he owes me a blood debt. Above all, keep them safe! Now, go! Go!”

  He reached out and lifted Kindara off her feet. He set her through the ether and into her world. She sat the child down and turned back to the portal as Ren carried Auri through. Rathan was just visible inside the ether. His world shook around him. The wall behind him began to crumble. Kindara’s chest seized. “Demon!” She started back toward him.

  He cursed, began waving his hands together to close the portal. Kindara dove toward it, toward him.

  Hands stopped her. Held her back. Strong hands she couldn’t resist. The ether closed around the demon, cutting her off from him.

  He was gone. “No!”

  The hands holding her pulled her tight to a strong male chest. Kindara looked up into the face of her brother. “Cormac. You have to help him. You!” She pointed at Rathan’s brother. “Go help him. Go back!”

  “I follow my king’s orders though I do not like them.” Renakletos still held Auri against his chest, glaring at the males surrounding them. “He said stay with you and keep you safe. That is what I will do.”

  Aodhan tried to take his sister from the larger warrior. “Give her to me, demon.”

  “State your claim.” Renakletos pulled her away. His daughter wrapped her tiny arms around his thigh and held on as she stared at the half dozen strange men surrounding her.

  “That’s my sister you’re holding so tightly she cannot breathe.”

  “Put me down. I can walk.” Aureliana squirmed in the warrior demon’s arms. “Kindara, are you ok?” “I…we…need to go back. Help him.”

  “My brother needs no help to deal with the traitor.” Ren loosened his hold, allowing Aureliana to breathe more freely. He ignored Aodhan’s reaching hands. “He says stay here. Here we will stay. Now, is there someplace I can put her? It is best she not be jostled too much. I am sure your men folk will have many questions for me.”

  “You don’t put me anywhere, demon, except down. I’m not helpless and I can walk.”

  “You have sixty-eight stitches in your back and side, put there two days ago. You cannot walk without hurting. You will be carried. You will not argue.” Renakletos tightened his arms, his expression fierce. “Now, which of you is the king? The healer’s brother? We have much to speak of.”

  “Arrogance is a family trait.” Aureliana wasn’t happy about it, but she gave into the warrior. She dropped one hand to touch the child’s hair. “Cerridwen, you don’t have to be afraid. These are my friends and my brother. Kinney’s big brother, too.’’

  “I suggest we all take this inside.” Kindara recognized the voice of her king and she turned to see him just inside the archway leading into the royal wing of offices. Theo stood at his side. Kindara’s breath, unsteady anyway, grew more ragged. How was she to explain what had happened to Bronwen? “I would like some answers as to why you just appeared within our gardens, despite our security—no demon should be able to open a portal within the walls of this building. Not that you’re not welcome, Kinney. It just should not have been able to be done.”

  “My brother is king. He does what he wants, where he wants.” Ren shrugged the threatening stares off.

  “He said bring his woman to her brother. I assume one of you is he?”

  Cormac pulled Kindara to stand behind him. She didn’t resist, just continued to stare at the place she’d last seen the demon. “I am her brother. Why is the demon not with her? Where is young Bronwen? Belnus?

  What has happened to Aureliana? I suggest you explain yourself, demon. Or you will soon feel my sword.”

  Cormac’s hand clutched the hilt of the black jewel encrusted sword that marked him as being of the ancient band of demon hunters.

  Renakletos obviously recognized what the sword symbolized. “Were it not for my brother’s words against it, I would be running you through with that sword, Predatoi. But my brother and king ordered me to ensure Lady Kindara’s safety. I will gladly do that with my life.”

  Aureliana sighed from her perch in the warrior demon’s arms. “Enough of this. No one is going to kill anyone here. Aod, Cormac, the demon king’s cas
tle was under attack. Little Cerridwen here is the king’s current heir. The giant here is her father and the demon king’s brother. In case you all have not figured it out.”

  “And Bronwen?” Theo asked from his position next to Kindara. He was stroking her hair, the gesture meant to soothe. The seer knew what she felt, Kindara understood that. “Where is my sister?”

  “She has been taken by the Lothicano Warrior King. My brother will be negotiating to get her back.

  Belnus is still in my brother’s castle. I am afraid I cannot say for certain his condition though he was well last I saw him.”

  “So if your brother’s castle is under attack how can he successfully retrieve my sister?” Theo asked though Kindara suspected he knew exactly where and how Bronwen was. He did not seem as upset as Kindara had expected, meaning he’d probably had a vision of his sister. She found that oddly reassuring. Now if he could just assure her that the demon was safe…

  “Rathan is king. High king. He will not fail.” Renakletos tightened his arms when Aureliana squirmed from obvious impatience.

  Kindara looked at Auri’s oldest brother. Aodhan studied the warrior demon, his expression one of wariness and suspicion. But he did not seem poised to attack. But if the demon continued to hold Auri, Kindara knew that would not last.

  “Can we please take this inside? I need to sit down. It has been a long few days. We will explain everything.”

  ****

  Kindara’s face burned into his mind. She had not wanted to leave him and that—more than anything-gave him a sense of triumph. His woman wanted him.

  But that was not important now. He had to isolate the traitor amongst his people. Nothing, no one, threatened Rathan’s family.

  He strode down the crumbling hallway with clear purpose.

  Rolfun, head guard of Rathan’s men, met him inside the great hall. “Sire, it’s the Lothicano Warrior

  King, here demanding the return of his twin.”

  “I will speak with him. There will be no war between warriors and demons today.” The warrior king would return Danae and young Bronwen, and Rathan would not declare war. It was as simple as that. “Send out a ‘party’ to meet him. Tell him I will speak with him in the great hall in two hours. In the meantime, I want to speak with Agmendias. It is high time he reaffirmed his loyalty. Or faced the consequences of his actions. I have no time to waste on these trivial matters. Go.”

  ***

  Kindara ignored the conversation around her. Auri was settled on the settee despite her brother’s protest that she be taken to her rooms and examined. Auri had countered with the fact that the top healer of the people was the one responsible for sewing her up—and it wouldn’t get any better than that. All of her arguments were made from the big warrior demon’s hold.

  Kindara kept quiet, her mind consumed with worry for the damned demon. His brother seemed remarkably unconcerned but hadn’t the demon said he didn’t trust his brother?

  So why had he sent him with her?

  Cormac echoed her questions. “Why did the demon Rathan not return with you?”

  “He has matters of state to address. He sent me to guard his female and spawn.”

  Kindara focused on his words and jerked her attention toward her brother. Had he caught what Renakletos had said?

  His darkening face told her he had. “Kindara?”

  “We will talk in my suite, brother.”

  This was not something open for public discussion. The babe…the babe was the most important part of her world now. It had to be. And she was not sorry for his existence.

  “We will.”

  The king’s eyes showed the smallest hint of surprise. In four hundred years of ruling, Dhar Rydere had seen many things. She doubted this babe made that much of an impact on him. Dhar Rydere patted her shoulder. “Kinney, what of Bronwen? Belnus?”

  “Belnus was slightly injured upon arrival in Relaklonos. But he was recovering nicely. When the demon’s castle was attacked, he was too far away to return with us.”

  “So is there’s a significant threat to his life?” Rydere asked the warrior demon.

  “No. The attack was mild and more a political statement than anything. They attacked our oldest wing of the castle that we needed to refurbish anyway. As a face-saving measure.”

  “So why the big hurry to return Kindara and Aureliana that you would leave without Belnus—the guard we assigned to go with Kindara?” Aodhan settled at his sister’s side, one hand on her shoulder to hold her still. “Do not mess with us.”

  “Because my first blood duty is to protect my brother’s female and his heirs. Currently, my daughter Cerridwen is the heir presumptive. The spawn’s birth will change that. They both must be kept safe. Even though the attack was presumed to be mild and insignificant, my brother felt it more prudent to remove his female and heirs from the castle until the threat is neutralized. And until the traitor in my brother’s court has been eliminated. My brother will return for his female when the time is right.”

  “And when will that be?” Cormac asked. “I have much to discuss with this demon king.”

  “No, brother. You do not. Rathan will be coming for me and the babe.” Kindara paused as all eyes turned toward her. Auri’s alone were supportive and reassuring. “And when he does, you will not interfere. And…and…I will be going with him.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  She bled to be with him. Ached for him nearly as much as she had in the days after Iavius. Only the knowledge that Rathan still lived lessened her pain.

  Three weeks. She had heard nothing from him in three weeks. She’d kept herself busy with the medical tomes she’d managed to bring through the portal with her, but she’d read the six texts completely. Now she needed him. She’d tried telling herself it was so that she could return to Relaklonos and finish her research.

  But that was just a lie. She missed the arrogant demonic idiot. Missed the feel of his touch, the light in his eyes when he looked at her. The tenderness on his face when he spoke of their babe.

  Their babe had passed his first month in her womb and Barlaam had assured her the babe—and it was definitely a boy—was strong and growing beautifully.

  He and Jierra were her solace. Her daughter was thrilled with the babe within her mother though she made little mention of the babes she herself carried.

  But damn him and the goddess herself, Kindara wanted the demon there to reassure her the babe was well, to hold her when the November chill froze Kindara to the very marrow of her being, to be…her mate.

  They were not Rajnis; Kindara had no doubts that Iavius was the mate the goddess had picked for her many, many centuries ago, but she knew she needed the demon now. Wanted him and would do what she had to in order to be with him.

  She stood, setting the medical book she’d been reading aside. She’d find her brother and the demon’s and inform them of her plans. She’d been away from the demon long enough and that ended today.

  Cormac sat curled up in the king’s recreation room, his Rajni asleep in his lap. Josey still suffered bouts of weakness that were near debilitating; Cormac stayed near her to ensure all her needs were immediately met. Yet Kindara knew that the ties between the two were still strained. She ached for her brother, and Josey, too.

  Cormac looked up when Kindara closed the door behind her. “Kinney.”

  “Cormac. I need to speak with you and the warrior demon Renakletos.”

  Cormac sat his mate gently on the sofa cushion, then stood. His face was darker than usual as he looked at her. “This is about that demon of yours, is it not?”

  “Stop reading my mind. You know I hate it when you do that.”

  Cormac had inherited that gift from their great-great-grandfather and he used it whenever it suited him. They had had many arguments through the years about him feeling the urge to take a walk through her mind whenever he wanted. But it had saved her life thirty years ago; he’d found her then through the agonized screams she’d felt
within her mind after Iavius’s death. Cormac had tracked her and the only other survivor with his gifts.

  She had resented him for so long; a part of her had hated him for not letting her die there beside Iavius and his young sister. That resentment had colored their relationship for these last thirty years.

  It was time that ended. Had he not found her when he did she would not have had the joy of raising her daughter, or have the hope for the future she had now.

  “I love you, big brother.” Kindara wrapped her arms around him, snuggled her face into his chest. “But…”

  “But you have to do this.” He finished for her, and for once she didn’t challenge him for walking through her thoughts. “I don’t have to like it.”

  “But you have to accept it.” Kindara pulled back and looked into the dark eyes so like their father’s had been. “I love him, and I love the babe. I will not lose them.”

  “I will see to it that you don’t,” Cormac’s vow was fierce, and Kindara saw the remembered pain on his face.

  He had cared for Iavius, too. Had grieved for the babe she’d lost. Though two hundred years existed between their ages, they had always been close. They had no other siblings and their parents had been gone three hundred years.

  Kindara and he were incredibly close; she knew he loved her. That love would have him accepting the demon.

  Now she just had to get back to her damned demon.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “Mama?”

  Jierra had not called her that in twenty years, and Kindara’s heart hurt at the need for reassurance buried in her child’s one word. Kindara set the jacket she held aside and faced the girl standing in her doorway.

  “Baby?”

  “You’re really going?” Jierra stepped into the room and pulled the door closed behind her. Kindara watched her daughter for a moment as the girl pushed some of the clothing spread over Kindara’s bed aside and sank down onto the foot. “Going back to him?”