Kalindra (GateKeepers)

by Bennett, Sondrae

  “I thought you were hungry?”

  “I’m always hungry,” he replied.

  The breath froze in her throat when she caught the look in his eyes. Pure heat. He was hungry for something, alright. But not food.

  Turning around, Kali lowered the heat on the oven. Not ideal, but it would give them enough time for a quickie. Just as well. The heat of his embrace still lingered on her skin. She shivered as anticipation snaked up her spine.

  “Alright. You have twenty minutes. Let’s do this.” A lot could be done with twenty minutes.

  Chapter 10

  Flying into the air as harpy, Kali soared over the fence surrounding her property and shifted in midair, landing nimbly on the other side. She stretched toward the heavens, her smile plastered on her face.

  What a perfect way to start the day. Her blood was pumping, her muscles were pleasantly sore. Even the sun shone through the foliage. She closed her eyes and let the warm rays soak into her skin. Absolute perfection.

  Her growling stomach interrupted her thoughts. Well, maybe not perfect yet. She was starving. Her breakfast probably still sat on the counter where she’d been preparing it before being ported away.

  She remembered the milk with a grimace. They’d have to pick up some more. Warm milk? Eeew. She’d have to drink her coffee black today. The thought brought on a shudder. She liked her coffee sweet and light. But black coffee was better than no coffee.

  So intent on getting to the coffee machine, Kalindra almost didn’t see him sitting at the table. But when she did, his glare froze her in place. Busted.

  She’d hoped he hadn’t seen her little disappearing act. But the daggers shooting from his eyes said he had. Or at least had gone looking for her and discovered she’d placed him on lockdown.

  “Morning,” she all but sang, turning toward the coffee maker. Ignorance seemed like as good a plan as any.

  “That’s all you have to say to me?” Uh oh. He might seem simply pissed off, but his voice spoke of a darker emotion. He sounded downright furious.

  “Have you had breakfast?” she asked, avoiding the conversation. She would not let herself be drawn into a fight. She was in the right here, so he’d just have to get on board.

  The scrape of his chair seemed to silence everything else in the room. She turned toward the sound in time to see him lean over the table on his fists.

  “No, I haven’t eaten breakfast. And do you know why?” The anger in his eyes warned caution. Personally, Kali had never been a big fan of caution.

  “Can’t imagine.”

  “Because when I woke up to the sound of fighting at the gate, I ran to grab my sword. Do you know what happened then?”

  Oh, for crying out loud, what was this, twenty questions? Well, she wouldn’t help him. If he wanted to act all pissy, he’d have to explain it himself.

  “Ooo, storytime!” Which somehow only seemed to anger him more. “What happened then?”

  If he clenched his jaw any tighter, he was liable to break some teeth. “I discovered that someone had locked me in. I don’t suppose you have any idea who would do that?”

  “Santa Claus?”

  He turned, hurling his coffee mug against the wall. The crash of ceramic against rock resonated in the resulting silence.

  She stared at the wall in shock, where coffee dripped down the wall to the broken shards on the ground.

  “You broke my…” She stopped when her gaze landed on Cameron. His back was to her, head hung downward, chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. He looked to be struggling with control. Over a silly little assault? It wasn’t even a challenging one. A few witches who thought their magic would protect them.

  “Cameron?” she questioned, crossing toward him. For a minute when she put her arms around him, she thought he would pull away. Slowly, the tension drained from his muscles.

  “You locked me out.”

  Still he wouldn’t look at her, but rage swirled in his voice. This level of anger didn’t match the deed. Yes, she’d locked him inside the castle grounds, but for his own good. And hers as well. Cameron in the fight would be too big a distraction, and could end up costing both of them their lives. She’d made the right decision. But she couldn’t help questioning herself as she gazed at his stiff back.

  “It was an easy fight, Cameron. Three witches. I could’ve taken them with one arm tied behind my back.” A bit of an exaggeration. But it hadn’t been a difficult fight. Kalindra had come up against much worse. When the forces started attacking in greater numbers, they posed a real problem.

  He turned then, and she took a physical step back from the blazing fury in his eyes. It was worse than she’d thought.

  “But it could have been different. What if that had been like the fight with the gorgons? Only this time, I wasn’t there to save the day. Damn it, Kali, you could be dead right now.”

  Was that worry she detected? For her? Warm fuzzy feelings filled her, but she pushed them down. She could analyze those later. First, she had to deal with this.

  “You could be dead, too.” She closed her eyes and prayed for the right words to make him understand. Risking his life wasn’t something she was willing to do. “If you had run into that fight this morning, you could have just as easily been killed. More easily. I’ve been doing this a long time, Cameron. It’s more than just my job. It’s become who I am. But you…you have no need to give your life to protect the gate.”

  “I’m not worried about protecting the gate.”

  Kalindra opened her eyes and met his assessing gaze.

  At least he seemed calmer now. “I’m worried about protecting you.”

  * * * *

  He would have laughed at the look on her face if anger and fear weren’t still churning his stomach. In his mind, he kept reliving that moment when he’d heard the sounds of battle coming from outside the window. The image of the gorgon, standing in front of a frozen Kali, inches away from striking her dead kept flashing through his mind, then and now. The thought of what would have happened weeks ago had he not been there to strike the gorgon down chilled him to the bone.

  When he’d heard the sounds that morning, his heart leapt into his throat. For the first time, the reality of Kali’s task, of her always being moments away from death, had hit him. He’d run full tilt to the training room and grabbed his sword. He’d do whatever he had to in order to keep her alive and well. She was his to protect, he could feel it in his gut.

  With sword in hand, he’d hurried toward the battle, needing to do whatever he could to help. And guard her. When he’d reached the fence surrounding the property and realized he couldn’t get to her, he’d gone insane with worry. She’d trapped him. He tried climbing over, but the fence was surrounded by hedges and impenetrable. He’d tried breaking the door down, but the damn thing wouldn’t budge.

  Even when he’d been captured by the vampires, he’d never felt such a sense of helplessness. Of needing to do something, anything, but not being able. She’d completely emasculated him.

  He was furious.

  “Cameron, you would be going into battle blind.”

  “So are you! You have no idea what you’ll be face-to-face with.”

  “But that’s different–”

  “Bullshit. You’re not–”

  “It is different. You could die!”

  “You aren’t the only one who gets to take a risk!”

  They were both yelling now, the tension in the room thick as molasses between them. He looked at the mulish set of her jaw. Stubborn.

  “Stop being so unreasonable,” he shouted, desperately trying to get through.

  “You’re the one being unreasonable.”

  “Why are you being so pigheaded about this?”

  “Did you just call me a pig?”

  He threw up his hands, disgusted with the whole thing. Disgusted with her. How could she expect him to do nothing while she went out and risked her life? How could she possibly think he’d be okay with an arra
ngement like that?

  “You need to let me fight beside you.” It really was that simple. Because he couldn’t sit around and worry anymore. He needed to be there, helping her. Keeping her safe to the best of his ability. Nothing else would be acceptable.

  “No.” From her crossed arms, to her clenched jaw, and her determined eyes, Cameron knew there was no budging her.

  “I need some air.” This wasn’t over. Far from it. But he wouldn’t continue hitting his head against a brick wall. She would see things his way. Just as soon as he figured out how to open her eyes.

  * * * *

  Desire punched into her the moment she turned the corner and saw him. Sweat dripped down his face as he practiced, sword in hand. With as often as she found him with the damn thing, she’d almost believe it kept him here, not her.

  A less confident woman might get a complex. Except after that outburst earlier, his feelings toward her were pretty clear. At least, it was clear he had some pretty strong ones where she was concerned. He cared about her. A lot, if this morning were anything to go by. Which was good. Because she cared about him a lot. Too much to let him risk his life in a pointless pursuit.

  She stood in the doorway and stared at him for a moment. He hadn’t noticed her yet, so she took the opportunity to watch him practice. Though she hated to admit it, she was impressed. He was better than she gave him credit for. His skill had improved leaps and bounds in the past couple weeks alone.

  Ever since the gorgon attack. She closed her eyes as she realized the reason behind his pushing himself. He wanted to be ready to help her when the next attack came.

  But he wasn’t ready to go up against her kind. The thought of him fighting some of the creatures who’d attacked the gate in the past hundred years made her dizzy. He’d never be ready. She’d never be ready.

  Why should he want that, anyway? He was safe here. Besides, he’d said he was happy with things how they stood. Train, eat, sleep, and fuck. That was the deal, right? So what was the problem? All he had to worry about was making her happy, while she had the fate of the world on her shoulders. Literally. Why couldn’t he do this one little thing for her? Stay safe inside these walls, and let her do her job.

  Well, he was just going to have to man up, because she had control and her foot was down. So if he needed to blow off steam by training, fine. She could help him with that. But it wouldn’t change her decision. End of story.

  “Pretty good,” she said, lounging against the wall. He lowered his weapon, but it was a long moment before he slowly turned toward her. The stiffness in his muscles at the sound of her voice told her he was still upset.

  Once she had his attention, she stepped forward and moved to the rack of weapons at the side of the room. Since they’d started training every day, Kali had taken to leaving some of her precious weapons out. The others were tucked away in what she referred to as her weapon vault, even though it was really just a storage room.

  “You’ll get more out of it if you practice with someone else.”

  He didn’t reply, but stared at her with a carefully blank expression. Or at least he tried for a blank expression. She could see the barely controlled frustration under the surface. Well, a good practice session would get rid of that. She’d have to work him hard. Then maybe she could make him see things from her point of view. Men were always easier to handle when they were exhausted from sex or exercise, right? If one didn’t work, she’d try the other.

  Spinning away, Kalindra pulled the other broadsword from the rack. It wasn’t her weapon of choice, but it was his, so that’s what they’d use.

  Still he didn’t speak. But there were other ways to communicate. Kali raised the sword into position and lifted one eyebrow.

  “Ready?” she asked.

  Slowly, he raised his sword. Then he attacked.

  * * * *

  He’d come to the training room to get some peace. After their argument, he needed to get away from her. She was so damn stubborn, insisting she was tough enough to fight the monsters who attacked the gate all on her own.

  She made him so angry. Everyone needed help sometimes. No shame in that. But Kali wasn’t being prideful; she actually believed she didn’t need anyone. Even a brush with death didn’t change her mind. Obstinate woman.

  What frustrated him as much as his inability to help, was his inability to change her mind. How could she not understand he needed to be there for her? Needed to help her.

  He struck out at her in the only way available, physically, knowing she would block every move he made. She was the super fighter after all. He was just a lowly human.

  Irritation guided him, but once the first thrust was blocked, his analytical brain took over. Using everything he’d learned the past month and half, Cameron examined every move she made, looking for an opening.

  He stopped thinking about the gate, and Kali, and concentrated on the fight. His focus centered on the swing of her weapon, on the weight of his, and the dance between the two.

  It happened fast. One moment he swung downward, preparing for the clang of her sword against his, when he realized her weapon wouldn’t make it.

  “Shit,” he swore, trying to change the path of the blade. But it was too late. The weapon was in full swing, and he only managed to move it an inch before it cut into flesh.

  She turned away, dropping her sword to grab her forearm, but he saw the blood before she covered it.

  Horrified, he dropped his weapon. What had he done? They’d practiced full out before, but Kali had always been three steps ahead of him. He’d never thought he’d be able to hurt her. Never. She was too good.

  “Kali, I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  He’d been so upset. So angry. He hadn’t been thinking. God help him, he’d wanted her to be as upset as he was. But he’d never intended to hurt her. Dear God, what had he done?

  “You cut me.”

  Her voice was faint. From pain? Fear? God, please not that. Anything but fear. He wouldn’t hurt her for anything in the world. Surely she knew that. All he wanted was to protect her. To be strong for her.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  His heart soared when he reached out and she didn’t shy away. Not afraid.

  But he needed to see how badly he’d cut her. As gently as he could, he pried her fingers away from her arm. Blood still flowed, obscuring the area. Heart in his throat, he replaced her hand with his and covered the wound.

  “Come on, baby, let’s go get this cleaned up.”

  She followed his lead as if in a daze. “But you cut me.”

  Cameron tilted his head, examining her closely. She didn’t sound upset. She sounded incredulous. As if she couldn’t believe it happened.

  “Baby, look at me.” He waited until her eyes met his. “We need to get this bandaged up. Then we’ll deal with the rest.”

  “Huh?” She looked down at his arm, then waved away his concern. “Just a scratch. But if you hadn’t pulled your strike…”

  Cameron winced when she grabbed his arm. Damn, the woman had one hell of a grip.

  “How did you do that?”

  “Ouch, Kali, ease up.” The more she talked, the more he realized she was going to be fine. That she was more upset about him getting past her guard than about the cut itself. His panic began to recede.

  “How?”

  “You’re scaring me a little bit.” The intensity on her face made him uncomfortable.

  Throwing her hands up, she paced away and then back.

  He crossed his arms and watched her. Such intensity in every movement.

  “Don’t you understand? If I have a weakness, I need to know. It could mean life and death.”

  There it was. The fury that had disappeared at the sight of her blood came rushing back to the surface.

  “Oh, so you finally admit you can get hurt. That you can die?”

  “Gods, are you still upset about that damn lock?”

  If he opened his mouth, he’d start yelling, so he ke
pt quiet and let her read the truth on his face. As long as he had air in his lungs, he’d argue for the right to fight beside her.

  “I’ve always known my job is life or death, Cameron. But my life or death. Not yours.”

  “That’s not your decision to make.”

  Stare down. But this time, he could see her thinking. Finally, something broke through her inflexibility. She sighed.

  “I don’t want to lose you,” she whispered.

  The agony in her voice pulled at him, but he held his ground. If he gave in to the urge to hold her now, nothing would change. And that was something he couldn’t live with.

  “Don’t you think I feel that way every time you go out to defend the gate? But that’s a risk you have to take. Just like this is a risk I have to take.” He could see her weakening. If he blew it now, he’d never get a second chance. “I’m strong, and fast. Let me help you.”

  She stared at the wound on her arm. No longer bleeding, but still a vibrant red against her pale skin. Proof that he was ready to fight her kind.

  “Fine.” The grudging tone in her voice made him smile. Now, why did that seem to make her frown harder? “But I swear to the gods, if you die, I will kill you.”

  Cameron laughed and pulled her against him.

  “It’s a deal.”

  Chapter 11

  Kali tossed the battle-axe onto her kitchen table as she entered the room. The metallic clang moments later told her Cameron’s broadsword followed suit. The axe would make a nice addition to her collection. She’d taken a moment to examine it after she’d taken it from the previous owner. The design on the handle was silver and looked one of a kind.

  It wasn’t like the owner was going to need it anymore. He’d been dead before she’d taken it from him. Him and his two companions.

  With as much traffic as the gate had been getting, the family of trolls living on the other side must be feasting daily. They had a symbiotic relationship. Kalindra had an easy method to dispose of her attackers’ bodies, and they got dinner out of the deal. Win, win.