by Kay, Sharon
Draven chuckled. “You’re in no position to kill anything. You can’t even defend yourself.” He stalked closer to Kai and aimed a swift kick to his barely-healed ribs.
Waves of sizzling fire crashed over Kai’s body as he bit back an agonized groan. He dimly heard Brooke shriek in fury. Draven’s boot connected with his stomach next, forcing Kai to lurch to his side and dry heave.
“No, demon, you’re not going to help anyone,” Draven said. “Especially not this pretty creature.” He turned to Brooke and yanked the metal links connected to her ankle. “Get used to this chain, little fae. My bed has a matching set.”
Agony blurred his vision. Brooke’s short gasps echoed in the cell. Have to get her out of here. She didn’t belong here. Neither did he, but he’d been prepared for death in that ring a hundred times before. How ironic that now, when he found a woman who made him want to be a better man, his life circled right back to this hellhole.
Loud shrieking cries echoed down the hallway, and Draven’s perverted laugh filled the cell. His calloused palms rasped as he rubbed them together. “That would be my torture room’s next guest.”
The air in front of Kai shifted, and Draven’s greasy stench rolled to his nose. “Hear that, Lash? You’re gonna scream worse than that tomorrow. I’m still debating how many days to drag out your death.”
Kai raised his head to snarl a No fucking way, but Draven’s heel slammed into his jaw. Kai’s head snapped back as splintering pain shot down his spine. His upper body lurched forward on the recoil. He sucked air as his face bounced once on the hard floor, and everything went black.
Raniero stood concealed in a rare copse of healthy birch trees, studying the small frame house across the dirt road. The home’s weathered gray panels were beaten smooth, almost shiny, by wind and rain. Despite the abuse from Evena’s climate, it looked sturdy.
His acute hearing detected two adult females inside, as well as the cooing of an infant. Though he couldn’t discern their words, the relaxed emotion in their voices carried to him. Impatience warred with hesitation. He didn’t want to meet Ashina’s guests. He needed to see her alone.
Would she remember him? Had she mated another? His sternum prickled with anticipation and worry. Questions and fears circled in his head as he waited.
Years of training kept him from jumping at the metallic click of the door knob. Two women walked out onto the front porch. One of them he didn’t recognize, but the other…It was her. And she held a baby.
His world suspended in stunned disbelief. He stared, transfixed, at Ashina’s radiant profile. Her loveliness left him as breathless as the fist time he’d laid eyes on her. A white T-shirt clung to her slim frame, and below it she wore faded jeans that hugged her curves like a second skin. Her silky ebony hair dipped to her small waist, and her toffee-colored skin begged for his caress.
She laughed with the other female and their conversation continued as they moved to the front yard. Spotting a bird, she smiled and turned as she bounced the baby, trying to get it to focus on the tiny creature. The infant grunted but kept its gaze trained on her, fisting a lock of her hair and holding on tight.
Raniero’s chest tightened. He had hoped and prayed that if he ever had children, Ashina would be the woman to give them life. The thought of her with another male gnawed at his soul. But what did he expect? They’d had no contact for a hundred years. And he’d bedded scores of women. Hell, he tried to combat the emptiness in his heart with the bodies of willing females. But the thought of taking any as a mate never entered his mind. The females provided a release, nothing more.
Maybe that was cold of him. But all the warmth in his soul died when her father forced them apart, threatening both their lives unless Raniero did his bidding. To protect her, he did what Cale asked. He murdered at Cale’s command. He eliminated his marks with cool efficiency, and then he slipped back into his “official” duties as one of Arawn’s Lash fighters.
Raneiro shook his head to clear the thoughts of Cale. How such a monster could have played any part in the creation of his kind, beautiful Ashina, he had no idea.
The women walked to the middle of the yard. Ashina cuddled the babe to her breast, then dropped a kiss on its head before handing it gently to the other female. The other woman hugged Ashina with her free arm, murmuring words of thanks. With that, she turned and made her way along the road, back toward the town.
He sucked in a breath. Not hers.
Ashina smiled and watched the pair walk away, arms wrapped around her waist. Of course. The bartender said she was a healer. Residents of all ages probably came to see her. His heart swelled with pride that she had chosen to serve others in that way.
That pride was drowned out by the blood pounding in his veins, urging him to go to her. He moved silently out from the trees. If she turned her head, she would see him. His heart crashed against his ribs, his desire to enfold her in his arms warring with the question of her feelings for him. He could never cause her any pain. If she rejected him, he would walk away. And leave every last shred of his scarred heart and soul at her feet.
He stalked across the road. She stood in profile to him, still watching her friend. In seconds, his movement would catch her eye. His feet landed on the gray-green grass of her yard.
She turned toward him and froze. She stared at him for several moments, her eyes flickering first with confusion, then recognition and shock, before growing wide. Her lush lips parted. Then she blinked and drew a shaky breath.
Her eyes narrowed as they quickly swept up and down his body, and she opened her mouth farther as if to speak. But he stopped her, wanting to speak first.
“Ashina.” Her name fell from his lips in a rasp of emotion he had no prayer of hiding. He took a step closer to her. His body vibrated with the need to hold her, to make sure she was really there. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“Raniero!” she gasped, her shocked voice breaking as she ran to him. She stopped just short of touching him, hands shaking, stunned eyes never leaving his face.
He swallowed hard as he gazed down into those luminous green pools that had owned his life the second they locked on to him. He watched them travel down to his chin, her face showed a clinical concern, and he guessed she was studying his scar.
She extended her hand toward his face, then stopped in mid-air. He ached to grab that hand and kiss it, but he waited.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “It happened a long time ago. Viper fight.”
Her eyes flicked to his, then back to the thin scar. As light as a bird’s wing, her fingers landed at the top, near his eye, and gently traced their way down to his lips.
Trembling with emotion he could no longer control, he whispered her nickname, “Sheena…Gods, I’ve missed you.”
A smile lit her delicate features. “I’ve missed you, too,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. The honeyed tones of her voice reached into the deepest corners of his being, making him more alive than he had been in a century.
He took her hand and turned it to kiss her fingers. Her smile broadened. She pulled her hand away, only to lean up on her toes, fling her arms around his neck, and press her lips to his. He growled as a thousand emotions rocketed through his body.
She’s mine.
His one and only love. He wound his arms around her waist and crushed her lithe body close, kissing her gently, relearning the contours of her mouth.
She rested her hands on either side of his face and broke the kiss. Her gaze radiant, she spoke the words he prayed to hear again. “I love you, Raniero.”
“And I love you,” he said, resting his forehead against hers. “I never stopped searching for you.”
“I knew you would find me.”
He raised his head and looked at her solemnly. “I will never let you go, Sheena. Never.”
“Good,” she murmured. “Kiss me again.”
His body trembled as their lips met. This sweet, tiny female, banished alone to a wasted realm
, found her purpose in doing good. While he murdered in cold blood, year after year. A century of death. Would she forgive him?
Her hands slipped into his hair and pulled out the tie holding back the dark waves. She twisted her fingers into it and sighed. “I love your hair,” she said against his mouth.
He pulled back to study her face. “I love everything about you.” He kissed the tip of her little nose, then scooped her into his arms and spun her in circles until she shrieked in delight. “Fuck, it feels so good to hold you,” he growled.
Her hands locked at his nape and she buried her face in his chest. “You’re making me dizzy!”
He set her down and kissed her with more hunger, bending her backward. She’s mine. Nothing else mattered.
She knotted her hands in his hair and met his lips with an urgency of her own. Then she smiled and slid one hand into his. “Let’s go inside.”
A rumble vibrated from his chest as heat rocketed through his limbs. “I need you closer.” He bent to slip one arm under her knees, wrapped the other around her shoulders, and lifted her to his chest. With a sly wink, he pressed a swift kiss to her mouth. “That’s more like it.”
Raniero had to duck his head as he carried her through the doorway. Ashina’s house was tidy, with a cot against one wall of the large front room. Cabinets and shelves lined the walls, with bandages and vials arranged in neat rows.
She directed him through a hallway and into the back portion of the house, which held a kitchen and a bedroom. “Sit,” she commanded, and pointed at one of the chairs surrounding the dining table. “I’ll make us some tea.”
He didn’t release her as he lowered himself into the chair. “No. I’m not ready to let go of you. And the tea can wait.” As much as he ached to pin her beneath him, now wasn’t the time. First, she deserved to know what kind of life he’d been living.
“Okay.” Smiling, she settled on his lap and linked her arms around his neck. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
She tilted her head and held his gaze, his soul captured in the gently whirling vortex of her green eyes. His mind flooded with memories from a hundred years ago, when she walked into a meeting looking for her father. Raniero lost his heart to her right then and there. He surrendered his soul as well, when she gave him her innocence one magical night.
He didn’t know how long they sat like that in her kitchen. It could’ve been minutes, or an hour. He reluctantly pulled himself from the sweet memories and back to reality. She needed to know about the darkness that filled him. He was no longer the hopeful young warrior, filled with desire to quench the evils of the world. Now he was jaded, his hands covered in blood, his body wielded as a tool to dominate enemies and females alike.
“Sheena,” he said, taking her hand. “I need to tell you something.”
She held his hand in both of hers and looked at him expectantly.
His stomach felt like a lead weight. Would she tell him to leave? He swallowed hard. “I…”
“You can tell me, love.” Her skilled fingers rubbed tender circles on his palm.
“I’m a killer.” The words fell from his mouth, opening the floodgates for more. “I’ve been working for your father all these years. I’m his personal mercenary. He’s more powerful now than he was before.”
Her eyes widened in confusion. “My father’s…mercenary?”
His blood ran cold with hatred for his lifestyle. But he couldn’t stop the torrent of words. “He told me he’d kill us both if I didn’t serve him. I didn’t care about myself, Sheena. But I’d be damned if I let him touch you again. I looked for you from the start. Everywhere I went. But I couldn’t find you.”
No longer able to meet her eyes, he went on. “After a while, I started to lose hope. I still searched, but it was half-hearted. I stopped expecting to find you.” He stared at the wooden planks of her floor. “I’m sorry, Sheena.”
Her hands left his and moved to his face. She gently tilted his chin. “Look at me.” When he complied, she said, “I’m sorry, too.”
Her words sliced his heart in two. He closed his eyes to hide the pain that had to be radiating from them. She had every right to be disgusted with him. Mercenary. He tensed, his body fighting his heart, readying to leave her life of healing and goodness.
But instead he felt the soft press of her lips on his. A goodbye kiss? He opened his eyes, muscles trembling. He couldn’t be this close to her if she was about to reject him. He tried to shift her off his lap, but she stopped him.
“Raniero.” She took his hands, which had settled at her waist, and moved them to her hips. “I have to tell you something, too.”
He met her haunted gaze, unease welling in his gut.
“The night we spent together was the best one of my life.” A sad smile tilted her sweet lips. “Until the night our daughter was born.”
Raniero’s jaw dropped and his throat went dry. He stared at her, uncomprehending. “Daughter?” he whispered.
She pressed a swift kiss to his mouth. “Yes, warrior. You gave me a daughter. She had my eyes and your gorgeous hair.”
“A daughter.” He blinked, his mind and heart racing to keep up with her words. “But you were alone…how…holy gods, Ashina. I had no idea.”
She nodded. “Neither did my father.”
“Where is she?” Gods above, he had a child. What the hell did he know about being a father? All he knew was killing.
Ashina paused, sadness etching her delicate features. “She died twenty-two years ago.”
Twenty-two years? He’d missed her by twenty-two years? That was barely a heartbeat for immortals. He let out a string of soft curses. “What happened?”
“She died in a car crash on Earth. The car…it burned up.” One tear slid down her cheek.
“Earth? What—?” Everything faded from his conscious mind except for the woman in his arms and the pained words falling from her lips. Fire was one sure way to kill immortal creatures. His lungs felt too tight in his chest, constricting at the loss she’d endured. A loss he was struggling to take in, as well. “Didn’t she live here with you?”
“No. I had hardly any time with her. When my father dumped me here, he threatened that if I was carrying your child he would kill it.” Ashina’s face hardened and a tiny growl rose in her chest. “I hid the pregnancy. He made surprise visits here in the beginning, but then he came by less and less. I wore baggy clothes all the time, just in case.”
He rubbed his hands up and down her back, his heart aching that she had gone through this alone.
“There was a witch here. She was kind to me and helped with the birth. She told me she had a vision about the baby.”
“A vision?”
“Yeah, that the child would be the vessel that would bring light and balance to the realms.”
A chill shot down his spine. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. That’s all she could say. But she knew about my father, knew how real his threat was. She insisted that I give up the baby and let her hide it.”
“What?” Now it was Raniero’s turn to growl. “Give away our baby? Who is this witch?”
Sorrow swirled in Ashina’s eyes. “Her name is Rosa.”
Rosa. He let out a low whistle. “Shit.” He’d met her once, and the tremendous power rolling off her diminutive frame was enough to make him glad she’d been on the Watchers’ side. She wasn’t known for making alliances.
“Rosa kept saying the babe was the vessel. Said we had to do everything in our power to protect her. Keep her safe at all costs. I believed her, Raniero. I kept the baby for a few months, then the witch hid her on Earth.”
“Hid her with who?”
“Rosa’s sister.”
He pulled her close. “Sheena, I’m so sorry.”
“Me, too. She was a living link to you. Giving her up was as hard as being parted from you.” She trailed her fingers through his hair, her voice cracking. “And now she’s gone.”
He twisted h
is fingers around a lock of Ashina’s dark hair, his heart feeling curiously full and broken at the same time. “I never got to meet her.”
Another tear trickled down her face. “It’s so unfair. You would’ve loved her. She would’ve loved you.” She squeezed her arms around his shoulders. “I’m never letting you go. You don’t know how good it feels to tell you all this.”
His mind stumbled, thoughts tangled around the sudden knowledge and loss of his child. “How…how can she be this vessel, if she died?”
Ashina’s shoulders drooped. “I’ve asked myself that a million times. I’m hanging on to the hope that whatever role she was meant to play, she did it before her death. That I didn’t give her up for nothing.”
“Sheena, I wish I had been here for you. I could have protected our baby.” He kissed away the tear that made its way down to her chin.
“My father is a monster. I’m sure he wouldn’t hesitate to kill us both. Or Samara.”
“Samara?”
“That’s what I named her.”
“It’s beautiful.” He smiled at his strong, courageous female.
She kissed his forehead. “I wish you’d been here too, but I understand. You did what you had to do to survive. I’m not mad.”
He felt like an idiot, only capable of repeating her words as they hammered around his stunned ears. “You’re not?”
“No.” She ran her hands through the length of his hair. “I haven’t led a perfect life, either. But you’re here now. That’s all that matters. I love you.” The kitchen chair creaked as she leaned forward to kiss him again.
He pulled her close, sliding one hand under the hem of her T-shirt and the other into her soft black hair. Her skin felt like velvet under his fingertips, her mouth a lush oasis he could drown in. “I love you, too, Ashina. You’ll never be alone again. Be my mate.”
With one word, her essence imprinted upon his soul forever. “Yes.”
CHAPTER 14
KAI JOLTED AWAKE TO THE sound of scraping at the door. He hoped that if it was Draven, he would take him out of the cell this time and not beat him in front of Brooke. Seeing the aftermath of Draven’s abuse was bad enough. She didn’t need to witness each blow as it happened.
