Born of Night

Born of Night Page 17

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  Kiara felt sick. "Are you serious?"

  "I saw the file myself. Everything in it was listed as unknown. Parents. Planet of origin. Name. Age. It was pathetic, really."

  She was ill with the thought of not knowing anything about herself or her parents. No wonder Nykyrian was so cold. "You met him after he joined the academy?"

  He nodded.

  "What did you call him if he had no name?"

  "We didn't. None of us interacted with him at all . . . well, not entirely true. There were a lot of kids who picked on him because he came to the academy with a training collar already in place. But what they called him isn't fit for mixed company and doesn't bear repeating. Stupid fuckheads."

  If that was his idea of an acceptable insult for mixed company, she had to hear what they'd called Nykyrian that he wouldn't repeat.

  But it said a lot for Hauk that he'd broken from the pack and become friends with someone the others had alienated. Most kids, herself included, didn't have that strength of character at that age when peer acceptance was so important. She'd like to think better of herself, but it would be a lie.

  She was better now, but as a kid . . .

  "How did you two become friends?"

  There was shame in his eyes before he answered. "The rotten bastard saved my life. One of the pods we were practicing in malfunctioned. It crashed and caught fire. I was trapped inside and my leg was pinned by the wreckage. No one would help me--they were too afraid of getting hurt. Even the instructors. They were too busy keeping everyone back while I baked and burned. Nykyrian shoved past them and broke me out, then carried me to safety just before the pod exploded. He still has scars from where the glass tore into his back and the gash he took to his right forearm when he pulled me out."

  She knew that scar. "And you were friends after that?"

  "Not really. Nykyrian refused to speak to anyone in those days. I tried to thank him, but he just ignored me."

  "Then how did you become friends?"

  He untangled the controllers. "Syn. Nykyrian got into The League. I washed out. So I ended up in private sector IT. There was this one hacker son of a bitch who kept breaching my security no matter how good I made it and I had to meet him. It turned out to be Syn. And Syn, for a human, is a hard man not to like, especially back then when he was sober. His humor was infectious and it wasn't until I'd known him for about two years that I found out Nykyrian was his best friend."

  She wondered why Nykyrian had let Syn into his life when he seemed so determined to keep everyone else out. "So he talked to Syn?"

  "Like I said, Syn is a hard man not to like."

  There had to be a lot more to this story, especially given how reclusive Nykyrian was. "How did they meet?"

  "I have no idea. They're not real big on sharing."

  He definitely wasn't kidding about that. She was actually stunned that Hauk was being so chatty.

  Which made her wonder what other personal tidbits he might give her and there was one in particular she was dying to know about . . .

  "So, have you ever seen Nykyrian's eyes?"

  "Yes."

  "Do they look like yours?"

  He froze, then shook his head. "Look, I've already spoken too much. Nykyrian is an extremely private person and I owe my life to him. He's saved it more than that one time so I'd rather we play the game and pass the time with only meaningless bullshit until they get back."

  Kiara nodded even though her mind spun at what she'd learned. Nykyrian had been abandoned without even a name to call his own.

  What kind of parents could have done that to him? No wonder he didn't like being touched. What was that called? Disassociation? She'd have to look it up later to make sure. It was something about infants who were refused by their mothers. Infants who weren't held and nurtured. They never felt connected to anyone else and it left a lifetime of scars on them.

  She couldn't imagine the horror of what Nykyrian had been through. And her heart ached at the past Hauk described. She wondered if Nykyrian knew answers about his past that he preferred not to share.

  Hauk held the controller out to her. She took it and remembered what Nykyrian had told her about himself the night before.

  No family.

  No friends.

  Nothing.

  Even though she suspected Hauk would die for him, Nykyrian still felt alone in the world. Isolated. Abandoned by everyone. And that broke her heart.

  What do you care? He's just a bodyguard . . .

  But it wasn't that simple. She'd seen inside his heart and knew Nykyrian to be so much more. Like Hauk, she owed her life to him. And somehow she was going to give him a life, too.

  One filled with trust and kindness. Surely he deserved that after all he'd done for them?

  Nemesis might not care about him, but she was learning to and somehow she wanted to give him the friend he deserved to have. Any man who could accept a callous lover could surely accept a well-meaning friend who only wanted to help him.

  But the real question was, would Nykyrian ever allow someone that close to him?

  CHAPTER 13

  Kiara and Hauk were watching a comedy when Nykyrian returned. She looked up at him with a welcoming smile, but he didn't even bother to glance in her direction. He dropped his backpack by the door and just stood there like he was dazed or thinking heavily about something.

  Disappointed, she shifted her gaze to Hauk, who offered her an apologetic shrug before standing.

  "Well, I guess it's time for this babysitter to evaporate." He picked up his own bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Beware of her roast. It's killer." He gave Nykyrian a mocking salute before he took his leave.

  Nykyrian finally looked at her. "What was that about?"

  Kiara shrugged in confusion. "He told me he liked it. Would you care for any? I left a warmer on the stove." She tossed the pillow from her lap and uncurled her legs so that she could get up from the couch.

  "I'll get it." He headed down the hallway.

  Kiara frowned. He was acting strange, even for him. His movements were missing their usual grace and fluidity, and his tone had seemed odd.

  Several minutes went by as she waited for him to rejoin her, but he stayed in the kitchen, out of her sight. Worried and curious, she went to check on him.

  He sat at the table, his food untouched. His head was propped against one gloved hand and he appeared to be staring at the table as if he were concentrating on an invisible spot.

  Something definitely wasn't right.

  She took two steps into the room. "What's wrong?" Immediately, he straightened up and retrieved a fork. "I'm tired."

  Kiara sat down across from him. Drawing her legs up in the chair, she propped her chin on her knees. "Hauk and I spent the afternoon playing games. Do you play any?"

  His grip tightened on the fork. "No," he growled from between clenched teeth.

  She glared at him for that. "You don't have to bark at me. I was just--"

  "Look," Nykyrian interrupted her, making her jump in surprise at the sharpness of his tone. "I'm in no mood to be sociable right now. Just leave me in peace."

  Her worry tripled. It wasn't like him to lose control of himself like this. He never lost his temper.

  Rising to her feet, she rounded the table to stand beside him. "Something's wrong. I know it is." She reached out to touch his forehead to see if he had a fever.

  He caught her wrist in a tight grip. "I told you to leave me alone. Can't you accept the fact that a man can be in your presence and not want to sleep with you?"

  She sputtered at his insult as fury singed her. Where had that come from? All she'd been trying to do was help him. How dare he insult her so. "You arrogant bastard! Why would I ever want to sleep with you?"

  His features turned brittle as he rose slowly to his feet to tower over her. This time, there was no mistaking his rage. "Get the fuck out of here before I kill you."

  A sharp knock sounded on the door. Nykyrian pushed past her

to answer it.

  Kiara stayed in the kitchen, gripping the counter as a multitude of emotions tore through her. Rage, indignation, but most of all hurt.

  Did he really think her a whore? Why would he think such a thing?

  That one undeserved and wholly unjustified insult made her wish she were big enough to give him the beating he deserved. So much for trying to be nice to him. What an asshole!

  A lump in her throat, she moved toward the front room to see who was here and what was going on. Why Nykyrian hadn't returned for his food.

  Syn was on his knees in front of him. That unexpected sight gave her serious pause as she watched Syn slowly unbutton Nykyrian's pants and peel his shirt back.

  Ooookay . . .

  Maybe she was intruding on something very private and should leave them to whatever it was Syn was about to do with Nykyrian. Not that she was clueless about what it looked like they were going to do, but wouldn't two such private people do that someplace other than her front room?

  Her feet seemed to be riveted to the spot as she watched them. Nykyrian didn't protest Syn's groping in the least. Not even when Syn skimmed his hand over Nykyrian's stomach. Instead of snapping at Syn, he just looked down at him while Syn lifted his shirt up to expose more flesh.

  Syn cursed before moving away to pull his pack closer to him.

  Kiara went cold as she realized Syn's hands were covered in blood.

  "How'd you reopen the damn thing?" he barked at Nykyrian. "I told you to be careful, you idiot. You're lucky you haven't bled out."

  "Stand down, asshole. You keep making commentary like an old woman and I'll put your rank ass in a dress."

  Syn glared up at him. "You better take a different tone, too, dick. Remember, I'm the one about to have my hands on that wound. You snap at me and I'll have you crying on the floor like a little girl."

  "And I'll have you lying dead at my feet."

  Kiara stepped forward.

  At her movement, Nykyrian looked at her over his shoulder and bared his fangs. "Get out. Now!"

  Kiara narrowed her gaze in anger at so much hostility when all she'd wanted to do was help. "Fine. Just keep your blood off my carpet." She turned and went to her room.

  Syn sucked his breath in sharply between his teeth. "That was a harsh thing to say to you. And here I thought I was the only one you pissed off to that extreme." Rising to his feet, he pushed Nykyrian toward the couch.

  Nykyrian didn't say anything as he lay down and tried to hide how much the wound was hurting him. It took all of his concentration to remain conscious through the throbbing, heated agony splitting his side. Breathing was getting harder by the heartbeat. God, how he hated being shot like this. He felt like his guts were boiling. Like his skin was crawling over sandpaper, off his body.

  He tensed as Syn struck a tender spot while trying to stop the bleeding again, but didn't comment. He thought about what he'd said to Kiara and wished he could take it back. Truthfully, he hadn't meant to insult her.

  She'd only been trying to comfort him. But he wasn't used to kindness and he'd never known how to deal with it.

  Syn was right. I am an asshole.

  He could use the pain as an excuse, but that was all it would be--an excuse. He clenched his teeth at his stupidity. What did it matter? It was better if she hated him.

  And yet the thought of her hatred shredded his soul.

  Syn rummaged through his bag. "I'm going to give you some Synethol."

  Nykyrian hissed at him.

  "Don't even waste that sound on me, you shit. I know you hate it, but it'll help you heal a lot faster and this is one time I can't afford for you to be nursing a wound and neither can you."

  "You got guts taking that tone with me."

  Syn scoffed. "What you gonna do, oh great wounded one? I'm the one with the injector." He clicked the trigger to prove his point.

  It was now Nykyrian's turn to scoff. "I could have that in my hand and shoved up your ass before you could even blink."

  Instead of being angry, Syn grinned. "Probably. Just make sure you put me totally out of my misery. I don't need anything else to cripple me. Now shut up and take it like a man."

  "I fucking hate you."

  Syn laughed as he screwed the vial of medicine into its chamber. "Of course you do. That's why you're the one lying shot and I'm doing the tending. If you really hated me, I'd be dead right now and you'd be healthy."

  Nykyrian looked away as that one simple truth hung between them.

  Syn rolled back the sleeve of his shirt. Exposing the crook of Nykyrian's elbow, he positioned the injector over the skin. "I'll stay over tonight so that you can try to sleep in peace. Don't worry. If anything happens, I'll pump your ass full of adrenaline cause I'm not going to fight alone while you sleep in a chemically induced coma."

  Nykyrian snorted at that as Syn pressed the trigger and the needle bit into his flesh. Like Syn was afraid of fighting. He could scrap with the best of them and come out on top. Hell, he was better at fighting and surviving than half the assassins Nykyrian had worked with.

  He felt the thick syrup moving like fire through his bloodstream. When the capsule was empty, Syn pulled back and tossed the injector back into his bag. He pulled out a small green container and held it toward him. "Here, I'll swap you."

  Taking it, Nykyrian opened the case to grab his retainer and put it in his mouth before he handed Syn his shades. He hated wearing that damned retainer whenever he slept.

  Another thing the humans had done to him . . .

  Images and memories sifted through him as he felt himself involuntarily relaxing. That was what he hated most about meds. They lowered the barriers he kept around himself and made him feel all the things he kept buried deep inside.

  He had no resistance.

  Most of all, they made him think about things he didn't want to.

  He looked at Syn who now had two heads and eight eyes. "Tell me something, aridos. What was it like being married?"

  Syn paused at a question Nykyrian had never asked him before. Damn, the drug was taking effect fast. But then that was part of his friend's human-Andarion metabolism and it was why Nykyrian couldn't be left alone tonight. Both human and Andarion drugs could have unexpected complications with his unique genetic makeup.

  One simple shot of an antibiotic could kill him and painkillers could burn out his insides. That memory made him wince.

  Syn started not to respond, but the look in Nykyrian's eyes was too sincere and too raw. His friend wanted an honest answer and he owed him too much to brush it aside snidely. "It was good." He swallowed against the painful knot in his stomach as he admitted something he'd tried his best to bury. "Even on the days when it was bad, it was good . . . At least until the end."

  He pulled out his flask and uncorked it as he remembered the last days of his marriage. The anger. The fights. The accusations and insults.

  But it was his wife's hatred that he couldn't escape from. To have gone from being her entire world to her nightmare in a matter of minutes . . .

  I wish to the gods you'd been killed. Why are you alive, you lying, filthy bastard?

  The worst part . . . he couldn't agree more with her.

  Why couldn't he purge that misery from his memory? In a life marked by harsh brutality, those last few days of his marriage stood out as the ultimate in suffering.

  And they wonder why I drink . . .

  "You still miss them?"

  Syn took a deep drink and tried not to feel the stab of pain that continually hammered his soul and the truth that haunted him constantly. "Every fucking day." Yes, Mara had been shallow at times, and pretentious. But she'd given him the things he'd never known in his life.

  Tenderness and respectability. She'd given him normality and, there for a time, he'd known what the word home meant.

  Most of all, she'd given him a beautiful son, and together they'd made a family.

  Until his past had come home to roost with a vengeance.