Before the Storm

by Claire Ashgrove

  Marcus stared at me.

  “What?” I frowned and rubbed the place where the corvit took a hunk out of my arm. “You healed me. I ate a lightning orb, for God’s sake. He’s just got scratches.”

  As if he didn’t quite believe he’d heard me correctly, he set his mug down by his feet and furrowed his brow. “He didn’t tell you?”

  “Tell me what? He said he had a migraine.”

  He muttered something unintelligible beneath his breath then shoved to his feet and hastily began to stuff items in his heavy pack.

  “What is it, Marcus? I’m fed up with secrets.”

  “He didn’t have a fucking migraine, and if he’d told you the truth, he wouldn’t be hanging onto life by a thread.”

  I blinked. Twice. “What truth?”

  With a muttered oath, Marcus dropped his satchel and glared at Kale. “It’s the mines. When the Yaksini took him, they tried to turn him into what your mother was. Gerard saved him before the final rite could be completed. But they completed six of seven total, and his soul took irreparable damage. A lich is controlled by its maker. When Kale gets too close to the source of his darkness, it tries to take him over.”

  My eyes widened as I turned to stare at Kale. “You mean…he’s…”

  “Part lich, yes.” He snatched his satchel off the ground and once again began stuffing items inside. “When Gerard brought him back to the camarilla, the healers corrected what they could. They couldn’t take it all away. That’s the magic you asked about. Dark powers. That of the undead. They’re an eternal part of him. I’m guessing he thought he’d scare you off if he told you.” He kicked a rock in frustration and sent it skittering across the cave. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell you.”

  Part…lich. Part evil, demonic, creature that would be more than willing to tear my head off and serve it to my uncle if influenced the right way.

  Marcus swore again. “I wondered what had gotten into his head. Rescue a lich? Damn it, of all people, he knows how impossible it is.” He spun and glared at Kale. “Why the hell didn’t you tell her?”

  In that instant, as I studied the dark circles under Kale’s long eyelashes, I knew. I reached out a hand and gently stroked his cheek. “Because part of him hoped I could succeed, and he didn’t want to seem weak.”

  Coming to an abrupt halt, Marcus stared at me as if I’d grown three heads. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Weak? Of all the asinine—” He stopped abruptly, blinked, then gave me an incredulous look. “He’s not just your teacher, is he? You two…”

  “Yeah,” I murmured, unable to tear my gaze away from Kale. He might very well be part lich, but though darkness lived inside him, the man I’d come to know was nothing but divine. He’d come with me, knowing the risk, the impossibility. He’d supported me on a quest that was doomed to fail. And in so doing, jeopardized his own safety.

  Not selfish at all. Fresh tears welled in my eyes. I blinked them back furiously. What I’d give to have him wake up so I could tell him how wrong I’d been.

  As emotion threatened to suck me under, I sniffed hard and threw off the covers. Marcus recovered himself and returned to packing his belongings in a much more calm manner. After a few minutes, his chuckle drifted to my ears. “You’re in love with that stubborn mule, aren’t you?”

  My heart did another slow flip as Kale drew in a ragged breath. Again, the vision of my mother attacking him struck. I heard the unrecognizable roar that burst from my chest. The fury that engulfed me, stronger than the rage my uncle could provoke…Yeah, I supposed I was in love with Kale Norwood. But those words weren’t meant for Marcus. Someone else needed to hear them first, if my mistakes hadn’t destroyed what we’d once been.

  Instead, I asked quietly, “When do we need to leave?”

  “Soon as you feel up to it.”

  I dusted off my jeans and stretched. My shoulder pulled uncomfortably, and my legs ached like I’d just ridden a hundred miles on a bicycle, but I wasn’t going to waste another minute of Kale’s precious time. “Let’s get a move on then. The entire camarilla will hunt me down if he doesn’t come back.”

  * * *

  We traveled under a spell to cloak our movements that Marcus crafted. When I asked why he hadn’t done so on the way to the mines, he explained it took so much energy to maintain over an extended time, he hadn’t wanted to wipe himself out before we entered my uncle’s domain. After experiencing the drain on my system, his logic made sense.

  Carrying Kale, I could have done without. While my body seemed physically healed, after a few hours of supporting one end of his makeshift travois, it let me know it wasn’t perfect. Aches set in with a vengeance, forcing me to remain silent for much of the trip down to the cave I’d stayed in the first night I met Marcus. We were close to the camarilla, but not knowing if my uncle had creatures on our tail, and burdened with Kale, we didn’t dare risk continuing after dusk.

  Marcus wasn’t immune to the all-day journey either. By the time we settled into the narrow space and set up for the night—my bed nowhere near that damned beam of sunlight—Marcus looked as drained as I felt. He sat on his blankets, his shoulders bowed, his dark eyes barely open.

  “Get some rest,” I called to him as I checked on Kale once again.

  He nodded, but made no move to recline. With sluggish movements, he lifted a dried piece of jerky to his mouth and chewed slowly. Time had come, I supposed, for me to look after him.

  I went to his pack and pulled out the tin plate and what remained of his preserved meat. I found tea leaves tucked into a leather pouch. With what remained of the water in our jug, I took everything to the fire, found the spears and spit we’d used that first night, and started a meager meal.

  When I looked up, his smile was grateful. “Thanks.”

  I nodded. My gaze strayed to Kale, who shivered under my stare. When I squinted, I noticed goose bumps on his exposed skin. Worried, I ventured over to him to tug the blanket to his chin, but as my knuckles brushed his shoulder, his body heat made me draw back in alarm. “He’s got a fever.”

  Marcus nodded. “It’s been coming and going.”

  “Infection?” God only knew what might have been on my mother’s claws.

  “Most likely side effects of being nearly consumed all over again.”

  I let out a sigh and passed an empathetic hand over Kale’s forehead. Guilt pulled at the base of my spine. I couldn’t shake the awareness that he wouldn’t be suffering if I’d listened to his arguments. If I hadn’t been so caught up in my own desires.

  On pure impulse, I bent and pressed a soft kiss to his pale lips. “Don’t leave me,” I whispered in his ear.

  As the meat began to sizzle on the spit, I forced myself to leave Kale’s side. Still caught up in my thoughts and guilt, I prepared enough for both Marcus, and I then took the solitary tin to him. He scooted over, making room for me to sit by his side. With the plate supported on one of each of our knees, we ate in silence.

  When we finished, I made to put up the dishes. Instead, Marcus took the plate out of my hands and rose. “I’m not an invalid,” he offered with a chuckle.

  “No, but you should be resting.”

  “So should you. You’re favoring your shoulder.”

  I was? I glanced at the joint in reference. I hadn’t intentionally done so.

  Marcus tucked the plate near his pack. “If you were fully trained, you’d be recovered. The might of dragons comes with rapid healing powers.”

  I couldn’t contain a sardonic scoff. “Lots of things would be different if I were fully trained.”

  “I can help you with that.” Joining me on his pallet once more, he sat cross-legged, facing me. “My people can teach you the ancient rites.”

  My breath caught. Temptation tugged hard. “Really?” I asked, a little more hopefully than I cared for.

  He nodded. “Nelwin and Tasmina would be overjoyed to meet you. And Nelwin, especially, could tell y
ou more about Rafini.”

  A thread of disappointment pulled through me. “So you can’t do it at the camarilla?”

  Marcus gave a short laugh. “The camarilla would rather kill me than let me inside. You saw how Leaf reacted to me. No, you’d have to come and stay with my people.”

  “For how long?”

  His amusement faded with a slow shake of his head. “I don’t know. A year or two. Maybe more? Maybe a few weeks. It depends on you.”

  A year away from Kale. A year of leaving Faye to my uncle’s care. I closed my eyes with a grimace. “No. I can’t. Faye needs me.”

  His warm hand gathered mine. “Halle, Kale told me Faye thinks you’re dead. The whole world does.”

  Unwilling to acknowledge the truth in his words, I tugged on my hand. “I’m all she’s got. I have to protect her from my uncle. Especially now that I know what he is and the way he threatened her.”

  Marcus held on more tightly. “Listen, ace, I don’t mean to be insensitive. But she hasn’t had you since you were kids. She’s almost a grown woman. She’ll go to college soon, and he’s not interested in her. He was only trying to get to you. There’s only one windwalker. She’s just a human.”

  “She’s my sister!”

  “She is.” He nodded sagely, wrapping his other hand around mine as well. “But she has to come into her own. You can’t solve all her problems. She’s strong. She doesn’t need you.”

  Ouch. That truth pricked more savagely than any physical pain I’d experienced the last few days. I jerked my hand free with a furious shake of my head. “I can’t leave her.”

  Nor could I just walk away from Kale. Not after all this. I’d already hurt him once, and nothing would make me readily do so again. Even if he decided to never forgive me for running off in pursuit of something stupid, I owed him my life.

  “Halle, we all need you.” Frustration sharpened his voice. “The camarilla can’t train you. You have a gift, and you’re the only one who can restore the balance.”

  “I can’t,” I repeated. Decided, I stood and went to my own pallet.

  He pursed his lips then studied my face. “If you change your mind—”

  “I won’t. Thank you, but it’s impossible.”

  He expelled a heavy sigh that carried through the cavern. His blankets rustled, and I knew he’d given up.

  It was for the better really. Rafini’s journal made it clear what happened when one accepted the windwalker path. I’d had one too many recent brushes with death to welcome that fate. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to fix what I’d broken with Kale and embrace the life he offered. And I certainly didn’t want anyone else depending on me—not Marcus, not the camarilla, and certainly not all of magickind. I wasn’t cut out for saving the world. I couldn’t even save those who mattered the most.

  Thirty-eight

  Despite being out of the path of the sunbeam, I woke at dawn’s first light. Marcus opted to leave his things in the cave and helped ready Kale’s and my belongings. With the same cloaking spell woven around us, we hefted his travois through what Marcus explained was the Outerlands and into the camarilla’s borders.

  To my delighted surprise, I recognized it before Marcus pointed it out. There were no clear lines of boundary, magical or otherwise. It was more of a feel: the lifting of my hairs on my arms, a prickling of my skin. It wrapped around me like stepping into a waterfall, and then blended in with the atmosphere until it became entirely indiscernible. Strangely, that sensation comforted more than I’d anticipated it might. It felt like…coming home.

  And there was no better homecoming gift than the healthier color that replaced the unnatural grey pallor in Kale’s face. At first I thought I imagined the change. But as Marcus and I trudged deeper into Tolvenar land, there was no mistaking his cheeks weren’t as shadowed nor his lips quite as white.

  About fifty feet away from the entrance, Marcus eased his end of the travois to the ground. “Better stop here. It’s probably best if I’m not around when they arrive.”

  “Do what?” I asked as I set my end down.

  Marcus pointed at Kale. “Did you forget he hates me?”

  “But I thought you guys worked that out.”

  He chuckled. “We didn’t discuss it at all.”

  “But the looking out for him, the talking about me, making a plan together…” It didn’t make sense. They’d carried on like everything had smoothed out.

  Marcus rolled his shoulders and glanced down at Kale. “You take care of him, Halle. If you need anything, I’ll be around.”

  With that, he took three steps backward and blended into the trees.

  I stood there listening to the rustle of leaves, watching Kale’s eyelids twitch, and reflecting on the last few days. Marcus had known Kale wasn’t himself. The worse Kale became, the more Marcus looked after him—albeit in a non-smothering kind of way. No, he wouldn’t have brought up the subject of Kale’s capture. It would have seemed like taking advantage of his situation. He’d simply been the friend Kale needed.

  Kale let out a quiet moan that jerked my attention back to him. As my heart leapt to my throat, I dropped to my knees at his shoulder. “Kale?” I grabbed his hand, held it tight. “Can you hear me?”

  He murmured something, and his lashes fluttered.

  I pressed a lingering kiss to the back of his hand. “We made it, Kale. We’re home now.”

  As his lashes finally, finally, lifted, a cold feminine voice barked behind me.

  “Kale is home. You don’t belong here.”

  I whipped around to find Beth staring me down. Several feet behind her, Gerard led a handful of men and women closer.

  “It’s good to see you too, Beth,” I replied icily. “Your stepson needs help. Thanks for asking.”

  She opened her mouth but snapped it shut as Gerard limped into view and crouched on Kale’s opposite side. Kale’s gaze slid to his father. Ever so slightly, his mouth firmed.

  “He’ll need Sephora. And Maude,” Gerard declared quietly. He placed a hand on Kale’s shoulder and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “Welcome back, son.” Stepping away, he signaled to the group that accompanied him. “Take him to the healing ward.”

  “No,” Kale croaked.

  The sound of his voice made us all stop and stare. His gaze held mine for a long breathtaking moment then pulled to his father’s once more. “My room.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Kale,” Beth snapped. “You need the healers. You’ll go where they can best tend to you.”

  Kale struggled to sit upright, but the effort proved too much, and he sagged into the travois. As two men and women each picked up one corner of his makeshift stretcher, his gaze drifted back to mine, full of a silent plea. It was up to me to convince them. Clearly, he lacked the strength.

  “They can tend him in his room,” I blurted. “It’s what he wants.”

  “I don’t care what he wants,” Beth answered, ignoring the way Gerard tugged on her arm to presumably lead her away. “He’ll go where he should.”

  Before I could stop my tongue, it ran away from me. I darted around in front of the procession, effectively blocking their way. “How do you intend to trust his decisions as the leader of this camarilla, when you can’t trust his decisions about his own health? Or did you hope to install a puppet, Beth?” As my anger grew over her refusal to honor such a simple request, I marched up to Gerard and stabbed a finger in his chest. “And what sort of man are you to yield to her? No wonder you want Kale to lead. You can’t say yes or no without consulting her! You heard Kale. He wants to go to his room. He nearly died out there. Let the man have peace!”

  Gerard’s face infused with hot color. Before he could respond, however, Beth stalked up to me.

  “He nearly died because of you,” she cried in outrage. “His decisions can’t be trusted as long as you influence them!” Her energy vibrated, warning me I was pursuing a course I’d likely regret.

/>   I ignored the silent threat. She probably thought I was still a naïve spellcaster, unable to feel her rising magical might. But I wasn’t that clueless, helpless girl any more. I’d fought for my life, for Kale’s, and for Marcus’s as well. For God’s sake, I’d killed my own mother. I would no longer let this poor excuse for a woman try to intimidate me.

  I narrowed my gaze on her and allowed the power within me to bubble to the surface. It thrummed through my veins, delighting in the momentary freedom.

  Beth took a half-step back.

  Gerard studied me, his expression intensely thoughtful.

  Yeah, that’s right. I’ll knock her out of my way if I have to. I held fast to her furious gaze, refusing to back down.

  Gerard directed the men and women to proceed with a short sweep of his arm. “Send Maude and Sephora to tend him in his room.”

  As the procession marched past me, I folded my arms across my chest. Beth brought up the rear, several feet behind Gerard. She stopped in front of me, her voice so low only I could hear. “You think you’ve learned magic because you can cast a few spells? You’re nothing but an ignorant little girl. You’ll never be part of the Tolvenar, and that, I promise.” She spun away, her long blue robe billowing out behind her.

  Just who the hell did she think she was? Or rather, who did she think I was? Someone who’d cow to her bullying? I stalked off toward the entrance, glad she had the good sense to hurry in ahead of the others. Because right now, if I ran into her again, I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t knock her flat.

  As the party lumbered up the stairs with Kale, I stomped down to my room. Hopefully Spring had checked on Tufty—if not… I didn’t want to think about what might have happened.

  I shoved open my door to find him sitting contentedly on my couch. When he lifted his downy head and let out a soft little quack, all my anger seeped away. I dropped my pillow case, rushed over, and collected him in my arms. “Hey, little buddy. I missed you. Did you miss me?”