“If the Shongtal are able to take this girl,” he said, “they will wreak havoc upon two worlds. They will destroy them both. Do you want to be responsible for that sort of catastrophe?”
“Of course not.”
“Then your only choice may be to prevent her from falling into Shongtal hands,” he said. “By any means necessary. Even killing her.”
“My judgment is fine,” I said. “And I will defend my territory in the way I see fit, Keeper.”
“Do not compromise Chondelai or the world of man because you have a crush, boy.”
I hadn't been part of Astrid's life for very long, but I knew that it was much more than just a crush already. And his insinuation that I kill her to protect her world and ours, though logical, was monstrous to me.
“You worry about your job,” I said. “And let me worry about mine.”
I turned and walked out of his chamber, my anger barely restrained. Was I letting my emotion cloud my judgment? Would we all be better off if I took Astrid off the board permanently? On the one hand it made sense – deny her to the Shongtal and ensure the Doors remained open. On the other hand though, I couldn't justify taking an innocent life. Especially Astrid's.
Yeah, I might care about her a little too much for my own good, but that was my burden to bear. I would not let it interfere with my duty as a Warden. Or had I already?
I stepped through the Door, a million unresolved questions in my mind. The only certainty I knew though, was that I cared about Astrid and would give my life to protect her. Just as I would give my life to protect all of humanity from the Shongtal.
Chapter Fourteen
Astrid
It had been almost two weeks since I'd last seen Quint and truth be told, I missed him. It was silly given the fact that we'd only gone out on one date – two, if you counted that first night at the restaurant – but I missed him. For reasons I didn't understand and couldn't explain, I was drawn to him. Really, really drawn to him. And not just because he was a gorgeous man – which he was. It went deeper than that.
I'd picked up the phone, intending to call him a thousand times over the last couple of weeks. But I'd put it back down without dialing, every single time. There was still so much that didn't make sense about our last meeting. So much I didn't understand.
And I still couldn't get over the fact that I'd seen him kill.
After that night and everything he'd told me, I'd done a ton of research on the Shongtal. Of course, there was nothing in scholarly literature about it. As far as academics knew, they didn't exist. Nonetheless I'd done some deeper digging, had read blogs and articles by cryptozoologists and other conspiracy theory nuts. That had been like striking a gold mine.
There was an endless amount of information about the Shongtal – though nothing conclusive or definitive. It was all speculation, rumor, and personal testimonials. But the common threads were enough. They sort of tied everything Quint had told me all together.
I didn't say that I necessarily believed in this creature – but I was open minded enough to not shut the door on the possibility. After all, I still had no explanation for the red light shooting out of their eyes I'd seen just before they died. I knew that wasn't a human thing. But my logical mind told me that I was simply seeing things that weren't there. That the situation was so traumatic and stressful that I'd hallucinated. The more I tried to convince myself of that though, the more I ended up not believing it.
Still what I'd seen – or thought I'd seen –wasn't enough for me to go on. I needed more proof. Moreover, I had no idea how to go about getting more because I didn't know how to make heads or tails of any of this.
I wanted to talk to Piper about it. Get a little perspective and some cold, hard logic. But I'd quickly rejected the idea simply because I didn't want her to think I'd gone nuts. I had nobody I could talk to about any of this. Except for Quint – and I wasn't going to do that.
The phone to the shop rang and I snatched it up, thankful to have a distraction, something to get my mind off of Quint, red-eyed demons, and everything else. I cleared my throat and put the phone to my ear.
“Thanks for calling The Attic, how can I help you?”
I was greeted by nothing more than silence on the other end of the line.
“Hello?”
I thought I heard something through that silence. It sounded like – breathing. Not the heavy breather type of prank call, just the sound of somebody sitting there with their own phone pressed to their ear, breathing normally into the receiver. I didn't know why, but that seemed a little more unnerving.
“Last chance,” I said.
Nothing but more of the breathing.
“No? Okay, take care.”
I hung up the phone quickly and felt the ominous finger of dread sliding its way up my spine. I had no reason to feel nervous about a simple prank call. After all, it was probably just some dumb kid dialing random numbers, trying to get a rise out of whoever answered.
I looked out the front windows, watching as the daylight was beginning to bleed out of the sky. The blanket of darkness was being pulled over the world as night started to replace day. I checked my watch and saw that it was four thirty.
“Close enough,” I said, deciding to knock off half an hour early.
I hustled around the shop, cleaning up and putting things away. I just felt the need to get out of there and get home before full dark fell. Although nothing had happened since that one night with Quint, I still wasn't keen on taking chances. Especially, when I didn't have a large man armed with silver daggers to keep an eye on me.
Finished with my end of day chores, I hustled out of the shop and locked up tight. I turned and walked quickly down the street. I wasn't going to stop anywhere – I'd order in tonight if nothing else. All I knew was that I needed to be home. Indoors. Away from everybody.
It was irrational and illogical, but that didn't make the fear that was coursing through me any less real.
Dusk was painting over the brightness of the afternoon, heralding the coming of the night. I cut through the park – the same park we'd been attacked in – and hurried down the path. Looking around, I saw that there was nobody else out there but me. Ordinarily, that didn't bother me. My shortcut home wasn't a high traffic area. But for whatever reason, I felt different about it. The lack of people, combined with the gloom of the early evening combined to feel sinister. Ominous.
All I knew was that I didn't want to be there anymore.
I re-settled my backpack onto my shoulders and had just picked up my pace just as I heard a high pitched keening noise coming from the foliage that lined the path on either side of me. My blood ran cold and a feeling like an electric jolt shot up my spine as half a dozen people stepped onto the path before me. I saw – or at least thought I saw – a flash of red in their eyes as they looked at me.
A woman stepped forward, a predatory grin on her face. “Hello, Astrid,” she said. “We've been waiting for you.”
Chapter Fifteen
Quint
It had been two weeks of sheer agony and torture for me. To be so close to Astrid, to see her, to catch her scent on the breeze – but to not be able to talk to her or touch her. To not be able to be in her presence – it was killing me.
But, she'd asked for me to stay away from her, so I respected her wishes – for the most part.
I knew the Shongtal would take another shot at her. Especially after meeting with the Keeper, I was positive that it was only a matter of time. They would likely try to let things cool down, put some distance between the last attack and the present. Then when everybody's guard seemed to be down, that's when they would strike. That was how they operated.
I knew it wouldn't be long before they tried to snatch her up again. Which was why I was keeping an eye on her. I followed her every day. She didn't see me and I'd managed to keep myself well hidden so she wouldn't know I was there, but I was never that far away from her.
I watched her from a distance
as she left her shop. She was walking quickly with her head down, but I could tell that she was alert. She was watching everything around her, which was good. She needed to be vigilant with the Shongtal hunting her.
Astrid cut through the park – the same park we'd been attacked in – and was moving quickly. It was as if with the coming of night, she wanted to be off the street. Not that I blamed her. The night belonged to the monsters.
She was halfway through the park when I heard a high pitched keening sound. It took a moment for it to register, but when it did, I felt my heart speed up and adrenaline start pouring through me. I knew that sound and knew that nothing good was going to follow it.
As I watched her, Turo's words echoed in my head. Kill Astrid to deny the Shongtal a chance to destroy two worlds. One life balanced against billions. My blades weighed heavily on me. In my heart, I knew I couldn't do what Turo thought I should. What he wanted me to do. But in my head, it was a different story. In my head, I saw the logic. I saw that I had but two choices – the smart one, and the selfish one.
Which was I going to choose?
The high pitched keening sounded again and sure enough, up ahead, I saw half a dozen Shongtal in their human husks step onto the path, blocking Astrid's way. She stopped and even from where I was standing, I could see her tense and stiffen. I knew I needed to get to her quickly. Not just to protect her from the Shongtal, but to protect her from herself.
She was of the Lightning Clan, meaning she could summon lightning on a whim. Although, that wasn't without its drawbacks as well. She wasn't able to control her powers. That first night in the park was a prime example of that. She'd built up that store of energy within her, but rather than releasing it normally, she'd just let it all burst out of her at once.
She didn't realize it, but she'd almost killed herself by releasing that much energy all at once. As it was, she'd gone off like a nuclear bomb. She'd pretty well evaporated those unfortunate enough to be close to her – thankfully, it was only the Shongtal and not me. I was ten yards away, engaged with one of the husks when she blew and the force of that blast had hit me so hard, it had knocked me to the ground. Hard.
I needed to tell her to avoid doing that again. For her own sake. The last thing I wanted to see was Astrid exploding.
When the Shongtal fighters started advancing on her, Astrid began to walk backwards, trying to maintain the distance between them. I entered the park and was sliding my daggers out of their sheaths when they finally noticed me.
“Warden,” the woman who appeared to be the leader called to me. “Our quarrel is not with you. Leave now.”
“Not a chance,” I called back.
Astrid turned her head, her face was terrified, but when her eyes locked onto mine, I saw absolute relief flooding them. I moved quickly to her side and looked at her, trying to let her see just how serious what I was about to say was.
“Astrid,” I said. “Do not build up the energy within you. Don't let it build. And if it does anyway, don't release it. Hold on to it and let it dissipate within you.”
“H – how am I supposed to do that.”
“Sing a song,” I said. “Do something to distract yourself. Try to keep from getting excessively emotional. That's what triggers the energy build up. Stay as calm as you can.”
“Yeah, that's an easy assignment.”
“Try, Astrid,” I said. “You have to try or you could kill us both. Just stay calm and focused.”
She nodded, though I could see her body trembling. She was scared and would likely only grow more terrified. Which meant that I needed to end this fight quickly. And that meant breaking a couple of rules.
The six Shongtal were nearly upon us, so I turned, brandishing my long, curved daggers. I darted forward and swung my first blade, which the man deflected with his sword. He didn't see the second blade coming until it was too late. It bit deep into his chest and I sunk it hilt-deep. His eyes flared red and the husk fell limply to the ground.
I felt the next two coming up behind me before I ever saw them. I built up a small dose of my power within me and turned to face them, opening my mouth and launching a stream of fire that engulfed the both of them. They screamed and ran around, trying to beat the flames off themselves. I turned quickly and got my blade up just in time to deflect a blow from a sword that would have taken my head clean off my shoulders.
The man was big, strong, and he had leverage on me. I grunted with the effort of trying to keep his blade from cutting into my neck. He grinned, showing me a mouthful of rotten teeth. I opened my own mouth and spit a fireball straight into his face. He dropped his sword, the steel ringing out against the stone path as he clutched his face, screaming in agony.
Four down, two to go. The fifth man rushed me with a sword in each hand. He had a maniacal look in his eyes as he just started hacking and slashing with his blades. He'd obviously had no training and was just hoping to overwhelm me with the amount of times he swung at me. I easily deflected his swings and waited for him to tire, to slow. Waiting for my opening.
It didn't take long. With his breathing labored, he got sloppy with his swing, opening up a huge gap in his defenses. I moved quickly to exploit it, driving the point of my blade into his throat. His eyes grew wide and a wet, gurgling sound escaped his lips. The husk's eyes flared red and I pushed the corpse backward, where it hit the ground with a meaty thump.
I turned to face the last one – the woman who acted as if she was bored with the whole thing. She just shook her head and smirked at me.
“You're not going to be able to protect her forever, Warden.”
“Watch me.”
The woman turned and loped off into the darkness, not willing to roll the dice on her own life in a straight up fight with me. I turned back to Astrid. She was trembling, with tears streaming down her face, but overall, she was holding herself together pretty well. Which was a good thing.
She threw herself into my arms, wrapping her arms around my neck and embracing me tightly. She sobbed into my shoulder, her body spasming with the release of all that fear and tension. I stroked her hair.
“It's okay,” I said. “You're okay, Astrid. I've got you. You're safe now.”
She clung to me tightly and I hugged her back just as fiercely. After a moment, she peered up at me through her tears. She looked positively terrified.
“Quint – I saw fire,” she whispered. “You spit fire.”
I pulled her close to me again, relishing the feel of her body pressed to mine. I was in a sticky situation. She'd seen my true nature. She'd seen what she was never supposed to see. And there was no real way to explain it away. I was going to have to tell her something. But what?
“It's okay, Astrid,” I said. “It's been a tough evening. We'll talk about everything later. I'll explain it all to you. I swear it.”
Her grip on me tightened and she rested her head against my shoulder, her body still trembling.
“You saved me,” she said softly. “Again. After I treated you so horribly.”
“Always,” I said. “I want to take you someplace safe. Will you come with me?”
She looked into my eyes, relief and gratitude etched upon her face.
“Yes,” she said. “I will.”
Chapter Sixteen
Astrid
Someplace safe meant Quint's apartment. Of course. After being attacked again though, I had no issue with going there. Not if he really thought he could keep me safe. We rode the elevator up in silence, I was still too stunned to speak. Then the doors opened and I looked at the night beyond his wall of windows – looked at the darkness pressing close and felt myself shiver. I knew what was out there and it scared the hell out of me.
“You've been watching me,” I said.
He nodded. “I wanted to give you the space you asked for,” he said. “But I also wanted to ensure that you were safe.”
“Thank you, Quint,” I said, gratitude flooding my body. “You save my life again.”
“We are beginning to make a habit out of that, aren't we?”
I laughed in spite of myself. “Yes, we are,” I said. “Listen, about the last time we were together –”
He raised a hand. “You don't need to say anything, Astrid. You've been thrown into this strange world you never knew existed. Of course, you're going to freak out a little bit. Who wouldn't? The important thing is that we keep you safe. That we keep the Shongtal away from you.”
I nodded. “But won't they keep coming for me?”
He sighed and avoided my eyes. “We're going to take this one day at a time,” he said. “You must be exhausted. Let me show you to one of the guest rooms.”
I was feeling pretty wrung out, but surprisingly, not exhausted. In fact, there was a warm energy coursing through my body and I was feeling a familiar heat burning between my thighs. Maybe, it was the adrenaline rush from the attack and seeing death knocking on my door. Perhaps, it was being close to Quint again after having been separated for the last couple of weeks. I didn't know and didn't care. It was irrelevant. There was a burning desire in me, a fiery need, and I was going to sate it.
When Quint showed me into the guest room, I turned and planted a long, deep kiss onto him.
He pulled back, looking at me in surprise and I saw the question in his eyes.
“Yes, I really want this,” I whispered.
Quint pushed me up against the wall with such force, I feared we might bust through to the other side. He kissed me, long and hard. I felt his erection through his pants, felt him pressing against me. I wanted nothing more than to wrap my legs around his waist and have him take me right there, against the wall.
I burned with need and desire and just wanted – needed – him inside of me.
I fumbled with his pants, failing to unbutton them as Quint kissed down the length of my neck, sending chills down my spine. His hands slid down my back, squeezing my ass as he continued to plant soft kisses along my neck.
When I failed, yet again, to get his pants down, he grabbed both of my hands in just one of his, pinning them against the wall above my head. He smiled at me – the smile of a man who was enjoying being in control.
Rhani (Dragons of Kratak Book 3) Page 102
