Katie's Hope (Rhyn Trilogy, Book Two)

by Lizzy Ford

  “I’m sure we’ll be able to beat each other to a pulp again sometime,” Jared continued. “Every demon on this mortal planet is hunting Sasha.”

  “Sasha? What do the demons want with Sasha?”

  “The demons want revenge. We were both inmates in his zoo in Hell long enough to know how charming he was. He pissed off the wrong people.”

  “Not good enough,” Rhyn said and started toward the injured demon. “I don’t give a shit about Sasha.”

  “And … AND,” Jared rushed on, holding up both hands, “he stole something from the Dark One, something that makes demons immune to Immortal powers. It has something to do with your blood monkey. I’m too lowly a demon to know what, but I overheard them talking about it when they came to free us from our cell block.”

  “The Dark One unleashed all of Sasha’s pets?” Rhyn asked, the feeling of doom making him jittery.

  “All of us.”

  “The demons and were-things and the Dark One’s personal creations.”

  “Oh, my,” Jared said.

  “Then I’ve got a long list of creatures to kill, starting with you.”

  “Now, wait, half-brother,” Jared said. “I’ll admit you have the advantage here. I’m not interested in revenge like the rest of my brethren. Those demons Sasha killed really deserved it. I just wanted to eat your blood monkey because she smelled so good, I figured she’d taste even better. That’s all I wanted. But I don’t have to do that. I can just walk away. Or I can help you. You’re going to need some allies to face what’s coming your way.”

  Rhyn considered the words born of desperation. There was truth in everything Jared said. He knew Jared well enough after all their years in Hell together to understand the creature was too narcissistic to care about another’s issues. If anything, Jared wanted just what he said: a good snack on his way to find more good snacks.

  Brute force usually won any battle he fought. Recently, he’d begun thinking he’d need more if he were taking on demons, Immortals, and anything else the Dark One would throw at him. All he needed was to figure out how to win a game of strategy he didn’t know how to play, before his time was up and he lost the only thing that mattered.

  “Well?” Jared asked, the confidence in his voice replaced by unease.

  “If you betray me, Sasha will seem like an angel,” Rhyn said, straightening out of his fighting stance. “There are demons in the forest surrounding the Immortals’ winter stronghold. Have you any aversion to killing your own kind?”

  “None.”

  “I’ll take you there to hunt. You’ll go nowhere near my blood monkey, and if any of our demon brethren attack her, you’ll defend her. Remember, you’ll be the first I come for if you betray me.”

  “Deal.”

  Rhyn studied the demon, aware he could never trust such a creature fully. But, if he could get some use out of him before it came time to kill him, he might have a better chance of protecting Katie.

  “Follow me.”

  Rhyn opened the portal to the shadow world and walked through the damp fog to the forest outside the castle. Jared limped after him and appeared beside him on the cliff edge, taking in the morning view of grey skies and green forest with a look of distaste.

  “I smell two demons, and blood,” the demon said, raising his head to the wind. “Angel? You have an angel here? Their blood reeks!”

  Rhyn’s mind went to Toby, the baby angel he’d amused by shredding pillows. Jared’s senses were more acute than his, and he turned to face the direction of the castle. Something had happened while he was gone.

  “Go and hunt,” he said. Fire slid through his body as he contorted and changed shapes. Jared stepped back as Rhyn launched himself into the air as a hellish bird reminiscent of a pterodactyl. His long wings beat the air as he rose, and it took him a short two minutes to soar over the castle.

  The stark red of blood against white snow caught his attention, and he circled the park behind the castle. There were two splashes of blood, one at the tree line and another nearer the castle. He changed forms in midair and dropped the half dozen feet to the ground, smelling Toby’s blood as he landed near it. He smelled Katie’s, too, and was unable to quell the surge of lust that ran through him. He entered the castle, following the scents up the back stairwell that Katie alone used to avoid the other Immortals.

  The trail led him to Kris’s large chamber, and he strode in without knocking. Toby was in Kris’s bed, the pale baby angel stripped down to his waist and unconscious. Ully and Kris carefully wrapped one of his arms in gauze. Katie sat on Kris’s couch, glassy-eyed while her own wound went untreated. Rhyn’s anger stirred at the sight of her bleeding alone, and he crossed to her, snatching the first aid kit off the bed.

  Kris’s gaze went from emerald to amber, and he strode across the room to meet him. Rhyn nearly decked him when the blond brother shoved him back.

  “Get the fuck out, Rhyn!” Kris snapped. “And don’t try to tell me that black cat wasn’t you! You’re one twisted— ”

  “Kris!” Katie interjected, standing unsteadily. “It wasn’t him. He was off fighting some demon that attacked me.”

  “You stay out of this!”

  “No, Kris, I won’t! You’re too quick to blame everyone else! It’s my fault Toby was wandering around without someone watching him, but really, Kris, who assigns a woman an Immortal kid that’s not even her own and expects her to know what to do with it?”

  “I’m up to here with your lip. Sit down and shut up, Katie!”

  Rhyn was content to let them fight when he thought she was winning, like she normally did. He sensed Kris’s agitation was increased by the ensnaring scent of Katie’s blood, which was heavy in the air. At Kris’s angry response, Rhyn shoved his brother out of his path.

  “Talk to my mate like that again, brother, and I’ll fuck up this castle and everyone in it before you can think of stopping me.” He crossed to Katie and sat on the ottoman in front of her. She sat, dazed. Kris’s gaze burned a hole in his back, but Rhyn ignored him. Instead, he focused hard on cleaning up her blood and bandaging her arm before the scent drove him too wild to control himself.

  “I want you gone, Rhyn. Be out of here by nightfall,” Kris said at last, his voice quiet and hard.

  “You all won’t live long if I go, Kris. The forest is full of demons out for Sasha’s head, and the Dark One may be sending more of its creatures. At this point, I’m the only thing capable of standing between you and the monsters in the forest,” Rhyn replied with calmness he didn’t feel.

  He felt Katie’s gaze on him and looked up from the bandage, his eyes lingering on her face. Her surprise echoed what he felt from Kris. He was trying not to let the feel of Katie’s skin heat his blood, but her nearness and direct gaze lit him afire.

  A half-demon outcast didn’t deserve anything so delicate or beautiful, but Death help him, he wanted her more than anything else in his life. He didn’t even know yet if he could protect anyone’s ass, except his own. He dropped his gaze to the bandage, and he finished it in a hurry. If he didn’t leave soon, and she kept looking at him like that, he’d make love to her right there.

  “Toby needs a healer,” Ully said from the bedside.

  “I know where to find one,” Rhyn said, his thoughts going to the Ancient healer that had been a prisoner in Sasha’s zoo in Hell across the hall from his own cell. He stood without looking at Katie. “I’ll be back. Keep everyone out of the forest, Kris.”

  He stalked to the door, sexual frustration and anger in his blood again. He jogged through the castle and ran out into the snow, launching himself into the cold air as he changed into the bird form. For once, he was grateful for the coldness chilling his fevered skin.

  For the second time in as many days, Rhyn surprised her. She wasn’t expecting his ministrations— however rough and sloppy they were— or his mouthing off to Kris.

  And neither was Kris. The Immortals’ leader cursed and paced for a few minutes after Rhyn l
eft before disappearing into the hallway. She rose, still wobbly, and crossed to the bed, perching on it beside Ully. The sight of Toby’s near lifeless features made her feel sick to her stomach. She brushed hair away from the child’s face. His sweet smell and the feel of his soft skin lingered in her senses after she’d carried him from the forest. She’d never noticed how a kid smelled, like fresh sunshine.

  “You think he’ll be okay?” she asked in a hushed voice.

  “I don’t know,” Ully answered. “I think a healer can fix him. I think he’s just sleeping for now.”

  She touched the baby angel’s hand. She’d never known the type of terror that tore through her when she saw the jaguar snatch him. The image replayed itself in her mind, and guilt flooded her. It shouldn’t have taken almost losing him for her to realize how vulnerable he was. He was hundreds of thousands of mortal years old, but less than half a dozen in angel years. Without Gabriel, Toby had no one but her.

  “How is he?” At Sasha’s voice, they both turned. A tremor of fear went through her, and Ully crept closer, as if she had half a chance of defending them. She wrapped a hand around her throat protectively.

  “Fine,” Ully whispered. “Sleeping.”

  Sasha’s gaze took them both in, his eyes settling on her bandaged arm before he forced himself to look at Toby.

  “I didn’t know we had a baby angel in our midst. Demons don’t normally attack them, unless they were trying to draw you outside the sacred grounds, Katie,” he said. “They taste awful.”

  “I don’t think you should be here,” Katie said, anger rising at his considering look at Toby.

  “Very well. I’m in the chamber beside yours if you need anything.” While quiet, his words were meant as the threat she took them to be. She was still staring at the doorway when Kris walked through. He strode to his walk-in closet and snatched a sweater and boots.

  “What the hell is going on, Kris?” she demanded.

  “Later.”

  “No, Kris, now. Toby and I have been attacked by demons, and Sasha’s wandering around the castle like he owns the place.”

  “I don’t expect you to understand. What’s clear is that your mate is still out of control. Sasha can help me break the bond so you don’t have to deal with that anymore.”

  “What bond?” she asked.

  “The bond between you and Rhyn. You wanted your life back, didn’t you?” he asked pointedly.

  “Yes, but— ”

  “I need Sasha’s help. He’s a deviant. He knows how to do things no Immortal has ever done. He brought us a vial of blood to replace you as a test subject, and he knows where we can find the information to break your bond to Rhyn.”

  She was silent, surprised as much by his information as she was by the turning of her stomach at the thought of losing Rhyn.

  I have to do it before Gabriel comes for me.

  “It won’t hurt him or me, will it?” she asked.

  “I don’t know yet, but if it must hurt one of you, it’ll be my dear little brother, who is a blight to Immortals and humans alike.” His words were spoken with an unusual amount of venom. “Besides, the bond between angel and human cannot be broken, so you’ll have to take care of Toby until you die.”

  “Why do you hate Rhyn so much?” She watched him stop lacing his boots. A haunted look crossed his face.

  “I want what he took from me,” he said quietly. “I can’t have it, and so neither shall he.”

  The look on his face made her bite her tongue to keep from saying anything else. Weeks ago, when she’d been at the Sanctuary, Gabriel entrusted her with the secret of what had caused Kris to turn on Rhyn. It involved a woman, Kris’s intended mate. She was working with the Dark One, and Rhyn had killed for that reason. And no one had ever told Kris. She ached to, but she doubted he’d believe her.

  Kris finished tying his boots and crossed to the door, slamming it on his way out. Ully jumped beside her.

  “Do you think Toby is okay to move?” she asked, afraid to be there when Kris returned. “I want to put him in my bed so he doesn’t wake up scared.”

  “We can try it,” Ully said. “I don’t like being around Kris when he’s in a mood.”

  “Me neither,” she agreed.

  They carefully lifted the sleeping angel and carried him up a flight of stairs to her large chamber. Katie arranged the bedding and pillows around his still form and then retrieved his stuffed animals out of his bedroom.

  “Next Thursday is Thanksgiving,” Ully started as they settled on either side of the bed. “Kris does a big feast here every year, and Andre used to arrange the December holiday celebration. All the Immortals who are someone are here by mid-December.”

  She recalled what sent her outside the castle, and her anger at Kris ratcheted up another notch. He was planning something, if he invited Hannah to the castle.

  “Ully, is there any way to see if my sister is coming here? Her fiancé is an Immortal.”

  “Kris keeps a roster. We can have his private secretary check it. Write down the names, and I’ll take it down,” he offered. “I need to grab some grub, too. I can bring you dinner, if you want.”

  “Yes, thanks,” she said and stretched for the pen and paper she kept in the nightstand drawer next to the bed. She scribbled down Hannah and Gio’s names then sat back, frowning. “I guess it really is Thanksgiving next week. Doesn’t seem like it’s been that long since …” She trailed off, pensive.

  “Time passes fast for Immortals. I guess when you stop counting hours and days and just count months or years— ”

  “I need to grab something. I can take this down,” she said suddenly, standing. He looked surprised. “What do you want me to bring you?”

  He listed a few items, none of which she heard as she continued to stare at the paper. When he finished, she nodded and hurried away. She dropped a note into the absent secretary’s inbox then went to the first basement level, which housed supplies, clothing, and other essentials in the form of small department stores whose wares were free to all Immortals. She visited the small café and dropped three boxed lunches into a tote bag along with extra cocoa and marshmallows in case Toby woke up soon. She continued to the small women’s boutique that stocked every kind of facial and body care product she’d ever heard of— and many she hadn’t.

  Two other Immortals lingered in the aisle of interest to her, and she browsed the small selection of feminine hygiene products, aware they only stocked a few brands for the few Immortal mates who were human. She made a show of reading the back of a box of tampons until the Immortals left. Only then did she venture closer to where they’d been and snag a small box smoothly from the shelf, pushing it under everything else to the bottom of the bag.

  On her way back to her room, she poked her head into Kris’s secretary’s office. The slender Immortal glanced up from his computer.

  “Saw your note,” he said with a quick smile. He pulled a printout from beneath his computer and scanned it. “They should be here … tonight. I’m sending a car to the airport at about two. It’s a three-hour trek, so you can expect them between five and six.”

  “Thanks,” she said and left, feeling as if the timing couldn’t be worse for her sister to show up. She wondered if Hannah knew yet about the Immortals and how Katie’s tattoo hadn’t been the result of a fling in Ireland as she led her sister to believe. She tucked the small box into her jeans pocket and covered the bulge with her sweater, ducking into the bathroom to hide it before rejoining Ully for their small lunch.

  Chapter Three

  “So this is where you’re hiding out.”

  Gabriel whipped around at the voice, lowering the weapon that emerged instinctively at the sound of a stranger in his home. Rhyn kept his distance, knowing just how jumpy an assassin could be. Gabriel was at his place in the underworld, a small cottage tucked into Death’s realm, in the Everdark forest of Immortal trees whose hissing, fanlike leaves and snake-like branches moved to catch the quiet wind.
Gabriel’s small cottage was lit by a single candle that cast light on a collection of weapons along one wall and a few books on a bookshelf on another.

  “I didn’t think you could come here,” the assassin said.

  “The Code says I shouldn’t, not that I can’t. Important distinction,” Rhyn replied and pulled out a chair from the table on which the candle was placed. He straddled the chair and rested his forearms on its back. “You left without saying good-bye.”

  Gabriel rubbed his face, and Rhyn saw the shadow of stubble the assassin never allowed to grow. Something was really wrong if Gabriel’s thousands-year-old habit changed suddenly.

  “I didn’t have a choice,” Gabriel said with some difficulty. “Death owns me now.”

  Rhyn understood without asking. Gabriel had always been a free man; now the human-turned Immortal was a slave.

  “Welcome to my world,” he said with a chuckle. “You’ll find making friends is hard when everyone hates you.”

  “I’m beginning to see that. Didn’t realize I liked having some sort of free will.”

  “You still have choices. Just none of them are good.”

  Gabriel snorted in response.

  “Since I know I can drop in on you whenever I want, I promise to come back,” Rhyn continued. “I need a hand finding an Ancient healer named Lankha.”

  “Your girl hurt again?”

  “I suppose you’ll be the latest to tell me she’s better off without me,” Rhyn said. “But no, it’s not her this time. It’s Toby.”

  Gabriel frowned and ran a hand through his hair. Rhyn watched him, concerned at finding his sole friend so affected by the recent change in his life. He sensed much more amiss than Gabriel would ever admit.

  “The healers moved to the other side of the Immortal world, past Elisia and closer to Hell. I can’t take you, but here.” He held out his hand. Rhyn stretched to tap fists with him, and the portal information lit up his thoughts. He’d spent most his life in Hell and remembered little of the Immortal world.

  “I’ll come back,” Rhyn promised, rising.