Where Kindara and Cerridwen waited.
56
They had just made it into the hall, Kindara wrapped around Cerridwen, when an ear-shattering pop had them all falling to the floor, hands on their ears. Aureliana was somehow the first one up on her feet despite her recent injuries. "Kin, take Cerridwen and run! Find your demon now!"
Kindara didn't get the chance. It took everything she had to roll to her side and pull herself up to her feet.
Five demons stood in front of them. Three were red skinned with blood battle streaks tattooed over their shoulders. They were smaller than the other male she vaguely recognized as being one of Rathan's councilmembers.
They looked at her and Aureliana derisively. The taller one stepped forward, a dagger in his hand. He wore no sword. But a sword wouldn't be needed for what Kindara suspected he intended. "Hand over the spawn."
"No. You’ll never hurt her." Her hand tightened around the little girl's as she cried. For her father. Kindara pulled the small knife she'd carried for three hundred and seventy-five years free. It had been given to her when she'd been confirmed as the most gifted healer of her tribe.
She had used it to heal. And she had used it to defend.
But never had she battled demons.
Aureliana had her own sword ready. Nothing about her stance now let anyone looking at her know she was injured. "Kindara, call your demon as soon as you can."
Kindara wrapped her hand around the medallion and called his name.
The demons charged. Intent on Cerridwen.
On Kindara.
On the babe she carried.
No one would harm her babe. No one.
Kindara braced herself as the first of the demons slammed into her. Her hand tightened on her knife. It was all the hope she had.
The knife, Aureliana...and the knowledge that her demon king would be coming for as soon as he could.
57
He heard her calling, but Rathan could not get to her. Not and leave his brother behind to be slaughtered. Even the greatest warrior in the lands could fall if the number of attackers was great enough.
Ren was bellowing pure Phrymos battle rage as his sword cut down three of the demon mercenaries surrounding him.
Rathan had guards within the castle walls. They would be there soon. He just had to find a moment to grab Ren and flash them out. To the queen's side. Ren could find his daughter from there. Rathan drove his sword—he'd carried it from the moment he had stepped foot back in his castle—into the side of the nearest demon mercenary. The creature, an askasodreno, was no more than six foot eight or so, and two hundred pounds. They weren't the strongest of the mercenary hybrids that existed—but in the last millennia or so they had taken to inserting poisoned darts into their claws.
That poison burned like the fire of the three hells and was damned near impossible to cure quickly. Curable, but it could take over a week to get the poison out completely.
Not a pleasant experience. Rathan backhanded the beast—a cross between ashaenso and Midreno demons—hard enough to send it careening into two others.
Ren quickly dispatched all three while Rathan turned toward the four still coming at him.
Within a handful of moments, they were on the ground, writhing.
And his guards had caught up with him.
As another explosion sounded in the northern wing.
The wing where his gamata and spawn were trapped.
Rathan grabbed his brother by the vest. "The queen!"
He pulled Ren through the flash with him. Then they were hurtling toward wherever Kindara waited for him to get to her.
58
The castle shook around them again. Worse than before.
It was loud enough to distract the monster slashing at her before his claws could sink into the skin of her chest. Kindara took the opportunity for what it was.
She shoved her knife into the creature's neck with as much force as she possibly could.
It most likely wouldn't kill a demon, but it would slow it down long enough for her to grab Cerridwen and get the little one to safety.
She screamed when it splattered into a puddle of blood almost at her feet.
She had killed a demon. Kindara slipped in the puddle and went down to one knee as she scurried to Aureliana’s side.
Aureliana was locked in battle with one of the shorter demons—and the council demon who had stood back and watched it all. Until Aureliana and her sword had gotten too close.
Now, he battled with Aureliana almost as if he was curious about her skill.
Kindara grabbed a huge urn from a nearby table and slammed it into the shorter demon's skull. Aureliana didn't hesitate. She drove her sword into its chest and twisted.
The demon fell to the ground and disintegrated into a puddle of sludge at their feet. Kindara couldn't help it; she squealed. She had never seen anything like it.
That left just the one.
She turned to the male equally as big as Rathan. As big as Cormac, and she knew.
It was she whom he had come to kill.
Because of the babe she carried.
"Kindara, run!" Aureliana somehow jerked herself between the demon and Kindara. Protecting Kindara, as she always had.
Aureliana wouldn't stand a chance.
She wasn't fully healed from the last time.
Damn it, where was her demon when she needed him?
59
He knew she needed him. It had nothing to do with the medallion and everything to do with him just knowing his gamata was in danger.
He and Ren reformed in the hallway leading to the upper wing of the northern tower.
Where Rathan's own suite was located. Where his family's suites were located.
Rathan bellowed her name, and he and Ren ran down the long and winding hallway. His castle was by no means a small one. It covered more actual footage than a small city in Gaia. Kindara and Cerridwen could be anywhere. "Kindara!"
Someone screamed his name and he knew.
He grabbed Ren again and flashed. Despite the danger in flashing so immediately after the first.
Neither of them cared about the damned risk. He just had to get to her.
They reformed just outside Ren's own suite of rooms.
To see Kindara struggling with an askasodreno demon while the Dardaptoan warrior female was engaged in a fierce battle with the very male Rathan suspected was behind the attacks to begin with.
The wounded female fought—between the Beskre warrior Agmendias and little Cerridwen.
And Kindara.
Before Rathan could get there, Agmendias reached out and slammed the hilt of his sword into the dark-haired female's face. She was knocked through the air, crashing into the stone wall, just feet from the door to Ren's suite.
His brother bellowed.
Never had he or Ren tolerated seeing a female so harmed.
Aureliana got back to her feet, then dove at the demon clawing at Kindara.
Agmendias turned, saw Rathan and his brother coming right at him.
He flashed himself away in an instant. Damned coward; he could attack the females, but when faced with two strong male warriors, he ran like the weak asshole he was.
Leaving only the demon still clawing at the queen.
Rathan reached it and yanked it away from his female.
Kindara grabbed for Cerridwen and wrapped herself around the spawn, sobbing. Cerridwen buried her face in Kindara's tangled and bloodied blond hair.
There was blood on the queen. On Kindara. Rathan’s gamata.
Rathan's rage echoed around them all.
The walls of the castle shook from the force of his rage.
Rathan separated the askasodreno's head from its body. It turned to liquid at his feet.
Ren was helping the Dardaptoan warrior female to her feet. She was injured again. It was easy to see. But from the four puddles of askasodreno blood that remained on the hall floor, they had faced incredible odds.
Kindara’s goddess must have had been watching over them today.
"Are you hurt?" Rathan demanded, pulling Kindara close. He ran his hands over her quickly. She was battered, but there were no obvious signs of great injury. He found no obvious source of the blood. It had to be askasodreno. They didn’t exactly die neatly. There was askasodreno blood on the very walls surrounding them. And the ceiling. "Did those damned askasodreno scratch you with their claws?"
"They tried, but we stopped them. I killed one before he could." She was shaking in his arms, clinging to him.
"You did?"
She pointed to one of the piles of blood. "I told you before I can take care of myself, demon."
"I know. But you shouldn't have to. That's my job." He pulled her tight into his arms.
“They were after Cerridwen and me. Because of the babe.”
“They will not harm you again.”
Her arms went around his waist, and she hugged him just as tightly in return. It was a long moment before she pulled away.
"Auri?" Kindara said her friend's name and turned. "How badly are you hurt?"
"Bruises. I'm not even bleeding. Not even a scratch," the female said, from where Ren held her on her feet. "Exhausted. Sore. I'm not exactly up to sparring with maniacal monsters at the moment. How is Cerridwen?"
Ren reached out one handed and pulled his spawn to him, from where she huddled between her uncle and father and the two females, still clinging to Kindara’s pardus. Ren inspected his only spawn quickly. "Not a mark on her. Of course not. She is a Phrymos princess, after all."
"Who was just terrified by monsters in her home. The one place she should know she is safe," the warrior female snapped. She somehow scooped the spawn into her arms and cuddled her close. Rocking her. Soothing her as best she could. "Baby, it's all right. We're safe now. We’re safe. The monsters are all gone."
"My daddy and Uncle Rathan saved us!"
"I think we did a good job saving ourselves, too. You were so brave, and did exactly what Auri told you. I'm very proud of you." Kindara brushed a hand over Cerridwen's brow. A warmth surrounded them all for a quick moment. One of healing Rathan had experienced before—at the healer Barlaam's hands decades ago.
Cerridwen yawned and calmed right before Rathan's eyes. His niece rested her head on Aureliana's shoulder, as if she had been there a thousand times in her short life.
"She must rest, in her bed. I will have guards assigned to her now. And her nurse, Isolde, must be found." Ren started toward his suite. Cerridwen's was immediately next to his, where he could get to her in the night if his spawn needed him.
He never made it.
Another hit from those damned Lozicano warrior cannons slammed into the building, shaking everything around them. Wood and stone and plaster fell all around them.
Rathan wrapped himself around his gamata, covering her head with his arm. Ren was knocked clear off his feet, taking the brunt of the damage. The warrior girl cried out as she was hit by falling debris. She wrapped herself around Cerridwen protectively, pressing the spawn between her own body and the wall.
Ren got back on his feet and rushed toward his daughter. "We need to get them to safety!"
There was only one real option. He wanted his gamata and Cerridwen as far away from Relaklonos as he could get them. Where they would be safe. Protected.
He opened the portal opening as quickly as he could, with an ancient spell only the highest of kings would ever know. He took Cerridwen as Ren scooped the Dardaptoan warrior female into his arms from where she slumped against the crumbling wall. It was obvious she had reinjured herself now.
He shoved his niece into Kindara’s arms and nudged them toward the growing cloud. "Go! Now! Kindara, I will come for you when I am able."
60
Kindara stared at him for a moment, her arms clutched tight around the demon child. “But…I can’t leave. Bron and Belnus…”
“I will find them and send them and Danae to you as soon as I can. But you must go!” His eyes were wild as he opened the portal back to Colorado.
“What is it?”
“A minor skirmish. Go.” Her demon scooped her close for one moment, trapping his niece between them. “You have to go. If I don’t come for you, keep on for our spawn. He will always need you. Promise me this!”
As what he was saying sank in, Kindara’s heart seized. No. Not like this. She couldn’t…she couldn’t lose him. “No! Come with us!”
He turned to his brother. “Your oath. You will keep my spawn and the queen safe. No matter what the cost.”
“You have my vow, though I wish you would let me stay and fight at your side. Find that bastard Agmendias and kill him myself for the damage he has caused to innocent females this day.”
“No. You get Kindara and the spawn to safety and stay with them. Protect them from anyone else who will harm them. Cerridwen, too.”
The purple demon held Aureliana close, her head tucked under his chin as the walls continued to shake. Kindara just clutched her demon as close as she could, around the child in her arms.
She heard herself begging him. Begging him to come with her. She couldn’t…
Rathan kissed her forehead again, before speaking to his brother. “This wing is the weakest. It will not be able to sustain much more damage before it collapses from the force of the cannons. Add in whatever dirty spells the Jashc demons have created for the Beskre, we do not have much time! Once you get the queen and my heirs safe from this world, I will deal with these traitors as they deserve.”
“But why are they attacking?” Aureliana demanded, her words muffled into the large warrior demon’s chest where he refused to let her raise her head, as the building shook around them again and again.
“Agmendias wants Kindara and Cerridwen, and to prevent the heir from being born.” Rathan waved his hands, parting the ether to reveal the inner gardens of Kindara’s home. Several shadows were present and moving behind the ether, but she could not make out their features. “As my heirs, they are the main threat to Agmendias and his friends on the council. They riled the Lozicano warriors to war to see to it that that happened. Now, I have to clean up the mess before it is safe for my family to return. Go.”
Kindara’s hands tightened around Cerridwen, and she said a quick prayer to the Goddess that she would be able to keep her own babe safe. “What are you going to do?”
“Defend my damned castle and rip Agmendias and his co-conspirators into shreds. Ren, take them to her brother directly. Failing that, seek out a male named Rand Taniss. The wolf will keep them as safe as I would, and he owes me a blood debt. I trust him with my life, and his female is Kindara’s daughter. He will see her safe.”
Ren nodded. “Protect yourself, brother. We don’t know how far the treachery has sunk. When the time comes, I will return. To help you in whatever battle you must face.”
Rathan reached out and lifted Kindara off her feet as the blue cloud grew around them, finally dissolving the barrier between Relaklonos and her home. He kissed her once. “I will come for you the moment I am able. I will come for you. Remember: we are bound for eternity.”
Then he was lifting her through the ether. Her arms tightened around the babe in her arms. Cerridwen’s arms twisted around her neck.
Kindara sat the child down and turned back to the portal as Ren carried Aureliana through.
Rathan was just visible inside the ether. His world shook around him. The wall behind him began to crumble as more demons she recognized as a dozen of his brothers he’d so proudly introduced her to just the day before rushed to protect their king.
The portal began to close, the cloud dissipating.
Kindara’s chest seized. “Demon! No!”
She started back toward him.
He cursed, began waving his hands together to
close the portal opening even more rapidly.
Kindara dove toward it, toward him, only one thought driving her now.
Him.
She couldn’t leave him behind to die.
She couldn’t lose like that again. She loved him too much to lose him like she had lost Iavius. She couldn’t.
Terror for him had her fighting so hard she couldn’t breathe.
She didn’t stop to think about the little girl watching next to her, to listen to Aureliana’s cries of fear, or the surprise from those in the Dardanos courtyard to have her and Aureliana return so bloody and battered.
All she could think about was not losing him. She screamed his name again.
Hands stopped her. Held her back. Strong hands she tried to fight, but couldn’t. The ether closed around the demon, cutting her off from Rathan.
He was gone. “No!”
She screamed so loudly her voice echoed off the brick building surrounding her. And she just kept screaming. His name. Begging the Goddess to send her back to him, somehow.
Until familiar hands went around her once more and pulled her tight to a strong male chest. Kindara looked up into the shocked face of her brother.
“Cormac. You have to help him. You!” She pointed at Rathan’s brother. “Go help him. Go back. You can’t leave him like this. You can’t. He’ll die.”
“I follow my high king’s orders, though I do not like them any more than you do.” Renakletos still held Aureliana, glaring at the dozen or so males surrounding them now with swords drawn. “He said stay with you and keep you safe. That is what I will do. You and the heir have my undying loyalty and protection now.”
Aodhan tried to take his sister from the larger warrior—at sword point. “Give her to me, demon.”
“State your claim, Dardaptoan.” Renakletos pulled Aureliana away. Kindara was almost lost to the entire exchange.
The portal was closed. All that remained was the smoke. That was it. All that she had.
Rathan was…gone.
Bound To The Demon Page 22
