The Night House Read online

  Thane held her to his warm chest with his strong arms the size of small tree trunks. His even breath teased her hair and his potent scent wound around her.

  He’d fantasized about her.

  And now he knew she fantasized about him.

  She needed to get out of here. Her cheeks burned. She pushed away.

  Thane’s arms tightened around her.

  “Do you always cuddle afterward?” she asked.

  “Do you always talk when you’re uncomfortable?” he countered.

  Damn it. She clamped her mouth shut.

  “You saw my memories,” he said.

  “Yes.” Apparently, they weren’t going to talk about that other stuff.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  Awkward as hell didn’t begin to convey how she felt right now. She shifted her weight to sit up. “That’s okay.”

  “It’s probably best that we stay like this for a bit.”

  “Why?” Was he a masochist? Did he enjoy prolonging uncomfortable situations? She took a deep breath of pine, wool and candle wax.

  “Using the bond to memory sift can have lingering effects.”

  “Like what?” He never mentioned any side effects before. Then again, she didn’t ask.

  “Like the need for proximity. Both our minds are weak and vulnerable from the experience. Keeping close and in contact helps them recuperate.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut. Why was her body ablaze with need instead of spiraling into a void of self-loathing? “Did you get what you needed?”

  “I think so, and I know the area you were in when you found the circle. I visited the nearby town before we met.”

  “And?”

  “And the locations make a triangle around the gate. The empty body cavities and the lingering dark magic indicate the wielder ate some of the internal organs and travelled back to Arkavia with the rest to anchor the leaching spell. I don’t know how to break the spell. We need to locate the spell caster and eliminate him or her.”

  Memories of burnt hamburger swamped her senses. Nope. Don’t go there. Don’t think about someone hauling a sack of bloody organs through the portal. She recoiled. Her cheek rubbed against his shirt and stirred scents of trees, metal and man. She needed to focus on something else. “Why did you bond me instead of using a geas like you did with the men?”

  He sighed. “You have Tarka power and a geas wouldn’t be enough to contain or help you control it.”

  That made sense. “Lucky bet on which earthen slave to keep, huh?”

  “I knew you had magic the second I laid eyes on you.”

  Oh.

  “Power radiates off you.”

  Oh.

  He cleared his throat. “While we’re here, we need to talk about that other stuff.”

  “What other stuff?”

  “We can never be together, Taya.”

  Oh. That stuff.

  “We need to have a relationship before you can break up with me,” she said.

  He chuckled, his chest rumbling under her ear. “We share a mutual attraction. I want to be clear it can never become more than that.”

  “I’ll try not to pine for you too hard.” Geez. Ego, much? Just because he planned to sit and mope over his botched betrothal didn’t mean she had to do something similar. The first thing she needed to do was rid herself of this aching need for the enemy.

  “I’m serious,” he said.

  “So am I.” She pushed away. Her brain didn’t seize up. “Looks like our refractory period is over.”

  “Our what?”

  She clambered to her feet and brushed off her clothes. Her stiff muscles complained like unfed cats. “Never mind.”

  “You’re always saying that.”

  She shrugged. “Science analogy.”

  Thane stood swiftly without any signs of soreness. He towered over her. “We should talk about this.”

  “About the loss of science?” And logic and everything else that made sense in her world.

  He shook his head. “You know what I’m talking about.”

  She flung her hands into the air. “There’s nothing to talk about. I get it. You can’t be with a dirty earthen, and I can’t be with a murdering Arkavian. We’re good, homeboy. I’m not going to boil your bunnies or plot your demise.” The stabbing sensation overtaking her heart said otherwise.

  “Homeboy?” He frowned. “And why would you boil…” He shook his head again. “That’s not it. At least not for me.”

  She might not need to agonize in excruciating detail over the reasons for his rejection, but evidently he did. She folded her arms and waited.

  “You’ve never been an earthen slave to me, and you never will be. But right now, I’m your leader and you’re serving me for a year. A relationship alone would make things complicated. A relationship with a bond in place would be disastrous.”

  “If I pretend to understand what you’re yammering about, can we end this conversation?” She eyed the tent flap. She could make it in three long strides. Maybe four.

  Thane growled.

  She squeezed her arms and waited for more.

  He took a step closer. Less than a foot separated them. His chest rose with each angry breath and his silvery gaze flashed. “I don’t want a relationship with someone who can’t say no because she might view it as her job.”

  “Oh.”

  He gripped her face and leaned down. “When your year is up, and you’re free, we’ll revisit this conversation and your little fantasy about me in the grappling room.”

  Little? There was nothing little about it.

  Thane leaned forward, so close the heat of his minty breath caressed her face. What would he taste like? Would he kiss her gently or would he take her hard with all the pent up need radiating off him? Would he consume her? Would there be anything left of her after he was through?

  Thane cast a longing look at her lips, and released her face. Without a word, he stalked from the tent. A burst of voices and firelight filled the tent before the flap rustled closed. Just as well he left quickly. He wasn’t present to see her wobble like a newborn filly.

  His promise hung heavy in the air and no amount of mental self-chiding could rid the heat thrumming in her veins.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  A Sad Goodbye

  The horses ambled along the frozen path toward the portal. The air buzzed against Taya’s skin with energy. She hadn’t sensed the power before, but with each clip clop of Sugar’s hooves on the path, the gate’s presence loomed closer.

  None of the men spoke to her since she stepped from Thane’s tent, hair mussed, clothes dishevelled, and glaring at all of them. The reprieve was nice. Her mind still scrambled from the sift and invisible pressure tugged her toward Thane. The distance from him physically hurt and made her bones ache.

  She ground her teeth and pulled back. To hell if she’d clamber back to him to appease some needy love bond. Her brain needed to hurry the fuck up and heal. This was down-right embarrassing.

  Did he feel the pull at all?

  “If you don’t stop glowering at him, I’ll assume he wronged you somehow.” Axel leaned over to stage whisper.

  Taya sighed. So much for silence.

  “And then I’ll have to pick a fight with him and I’ll lose.”

  She glanced over at him.

  “I can’t afford to damage this pretty face.” He ran the back of his fingertips over his weather-roughened cheek.

  “He didn’t wrong me. Your face is safe,” she said. “Why would you fight your leader over an earthen’s hurt feelings anyway? You’ve known me for three weeks.”

  Axel frowned, his thick black eyebrows digging into his scarred forehead. “You’re a part of our team, Taya. Whether it’s for one week or a decade, no one messes with you without a fist in their face.”

  “Unless you’re Julian’s spy,” Lokni called out.

  “Yeah,” Soka said. “Then you get the fist.”

  “That sounds so wro
ng,” she said.

  “Only if you have a dirty mind,” Axel said.

  Thane ignored them, and continued to stare straight ahead at the path as if their banter flowed right over him.

  Sugar snorted and shook her head. Her bridle rattled.

  “Well,” Axel said. “You—”

  A piercing war cry cut off the warrior’s words. A man leapt from the trees and lunged at Soka. More cries spread through the forest as people poured from the forest in all directions. An ambush. They were surrounded.

  A woman screamed and swung a rusty sword toward her. Taya gripped the saddle, leaned back and kicked the woman in the face. The woman fell to the ground with an ear-splitting cry.

  Taya unsheathed her swords, swung her leg over the saddle and hopped off Sugar. The warhorse danced out of the way and kicked a man running up to them. Bones cracked. The man’s head whipped back and he crumpled to the ground. Dead.

  Good. Sugar was fine and she wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally clipping the beast with her swords. Thane’s training hadn’t covered horseback fighting yet and she knew enough to figure out how useless she’d be mounted.

  “Taya!” Thane growled. “Get back on the fucking horse!”

  Whatever. She blocked the screaming woman’s attack and slid her sword under her guard to slash open her midsection. Adrenaline pumped in her veins. Her swords cried for more blood.

  She needed space.

  As if a giant neon sign appeared above her head, the attackers diverted and came at her in a giant surge.

  Her blades rang through the air. The high pitch whining of lightning trilled in her blood. The energy inside her fused with the weapons as they ripped through the air and slashed through bodies. She ducked, whirled and spun, slicing the attackers and deflecting their weak strikes.

  A man stepped over her last attacker as he slumped to the ground.

  John.

  What the hell?

  She hesitated.

  He snarled and lunged forward. She turned at the last second, but too late. His weapon sliced the side of her waist. Her stomach burned.

  John flicked his wrist and followed his initial attack with a slash. She blocked the sword and diverted the weapon to the side.

  “What are you doing?” she hissed. Her vision wavered.

  Another attacker cut in from the side, swiping at her. She spun with the motion, blocked the strike with one sword and drove the other into the belly of the unknown man. He sagged to the ground, releasing her weapon with a wet slap.

  She flicked the blood from her swords and faced John.

  “Traitor!” He attacked again.

  Metal rang as their blades met. John growled at her like a rabid dog. She spun and struck out with her elbow. He grunted and stumbled forward.

  “I knew you were one of them.” He rushed forward.

  She V-stepped around the strike and drove her blade forward. At the last second, she brought the tip up so the sword sank into his shoulder instead of his heart. She held him as he gasped and sagged forward.

  With his face only inches from hers, his wild gaze burned. “Traitor.”

  “You attacked me.”

  He growled and pushed away.

  She staggered back. Her blade withdrew from his body with a sickening wet sound. The power of the blades whined.

  “You need to be exterminated,” he said.

  “Stop it.”

  “No!” He swung again.

  Kill or be killed, apparently. He wouldn’t rest until he drove his rusted weapon through her. She never liked John, or trusted him, and she instinctively knew they’d eventually part ways—and not amicably—but not like this. Never like this. They’d survived the first few months together. They’d saved each other’s lives.

  Her chest tightened. Not like this.

  He attacked her again. She countered and sunk her blade into his throat, just like he had the Arkavian warrior to save her life months ago. John’s eyes widened. He slumped forward. She pulled her sword out, spraying blood across her face.

  John’s weight pulled her down and she lowered him to the frozen ground. His gaze grew distant. More blood trickled from his mouth and dripped down the side of his face. She reached out and touched his warm face. Why did he have to attack her? Why couldn’t he let them go? Her memory flashed to John crouching beside her behind those stupid meat coolers in the grocery store. He’d killed an Arkavian soldier to save her when he could have run.

  And now he was dead.

  Why, John?

  Her limbs shook and she swallowed a sob. She knew the answer. Because she looked like them. He associated her appearance with all the pain and loss he’d suffered since the blue death wave bowled through the forest.

  If there was an afterlife, hopefully John would find Kaydence and finish their river date. Or maybe he could hunt again with his uncles in lush forests.

  A shiver ran through her, cold and heart-numbing. When she straightened and turned, she found the clearing still. No one else attacked. Earthen bodies lay scattered across the glade while the Arkavian warriors remained in their saddles, bloody swords still drawn and watched her. Blood spatter decorated the metal plates of their armour.

  These were survivors, like her. She recognized some of them, but John had collected more followers. She never wanted to harm anyone from Earth, yet here she was, standing amidst their bodies with her hands coated in their blood.

  Hooves stomped the ground. Hades approached, stopped inches from her face and snorted.

  Thane growled down from his saddle. “Why the hell did you dismount?”

  “I don’t know how to fight on horseback,” she said, numbly. She rubbed her arms.

  He shut his mouth and glowered. After realizing his death glare didn’t harm her, his gaze cut to the body at her feet. He jerked his chin at John. “Friend of yours?”

  She looked down again and regretted it. She lurched to the side of the path and threw up.

  “Stop being an asshole,” Axel grumbled somewhere behind her.

  “The sooner she realizes her own people are as much of a threat to her as Arkavians, and setting up a home here will be fatal, the better. Once she draws this inevitable conclusion, I’ll stop being a dick.”

  She wiped her mouth with her leather gauntlet and turned back to the men. “Promise?”

  Thane gripped the reins and pulled back. “Yes.”

  “Message received.”

  He nodded and turned Hades toward the gate. The warhorse flicked his flaxen tail. “Mount up. Let’s get out of here.”

  She nodded and stepped forward. The world spun and tilted. Her body smacked the cold, bloody ground. She lay on her back and stared at the blue sky. It was so clear for a west coast winter. Where did the dark clouds go? Her side burned.

  Warm hands pressed against her stomach. Someone peeled her wet shirt from her skin.

  “She’s bleeding,” Soka said. “That last cunt must’ve grazed her.”

  “Stand back.” Thane’s face suddenly blocked her view.

  “No,” she said, limbs growing numb.

  “I have to heal you. You’re bleeding out.”

  “I don’t want the memories.” Her mind was still too raw from the memory sift.

  His expression softened. “I’ll try to shield you.”

  His magic coated her. Instead of falling into his world of painful memories, she floated on a cloud. Surrounded by moments of love and happiness. Images of her father, mother and brother wrapped around her and carried her off as Thane healed her body.

  A tear fell from her eye and tickled her skin as it travelled down her face. This was so much worse. Why did he have to show her this? Eventually, she’d have to let go and wake up to her harsh new reality. A reality without those she loved most. She didn’t want to say goodbye. She didn’t want to lose them all over again.

  Her dad’s crinkled face loomed in front of her. “Survive first.”

  Feel later. “I know, Dad. I will.”r />
  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Friends of My Friends

  One year and three months AA

  Taya surveyed the fortress in the valley below. The wind brushed against her leather pants and hooded vest. She’d pulled down the face covering she usually wore in public to enjoy the fresh air on her skin.

  The House of Auroris wasn’t as grand as Jericho, but in the eleven months she’d served as Thane’s bodyguard she hadn’t grown accustomed to the opulence of Arkavian architecture. This particular monstrosity belonged to Alexis’ family. The building’s position ensured it caught the full magnificence of the sunrise, even in winter, and the sight stole Taya’s breath away.

  Thane stepped up beside her on the bluff. “It’s beautiful. Isn’t it?”

  “It’s not the House of Jericho.”

  “No, it’s not.” His lips twitched. “But the Sun House holds a radiant beauty we’ll never capture.”

  His visible melancholy hurt. She still kept his painful memories a secret and as a reminder of his family’s great capacity for cruelty. Although he never spoke on the topic, he never seemed at home when at home. His brother and father made certain of that. The House of Jericho was a part of his legacy, but in the last year, he used every excuse possible to be away, taking his elite team on the road with him. And Taya. She became his shadow, protecting his back when he couldn’t take the team with him, and even when he could.

  “You narrowly escaped this disaster.” Axel walked over to join them.

  “Don’t remind me.” He stepped away from Taya and swung up into the saddle with a seamless vault. Hades snorted approval.

  Taya followed suit, settling into Sugar’s saddle. She pulled her face covering over her nose and patted the roan’s coat. In the summer, Sugar would shed the darker, shaggier hair to reveal a glistening coat. She looked like liquid silver under the sun and wicked shadows at night.

  Axel clucked at his mount and moved alongside. “I never thought Julian would marry. I was sure this debacle would be called off.”

  “He just needed to find someone as miserable and self-serving as he is,” Thane said.