The Night House Read online

  “What?” she asked.

  Axel scowled and looked away. His broad shoulders hunched forward. “You remind me of someone.”

  If she rolled her eyes any harder, she’d fall off Sugar. “I’m not Arkavian, so you need to rein in that imagination.”

  He shrugged and nudged his horse forward. Apparently, their bonding moment had ended.

  Soka passed her on the other side, his dark hair and violet gaze shining under the winter sunlight. His breath condensed as he clicked his tongue at her and moved on.

  “Want another split lip?”

  Soka chuckled and shook his head.

  “Have you always been this good at making friends?” Thane asked, bringing Hades up beside her.

  The horses plodded along the wide dirt road lined with thick forest on each side. They passed tree after floral-scented tree. She reached forward and ran her hand under the plated armour covering Sugar’s neck and patted her soft coat.

  “I had friends. They’re dust. It took my whole life to find them.”

  Thane nodded.

  “Why does Axel think I look like someone? He knows I’m earthen.”

  Thane glanced at her, gaze calculating.

  She sat back in the saddle and tightened her grip on the reins. Her inner thighs ached as if someone took a mallet to them and they’d transformed into one giant bruise.

  He chuckled. “What?”

  “You have the same look my parents always gave me when they debated how much to tell me.” Like during the recession when enrollment to Dad’s classes dropped and the business was in danger. “Since I jumped in with two feet, I’d suggest dishing.”

  “Dishing? What does food have to do with this?”

  She clenched her teeth. “I would like you to tell me everything. Please.” See? She had manners. And she could use them, too.

  He relaxed into the saddle. His armour creaked. “The blue death wave didn’t signal the first gate opening to your realm.”

  “Oh.” Wait. What?

  “About a hundred years ago, your realm was discovered by the Tee-oh.”

  “The what?”

  “T-O. The Tarkavian Order.”

  Of course they had a preposterous name. She traced the intricate patterns carved into the leather of Sugar’s reins with her thumb. Thane had said his house was a powerful one. What exactly would she find at the end of this rainbow?

  “One of their most talented disciples opened a gate,” Thane continued his story. “When he traveled across, the portal closed behind him and he never returned.”

  “Why not open another gate to go get him?”

  “The Tarka’s notes on Earth’s specific ethereal location and how to form the gate to the magic-less land went missing.”

  Silence filled in the blanks. She traced the black lines in Sugar’s coat. Why would the Tarka’s record disappear? Unless… “He took his notes with him.”

  “That’s the common belief. Most Tarkas are intensely protective of their spells and the full extent of their abilities.”

  Hades huffed.

  “But not you.”

  “Especially me.”

  The memory of his dead tutor’s face flared up. Cold sweat broke across her forehead.

  “Everyone figured the scout was lost. He was the last son of his house and it died with his disappearance. They call it the Ghost House, now,” Thane continued. “But what if he didn’t disappear altogether? What if he found a lovely woman and made a family and life in your world? What if his house lives on?”

  She ignored his side-eye and dissected his words. “I thought you said I was a descendent of a common ancestor?”

  “Also possible.”

  They continued to pass evergreen trees, Thane evidently content to let her stew in silence. Was this the reason he offered her the deal? “You think I’m the descendent of some long lost Arkavian Tarka scout from a Ghost House.”

  “It would explain a lot.”

  “There are plenty of people from my realm with blond hair and gray eyes. Even if this Tarka created a new life on Earth, he couldn’t have been the only source of blond genetics.”

  “If you say so.” He opened his mouth to say more when Lokni’s warning called out from the trees.

  Thane turned toward the cry.

  Thunk.

  An arrow sank into his broad chest. Right side. Not the heart. He grunted and fell between their horses. His body thumped against the cold, hard ground. A sheen of glittering green magic coated his body.

  Taya leapt off her horse to join him and used the large animals as shields. She stood over Thane. “Stay down.”

  Not that he looked like he’d get up anytime soon.

  Fast and fluid, Lokni notched and released an arrow. A man cried out from the forest. His shriek cut-off with a gargle.

  Lokni slung his bow over his shoulders and slipped down the tree trunk with a finesse only a chimpanzee should have.

  What the hell? Why was he putting the bow away?

  He winked at her over his shoulder.

  Taya stiffened behind Hades’ dark flank and peered over the saddle. Five men ran through the forest toward them. Armour and swords flashing in the sunlight. Crap. She couldn’t use her magic yet and these guys carried their weapons with skill. Should she run?

  “Form a line,” Axel barked.

  She ducked from the horses and unsheathed her swords. Raw, potent energy thrummed through her veins. She let the magic course through her and overpower her shaking nerves. The blades shrieked with delight, primed and ready for battle. She glanced at the road behind her. The bond tugged her close to Thane. Running wasn’t an option. Fighting to secure her place and meet her end of the deal was. She’d promised to train, bleed, kill, and possibly die for Thane.

  The men bellowed and thrashed through the underbrush to close the distance. Five against four. Not only were they outnumbered, but Taya couldn’t hold her own yet.

  Thane’s men looked unconcerned, though. Instead, their expressions were…giddy?

  Axel yelled back at the attackers and stepped in front of Taya to take on two of the fighters at once. Soka did the same on her other side while his twin, Lokni ran to join them.

  Taya stood behind the wall of fighting warriors with her swords drawn and waited.

  Her vision cleared. Time slowed. The skilled fighters danced, sunlight glinting off their swords. Her own blades hummed with anticipation and an unseen force pulled her toward the fight.

  One of the attackers stepped through the line.

  Before he drove his sword into Soka’s back, Taya darted in and deflected the thrust to the ground, her blade’s hilt rotating smoothly in her hand. The man snarled and whirled toward her. Already injured and tired from fighting, his first swings were weak. She side-stepped and slashed at his midsection. He dodged and lunged. They exchanged a flurry of blows. Each strike she deflected and redirected. He was too strong, even injured, for her to meet head-on. Sweat broke out across her face. She had to be quick and smart. She had to slip, dodge, and weave.

  The power of her blades vibrated in her blood. It called to her. She drank it in, fusing with the raw energy. The swords’ shrieking grew louder. She spun in a whirlwind attack, batting away her opponent’s strikes and blocks until she ducked inside his guard and slashed open his chest. Blood sprayed across her body and face. The thick red fluid plastered her hair against her face. The man flopped to the ground beside Thane’s prone body.

  Taya straightened, her chest heaved as she fought to control her breathing and racing heart. No more swords clashed. She turned to find Axel, Soka and Lokni studying her, their opponents dead at their feet.

  Axel nodded. “Like I said. You’ll fit right in.”

  He smacked Soka on the back.

  She ignored him and glared at Lokni. “Why did you put your bow away? You could’ve picked them off before they reached us.”

  He shrugged. “This was more fun.”

  Grrrr. “Fun?”

>   Soka nodded. “We were promised epic battles against savage earthens and instead, we got stuck with babysitting a scrawny girl.”

  The leather of her blades’ hilts creaked as she gripped them tightly and squeezed. She pointed the tip of a sword at Thane. Blood dripped from the blade’s tip onto the gravel road beside his face. “What about him?”

  Lokni’s expression grew grim. “They must’ve shot him with a Tarkavian dart.”

  “Looks like an arrow to me.”

  “It is, but if it carries the poison that neutralizes his power, it’s called a Tarkavian dart. Nothing else would knock him out like this. We need to take it out and get him to a healer.”

  She knelt by Thane’s side and examined the arrow embedded in his chest. What happened if he died? Would she be released from her promises and set free? Or would she be treated like a possession and transferred to one of those other, less desirable life paths?

  Soka crouched beside her, shuffling dirt and crunching pebbles. “It missed his heart and his breathing is fine. It must’ve missed his lungs, too.”

  He reached forward and yanked the arrow from Thane’s chest. Blood spurted from the wound.

  Geez! She pulled the shirt from the dead guy beside them. The rough material tore and snagged. She tugged. The body flopped. She gave the shirt a hard jerk. It ripped free and she toppled back on her ass. “A little warning would be nice.”

  Soka chuckled.

  She balled up the cloth, slapped it over Thane’s wound and applied pressure. “You should’ve left the arrow in. It prevented him from bleeding out.”

  Soka shook his head. “We need the poison out.”

  This guy obviously never took a first aid course in his life. She pressed her fingers against Thane’s neck to find his pulse. The second her hand contacted his skin, her mind spiraled into a memory.

  Julian halted, the slap of his boots echoing down the empty hall faded. Dimly lit, this wing of the fortress had belonged to our mother. Now it only housed stale air.

  Julian turned to me and sneered. “Why do you think father hates you? He doesn’t know if you’re his.”

  “Of course I’m his. Why wouldn’t I be?” I gripped the hilt of my sword and squeezed. I’d killed the last man who called me a bastard.

  “Your power is different.”

  “Different? Different how? You and Father are powerful Tarkas. Why is it so unbelievable that I am, too?”

  Julian scowled. Instead of answering, he walked away and left me with the fading sounds of his boots hitting the hard tile.

  Taya bolted upright in a cot. Same cot, same tent, same wool blanket smelling of horse and Thane. Candle wax and a metallic tang filled the air. The low murmur of male voices outside trickled in.

  What the hell?

  “You passed out.” Thane spoke at her side. She twisted to find him sitting beside the cot with his shirt off. A thick bandage wrapped around his enormous chest. The center tinged red as blood tried to soak through. His weapons rested against his discarded breastplate next to hers. He looked tired. And angry.

  “Soka never should’ve let you touch me,” he growled. Even with no armour and sitting in a vulnerable position, he was huge and imposing. His smooth skin rippled with movement. The bandage and lack of a shirt made him look a little more human, though.

  “It obviously didn’t kill you.” Nope. He looked just fine. A little too fine. And too close.

  “But it hurt you.”

  “What happened?”

  His dark brows bunched. “My magic latched onto yours and used your power to expel the poison.”

  “I don’t remember any of that.”

  “I drained your energy.” He grimaced as though saying the words tasted bad.

  That didn’t sound good.

  “It’s not permanent and it wasn’t intentional.”

  Those words sounded like an apology. So he drained her to the point of unconsciousness, felt bad about it, and carried her off to his man cave for her to recuperate.

  “Why didn’t you drain one of the men? Soka touched you first.”

  His lip twitched. “Not skin to skin he didn’t. But it wouldn’t have mattered. None of the men have Tarka power to drain.”

  Huh. That explained a little bit of what happened. Thane’s motives for keeping her around crystallized some more as well. “So you want me on the team to use as a battery pack?”

  Thane frowned. “A what?”

  “Never mind.” Did it really matter? He hadn’t hurt her and he’d kept his word so far. He seemed legit. If the first lord she came across had captured her, she would’ve ended up in that sacrifice circle with the other survivors from John’s town. Could she trust an Arkavian, though, when his society purposefully caused the demise of her world and enslaved the other survivors from Earth? Trust, no. Work for and use for continued existence, yes.

  “Why did those men attack us?” she asked.

  “You didn’t leave any alive for me to ask.” He shrugged, the movement emphasizing his large chest and broad shoulders. He was a gigantic man with muscles built from a lifetime of sword practice and fighting. Fine-lined scars ran along his torso and shoulders.

  “What’s the most likely reason, then?”

  “Food and money.” He didn’t hesitate answering. “They saw a small group with one Tarka and thought they could overpower us after incapacitating me.”

  “Does this happen often?” What kind of world was this? Earth had its own problems, sure, but it sounded like Arkavia was far from Utopia.

  “It can. Arkavia is not a safe world. You should never travel alone.”

  “Already preparing your end-of-year pitch?

  He leaned forward and smiled. The sight of his even white teeth breaking his regularly-stern expression had a staggering effect. “Is it working?”

  Her heart pounded in answer, traitorous thing. Why was he so close? Why did he have this effect on her?

  “Jason was an asshole,” he said.

  What? How did he know her douchebag ex-boyfriend’s name? Oh no. No, no, no, no… Heat flooded her face. “Another vision?”

  Thane grinned. “I like how this one ended.”

  “He deserved it.” She crossed her arms.

  Thane nodded. “Are you hungry?”

  Her stomach growled.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” He stood and winced.

  She cursed her body, not because her stomach needed food, but because another hunger stirred within Thane’s proximity. A hunger her body had no right to feel or have. She would fulfill her end of the bargain for Thane. She’d train. She’d kill. But she refused to lust after an Arkavian Lord.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Home Sweet Home

  The House of Jericho.

  Taya stood at the edge of the embankment and studied their destination, a fucking castle. Complete with watch towers, turrets, crenellations along parapets and arrow loops, the building sprawled along a rocky shore with the ocean behind it and a long flat field in front. A few beams of afternoon sunlight broke through the gray cloud cover and illuminated the exposed path to the front gates.

  Unless someone could scale walls from a rowboat, it would be almost impossible to sneak up on the inhabitants. Seabirds that resembled a cross between seagulls and crows swarmed the outer edges of the fortress and swooped down to the gray ocean. They sounded exactly as expected.

  Axel told her “Jericho” was Old Arkavian for “moon.” The black and silver armour lined with white leather made more sense now—house colours. The warriors identified strongly with the night sky.

  “This is your new home.” Thane stopped his warhorse beside hers. Hades played with the bit, his lips smacking on the metal. “Do not discuss where you’re from. If anyone asks, you don’t want to talk about it.”

  Well, that wasn’t much of a stretch. She nodded. She didn’t need Thane to tell her it would be less than ideal for others to learn she was a dirty earthen. One memory of Bruno’s hands on her
body squashed any urge to dish her secrets.

  “What about the others?” She glanced over her shoulder where the men waited.

  “They will keep quiet. They are loyal to me.” He hesitated. “Be careful around my father and brother. They are the only two I can’t protect you from.”

  And just when she was getting all warm and fuzzy inside he had to keep going. She narrowed her eyes. He said she’d be safe here.

  “They rarely concern themselves with what I do. You should be fine,” he said.

  Great. She muffled a groan. She was totally not going to be fine.

  “My ass is numb,” Axel barked. “Can we go?”

  Thane smirked and nudged Hades. The horse stopped lipping the bit and surged forward. “Let’s go.”

  The horses galloped across the long exposed expanse, hooves thundering against the frozen ground. Taya clutched the reins and gave Sugar control. Heck, despite her childhood lessons, she had no idea how to control this beast.

  Sugar’s black mane flung back, lashing Taya’s face with the long, coarse strands. She leaned forward and held onto the hard leather of the saddle horn for her life. Her teeth rattled. The seat slapped against her butt. Her bruised thighs screamed in agony. The faster Sugar ran, the more Taya’s legs smacked the horse’s sides. The mare snorted and tossed her mane.

  She wasn’t making any friends, not even with her horse.

  Taya started to bounce to the side. Each saddle ass slap sent her farther off-balance. Oh no! She was going over. Taya clutched the horn and hauled her flailing body upright, butt squarely back in the saddle.

  Slap, slap, slap.

  Ow, ow, ow.

  How long was this field? It went on forever. Each thundering hoof striking the hardened soil jostled her already knotted stomach.

  Men bellowed from the ramparts. Metal groaned. Wood creaked. A drawbridge rumbled to life and lowered. It landed in time for their party to cross without breaking stride. Instead of stopping in the main courtyard, Thane slowed his horse and took a right down a wide cobble road.