Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
LYRA
My stomach clenched as we approached Bijult, and I could feel Sorsha’s heart hammering. Relief surged through me as we swooped down through the steely gray clouds, and the jagged rooflines came into view.
The village appeared just as it had when we’d left, the uniform shape of the pine tar–blackened houses popping up from between scraggly trees. A few fae roamed the narrow snow-dusted streets, and chickens pecked lazily at the frozen earth.
A shaky breath escaped me as Sorsha landed, but as I climbed the rickety wooden steps that led up to the entrance of the safe house, a roiling fury bubbled over inside me.
The heavy door slammed against the wall as I barged into the cottage. Adriel looked up from where he sat on the bench, reading a battered-looking book.
“Where is he?” I growled, heart punching against my ribs.
“Same place you left him,” Adriel grumbled, brows furrowing. “Where’s —”
He broke off as Sorsha strode in behind me, his hazel eyes snapping to her face as he took in her devastated expression.
Not bothering to explain what we’d found in Korkis, I stormed up the rickety stairs and climbed the ladder to the small alcove, where Kaden sat hunched on the pallet, wings splayed behind him.
He turned at the sound of my footsteps, and his eyes widened as I launched myself across the room.
He surged to his feet, but I was already airborne, smacking into his chest as he turned. My momentum sent him careening backward onto the pallet, and the two of us landed in a tangle of limbs.
The sheets were cold and soaked with sweat. His intoxicating leather-and-night scent wrapped around me, mixed with the slight tang of perspiration.
“What — the fuck — was that?” I snarled, pressing the blade of my dagger to his throat just hard enough to draw blood.
Kaden’s pupils were wide and dark, but I could see the thin band of stormy silver dancing around them. He swallowed, and the small movement drew his flesh into my dagger, causing the line of blood to slide over the flat of the blade.
Though his face was deathly pale, he composed himself enough to return my glare. “What are you doing here, Lyra?”
“I came back to kill the demon who tried to fry my fucking brain,” I cried, fury surging in me anew.
Kaden’s lips parted slightly as understanding flared in his eyes.
“Oh, good. You remember,” I crooned with feigned sweetness.
Something dark flickered in his expression. “It seems you got the message.”
“What message would that be?” I seethed, pulling my dagger away so I didn’t accidentally slit his throat.
“I don’t need you in my head.”
“Well, that’s great. If only you had given me that option when the bond first formed. But you are my mate, and —”
“Lyra, I’m only going to say this once . . .” Kaden’s voice was laced with such venom that I had to fight back a shudder. “Stay — out — of my — head.”
“I only opened the connection to warn you,” I shot back. “Do you know what we found in Korkis? The entire village fucking burned to the ground — razed by Alfrigg’s army. Females and younglings slaughtered in the streets. Their bodies left to rot.”
Kaden’s face went slack with shock, and I felt an ugly swell of satisfaction that I’d managed to break through his defenses.
“Alfrigg sacked Korkis?” His voice was a low rumble against my chest, and I suddenly became aware that my entire body was pressed against his.
My thighs were clamped around Kaden’s hips, my breasts flat against his chest. Our mouths were so close that our breaths mingled, and if I lifted my chin ever so slightly, my lips would brush his.
Liquid desire bloomed in my core, and my skin heated everywhere we were touching.
“Yes,” I gritted out, annoyed at the effect he had on me, even when he was being an ass. “I thought —” I broke off, not wanting to admit that I’d been worried. “I only opened the connection to warn you and Adriel that Alfrigg’s army might be headed here next.”
Kaden’s expression softened briefly, remorse flickering behind those stormy gray eyes. But he quickly tucked his emotions away and hauled that stony facade back into place. “Well, as you can see, everything is fine here.”
I stared down at him in disbelief, hurt and indignation swirling inside me.
Here was the male I’d had between my legs only a few days before. He’d called me his mate and burrowed into my heart, and yet he was looking at me as if I were lower than his father’s wretched demons.
Deep down, I knew I should turn and walk away. Kaden had endured unimaginable horrors and endless pain. All to protect me. The least I could do was give him his space.
I could handle his silence.
I could handle his rage.
But I could not deal with him acting as though I were his enemy. Not after what we’d been through.
“Fine?” I murmured, frowning down at him. “You mean to tell me that everything is fine?”
Tossing my dagger onto the bed, I shoved to my knees to put some distance between us. Then, before I could think better of it, I slammed my fist into the side of his face.
Unhinged satisfaction bloomed in my chest as his head snapped around. His jaw flexed as he ran his tongue along his bottom lip, where a bead of blood appeared.
In that instant, I saw a flicker of . . . something in his eyes. A ghost of the old Kaden.
“Why did you try to hurt me through the bond?” I demanded. “Why are you shutting me out? I know they hurt you, but —”
“Because it’s not safe!” Kaden shot back, gripping me by the hips and tossing me onto the pallet beside him.
I landed on my ass and pushed myself up, heart fluttering like a bird trapped behind a pane of glass. “What?”
He sighed, running a hand over his face.
“When I was in Dorthus, Fleshtalker did everything he could to discover why I was protecting you. He drowned me. Beat me. Nailed my wings with those fucking rowan-wood spikes.” Kaden’s jaw clenched.
“Anything to worm his way into my mind so he could understand why I was linked to a huntress.”
Nausea roiled in my gut. I knew that Kaden had been tortured, but to hear all they’d put him through made me sick to my stomach.
“Whenever he touched me, he’d get flashes of memories,” Kaden muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Snippets of the two of us. But he still didn’t get everything he wanted, so he sent in another demon . . . one with a talent for manipulating magical bonds.”
“The female,” I whispered, thinking of the bitch who’d clawed me with those long silver talons.
He nodded, his expression guarded. “I wasn’t completely honest with you when I told you about the sire bond. The connection doesn’t just allow my father to see into my mind. It . . . allows him to summon me. To take over my body if I am not vigilant.”
A cold chill sliced down the back of my neck at the thought of the demon king possessing Kaden.
“The last several decades, I’ve become adept at shutting him out.
So much so that I’ve managed to . . . stifle the connection.
Think of a pipe that is so clogged that only a small amount of water can get through.
But this demon — Velisara — she was able to .
. . revive the sire bond. Throw it wide open so my father would have full access to my mind whenever he chooses. I can no longer block him out.”
At his words, my stomach bottomed out, and the blood drained from my face.
“That is why I haven’t spoken to you since we left Dorthus.” He closed his eyes, face pained. “It is not safe for you to be around me. For any of you to be near me.”
A muscle feathered in Kaden’s jaw, and it took all my self-control not to reach for him. “I cannot know what you are planning. Anything you tell me, anything I overhear, could lead my father’s demons right to you. Even knowing about Korkis poses a huge risk.”
“But we’re all here now,” I protested, trying to understand why he would not talk to me if he already knew our location.
He nodded. “Which is why I asked Gertrude to remove my memories of our journey.”
My eyebrows rose. The old fae could do that?
“I have half a dozen safe houses nearly identical to this one scattered throughout the Oranthan Mountains. Same layout. Same furnishings. I know we are somewhere along the east side of the mountains, near the Drathen coast, and now that I know about Alfrigg’s attack, it’s easy to guess we are a few hours’ flight to Korkis.
If my father were to scour my mind for the exact location of that particular safe house . . .”
He trailed off, and my stomach clenched.
Adriel had been right. We should have kept moving. Semphrys’s demons could be just outside our door, and we’d have no warning before they attacked.
“Can you tell when he’s . . . accessing your mind?” I asked, throat suddenly dry.
“I don’t know. I haven’t felt him since we left, but I do not take that as a good sign.”
Kaden didn’t need to explain what he meant. If the sire bond was open and he hadn’t felt his father, it could mean that Semphrys had unfettered access to his thoughts without Kaden even being aware.
“That is why I’ve been keeping my distance.”
“I understand,” I whispered. But I didn’t.
If he’d just told me about the connection, I could have made sure he didn’t overhear any details that might give away our location.
“You could have told me,” I said, my chest squeezing as I prepared to expose myself to him.
“You didn’t have to be up here all alone. ”
He shook his head. “I don’t mind being alone. It’s safer for you that way.”
Face heating, I pressed my fingertips into the blanket, wishing I hadn’t spoken. After all he’d been through, all he’d endured to protect me, I was probably the last person he wanted to see.
“Right,” I grumbled, rolling to my knees and preparing to leave him in peace.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to be with you,” he added.
My gaze flicked up to meet his, heart lifting with a surge of hope that was almost painful.