2. Kalix
Chapter 2
Kalix
Present Day…
I don’t like this. In the dimness that lies beyond the window, two shadowy figures—one with hair of silver moonlight and the other with hair of white dawn—slip deeper into the darkness below the window of the great room. The fire in the hearth at my back cracks as the logs break and the scent of pine and ember fills the room. My eyes remain locked on the glass, but now that Theos and Kiera are out of my sight, I switch my attention to the reflection the window presents.
Ruen paces the length of the space behind me, back and forth, back and forth. His booted feet echo up the walls with each passing step he takes. One step. Three. Five. Ten. He pauses for a moment, the soft swish of his clothes shifting through the air as he turns, and then the process starts all over again.
A seed of displeasure uncurls in my gut. When have I ever felt so much wrongness in a decision?
Never, I acknowledge. No. I do not feel wrongness. I do what I want and I do it when I want. Why, then, am I now allowing someone else to dictate my actions?
The answer comes to me as clear as any opening for attack. The beautiful creature that I’ve become obsessed with known as Kiera Nezerac confuses me.
I turn away from the window and stride across the room. In a blink, I’m past where Ruen paces and I rip up my cloak, slinging it around my shoulders and clipping it into place. The thudding sound of steps at my back ceases.
“Where are you going?” Ruen demands.
I pivot back slightly to glance at him over my shoulder. “I am following them,” I state the answer, not a question of my own, and certainly not a request.
His hands fist at his sides and he shakes his head. “You can’t. We decided to?—”
“ You decided,” I say, cutting him off. “I did no such thing. I will follow them. You may stay if you wish.”
I turn to go.
“ Kalix .” Ruen’s angry growl does nothing to slow my pace as I stride towards the door. His feet stomp against the floors. “Gods damn it, Kalix. Just—” My hand settles on the knob. “Wait a damn minute! I’m coming with you.”
Only at his last words do I finally pause, arching a brow as I cast a look over at him. Ruen glares at me even as he grabs his own cloak and tosses it over his shoulders. “Why are you so intent on this?” he demands as he fastens the clip to hold the thing on to his body.
I shrug. “Let the Terra go with no more than Theos?” I give a half laugh as a response. “It was a stupid idea to begin with.”
Midnight blue eyes rove over my face as if looking for any sign of deceit. I let him. I have no reason to hide my desires. “She’s just a girl,” Ruen grits out, the words squeezing forth through clenched teeth. My lips twitch in amusement. It sounds as if he’s trying to convince himself of that more so than me. “You’ve never been interested in anything this long. What’s so different about her?”
I shake my head and twist the doorknob. “I suppose we’ll find out, won’t we?”
Ruen doesn’t dignify my words with a response as we leave the chambers and descend the North Tower stairs. As we hit the outside area around our residence, the soft scent of Kiera drifts back to meet my senses. It’s something sweet—floral—but then there’s an underlying touch of musk, a spice that cannot be placed.
As Ruen takes the lead, striding ahead of me, my head pivots slowly back to the Academy. Within these walls, all I smell are decay and rot. Something is festering here. I don’t have to have the ability of prophecy to know that much. It permeates every stone, every granule of dirt. Perhaps it has for a long time now. I don’t know and I don’t really care.
Even Olivia was beautiful in death, perhaps more so because she finally stopped whining. A bolt of unease whips through me as an image of Kiera in the same place as my mother slips into my mind. Eyes open and unseeing, body cold and blue with the lack of air. Hanging and lifeless. My upper lip curls back as the bite of rage throbs in my veins.
Kiera Nezerac will not die. I’m not done exploring her yet.
“Kalix.” Ruen’s sharp whispered bark pierces my thoughts and brings me back to the present. Already at the wall of dead foliage we use to slip in and out undetected, he gestures me forward with a furrowed brow. “Come on,” he snaps. “If you want to catch up with them then we need to hurry.”
I don’t speak as I follow him through the opening he’s created, a real thing to the illusion that hides it. Together, we come out along the other side and the tingle of Ruen’s power spills over me as one of his illusions clings to my cloak and hides me from view just as I assume it is for him. With it in place, we don’t look back or worry that the sentries will spot us as we head into the city of Riviere.
Only once I glance back, spying the fires along the Academy walls. At any point, we could have left this place. We could have disappeared into the world and never again had to bow to the whims of our Sire and the Gods he belongs to. There is something powerful, though, something sinister and pleasing about staying when you can leave. They think they can control us, but nothing ever can.
Well, perhaps not nothing…
The image of a Terra, a lying little thief and secret that should not exist emerges once more in my mind’s eye. This time, however, the taint of death isn’t upon her. She is life itself. Blood and madness and a storm so brilliant that I cannot recall a moment where I did not desire her, where I did not crave to take her and break her open just to see if her blood runs as red as the rest of ours.
Minutes pass into an hour as Ruen and I speed into the city. We hit the streets, deserted after dark save for the few who still linger on the cobblestones in darkened corners—whores fucking in alleyways and drunks stumbling home from the taverns.
“Up.” That one word is all I need and together, Ruen and I leap for the rooftops. It’s far easier to make our way across the layout of Riviere this way. I lift my eyes to the night sky even as my hood cloaks my face. The moon hangs with an illuminating glow above our heads, reminding me of Kiera. The color like her hair, and the soft shiny smoothness, her face.
My brother’s scent hits me. “We’re close,” I announce.
Ruen nods his agreement. A moment later, I spy the shadow of Kiera—her long hair glowing brightly under the moonlight—as she dashes across the street and into one of the several rows of dilapidated townhouses across from an open alley.
Theos’ scent is stronger here. Ruen and I dive off the rooftops and head towards the alley. Just as I knew he would be, Theos steps in front of us a moment later, his face twisted with irritation.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he demands, arms crossed.
Ruen nods to me. “Kalix wouldn’t stay back and I had to ensure he didn’t cause any trouble.”
My smile is vicious and full of teeth when Theos turns his accusing eyes on me. “Sure, Ruen,” I say around my grin, “blame me, but we both know you wanted to see this through as well.”
He doesn’t reply, not that I expect him to. Theos uncrosses his arms and shoves a hand into his hair. The hood of his cloak falls back. His eyes span over our shoulders towards the townhouse. “She went inside a moment ago,” he says, not even bothering to chastise either of us further—almost as if he expected that we would follow. Perhaps he did.
As one, the three of us turn to face the building across the street. Though the front is dark, I sense light further inside and know if I close my eyes and focus my senses hard enough, I’ll be able to pinpoint how many await us.
“She wanted me to wait here.” Theos’ words are ripe with amusement. Yes, maybe he did know that we would be along behind them because otherwise, he would already be where I know we’ll end up—at her side.
I step from the shadows of the alley and stare upward. Ruen sighs and follows as does Theos. Little minds twist out of the darkness, reaching for me—curious and nervous. My smile turns wicked.
Until my interest wanes, there is nowhere Kiera Nezerac can go that I will not follow, nowhere that I cannot find her.