Katie's Hope (Rhyn Trilogy, Book Two) (10 page)

The night was cold and dark as he strode
across the park to the edge of the castle’s grounds. A single
figure already awaited him at the edge of the invisible wall that
kept the demons out of the sacred grounds. More dark shadows
lingered deep within the forest, watching over their leader. Darkyn
was a head shorter than Kris and wider, his steady gaze and roughly
hewn features reminding him of Rhyn.

Kris stopped a safe distance away on the
sacred grounds, taking in the underwhelming demon leader with some
surprise. He’d expected some towering monstrosity from the
legendary demon who challenged the Dark One.

“You have something I want,” Darkyn said with
Rhyn’s bluntness.

“Good evening to you, Darkyn,” Kris replied.
“I’m afraid my brother stays with me. I am bound to protect
him.”

“By Immortal Code, you must turn him over to
me. He has slain a family member.”

“I find it funny you demons spend your days
looking for ways to break the Code then dare quote it to me. No,
Darkyn, you will not have Sasha. Now, Rhyn, you can have.”

“The half-breed?” Darkyn sneered. “I would
rather fry myself on sacred ground. Sasha took something from the
Dark One. If you will not return your brother as you are obligated,
then you must return this.”

Kris was quiet, pretending to consider. His
opinion of Darkyn tanked. The demon was an idiot, too unaccustomed
to politics or negotiating to understand how to get what it wanted
without revealing what that was. There was no way in Hell Kris
would give this creature the key to defeating his warriors! But
then, he needed some way to keep his Immortals safe until he could
determine how many demons were in the forest so he could wipe them
out.

“This I will think about,” he said at last.
“I will speak to Sasha to determine what it is he stole, and if it
is rightfully owned by the Dark One, which it must be in order for
you to reclaim it.”

The demon eyed him.

“If it is so, then I’ll return it to you.
I’ll convene the Council That Was Seven for an impartial vote. This
might take me a few days. I ask that, in the meantime, you refrain
from attacking any Immortal traveling the road to the castle.”

It was the demon’s turn to consider. Kris
waited.

“On the main road only,” the demon agreed.
“And if Sasha steps outside of sacred grounds, we will take him. No
appeal of yours will work in his favor.”

I hope not,
Kris thought but said
aloud, “I’ll warn him.”

Darkyn’s features were too shuttered to read,
and Kris didn’t wait for him to second-guess anything. He returned
to the castle, stopping at the sound of commotion from the
direction of the forest before he reached the entrance. Rhyn’s
pterodactyl shape hovered over the demons at the edge of the
forest, one of the creatures dangling in his talons. Kris heard the
sickening sound of the demon’s body breaking from the distance and
watched the other demons shapeshift to charge the half-demon.
Hoping they’d fix his Rhyn problem for him, he entered the castle
and headed straight to the office of his personal secretary.

“Henri, summon Kiki and the others here
immediately. If Tamer gives you any resistance, let me know, and
I’ll drag him here myself,” he instructed. “And find out if Iliana
made it to her destination.”

Henri nodded, his fingers flying over the
keyboard in front of him. Of all the thoughts on Kris’s mind,
Hannah and Jade were foremost. He didn’t know whose mate Hannah was
intended to be but hoped fate revealed it soon, or he’d help it
along and claim her as his as he should’ve done to Katie when they
met.

He’d been too good of a person a mere month
before. Andre’s death and Rhyn’s reappearance changed everything,
and Kris found himself considering alternatives he’d never have
thought twice about before, like ordering Rhyn and Sasha killed
despite his oath to protect his brothers and making an oath to
Katie he had no intentions of keeping.

Another idea emerged from his dark thoughts,
and he trotted out of the secretary’s office and to Katie’s
chamber. Ully was sleeping soundly in his seat beside Toby’s bed.
Katie was huddled in a blanket before the fire, and what looked
like a healer curled on the bed. Kris nudged Ully awake, motioning
for the scientist to follow him out of the chamber. Ully did so
sleepily.

“I have a project for you,” Kris said as he
walked toward the stairs. He looked back to see Ully leaning
against the wall to fix his shoes. “Ully, walk!” The scientist
obeyed. “Have you had a chance to test the immunity blood Sasha
brought?”

“No. I was distracted by Toby. The poor
little-- ”

“The vial is your concern now. I need
confirmation before the Council meets, and I need to know if you
can alter whatever it is Sasha’s people did,” Kris said.

“Alter it how?”

“The demons are demanding I return it to
them. I want to oblige, only I want the mix to kill them. Slowly,
if at all possible.”

“Slowly?” Ully asked, puzzled. “Is quickly an
option, if it’s all I can do?”

“You’re both the brightest and dumbest man
I’ve ever met.”

Ully fell silent. Kris opened the door to his
lab, pushed him in, and closed it. He wiped his face with one hand
and ascended, surprised to see Hannah in the hall. He forced his
anger and frustration away to keep his eyes from flaring amber,
then approached. She looked up at him, her sweet face glowing.

“I hope it’s okay if I wander around for
awhile. I’m too excited to sleep,” she admitted. “And the snow
makes this place look so magical!”

“It would be my pleasure to show you around,”
he said and held out his arm. She accepted it, and they walked down
the hall. Her bouncy blond curls brushed his arm as she turned her
head to take in the tapestries and look up at the murals on the
ceilings.

Her draw was not as consuming as Katie’s,
which meant she’d have a much better chance of surviving if not
every demon and Immortal was drawn to her.

“May I ask you a few questions about your
family?” he asked, puzzled again as to how two Ancient’s mates were
born into one family.

“Of course.”

“Do you have any other siblings?”

“Not at all. Katie was born about seven years
after me. Our parents thought two was enough.”

“Your parents, are they still alive?”

“A car accident killed them both. I basically
raised Katie from the time she was ten,” she said, a sad look
crossing her features. “Not sure I did a good job.”

“You did a wonderful job. She’s a … charming
woman,” he forced himself to say.

Hannah laughed. “You can say it-- she turned
out a little rough around the edges!”

“I have to agree with you there. You two
couldn’t be more different.”

She beamed.

“I wonder how there came to be two women
destined to be Immortal mates in one family. It’s unheard of. Did
you ever come to know of your parents being different in any
way?”

“Not at all.”

Disappointed, he wasn’t sure what else to
ask. Ully would run blood tests on Hannah, but he doubted they’d
reveal much more than Katie’s had. He took in her delicate features
and felt a familiar warmth stir his blood. She met his gaze and
held it, her pupils dilating and a faint flush spreading across her
features. He stopped walking and stood close enough for their
chests to brush when she breathed in. Waiting for some sign of
rejection, he lowered his head until his lips brushed hers.

“What about Gio?” she breathed.

“Do you prefer a prince or his servant?” he
asked.

She hesitated only a second more and leaned
into him, parting her warm lips to receive his kiss.

Chapter Four

Jade waited for Darkyn to return from his
meeting with Kris. He gazed into the black flames of the fire in
the hearth. This had been Sasha’s study less than a few days ago.
He clenched his fists, not wanting to think about Sasha or Kris or
how quickly he, too, could have the tables turned on him as he had
done to Sasha.

He’d decided to sleep in here last night,
unable to sleep in his bedchamber with the thought of Iliana’s body
in the trunk beside the bed. He’d accidently hurt someone innocent,
and he didn’t want the reminder. He wouldn’t do it again.

“It went exactly as expected,” Darkyn said as
he walked into the study. “Kris refused to turn over Sasha or the
vial. He underestimates me.”

“Kris values the Code and his duty more than
he does anything,” Jade said with some bitterness.

“You said there is a weakness to the castle
that will render the ground no longer sacred.”

“There is.”

At his silence, Darkyn moved closer, his dark
eyes piercing and the growl in his chest audible. Jade looked away.
Until now, he’d always thought he could turn back. No one but
Iliana had died, and the only person he’d betrayed was Sasha, whose
death Kris might eventually reward him for by welcoming Jade back
into his life and his bed.

“I will have it from you!” Darkyn said and
struck him hard enough to knock his breath out as he slammed into
the wall. Jade gasped for a moment and steadied himself.

“I … can make it happen,” he said. “You
cannot. You have to be in the castle to make it work.”

“You seek to betray me as your predecessor
did.”

“No, Darkyn. I want my revenge against Sasha
and Kris both, but there are innocent people there.”

“No Immortal is innocent.”

“Let me go to Sasha. I will make him our
tool,” Jade said, his mind working fast to find a way to keep
Darkyn from destroying everyone. Darkyn studied him and then
withdrew a thin collar and approached. Jade flinched as it snapped
into place around his neck.

“If you do not return by dawn, this will
bring you back to me, and I will show you no mercy,” Darkyn
warned.

“Will you consider sparing the rest of the
Immortals, master?”

“You came to me to destroy those who have
wronged you. I want revenge for my daughter’s treatment at Sasha’s
hands, and I want the vial or the girl. I own you now, Jade. Do not
question me again.”

Darkyn strode out, and Jade watched him,
torn. Sasha and Kris were his enemies, not the rest of the
Immortals! He had come to Darkyn in desperation, after Sasha had
invited him to his bed and then dumped him off with the demons.
He’d been spared for what he knew of the Immortals, and Darkyn had
taken a personal liking to him.

A violent liking to him. Jade shuddered.
Demons knew no other way.

It’s better to reign in Hell …

As Kris’s confidante of several hundred
years, he knew most of the Immortal’s secrets. He’d been unable to
shake the empty hole in his heart resulting from Kris flinging him
to the side to pursue a human female. Even as he thought of his
last moments with Kris, he felt his anger turn to resolve.

The Immortals deserved neither mercy nor
peace, especially their leader. He was doing Kris’s next lover a
favor. He’d use the tricks of manipulation he’d learned from Kris
and Sasha both to get Sasha to do what he wanted. And then, the
both of them would be gone. Forever. His revenge was all that would
make him whole again.

Determined, he went to the one spot in Hell
where he could cross into the shadow world. A demon guarded the
tiny spot, no larger than a meter square. He opened a portal and
crossed through. Long ago, before Sasha broke from the Council, he
had stayed in a corner chamber overlooking the forest. Jade emerged
from the shadow world into the chamber’s spacious closet and stood
silently, listening.

He heard movement outside the closet and
eased the door open far enough to peek into the well-lit room.
Sasha sat before the hearth as if deep in thought. Jade couldn’t
help the flash of anger he felt at the sight of such a creature
comfortable and content.

“Sasha,” he said, flinging open the closet
door. Sasha turned to face him, covering his surprise with a smile
that made Jade’s skin crawl.

“Jade, my friend. How are you?” he
purred.

“Seems I’m not as well off as you are. How
quickly you found a safe place,” Jade replied.

“My brother Kris is too good, as you
know.”

“He can’t protect you forever, Sasha.”

“I think he can and will. The fool doesn’t
have the backbone to kill me as he probably should.”

More anger stirred as Jade bit his lip to
keep from defending Kris. No matter how badly Kris had hurt him, it
hadn’t been for a selfish cause like Sasha’s.

“That’s your plan?” Jade asked. “Stay here in
this room forever?”

“Simple and effective.”

“You won’t get tired of it here or bored? I
know your appetite for women and men, Sasha. Kris won’t tolerate
what you do to them.”

“My … ways can be sated quietly.”

Jade crossed to the window and looked out,
formulating a plan to let the demons into the castle using Sasha.
He debated with himself again. Once he crossed this line, he could
never return.

“You’re troubled,” Sasha said and rose. “I
can ease that tension.”

“Darkyn sent me, Sasha.”

“I see the collar. I assumed as much. I’d be
a bigger fool than Kris to return with you, Jade.”

“That’s not why I’m here. He is offering you
a deal,” he said slowly. “If you can help him get to Kris, he’ll
call it even and leave you alone.”

“And the Dark One?”

“Might help get you back in the Dark One’s
favor, but I’m here for Darkyn only.”

“So, hand over Kris on a silver platter, and
I’m free of those pesky demons,” Sasha mused.

“You can use the vial to blackmail your way
back,” Jade added.

“It’ll be hard to get my brother alone
outside the castle where Darkyn can snatch him.”

“Or you can bring the demons here.”

Sasha was quiet, and Jade faced him. He
expected Sasha to sense his betrayal, but Sasha’s gaze glowed for a
different reason.