More Than Life (Arcane Crossbreeds) (16 page)

Raife snorted. “Why doesn’t that surprise me? The Alliance hasn’t offered much in the way of protection for some time. They side more often than not with the Triumvirate.”

“The Matriarch has long since allied herself with the Triumvirate and become useless to the Alliance.”

“I don’t understand.” Katya shook her head in confusion. She felt at a distinct disadvantage as she glanced from one man to the other. She realized she’d been sheltered most of her life, which was how most Sanguen females were traditionally raised, but she clearly lacked an understanding of the basic politics of her own species. “I thought the Matriarch was ordained at birth because she was a natural balance to the power of the Triumvirate.”

Forestor looked down at her, and his expression was passive, but the waves of savagery roiling off him had her instinctively stepping back. “She may have been born into it, but there is obviously nothing that guarantees she will remain a pure source of power. Elementals, by their very nature, are susceptible to corruption. Our
Matriarch”
—he sneered—“is obviously not immune.”

Katya watched the dangerous man, for once grateful of the protective presence of Raife at her back. “But anyone who belonged to the Arcane Alliance is bound to the Triumvirate through blood magic, even if the Matriarch cast them out of the Alliance. They can’t just become Rebels.”

“No,” Raife agreed, the heat of his body warming her as he drew closer. “But just because they’re bound to those bitches doesn’t mean they can control their actions. The Triumvirate just gets to use them as little batteries, draining them for their own use. It’s how they’ve managed to stay alive for the last five centuries, collectively pulling from the Arcane. Every single species that participated in that blood magic five hundred years ago passed that curse on.”

Katya looked up over her shoulder, where Raife had moved close enough to lay the heated weight of his hand on her lower back. “I thought it was just an exchange of power, not a drain.” At least that was how her uncle had presented it to her. The Triumvirate was made up of three Elemental sisters. They’d formed a blood pact with the remaining Arcane families to initiate a power exchange so they would be powerful enough to protect the Arcane from being hunted by the humans during the Burning Times.

Forestor shook his head, his emotions under control. “My grandfather once told me that hundreds of years ago, the lifespan of every member of the Arcane was two to three times the length of humans. Now, Ms. Schaffer, most will never even see a century of life. The Triumvirate drains them through the blood-magic exchange.”

“What of Drachon, Raife? Most of your species live well past two hundred years.”

Raife’s face hardened, and his hand twitched at her back. “Only those who find a mate. We’ve always been a reclusive species, historically preferring to exist on our own. Very few Drachon participated in the blood magic. Almost none of my kind has ever been part of the Arcane Alliance.” He looked at her, and she was helpless against the sudden wave of anger that radiated from him. “The Triumvirate tried to force my people into the pact. When that didn’t work, they tried to wipe us out. And when male Drachon proved too difficult to kill, they lured us away from our homes and hunted our women and children. It’s why we’re on the brink of extinction now.”

His fury consumed her, and her mind instinctively reached for his, attempting to ease him before she was even aware of the action. His gaze settled to where her hand lay on his arm. He felt warm and solid beneath her palm.

Lowering her eyes, she stepped away from him and turned back to Forestor, ignoring his narrowed attention. “So that doesn’t explain why my uncle believes the Rebels have any interest in me.”

Forestor rocked forward in his chair and folded his hands on his desk. “If I noticed the increase in Rebel activity, I image the Triumvirate noticed it as well. Most powerful Sanguen Houses are closely aligned to the Triumvirate.”

“Why would the Triumvirate even care? As long as the Arcane exist for them to siphon power off of, the Rebels can’t do anything to them.”

“Perhaps so. Their interest in you may give us some clue what they hope to achieve. If they were indeed responsible for you being in the research facility.”

Katya sat back down in her chair, extended her injured leg, and rubbed at her forehead. “The doctor’s name was Dr. Rupple. He felt human. He had several other assistants. His favorite was a redheaded woman. She was definitely Arcane, maybe even Elemental. On that last day, she was trying to communicate with me. I think she was trying to get me out, but I didn’t trust her. She gave me a sedative. She said I would understand later. Gave me some shit about not letting it get away.”

Raife and Forestor exchanged a look over her head.

“So we could possibly be looking at two different factions at work here,” Raife mused, his feet making soft
thuds
behind her as he paced. “Earlier today Katya was fighting with six men. Four were definitely Guardians. Two seemed to be protecting her; they fought like Guardians, but they shimmered away when we joined the fight. Likely crossbreeds. All of them were hell-bent to take her alive and uninjured.”

Katya rubbed at her thigh. That would explain why the one shot her with silver so she couldn’t shimmer and then assured her she wouldn’t bleed out in the next breath.

Forestor rubbed his beard, his eyes narrowed on her thoughtfully. “It seems likely you are caught in the middle of a struggle between the Triumvirate and the Rebels. What we need to know is why they find you so valuable.”

Katya ached from the weight of it all. She’d never be safe, never be given a moment of peace. If both the Rebels and the Triumvirate were after her, then that left her with nowhere else to turn. She could run and risk being caught and returned to the lab, or stay here and trust Raife and his team at Incog. She looked up into his glittering gold of his gaze as it moved possessively over her and wasn’t sure which could prove more dangerous to her.

Chapter Eleven

“I’m fine,” Katya told him again. She’d had to go back to the infirmary and have the little silver pellet removed from her thigh. Raife had hovered and snarled as the poor nurse had nervously cut into her flesh.

Already the wound was healed, leaving nothing but a faint twinge as she restlessly explored their borrowed suite under the weight of Raife’s eyes following her relentlessly. He said nothing, his presence filling the space until she felt confined in the suite. He tracked her movement from the door
of the bathroom to what had to be a floor-to-ceiling window.

There was a specialized louvered shade imbedded between the panes of glass. Her uncle’s house had been fitted with such shades. They were timed to seal shut on sunrise and reopen at dusk. A necessity for a Sanguen forced to mainstream in human society.

Pressing her hand against the glass, she felt the warmth radiate over her palm.

The sun.

She reached out to run her fingers thoughtfully over the control panel to the window.

A Sanguen who craved the heat of the sun yet could hardly tolerate it. She did not have the benefit of being either a crossbreed or a pureblood. She was an abomination.

“I noticed you don’t have the allergy to the sun anymore.”

Katya was startled by the unexpected closeness of the deep voice. Glancing behind her, she saw Raife had moved farther into the room. He stood at the end of the couch, barely six feet away, a frown creasing his broad forehead as he studied her. She shook her head and caressed the switch that would raise the shades with her finger.

“I never did.”

Suddenly he was there, his broad palm pressed over her hand, flattening her fingers against the switch.

Katya let the heat of his body, aligned so closely behind hers, seep deeply into her. For just a moment, she let herself be reassured by his nearness, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the breadth of his chest.

“Why didn’t you say anything? Did your uncle know?”

“I was terrified of it, what it might mean. My uncle would have never understood.” She turned to him. Looking up into his face, she shook her head with a small smile. A laugh filled her breast but never escaped. “Hell, I didn’t understand it.”

Raife pressed the switch, and the shade slowly lifted with a soft mechanical buzz. The sunlight slid up the back of her legs, heating the flimsy material of her cotton pants. She held his eyes as the light continued to climb until it caressed the side of her face. His gaze roved over her as his frown deepened. Her eyes slid blissfully shut as she turned around to the embrace of the sun.

“I thought
they
made you this way?”

The sun-warmed air was musky in her nose as she inhaled. It felt wonderful, like she’d been kept in the dark too long. “No.”

Raife wrapped his fingers around her arms and turned her to him. “What do you mean, no?”

She lifted her lids to meet his confused gaze. His eyes glittered a dark gold. They always darkened when he was irritated. “No,” she repeated. “I’ve…needed the sun for several years now.” She’d been about sixteen and completely appalled by her craving. She’d religiously guarded the knowledge. Even from him.

Especially from him.

“I would have understood, Katya.”

Katya pulled out of his grasp and shrugged carelessly. “Would you have? Really? Your solution to my desire for you was to send me away.” She didn’t accuse him of sending her to the research facility, wasn’t positive he was responsible. Yet there was no doubt he had forcefully sent her away rather than succumb to the desire that had slowly bloomed between them all those months ago. “Was I so abhorrent to you, Raife? Was the assurance I wouldn’t be your mate worth my life? My freedom?” The expression in his eyes looked so much like hurt that it created an uncomfortable tightening in her chest, and she turned her back to him. “I guess it doesn’t make a difference what either of us wanted now.”

Raife grabbed her by the arms and pulled her against him. “I was trying to protect you. I was dying. Drachon are only supposed to live about fifty years without a mate. Hell, I was dying the night I saved you twenty years ago.”

Katya shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

Those burning amber eyes slid closed for a long moment. “Drachon must mate a female to live as long as they do. That’s why the Triumvirate hunted our women. Our males can only mate Drachon females.”

“Until me.”

“I wanted you far away from me.” Raife released her and strode to the window, bracing his hands against the glass. “The night I found you in that building on the docks, you were bleeding out. You were so damn little, so trusting. I couldn’t just let you die. So…I gave you my blood.”

Katya’s mind started to whirl. The words of the doctor came back to her.

And do not waste my time with your little dragon tricks. Those were present when I acquired you.

Could his blood flowing through her at such a young age be the reason why she’d grown to be so different? Was it why she was targeted in the first place? How would they ever have known?

“After that I was drawn to you. Driven to protect you. It only got worse as you got older.” He turned and stabbed his fingers in his hair. “Then you came to my apartment that night.” His hand dropped to his chest. “You marked me. I thought it was some damn cosmic joke, a side effect from me giving you blood. If I attempted to mate you, then you would no longer be accepted by your House. And if it didn’t work, I would die and leave you with no one to protect you. I couldn’t risk it.”

That
brought her back to the conversation.

“
You
couldn’t risk it?” Katya spun around to stare incredulously at him. Fury mounted in her, and her fingertips started to tingle. “So
you
made the choice.
You
decided the best option was to knock me out and dump me in my uncle’s lap. Where was I when
you
were making decisions about
my
life?”

“Katya.” His voice was soft, cajoling. It made her want to kick him. Hard. “I did what I thought was best. There are circumstances that you’re not aware of – ”

“And look how great that turned out,” she snapped, cutting him off.

A muscle in his cheek ticked, and she glanced at it in fascination. He was angry. A little spark of light flashed in the black expanse of his pupil, and she wondered curiously that it happened so often lately. It had happened before but only rarely. It was a Drachon thing, but she wasn’t sure what exactly it meant. She
did
know it came when he was angry.

Well, that was too damn bad. She was angry too. She’d spent most of her life trying to conform to what her uncle expected. She’d denied her true self for fear of the stigma. Terrified that she would be taken away and—guess what?—she’d ended up in a damn secret lab being experimented on anyway. Her hands started to shake, and her heart pounded.

She was so done. Done with allowing other people to decide who she was. What made her angry was that she was just as responsible as they were. She’d
let
them all make her decisions.

“You’re right. It turned out fucked up. And somebody will pay for what you went through. I promise you that.” His voice sent a tremor across her flesh. After what she’d seen him do at the lab, she didn’t doubt his words. “I’ll take care of you better from now on.”

“I don’t want to be taken care of, Raife,” Katya said; inside she wanted to scream. The last time she’d done it, things lit on fire. She needed some distance to calm herself. She felt like a train wreck. She knew she was one more word away from totally shattering. God, she hated to think what she might look like. “You know what. I don’t want to do this right now.”

Turning on her heel, she walked slowly back to the large bathroom with the huge tile shower and shut the door. He didn’t follow her, and she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed. Or if she even wanted to know for sure which it was. Hell, she was so confused.