Ascension (20 page)

Before joining the Order, she’d allowed only other Vamps to share her bed, and since giving her oath to the Ancients, that side of her bed had remained cold with the exception of the nomadic Witch Silas, who’d been her “booty call” for a couple of years off and on. Silas still managed to end up in her bed whenever he rolled back into town, but she hadn’t seen him in over six months.

Waiting for Ryker to roll off her, she frowned as she realized she wasn’t as sated as she’d thought she’d be. She wanted more of Ryker. Wanted him to hold her and show her that what they’d just shared wasn’t alive only in her imagination.

“No thinking,” Ryker whispered, claiming her lips in a gentle possession that stole her breath. But just as her body melted against his and her thoughts became a drunken, incoherent mess, he ended the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. “You have to get dressed.”

A soft sigh escaped her, fanning his face. When she opened her eyes, she saw the same need in the depths of his eyes as she felt in her soul. This time, there was no sting of rejection. Just a mutual understanding and a shared need that couldn’t be explored now.

She eased out of his arms and pulled on her clothes, feeling his gaze sear her naked back as she dressed in silence. When she was done, she sat back down and stared out over the ocean.

“So what were you thinking about when I woke up?” she asked when she got her breathing under control. She needed to know what had changed in him. Why he’d gone from pushing her away to giving her something he’d been denying her for ten years.

“That you’re not as coldhearted as people think you are.”

She tensed and opened her mouth to deny the horrible accusation. Instead, she said, “Is that a bad thing?”

“No. But I don’t understand why you let people see only one side of you.”

“Not all people. Haven sees me for what I am.”

“So do I, Ky. Whether you like it or not.”

Though she didn’t like it, she believed him. Ryker never looked at her like she was nothing more than a vile Dark Breed. He made her feel almost normal, and lying here with him today, she hadn’t allowed herself to get caught up in the fear of rejection. Instead, she’d allowed herself to enjoy him. It wasn’t like her. Hell, except for Geoffrey, she couldn’t remember a single time in almost two hundred years of existence when she’d just enjoyed a man’s friendship. It always turned to sex. Fuck ’em and forget ’em, though it had been months since she’d gotten even
that
from anyone.

And, as much as she hated to admit it, that wasn’t what she’d gotten from Ryker today. When she finally found her voice again, she managed to say, “Back to friends?”

“I’m always your friend, Ky.”

“I think I like the way you see me,” she said, letting the honesty of her words fill her soul. “Sometimes. Other times, it’s irritating as hell.”

Ryker smiled. “I can fake it if you like. Pretend I think you’re just a raving bitch.”

“I
am
a raving bitch. It’s called Lychen, remember?” She stood and stretched, then scooped up Ryker’s discarded shirt and tossed it in his face. “Your turn to dress. We have to meet Hank.”

Ryker stood and quickly redressed before following Kyana back toward Spirits. His smile reminded her much of a contented kitten with an endless supply of fresh cream.

“What’s that grin all about?”

He pointed to her feet. “Forget something?”

Kyana stared down at her bare toes and cursed. Her boots! She ran back to their spot on the beach, but her boots were nowhere to be found.

“Where’d they go?”

Ryker pointed to the ocean, his grin growing wider by the second. “I think the tide is a thief.”

“Sonofabitch.”

Ryker’s laughter followed Kyana as she dove headfirst and fully dressed into the waves in search of her precious shoes.

Chapter Twenty-one

S
till barefoot, Kyana stomped into Hank’s new office/living quarters twenty minutes later. She was tender in delicious places and knew she smelled like Ryker and sex, which only made her more self-conscious of the eyes following her as she entered the small room.

A trail of water followed her as she slumped against the wall and silently dared Geoffrey or Hank to mention her distressed, saturated state. Hank wisely held his tongue. Geoffrey wasn’t so smart. He opened his mouth to say something when Marcus stomped into the room, following her path with a string of curses and a mop.

“I’m going to ban you from this place,” Marcus said, wringing out the mop in a bucket he’d deposited in the hall. “I just had these floors redone.”

He looked past Kyana into the room and nodded at Hank’s equipment. “Got everything you need for your search? Need more of my enormous skills to push things along?”

Geoffrey smiled. “Nice that you’re so eager to help, mate.”

Marcus scowled. “Just want my damned café back, so get on with whatever you’re doing and get out.” He grumbled his way out the door, his flanneled back disappearing down the stairs.

When he was gone, Geoffrey’s smile only broadened as he turned it on Kyana. “Have a good tup, you two?”

Kyana felt Ryker stiffen. “Watch yourself or we’re going to learn how far Peter Pan can fly.”

“Hey, no name calling.” Geoffrey grinned. “Until the wee tot’s in bed at least. His mum won’t appreciate us teaching him new habits.”

Kyana turned to find Hank and his wife smiling at them and the “wee tot” watching her with a little less fear in his eyes. When Hank’s gaze met hers, she put an end to Geoff and Ryker’s bickering with a smooth change of topic.

“Were you able to get all your stuff running?”

Hank pointed at the monitor and pushed a couple of buttons. Pain flashed in Kyana’s skull and she moved farther away from the electronics. “Had a few issues at first, but then some really big guy came in and said a bunch of really weird words and everything started working the way it’s supposed to.”

Marcus must have had to power the equipment with magic to make it work Below. “So the search for the owner is on?”

“Been running about an hour.” He turned the monitor so she could see the flashing images. “So far nothing, but they mentioned a list. Figured we could start running them and comparing those in the systems with the print. It’s a lot quicker to find a match if you have a suspect to work with.”

She held out her hand. Ryker passed Geoffrey’s list to her, his fingers brushing the backs of hers as he did so. She swallowed.

She looked to Geoffrey. “Where did you leave Haven? I don’t want her here until we’ve cleared Drake or caught him.”

“She went to meet him, I think. He phoned her again before I came back here.”

“Good, because I’m not exactly sure how to tell her that her boyfriend could be a Cronos supporter.” Slimy weasel that he was, it wouldn’t surprise Kyana one bit if Drake turned up with a record. “And if word gets back to her that we’re investigating him, I’ll—”

“I know, I know,” Hank grumbled. “No need for threats in front of my boy.”

Kyana leaned as close to Hank’s equipment as she dared and whispered, “I don’t make threats. I make promises. And I’ve never broken a promise in my life.”

“Got it.” He forced a smile, most likely for his son’s benefit. “Unless you show her that list, she’ll never know he’s on it. Right, honey?”

Hank’s wife gripped her boy’s shoulders and bobbed her head. “It’s just like before. You don’t discuss police business at home.”

Not wasting any more time, Hank quickly typed in Drake’s name. After a few short minutes, his system beeped and he nodded. “He has a record. Theft, forgery, and fraud mostly. Never prosecuted. Always paid restitution. Did a little probation.”

“Proof enough.” Kyana turned for the door only to be stopped short by Ryker’s grasp.

“Now compare it to the print you got from the scroll.”

Hank spun back around and hit several more keys. Both Drake’s print and the one from the scroll were side by side. It took a while, but this time when the computer beeped, Kyana’s heart stopped. It wasn’t a match. “Are you sure? Can that thing make a mistake?”

Hank shook his head. “See the loop here? And the scar there? They aren’t on your known print. It’s not a match.”

Kyana didn’t know how this revelation made her feel. She hated Drake, and the thought of catching him red-handed and throwing his ass in prison made her have a small orgasm. But at the same time, she was relieved the print wasn’t his. It would have killed Haven if Drake had been guilty, and Kyana didn’t want to be the messenger for that death.

“What do you want me to do?”

Kyana sighed.

Ryker pointed at the list. “Start running the names with the golden marks next to them. We could still get lucky.”

H
ours later, Kyana decided luck wasn’t in the cards. Hank was halfway through their list of names and still they hadn’t found a match, and Marcus had poked his head in a dozen times, hopefully inquiring whether they were finally finished. Each time they’d told him no, his face had fallen and he invented another curse word.

Oh, there were plenty of Cronos supporters with records, but none of them matched the fingerprint Hank had lifted from the scroll. Hank stood, his bones creaking loudly in the now quiet room. He plucked his son from his wife’s arms and laid the boy on the bed, then helped his wife settle beside their child. He pulled the covers up to their chins, then kissed both on the forehead. “Shh, Daddy’s right across the room. You’re safe here. Nothing bad’s going to happen.”

Kyana felt like such a voyeur that she had to turn away, but she couldn’t block out the whispered conversation.

“Daddy, don’t go. The bad people could come back.”

“See those two over there. They don’t let bad guys down here. Nothing’s going to hurt you.”

Kyana glanced at Hank. Just twenty-four hours ago, he’d considered her one of those bad guys. As much as she tried, she couldn’t pull her gaze away from the little boy. He clung to his dad, tears streaming down his face as he quietly cried. But it was the panic, the fear in the child’s eyes that ripped at Kyana’s heart.

She had been little more than a child herself when she’d learned monsters were real, but she’d cried herself to sleep every night—when she was able to sleep at all. Fear of the bad guys had dominated her every waking moment and terrorized her dreams. She would have given anything for a father like Hank to soothe her dreams and offer a loving kiss. She’d suffered through that nightmare alone, until Henry finally came into her life.

“You okay?”

Kyana jerked, horrified that Ryker had caught her so lost in thought. “I’m fine.”

Ryker watched Kyana quickly compose her face, but she wasn’t so quick to compose her body. “You’re shaking.”

She shrugged. “It’s cold in here, and I’m soaking wet.”

“Tell you what,” Hank was saying to his son. “You sit here and help me work. Would you like that?”

Kyana stepped around Ryker and knelt a good distance away from the computers. As Hank’s son settled himself on his father’s lap, he turned to grin at Kyana.

Ryker watched, fascinated.

Kyana offered the little boy a small smile. “What’s your name?”

“Avid.”

“David,” Hank corrected.

Ryker had never seen her interact with a child—human or non. Hell, for that matter, he’d never seen her interact this kindly with anyone but Haven and Geoff.

“Do you have bad dreams, David?”

David nodded, and whispered, “Bad guys with big teeth and long fingers like this.” He curled his hands into tiny claws. “They make people go away and they never get to come back again.”

“That is scary.” Kyana rested her hands on her knees. “You know what might help you not be so scared?”

David shook his head.

“Knowing that you have people like me and Ryker over there who will protect you and keep you safe.” She leaned a little closer. “We have big teeth too, so we can stop the bad guys.”

“Really?”

Kyana nodded. “Yeah. You wanna see?”

David nodded.

“Okay, but remember, my teeth can’t hurt little people.” When he nodded again, she revealed her fangs. She even sat still while David ran his fingertip lightly over her canines.

Satisfied, David sat back against his dad’s chest and stuck his thumb in his mouth.

Kyana dug something out of her pocket and pressed it in the child’s hand. She folded his fingers around it, then held his little hand in both of hers. “You hold this when you go to sleep. It will help keep the bad guys away.”

David’s eyes were drooping. Hank kissed his son’s head. “Thank you.”

Kyana nodded and quickly pushed to her feet. Her discomfort hung in the air. Ryker simply watched her, offering silent strength and encouragement.

“Your kid’s seen more than he was ever meant to see. He just needed to know how to put it all into perspective to stop fearing those things he can’t understand. That he’ll never be able to understand.”

“You’re a kind woman,” Cynthia said, her smile soft and lovely.

When it looked like the woman might hug Kyana, she backed up, running into Ryker’s chest. He closed his arm around her waist. She looked up at him with such pleading he knew she wanted out of the uncomfortable situation. He nodded at Hank. “Why don’t you take the rest of the night off. Curl up with your wife and son and enjoy his peaceful sleep while the computers keep looking for the owner on their own. We can pick this back up with specific names from the list tomorrow.”

“I’ll keep working.”

“No, really. I’m beat too,” Kyana rushed out, moving to the door. “I live Above, in your world, so I’ll be here about sunrise.”

“Sunrise it is.”

“Can you eat?”

“Cynthia!” Hank growled.

“What? If they’re going to be here that early I was going to offer to find them some breakfast. It’s called being nice. Our world might be upside down, but we should still remember our manners.”

“Trust me,” Kyana said. “You don’t want to make me and Geoff breakfast. David may never touch anything liquid again.”

“I might join you though,” Ryker added, nudging Kyana for her rudeness. “My diet is a bit more normal.”

Cynthia smiled. “Then we’ll see you in the morning.”

Ryker bid them good night and had to sprint down the stairs to catch up with Kyana. She’d almost made it to the portal alcove by the time he reached her. “Wait,” he said, grabbing her arm. “What are you doing?”

She jerked her arm out of her grasp. “Going home. Alone.”

He reached for her again, but the deadly look she sent him changed his mind. “How ’bout dinner first?”

Instead of answering, she turned back to the portal. This time he did grab for her. “Come on, Ky. Can we talk about what you did in there?”

Why was she so angry all of a sudden? The softness that had overtaken her while she’d spoken with David had turned to dark stoniness, and Ryker didn’t understand it at all.

She jerked her arm free. “What I did was lie to a little boy. I made him think monsters couldn’t hurt him. That he could actually win against them.”

“And why can’t he? It’s not lies, Ky. It’s hope.”

“
False
hope, and that’s worse than no hope at all.”

“Then why did you do it?”

Kyana clamped her teeth so tightly that the muscle in her jaw pulsed.

“Talk to me. Tell me who was there to keep
your
monsters at bay.” Though Ryker was pretty sure he already knew. From what he’d seen,
no one
had been there for her. But he wanted her to open up to him on her own terms, and not just be the unwanted voyeur to her tragic past.

“The monsters don’t go away. They
never
go away. They simply change form and come at you from different directions. They keep changing and coming at you until the day you can’t fight fast enough or long enough and then they win. That’s what I should’ve told David.”

“Ky—”

She stabbed him in the chest. “Don’t. Whatever you’re going to say, just don’t.”

This time when she turned away, Ryker let her go. “What did you give him? The talisman to keep the monsters at bay. What was it?”

“There is no such talisman.” Kyana turned; her cold stare cut through him. “Like I said, it was all a lie.”