Blood Father (Blood Curse Series) (13 page)

With that, he turned and walked away.

Arielle struggled to catch her breath as she watched the powerful vampire retreat. Her heart was thundering in her chest; her
good sense
was laid out on the ground; and she was certain that her knees were going to give way any moment. She shivered, trying to come up with an explanation: What had she done to provoke this primitive male so deeply? Surely, she had not led him on…

She watched as he crossed the dark expanse, his lithe form becoming one with the shadows he spoke of, and she tried to control her trembling.

Kagen Silivasi was more than just an enigma—

He was a dangerous,
dangerous
man.

And if she thought Ryder Nightsong had left a hole in her heart, then perhaps she didn’t know what true heartbreak felt like, for this male was capable of creating a crater the size of the Mystic Mountains.

She cringed at the very thought of the damage a male like Kagen Silivasi could leave in his wake, at the very idea of being hopelessly in love with a being from another realm. By all that was sacred, a careless moment could leave Arielle pregnant and abandoned, just like her mother, pining away a lifetime of possibility over the memory of a ghost…one who had never been anything more than a thief in the night.

Oh yes, Kagen Silivasi was dangerous, all right.

He was powerful beyond measure; handsome beyond reckoning; and seductive beyond what was safe. And he took whatever he wanted—just because he could.

Arielle Nightsong resolved to remain wary. She would do everything in her power to help Keitaro Silivasi, but she would keep a safe,
safe
distance away from his son.

For a male accustomed to sleeping on a king-sized mattress, with memory foam and a pillow top to boot, Kagen was sleeping as soundly as he could on the thin, rollaway pallet when he heard soft but distinctly human footfalls approaching the narrow cave opening. His eyes shot open, instantly alert, as he measured the faint patter of gravel shifting beneath heels and toes—they were walking softly, carefully…
deliberately
—and the steady, shallow inhales of breath betrayed no less than four strangers approaching the temporary dwelling.

He immediately sent a gentle pulse of energy into his brothers’ minds, all three at once, conveying the imminent presence of the intruders, the presumed number of the entourage, and the obvious need to remain silent as they watched the scene unfold. All four Silivasis rose from their pallets like ghostly apparitions rising from shallow graves. Without hesitation, they rendered their formidable Vampyr bodies invisible and slinked noiselessly into the numerous shadows of the cave, becoming one with the jagged rocks, melting into the shallow crevices, and blending into the stony walls.

They waited.

Perilously alert and listening.

To see what was coming their way.

Kagen swept his eyes across the dimly lit cavern, making note of the single lantern that flickered in the otherwise dark, ominous space, noting how Arielle slept soundly, if not peacefully, on a pile of blankets toward the back of the cave.

Discerning in an instant what would be required to confront the enemy, neutralize the threat, and protect Arielle—all three things at once—he prepared to act with unerring lethality. He had no doubt that Marquis, Nathaniel, and Nachari had just done the same.

As the smell of human sweat and fear drew nearer, he practically held his breath. His fangs slid down from his upper gums, and he prepared to strike in defense of their territory. Their mission. Their unwavering determination to live long enough to rescue Keitaro.

The first intruder to round the corner of the cave entrance was a tall, slender male, about five-foot-eleven, with flame-red hair and pale gray eyes. He held a crude battle-axe in his right hand, and he crouched low on the balls of his feet, prepared to attack at the slightest provocation. Kagen immediately recognized the human from Arielle’s memories—it was the rebel called Walker Alencion, the one who had placed his hands on Arielle so crudely. His lips twitched involuntarily, and he suppressed a rising snarl, even as he unconsciously licked his lips like a salivating wolf.

Steady,
h
ealer
, Nathaniel intoned psychically from across the cave.
Let’s see what all awaits us before we
dispense of our enemy
.

Kagen blinked several times and nodded. He measured the three strong males at Walker’s back: The blond directly behind him, brandishing a heavy sword, was called Kade, and Arielle had described him as forty years old, deliberate in his thinking, and strategic in all his maneuvers. He was a thinker, and he did nothing rash or impulsive. Kagen’s eyes darted to the male on Kade’s left, a sandy-haired youth of twenty-two years named Echo, with a barbaric, spiked club in his hand. According to Arielle, he was a fierce and unafraid fighter, known for his quick temper and brazen attacks. This one was not afraid to die, and that’s what made him dangerous. To the far right was the fourth and last rebel, Neil Potter. His locks were trimmed so close to his scalp, he appeared to be wearing a helmet, and he was, without question, the most experienced fighter of the group. He held a pair of sharpened triangular daggers in both hands, and he had the unmistakable look of a hawk in his dark, brooding eyes.

Kagen regarded Marquis with nothing more than a shift of focused attention, the barest transference of energy toward his eldest brother, their unquestioned leader, to ascertain any immediate orders—if, in fact, there were any.

Marquis felt the probe and responded coolly.
Nathaniel,
subdue Walker so that Kagen is not
inclined
to take his life prematurely. Nachari, take the reasoned one
with the sword
, the one called Kade.
I will capture the fierce one, Echo; and Kagen, you will
apprehend
Neil.
At my command,
he added tersely.

So we are to leave them alive
…no matter what
?
Nathaniel drawled lazily in his typical cat-like way, sounding interminably sleepy and more than a little bit bored.

For now
, Marquis replied, sounding equally annoyed. His psychic voice relaxed, and he turned his attention to Nachari.
Wizard, what do they want?

While all vampires could reach into the minds of humans and extract their thoughts with ease, as a Master Wizard, Nachari’s touch was virtually undetectable. A pregnant moment passed before Nachari answered his eldest brother circumspectly.
The tall one became worried when Arielle did not return to camp this night; he brought a handful of warriors
, including
a tracker—
I believe
Echo
has
exceptional
hunting
skills for a human—to trace her steps
,
and it
eventually
led them here. They are
hoping
to rescue Arielle.

He tracked us
by scent alone
?
Nathaniel asked, sounding mildly surprised, if not slightly impressed.
They could not have moved this quickly by simply studying tracks at night
.

Nachari’s voice brightened.
I believe
Echo
has a small trace of wolf’s blood in his
veins
, although he knows it not. Perhaps that is why he is so wild and fearless
.

Mmm
, Marquis replied.
Well, the best laid plans of mice
and men…and
wolves
…

He didn’t finish the familiar refrain.

The approaching rebels drew into tighter formation. They raised their weapons and entered the cave in an organized charge, like warriors hoping to capitalize on the element of surprise, despite not knowing what they were walking into.

“Now!” Marquis barked, this time speaking aloud.

The seizure that ensued was as exact as it was quick and eventless: Nathaniel descended upon Walker from above with deft precision. He removed the battle-axe from his grip, forced him onto his knees, and fisted his wild red hair in his hand, rendering the human immobile before Walker knew what had hit him. The startled male arched unnaturally forward beneath Nathaniel’s pressing knee, his head bent low, and Nathaniel used the opportunity to press the human’s face into the dirt. “Do not move a muscle,” he ordered with a hiss, as if the human could.

Marquis and Nachari acted at the same time, each male becoming visible in the same instant, as if they no longer felt the need to maintain an element of surprise: Marquis snatched Echo by the back of his collar, lifted him effortlessly off the ground, and shook his spiked wooden club loose from his arms. He held him steady, at eye level, snarled a fearsome warning between gnashing fangs, and then seared an imperious command into his mind, lacing the words in compulsion. “Submit!” There was no need for an entire diatribe, not from Marquis.

Nachari leapt from his position at the back of the cave, practically landing in Kade’s footsteps, as if the two males were wearing the same pair of boots. As Kade inhaled sharply in surprise, the wizard paused, waiting for the ensuing exhale, and then he held out his hand, drew back his fingers, and stole the human’s breath from his chest, refusing to allow him another breath of air until he clutched at his own throat and dropped his sword in an effort to coax oxygen into his lungs. Nachari watched patiently as Kade folded in on himself, dying from aspiration; and then the wizard kicked the sword away.

Kagen took Neil with as much stealth and ease as his brothers. He plucked both lethal daggers out of the rebel’s hands and swiftly tucked them into the waistband of his trousers; and then, with one swift, targeted blow to the male’s throat, Kagen dropped him like a sack of potatoes, leaving him agonized and retching on the cave floor, his frantic eyes darting this way and that as if struggling to comprehend what had just happened. Then, and only then, Kagen shimmered into view.

“Welcome to our camp,” Nathaniel drawled in a dark, silken voice, even as all four humans continued to reel from the sudden attack: They scrambled to regain their composure, groped for their missing weapons, and struggled to make sense of what the heck had just happened. “Have a seat around the fire, please,” he added wryly.

Just then, Arielle shot up from her repose at the back of the cave. She grasped her bow, as if she had done so a thousand times before, drew a silver-tipped arrow from the quiver beside her bed, and bounded to her feet in one smooth, agile motion. Her reaction was not measured or thought out. She did not assess or identify her enemy. She simply acted with an instinct born of years…
and years
…of training, responding, surviving as an integrated part of a whole: one member of a group coming to the immediate aid of the others, her rebel companions. As she quickly surveyed the scene, her vivid aquamarine eyes heated with fury. She took a cautious step toward the fire, turned her head sharply toward Kagen, and glared at him in defiance. “What is the meaning of this, healer!” Her wild gaze swept to Kade, who was still bent over and gasping for air, and she practically seethed malevolence. “Nachari! Release his throat,
right
now
! Let him breathe!” She pointed the arrow directly at the Master Wizard’s heart.

“I already released it,” Nachari assured her, his own silken voice absent of concern: Either he didn’t notice the arrow pointed at his heart, or he didn’t feel threatened enough to acknowledge it. Kagen figured it was the latter.

She spun around to face Marquis, who was now carrying Echo to the fire like a puppy being dragged by the scruff, and her face turned three shades of crimson. “Marquis!”

One stern look from the Ancient Master Warrior, and she instantly backed off. Marquis Silivasi was not one to be ordered about by humans, and apparently, the look on his merciless face made that clear.

Arielle took a cautious step backward, lowered her bow, and turned to Kagen, instead. “Kagen,
please
.” She sounded so pitiful, so desperate…
so incensed
.

Kagen sighed, but he didn’t back down. “Arielle, let us handle this…our way.”

She started to nod, albeit reluctantly, and then she caught sight of Walker, still bent over with Nathaniel’s knee planted in his back, his face pressed hard into the earthen floor. “Are you kidding me!” she shouted. She immediately rushed to his side. “Walker! Are you all right?” She slapped at Nathaniel’s knee, as if the vampire were nothing more than a recalcitrant child, and then she implored him with her eyes. “Nathaniel, stop!
You’re hurting him
.”

Before Nathaniel could reply, Kagen snarled deep in his throat—the sound was a feral mixture of warning and surprise. “
Do not
,” he clipped harshly, instantly regretting the harsh authority in his words. The last thing he wanted to do was intimidate Arielle further, or worse, lose his temper and end up tearing Walker’s throat out in front of the female. Not only would such a thing likely turn her against him
for good
, but the sight of his animal nature, so unrestrained and primal, might just scar her for the rest of her life.

Yet and still, how could he explain that he had read the male’s true intentions within seconds of looking into his duplicitous eyes, that for all of Walker’s professed friendship and admiration for Arielle Nightsong, the human was a cauldron of insecurity and raging hormones, as confused as he was loyal, as desperate as he was determined?

How could he explain that Walker was
this close
to crossing the line?

That he had already moved from admiration to stalking, and it was just a matter of time before stalking turned into…rape.

The male may have been her childhood friend, and at one time, he may have truly cared for her like a brother, perhaps even desired her as a man, but her constant denial of his affections had warped him—that, and the untenable life the lycans had forced him to lead. Walker was tired of being the bottom man on the totem pole, and the next step up was subjugating a woman,
t
aking what he couldn’t have.

Not caring to reveal what was so obvious to his naked, vampiric eye, Kagen sought to find another way to avert disaster—why it mattered so deeply, he just couldn’t say—still, he swallowed his anger and tried to soften his tone. “Arielle…”

She looked up at him beneath angry lids, her luminous eyes filled with obvious sympathy for the red-headed human. “What!” Her voice was uncharacteristically clipped.

Kagen licked his lips and suppressed another growl. “Do you remember what happened
earlier
, when Nachari tried to take your blood and your memories?”

Arielle’s eyes widened with budding understanding. “Yes.” The word was a mere whisper.

Kagen gestured toward Walker with his chin. “Get away from that male.” When she didn’t respond immediately, he added, “Unless you wish to sentence him to death.”

Like someone who had just reached out to pluck a piece of fruit from a tree, only to discover that it was actually a nest of hornets, Arielle froze. She draped her bow over her shoulder, held her hands up in front of her, and slowly backed away from Walker.

Kagen gestured toward the back of the cave, his stark gaze indicating the farthest region of the cavern, well beyond the fire pit.

Shaking her head back and forth in bewilderment, Arielle started toward the back of the cave, heading for the exact spot he had indicated.

And that’s when Walker sat up sharply.

His face flushed with righteous indignation, he stared angrily at Kagen and then sneered at Arielle. His insipid gray eyes shot back and forth between the two, and his mouth turned down in a frown. “Arielle, what the hell is going on?” He wiped a smear of dirt out of his eyes and turned to glare at Kagen. “Who are these men?”