Heritage: Book Three of the Grimoire Saga (37 page)

Gavin laughed and continued. “But he’s always been the better man. He’s always been my brother. I was too much of an idiot to see the truth until I nearly killed him.”

Kara watched the Hillsidian Blood out of the corner of her eye, hope flaring within her. Apparently, even monsters could change.

“I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused you, Kara,” the king added.

She shrugged. The shock from his confession strangled her voice.

Gavin pushed himself to his feet. “I’ll leave you be. I can come back later. There will be guards outside. If he worsens, please send one of them for me right away. I’ll drop what I’m doing.”

“Thank you,” she managed.

He nodded. “It looks like he’s fallen asleep. Please let me know when he wakes.”

“I will.”

He stared at the floor, hands in his pockets, as if he had something else to say. Kara waited, not sure what to expect, but fear slithered through her. She figured what he wanted to ask: what if Braeden didn’t wake up?

But instead of asking that dreaded question, Gavin cleared his throat and bowed. With a few quick steps, he was out the door. It swung shut behind him and clicked.

Kara kissed Braeden’s hand and slipped her fingers free of his grip. He mumbled in his sleep. She reached for the desk chair and dragged it until its back faced Braeden. She sat on it the wrong way, staring at him as he rested. She would sit there until he woke up. She wanted him to know he’d never been alone.

An icy hand rested on her shoulder. She shivered.

“Hey, Vagabond,” she said.

“I hate to ask you this again so soon, but are you all right?”

The adrenaline of walking in on a screaming Braeden kept the rush of emotion at bay, but her defenses were failing now that Gavin had left. Panic tore through her again. Fear. Anger. Loss. Helplessness. She shook her head and bit her lip.

What if he doesn’t wake up? What will I do?

Two cold arms wrapped her in a frigid hug. Another shiver raced through her body. When she didn’t return the hug, her mentor sighed and pulled away.

“Kara, there are those who have received the antidote and still died. It’s possible Gavin wasn’t fast enough. Will you be able to finish this if Braeden doesn’t make it?”

She set her arms on the back of the chair and burrowed her face into them. She didn’t want to think about it.

“My girl—”

“He’s going to make it.”

“But what if he doesn’t? You have to—”

“He
has
to make it.”

The first Vagabond didn’t respond. It was better he didn’t, since Kara didn’t have any other answer for him.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

REBORN

A dull ache throbbed in Braeden’s temple. He groaned and rubbed his head. What the hell happened? His mind meandered through fragmented memories. Iyra, trapped on top of him. A broken leg. Fog. The Hillsidian Sartori. Blood.

Braeden’s body ignored his attempts to move. He opened his eyes. Light blinded him. Pain shot through to the back of his neck. He blinked a few times. Streaks of brown and beige settled into odd shapes, which eventually became furniture. He lay on a bed underneath a white comforter. The splintered remains of a desk piled against the wall to the right. Windows and gold curtains lined the wall to the left. Clouds passed by, casting shadows into the room.

A hand wound around his torso. He flinched and rolled to the side, trying to get a look at his attacker. Kara lay next to him on top of the covers, eyes pressed closed. She frowned in her sleep and tightened her hold on his waist.

“She never left your side,” a familiar voice said.

Braeden whipped his head around. The walls spun from the effort. He groaned and sank back into the pillow until the dizziness passed. When the room settled, he turned his head enough to see the man sitting beside his bed.

Gavin stared at the floor, his legs straddling the chair as he rested his arms along its back. He leaned his chin against his hands.

“I still get to punch you in the face,” Braeden said.

Gavin laughed.

“I’m serious. You were going to let me die.”

The Blood’s smile faded. He nodded.

“Why didn’t you?”

The king looked at Kara, his eyes resting on her for a fleeting moment. He stared at the floorboards again. Instead of answering, he pulled a key out of his shirt pocket. Light glinted off the emerald set in the handle.

Gavin placed the key on the bed and stood without another word. His boots brushed along the floor with barely a whisper, and he shut the door without looking back.

Braeden stared at the familiar trinket, unable to fully grasp whatever just happened. It was a key to Hillside, the only means of returning to the kingdom’s capital. Braeden lost his when Gavin realized he was the Heir to the Stele, and now he had it back. But he still couldn’t quite understand why.

He reached and pulled it closer, too weak to pick it up. He examined the ornate golden curves of the handle as he brushed his thumb along the polished base. This was a truce. This was forgiveness. After losing his brother for so long, Braeden could finally go home.

Only, Hillside wasn’t his home. Not anymore. The Stele belonged to him, and all he had to do was kill his father to get it back. Still, he couldn’t ignore such a powerful truce. He was welcome in Hillside, free to come and go as he pleased. He never believed he would have such an honor after all of Ourea discovered what he really was. He took a deep breath and leaned into the pillow, happy with this development.

A little gasp jarred him. He peered down at Kara, only to find her gray eyes wide open. A smile broke across her face. He grinned back, but she launched toward him and kissed him. Her hands cradled his head, her lips brushing against his until his mouth went numb.

He cradled her head with one hand and held her near. He nearly lost this. He would savor every second he had with her.

She ran a hand through his hair. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”

“Good idea. I just get in trouble when you’re not around.”

She laughed and kissed him again. Her kisses trailed to his jaw and down his neck. After a while, she rested her cheek on his shoulder and sighed. Her arms wrapped around him, and he pulled her in as close as she could go. He relaxed and enjoyed the silence. Kara’s body pushed against his each time she breathed. Her pulse beat in his ear, amplified by her proximity. He didn’t want to move. He would be content to lie like this forever.

“How are you doing?” Kara asked.

He shrugged. “I still can’t feel much of anything.”

“What happened?”

He hesitated. “Carden knew I was there. He sent some of his elite soldiers with Gavin’s Sartori to kill me. I guess they weren’t expecting Gavin to be there.”

“He nearly let you die?”

Braeden nodded and kissed the top of her head.

“I would have killed him,” she said.

“I know.”

Her grip around his chest tightened. Braeden flinched.

She gasped. “Did that hurt you? I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right. Hopefully I’ll heal soon. I can barely move.”

“You need to eat. Let me get you food.”

He tightened his hold on her so she couldn’t get up. “I’m fine.”

She laughed. “Liar.”

“I’ll be fine as long as you stay with me.”

She nuzzled his neck. “Then I’ll stay with you forever.”

His heart skipped a beat. “Forever?”

“Of course.”

The fear of rejection dissolved. If he asked her to be his and bond with him, she would say yes. He couldn’t tell what shifted in his mind, but he no longer feared the question would rush her or push her away. He didn’t even have to ask, but he wanted to. He wanted to make the moment as special as possible, so he wouldn’t ask now. He would pull her away from Ayavel and the Bloods for a short escape, and he would ask her to be his. For now, he would savor every second of her company.

“How was Kirelm?” he asked.

She tensed. Her entire body froze, and she even held her breath.

He lifted her chin with his finger. “That bad?”

She craned her neck toward him. Tears pooled in her eyes. Her eyebrows pinched her face, and worry lines marred her forehead.

A jolt of panic shot through him. “What’s wrong?”

“Carden attacked Kirelm while I was there. I had no choice, Braeden. I took off my wrist guard. I won, but...”

“Wait, you fought my father?”

She nodded.

He wrapped her in a hug and pulled her on top of him. He didn’t let go, even as she started crying into his shoulder.

“I tried to kill him, Braeden, I promise. But I missed.”

He released her and stared into her eyes. Another tear streaked down her face. He wiped it away with his thumb.

“What do you mean, you missed?” he asked.

“My attack hit a village below Kirelm. I killed...I...”

Dawning realization crashed into him. She slaughtered innocent people.

He cradled her face in his hands. “You’ll feel better if you say it.”

She stared at the bedspread. She wrung her hands. A golden curl fell over her shoulder and covered part of her face.

Her voice trickled out as a whisper. “I killed over ten thousand people with just one attack, Braeden.”

His jaw tensed. He didn’t know what to say or how to respond.

She sobbed. “Ithone’s dead. Aurora is Blood now, and she forced whomever saw my attack into silence. The people think Carden did it, and that I’m some hero. I feel disgusting, Braeden. I’m a liar, a murderer, a—”

“A hero,” he said.

She looked up, eyes bloodshot from crying. A blush seeped along her cheeks, but he doubted it was from embarrassment. She stared at him for a few seconds, mouth slightly agape.

“But I killed people,” she said.

“You did. Taking off the wrist guard was a risky move. I’m not sure what the best choice was, but war has casualties, Kara. People die, even when they’re not part of the battle. I can only assume Aurora has a perfectly good reason to lie. I know you didn’t hurt those Kirelms intentionally. My father’s damn near unstoppable. You had no choice but to take off that wrist guard, and that means you gave up your self control. I understand what it’s like.”

Braeden’s daru gave him unimaginable power, but he lost all sense of sympathy when he used his hidden energy. He could only imagine Kara faced something similar with her newfound abilities.

She swallowed hard. “Thank you.”

He smiled and wiped away the last of her tears. A smile twitched along the corners of her mouth, but she didn’t seem able to fully grin. He wished he could take away the pain, but it was a guilt she would live with forever. At least he could share her burden.

“I thought you would think less of me,” she admitted.

He laughed. “I’m a Stelian Heir who asked you to murder my entire race by making me a vagabond. It was a selfish, stupid request, and I see it now. But I have no room to judge.”

She laughed. “I’d forgotten about that.”

“I was afraid so. I have to remind you of what a horrible man I am.”

“Hardly. There’s more good in you than bad.”

He smiled. “Not before you, there wasn’t.”

She grinned and ran a hand over his mouth. “There was always kindness in you, even if you tried to hide it. I wish you would realize that.”

He pulled her into his chest and took a deep breath. Her isen scent of lilac and pine crashed into him, but the natural perfume of her race no longer triggered a jolt of panic. It was part of her now she’d been awoken as a creature of Ourea, and he would forever respect it. His woman was an isen, and it didn’t matter one bit. He was the luckiest man alive.

A week after Braeden awoke in Ayavel with Kara at his side, he reclined against the wall of a cave in Hillside. He’d stolen Kara away, as he planned. She sat beside him, head on his shoulder. He took her to the waterfall in Hillside where the two of them often trained when she first arrived in Ourea. It became their spot, back then, so he hoped it would be the perfect place to ask her to be his forever.