Killing Time (33 page)

“Would your own lady turn on you?” he growled.

I yelped a laugh. “In a heartbeat. But she’s undoubtedly dead, killed for plotting against the lords. If any of the Fire Kith have been allowed to live, her eldest son is now lord. He’ll want to save his own neck and prove his loyalty to Reiden by hunting me with the greatest enthusiasm.” Staring out the window, I muttered, “Pull over, Koda.”

“The hell I will.”

“Let me out. I can draw them after me. If they find us together, Reiden will use your presence as an excuse to go after your people.” When Koda didn’t respond, I swore. “Dammit, I won’t have that on my conscience!”

“Do me a favor and stop being so fucking noble!” he snarled, the vehemence of his response bringing my head around to stare at him. “I’ve had enough of your trying to think for me. Trying to decide what’s best for me. Don’t you dare try that crap about my people too!”

“I just—”

“You’re so used to taking on the world, you’ve never stopped once to consider the fact that you’re no longer alone.”

I gaped at him, speechless.

“I’m right here, Sephti!
Right here!
And I don’t know whether to strangle you for your damned nobility or kiss you for your selflessness.” He hit the dashboard. “Right now, maybe both.”

My lungs burned and my heart thudded riotously in my chest. I had no idea what to say but was afraid to remain mute, afraid he might have misunderstood. “I am sorry for hav…having…” English failed me and I had to concentrate. “For having upsetted you.”

He shot a sideways glance at me. “I’m not upset. I’m pissed. Big difference.”

“Oh.” I thought furiously, trying to understand Koda’s anger. “You are a strong male. A worthy fighter. A pow…powerful mate. I knowed that you are—”

“It’s not my ego I’m pissed about,” he interrupted, shooting another look at me. “How do you see me, Sephti? Am I just the driver? Someone to keep you company? To procure food for you when you’re too banged up to do it yourself?”

I sucked in a breath, horrified that he might see things that way. “
Nisla!
No!”

“Then what?” His eyes narrowed as he glared into the rearview mirror. “Shit. You
will
answer me, Sephti, but it’ll have to wait. This is going to be bad.”

The sudden sense of swift pursuit set my instincts shrieking, but far too late to be of any use. That Koda noticed our being surrounded by fae hunters before I had told me just how distracted I’d been. No way the bastards should’ve gotten this close, not without my knowing it. Then the sun’s light faded, as if a cloud had covered it.

A cloud or a helluvalot of…

Arrows slammed into the truck from front bumper to back. Koda and I ducked low in our seats as gleaming ehrlindriel tips punctured the roof, the pickup’s iron and steel slowing the fae metal. This not only saved us from an instant grisly death, it kept the engine from being destroyed under the barrage. Shooting a look over my shoulder, I cursed to see my new bike, where it rode still in the pickup’s bed, was a total loss.

I turned to face forward again, which was when I saw the blood-stained fabric affixed to one of the many arrows bristling from the truck’s hood. “Oh no.”

“What is it?”

I swallowed convulsively. “The cops. In Chicago. The shorter one had on a tie just like that. Damn! How long have they been tracking me?” Rubbing my forehead in a vain attempt to get my mind working past the shock, I smacked the visor. “At least it wasn’t Siska or Nic.”

“She’s not exactly helpless and he’d eviscerate anyone who tried to get near her.” Koda shot me a look, his eyes flaring. “Or is it Siska you’re more worried about?”

“Excuse me all to hell!” I snapped, clinging to the door handle as the pickup tore around a curve, its heavy-duty tires shrieking. “He’s my friend!”

“He’s my friend too!” Koda fired back.

I yelled, “Meaning you’re glad that’s not
his
blood-soaked tie?”

“Yeah!”

“So why are we arguing?”

“I don’t know!” Koda laughed weakly, the fire leaving his eyes. “I don’t know.”

The garish tie flapped loose of its arrow and sailed over the truck’s roof, swirling colorfully as it disappeared behind us.
How the hell did the fae trail me
before
Onas and Târre with their damned marks were foisted on us? How?

I hadn’t slipped up. Not once. Dammit, I was an assassin—not only trained for stealthy infiltration, but genetically spliced together for it. I was too damn good to have been tracked, especially without my awareness of it.

“Jack and Kate.” I ground out the words. “What if the fae followed me to them?”

Koda growled, “Then we wouldn’t have a shitload of the bastards trying to kill us now. Never underestimate the power or bloodlust of a predatory male, especially when his mate is vulnerable.”

I eyed Koda’s profile, sensing there was more to his words than just reassurance about the tormented couple. His jaw tightened, but he didn’t take his eyes off the road.

Returning to the puzzle, I dug through memories of my journey, but continued to come up blank. Other than forgetting the bitterns’ damned tracking tattoos, I hadn’t screwed up. I hadn’t. Yet…somehow, I must have.

If hunters were already on my trail, why had Cian left the bitterns with us? Was it a form of mental torture since Cian would’ve known I’d have to use fae tactics—
his
tactics—to control them? Cursing under my breath, I rubbed my temples as my head began to throb. Then the dull ache led to another thought. Had Cian also sensed the changes in me that Koda’d noticed? Had the bastard figured I’d ultimately lose control of the bitterns? And that the best form of vengeance for him would be for my own people to kill me?

Grinding my teeth as my brain spun, I hoped Koda was right, that the supernaturals I’d met on my trip could take care of themselves. Worry about the humans whose paths I’d crossed kicked up an entirely new set of questions. Would fae hunters have bothered with the service-station attendant who’d admired my bike? Would they care about the waitress who’d told me about her new granddaughter, born just that morning? Or the little kid who’d waved from his family’s minivan window as I popped a wheelie for him?

How many humans had I unknowingly put in peril? How many deaths might I have caused for no better reason than my motorcycle needed a fill-up or I was hungry or feeling uncharacteristically playful?

Hatred for Reiden, Cian and every fae who’d ever dared to walk the mortal world surged within me until I feared I could no longer contain it. I welcomed it, in all its seething violence.

Use it, I snarled in my mind. Nurture every caustic shred and hold it close. When I stand over the lords in the final seconds before I gut them, I will pour that gall straight into their gaping wounds.

Breathing hard, I fought back the frenzy such thoughts threatened to ignite. I had no desire to go berserker with Koda so close, enclosed in the pickup’s cab. There was no way I would risk any harm coming to him, especially by my own hand.

My eyes drifted over to the speedometer as the needle passed 100.

That’s when I noticed Koda was chanting. The hair along my nape stirred and my woven leather necklace grew warm as his voice increased in volume. A heavy wind shoved the truck sideways so hard, even Koda’s instant correction couldn’t keep us from swerving into the other lane.

My head cracked into the side window before I could get a bracing hand up. “That’s Air Kith! The arrogant pricks always announce themselves first before they turn up the wind.”

“Wind kills?”

“The fae kind scours flesh from bone.”

“Damn, I hate the fae.”

I snarled, “Welcome to my world!”

He shot a dark look at me. “Will Reiden send the Hunt?”

“No. He reserves them for the big stuff. Chasing a runaway bittern with delusions of regicide wouldn’t qualify. It would be an insult to the Huntsman and even Reiden has to be careful not to piss him off.” I bared my teeth. “Now if I actually succeeded in killing the bastard, Berand might come after me anyway. Just on principle.”

Koda swore to himself, the words “death wish” and “suicide” figuring prominently in the profane mix.

The sense of something enormous swooped over the pickup and bent the trees in its wake. Even though we were roaring along at over a hundred miles an hour, from the corners of my eyes, a lot of little…
somethings
were keeping pace in the undergrowth beside the two-lane road.

A vicious grin bared Koda’s teeth. “Payback’s a bitch.” Pointing a finger upward without removing his hands from the steering wheel, he said, “Cetan doesn’t like anyone messing with his element.”

Figuring that was the big thing flying around overhead, I resisted the urge to look through the windshield. I had a feeling I didn’t really want to know what it looked like. Movement caught the corner of my eye again. “What’s following us in the woods?”

“Pukwudgie and nimerigar, both armed with poison arrows. Pukwudgie work fire and nimerigar are skilled with the earth.”

My brows lifted. “That leaves only water.”

“Nope, we’re covered there too. We’re under the protection of the cymbee. But we mustn’t speak of them. The water spirits are easily angered.”

I did a doubletake. “So for every kith, you have a corresponding ally?”

“Yes.”

“How’d they get here so fast?”

He laughed, the dark sound raising gooseflesh on my body. “Ever since we left New Orleans, I’ve had them shadowing us.” Koda watched my face as I absorbed this.

“Okay.” I nodded slowly. “Good to know.”

“That’s why only Air has been able to attack.”

I looked pointedly at the arrows bristling from the truck like a porcupine’s feather-tipped quills.

“That hardly counts. Anybody can shoot a damn arrow.” At my snort, he amended, “All right, a lot of damn arrows. Anyway, our allies are holding the kiths at bay and Air won’t get another chance at us, not with Cetan harrying the fae bastards off this plane.”

“What’s he like?”

Koda shook his head. “It’s not polite to talk about the earth and animal spirits. It’s disrespectful to discuss them casually.”

I nodded again, feeling wound up tighter than a bowstring but unable to do anything about the enemies pursuing us. It felt wrong. Beyond awkward. I shifted in my seat, crossing and re-crossing my legs. Plucking at the seatbelt didn’t help and neither did flipping the sun visor down as Koda did when he was ticked. Sighing, I rubbed at my face. I didn’t know what to do with myself or all the amped-up energy.

I felt Koda’s senses extend, so I knew when the tension relaxed from his body. “We’re in the clear now. Our allies formed a skirmish line behind us. Reiden and his forces won’t get past them.”

“Have you forgotten fae can shift?” My tone was sharper than I intended.

Lifting a brow at me, Koda said mildly, “Pukwudgie can do something similar.”

“So.” I smacked the visor back up. “Checkmate.”

“Feeling kinda unnecessary?”

“Yeah.” Staring out the window, I scowled at the trees blurring by.

“Welcome to my world.”

I turned to look at him and saw the way his jaw muscles were clenched. “You feel unnecessary?”

“It’s what I was talking about before.”

I opened my mouth to snarl at him, then shut it with a snap as I thought better of it.

“You’re strong and independent, two traits I admire. You’re also intelligent and a lethal fighter.” His eyes practically smoldered. “Unless you haven’t been paying attention, you’ve probably figured out that I find you sexy as hell.”

Blushing, I pushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“I don’t have anything to prove, Sephti. I don’t have to save the day and I’ve never seen anyone less in need of rescuing.” I felt his gaze like a caress on my cheek. “But I do need to feel like I’m part of your life and not just an add-on fixture.”

My heartbeat sped up as I thought about his words and what they seemed to imply. “But what about—”

He snarled, “Don’t you dare say a word about our people’s histories. Not a word!”

I stared at my fisted hands where they lay in my lap. Shaking my head, I whispered, “I won’t.”

“No?” Koda jerked a surprised look at me before returning his gaze to the highway. We were still driving at close to a hundred miles an hour, but I didn’t worry about a cop pulling us over. Since he’d felt the fae hunters, I figured he’d have no trouble sensing a mundane speed trap. “You’re letting it slide that easily?”

I shrugged. It was hard enough to admit the shameful truth to myself. How could I tell him I was so lacking in integrity that I was pathetically grateful for his angry refusal to let me reason with him?

He gave me another startled look. “What’s the catch?”

I shrugged again, watching the world blur past my side window. “What you said, once before. That there are tools for dealing with…” I waved vaguely between the two of us. “Where can I find them?”

I heard the smile in his voice. “It was a figure of speech.”

Crestfallen, I sagged in my seat. “Is nothing ever easy?”

He took my hand, lifted it to his lips and breathed a kiss across the palm. “This is.”

Meeting his gaze for a second, I nodded. Once my instincts were subdued, reveling in Koda’s touch was the easiest thing I’d ever done. It was the emotions I couldn’t get a handle on.

Returning his attention to the highway, he took an entrance ramp to I-10 without slowing and headed west. “I know this is new to you. It probably seems very strange. Maybe even frightening.” My breath caught and I looked away, but not before I saw that he’d heard. “All I ask is that you try, Sephti. Forget all the reasons why we shouldn’t. Forget whatever shit my brother said to you. Think only of you and me. Be my most precious friend, Sephti. Truly be my lover and give us a chance.”

I closed my eyes and tilted my head back against the seat. Breathing in and out, I thought about honor and about doing the right thing. I thought about Ahanu’s hateful words, so similar to the ones I regularly castigated myself with. And for the first time in my short, very violent life, I thought beyond today. My engineered DNA resisted conceptualizing the future. Didn’t in fact allow for that kind of mental processing. This made a cruel kind of logic since no one knew how long bitterns could live. So it was significant that I could even conceive of the next few weeks—the span between now and Halloween.