Phantom Warriors: Riot (13 page)

“What do you mean? You were able to heal me.”
She glanced down to her chest and abdomen. “Why can’t you heal my
grandfather?” Desperation filled her voice.

Shame drowned him as he realized his earlier
mistake. How could he believe that she’d betray another? Nina had
shown him nothing but loyalty, and at the first chance to return
the favor he’d failed. She wasn’t talking about a man. She was
referring to her blood. Even with the new circumstances, it didn’t
change his answer. Riot rose unable to bear looking upon her
pain-ridden face. “I cannot.”

“Cannot or will not?” Bitterness disbursed
some of the desperation in her question. He’d seen that look on
other faces. It was the look one got when a loved one was facing
death.

Riot didn’t think the pain could get any
worse, but he’d been wrong. He was about to destroy their fragile
connection and there wasn’t anything he could do to stop it. He
took a deep breath. “Cannot. I am a great bear, but I am not ‘the’
Great Bear.”

Nina’s chin dropped. “I see,” she said,
though he knew she did not. She wanted a miracle, but there was no
bargaining with death. Sometimes you could escape it, but there was
no avoiding forever. Every warrior knew that in his bones. Phantoms
lived far longer than Earthlings, but still they died. Such was the
way of the universe.

“Then why did your ability to heal work on
me?” she asked, ignoring his confession about not being the Great
Bear.

“You are different,” he said. “Special.” She
just didn’t realize how much. And he had no idea how to
explain.

Her lips tightened. “Just not special enough
to help. Is that it?”

“You know it is not.” Riot reached for her,
but she stepped out of reach and went in search of her clothes.

“Why did you let me believe that you were the
Great Bear?”

“At first, I was too shocked by the fact that
you weren’t frightened of me. Later, I didn’t know how to bring the
subject up. You were invested in me being the Great Bear,” he
said.

“Didn’t know how, or didn’t want to?” she
asked.

Riot opened his mouth, then closed it again.
The truth was he hadn’t wanted to tell her for fear she would
leave. He knew now that had been a mistake. “Come with me,” he
whispered, laying his soul bare to her, though he knew the answer
before she replied. He could see rejection floating in her dark
brown eyes.

“I can’t.” She sobbed. “I can’t just leave
him alone. He needs me.”

He looked at her. “I need you, too.” It was
the truth. She was his only hope. All he really wanted. Riot
couldn’t imagine anyone ever taking her place. He knew everything
he needed to know about Nina. She was brave, fearless, and strong.
Her mind was quick, and she stood up for what she believed in. That
was important to him. It was also why he would have to let her
go.

Tears swam in her eyes. “He needs me
more.”

Riot gave her a slow nod. “I understand.” And
he did, but that didn’t stop the pain from ripping him apart. He’d
done his best to find a mate. He glanced at Nina. She was
everything he could hope for. And everything he’d never have.

“I better get you back home. Climb on,” he
said, then shifted to his
Other
form.

They didn’t speak on the long walk home. What
was there to say? Riot had lied to her. And when she’d needed him
and his abilities the most, he’d let her down. Nina knew she wasn’t
being fair, but the painful disappointment left no room for
rational thought. She left Riot standing at the edge of the trees,
his big body quaking with emotion.

She could feel his hot gaze burning a hole in
her back, but Nina couldn’t bring herself to turn around. She was
afraid if she did, she’d cave in and go running back to him. Even
though he’d lied about who he was, part of her still wanted him. It
didn’t make sense. And neither did his explanation about his
abilities.

How could he possess so much magic and still
not be able to help her grandfather? It didn’t seem right. And it
damn sure wasn’t fair. Like a flash fire, her anger erupted to
life, then quickly burned itself out. She might be healed, but she
still felt bloody and raw. She rubbed a hand over her chest to ease
the pain. It would never truly go away.

Nina wasn’t really mad at Riot. He was just
an easy target, a gentle giant who wore his hearts on his
fur-covered sleeve. No, the anger came from the sense of
helplessness that she’d been feeling since her grandfather had
taken ill. No matter what she did or who she prayed to, her
grandfather was still going to die. And when Harold passed, she
would be the last of her bloodline. The last of her family. Truly
alone.

Her heart clenched as she pictured Riot’s
face. He’d been so disappointed. So hurt. But she had to say no.
What choice did she have?

She scrubbed a hand over her face. Death
sucked!

Nina pushed her way inside her house and
closed the door. Tears stung the back of her eyes, blurring her
vision so much that she almost missed the blinking light on her
answering machine. Like most modern women, she had a cell phone,
but it rarely worked since her house was tucked between the
mountains. She walked across the room and pressed the button.

“Ms. Whitetail, we need you to come to the
hospital immediately. It’s about your grandfather, Harold
Twofeathers--” The message cutoff abruptly.

Nina’s heart dropped. She rushed into her
bedroom and quickly changed her clothes, then grabbed her purse and
keys.

***

Riot had failed her when she’d needed him
most. And worst of all, he’d lied to her by omission. What kind of
warrior lies to a potential mate? Not one with any kind of honor to
be sure.

He slowly turned and walked into the woods.
There was nothing left to do now but return to the ship. With
Nina’s rejection, he'd finally given up on finding a mate. His
commander would just have to understand. He wasn’t going to return
to Earth again. He'd taken a shot and had failed. Nina’s face
flashed in front of him. Okay, maybe he hadn't totally failed. He
had after all found the woman he wanted for a mate and lost
her.

The thought of being ordered to seek another
didn’t sit well with him. It would be Nina or no one. And since she
didn't want him – at least not as not enough to come with him—it
was an easy decision. Besides, as far as he could tell, the bond
hadn’t taken. One more sign that they weren’t meant to be. The
truth only made the pain worse.

Riot made his way through the forest and
returned to the lake he’d created to keep his ship hidden. He
grabbed his backpack and pulled out his wristband. He slid his
finger across the surface, finding the invisible button with ease.
He pressed it, and the water surrounding his ship evaporator into
the air, forming a thick white cloud, emptying the lake in
seconds.

He dropped the wristband back into the pack,
and climbed down the slope. He opened the hatch to his ship and
crawled inside. The metal creaked then settled under his weight.
Riot sat at the control panel staring at the instruments as if he’d
never seen them before, his mind once again betraying him with
thoughts of Nina.

He growled in frustration. It wouldn't do him
any good to sit here and sulk. He’d lost. There was no going back.
She’d made her decision. “Get on with it,” he muttered under his
breath.

Riot concentrated on making his flight suit
materialize. Thin fabric rolled over his body, cocooning his skin
until he was covered from neck to toe. His pressed his large palm
to his chest to check the seal. It was secure. Riot started his
preflight checklist. Flipping switches and sliding his fingers over
panels, he checked all the instruments.

Lights dimmed and panels chirped as the
shuttle pulsed with power. He was almost finished when he glanced
out the window and noticed his pack sitting next to a tree. Riot
cursed loudly and powered down, stopping the checklist just short
of liftoff. He climbed back out of the craft, dropping down into
the muddy ‘lake’ bed, then slogged back up the hill.

He gathered his backpack and started to close
it. As he reached for the sealer he noticed the blanket he’d made
love on with Nina, sticking out of the top. Riot clenched the
material and brought it to his nose and inhaled. Nina’s sweet scent
filled his lungs. His whole body stiffened as need threatened to
buckle his knees.

He glanced back at his ship, suddenly torn.
It was ready. All he had to do was complete his checklist and the
shuttle would liftoff and return to his ship. His hands
automatically clenched the blanket tighter. He was a warrior. A
Phantom warrior. Was he really going to give up this easily? What
if the bond was just taking extra time to form?

The beast inside of him roared to life. Riot
tried to calm it down, but there was no soothing it. The beast
wanted its mate. It wanted Nina. And so did Riot. But how could he
get her to leave with him? She'd made it perfectly clear that she
wouldn't and couldn't abandon her family. Riot understood loyalty,
probably better than she did. But that still didn't help the
problem at hand.

Nina wanted him. Riot was sure of that. She
wouldn’t have surrendered to him so fully had some part of her not
known they were meant for each other. But how could he get her to
see the truth, when she was so blinded by pain? He would never and
could never force her. She’d never forgive him and he wouldn’t be
able to forgive himself. She had to come to him willingly. There
was no other way.

Riot stared at his ship for a minute longer,
then reached inside the backpack once more for the wristband. He
pressed a button and the door to the shuttle closed with a clank.
Once it had sealed, he pressed another. The air above the shuttle
began to swirl and churn, growing thicker and darker with each
pass. The cyclone hummed, picking up loose debris as it grew in
size. It built and built until there was nowhere for it to go but
down. When the cloud thickened to the point that he could no longer
see through it, Riot slid his finger across the wristband. With a
splash, the churning mass dropped into the dip in terrain, filling
the space. Gone was the shuttle. In its place stood a tranquil lake
once more.

***

Nina made it to the hospital in record time,
but could barely remember the drive. Her heart pounded until she
could hear nothing else. She ran into the hospital, ignoring the
startled stares. She pounded the elevator button as if that would
somehow make it come faster. The chime rang and the doors slid
open. Nina rushed inside, earning a scowl from the people trying to
exit. The second the last one made it out the door, she pressed
three and hit the ‘close’ button. Every floor the elevator passed
felt like an eternity.

The doors finally opened and Nina jumped out.
She bypassed the nurse’s station, ignoring their shouts for her to
wait. Instead, she sprinted to her grandfather’s room. She was
running so fast that she had to grab the doorway to slow herself
down. Nina slid into the room and came to an abrupt halt. A neatly
made bed sat next to the window, waiting for its next patient. The
uncomfortable cream chair she’d spent hours in had been pushed over
to the side. Her gaze swung to the adjoining bathroom.

“Grandpa?” she called out, moving toward the
closed door.

Soft footsteps stopped behind her and a
gentle hand touched her shoulder.

Nina shrugged her off. She didn’t want to
know what the nurse was going to say. “Grandpa!”

The nurse waited patiently as she searched
the empty room again. “I’m sorry, but he died a few hours ago.”

“No! You’re wrong,” Nina said, hearing the
desperation in her voice. He had to be here. He couldn’t have died
when she and Riot were…

Oh God! Her eyes closed and she sank to the
floor. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I should’ve been here, so you
weren’t alone.” Nina rocked back and forth, as the tears spilled
from her eyes. Why hadn’t she been here? Because she was being
selfish, that’s why. Instead of sitting with Harold during his last
minutes on Earth, she’d been making love to the Great Bear. No! Not
the Great Bear—an impostor.

The nurse grabbed a tissue box and handed it
to her.

Nina barely noticed as guilt ravaged her. She
didn’t want comfort. She didn’t deserve comfort. She should’ve been
here so that Harold didn’t have to die alone. The pain in her chest
exploded, winding her. Nina’s head spun.

“Breathe, you need to breathe,” the nurse
said.

“It hurts too much,” Nina gasped.

She gave Nina a sad smile. “I know, and I’m
sorry.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded
envelope. “He left you this,” the nurse said. She handed Nina the
envelope.

Nina recognized her grandfather’s rough
scratchy penmanship on the outside. “Where is Harold's body?”

"As per his instructions, we have sent his
remains to the crematorium,” the nurse said. “He was very exact in
his instructions. He didn’t want you to see him once he died.”

A fresh wave of pain struck, stronger than
the first. Even in the throes of death, her grandfather thought of
her. Too bad Nina couldn’t say the same. “Can you give me a
minute?” she asked.

The nurse nodded in understanding. “Take all
the time that you need,” she said, then slipped out of the room,
closing the door behind her.

Nina rose from the floor and placed the
envelope on the small side table, and walked over to the bed. She
ran her trembling hand over the crisp sheets, then crawled on top.
The room had already been sanitized. It no longer smelled like her
grandfather. She gripped the thin pillow to her chest and squeezed
it tight. Tears came again. This time harder. Nina didn’t bother to
hold back. Her whole body shook as she sobbed out her grief. How
did any human survive this kind of pain? She didn’t know. Didn’t
want to.