The Lycan Hunter (The Gardinian World Series) (21 page)

“Kyran?” Her voice was raspy.

“Here, drink this first.”

She pulled back after a few sips and studied him. “What’s with
the eyes?”

“Don’t worry about it. How are you?”

“Fine, why?”

“Because you did something stupid.”

She frowned at the room as if she was trying to piece together what
she could have done. She really couldn
’
t say that she forgot about the
trip out of her body. The fact that she made it back was a miracle in itself.

“I don’t understand. What did I do?”

“Who the hell goes to Gardas without any idea what they
’
ll find?
Did you even know it existed before you went?”

With a heavy
sigh
, she
closed her eyes
. “
Your b
edside
manner s
ucks.
”

“Tough shit. It
’
s getting old having to save you every ten minutes.”
He pushed away from his seat and went to stand by the cabinets. “Do
you have any other stupid ideas or do you think that I can restock first?”

“You can restock. Although why you
’
re blaming me for needing to
do so is beyond me. I’m pretty sure I have told you more than once to
let me die.” Alexis inclined the bed. “I think I
’
m done taking involuntary
field trips to Gardas with Torin as my guide. Though I doubt you could
have saved me if I died there. I think even you have your limitations, or are you a god, too?”

“I’m not a god.” Kyran rubbed his temples and frowned. “Torin should be on Imel or Gronak.”

“Well, he wasn’t. Apparently, he lives with Lykil, because that’s where I just came from.”

Kyran leaned more into the cabinets. Stupidity must run rampant
in her family.

“He took you to see the God of Destruction? I thought Torin was smart.”

“Insulting my brother isn
’
t exactly a great way to start off my
return to my body, and so what? I met the God of Destruction. He
’
s a
corny flirt, but he’s harmless.”

Kyran laughed.
“Harmless? Do you know what he did the last time
he was here?” He paused and shook his head. “Chernobyl. That was his last trip to Earth.”

“Oh – ”

“Yeah,
oh
. Lykil isn
’
t a god to play with, and he damn sure isn
’
t
one to summon to Earth.”

“You can summon gods?”

“If you know how, but I won't be the one to tell you. You
’
d probably
do something stupid with the knowledge.”

Kyran understood that a lot of his frustration had nothing to do with
her. The trajectory of his life was what had him agitated. He glanced
over at her, waiting for her to start ranting at him, but she just nodded.

“Well, this was fun, but I’m tired.”

Kyran shook his head. “I have some questions to ask you concerning
your escape before you do.”

Alexis let out a long sigh and nodded. “What do you want to know?”

“How did you access my files?”

“I didn
’
t use your computer for anything other than watching Theo,
but that was already opened. The feed went dead at some point, so I went to bed.”

“So you didn’t access any files on my computer?”

“Just tell me what is so important about the files, and I might be able to give you a better answer than I didn’t touch anything on your computer.”

“They were encrypted.”

Her eyes glistened with amusement, but she managed to school
her features into something more serious. “Kyran, I’m a Hunter. I never
do my own hacking; that
’
s the command center
’
s job. My skill set begins
and ends with my weapons. As far as anyone is concerned, that’s all I need in order to do my job.”

“Why did you leave with Theo?”

“This is bordering on insane. Why would I leave with someone I shot – because of what he did to you no less?”

“Answer the question, Alexis.”

“I woke up in a cabin tied to a bed. I don
’
t remember leaving here
at all.”

Kyran nodded and walked to the door. “Get some rest. I
’
ll be back
later.”

“Wait, Kyran. What’s with the interrogation?”

Agitation poisoned the glance he shot over his shoulder. “I'm tired
of having to kill
my p
ack
over you. I was
hoping
that you
’
d be the t
raitor
.”

Kyran walked out of the room and closed the door on any reply she
could have. He was tired of the constant drama that happened since
her arrival, and though it wasn
’
t necessarily all her fault, she had to go.
The fact that she was supposedly his Soul
’
s Mate was just another
reason that he had to get rid of her. He had enough to deal with, and her as a long term option wasn’t going to work.

ALEXIS PLAYED WITH
the neckline of the hospital gown that she wore. Kyran had said that he was tired of killing his pack over her,
but she didn
’
t remember asking him to kill anyone except her. Part
of her wanted to drag her IV pole down the hall and tell him what he
should already know regarding the deaths of his pack mates: Those
deaths were his own doing. She wasn
’
t the one with the incurable case
of hero complex hell bent on ending an eight thousand year long war.
Instead of hustling to find the unjustifiably angry Lycan, she thought back to the bit of information that Lykil told her before he forced her back into her body.

When the Lycan and the Hunter come to an accord, the fallen
goddess shall be restored.

Obviously it had something to do with the war, but who the hell
was the fallen goddess?
Besides, Kyran had already
“come to an accord
” with Torin, and yet the war raged on.

The more she thought about it, the less likely it was that Kyran
would be able to use her to end the war. The Hunters had never had any real faith in her, and it had only gotten worse after Torin’s death.
Now that HQ likely knew that Theo was dead and not by Lycan hands
,
her credibility with the Hunters was nothing more than a sieve. Kyran
’
s
best bet would be to work with Nigel, who not only had the rank that
she lacked, but also the trust of the Elders.

Alexis
’
focus turned to Ronan as he walked in carrying a large
cardboard box and a black robe draped over his shoulder.

He sat the box down on the counter and came to her bedside. “I
have to check your vitals and refresh your fluids. Are you in pain?”

“Not really.”

Something was off. He seemed down in a way that was a distant reminder to how he was when he found Kyran stabbed.

She reached out and touched his arm. “What’s wrong?”

Ronan gently removed her hand and refocused on his stethoscope
. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“You seem upset.”

He shrugged but otherwise avoided her gaze. “Another pack
member has been killed.”

Alexis wanted to say that she was sorry for their loss, but she was
well aware that he might find it insulting. She was a Hunter after all,
and not too long ago, it had been her life
’
s mission to see them all dead
.
It did worry her that the Hunters may have come for the pack. Hadn
’
t
Nigel said he has known about Kyran for a while?

“Was it a Hunter? I could – ”

He placed a blood pressure cuff on her arm. “It was Kyran, and
there is nothing you can do except heal.”

“Oh.”

She frowned. Kyran had said that he was tired of killing his pack over her, but that implied that there was more than one dead. Alexis cleared her throat which made Ronan fix his gaze on her.

“How many are dead?”

“Two.”

“I’m sorry.”

Ronan grunted. “No, you
’
re not. One of them sent you off with
Theo to die, and the other’s dead because he challenged Kyran.”

“I am sorry, not that you would believe it. I’m really sorry that
Kyran has had to do anything to protect me, especially kill off any of his pack. It’s not something I would’ve asked him to do.”

“He doesn
’
t have a choice. Without you, there is no end.” The last
part came out as barely a whisper, his voice flat and depressed.

He took off the cuff, his movements now lethargic, and grabbed
a prepared syringe from one of the locked cabinets and injected it into
her IV line.

“Your pain meds overlap, so you should feel it working soon.”
He put away the supplies before he walked to the door. “I can only speak for myself, but I’m not particularly excited about attending the Passing for two of my pack mates.”

Alexis frowned, “The Passing?”

“It
’
s a funeral, or funerals, since we
’
ll be giving two souls to Goddess
Lelah.”

Ronan left the room, closing the door softly behind him. He could h
ave slammed it, and the effect would have been the same. He didn’t blame her, but he might as well. The knowledge of Kyran killing his
pack over her didn
’
t do anything but drown her in the guilt of her
existence. He should have just let her die the first time. She was busy
muddling around in the regret she felt for Kyran
’
s plight when Ronan
’
s
mumbled words suddenly became clearer.

There wasn’t an end without her, but there had to be.

***

Kyran watched the security footage as he dressed for the Passings.
Despite the infirmary’s black and white camera feed, he could see the
radiance around her that signified her soul.

“She has to go,” he muttered.

Just saying the words seemed to tighten the muscles in his shoulders
and force him to grind his teeth, but what choice did he have? Alexis
’
presence alone had set off a series of mishaps and disasters, the reason
behind one death too many. If he had been wiser, less focused on
ending the war, he might have given her the death she
’
d asked him for
.
Unfortunately, the lure of the family that he
’
d long denied himself
spoke louder than the reality of his situation. He craved a life that Alexis
could never be a part of; therefore, she had to go.

Kyran
’
s thoughts turned to Nigel, a potentially-lethal ally. The
Hunter represented an option to fulfill his task without requiring him
to sacrifice the family he’d postponed.

With his purpose renewed, Kyran went to the altar room and
studied the two males he had killed. Two in the course of a week. With
the exception of those that had challenged him, Kyran hadn
’
t killed
anyone after the takeover. However, it seemed when it came to Alexis
, he wasn’t willing to allow an inch out of line. He shook his head and made his way to the platforms where the bodies were laid.

Both were clothed in nothing more than a twin-sized sheet pulled
over their waists. Each sheet, white and made of silk, held personal
touches that had been sewn on by their respective family and friends.

Kyran knelt at each platform for a moment, letting his fingers trace
the various designs. He rose then to light the red and white pillar candles
located at each end of the altar. When he was done, he grabbed a red
and white striped candlestick from the candle hearth that sat at the rear
of the altar.

The wax dripped like tears that he wouldn
’
t shed as he returned to
his position between the platforms. The pack began filing in, grabbing
their own candlesticks on their way to the vacant space in front of
the altar.

They settled into place in front of him, a wave of forty flickering
candles. Some grieved more openly than others, the sadness a sheet
of misery that propelled Kyran to action. The sooner the ceremony
was over, the sooner he could get rid of the reason he had caused his pack’s pain.

With a slight nod, Kyran followed the pack into the kneeling position.
He focused his attention on his flickering candle before he
began the prayer he last recited after his father
’
s Ardethen and subsequent Passing.