The Lycan Hunter (The Gardinian World Series) (23 page)

***

The walk to Kyran
’
s room had to be one of the longest walks on the
planet. Each shuffled step infuriated the line of stitches at her middle.
With each step, her pain meds ceased to be effective, but it didn
’
t matter.
Pain was her friend, be it physical, emotional, or psychological. She
was used to the f’ed over feeling that had accompanied her since she was thirteen.

Nothing could make her forget that birthday. Yearly physicals were
the only really special things that occurred on birthdays in the Hunter
compounds. On her thirteenth birthday, Alexis found out that she
wouldn
’
t likely grow taller than her five foot height. The dismay on
her parents’ faces was palpable, but that had nothing on what they
would later say to her. In the end, their words were a culmination of every fear she had and every short coming that they ever saw in her. Right down to being born a girl.

Alexis focused all her attention on the room. She heard Kyran ask if she was okay, but she could only muster a nod in reply.

“
It was a rhetorical question.” He touched her face softly. “You
’
re
pale as shit. Hold onto the pole. I’m going to carry you to the bed.”

“I’’m fine.” She gave herself an internal high five for keeping an even tone despite her rising nausea.

He shook his head. “And you’re lying to me.”

“Kyran, I can do it myself. Okay?”

He held his hands up, allowing her to make her way slowly to the
bed. Kyran walked around her, settling for turning down the bed and
waiting in mild amusement as she finally made it to the bedside. She felt a little green around the edges, but she eased herself down to the bed without tossing whatever was on her empty stomach.

“I’m going to take a shower. The trashcan is right here when you need it. Anything else, just yell.”

Alexis lay down and bit the inside of her cheek in lieu of biting off his
head. She glared down at the trashcan. She wouldn’t give him
the
satisfaction
of
seeing
her that vulnerable. She was already compromised
enough.

The desire for whatever bond that was developing between her and
Kyran was currently the biggest hole in her the mental armor she
’
d
always worn. In time – with enough electric fence –, she would be able
to move past him. The wound in her abdomen was all the weakness that she could tolerate.

She stared across the bed at the other pillow, knowing that soon it
would play host to a head of thick ebony hair. She knew sleep would elude her if she stayed in the bed with him and all of the short-lived
memories the sheets conjured. To one side of his room he had a sitting
area that boasted an overstuffed recliner and the only ideal sleeping arrangement that she could see Kyran allowing.

Alexis heaved herself free of the bed and made her way to the chair
, settling into the seat just as Kyran entered the bedroom.

“What are you doing over there?”

“I’m sleeping here.”

“No, the hell you are. Get in the bed.”

“The bed makes having the IV uncomfortable.”

She watched in satisfaction as he tried to figure out a way around
what she said. When he failed, she turned slightly on her side and closed
her eyes, hoping sleep would come and stave off the nausea that came
and went.

Sleep was inching its way over her when suddenly she was held in the careful but firm cradle of Kyran
’
s arms. He managed to drag her IV
pole along for the trip without so much as a gentle pull on the line.

“I really hate being lied to.” He sat her down and made a cutting motion to keep her quiet. “I’ve been practicing medicine on humans and Lycans for over a hundred years. I know better, Alexis.”

Kyran tucked her in, giving her a final ‘challenge me if you want
to’ glare before climbing in on the other side. He fumbled around with
his pants while grumbling under his breath.

Alexis smothered a laugh but caught a blue-eyed glare anyway.
“You should have left me on the chair.”

He mumbled something that sounded like ‘still too close’ before he reached up and turned off the lamp on his bedside table.

“Goodnight, Alexis.”

“Night, Kyran.”

A distinct waver in her voice sent Alexis on an internal rant to get
it together. Who gets emotional over being told goodnight? That
’
s right,
she did. Just another sad marker from her childhood that she needed to rebury before her Lycan rooted it out and exposed memories best left to the cave of the childhood she never had.

Kyran rolled over and faced her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

She felt him staring at her for a while before he rolled onto his back.

“Stop lying to me, Alexis. It pisses me off.”

Alexis fought the IV for a few inches of freedom before she rolled
away from him. She wasn
’
t going to spend the night admitting that
never in her twenty four years could she remember anyone tucking her
in or telling her goodnight. That was a level of vulnerability he wouldn
’
t
get from her. She didn’t need to crack wide open only to find herself alone with all her shitty memories in the morning.

Part of her was used to the loneliness, but the sliver of her that hadn
’
t
hardened craved whatever comforting gestures it could get.

Instead of giving Kyran the raw, sad truth of her life, Alexis boxed
it away. It went in the back of her mind with all of the rest of the crap
she tended not to deal with. Unfortunately, more stuff would likely be
packed away before her life finally came to a merciful end. She wouldn
’
t
complain though. Whining about problems was for those who felt like
they didn
’
t deserve them, that for some reason they were above the ebb
and flow of fairness.

Lucky for Alexis, she wasn
’
t much of a whiner, despite her shit-storm
of problems. The vast majority of her future ones would likely involve
dodging projectiles and prolonging her inevitable end.

Her mom always said she had a thing for being difficult.

KYRAN ROLLED OVER
and reached for Alexis but found her side vacant and cold. He opened his eyes and searched the darkness, half
expecting to find her in his damn chair. When she wasn’t, he sat up.
A glance to the dark bathroom told him she wasn’t there, either. A
glance at the clock told him that it was just after seven.

He decided he’d make a quick trip to the bathroom and then his
closet to get dressed. After that, he would search for Alexis. She couldn
’
t
cause too many problems, other than getting killed.

Kyran smelled the blood before he rounded the corner to the
bathroom, but he knew from scent that it was Alexis’. He flipped on
the light, more out of convenience and agitation than necessity, to find
the IV pole and line neatly off to one side. A small drop of blood, one she likely missed when cleaning up, set at the edge of the sink.

Turning to leave the room, Kyran decided to find Alexis and lay
into her for her stupidity. She had no reason to be in such a damn
hurry to leave.

He was passing his desk when he noticed a note taped to his monitor.

I
’
ll be okay. I have no choice. –Alexis

He snatched it off the screen. Who the hell taught her how to write
a goodbye note? He crumpled the paper in his grip and stalked toward
the security room at the cave’s entrance.

The male at the desk was writing in the log that detailed the shift change security checks when Kyran walked up.

“Did you just get here?”

The male looked up from the sign-in sheet he
’
d been filling out,
and his eyes zeroed in on the crumpled paper in his grasp.

“Yes, Mikko. I just ran the security – ”

“Good. Who was here last?”

“Angel. He’s in the kitchen.”

Kyran nodded and left the male alone. He really needed to get his
head straight, because security rotation rarely changed. When it did, those changes went through him or Ronan to be approved.

“When did Alexis leave?” he asked as Angel closed the refrigerator
door.

“She left around five-thirty with Ronan. He came back at six.”

“Anything else?”

“She demanded to be blindfolded. She claimed that she didn
’
t want
to risk them torturing our location out of her.”

Kyran didn’t tell him that it didn’t matter, since Nigel claimed he
knew their location. He
’
d already begun the process of moving the pack
to its new location sooner than he had planned. He partially listened as
Angel went on to detail that Alexis felt they wouldn
’
t bother torturing
her since that wasn’t their style, but then again, there was a first time
for everything. He decided that he would get anything else he needed
to know out of Ronan.

“Thanks. I’m going to find Ronan.”

Angel gave him a slight nod before he began focusing on the task
of building his sandwich.

***

Ronan glanced down at his phone for the fifth time in less than ten minutes
. Gods, what the hell happened to him? First the Soul Seeing.
Now he was sitting here, waiting for her to call. He cursed and tossed
his phone into the clutches of his pile of pillows before he rose to take
a shower.

A knock sounded at his door, but before the side of him not firmly
rooted in testosterone got out of hand, he gave it a not so gentle reminder
to keep its hopes in check. With an aggravated growl, he yanked the
door open. She wasn
’
t the type to just show up, so seeing Kyran on the other
side of the door wasn’t much of a disappointment. Much.

Ronan motioned Kyran in and closed the door behind him, that
softer side of him wrapping itself in the chaffing blanket of dismay.

“Where’d you take her?”

Ronan snorted. “Good morning. Yeah, I slept okay. You? Really? Wet dreams again?”

Kyran laughed. “Morning, smartass.”

“Thanks and I took her two clicks north of Blairsville. She said she
was heading north, but she wouldn’t tell me where.”

Ronan watched as Kyran relaxed everything except the subtle
clenching of his jaw.

“I gave her a full checkup before she left. She’ll be fine.”

Kyran only responded with a simple nod, but Ronan wasn
’
t stupid.
Something was off with his brother. When he asked, Kyran smiled away
his concern and said nothing, the kind of nothing that a woman utters
when it’s something that ends with a knife in your chest.

“Come on, Ky. It’s just us girls here.”

“Stupid,” his brother laughed as he picked at his pants and ran his
hands through his hair.

“I
’
ll make it easy on you and go first.”
Ronan sighed.
“Keep in
mind, I’m being nice.”

He walked around to the side of the bed farthest away from Kyran
and sat on the edge with his back to his brother. Nothing would let him
meet Kyran
’
s gaze. It was bad enough that he felt the way he did.
Weak over a female.

Ronan let out a long exhale before he spoke.

“I actually miss her, Ky. Like cheesy romance, she
’
s my better half,
nothing tastes right type of missing her.”

Kyran snorted. “You
’
re wrong. You
’
re the only girl in here.” Dodging
one of the pillows Ronan threw at him, he continued, “I’m irritated at
the way she left, not that she isn’t here. That’s it.”

Ronan glanced at Kyran. He may not feel it yet, but Soul Seeing wa
s something that no Lycan took lightly. His brother probably believed
that since Alexis wasn
’
t a Lycan it wouldn
’
t matter, but Ronan doubted
that Kyran would get off that easy.

“You say that now, but give it a few days,” Ronan said as he shook
his head.

“I think my life would end before a relationship between me and a Hunter would sound like a good idea.”

Ronan rolled his eyes. So he was no-naming her again, putting
that distance back where it started. He wondered if Kyran knew it
would be just as ineffective as it was the first time he did it. Sometimes
his brother
’
s arrogance baffled him, but he would let him figure it out
for himself. The hard way, since that’s what he seemed to prefer. He had his own woman to worry about.