Awakening the Demon's Queen (5 page)

“
What do you mean ‘who let
me’? I am over four hundred years old. I can and always could do
what I wanted.”

“
To take a Dardaptoan female
on such a journey was highly unwise!”

“
Yet you’re doing just that,
with me and my daughter.”

“
Out of
necessity!”

“
Out of a need for revenge.
Like little boys on the school grounds. Yet none of you--demon,
human, Dardaptoan, or Lupoiux have stopped to think of the women
involved in your stupid, senseless war!” Kindara realized she was
shouting when birds took off from their perches overhead. She
stopped walking and took several deep breaths. “Yet it is the women
who suffer the most. Look at my daughter. My gods, she teaches at
an elementary school! Yet now she’s hostage in some sort of revenge
plot. And Josey...gods, poor Josey.”

“
It’s not my revenge. It’s
Rand’s.”

“
And that makes it better?”
Kindara struggled not to shout again. “At least if it were your
own, you could justify the cause. So do you serve him?”

“
I serve no one!”

“
Not even your demon king,
or demon queen?” She knew from her brother that there were twelve
demon tribes, each with a king or queen.

“
I am the king of my
people.” He kept walking, tugging on her hand until she followed.
“But I am bound to Rand, as well.”

“
How?” She hated speaking to
his back, yet he gave her little choice.

“
He and some of his pack
saved my life after a particularly nasty ambush ten years ago. I
swore an oath to protect him and aid him for the entirety of our
lives.”

“
And help him kidnap
women?”

“
Help him protect, defend,
and vindicate his family.” He stopped, and the sudden movement had
her stumbling into his broad back. He spun to face her, both hands
grabbed her upper arms and tightened bruisingly. “Poor Josey? You
said, ‘poor Josey’! Tell me now, what you mean by that.”

Kindara hesitated. He looked deadly in the
little moonlight there was, and she didn’t doubt that he was just
that. “Half a dozen Lupoiux from a rogue pack attacked her and
Emily in the gardens a little over a week ago. Josey couldn’t hear
them coming...”

“
Does she live?” Panic and
fury mingled in his question, and Kindara did not doubt that the
revenge he sought was just as much his as the Taniss
wolf’s.

“
Yes. She is weak, but
healing well. I treated her myself.”

“
You?”

“
Yes, me. I am the Chief
Healer for my people. And Josey is now my sister-in-law.” Kindara
felt a rush of worry. How would Cormac be able to track her and
Jierra, with a Rajni who needed him at home? But
Dhar
Rydere, king of their
tribe, would also not stop until she and Jierra were found. Someone
would come for her and her daughter. It was just a matter of when.
“She is doing surprisingly well. She still possesses some human
antibodies that helped her fight any infection.”

“
And the Lupoiux? What pack?
What became of them?”

“
Dhar
Rydere and his advisers slay them during the attack. We don’t
know any more about them. Mallory’s Rajni is charged with hunting
the pack down.”

He rubbed her arms soothingly. “This is the
friend of your daughter’s who was hurt that you mentioned?”

“
Yes. Josey, Mickey, and
Jierra are of similar ages and temperament. They hit it off well.”
And the attack had hit Jierra hard because she’d been trapped on
her room’s balcony, and been forced to watch the whole attack and
unable to help her new friend. “Jierra witnessed the attack and she
still screams in the night. She must be terrified right
now.”

“
She didn’t seem terrified.
And Rand is a good man, pet. I promise you this. He will not hurt
her.”

“
I just want her back,
safe.” Kindara tried to shrug his hands away. “I just want this to
end, all of it. Why should we be at war? What have we done to cause
this? Any of us?”

“
I don’t know, pet.” He
pulled her against his chest and she fought the urge to burrow as
close as she could. Take what little comfort she could get from
this strange creature.

****

Poor little thing. Rathan pulled her tight
against him, wanting only to sooth. He cursed his wayward body when
it stirred to life. She didn’t need that.

Her being a Healer explained so much.
Dardaptoan healers were some of the most compassionate beings of
any kind. They wanted only to heal, or protect their charges,
rarely did any possess malice. But they would fight to defend.

They were prized by all the Dardaptoans
because they were so rare. They were coveted by the other Kinds
because they could heal any race of being. Many were kidnapped
during battles and kept as prisoners for the remainder of their
considerably long lives. The Healing talent was rare and innate,
and only those born with it could become Healers. And his little
pet was the top Healer?

She would be tracked with greater fervency
than he had anticipated.

“
Why were you on the road?”
As a Healer she should have been guarded, should have had an
armored limo to drive her to her destination. That her men folk had
been so deficient in ensuring her safety filled him with rage.
Anyone or anything could have taken her. He had.

He made a silent vow to himself. Never again
would she be so vulnerable. Nor was her safety the responsibility
of anyone other than him from that moment forward.

“
After Josey’s...attack, I
began studying the differences between her blood, her cousins--and
there is a strange difference, mine, and human. Studying the
antibodies of her and her cousins to see if we could manufacture an
actual medication for our people. There is a witch in Denver who
has successfully treated her people and some of ours with a drug of
some sort. I was going to talk with her.”

“
Why no guards?”

“
My partner Barlaam was to
accompany us, but I made him stay. It’s my project, and I am the
best to go. And one of us needed to stay with Josey, just in
case.”

“
Yet your king nor brother
sent guards? Do they care so little for your safety?”

“
No! And I am responsible
for my own safety. I am not helpless, nor am I a
fledgling.”

“
No, but your daughter is.
How many years is she?”

“
Twenty-five.”

He started walking again, keeping her hand
captive in his as he thought over her words. “Yet your mate has
been gone...”

“
Twenty-eight years. Jierra
was given to me as an infant a few years after Iavius was
taken.”

“
What of her other
parents?”

“
Murdered. By Taniss.” She
stopped walking and he did the same. Her voice hardened. “He would
have killed Jierra, too. She was born in his compound. Branded as a
three-week old babe. Specimen number 328. A mere babe, permanently
scarred.”

The horror and cruelty of it had him cursing,
had anger filling him on the poor child’s behalf. But he needed to
see for himself that her words were true. “Where is this
brand?”

“
On her left
buttock.”

“
You are to stay right here,
do you understand? I must check, must confirm.” He led her to a
small log. He guided her down to rest upon it. “I will be gone no
more than five minutes. If you move from this spot, I will punish
you, and will not let you be with your daughter for a full month,
do you understand?”

She nodded, though her anger was clear for
him to sense. “I understand. You’re going to flash to her, aren’t
you?”

“
Yes. And no, I will not
take you with me.” Not with her carrying the spawn. He would not
risk the dangers. “It is doubly dangerous for you now.”

As he felt the world shift around him, her
heard her question of why.

****

He materialized in the midst of a Lupoiux den
and immediately heard the growl of an alpha animal. He bowed to his
friend. “Hello, brother.”

Rand’s hackles subsided. “Rathan? Why are you
here?”

“
A quick question, then I
must return to Kindara.”

“
My mother?” The girl’s eyes
widened and Rathan could see the tremors shaking her. She stood
from the corner in which she huddled. “She’s ok?”

Rathan stepped closer to her. This was his
woman’s child, though no blood tie existed between them. She would
be a part of his life from now on. He was filled with a rush of
tenderness equal to that he’d often felt for Josey or Mickey. This
little strawberry blonde with big yellow eyes and a delicate way
reminded him of those two waifs. He tenderly pushed the sweaty hair
from her brow. Rand growled and stepped between them. “No
touch.”

“
Relax, brother. I mean
nothing by it. I am quite satisfied with mine own.” Rathan turned
to the girl again. “And your mother is quite fine. She is resting,
while I check on you. But I cannot stay long. I promised her I
would be quick.”

“
Then ask your question and
leave.”

Rathan studied his friend, sensing easily
that the beast inside the man was more in control than he’d ever
seen before. What had triggered it? Rand had herded the girl to the
side of the den, keeping his body between hers and Rathan’s. “The
girl possesses a tattoo. It’s similar to her mother’s, I suspect. I
need to confirm what her mother told me.”

The girl gasped and her eyes widened. Her
hand flew to rest over her left rear cheek. “Why?”

“
Do you have the
tattoo?”

“
Yes...”

“
When did you receive
it?”

“
When-when I was three weeks
old, I think.”

“
Why do you need to see it?”
Rand asked.

“
I think we both need to. It
may make things a bit more clear to all of us.”

The girl shook her head, her cheeks
flushing.

“
Jierra, show us the
tattoo.” Rand’s words held a clear order and the girl paled and
stepped back.

She was clearly frightened of the wolf,
almost terrified, and Rathan now understood why. This child had
been forced to watch the attack on Josey--no wonder she was
frightened of the Lupoiux. Who wouldn’t be?

“
Now.” Rand stepped toward
her. Her hands flew up protectively and she paled. She shook her
head, silently begging them to leave her be.

Rand took matters out of her hands. “Rathan?
Where is this tattoo?”

“
Left ass cheek.”

Rand turned her around and jerked her muddied
white pants down, revealing white cotton panties, ignoring her
struggles and pleas. The callous treatment of the girl had Rathan’s
ire forming. He’d promised her mother she’d be well-treated. He’d
yet to see evidence of that. “Leave her some dignity, wolf. She’s
not a full half year older than Mickey!”

“
Then Mickey was, you mean!”
Rand’s lips pealed back in a snarl. He ruthlessly ripped the cotton
panties down enough to expose the girl’s flesh.

“
No, than Mickey is!” Rathan
stepped closer, wanting to jerk the girl free. Instead he focused
on the blue ink revealed. It was exactly as the girl’s mother had
said.

“
What does it mean?” Rand
asked, his hand touching the writing--the brand that marred smooth
feminine flesh.

“
Taniss Industries, specimen
number 328. Your grandfather’s doing. He branded her as an infant
like an animal. Her mother bears the number 211, and is violently
terrified of any Taniss male. She bears numerable scars from his
torture of her.” Rathan grabbed a blanket from a nearby bedroll and
wrapped the shivering girl in it. Rand never released her. “And
your sisters, Emily, and Josey all live.”

“
Mickey and Mal are your
sisters?” The girl asked, pulling the blanket around her chin.
“You’re a Taniss and a Lupoiux?”

Neither man missed the terror coating her
words. Rathan wanted to comfort her, but he needed to return to her
mother. He nodded to the wolf. “I must go now. We need to meet as
soon as possible. The mother is a Healer--the Chief Healer. They
will be looking for her much quicker than we suspected.”

“
When?”

“
We are maybe four hours’
walk away. We’ll be here by sunrise. Now I must go.”

Chapter Six

Kindara gave great thought to taking the
opportunity to run, but decided against it. She didn’t know where
Jierra was, and the demon did. It was as simple as that. She waited
impatiently for his return, and when she heard footsteps in the
woods behind her she stood. “My daught--”

A shadow knocked her to the ground before she
could finish. From the shape and the growls coming from the beast
she knew it to be Lupoiux. She brought her fists up, swinging at
the animal’s throat. It was the most vulnerable area on a Lupoiux
male other than the groin area.

Her struggles did little damage.

This was a full-grown male, probably an
alpha. His teeth snapped closer to her neck and she clawed at his
eyes, praying she could stall the animal long enough for the demon
to arrive.

He’d promised to keep her safe.

****

Rathan materialized to find his woman
struggling for her life and he reacted. He plucked the wolf from
her and spun it around.