Awakening the Demon's Queen (8 page)

“
Within a week, hopefully
she will.” Rand’s tone had softened. No one stayed angry at Jade
for long, and Rand was no exception.

“
You’ve found them?”
Hope-filled green eyes stared at Rand and Rathan. “Where? What
happened to them? Can I talk to her, them?”

“
Slow down. We’re not ready
to get into that.” Rand laughed and kissed her cheek. Rathan saw
his little mate’s eyes widen at the change in the wolf. Had he
treated with no tenderness? It was not like Rand to be
cruel.

“
Rand, they are asleep
standing. Can this wait until they’ve had a chance to
rest?”

“
They need baths, too.” Jade
took Kindara’s hand and pulled her away from Rathan. Kindara didn’t
object and that told him more than anything how exhausted she was.
“I’ll show you to the guest suites. They share a bathroom, but
there is a walk-in shower and a separate bath area. It’s
nice.”

Rathan started to protest, but stopped. How
could he tell sweet, innocent Jade that Kindara was to be put in
his rooms? What would his female say to that? It was better not to
risk it. He’d just wait until the house was quiet for the night,
then carry her to where she belonged. “Kindara...”

“
Yes?” She looked at him and
he stepped closer, bending down to whisper so Jade could not
hear.

“
She is Josey’s sister and
very young. Don’t do or say anything that may upset her. And no
feeding from her, either. Please?”

“
Provided you keep your
bargain.”

“
I am a demon of honor, pet.
Of course I’ll keep my word.” Until she changed her mind and
released him from his vow--as soon as he could convince her to do
just that. “Take your bath; I’ll bring food to you. You’ll sleep in
a bed this evening, with actual silk sheets and blankets.” His
sheets, his bed, his body keeping her warm through the
night.

****

Kindara followed the young woman through the
ornate cabin that was unlike any home she’d ever been in. The hotel
she lived in did double duty as her people’s government building,
but this structure was a true showcase of wealth. Not that her
people weren’t wealthy--they just chose not to display it so
openly. Jade kept up a running conversation with Jierra, though
Jierra answered in monosyllables.

Jade led Jierra into the bedroom suite first,
obviously sensing that Jierra was closer to exhaustion than
Kindara. Jierra thanked her and slipped into attached bath. That
left Kindara with her sister-in-law’s younger sister. Jade favored
Josey, though the blonde hair was a shade or two lighter, longer,
and curled in a mass of crinks. She was a very pretty girl, no
older than twenty or twenty-one.

Jade studied Kindara for a moment. “You’re
different, aren’t you?”

“
Excuse me?”

“
You’re not human. Either of
you. But you’re not like my cousin or like Rathan, either.” Jade
pulled two pairs of pajamas out of a drawer and handed them to
Kindara. “These are my cousin Mickey’s. I don’t think she’ll mind
if you and your friend borrow them. So what are you?”

“
And just what do you think
your cousin and Rathan are?” The one thing that all beings in the
Kind agreed on was that humans should not know about them, if at
all possible. The human numbers were astronomical compared to those
of the other Kind. If they were known about it could prove
dangerous. What could this child have learned about their peoples
and from whom?

“
I’ve given it a lot of
thought. Rand is a werewolf, just like my dad is. I don’t know what
Rathan is, but sometimes when he gets mad you can almost smell
sulfur, and sometimes his eyes turn red.” Jade sank onto a plush
white loveseat and stared at Kindara. “But I don’t know what you
are.”

There was something about this girl that had
Kindara smiling inside. She reminded her of Jierra in a playful
mood or when she was excited about something. “And how do you know
your cousin and father are werewolves? And how do you know I am
different?”

“
Because I sense these
things. I always have. Some people are just different. I have a
friend at Colorado State who claims to be a witch. Not a Wiccan,
but an actual witch.”

“
Is she?”

“
Hmmm. I’ve watched her do a
few rituals, I guess you’d call them. She’s different, too.” Jade’s
eyes narrowed. “But not like you different.”

“
Honey, does your dad or
your cousin know what you think?”

“
No. I think it would bother
them if I told them that I know.”

“
I think you should talk to
your cousin, soon.” Kindara frowned. With the girl’s sister being
Dardaptoan and her cousin Lupoiux, the girl would have to be told
eventually.

“
I’m right, aren’t I?” The
girl practically vibrated with excitement. “You are
different.”

“
Jade,” Kindara sighed. This
was so not her place, but she sensed the girl wouldn’t give up. And
the last thing Kindara wanted was her grilling Jierra. Her daughter
wouldn’t know how to answer and would be too exhausted and mentally
drained to resist the girl’s questions for long. “Some people, some
races or species I guess you can call them, are different. They’re
more than human. Your friend sounds like she may be one of them.
Your cousin is one of them. Rathan, too. But it’s not my place to
tell you more. That’s something you need to hear from
family.”

Jade studied her. “Just how old are you? You
talk like a parent yet you don’t look any older than thirty.”

“
I am a parent.” Kindara
nodded in Jierra’s direction. “That’s my little girl. And I’m over
four hundred years old. Now, I really need a shower and
sleep.”

“
Why are you with Rand and
Rathan?”

The questions with this girl never ended and
Kindara felt a rush of humorous sympathy for the girl’s parents.
Her father, rather; hadn’t Josey told her that the girls’ mother
had abandoned them several years ago? That was one thing Kindara
didn’t understand—no Dardaptoan would abandoned their child. It
just wasn’t done. “That’s something else you’ll have to ask your
cousin. I promised I wouldn’t discuss it.”

“
Darn it, now I’ll never get
any answers.”

“
Have you tried just asking
them?”

“
No. I’ve always tried to
work up to it, or work around it.” Jade hopped to her feet just as
Jierra returned, clean and wrapped in a towel. Kindara handed her
daughter a pair of the strange human pajamas. “I’ll do that now.
While you’re in the shower. I’ll just ask them flat-out if their
werewolves.”

“
You do that.”

****

Rathan waited until the females were out of
his sight before turning to the wolf. “We need to alter our
plan.”

“
I still want them dead.”
Rand’s rage was a quiet fire in his words. “They took my sisters
and cousins. Do you know how terrified they probably
were?”

“
Probably as terrified as
Kindara’s daughter was, is. Or as Kindara was when she realized who
you were. We were wrong to take them.”

“
I’m not giving her back.
She’s staying here.”

“
For how long? You want her
angry and terrified of you for centuries? That’s how long she’ll
live, how long you’ll live. You want to keep her prisoner that
long?”

Rand’s eyes blazed. “That’s our business, not
yours.”

“
It became my business the
instant I decided to claim her mother as consort. That makes Jierra
near as my child without blood. And I can only say I hope the
Dardaptoans treated Mickey and Josey and the others better than
we’ve treated our captives.”

“
So you are saying we should
just give them back? And what...let Mickey and the others stay
there? Give up their entire lives to be with these
bastards?”

“
I say we simply let them
have a choice. If we follow our original plan and kill the
Dardaptoans, who do you think that will hurt the most? Your sisters
and cousins. The bond between Dardaptoan Rajnis are incredible;
they are just as strong as Lupoiux bonds. To break one would be
horribly painful. Almost excruciating. Do you want to do that to
your sisters?”

“
Do what to his sisters?” A
feminine voice had them both jerking to face the stairs. “Where are
his sisters? Where’s mine? And what’s a Dardaptoan and why were you
planning to kill some?”

Rathan looked between Rand and his cousin.
They hadn’t sensed her presence, but Rathan had long accepted that
this particular Taniss female had the ability to mask her presence
in a way most humans didn’t.

“
It’s nothing, Jadie. Just
go on up to bed.” Rand settled on the leather couch and tried to
look casual.

“
No. I don’t think I will.
Something is going on, something besides our sisters being
kidnapped. Who are those women and why did you bring them here?”
Jade had the stubborn look that Rathan recognized. Most of the
Taniss females shared that look and were near on impossible to
budge from their goals.

When Rand remained silent, Jade stalked to
him and stood arms crossed over him. “Look I know you’re a werewolf
and so is my dad. I figured that out back when I was like ten, so
that doesn’t surprise me. And Rathan is obviously not human,
although I can’t figure out what he is. Is he a Dardaptoan?”

Rathan hadn’t been surprised by someone like
this in a long time. “You’ll have to tell her. If not she’ll just
try to find the answers on her own.” And if a member of the Kind
found out about her curiosity, they would eliminate her to protect
their peoples. “And that will be dangerous.”

“
What is a
Dardaptoan?”

Rand sighed. “First, you need to understand
that what I tell you can’t be repeated.”

“
Big surprise.” Jade rolled
her eyes before settling on the couch across from her cousin. “I
won’t tell anyone.”

“
I am a werewolf, a Lupoiux.
We’ve existed since before humans,” Rand said.

“
How did you end up being a
wolf?”

“
Your dad took me camping
when I was eight. We were attacked and bitten. A month later your
dad turned into a wolf. I first turned when I was
sixteen.”

“
So the werewolf legends are
true.”

“
Yes.” Rand told her more,
explaining about Dardaptoans and the other Kinds before answering
all the girl’s other questions.

“
So who are those women? And
where are Josey and the others?”

“
Those women are
Dardaptoan.” Rathan figured it would be better for him to explain
the events leading up to Kindara and her daughter’s presence than
Rand. Rand’s anger was still palpable when he mentioned
Dardaptoans. “Your sister and cousins were taken by the
Dardaptoans.”

“
Why?”

“
Your grandfather has been
hunting Dardaptoans for decades and has...hurt...many of them.”
Rathan remembered the scars marring his female’s body, thought of
the tattoo on her daughter’s skin, and his own anger rose. “Josey
and the others were taken to...lure...him out.”

“
And it hasn’t worked?
They’ve not hurt them, have they?”

“
Not that we think.
Dardaptoans have something a little different than a human
courtship. They find the one they are destined for and keep them.
They can also convert humans, just like Lupoiux can. I don’t know
how, though, so no questions about that. But Kindara said--she’s
the blonde woman upstairs--that your sister and cousins were all
converted. And all were mated.”

“
Wow. So they’re ok? Why did
you bring those two women here?”

“
We...took...them...” How
did he tell this child they’d kidnapped and terrorized
them?

“
So you did the same thing
the Dardaptoans did.” Jade frowned at them. “So now what, are more
Dardaptoans going to come and take me, or Becca, or Cass? And then
you go take more of them?”

“
We’re not exactly sure
what’s going to happen now. Rand and I need to discuss some things.
We didn’t know Emily was mated to the Dardaptoan king,
or...”

“
Remember, Rathan, two
kidnappings do not make it right! You and Rand need to fix this
somehow. Bring our girls home and send those two back! And if they
have a problem with Grandfather I say give them the old creep. We
certainly don’t need him.”

****

Kindara sat by Jierra’s bedside watching her
sleep like she’d done when Jierra was sick as a child. Her daughter
was young now, but a child no longer. She’d cried herself to sleep,
and nothing Kindara could do settled her. Damn that wolf. If he
wasn’t her daughter’s Rajni, Kindara wouldn’t rest until he was
dead. But she’d never do that to her daughter.

Her daughter already loved him; it was the
nature of the Rajni bond. Jierra already loved the babes growing
within her, too. She’d just need time to adjust to the changes the
wolf had forced upon her.

Kindara stood, brushed a hand over her
daughter’s hair, then crawled into the second bed. She was just as
exhausted, felt horribly weak, and even though she was in the home
of the enemy, all she wanted was to sleep. She’d deal with
everything else in the morning.

****

Rathan stared down at his female as she lay
curled on the guest bed. Exhaustion was clear in the dark circles
beneath her eyes, but now she was clean and dressed in flannel
pajamas. She looked so deceptively young and sweet. He swept her
into his arms as carefully as he could. He wanted her in his bed,
though he doubted he’d wake her long enough to feed from her. She
slept so deeply.