Bound (34 page)

As soon as Kira moved toward Luka, he began
to protest. “Keep your distance,” he yelled. “You have done enough
damage.” He tried to get up, but Lydia pushed him back down.

“Luka, she’s a healer,” Lydia said. “She can
fix this.”

His shoulders relaxed, but he didn’t take his
eyes off Kira. He was still partially transformed, probably more
from the pain than from anger. “Is this true, cousin?” he asked
Octavion, still keeping his focus on Kira.

“It is. She has a gift for it.”

Luka looked Kira up and down while blowing
out a huff of air. “Very well then.”

Men!
Kira thought so only Lydia could
hear.

Lydia chuckled as she stepped aside. She and
Cade went to the other two men who’d been watching from a distance.
Kira had to take a second look at the larger of the two. There was
something in his brown eyes that didn’t quite make sense. First she
saw a gentle kindness, but then their eyes met and her impression
of him changed. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was that
sent a chilling sensation running up the length of her spine. She
focused on Lydia instead, who spoke to them for a moment before
both men walked off into the trees, going in different
directions.

The arrow had gone all the way through Luka’s
shoulder and out through his back. Kira would have thought it a
good shot if she hadn’t been aiming for his heart. Good thing he
was on the move when she let go of her bow string. She placed her
hand above the wound and tried to see the damage with her mind. The
arrow had grazed his collar bone, but hadn’t done any serious
damage. She placed her hand at the base of the shaft where it
entered, grabbed the feathered end, and broke it off.

Luka reacted by grabbing her wrist. Octavion
disappeared from where he’d been watching and reappeared beside
them with his hand around Luka’s arm, his strong grip making Luka
release her.

“You hurt her and you will not live to see
another day,” Octavion said. He nodded at Kira to continue.

“Thanks,” Kira said. “Maybe you should hold
him down.”

“I do not need restraint.” Luka growled.

“Be still, cousin.” Octavion knelt behind
him, wrapped his arms around Luka’s chest and held down his
arms.

“I have to pull this out first—you ready?”
she asked Luka.

He nodded, puffing out his chest. Kira almost
laughed. He put on a tough exterior, but she could see the fear in
his eyes.
Big chicken
, she thought.

“Take a deep breath,” Octavion
instructed.

When Luka did, she grabbed the shaft near the
arrow’s head and pulled it through his back. He cried out and
mumbled something she could only guess was Xantara’s version of
profanity. She tossed the broken arrow to the side and placed her
hands on either side of his shoulder, covering both the entrance
and exit wound.

At first, it felt like when she’d healed
before. The Crystor glowed red and the burning sensation ran up her
arm, but when Luka cried out and lurched back, a bolt of pain shot
up both arms and hit her in the chest. She screamed, releasing him
instantly. Her heart raced so fast, she couldn’t catch her breath.
She rolled to her side, pulled her knees up and tried to push the
pain away.

“Kira!” Octavion yelled. He didn’t dare let
go of Luka—who was completely transformed and doing everything he
could to get loose. “Cade, hold on to my back. I need to get him
away from her and I need you to keep him away, so I can make sure
she is all right.”

Cade ran over, knelt on the ground behind
Octavion and grabbed his shoulders. “Go!” Cade yelled.

All three of them disappeared. Their mist
hadn’t yet settled when Octavion came back into view.

Octavion helped Kira sit up while Lydia
retrieved a jug of water. The pain went away almost as fast as it
came, leaving a dull ache in its place.

“What happened?” Lydia asked.

“I don’t know. It felt like I’d been kicked
in the chest by a mule. How is Luka’s shoulder?” Kira took the jug
of water and took a sip.

“I believe it is healed,” Octavion said. “Are
you well enough for them to return?”

“Yeah, I guess—as long as he doesn’t hate me
for shooting him.” After rinsing Luka’s blood from her hands, she
handed the water jug to Lydia and brushed the dirt from her shirt.
“I really thought he was going to kill you.”

Octavion laughed. “Luka? I could take him on
my worst day.”

“Care for a rematch, cousin?” Luka and Cade
stepped into the clearing as Octavion uttered his insult. Luka took
one look at Kira sitting on the ground and fired off another
comment. “Shall I return to Xantara for my armor?”

Lydia chuckled, but not Kira.

“A
true
gentleman would have
introduced himself before he attacked his Prince.” Kira grabbed
Octavion’s shoulder and used it for support to stand. “But if you’d
like a rematch, I’d be happy to take you on.”

This time both Cade and Octavion burst out
laughing. Lydia, on the other hand, sat there with her mouth, gaped
open.

“He has already sworn me to secrecy,” Cade
said, now holding his side and trying to gain some control.
“Luka—the mighty warrior—crippled by a lady.”

“Silence!” Luka yelled. When the laughter
stopped, he straightened his back and walked toward Kira. “Perhaps
the lady is correct. My behavior was not befitting a gentleman.” He
offered his right hand. “Forgive me, my lady. I am Luka, son of
Nestor.”

Kira gave her hand freely and was a little
amused at the graceful manner with which he bowed to softly press
his lips to her fingers. Not once did he take his eyes off hers,
making her feel very uncomfortable. It was the flirtatious glint
that caught her off guard, especially since he’d already made it
clear he didn’t like her. She watched Octavion out of the corner of
her eye. He didn’t like it.

“I see your
wound
has healed,”
Octavion said with disdain. “Perhaps you should see to your
men.”

The clearing fell silent as Luka released
Kira’s hand and turned to face Octavion. “As you wish. Will you be
joining us to give instruction,
sire?
”

Octavion went to stand next to Kira, a
protective stance that reminded her of bull elk preparing to lock
antlers. “Go back to the canyon. I will join you there.”

When they’d gone, Octavion stoked the fire
and excused himself to meet with the others, leaving the girls
alone to talk.

“What was
that
all about?” Kira
asked.

“You mean between Luka and Octavion?”

“Yeah, he was just trying to apologize. Why
was Octavion so rude?”

“It goes way back. They’ve always gotten
along—acted more like brothers than cousins, but when it comes to
women they don’t exactly see eye to eye.”

“Let me guess, they fell for the same
girl.”

“Um . . . not exactly. Octavion didn’t like
it when Luka confessed he had feelings for me.”

“What?” Kira blurted, almost choking on her
own saliva. “But he’s your
cousin
.”

“Actually, he isn’t. He’s Octavion’s
cousin—on his mother’s side. We are not related.”

“And you
liked
him?”

“I was only fourteen. He was handsome and
gallant and—yeah, I guess I did, but I was so young and Luka . . .
well . . . he’s a bit of a flirt and I think that’s always bothered
Octavion. When he found out, he went crazy. He and Luka got in a
huge fight, but they didn’t stay mad at each other long. Bastian .
. . started having eyes for me and Luka moved on to someone else.
Octavion forgave him.”

“But he didn’t forget,” Kira said.

“No.”

Lydia’s hesitation when she mentioned
Bastian’s name didn’t go unnoticed by Kira, and neither did her
sudden sadness. Lydia finished braiding her hair and twisted a
piece of worn out ribbon around the end to keep it from
unraveling.

“You loved him, didn’t you?” Kira dared to
ask. “Bastian, I mean.”

Lydia didn’t look up to answer, she nodded
and flipped her braid behind her back. “I didn’t see it coming. One
minute we were dancing and having a great time, and the next he had
a blade to my throat.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Lydia shrugged. “It’s okay. I just have a
hard time trusting guys.”

Kira laid her hand on Lydia’s shoulder.
“You’ll find someone. Maybe Luka will come back around—you never
know.”

Lydia laughed. “Octavion would have a cow.
Besides, Luka doesn’t like me anymore. He’s a diehard bachelor,
destined to be single and flirt for the rest of his life.”

Kira sensed a little regret in her statement,
like maybe Lydia still had feelings for him. But instead of pushing
the subject, she changed it.

“And what’s the story with Cade? He seems
sweet.”

“Oh, man.” Lydia rolled her eyes. “He’s a
looker. Can you believe he’s only sixteen? I remember him being all
legs and gangly looking when we left. He’s really filled out. I
hardly recognized him.” She’d been fiddling with the leather strap
that held her knife to her leg, as if trying to get it tied just
right. She looked over at Kira’s sheath where the strip of leather
was still missing. “Let me see if I can find something to hold your
sheath in place.” She pushed to her feet and walked toward the
cave.

Lydia had only been gone a few seconds, when
an image of a man popped into Kira’s head. He was one of the men
that came with Luka—the shorter of the two, but still stood well
over six feet. He had stringy black hair that almost touched his
shoulders. As the scene played out in her mind, he turned to look
at her and a sinister grin crossed his face, causing a small scar
on his cheek to pull against his skin. His dark brown eyes turned
black. It reminded her so much of Bastian, it sent a shiver clean
through her.

Maybe she was paranoid, but being alone in
the clearing suddenly scared her. She went to her shelter, grabbed
her bow and quiver of arrows, then went to join Lydia in the
cave.

When Kira got to the opening, Lydia had found
what she was looking for and was on her way out. Even though Kira
made no attempt to be quiet, Lydia jumped and screamed at the sight
of her.

Lydia put her hand over her heart. “What are
you doing here?”

“Sorry, I got spooked.”

“You, spooked? After seeing you take down
Luka, I didn’t think that was possible. One minute you were
standing next to me and the next you had an arrow pointed at his
throat.” She held out a long strand of leather. “Here, take this.
So what scared you?”

“Nothing, I guess. I’m just not used to so
many guys around. You know them and trust them, but for me they’re
strangers.” Kira leaned her bow and quiver against the rock wall,
bent over and laced the leather through the opening at the tip of
her sheath, tying it around her thigh.

“Actually, I don’t know them all. The two
guys Luka brought with him give me the creeps.” She leaned her back
against one of the boulders and looked down at Kira’s bow and
quiver. “You really were spooked.”

Kira didn’t answer. No sense worrying her
over nothing.

“Let’s go back to the fire,” Lydia said.
“I’ll find out where Octavion is—maybe he can come back.”

“No don’t. He’s got enough on his mind.”

Lydia walked past Kira and toward the
clearing.

But Kira didn’t move from her spot near the
cave entrance. Another picture of the same man flashed through her
mind. He came toward her, bringing his face so close she felt his
breath on her face. He leaned in, breathing in her scent before
touching her face with the back of his hand, tracing her cheek,
neck and finally her collar bone. The image only lasted an instant,
but it made her skin crawl.

Kira slid to the ground, her back pressed
firmly against the cold grey stone. She pulled her trembling knees
up and wrapped her arms around them. Even though she knew it wasn’t
real, she could smell his putrid breath and feel his hands on her
skin. “Stop it!” Kira yelled, clamping her hands over her ears.
“Get out of my head!”

Lydia spun around and ran back to the cave.
“Kira, what is it?”

“I hate this. I want my mind back.” She tried
to shake the image from her head. She couldn’t see it anymore, but
the sick feeling remained. She felt violated and dirty.

Lydia let out a sigh. “What did you see?”

Kira looked up. “What do you know about
Luka’s . . . friends?”

Lydia paused for a moment. “Just that Luka’s
known them for a couple years and he trusts them.” She reached for
her ruby, but Kira grabbed her hand before she sent a message.

“No. I’m fine. I—I’ll be fine. Maybe I’m
getting images of their pasts or something. I keep seeing the
shorter one in my head and it’s making me crazy. They’re so
different—ruthless.” Kira pulled herself to her feet, this time
following Lydia back to the clearing. It had been dark for quite
some time and Kira was exhausted, but she still couldn’t shake the
grimy feeling the visions had left with her. She wanted to take a
bath. Actually, what she really wanted was a hot shower, but she
knew that wasn’t an option.

“Do you think Octavion would be upset if I
went to the creek and washed up?” Kira asked.

Lydia bent over the fire to add another log.
She looked up, but didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. The
look on her face said she thought Kira had lost her mind. Maybe she
had. Here they were in the thick of danger and she wanted a bath?
Not exactly logical thinking.

“I know it’s late, but . . . never mind.”
Goosebumps crept up Kira’s arms. She tried to rub them away so
Lydia wouldn’t notice.

“I’ll ask,” Lydia finally said, rubbing her
ruby. An instant later, Octavion appeared inside the tree line.