Defiance (Rise of the Iliri Book 3) (8 page)

"They get it, too," she said as he pulled her into his arms.  "Find us a home for the night, killer.  I'll tack down."

He dropped his reins and ran a finger across her chin, through the blood on her face.  For a moment, his eyes met hers, and Sal tugged him to her, their kiss savage. 

But Jase pulled back with a sigh, his hands tight on her shoulders.  "Kitten, we really need ta kill more often.  Let's get the mare's comf'terble."

She traced the line of his jaw with her fingers.  She had to do this now or she never would.  "Jase?"

"Mm?"

"I
am
in love with you," she whispered.  "I know it.  I'm terrified of it.  I still need it – you.  No matter what I do, don't ever let me go.  Don't let me screw this up?"

Words failed him for a moment and he pulled her in tighter.  His cheek pressed against her soft pale hair.  A shuddering breath slipped out.  The musky scent of him made her feel safe as his arms surrounded her, protecting her from the world.  Against her hair, Sal thought she felt moisture.

"Never," he whispered.  "I swear it, kitten.  Ayati, cessivi, I will na let ya slip away from me.  I can na.  I would die before I lose ya."

Chapter 8

With the Jonkheer dead, all that was left was to remove the King.  It took another week to ride to Dorton, Anglia's capital.  There, they found a comfortable space in the wilderness outside the city and set up camp.  The group planned to hole up there until the Marquis eventually arrived to claim his new throne. 

Before the next king's coronation, the Blades had to find a way to get into the new ruler's good graces and persuade him to ally with the Conglomerate.  If anyone even suspected they were behind the recent string of deaths, there was no way Anglia would sign an alliance.  Which meant this assassination had to be done just right or it would all be a waste.  For two more weeks, they planned, spending their evenings hiding from the depth of winter around a crude campfire.  Twenty-two days after the death of the Jonkheer of Eriwald, the time had finally come.

The sun was sinking in the sky, leaving fat red clouds overhead and shadows on the ground.  Sal was pacing.  The palace was too heavily guarded to risk both of them, and Jase was right, she told herself.  He was a better shot.  He was a better climber.  She turned again, walking back the way she'd come.

Kaisae,
Roo thought,
He is a good hunter, all will be fine.  These things take time.

Sal nodded but couldn't stop walking.  Hwa had slipped inside the town, promising to interfere if anything happened.  When she last saw him, he looked like any stray mongrel – the type of dog that humans never bothered to see.  She just hoped it would be enough.  The last time Jase had gone on a mission without her, he almost hadn't come home. 

With the sky turning from pinks to purples, she reached out with her mind and checked their positions again.  She knew they felt her, but neither paused.

Roo reached up, standing on three legs to rest her paw against Sal's leg. 
You are not helping.  The more you worry, the more they will.  Sit with me and talk.  Tell me about something – it doesn't even matter what.

Sal nodded, letting the bitch lead her over to the fire, then sank onto the moist ground.  In the sky above, the first stars were just winking back.  It was still early.  Too early to worry.

"I hate this, you know?"

It takes more courage to stay home than to go with the hunt, Kaisae,
Roo said calmly. 
Hate it all you want, but let the males have their minds.  Yours is too strong and you pull at them.

"What do you mean?"

You did not know?
Roo's head tilted slightly as she looked up at Sal.

She had no idea what the grauori was talking bout.  "No." 

Sal, my friend, you have a strong mind.  You are gentle with it, but you can smother us in the link.  You amplify the thoughts of us when we're together, but you not only have a strong mind, you have a well trained one.

Sal smiled. 
Blaec.  Our leader.  He showed me how to think in the link and how to close my mind or open it depending on what we needed.

The grauori nodded in understanding. 
You learned well, then.  But you should know how strong your thoughts can be, and be careful of disturbing the thoughts of others.

Roo?
Sal asked, pondering that. 
I can amplify.  Does that mean talents as well?  You know, our abilities?

I do not know, Kaisae.

"I just wondered if we could reach the men back home.  Between your link and me amplifying it?"  Sal missed her friends and family, but she also knew regular updates would be helpful in the war at home.

I do not know this male you link through.  That makes it hard for us.  Unless I can smell him and know his feel, I'm not sure I could find him.  Not even with your mind leading me. 
Roo shrugged apologetically.

"What if I gave you a burning of my memories of him?  I know where he is.  With the two of us, how far could we reach?"

We can't, Sal.  Not now.  I have to keep my mind open for the males, but I'm willing to try later.  The worst that will happen is we get a headache and lose the link for a short time.  If I could do this, your leader would be sure to accept us as full members.

Sal chuckled, "Yeah, he would.  Although, I'd bet that he'll accept you regardless.  Both of you have been priceless the last month."

And we might be able to walk freely among your people?

"I honestly don't know.  They'd think of you as animals, most likely, but they'd see you as
our
animals, and you'd be safe for that.  Not the Blades.  We'd treat you as equals.  But it would take time before the rest of the country would be able to truly understand what it is that you are.  Even in the Conglomerate, they find it hard to think of us – the iliri – as true people."  Sal sighed, "My home isn't perfect, Roo.  It's just that it's..."

It's your home. 
Roo said as she rested her chin on Sal's knee. 
Even if it is not perfect, I would like to have it be my home.  Our home.

"Did you tell him yet?" Sal asked, thinking of the coming pups.

No.  I tried, but got scared. 
She looked up from Sal's lap, her pale eyes contrasting with the gold on her ears. 
You said we will have time after this to train and relax.  I thought it would be good to do it then when the males won't be distracted.  I would hate Hwa to be angry and make a mistake in a hunt because of it.

"I know what you mean, little wolf."  Sal ran her fingers through the grauori's fur without thinking about it.  "But you know he'll be happy.  He is
so
proud of you, and your pups will be his treasure."

But what will we do with babies in an army?

"I've thought of that, actually.  Our stable master, Tilso, he's an amazing kid – well young man.  He's partnered with one of our Blades, but even when we're deployed, Tilso usually stays at our home and takes care of things.  Why couldn't you do the same?  When the pups are old enough, you can leave them with Tilso while we're out if the mission is short enough?  We always have an empty room with the Blades.  Usually, it's mine because I'm staying with one of my mates.  There's no reason you and Hwa couldn't use it, and anytime you need a break, I'm sure all of us would be glad to take our turn with your kids."

Your pack would raise my pups?
Roo asked.

"I don't mean like that.  I know that we'd all treasure them, but they'll always be your children first.  We'd respect that."

No, Sal.  For a pack to be willing to raise pups as their own, that is a good thing.  The grauori, we don't all get to breed.  Those of us who love pups, we help raise them, but only our Kaisae and those she chooses get to breed.  That is the difference between a grauori and a gerus.  Only gerus have earned the right to breed, and I was never given that title.  That you even think the Blades would cherish my pups and not simply leave them to me?  That is something I never even hoped for.

"Ayati, Roo, you have no idea.  Those will be the most spoiled pups ever."  Sal smiled down at her friend.  "And you may not be a gerus, but as far as I'm concerned, you've more than earned the title of ilus."

Ilus?

Sal shrugged a little too innocently.  "It's a title for any iliri who has earned respect.  Since we don't have any Kaisaes left – well, except me – it's a way to show that someone has proven themselves.  I figure if you're a member of an iliri pack that makes you iliri, right?"

I like that.
  Roo wuffed at the thought, letting her tongue flop from her lips. 
And maybe my pups will want to be iliri, too.

"I hope so."  Sal glanced down at her friend's waist, aware that the bitch was still sleek and trim.  "Just tell me you aren't going to have a whole litter, ok?"

Just two,
Roo assured her. 
We always have twins.

"This is all new to me.  I don't even know how fast they grow.  How old are grauori before they can hunt with the pack?"

Usually when we're about two we get to tag along, but we stay with the helpers.  How long does it take iliri?

"That fast?  It takes us years.  We're old enough to hunt around eighteen, although many think they can before that.  We usually begin breeding when we're in our twenties.  Iliri often live to be near eighty."

Roo's eyes were wide. 
So long?  We're considered full packmates by the time we're five.  We usually begin breeding when we're about fourteen.  Although, I'm only twelve.

Sal knew her friend was young, but not that young!  "How long do the grauori live?"

By forty we're showing age.  Few live past fifty, but most often it's humans that take our lives, not age.

"So basically, you just mature faster than we do.  With you being a linker, there's no reason you couldn't travel with us and keep the pups in camp on the safe missions.  When they're old enough, if you let me, I'd be happy to help train them."

You would?  The Kaisae would be willing to train my pups? 
Roo's eyes were wide, and she buried her head against Sal.  Her stubby fingers wrapped in Sal's shirt as she hugged her.

"Roo, your pups would be like my own."  Sal hugged her back.  "There's no way I'd let them make their first kill without me there to protect them!"

That's when she realized just how well Roo had distracted her.  Speaking about killing brought Sal's mind back to Jase's mission.  Right now, he was making the most important assassination without her.  She knew he could do it, but it still felt wrong.  Sal stopped herself before she could reach out and check the men again. 

The sky was truly dark and the stars glittered above them.  She knew they would let her know if something happened, but she hated this.  Hated being stuck at the camp waiting, hated not knowing how to make the new king love them, hated being so far from home, stuck on a mountain, and surrounded by snow.  At least she had one good friend to keep her from going insane.

Fuck,
Jase's voice suddenly broke into her mind.  Roo sat up, and Sal knew they both heard it. 

Sal, we have a complication.

Chapter 9

Jase slipped across the battlement, his dark clothing hiding him against the night sky, a cowl covering his pale face.  Slowly, step by step and hand hold by hand hold, he made his way closer to the Palace.  Finding a vantage point, he hid in the shadows and checked his quiver again.  Each arrow was made from raven feathers.  The black fletching was only used by the Terran archers.  If he wasn't caught, this assassination would only give Anglia more reasons to fear and despise Terric.

Through the window below, Jase watched figures moving, waiting to see the aged king.  The Myrosican ambassador walked into sight, talking to someone on the other side of the room before moving away.  After a long pause, the Chancellor did the same.  Jase checked his surroundings again, making note of the guards and which path they traveled.  This section of the wall seemed nearly abandoned, but as he turned back to the window, he caught movement with his iliri eyes.  To his right, a shadow shifted slightly.

Fuck,
he sent without meaning to.

Jase slid from the edge, moving like a shadow, and carefully stepped away from the stone.  His senses stretched and his mind reached for Hwa, finding the grauori trotting along the street below him.  Listening for the clink of armor, he crept forward, keeping to the darkness of the wall. 

What he saw made him stop cold.  Crouched in a pose nearly identical to the one he'd just abandoned, a lean woman hid in the shadows, her quiver filled with black arrows.  If he'd been cursed with normal human eyes, he never would have seen her.

She was tall and thin with dark human skin and wavy black hair.  The girl wiped sweat from her brow, and he was amused.  In the cold evening, it was a sign of her stress.  She was probably considered disposable to her unit, and he doubted she was very skilled.  Most likely a trumped up archer dressed in black and told she was an assassin.  Her coloration might give her the advantage here, but Jase had learned to adjust. 

He reached for his mate's mind. 
Sal, we have a complication. 
Her frantic thoughts wound through his head so he let her know he was still safe, pleased that she'd been so worried about him. 
I'm na the only assassin on the roof here kitten,
he told her, sending an image of the woman only meters from him.

Roo's mind joined the conversation. 
Can she make the kill?

I dunno.  I'm na even sure who she's after.  Want me ta wait and see?

What's the worst case?
Sal asked.

That she misses.

Then let her try and clean up her mess,
Sal decided. 
Oh, and killer?

Yeh, kitten?

You aren't going to have a problem with this, are you? 
Sal's tone made it clear she meant because the assassin was a woman.

Jealous?
he asked as he slipped out of the link, trying hard not to smile.

Quietly, he pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it to the string.  Minutes ticked by as he waited.  Each shift of the woman sounded loud in his ears, but she remained unaware of his presence.  Finally, he saw what he was waiting for. 

The King stepped across the window, but Jase waited to see what the other assassin would do.  When nothing happened, he leaned back, looking around the stone at her, keeping himself in the deep shadow.  The girl relaxed her string.  She'd missed the shot. 

Carefully, he moved to the next embrasure.  His ears rang as he listened to the silence, seeking any sign that she still thought she was alone.  She did.  The idiot swore softly at her mistake, her words jumbled across the distance.  

Keeping one eye on the window, Jase kept the other on the novice assassin.  It wasn't long before the King walked past again, his shoulder and the royal insignia clearly visible.  Without hesitation, Jase pulled and released in a smooth motion, turning away from the scene before he could witness the hit.  A cry from the room across and below him told him he'd been successful, but his bloodlust remained quiet.  Only the excitement of the hunt pumped in his veins.  He was already stalking his next target. 

The archer sucked in a breath, having seen the man fall to an arrow she didn't loose, but she wasted time watching when she should have been leaving.  Jase stepped under her, his body hidden behind the stone of the battlements, and grabbed her ankle.  One yank pulled her from the wall and into the shadow with him.

He slapped his hand across her mouth and hissed in her ear, "Name, rank, and country."

Her eyes wide against the darkness, she nodded.  Jase wore nothing that could tie him to the Conglomerate – except his fair skin.  The would-be assassin had not been so wise.  Stitched into the material at her shoulder, he could see the falcon of Terric emblazoned in purple on black.  From that, and the way she trembled in his hands, he knew she was inexperienced, but her fear made him excited.  He could almost smell the sweet blood pumping in her veins, and he struggled not to think about how she would sigh as she died.  Cautiously, he lifted his hand away from her warm lips.

"Ina Lien, Specialist, Terran Shadow Force.  You?" she asked, assuming he was her ally.

"Jassant Cynortas, Sergeant, Black Blades."  His lips lifted under his cowl.  With his face pressed so close to hers, his second set of canines were easily visible.  "An' I am na yer friend, bitch."

Yanking at the back of his neck, he pulled the hood away, letting his iliri-pale skin catch the starlight.  His blue eyes bore into her brown.  She gasped and struggled, the sound obscured by the men below screaming for reinforcements.  It was so easy to hold her, shoving his hand back over her mouth to prevent the idiot from alerting the guard.  The girl was weak, but she smelled amazing – her body releasing endorphins to fight the fear of him. 

Jase put his mouth next to her ear, pressing her against the wall with his body.  "Ya just made my life real easy, so I'll do ya a favor.  Ya get credit fer this one – if ya can manage ta live through the night."

"Let me go, you beast," she hissed against his hand.

He snarled defiantly.  "I hope ya can fly, ya stupid cunt.  Learn how ta kill next time."  Then he threw her from the wall.

Her body crashed into the roof below, a cry escaping her lips, and Jase heard the guards running toward him.  Calmly, he walked along the battlements, keeping to the dark side, and made his way to the tower.  Below him, Hwa followed the girl, barking loudly each time she came close to losing the guards.  At the stairs, Jase collapsed his segmented bow and tucked both it and his quiver under his cloak before descending.  With the chaos around them, it was easy for him to join the masses.  The town citizens were milling in the wake of the guards.

The girl was running hard, and the mob chased her.  The evening was still early.  The gates stood open – no one having thought to have them closed – and she was leading most of the town in that direction.  Jase followed, smiling at how easy she made this.  When he heard the thunder of hooves, like the other townspeople around him, he moved to the side to let the mounted soldiers charge past.  Then, as he crossed under the gates, a large dog brushed against him.  Jase reached down to pet Hwa.  Together they turned for the tree line, slipping away unnoticed as if they were headed home.

You're going to let her live?
Hwa asked.

Jase looked down at the dog beside him as if his friend was a fool. 
Nah, I just needed her ta get caught first.  Ya willing ta help cover my trail?

Of course.

The mounted riders caught her easily, the poor archer having been given no training in how to extract herself from her mission.  One rider held her slung across his saddle, but as they neared the city lights, she writhed and slipped from the horse, crashing into the dirt before pulling herself to her feet and running again.  Armored men surrounded her; their pikes held to block her path, and they slowly closed in around her.  The girl looked from side to side, panic in her eyes, seeking a way out. 

Jase was drawn to her mad dashes and attempts to flee even though she was caught.  She knew what would happen to an assassin in an Anglian prison, but he had no intention of letting her live that long.  She'd dared to hunt in his territory and hadn't even been strong enough to meet his eyes.  His instincts screamed that she was just prey and pathetic prey at that.  Crouching beside a tree, he leaned against it to steady himself, strung his bow, nocked an arrow, and pulled the string well past his ear.  Patience was the key.  Motionless and focused, he waited.  The guards scrambled, trying to catch the squirming woman as she did everything in her human power to avoid their hands.  One man lashed out with his pike, slashing her across the leg, and she went down, blood streaming from her.

Jase snarled in the darkness.  That was his kill.  How dare a human blood his prey!  He took a deep breath, but still waited, stalking her in his own way.  When two guards pulled her to her feet, he finally saw what he was looking for.  From his eye to her face, nothing was between them.  Exhaling, his fingers relaxed, and the string vibrated as the arrow took flight.  Across the distance, the black Terran arrow slipped through the cold air, a soft whistle the only notice of its passing.  The girl threw her head back and screamed as her mangled leg took the weight of her body, but her cry was cut short as the arrow buried itself under her chin and burrowed through her brain.

Move,
Jase told Hwa.

The males ran, each taking a separate path.  Behind him, the guards rushed his hiding place, but the pair kept to the rocks and hard ground, hiding their tracks.  Running with every ounce of speed his body would give him, Jase could feel Hwa leaving him behind.  The grauori was taunting him, so Jase pushed his body harder.  He leapt up rocks, jumped across rivulets in the snow, and slid down hills as the sound of humans faded behind him.  The effort left a sharp burning in his muscles, and it felt good.  Natural.  When pursuit was but a memory, he changed course, slowing to an easy jog.

Distance kills rarely excited him, except to incite his hunting instincts, but the taste of Sal's concern earlier made him eager to see her again.  It wasn't the lust but something deeper that lured him home.  The run had been good.  The challenge of the kill filled him with pride, but there wasn't the irrational desire that hit him when his blade cut through flesh.  He still felt a longing, something he'd thought would never happen, an emotion so human it confused him. 

As he trotted across the snowy hill, he thought of Sal's smile and how happy she'd be to see him safe.  He couldn't stop thinking of her soft flesh and sharp teeth.  In all his life, he'd never met a woman more perfect.  From the first time he'd seen her, he'd been both in love and a bit terrified of her.  Now that he finally had her to himself, he planned to make the most of this.  His breath steamed in the cold air as he pushed himself faster. 

His mate loved him, and she was waiting.