Infinity Unleashed (16 page)

Skylar choked on her wine, looking at him with alarm. “Rafe. Please? Can we just have a civil dinner for once?”

“What? It’s the truth. I will not go pussyfooting around the truth because I don’t want to upset her sensibilities. The truth is the truth, and unless this young lady”—he pointed at me with his fork—“wants me to stop, then I’ll go right on telling it.”

“I want the truth. I’ve never been afraid of it before. Go on.” I cut into my steak and chewed. It tasted like sawdust, but I continued chewing.

He snorted. “That’s what I thought. You look like a tough one.”

“Can we move on from this topic?” Skylar asked.

“Did Kara tell you about the start of the Fire and Ash war?” Rafe growled.

“No,” I said.

“It figures.” He snorted. “Don’t believe that human propaganda. The Fire and Ash war was nothing but a war between the Others that humans got caught up in.” He took a huge swallow of wine. “But all of that killing could have been avoided if the Immortals weren’t pussyfooting around with appointing the most logical choice, Glen Thorburn. But before they came to their senses, they issued Glen a challenge—figure out a way to stop the Others from killing themselves off." Rafe laughed, banging his huge fist on the table. "And what did the bastard do? He sent the Immortals’ spirit daughters, the Valkyries, to kill us all. All I know is that Mist’s weakness gave the Others a reprieve from death.”

Skylar gave him the “he’s insane” stare but remained silent.

“Well, I don’t have to tell you, but the Others were sighing with relief. Well, that is until we started having a hell of a time breeding. Look at my pride, not one baby in years.” He pointed his fork at Skylar. “And since she was tiger-shifter and all, I took a liking to her and adopted her.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m so grateful to you,” Skylar said mockingly. “He always forgets to mention I keep the pride’s million-dollar corporation running like clockwork. So, in fact, he’s the lucky one.”

He smiled indulgently. “Little wench. Anyway, from the breeding debacle came a hell of lot of experimenting. That’s where that Rejuvenator crap came from. An accident that turned into a blood purifier for the humans. No disease equals fine drinking for the blood-sucking vampires. Rumor has it that after the Rejuvenator discovery, the Collective started experimenting on Others.”

He shrugged his wide shoulders. “Who knows if that’s entirely true? But I do know that ever since then, Others have been fascinated with that damn Immortals’ Prophecy, a child being born of both creation and destruction with the power to destroy us all.”

I looked at Skylar. “Who are the Immortals?”

“The Immortals are the last of the pureblood Druids. Spirits charged with watching over the High Council and Others. Glen Thorburn is a Druid, not a pureblood, but a Druid nonetheless. He’s also the leader of the High Council.”

“You’re telling me he’s the last of the Druids?”

Skylar glanced at Rafe before answering. “He’s a hybrid Druid. There’s a big difference. His cousin Azura Thorburn is the last of the pureblood Druids, but no one has seen her in years. You see, Azura is the firstborn of Kyles Thorburn, the most powerful Immortal ever born. She was the rightful heir to take over leadership of the High Council but was rebuffed by the Immortals because of her gender.”

I pursed my lips with distaste. “They denied her leadership because she’s a woman?” I shook my head with disbelief. “Sounds like a bunch of idiot cavemen shit.”

He shrugged. “They’re powerful cavemen.”

“And you believe I’m that child from the Immortals’ Prophecy?” I asked.

He looked at me shrewdly. “Everyone has their own theory. Some believe you’re the key to reversing the breeding problem. Some believe you have the power to control us all. And some believe that you were born to complete the job that Mist couldn’t.”

I arched a brow. “And what do you believe?”

“All of the above.” His eyes turned cold.

“Well, I call bullshit on that story. I don’t have any powers,” I said flatly.

“Yet,” he responded sharply, “according to the rumors circulating, whomever you choose to mate will be right by your side to reap the benefits of that untapped power. That’s a fact, young lady.” He smiled coldly.

I stared. This was dangerous. I knew how irrational and bloodthirsty humans could be around power. I imagined that frenzy times a hundred when it came to Others who were supernatural and animalistic in nature. It all boiled down to one thing: I was in serious danger.

Skylar slammed her glass on the table. “Can we move onto lighter topics, like your upcoming birthday party?” She looked at me and pointed at Rafe. “He’s going to be one hundred eighty-three.”

My eyes widened. He didn’t look older than forty years old.

“I didn’t ask for this damn birthday shindig. That’s all Mason’s idea. He is always trying to rub elbows with those other prides. Things were perfectly fine when we stayed by ourselves.”

Skylar wrinkled her nose. “Well, those days are over. We cannot stay in isolation. The world has changed. We need a position on the High Council for any shot at real power.”

“We already have the High Council’s support and a pact with the Other Council.” He growled.

“What happens if they break the pact?” I asked.

His canines dropped. “An all-out war.” His gold eyes glowed.

“Would you stop getting all scary Alpha on her?” She looked at me with exasperation. “The pact keeps the peace between the tiger race and the Others. Besides, after the Fire and Ash war, many of the prides amassed a lot of money with corporations that cleaned up after the war. The Others need our money. If we decide to pull out of key businesses, the Other economy takes a nosedive. So they need to play nice with us.” She sighed heavily. “But many pride Alphas mandated a no interaction with Others rule, except for business.”

“It was done for a reason. The numbers in our prides are already dwindling. Can you imagine if we were entangled with those warmonger idiots? Every damn thing is a fight. If it’s not over territory, it’s over females, money, or power. The fucking list goes on and on.”

“That may have been a good enough reason centuries ago, but not now. We cannot just stick our heads in the sand. We need unity, and with unity comes power. That’s why Mason is trying to unite us under one tiger king. That means getting us a damn seat on the High Council.” Her eyes lit with pride. “Come on, Rafe. Imagine what it would be like if Mason became tiger king? What a glorious day that will be.”

The word “power” echoed in my mind. That’s why Mason had been travelling so much. He was campaigning for the position… and with me by his side, he’d be unstoppable.

Rafe looked at me shrewdly. “Tigers won’t listen to a damn thing he says if he doesn’t have a strong mate.”

My stomach got queasy. Damn it! Yet another man out to use me. “Well, good luck with that, Alpha.”

He smiled coldly. “We don’t need good luck, young lady. We have you. And the power in your blood is worth killing for.” His body went taut when an enforcer came running in with a frightened look on his face.

“Alpha, Mason’s back with terrible news. The wolf-shifter won the first blood challenge against Nick,” the enforcer said shakily.

Skylar gasped, turning deathly pale.

Rafe roared with rage, looking at me as if he wanted to rip me to shreds. Putting down my utensils, I looked at him warily. What the hell was a blood challenge? My pulse raced feeling the anger directed at me. Whatever it was, I was somehow involved.

Rafe pushed away from the table. “Skylar, come with me.”

Skylar shakily stood, tears streaming down her cheeks. Matt and Parker were standing at attention by the entrance. Rafe nodded toward them. “Take the Valkyrie back to her suite, and if she tries to run… you know what to do.”

I swallowed hard. This was definitely not good. On shaky legs, I stood as the two enforcers grabbed me roughly by the arms.

Rafe burned me with a killer look. “Do not harm her otherwise. I don’t want a scratch on that beautiful skin.” He looked at me nastily. “If she survives our war, she’ll be the queen of the Tigers and mother to my grandchildren.” He stormed out of the dining room with a crying Skylar following stiffly behind him.

Damn it! I was in serious trouble.

Chapter 12

Colorado… Saturday

After a long, soothing shower, I felt refreshed but worried as I sat on the balcony, enjoying the mountain views and moonlight streaming over me.

My senses were alive and invigorated. I could feel my fingertips pulsing with energy. It was as if I now had a new lease on life. Inhaling loudly, I could actually smell the crispness of the mountain air like perfume notes. I heard the sound footsteps of tigers padding through the woods, hunting. The crunch of enforcers’ boots against the ground as they patrolled. I could even smell the scent of jasmine mixed with honey, which achingly reminded me of home and Mom.

Someone knocked on the door. I expected to see Skylar and finally learn what happened to Nick, but it was an unfamiliar female who strode into the living room with a steaming mug of broth. She looked at me with a blank face, but I sensed the anger seeping out of her pores. She absolutely loathed me. She gently placed the mug on the side table before walking out of my suite with head held high.

Sighing loudly, I shook my head. Their anger toward me was getting worse. It was just a matter of time before they tried to kill me in my sleep. Jumping up, I dashed into the living room, grabbed the mug, and made a beeline for the en-suite bathroom. Dumping the contents into the sink, I washed away any trace before leisurely walking back into the living room and placing the empty mug on the coffee table.

My body practically hummed with power and I knew then that things were changing whether I wanted them or not. I felt my mind clearing slowly, but my memories were still fragmented. The more I pushed, the more fragmented they became. The only bright light was that the vision revealed that Mom was not dead. I just couldn’t fathom why Mason would lie about something like that. There was a fine line between love and obsession, and obviously, he crossed that line. However, something else just didn’t make sense about Mason and the tigers. There was a key piece of the puzzle I was missing and it was frustrating as hell that everyone but me seemed to know what it was.

Frankly, there was a lot I didn’t know about the Other world, and even though Skylar had given me the boot camp crash course on Other politics and culture in a span of a couple of hours, the knowledge gap was definitely my Achilles’ heel. I needed to correct that problem quickly. I was on borrowed time, and eventually, Mason would realize I wasn’t still drugged up, and that little predicament would be the catalyst for raising the stakes and going psycho crazy on my ass.

Sighing heavily, I was so done with the pity party and was determined to be ready to defend myself by any means necessary. Placing my head in my hands, I willed my memories to come back. My body involuntarily stilled as what could only be described as crackling energy filling the air before the hushed voices of women arguing bombarded me.

Leaning forward in the chair, I searched the darkness for what I knew was something or someone waiting for me to acknowledge their presence. My eyes narrowed. The voices were coming from outside
.

Walking onto the balcony, I rubbed my arms briskly to ward off the chill, stilling when I saw two dark objects swoop from the sky onto the huge weeping willow tree. Perched quietly on the branches were two ravens that croaked so loudly the tree shook violently. The ground rumbled before a blinding flash of light engulfed the tree.

I stared in shock at the two women dressed all in black with beautiful ink-black raven wings extending from their backs. They were now perched on the tree limbs where the ravens once stood. One of them had sun-kissed skin with long, jet-black hair interspersed with pristine white streaks. The other had beautiful caramel skin with shiny chocolate-brown hair pulled tightly into a ponytail.

I didn’t know exactly how, but instantly I knew exactly who they were.

“Göndul? Gunner?”

I could not believe it; they looked impossibly young, like my age. After all these years of believing Mom was crazy for talking to mangy ravens, years of suffering teasing at the hands of classmates for having ravens as pets—the ravens were actually women… Mom’s sisters, Valkyries.

Göndul nudged Gunner with her elbow. “See? I told you. She catches on fast.”

Gunner stared at Göndul incredulously. “What are you crowing about? It took the idiot hours to figure out tiger boy was drugging her.” She snorted with disbelief. “Proving once again that she’s not exactly the sharpest pencil in the bunch.” She looked at me with disdain. “Something that I’ve been telling you Infinity groupies for years.”

“Hey,” I protested. “I can fucking hear you.”

Gunner sneered. “I know.”

Göndul shoved her hard, knocking her out of the tree. “Oh shut up, Gunner. It doesn’t matter how long it took. She did it.”

Gunner’s wings fluttered majestically as she briefly hovered in the air before landing smoothly onto the grass. Brushing off her clothes, her wings folded back and disappeared.

“Göndul, will you get your head out of her ass and stop kissing up to her? She’s not fit to lead her way out of a paper bag.”

Göndul’s eyes flashed angrily. “And I suppose you are?”

“Oh hell no. I wouldn’t want to lead you whiny hags.” She smiled wickedly. “Besides, my talents lie in other areas.”

Göndul smiled too sweetly. “Are you calling your ability to swallow without gagging talent?”

I looked from one to the other incredulously. They were just as bawdy as Mom.

Gunner smiled sweetly. “Even though it is my speciality, that’s not what I’m talking about.” She pulled out her knife. “Gutting and killing is what I do best. Next to giving fantastic blow jobs.” She flipped her ponytail. She paused, looking directly at me. “Look at her… still staring at us like a deer in headlights.” Gunner leaned against the tree with her arms crossed over ample breasts. “Stop staring like an idiot, Infinity. No, it’s not your eyes playing tricks on you. We’ve been sitting in this damn tree for hours.” She grumbled. “Kara owes me big time for asking me to babysit.” She jabbed a finger in my direction.