Katie's Hope (Rhyn Trilogy, Book Two) (12 page)

“Why I called you all here was to finish the
discussion we started at our last meeting about the immunity of two
certain humans to Immortal powers,” Kris interjected. “Katie,
Rhyn’s mate, and her sister.”

“I seem to have stolen the formula that will
grant Immortal or demon this same immunity. I turned it over to
Kris, and now the Dark One wants me dead-dead,” Sasha said.

“You have it?” Tamer sat up with interest.
“I’ve heard the rumors through the demons in my territory. It
works?”

“It appears to work. Ully is still working
with it to verify,” Kris replied.

“You’ll grant us access to it?”

Rhyn smiled mercilessly at Kris’s uneasy
look. He took in his predatory brothers, well aware they were as
dangerous as any of the creatures he’d spent time in Hell with. He
crossed his arms, interested to know Katie’s sister was as special
as she was and wondering if Kris had already claimed her.

She looked like Lilith, the woman Rhyn killed
when he discovered she’d plotted with the Dark One to kill the
Council. His reward had been being sent to Hell, for what his
brothers hoped was eternity.

“In exchange for your assistance, yes,” Kris
said at last. “Sasha’s enemies are here in the forest. I don’t know
how far the Dark One will go to get Sasha or his vial of blood
back, but I imagine our time is short.”

“And you want us to do what exactly?” Erik
asked. “I’m content to feed Sasha to the Dark One piece by piece if
that means we keep the peace.”

“As am I,” Tamer seconded.

“Me, too,” Kiki said.

“Seems practically unanimous,” Sasha said,
unaffected. “Except for you, Rhyn. Would you care to feed me to the
Dark One in pieces?”

“I’d feed each one of you to the Dark One,”
Rhyn replied. “Starting with Kris.”

Everyone chuckled but Kris, who levied a
glare at him. He wasn’t sure what they expected of him; he’d never
been included in any Council meeting.

“You’re no Andre, Kris,” Sasha said.

Kris’s eyes flared copper, then amber. “I
have no intention of trying to be Andre. What I want is what Andre
always tried to get us to do: to work together like the brothers we
are.”

“Andre lost that battle when Sasha defected
and Rhyn went to Hell,” Kiki stated. “We’re not a team, Kris. We’re
barely allies.”

“I don’t answer to anyone,” Tamer added. “I
respected Andre, but now that he’s gone, you’re lucky I agreed to
come at all. I don’t need any of you, especially the headache Sasha
is.”

“If you want the immunity solution, then
you’ll work with me to protect our brother,” Kris said.

No one spoke. Rhyn observed each of his
brothers, sensing a silent rebellion that seemed to elude Kris, the
only of them to value duty over their own interests. Kiki and Tamer
exchanged a look while Sasha seemed to be the only one pleased by
the arrangement.

“No deal,” Erik said. “My part of the world
is quiet. I don’t need the solution, and I don’t need the
headaches.”

“You took an oath to serve the Immortals,
their cause, and be a member of this Council,” Kris grated. “All of
you, save Rhyn, who was never intended to set foot outside of
Hell.”

“I took an oath to my father and then to
Andre,” Erik retorted. “You are neither of them. In fact, I say we
vote you out.”

“You can’t vote me out. I’m firstborn after
Andre. Our father was second born, as was his father before him.
It’s the way things have been for millions of years!”

“What are you going to do if we refuse to
follow you? You don’t have it in you to kill any of us. You’re
sworn not to, if I remember correctly,” Erik said. He rose. “Andre
at least had that authority. Andre’s gone, and I need none of this
shit. I vote the Council split. Anyone second me?”

“I will,” Tamer said.

“Very well. The Council is no more. Farewell,
brothers, and stay the hell out of my part of the world.”

Erik disappeared, followed by Tamer. Kris was
frozen in place, as if not yet registering what had happened. Kiki
rose as well, his gaze going to Sasha.

“You know they don’t speak for me,” Kiki
said. “But I’ll have to agree, Kris. You can have Sasha or you can
have the Council. You’re too good a man to see that on your own, so
I’m telling you.”

He left as well. Rhyn looked to Kris, then to
Sasha, whose smile had faded.

“If I were you, I’d beat the shit out of each
one of them till they did what you said,” Rhyn suggested.

“I prefer a more civilized approach,” Kris
replied.

“Look where that got you. No one but Sasha
and me left in your Council, and I doubt I was ever really a part
of it.”

“My own brothers want me to break the Code to
feed Sasha to the wolves,” Kris muttered. “Does no one take it
seriously?”

“They know you don’t have it in you,” Rhyn
said. “You can’t be respected without kicking some ass. I learned
that lesson when Sasha tossed me in a pit with full-blooded demons
and were-things.”

“Respect isn’t enough for someone in your
position,” Sasha agreed. “They need to fear you, Kris, and thus
far, none of them do.”

“Except Katie. Treat them as you did her, and
you’ll find they fall into line.”

Kris looked up at Rhyn’s low voice, his gaze
lingering. “I don’t condone the kind of brute violence you and
Sasha do, Rhyn,” he said. “I won’t use force against my brothers.
They’ll eventually remember their duty to the Code. Or they’ll soon
realize the threat affects us all and be back.”

Rhyn pushed himself away from the wall. Kris
was crushed, and Rhyn wasn’t sure how his eldest surviving brother
hadn’t expected the rest of them to walk away. That Kris could
attack his brother’s mate but refuse to strong-arm his brothers
into fighting demons made his anger boil.

“Keep telling yourself that. The demons are
planning something, Kris, and
hoping
someone comes to your
rescue is stupid,” he returned.

“You’re one to talk, Rhyn. I wonder if Katie
hopes
you’ll rescue her every time something happens. You
aren’t capable of caring for someone else or keeping her safe. But,
if you do as Sasha says and break the bond, I will keep her safe, I
swear it,” Kris said. “She’ll be-- ”

Rhyn walked out of the room, furious at his
brother. It was all he heard anymore, that Katie would be safe and
happy only if he wasn’t around. He forced himself to focus on
something else.

The Council meeting was a bust, and there was
more tension in the air than he could understand. For the first
time in his life, he felt something akin to pity for Kris. The
world needed a man focused on maintaining the balance between good
and evil, and none of the brothers had the foresight or vision that
Kris did. He was a dick, but Rhyn never wanted to be put in the
position Kris was in.

Agitated, he jogged up the stairs to the
level where Katie was. He’d paced in front of her chamber at some
point every day for three weeks, wanting to tell her something,
anything, to make her want to stay. The words never came, and he’d
left frustrated each time. Hell toughened him up, yet this was one
challenge he couldn’t figure out. Despite telling her he wouldn’t,
he dropped into her thoughts to feel a little closer to her and was
surprised to find she was packing to leave.

Without knocking, he strode into the chamber.
She whirled to face him, moving too slow to hide the suitcase laid
out on the trunk at the end of the bed in which Toby slept.

“You’re leaving,” he stated. “Plan on telling
me?”

“You made it clear you read my mind. I didn’t
think I needed to tell you anything,” she shot back.

“You still have five weeks.”

“Four weeks and five days,” she replied.

“I don’t give a shit. Your time here isn’t
up.”

“I’m not doing this anymore, Rhyn. I’ve got
Toby to think about, and raising him where he’s attacked by demons
and subjected to the stupidity of the Immortal world-- it’s not
happening. I’m fed up with aaaaall of this!”

“And you really think there’s somewhere safe
for you to go?” he challenged. “Where demons and Immortals can’t
find you?”

“The Sanctuary. I’ll become a nun or whatever
those women are who live there.”

“A
nun
?” he echoed, horrified. “You’d
go that far?”

“Is sex all you think about?”

“I only get one mate. If she becomes a nun,
I’ll have to start fucking-- ”

“Stop there. God, Rhyn. There’s so much at
stake, and you just …” She sighed.

“What’s at stake?” he asked, sensing again
there was something important she was keeping from him. A haunted
look crossed her face. “Kris doesn’t need your blood anymore. What
makes you think he won’t leave you alone?”

“He told me so. Whatever issue is between you
two, it’s too personal for him to forget, and he takes it out on me
when you’re not around,” she said. “I realized he has no intention
of letting me go even though he promised it. And with Hannah here,
I can’t leave the Immortal world with her still in it. I’m leaving
you
, Rhyn.”

The words were forced, and he knew she was in
love with him as much as she did. He watched as she tossed more
clothing into her suitcase, certain what he wanted to say would
only make her pack faster. So he stopped to think and pace. Lankha
was huddled in a corner with his hands over his head. Katie had
been crying earlier. Her eyes were red-rimmed.

Something was really wrong, and he couldn’t
help but think it was more than him this time. She’d been acting
squirrelly the past two days. No matter what, she’d be safer at the
Sanctuary than at the castle, now that the Council was in disarray
and the demons were plotting in the forest.

“I’ll take you there,” he said at last.

She paused and looked at him hard.
“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

“Why?” she asked suspiciously.

“If you feel safer there …”

“And you’ll just let me go,” she said, anger
sparkling in her eyes. He couldn’t figure out what the hell the
puny human in front of him wanted.

“Things here are about to go to shit,” he
said.

“How?”

“The Council disbanded. Sasha’s plotting
something, and the demons are going to flood this place soon.”

“Are you serious?” She paled at his
words.

“You better go soon,” he advised. “I’ll
follow.”

“Rhyn, if you’re serious, then I can’t leave
without Hannah.”

“She treats you like shit, along with that
Gio ass.”

“She’s with Kris now,” she said. “But she’s
my sister. That may mean nothing to you Immortals-- ”

“It doesn’t.”

“-- but to us lesser beings, family means
something!”

“Which is why you’re doing your damndest to
convince us both you’re leaving me,” he said and crossed his
arms.

“Can’t you tell the Council not to disband?”
she asked, visibly flustered.

“Me? Not the way it works, blood monkey.”

“Then what’re you going to do?”

“I’m going to watch the world fall
apart.”

Her features darkened, and she turned away,
saying, “I thought you had some level of honor or decency.”

“You’re the only one.”

“I’m taking my sister and going to the
Sanctuary, where I’ll raise our child without you.”

“I told you, I don’t claim Toby. That little
thing is yours.”

“You’re such a jackass! What was I thinking …
it never would’ve worked anyway!” she snapped. Fury turned her face
bright red. She flung a shoe at him hard, then a second. He
deflected the first, but the second slapped his cheek. A knock at
the door distracted his response, which wouldn’t bode well for
either of them. She breezed by him and paused at the door to say,
“Rhyn, I’m not talking about Toby,” before she wrenched it
open.

Her meaning didn’t click, and he turned to
see who had interrupted them.

“We have to find Sasha,” Kris said, ignoring
her to push his way into the chamber. “Katie, take Toby and the
healer to the basement with the warriors.”

“What’s wrong?” Rhyn asked.

“I’m not sure.”

“Where’s Hannah?” Katie demanded.

“I’ll send her down. Go.”

Katie motioned to the healer, who scampered
from his corner to the bed. She hurried to Toby and lifted the
sleeping angel carefully before she and Lankha left. Rhyn joined
Kris in the hallway and waited until Katie was out of earshot.

“Let me guess. The demons have crossed sacred
ground,” he said dryly.

“And how do you know this?”

“I heard them plotting. You really think
Sasha came here to throw himself on your mercy without some sort of
back-up plan?”

“I’m doing what I’m obligated to do. Of
course I suspected him of something,” Kris snapped. “I didn’t know
what.”

Rhyn trotted to a window. The peaceful, snowy
park was now swarmed with Immortals and demons fighting. Sasha
hadn’t lost time in acting after the ill-fated Council meeting!

“How can he make something unsacred?” he
puzzled aloud.

“The ground is sacred because our father is
buried here. Even in death, he holds power.”

“He moved our father’s body?” Rhyn asked with
a laugh. “Hope he chucked it off a cliff.”

“I’ve sent Immortals after it. Laugh all you
will, Rhyn, but this is my home, and the refuge of our Immortal
brethren. I don’t intend to lose it. If you give a shit about
anything, you’ll get your ass out there and fight.”

Furious, Kris stalked away. Rhyn watched him,
aware he was much more useful in another way. Kris’s Immortals
appeared to outnumber the demons two to one for now, and Katie
would call for him if she needed help. He opened a portal and
crossed into the shadow world and then through a portal into a
Japanese-style palatial estate overlooking Tokyo.

“Kiki!” he called, ignoring the startled
servants scampering away from him.