Rout of the Dem-Shyr (The Ascendant Series) (32 page)

Gren instinctively moved with her, keeping himself between them. Kyr supposed she needed to make him understand why she was acting like she was before he’d allow her to talk to Scarlyt.

Gren, Vycor was there
.

He turned and looked at her.
Where?

In the gardens. On the day that Scarlyt tried to kill me
.

She watched his expression change. She saw his complexion redden and then go pale. She felt his emotions spiral through him.

And she knew that even with what Vycor had done to Ty, Gren hadn’t ever made the connection that the Advisor had influenced other people to commit murder.

She sensed the conflagration of rage and torment that he was feeling. Without thought, she stepped closer to him and put her arms around him. She had played a part in all of this, and she could only pray he’d somehow forgive her.

I’m so sorry, Gren
, she thought, her tears continuing to fall.
I’d forgotten all about that day. Only now, with you and Scarlyt being together…I’m so sorry.

His arms came up around her. His embrace tightened as he wrestled with the knowledge she had just handed him.

It wasn’t your fault, Kyr
, he told her.
Vycor influenced her.

But my behavior that day spurred her into anger. If I hadn’t been so arrogant and awful—

Kyr, you were always arrogant and awful back then. Vycor used you.

The truth of Gren’s words hit home.
Why?

That’s something we’ll have to find out before we kill him.

“I hate to interrupt this touching interlude,” Scarlyt said in a cool voice, “but we still have questions that need answering.”

Pulling away from Gren, Kyr turned to face Scarlyt. This time, Gren didn’t try to stop her.

“Scarlyt, I’d like to begin with an apology. I’m only just recovering my memories from the time before my life lessons. I’m learning that I wasn’t a very nice person when I was younger.”

Scarlyt’s eyebrow rose. She changed her pose, tilting a hip out and crossing her arms over her chest in a way that said,
Go on
.

“This probably doesn’t matter much to you, but I’m different now. I’m sure we’re all very different people from who we were then. And I’m deeply sorry for any part I played in what happened to you.”

A hint of vulnerability crept into Scarlyt’s eyes before she again lifted her chin as though in challenge. Kyr imagined the other female had developed a thick emotional shell during her exile. That thought was another dagger in Kyr’s heart.

“Gren and I have just come to understand what happened on that day,” Kyr explained. “We know that Vycor influenced you.”

Scarlyt’s gaze moved from Kyr to Gren. When she saw the look on Gren’s face, her arms slowly lowered to her sides.

“Vycor did to you what he did to Ty…the man I love,” Kyr said. “That’s why we’re here. To save Ty.”

That made Scarlyt’s back stiffen. Kyr wasn’t sure what she’d said, but something had once again upset the other female. She bit her lip as her anxiety mounted. All of this was keeping her from Ty. What if Scarlyt tried to stop her out of rightful anger?

Gren stepped forward. “Scarlyt, if I had known you were here, I would have come for you.”

Scarlyt frowned. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that Vycor told me—told everyone—that you resisted arrest. He told me you were dead.”

Gren’s voice fractured on the last word. Kyr brought a hand to her chest at the same time that Jenna drew in a sharp breath. So much pain struck her that she swayed. She felt Gren’s pain. She felt Scarlyt’s pain.

She felt her own.

Did Vycor’s deceitfulness and treachery have no end? How had he been able to commit such atrocities with her parents’ approval? Was she really the spawn of such callousness?

Such evil?

“It seems Vycor has a lot more to answer for than we knew,” Scarlyt said, pulling Kyr from her dark thoughts.

Kyr saw remnants of pain and plenty of determination in the other female’s eyes. Would she get the help she needed from these Peace Keepers?

“We’ve actually just learned the location of the
Dem-Shyr
,” Scarlyt told them. “But there’s a problem.”

“What problem?” Gren asked.

“He’s been taken prisoner by the Marauders, and they don’t usually leave anyone alive.”

Kyr’s head swam over the news. She reached out and took Gren’s arm to help maintain her balance. He pulled her against him with a concerned look on his face.

“That’s it!” Jenna shouted, her expression fierce. “I refuse to stand here and allow you to flaunt your feelings for each other in front of Scarlyt! Isn’t it enough that you sent her here to suffer so you could have your time together at the palace?”

Kyr and Gren exchanged an incredulous look, then glanced at Jenna, who once again held her weapon aimed in their direction. Realizing the female had misunderstood, Kyr pushed away from Gren and held her hands up in a show of innocence.

“What the hell?” Gren said in a raised voice, clearly beyond his patience. “Scarlyt, do you think that I—that we—?”

Scarlyt shrugged. “Don’t try and deny that you love her. Even though my Mynder abilities have been repressed, I see it now just as I saw it then.”

Gren lifted his arms in frustration. “Of course I love her, Scarlet.
But not the same way that I love you
.”

Jenna’s mouth flopped open. She lowered her weapon as she registered Scarlyt’s astonishment. Kyr watched in equal amazement as Gren crossed over to Scarlyt and grasped her shoulders.

“It’s always only ever been you,” he whispered.

Then he kissed her. The kiss was hot, open-mouthed, and steamy enough to have Kyr’s cheeks burning. Scarlyt issued a feminine sound of approval and kissed him back with equal passion. Jenna’s mouth opened several more inches. Her weapon clanged heedlessly to the floor.

By the time Gren ended the kiss, Scarlyt sagged against him, her breath choppy. He held her so she didn’t fall. Kyr saw his slow smile as he held her gaze.

Eventually, Scarlyt blinked and pushed away from him. Kyr read many emotions in the other woman’s thoughts, but the overriding one was confusion. Gren had just made her question everything she’d believed since the day she was sent to the Dark Lands.

Kyr caught Gren’s eye and tilted her head in Scarlyt’s direction. Now was the time to try and get the leader’s assistance.

He nodded. “Scarlyt,
Dem-Shyr
TaeDane was mistreated by Vycor just as you were. Will you help us save him?”

Before Scarlyt could respond, Jenna said, “Hold up. What’s in it for us?”

“Jenna…”

“No, Scarlyt. I’m your commander, and it’s my job to look out for you. How do I know he didn’t just kiss you like that to convince us to help them?”

Scarlyt frowned. Kyr was about to speak up to defend Gren, but picked up the other female’s thoughts and shut her mouth.

“Gren wouldn’t do that,” she told Jenna. “Tell the others we’re going hunting.”

Jenna pursed her lips, far from convinced. But she did as ordered and flounced from the room, grabbing her weapon along the way.

I like her
, Sem conveyed.

Kyr had forgotten he was listening. For some reason, the thought made her want to smile.

“Will your Peace Keepers follow Jenna’s orders?” Gren asked.

“No,” Scarlyt said, her gaze steady. “They’ll follow mine.”

Chapter 40

Another unvoiced scream woke Ty.

He opened his eyes and fought to control his harsh breathing. Sweat once again coated his skin. Tears blurred his vision. He struggled to get the image of Kyr’s dead body from his mind, but knew it would haunt him forever.

Sitting up on the hard surface of the storage unit floor, he wearily wiped his face. If he’d slept for longer than an hour, he’d be surprised.

“Kyr. No, Kyr!
I love you, Kyr.
”

Ty glanced over at the mocking tone to find two new guards standing nearby. One was tall and built like a stone wall. His deep skin tone indicated that he was from or had once lived in the Borll megai. His head was bald, but Ty suspected that was by choice. Malak wouldn’t put a freshy on guard duty. The second guard was shorter, but just as thickly built. His dark hair snaked out of his head in short dreadlocks.

Both guards wore derisive grins. The shorter one was clutching his chest in a parody of pain. Ty knew they had heard him in his sleep.

He couldn’t be bothered enough to care.

“Is there someplace to urinate around here?” he asked.

The bald guard jerked a thumb towards a small pot in the corner. Ty pushed himself to his feet and walked towards the pot.

“That’s not necessary,” Malak said in his smooth voice. “He can make use of the facilities. We’re not heathens, after all.”

Ty turned and spotted the Marauder leader strolling out of his office. He had changed his clothes and washed all of the blood from his hair and skin. He was wearing another suit, this one black with pinstripes. The Marauders clearly weren’t hurting in the clothing department. Malak’s statement about them being prosperous appeared to be true.

“Right this way,” Malak instructed when Ty just stood there.

Figuring he had little reason not to, Ty followed him through the storage unit to a section around the corner from his office. As they passed the office, morbid curiosity had Ty glancing over to watch several Marauders scrub the floor and walls. Coll’s body had been disposed of right after Ty’s conversation with Malak, which hadn’t lasted long once it became clear that Ty had no plans to become a Marauder.

He returned his attention to Malak as they rounded the corner. They stopped in front of a rusty metal door leading to a nice-sized water closet. Through the doorway, Ty saw a sink, mirror, shower, and excrement tank.

“Feel free to wash yourself, clean your teeth, drink some water, and whatever else you may need,” Malak said. “Should you get the idea of creating a weapon to use against us while you’re in there, you should know that these facilities are monitored. We’ll also be patting you down once you come out. Alternatively, should you think to create a weapon to use on yourself, we’ll be forced to come in and stop you. Don’t bother pretending that the thought of taking your own life never occurred to you. We both know otherwise. I’ll see you once you’re through.”

Ty stood there for a moment and watched Malak walk away. The Marauder leader was one of the strangest individuals he had ever met. Shaking his head, Ty went into the water closet and closed the door.

He didn’t shower, knowing the facilities were monitored. But he relieved himself and washed as well as he could with a washcloth he found in a cabinet beneath the sink. It was a relief to rid himself of most of the blood that had dried on his skin.

There were disposable teeth cleaning supplies under the sink, as well…supplies that reminded him of those the Vawn used in the palace for guests. It was something else that told Ty that Malak and his Marauders had a closer connection with the palace than one would expect of Outcasts.

He decided to cleanse his teeth while he was in there. It was a simple task that made him feel a little less like a lifeless derelict. He made sure to swallow a healthy amount of water after rinsing, too. He had no idea when he’d next get anything to drink.

Malak was true to his word. He had the two guards who had been standing with Ty when he woke up pat him down for weapons after he exited the bathroom. They then escorted him back to the front of the storage unit.

“There you are,” Malak said when he spotted them coming. “I’m sure you feel more human now.”

Ty wasn’t going to reply, but Malak stood there looking at him expectantly, so he went with, “Yes, thanks.”

Malak smiled. “Excellent. So nice to see manners out here in the Dark Lands. But here is where we’ll part ways, TaeDane. I have some business to conduct here and will be unable to personally escort you to the mine. I’ll leave you in the capable hands of my commander, Cerybus. I’m confident he’ll hand you safely to the issuer of the bounty. And if it turns out the bounty is worth more when you’re dead, I’m confident he’ll kill you.”

Once again, Ty was stymied by Malak’s demeanor. The Marauder spoke of such things as suicide and murder in an unruffled, sophisticated tone.

“Normally, I would have attempted to serve you food or water tainted with a sleeping potion,” Malak said. “But as we both know, you would taste it. Ironic, isn’t it, that you ended up killing the woman you trained so thoroughly to protect?”

Ty just stared at him. If Malak expected a response to that, he’d wait all damn day.

Apparently reading as much in Ty’s expression, Malak clapped his hands together and said, “But I digress. Since we can’t have you knowing our location to share with others, we’ll have to blindfold you for the journey. I’m sure you understand. Garze, Bayt, he’s in your hands now. Restrain him and escort him onboard ship.”

Malak nodded at the guards standing behind Ty, who secured his hands with the same restraints they had used the evening before. The taller guard put Ty’s goggles on, followed by his air canister and mask. He then covered the goggles with black disks, blinding Ty.

The guards took advantage of that once they got him on the vessel. They led him into a low beam, slicing his forehead. They failed to warn him about a step up, causing him to go down hard without the ability to break his fall. At another point, something struck him in the gut, making him double over and dry heave.

That time, he was pretty sure someone just used their fist.

Through it all, he focused on where he was going. Once they got moving, he knew that the vessel they were on wasn’t the same one as the day before. It had even worse stability, making it easier for him to feel the subtlest change in direction. He mentally combined their route with the internal map he had started the evening before. Although there might be some slight adjusting needed, he was confident he’d remember the way back to the Gift.