War Bringer (26 page)

Fee lifted her shoulders and drew a long breath to calm herself—she couldn’t go back to the house all red-faced. “I guess because it all matters so much to us.” Fiona dismounted. They walked shoulder to shoulder into the stables.
 

* * *

Fiona skipped dinner. Kelan and Max were still down in Colorado. She couldn’t quite deal with the worried looks she knew the other girls would still send her way.
 

After talking to Mandy, she’d spent the afternoon trying to figure out what she was going to do: stay for the claiming ceremony or leave before things got worse. There was only one answer coming to her. She was going to have to go.

Kelan was like an Arabian horse—all heart, all loyalty, running until it died because its master was too uncaring to see it wouldn’t quit.

Kelan would never give up on her. And King would never stop coming after them, after their kids, after the people they loved. Joining their lives together meant she imperiled his entire family.
 

That was not okay.

Somehow, she was going to have to find a way to say goodbye.
 

She was just finishing getting into a pair of baggy pajama bottoms and a tank top to sleep in, when a knock sounded on her door. Hope was standing there, a tray in hand.

“Hey. You weren’t at supper. I thought I’d come check on you.”

Fiona smiled and stepped back so that Hope could come in. She set the tray down at the small table in the corner of the room. “Ivy made a sandwich for you. They wanted to come up, but I thought a bunch of us might overwhelm you.”

Fiona plopped down in one of the chairs at the table. Hope pushed the tray toward her. A bowl of broccoli cheese soup and a crusty roll. It looked delicious. “Thanks, Hope.”

Hope tilted her head to the side and gave a little grin. “Couldn’t let my sister starve, could I?”

Fiona frowned at her. Sister?
 

“We share a brother. That makes us sisters, no?”

“I suppose it does.”

“Your hair looks cute.”

Fiona touched her curly bob. It had taken a while to get the extensions removed. Val had stayed with her the whole time. And every time the girls in the salon had shifted their attention from her to him, he returned their focus to her. She’d left there feeling almost like herself again.
 

“I always wanted a sister,” Fiona said, looking at Hope as she took a bite of the sandwich.
 

“Me too.”

Hope made small talk while she ate, telling Fiona about everything that had happened while she was away. It was so perfect, all of them, living here. She’d been terrified of the guys when she first came to Mandy’s. And now, they really were family. She had more sisters than just Hope, too.
 

How was she ever going to be able to leave all of them?

Hope folded her legs in front of her on the chair and braced her heels against the edge of the seat. She set her chin on her knees and focused on Fiona. She reached for Fee’s hand and squeezed it.

“I want to tell you something, something I haven’t told the others.” She told Fiona about the day she and Max met, how the club was cutting her clothes from her body with the intent of raping her. “My dad was among them. I didn’t know he was my dad, and I don’t think he knew I was his daughter. I was just some chick to abuse for the amusement of the club. King had sent me to the club to be killed. I’m sure of it.”

Fiona thought back to her twisted memories of what happened in the rotunda. She couldn’t bring herself to talk about it yet. She was pretty sure, though, that King had been at the ceremony.

He was never, ever, ever going to leave her alone, was he? She looked at Hope. “Can I ask a favor?”

“Anything.”

“I need to burn something.”

“What?”

“Something they made me wear the night Kelan got me out of there.”

Hope smiled. “Let’s do it. Grab whatever it is and meet me outside. I’ll get the firepit ready.” She took Fiona’s empty tray and left.

Fiona pulled a hoodie on over her tank top, then stepped into a pair of flip-flops and grabbed the bag with her cape in it.

Hope had a roaring fire in the big pit. Ivy was there. She gave Fiona a hug, but didn’t talk, didn’t ask questions. Her quiet acceptance of Fiona’s pain chipped away at Fiona’s frozen spirit. The three of them watched the fire burn for a little while, letting the kindling burn down and firewood catch the flames. Mandy and Eden came out. Remi followed them.
 

“I think it’s ready now, if you are,” Hope said.
 

Fiona took the cape and the shredded slip from the hospital bag. She tossed the silk slip on the fire first. It hissed and flared up, then burned the silk like a bit of dried paper. When it was just black ashes, Fiona dropped the red cape on the pyre. It was slower to catch, just from its sheer mass. Ivy handed her the poker. She pushed at the garment until it began to smoke, then watched as flames broke through and began to eat the thing.

She wasn’t sure how long they stood there silently watching the fire, but she was so mesmerized by it that she didn’t hear anyone come up behind her. Warm, big arms circled around her, pulling her back against a rock-hard chest.
 

She set the poker aside and turned to wrap her arms around Kelan. He bent and kissed her temple. Fiona realized the other guys had come to stand with their women, too.
 

“Burning that cape?” Kelan asked.

Fiona nodded.

“Good.”

They watched the fire for a few minutes. Fiona looked up at him. “Were you able to find the girls?”

“Yes. We found quite a few people living in areas even deeper than where they had you. It’s a labyrinth there.”

Hope crossed her arms over her chest. “Any hint of Lion and the watchers?”

“No. Max stayed on site to talk to the people we found. He was going to do some more exploring to see if there were other hidey-holes they might be in.”

“Maybe he could use my Malinois. I’ve been training her to find lost people—dementia patients who’ve wandered off. Kids who’ve gotten lost in woods. I’ve started working with her to find humans under rubble.”

“That’s a great idea,” Kelan said. “Maybe you could go down tomorrow with Greer and Remi. They’re picking up Doc Beck, too.”

Eden looked over at Greer, who was standing with his arms around Remi. “We’ll be ready when you are in the morning.”

Fiona remembered the diamond and pearl earrings that were in the bottom of the bag from the hospital. She fished them out and handed them to Greer. “Give these to Lobo tomorrow. They made me wear them during the ceremony. Maybe they were stollen from someone.”

The group got quiet after that. Fiona stared into the fire for a long while. It wasn’t until Kelan poked the logs that she realized the others had all gone inside, giving the two of them privacy.

He took a blanket from the plush loveseat, then coaxed her over to sit with him. The altitude they were at made the temperatures of these late summer nights changeable—sometimes warm, sometimes cool like tonight. He covered her then pulled her close. “I’m glad to see you out of your room.”

“Hope came and talked to me.”

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

Fiona braced herself for whatever his news might be—a new revelation about King or some other negative news.

“I stopped in to see Stacey in Fort Collins.”

Fiona looked at him.

“She died of a heroin overdose.”

“Oh my God.”

“I don’t think she knew she was helping King. I think she truly thought she was helping us.”

“She didn’t do drugs, Kelan. She wasn’t a user.”

“I told Lobo about her.”

Fiona leaned forward and folded her knees in front of her. “I can’t go back to CSU. I’m the reason she was killed.”

“She was killed because King’s a sick sonofabitch.”

“But he was after me. He could try again.”

“He could.”

“And if he does, who knows who else will get in the way or be steamrolled by him.”

“Can you switch your classes to online ones?”

“Not this semester. I can drop my classes, though.”

“That might not be a bad idea.”

“Kelan.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “I have to leave. I can’t stay here.”

“Why?”

“Because King has left me no choice.”

“He will kill you.”

Fiona nodded. “Maybe. But if he does, then at least he’ll leave you alone.”

“Fiona, sacrificing yourself will not end our troubles with him. While you were gone, Blade found some papers that his mother took from his stepdad. They describe in great detail this Omni World Order movement that King’s heading up at the moment. It’s much bigger than one man, or one small group of anarchists. It’s an international movement that began decades, if not centuries, ago. We haven’t gone through all of the papers, but some of them are very old.”

Fiona looked up at him as she tried to absorb all of that information. “I don’t know how I fit in to all of that, but I do know King is using his power to come after all of us because he wants me. He’s already taken Lion. I don’t want something bad to happen to everyone here. To you. If I let him take me, then the rest of you won’t hold any interest to him anymore.”

“Do you think that every one of us on the team didn’t already have targets on our backs simply because we’re coming after him? We’re safer together than separated. If you leave, King will kill you and still hunt us. And he isn’t only interested in you. It’s much bigger than you. If you stay, you can help us figure it out.”

“If anything happened to you because of me, I would not be able to live with that pain.”

“If you leave out of fear, I would not be able to live with that pain.” He pulled her closer. “We’re at war, Fiona. We’re getting very close to King. I can feel it. Will you wait this out a little longer before deciding?”

She looked at the fire, wishing she had that luxury.

After a while, when the fire burned to embers, Kelan put the screen over it. “Let’s quit for the night.” He held a hand out to her. They went inside by the living room. Fiona waited while he locked the doors. They went upstairs. He paused at her door.
 

Her heart started beating fast. Would he come in?

He lifted her chin, looking into her eyes for a long moment before he bent and kissed her cheek. “I’m just next door if you need me.”

She needed him. Desperately. But sooner or later she was going to have to break that bond. Maybe sooner was better than later.

She nodded and went into her room. Standing on just the other side of the closed door, she waited for the sound of his door shutting.

He wasn’t wrong in the things he’d said at the fire tonight. In fact, he was spot on. It just meant she was going to have to do some serious planning before she left.

Chapter
 
Twenty-Four

In all the craziness of her abduction, Fiona didn’t even realize that Zavi’s tutor had started until she ran into her in the hallway the second day she was home. She liked her right away. And she could tell Zavi was enthralled with his new teacher.
 

“Have you seen my classroom, Fee?” he asked.

“I haven’t.”

He took her hand and led her back to the classroom. He walked her around the whole room, pointing out what everything was.

Fiona smiled at Wynn. “I’m sorry I didn’t know you were here.”

“Oh, please, don’t worry about it. You’ve had enough on your mind! Besides, I haven’t been at breakfast and you haven’t been at the other meals.”

Fiona gave a small smile. “I’ve been hiding.”

“Why were you hiding?” Zavi looked up at her.

She ruffled his hair. “I’ve just been in a mood, that’s all.”

Wynn smiled. “And that’s understandable.”

“Zavi seems pretty happy you’re here.”

“That makes two of us!” Wynn said.

“Well, I don’t mean to keep you. Have a wonderful day studying, Zavi.”

“We will!”

Fiona wandered outside after that. She sat on the stone wall of the steps that led down to the lower lawn. There had been a frost overnight, but that had burned off a while ago. It would be hot later, but the morning was wonderfully crisp and fresh, the sky brilliantly blue. Fiona pulled the quilt she’d brought out with her tighter about herself.

Everyone seemed to have something to do. Mandy had her horses. Eden her dogs. Hope was working on the team’s vehicles. Remi was back at the university. Ivy was no doubt at the diner, catching up with work that had been put on hold during Fiona’s ordeal. Even the kids were occupied: Casey at school, Zavi with Wynn. The guys and Selena were down in the bunker. Kathy was busy in the kitchen cooking up a big meal—something she hadn’t been able to do while the team was spread out, searching for Fiona. And Dennis, her husband, was prepping Ty’s property for the change in seasons.
 

Everyone had something they needed to do. Everyone but her. It was Monday. She could have gone back to class. She hadn’t decided yet what to do about that.
 

King was such a madman that there was no telling what he would do next. She couldn’t continue to endanger her fellow students at the university. She couldn’t take a job for the same reason.

Would this nightmare ever end? She bent her head, blocking the happy blue sky from her eyes. After a while, she heard someone approaching. Not Kelan—she recognized Angel’s cheery whistling. He could whistle entire tunes the way some people hummed them.

He sat on the opposite side of the stairs from her, his back straight, his hands folded in his lap, his attention entirely on her. She tried to ignore him but should have known better than to think that was possible.
 

“Missed you at practice today.” He cut into the silence she’d been enjoying.
 

She shrugged, still facing away from him. “It’s not like it did me much good when it came time to use it.”

“Yeah. Sometimes shit’s just stacked against us. Did you know that there were thirty-five men arrested from the silo who were on King’s guard corps? Even Kelan was overwhelmed by them.”