Warrior Prince (6 page)

Sweat dripped off my skin, the air thick with concentration.

Garreth's brows lowered. Grappling my upper arms, he dug iron fingers into my skin and pulled.

I broke free, whipping around with a roundhouse kick that made contact with his lower back.

He grunted. Meaty arm flew forward, fist catching my jaw with enough force to snap my head to the side.

Sharp pain flared.

I welcomed the hit. For one millisecond, it flung aside images that wouldn't leave me alone.

Garreth moved and I evaded his throat strike at the last moment.

What happened with her was a kind of exercise in self-discipline.

Or maybe torture.

Because I'd gotten an intoxicating, mind-altering taste of something I could never have again.

Foot hammered against the back of his thigh.

Still, the memories came. Of how she'd felt beneath me. How something inside had shifted and opened.

The moment I'd called it a mistake and everything stilled.

The flash of raw hurt before her expression shuttered.

Furious, I growled as Garreth dodged my fist.

And now I was avoiding her like a damned coward.

He leaped into the air, legs snapping near my face in a butterfly kick. I swung my body out of the way and counter-attacked.

I feinted left then pivoted, finding my target with exact accuracy.

Fist sunk into his solar plexus. Garreth let out a whoosh of air and fell onto his back.

When he finally managed to catch his breath, he let out a string of inventive curses. "Think you broke something in there."

"Sorry." I reached down and helped him up.

He grimaced. "I suppose it's an honor to be your punching bag."

"I'll go easier on you next time."

"Don't you dare," he snarled and limped off to join a group of gardinels observing from the far wall.

Smiling, I picked up my bag and walked over to the bench. Gabe and Julian entered the mat room and headed my way. Unexpected resentment flared at the sight of the First Lieutenant.

I dropped the gym bag a little harder than I needed to.

Gabe raised his brow. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing." I shrugged out of my sweaty shirt and changed to a clean, dry one. "What's going on?"

Julian leaned against the wall. "I got info on their last whereabouts."

I kept my voice flat. "And?"

"And Kevin was taken first. There was evidence of a scuffle in the area in front of the storage facility."

"No cameras?"

Gabe shook his head. "Facility's security cameras don't work. They're just for show."

I let out an exasperated breath. I'd hoped for a visual of the Aquidae or traitor we were dealing with.

We still had nothing.

Julian ran a hand through his hair. "Cassandra seems to have willingly left Haverleau. Call from an untraceable cell was made to her the morning of the Governor's Ball. Kevin had already left a few hours earlier. So they probably contacted her right after they got him."

By the time Romilly, her assigned gardinel, arrived at her house for duty at 11AM, she was gone. There was only a note stating she was with Kevin and would see him at the ball later that night.

The selkie hadn't thought anything of it. I remembered his remorse, face carved with the sheer weight of his mistake after the discovery of their bodies.

"You know it's someone on the inside." Julian crossed his arms and gave me an expectant look. "Why aren't you questioning them? Investigating Council members?"

Gabe remained silent, but his expression turned troubled. So the chevaliers had come to the same conclusion.

Only someone who was intimately acquainted with Kevin and Cassandra could've set up that type of abduction. Someone who knew Kevin went once a week to the Lyondale storage facility he used as a makeshift studio. Someone who knew Romilly's schedule with Cassandra.

Someone who knew their identity as a Warden Pair.

Uneasiness stirred.

"We can't do that yet." I tossed my towel into the bag.

"Why not?" A note of challenge entered his tone. "We should investigate Council members and those who knew—"

"Because it would create a panic." I concentrated on keeping my temper under control. "We can't afford to frighten Haverleau when we're trying to reassure the people we're in control. It's a delicate time with the
sondaleur
—"

"That's the problem with politics. All talk, no action."

Irritation crackled, fed by energy I hadn't released with Garreth.

Julian lacked subtlety. He was a strong chevalier, but part of the reason he worked alone was because he was unable to work with others.

"It's wise to be patient and wait until the mud settles, waters clear, and the right action rises to the surface."

"Lao Tzu was right about many things," he easily countered. "But we can't discover new oceans unless we're willing to lose sight of the shore."

Gide. Clever.

"If only things were always that simple."

Gabe raised his brow, but offered no comment.

"Sometimes things are that simple, Your Highness. Between things that are right." Julian paused. "And things that are wrong."

I ignored the insinuation. "If he discovers we're on to him, he may make a desperate move."

It was dangerous. In fact, the traitor may already be aware of our suspicions.

"Who knows about this?"

Gabe frowned. "Usual inner circle."

I trusted the chevaliers. But not as much as I trusted my men.

And even among my men, mistakes could be made. No one was infallible.

Instinct tingled.

"Garreth," I called out."Who's keeping watch on the
sondaleur
?"

"Ewan checked on her at dinner. She didn't show up to the cafeteria, but she hasn't left the dorms."

Pelletier suspended her last night for partying. Probably still hungover.

But I couldn't shake the shadow of anxiety.

"Check on her after you finish up here."

Garreth nodded in acknowledgment.

I ignored the knowing look Julian shot me and grabbed my bag.

"Heading to the Governing House?" Gabe asked. "We have to fill Rhian in."

"Yes, Your Highness." The mock politeness of his tone grated. "Do you want to be there while I make my report to the Governor?"

Are you a prince or a gardinel?

Damn it. I knew who I was.

"No," I said coolly. "I'll spend the night here."

But as I headed for the west side of campus, I couldn't shake the threads of apprehension. At first, I thought it was because I let Julian get under my skin.

But then I realized the sensation was more delicate than that. It came from instinct.

Skin prickled. I stopped and watched the campus.

Curfew was fast approaching and students were hurrying back to the dorms.
 

Every sense strained. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

After a few minutes, I shook my head and entered gardinel housing.

When the pounding footsteps came from behind, some part of me already knew.

A brown-haired recruit I vaguely recognized tried to catch his breath.

What was his name? Cam. He was dating Chloe.

The whispers grew into a roar of fear. "What is it?"

"I have a message from Kendra."

TEN

The light smattering of freckles sharply contrasted with her pale complexion.

"Aubrey." Fear and fury had become a tight, cold knot in my stomach. "She may be in trouble."

"I really don't know anything." She swallowed, nervous eyes flickering to my face then away. "She didn't explain what was going on. Just took my car keys."

"Can you think of where she might've gone? Anything can help."

Her delicate brows furrowed.

Each passing second felt like an eternity.

"Maybe —"

"Yes?"

She hesitated. "My car has a GPS system. There's no guarantee she's still with the car but we can see —"

"Hurry."

Without another word, she pulled out her laptop. Fingers flew across the keyboard.

"Here." She shifted to show me the map on the screen. "Corner of Chaseton and Belford. Why would she —"

The door swung shut behind me.

Ewan, Garreth, Adrian, and Lyle waited in a SUV. I drove us out of Haverleau within a minute.

"Where?" Garreth asked.

"West Lyondale."

"Why?"

I shook my head. That terrible anxiety grew, expanding from the pit of my stomach into my chest.

How did she figure out the traitor? Nexa suspected she might be experiencing visions, a rare side effect of strong Empath magic. Since her mother was a Clarvoyant, the likelihood of Kendra possessing it was higher than most.

But even if she had seen a vision of Miriam, why leave?

There were only two possible reasons. Because she thought it'd keep Haverleau safe or…

Blood ran cold as images of Kevin's scars and the torture marks on Cassandra flashed through my mind.

Or she went to protect someone.

I took the exit curve sharply, car's wheels screeching in protest. We'd just entered the city limits when I felt it.

The faintest tug in my veins, an intimate brush of Virtue touching my own magic. At the same moment, a pure, shimmering beacon of pale white blazed up into the night.

Ewan leaned between the two front seats and stared. "What the hell?"

It was the most peculiar sensation.

I'd never been more afraid in my life. And I'd also never been in more awe.

Her aura was beyond beautiful. It was a force of nature, a mesmerizing display of power and beauty that both humbled and inspired.

It also gave us her location. As well as to any other Aquidae nearby.

I slammed the accelerator down.

Car careened around the corner just as the blinding aura winked out.

Several other cars pulled into the street. I ripped the rusted warehouse door off its hinges.

And froze.

Hacked body parts littered the space. Splashes of onyx blood painted the walls and floor.

A tiny figure huddled in the corner, blackened blade on the ground beside her.

Holding a body I recognized.

The uncontrollable flood of images came, the accompanying sensations so vivid as to seem real.

His eyes stayed open. Unseeing and empty.

Numb fingers pulled the glowing kouperet out of his neck.

Body slowly slid down the wall and I instinctively reached out.
 

Falling to my knees, I clutched the slumped corpse.

There was a disconnect between mind and body. A fundamental inability to process that this freezing corpse was Eric.

Who taught me how to hold my breath longer. Who showed me the hidden caves behind the palace. Who taught me how to make a fist correctly.

My brother.

Minutes ticked by. And I remained alone in the weight of what I'd done and its consequences.

Iciness expanded until every part of me shut off.

The first sensation I grew aware of was silver pressing against skin. A reminder of the promise I'd made.

The pedaillon chain was cold.

 
Like him. Like the chill that had settled deep in my bones.

I removed it.

Cold sweat trickled down my temple. Stained alley walls shifted back to the dusty concrete of an abandoned warehouse. The gritty layer of New York City eighteen years ago peeled away to present day Lyondale.

It wasn't me on the ground, clinging to a body.

She hadn't moved, her back and arms locked in a protective, almost feral position.

For one heart-stopping moment, I thought I was too late.

Ewan and Adrian gently tugged her arms, seeing the wound in her aura. It flickered, the edges tattered and frayed like a cloth worn-out from overuse.

"No!" Her reaction was as sudden as it was vehement. "He's still warm! I'm not leaving him!"

It wasn't her voice, the sultry heated warmth that reminded me of summer waters.

It was the scream of War.

"Don't touch her," I ordered. "No one touch her."

At first, I wasn't sure what to do.

But with each step I took, the answer became clearer.

When I closed the last bit of distance, it wasn't just obvious. It was also the most natural thing in the world.

Because I knew where the blood had taken her.

Placing my body between her and the others, I wrapped my arms around slender shoulders.

And simply stayed beside her.

No clutching, no pulling. Just giving her what she needed.

A momentary privacy away from prying eyes and continuous demands.

"Kendra."

It was only the two of us. At the cove. At the club. Whenever we were together.

I whispered her name over and over, even as my insides howled and raged with her.

Gradually, body turned limp. Arms let go. And I lifted her as if she were made of glass.

She buried her face in my neck, the vulnerable gesture twisting deep inside.

Chevaliers and gardinels swarmed, enveloping us in the sounds and sights of war, death, and blood.

My arms tightened. I didn't want any of it to touch her.

I climbed into the back of a car and carefully settled her on my lap. Lines of exhaustion and pain etched into her delicate face. Ewan got behind the wheel. I met his eyes in the rearview mirror and nodded.

No noticeable physical injury, but her aura was concerning. The bruising within was deep. She needed a Healer.

Caressing her hair, I gently moved damp locks away from her face. Wishing my hands had the power to take away more.

"He was still warm." Fingers weakly pulled my shirt. "I…I needed to keep him warm."

Memories blurred with reality, the past and present tangling in an infinitely repeating cycle.

"I know."

She closed her eyes and exhaled. The barely audible sound vibrated through every cell, her pain and mine melding into a new wave of grief that washed through me.