There was prodding at my leg, and Asher muttered a curse. He was hovering near Darian, watching as the siren inspected the wound.
My eyes fluttered open. “Is it that bad?”
“Well, it ain’t fuckin’ good,” Asher responded bluntly as he continued to stare at the wound. Darian paused to glare at him, and a growl rumbled in Kade’s chest.
Asher’s expression became sheepish as he lifted his gaze to stare at Kade and me. “What? She asked,” he defended, and even though I couldn’t see Kade’s face, I could imagine the disapproving look he was giving the demon.
“This is going to sting, Raine lovely,” Darian warned, his crystal-blue eyes sympathetic as he stared at me and held up a bottle of some sort of alcohol. “And once I’ve cleaned the wound, I’ll need to stitch it up.” His long silver hair was a mess, the silver locks streaked with black blood, and I wondered whether he had his own wounds to attend to. Goddess, the siren had saved me. Hadthrownme from the outlier’s mouth, and I was still reeling from the fact that I’d be dead if it weren’t for him. Or Locke, for that matter.
“Just do it,” I said through clenched teeth, and Kade’s comforting hold on me tightened.
My body tensed when Darian poured the alcoholic liquid over the wound, my hands curling into tight fists at my sides as the pain became almost unbearable. And then I could feel the pinpricks and tugging on my leg as Darian stitched me back together.
Sweat beaded on my brow, and I tried to focus on my breathing.Breathe in. Breathe out.Darian yanked on the string a little harder as he tied the final knot, and Kade’s tight hold on me kept me from jolting away.
“That’s the worst over, Raine,” Kade’s deep voice rumbled in my ear, and my heart swelled at the way he held me, even now, while I was bleeding on his bed. At the fact that I didn’t have to go through it alone.
I swallowed and nodded, knowing that if I said anything the emotion would be evident in my voice.
With the wound clean and stitched, Darian set about smearing the strange blue paste on my leg before he dressed it with a proper, clean bandage. When he was finished, he stood and smiled at me. Weariness mixed with his expression of relief. “All done. Now all you need is rest.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled. I didn’t think I was going to be able to sleep when my leg still throbbed with pain, but when I closed my eyes and relaxed against Kade, darkness took me.
CHAPTER 12
~ Locke ~
Self-loathingandangerchokedme as I flew away from Raine and my brothers, heading toward the mountain. If I had kept walking with them, I’d have said something I would have regretted, and I needed a moment to clear my head.
My fury stayed with me as I soared across the sky, but it had dulled by the time I landed at the base of the mountain, my feet finding purchase on the rocky ground. Rolling my neck, I made my wings disappear into my back and forced my claws to retract, then I smoothed the front of my coat and straightened.
The door ahead of me hung wide open, having been ripped from its hinges, and I didn’t stop to wonder whether Kade’s wolf or Asher had done the damage. I simply strolled through and began making my way along the tunnels, heading toward Warrick’s lab.
It wasn’t long before I was in the depths of the mountain, and I hated that the darkness helped soothe my anger even more. An image of Raine as she was sinking into the ocean came to my mind, briefly igniting my fury, but I pushed it back just as I forced away all thoughts I had of her. I couldn’t be thinking about her now.
Outside the mountain, there were a few hours of sunlight left and most monsters were still in their beds, but I wasn’t surprised when I found Warrick in his office. The small room adjoined his lab and didn’t hold much other than a steel desk, chair, a filing cabinet, and countless sheets of paper.
Warrick sat with his back craned and his head bent down as he looked over a huge stack of papers spread out like a fan on the desk before him. The reports of the newbloods didn’t appear to be in any particular order, and he scratched his chin as he peered at them as if they were all the pieces of some giant puzzle he was trying to figure out. Gosren, Warrick’s goblin assistant, was nowhere to be seen, and I was thankful the sniveling monster wasn’t there while I spoke to my father.
“Bear shifter should do well against the ogre,” Warrick muttered, and I stiffened as I realized he was likely talking about the fights and who would be evenly matched during the Week of Orash. The Taratun council would meet the next night to discuss the initial groupings, and I knew Warrick would have a strong say during the discussion. The urge to ask him who Raine would be pitted against sat on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it down. He already knew I’d taken an interest in her, and no doubt that was what had sparked his own curiosity. I didn’t need to add more fuel to the fire.
“I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the outlier in the ocean,” I said, interrupting his mutterings.
“Ah, Locke,” he said, turning in his chair. His brows became smooth again, and his cruel black eyes fixed on my face. His left brow raised as he took in the bruises and cuts on my body and the monster blood splattered over me. “A messenger just left, yes. I’m glad to see you walked away mostly unharmed.”
There wasn’t an ounce of genuine concern in his voice, but that didn’t bother me. I’d long since learned my father preferred it when he thought I was weak and broken.
“The attacks have become much more frequent recently,” I said, keeping my voice even.Since the latest round of humans were pulled here for the trials,I wanted to add, but I didn’t. The last thing I wanted was for Warrick to be scrutinizing the newbloods and Raine more than he already was. It was possible that the timing of the two was a complete coincidence. “Have you discerned any more information from studying the creatures I’ve brought you? Today was the largest outlier we’ve seen yet.”
Warrick waved a hand in the air dismissively and turned back to the papers in front of him. “From what I hear, the gargoyles had no trouble bringing it down.”
I wasn’t surprised that he knew. The vampire had spies everywhere, and I’d long since suspected he had one of the gargoyles under his influence. But I didn’t miss how he only gave credit to Garan and his team and didn’t mention the role Darian and I had played. Not that it mattered. If anything, it was a good thing. When I’d spoken to Garan briefly after the outlier was defeated, I’d asked him to ensure his gargoyles didn’t speak of the newblood, Raine, and the fact she’d also been out there. If Warrick had one of the gargoyles reporting to him, thankfully, it hadn’t seemed that they’d mentioned her. It would have been hard explaining to Warrick why she was out there.
“We need to know why our animals and sea creatures are now being affected by the curse. If we don’t contain this, Katakin could fall.”
Unfazed by my comment, he began rifling through the reports, shuffling them around. “There has been no indication yet as to why the curse is changing, but I’m sure if you keep bringing me—”
I shot over to the side of his desk and slammed my fist down onto the latest report he was about to pick up. “We need answersnow. If all our livestock starts to turn into these monsters, they’ll be like a fucking army. We won’t survive!”
