Binding Ties
Page 13

“How bad?”
Andreas looked to where his cousin’s blood pooled on the pavement. “I saw three of our men and two women go down. They bought us enough time to get the kids out—paid for those seconds with their lives.”
“Where is Carmen?”
“She’s safe. I put her in one of the vehicles with the young to make sure she had the most protection possible. All of our fighters were standing between them and harm.”
Joseph let out a relieved sigh. He’d claimed Carmen as his daughter to fulfill the death wish of one of his fallen brothers. He’d never wanted for her to go stay with the Slayers, but she’d given him little choice. As his adopted daughter, she was the only family he had that could serve as a hostage as valuable as Lyka was to Andreas. And Carmen had insisted in the way only a human teenager could.
“Anyone missing?” he asked.
The Slayer’s tawny eyes closed in frustration and pain. “Several of the kids were doing combat practice on the far side of the settlement. Eric was teaching them. He still hasn’t returned my calls.”
“Did you see him get out?”
Andreas shook his head. “I couldn’t go back and look. The place was swarming with demons. We’re lucky to have gotten as many of us out as we did.” He glanced around as if checking to see who was listening. Nearly everyone was busy doing something, and paying them little attention.
He leaned close, lowered his voice. “I’ve never seen this many demons in one place before. They looked almost . . . human. They walked on two legs. Had more skin than fur. Hell, Joseph, they used swords—shitty swords, but swords nonetheless.”
There had been reports of those kinds of creatures being bred. Joseph’s best guess was that the Synestryn were working toward creating an army that could move around in the daylight without raising human suspicion. No one knew exactly how they were doing it, but if they weren’t stopped soon, they were going to win the war by sheer numbers alone.
“How did they slip past your defenses?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Right now I’m more worried about getting the wounded to safety and getting back out there to find Eric and the kids.”
“Eric?” said Lyka. “What happened to our brother?”
Joseph turned and saw her hurrying toward them. She should have been too far away to have heard any of that conversation, but Slayer hearing was good, and hers, apparently, was excellent.
She was dressed in a heavy leather jacket, leather pants, and a belt bristling with weapons. Her hair was tied back and bound out of her face, which was far too pale with fear for Joseph’s peace of mind. Still, the instant he saw her, the pain behind his eyes eased and his whole world seemed to spin a little easier. He didn’t know why she had such an effect on him, but right now, he welcomed it.
Andreas turned in time to face his sister. “Take it easy. It’s not time to panic yet.”
“What’s wrong with your arm?” she asked.
“Dislocated. It’ll heal.”
“Good.” She jabbed a finger in his chest, making him wince. “Our people were attacked. Some were killed. Others are missing. Don’t you dare tell me not to panic. Where the hell is Eric?”
“We don’t know. We’re heading out after him as soon as we can.”
“I’m going with you,” she said.
“Like hell,” said Andreas, at the same time Joseph said, “No, you’re not.”
She glanced at each of them. “I’m not sure which one of you to smack first, but rest assured that if my brother and a bunch of our young are missing, I will be going out to find them.”
Andreas addressed Joseph. “I guess you haven’t had any more luck controlling her than I did.”
Joseph wasn’t going to step on that land mine, not if he could help it. Instead he turned the conversation back to safer ground. “We need to get you and your people some healing. While you do that, I’ll gather up some men and we’ll make plans to send out groups to help you find Eric and the kids.”
“I’ll figure out which of my people are fit to hunt and assign at least one of them to each group you send out. They’ll know Eric’s scent and will be able to follow it.”
“Sign me up for the first group that leaves,” said Lyka. “I’m ready to go, and I’m not injured.”
Joseph knew he was going to regret this at some point in the near future, but he had no choice. “I took a vow to ensure your safety. That means you stay here.”
“You can’t hold me prisoner. My brother won’t allow it.”
“I’m sorry,” said Andreas, “but Joseph is right. If you die while in Joseph’s care, the treaty will be broken. I need the help of the Theronai and Sanguinar too much right now to risk that happening. I know you want to help, but the answer is no.”
“You two really think you can keep me here?” she asked, her eyes narrowed in fury.
“There are prison cells beneath Dabyr,” said Joseph. “I’d rather not have to put you in one of them.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“To save your life? Hell, yes, I would.”
She turned to Andreas. “You’d let him lock me up like a prisoner?”
“I’ll toss you in there myself. I’m already worried I’ve lost one sibling. I won’t lose two.”
Her only response was a rough growl of anger before she turned and stalked away.
Andreas let out a low whistle. “You know we’re going to pay for that, right?”
“At least she’ll live long enough to make us suffer. I’m okay with that.”
“You only say that because you’ve never had her put a scorpion in your boxers. And that was when she was four. She’s had a lot of years to come up with much, much worse punishments.”
“Do you think I made the wrong call?” asked Joseph.
“Not at all. I’m just saying that if I were you, I’d shake my underwear out before stepping into it. Just to be safe.”
“I’ll take that under advisement. But for right now, we have a crisis to kill.”
Joseph found Logan and got his report. “Everyone is stable.”
“Did Andreas’s cousin survive?”
“He did, though it was a close call. He was seconds from death.”