Binding Ties
Page 15

“They deserve to know the truth.”
“They deserve to have a safe place to sleep tonight.”
“You heard Joseph. He’s going to make them stay here.”
Andreas looked around at the clean, well-lit hallway, complete with little alcoves containing fresh plants, flowers and artwork. “It’s not exactly a concentration camp. Why are you throwing such a fit? Have they been treating you badly?”
“Define badly.”
“Have they starved you or beat you or forced you to sleep out in the cold?”
“No, but you heard Joseph. He thinks he can boss me around.”
“He bosses everyone here around. That’s his job. He’s the reason this place is still standing, with so many juicy targets inside. He’s the reason the walls haven’t been overrun by demons. He’s the reason our wounded survived tonight and our young have a safe place to rest.”
“You make him sound like some kind of superhero.”
“That’s because he is.” Andreas held out his hands, showing off his tattered, bloody clothing. “Look at me. I barely survived tonight. Our home was overrun, and that’s my fault. Just like it’s Joseph’s fault that the home he protects is still standing.”
“That wasn’t your doing. We don’t have walls like they do. We don’t have magic to sling around like they do, or Sanguinar on hand to fix our every boo-boo. We survive on our own with help from no one.”
“That’s the problem, Lyka. We’re not surviving. We’re being targeted. Picked off. We’ve lost too many people in the past few months. I didn’t realize it until tonight, but those attacks were testing our strengths and weaknesses. Those attacks were feeding our enemy the information they needed to pull off what they did tonight.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I need to know that you’re doing your job here.”
“What job? I just sit around, trying not to let anyone touch me. I tried to get involved with the kids, teaching them, but even that is getting shut down. Apparently, human kids are too weak to be taught how to fight.”
“I know that you respect few things more than you do strength and skill in combat, but I have to side with Joseph on this one. Humans are much frailer than we are. It’s our job to protect them.”
“You sound just like him. It’s no wonder the two of you hit it off so well. You both love getting your way and bossing people around.”
Andreas stepped back, spreading his hands wide. “You want to challenge me for leadership?” he asked. “Go ahead. I’m tired. Distracted. You might just win.”
No, she wouldn’t. She knew better than to think she could. And the last thing she wanted was to injure her brother when he really did need to be out there looking for Eric and the kids.
“I don’t want your job. Just take me with you. I need to breathe free air.”
“Unless you’re telling me that you’ve been abused here, you’re just going to have to suck it up and deal like everyone else. I know you don’t like the role you were given, but that’s just too damn bad. It’s the role your people need you to play. Both your peoples.”
There were cameras everywhere. Nothing that was said in these halls was private. Before Andreas could give away her secrets, she stopped him, covering his mouth with her hand. “Shut the hell up,” she said, nodding toward the closest camera.
The second she touched him, she was inundated with emotion. Hopes. Dreams. Desires.
Her gift hadn’t been triggered this powerfully in so long, she’d almost forgotten about it. She hadn’t touched anyone but the kids since she’d been here, and the most she’d ever gotten from any of them was a faint desire to be safe. Free.
Sometimes, when the people around her had intense needs, she could feel that, but it was a subtle thing, not at all like the raging emotions that were pouring out of her brother.
He wanted peace. Protection for his people. He wanted to find Eric safe and well, right alongside the young who had been taken. He wanted to rebuild their home and find a way to make it safe for this and future generations.
There was something else, too. Something unexpected.
A woman.
Lyka couldn’t tell exactly who she was, but she could tell that Andreas wasn’t supposed to be wanting her—not when he was all but promised to Faolan.
“Who is she?” asked Lyka.
Andreas jerked back out of reach. “I really hate it when you do that.”
“Tell me who she is.”
His face darkened with embarrassment. “It doesn’t matter. It’s never going to happen. Let it go.”
“You can’t lie to me. I know how much you want her.”
“That’s none of your damn business.”
“Does Faolan know?”
“There’s nothing to tell her. I haven’t so much as touched the girl. I’ve barely even let myself glance at her. It’s a nonissue. Let it go.”
“I can’t. I felt what you do. The deep yearning you have for this woman. You can’t enter into an arrangement with Faolan when you feel like this.”
“You think I don’t know that?” growled Andreas. “It’s not like I asked for this. If I ignore it long enough, it will go away. Besides, you need to be spending less time using your gift on me and more time using it on the people here. If we’re to have a lasting peace with them, we need to know what it is they want, what we have to offer that is of value.”
“If you think I’m going to start touching the men around here, you’re crazy. You know what could happen.”
“Would that be such a bad thing? Can you think of a better way to tie our peoples together than a union like that?”
She went still as a ripple of betrayal coursed through her. “That was what you wanted all along, wasn’t it? That’s why you sent me here when Eric was just as good a choice for a hostage.”
“Eric would have killed someone here before the first full moon. You were the only choice.”
“That doesn’t answer my question. You chose me not because you thought I could keep our mother’s dirty little secret safe, but because you were hoping it would come out—that someone here would figure out what I am.”
Lyka felt the telltale tingling a second too late.