Kane (6 page)

Kane’s lips twisted in a rueful grin. “I
didn’t want to do it this way.”

“Too late, huh?” She decided to skip over the
newcomer’s identities. “Where’s my sister?”

“Best guess?” Kane asked.

She nodded and Rheana looked up sharply from
where she was stitching Nico’s cut.

“Ouch.”

“Keep whining and it’ll hurt worse,” Rheana
answered. Nico shut up.

“Best guess,” Calista prodded, dreading the
response.

“General Tobias sent three people after
her.”

She ground her back molars, holding in the
scream threatening to burst forth. Rheana carefully put down the
needle she held and stood.

“Calista,” she cautioned softly.

They ignored everyone else in the room,
remembering Tobias, remembering the explosion he’d caused that
killed their parents.

“I’m going to kill him. I should have done it
years ago,” Calista said.

She expected Rheana to argue, to try to sway
her to be cautious. They’d had the argument many times over the
years. But she didn’t, she watched her until the seconds stretched
into an eternity. The clock ticked them off loudly in the room and
finally Rheana nodded.

“We’ll do it together,” Rheana answered.

“No!” Kane and Nico chorused. Nico even
lurched to his feet, holding one arm out to steady himself and one
to the side of his head.

Calista just shook her head. “Stay here with
Nico,” she told her sister. “He’s obviously hurt worse than we
thought if he thinks he can order you around. Besides I can move
faster alone.”

Her stomach knotted in that now familiar way.
Heading into the Old City alone was foolhardy at best. Going after
Tobias? Possibly suicide. She turned, planning to go upstairs,
dress and get moving. Kane stopped her, catching her elbow before
she made the door.

“Not so fast,” he said.

One of the men he’d called in closed the door
and stepped in front of it. She snorted and threw her hands up in
the air. Captive in her own home. It should have made her angrier,
but she was too stunned to care.

“That, by the way,” he nodded at the man
blocking the door, “is Sebastian. Be nice to him. He’s one of those
advisors I mentioned earlier. And that,” he turned and pointed to
the grinning man in front of the fireplace, “is another one. My
brother, Mathias.”

She finally found her tongue. “I can’t
believe you have a brother I never knew about. Any other secrets?
Or are you keeping them all to yourself still?”

He sighed and crossed his arms over his
chest. “If you’re going to be difficult, this is going to take
longer.”

Oh, that did it. And to think she’d actually
been considering the possibility of a real relationship with him.
That bombshell from her own psyche didn’t even slow her down
though. She walked up to him and poked a finger in his chest.

“Don’t you dare accuse me of being difficult.
You…” Someone snickered behind her, and she made an effort to reign
in her temper. She wasn’t opposed to causing a scene on general
principle, but she was seriously uninformed in this situation.
“Look, I don’t have time for this. I have to find my sister.”

“We’ll find her,” he answered softly. “But
there are other things you need to know before you go racing out of
here, plans have to be made. And I’d like some answers of my
own.”

“Fine. Talk. But hurry, would you?”

“Tell me what your connection to Tobias is
first.”

“Not so fast, big boy. You know, I thought
you would be good for my sister, but it’s very apparent you’ve kept
some pretty major secrets from her. What’s to stop you from sharing
yours with us?” Rheana answered and Calista didn’t bother to hide
her grin.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “I have the feeling
yours will take a lot less time.”

“What’s that expression you like so much?”
Calista asked, then smiled sweetly. “Oh yeah. Tough shit.”

Sighing, he rubbed a hand over his face. His
companions had grown quiet, serious.
Curious
. “Okay. Fine
I’ll go first.”

They nodded assent, waiting for him to
begin.

“Have you heard of the Special Branch?”

She met her sister’s gaze, saw it shutter and
was sure hers did the same. Did they know Special Branch? Knew it
and hated it. It was his work in the Branch that had got their
father killed.

“Yeah,” Rheana answered for them and Calista
knew the level of her upset due to her loss of correct diction. She
edged closer and clasped Rheana’s hand. It seemed to give her
strength, and she straightened her spine. “We know it.”

Kane frowned, looking back and forth between
the two of them. “What am I missing here?”

“You first,” Calista answered.

“Good God. Fine. I work for Special Branch,
have for years. I was given intelligence yesterday evening that
Tobias was sending someone for Isadora.”

Calista turned her head to meet Rheana’s
gaze. She lifted the gun out of the pocket of Rheana’s robe, where
she’d hastily tucked it. Her hands trembled in anger and hurt, and
she wondered if she could shoot the man who’d made love to her such
a short time ago.
No. Not made love. That was just sex.
She
squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep breath, trying to calm her
racing heart and released Rheana’s hand when she opened them.

“Kane first. Then Tobias,” Calista said.

Rheana grabbed her wrist before she could
raise the gun. The three men in his pack all shifted nervously, but
Kane waved them off and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I know you’ve been tempted, but you’ve never
actually tried to kill me before.”

“There’s a first for everything.”

He nodded, like a sage old man agreeing with
good advice. It made her want to shoot him twice.

“It might help if I knew why. I’m guessing
the Special Branch mention did it?”

She tried to think of all the fun ways she
could torture him. Tie him down and throw rocks was looking good.
Or tie him down and make use of a nice soft feather. Oh wait, that
was the other kind of torture, and she was not going there again.
She gave him her meanest smile, the one reserved for ruffians and
bounties.

“Let’s see. You come at me with all this mate
business a few hours ago and conveniently forget to add you come
not only with an entourage, but a brother. You knew several hours
ago my sister was in danger and failed to mention it. Now you’re
telling me you’re in Special Branch. And let me just settle your
mind about the whole mate thing. No. Way. In. Hell.”

She lowered the hammer on the pistol and
carefully set it on the end table. She wanted,
needed
out of
this room. Needed time to process all this information and she
didn’t have it. Izzy didn’t have it. She didn’t even argue when
Nico pocketed the gun. A show of faith, right? She wouldn’t kill
their precious Alpha, and they would let her go. It sounded like a
fair trade to her. Except the quiet one still blocked the door, and
when she glared at Kane, he just shook his head no. She considered
trying one of the windows, but climbing out into a bed of rose
bushes dressed only in a robe didn’t sound very appealing.

“You still haven’t explained your aversion to
Special Branch. Or how you know about it.” Kane’s tone was curious.
“You have a reputation for staying away from government and rebel
work, so the anger doesn’t seem to fit.”

“I have a good reason for staying out of it.”
She took a deep breath and went for the abridged version. “Our
father worked for Special Branch. Somehow Tobias found out who he
was and blew up the inn he and my mother were staying in.”

Her voice shook with pain and rage, new and
old. She’d thought her affair with Kane was safe. He was the city’s
Alpha but had never seemed very interested in the job. She’d
thought he was addicted to excitement like she was, that he would
never settle down and get serious. There’d been a lot of appeal in
that. She’d been so wrong about him, and she didn’t want to be
forced to reevaluate him, the kind of man he was. That knowledge
would put her on different footing and a different path. She really
was going to have to give him up, and she couldn’t believe how much
the idea hurt. Had she already invested too much of her heart? No.
She refused to believe it.

“Why didn’t we know this?” he murmured. “I
wonder if Phineas knows.”

Rheana’s laugh rang bitterly through the
room. “Phineas has his own agenda and not much use for people who
get in the way of it.”

Nico scowled. “I know you’re not suggesting
Phin is a traitor.”

She snorted. “No. Just that he doesn’t see
anything but his goal--ending the rebellion. And no, we aren’t
sympathetic to the rebellion, but Phin doesn’t…count the cost. He
thinks people are expendable to the cause. He’s no better than
Tobias in that regard.”

Nico frowned at her. “I can’t believe you’d
compare the two, Rheana.”

She shrugged. “I lost my parents to the games
those two play with each other. What I’d really like to know is why
my sister got dragged into it?”

“Good question,” Calista added. “I’d like to
know that one myself.”

“Sorry,” Kane answered. “I assumed you would
guess. You know what she’s been working on? Looking for a cure for
the plague?”

“Yes. She’s close too, she thinks.”

“I guess so. She’s apparently found a cure
for us.” He nodded his head to take in the others in the room. “For
shifters and vampires.”

She was quiet a minute. Isadora had
complained when the cure had turned out to be the wrong cure, and
she’d destroyed it. How was it discovered? By Tobias, no less. She
could certainly see the advantage of one side having it and finding
a way to surreptitiously use it on the other. If Tobias could pull
it off, the South might actually win. The idea left a bad taste in
her mouth, like old curdled milk.

“How do you know this?” Rheana asked.

Kane’s eyes shuttered, and Calista knew he
didn’t trust her with all his secrets. She didn’t blame him. These
were secrets she wanted no part of.

“An informant inside Tobias’ camp.”

“An informant or a Branch spy?”

He didn’t answer, just clamped his mouth
shut. She nodded at Rheana.

“A spy then.”

Rheana agreed. “That would be my guess.”

“Anything else I should know?” Calista asked,
turning back to Kane.

He shook his head. “That’s about it.”

“Good. Let me out of here. I have to go after
my sister.”

He nodded to Sebastian who moved from the
door. “Get dressed. We’ll start gathering supplies.”

From the open doorway, she turned and
narrowed her eyes. He was
not
tagging along. “This is my
sister, my business. I don’t need or want any help.”

He smiled but there was no warmth in it, only
grim determination.

“Tough shit.”

She shook her head and left the room,
gathering her robe in two hands she ran up the stairs.
We’ll see
about that.

CHAPTER FOUR

It took a few hours to make travel
arrangements, then gather rations, water, weapons, and extra
ammunition. Kane kept Calista in the dark as long as possible,
knowing she’d balk at their transportation, afraid she’d try to set
out on the road on her own again if he left her behind. She’d
already tried to sneak away once. He’d counted on that and been
ready for it with guards watching the back of the house. By the
time they left the house the sun was rising, and Calista was
fuming. At him. He kept his expression stoic and his gaze on the
road, not giving into the sigh that threatened to erupt or his own
building temper.

Her anger served one good purpose. She was so
wrapped up in it she didn’t notice the airship until they were
almost on top of it. When the ship registered, her eyes widened and
she paled, jerking her head around the meet his gaze.

“No.”

“We got word while you were sulking that Izzy
and her kidnappers were spotted leaving the city in an airship. You
know we can’t catch up to them on horseback.”

Thankfully, Special Branch had an airship at
its disposal, and Phin had been easily convinced to let them use
it. Mathias, Sebastian, and the pilot loaded their supplies while
he pulled Calista aside.

“I do not sulk.”

He’d been hoping for an angry retort, but her
voice shook a little and her pretty face paled with unease. He’d
known she had a problem with heights from a previous job and from
the incident yesterday on the wall. This was a hell of a way to
force her to face that fear, but he didn’t have a choice. There was
no time to delay, and he couldn’t trust her to stay put if he left
her behind. He hoped her devotion to her sister was enough to get
her on board. He’d really hate to have to drag her on kicking and
screaming. Maybe he should just knock her out. One look at the
weaponry disbursed around her body and he nixed that idea. She’d
come to shooting, and if that didn’t kill him, the long fall
would.

Mathias signaled they were ready to go, and
he took her elbow, guiding her to the steps that led up into the
passenger box. She hesitated at the bottom step, her fingers
convulsively clenching on his arm.

“It’s the fastest way to get to Izzy,
darlin’. Look how high the sides are. We’ll get on, go find
somewhere to sit and I’ll stay right by your side.”

She glared at him. Fine. Maybe offering her a
way to conceal or ignore her fear was the wrong approach. Or maybe
it was reminding her he’d be close. Instead she got her back up
again, but at least it spurred her in to stepping on board.
Shrugging his arm off, she found a clear space and sat on the
floor, putting her back to the wall and glaring at him when he
thought to join her. Okay. He’d give her some room. For now.

He spun on his heel and went to see if the
pilot needed any help. Mathias and Sebastian had everything well
under control and they were soon casting off, lifting slowly into
the air. He watched Calista from the corner of his eye,
surreptitiously judging her reaction. She was pale, hands fisted on
her lap, but hanging tough. He smiled. She was a truly exceptional
woman. But her eyes were frigid when she met his gaze, so instead
of joining her he took a minute to check out the airship. He hadn’t
ridden in one this big before.