Tenacity (Rise of the Iliri Book 5) Read online

  "Why do you even care?"

  Arctic pushed his hair back and stared at the clouds drifting over the granite walls. Blue sky peered between them, promising an end to the rain of the past few days.

  "You smell nice." He didn't know how else to explain the desires she stirred in him.

  "I can help, you know." She pointed at the building. "I can see them."

  Arctic breathed a sigh of relief at her quick change in subject. "You ever killed a man before, Shade?"

  She laughed softly and shook her head. "No, but I want to."

  Arctic nodded. "How well can you control it?" He felt pressure on his armor and looked, shocked to find her hand resting on the resin across his forearm.

  "I can do this. They will burn on the inside only. I really can do this." She pressed harder, and he met her eyes. "I'm not scared of you, either."

  He nodded but his throat wouldn't relax enough for him to speak. LT, he thought instead, I know how to clear the archers. Shaden's willing to help us.

  She offered? Blaec asked.

  Yeah and her hand's on my arm. My armor, but still. Walk softly, boss. She's doing well, today.

  On my way.

  "LT's coming," he said, wondering why it was easier to talk about death than his feelings. "I told him you offered to help. He'll need to talk to you, ok?"

  She nodded. "Blaec, the man who gave me his bed. He's Sal's Dernor, right?"

  "Yeah. You're catching on to this pretty fast."

  "Who's your mate?"

  He chuckled to hide his embarrassment. "Oh, boy," he muttered under his breath. "I'm waiting for her to choose me. I don't have a mate."

  "So, you're waiting for Sal?"

  "No. She's my Kaisae, but she's not for me."

  "How do you know that?" she asked.

  "Um," Arctic glanced behind him, hoping LT would arrive in time to change the subject, but saw nothing. "She doesn't smell right. She's strong, she's intelligent, and she's beautiful, but she doesn't smell right."

  Shaden nodded. "You know I didn't really grow up with iliri, right?"

  "Yeah. Sal told me you had a pretty rough start."

  "That doesn't mean I didn't pick up stuff in my cage," Shaden said boldly. "I'm a freak, I'm ugly, and I'm a whore, but I'm not stupid."

  "First," Arctic said, lifting his chin to meet her eyes, "you're not a whore. Whores choose their profession. Second, you're about the furthest thing from ugly that I can think of. And third, if you're a freak, then so are all iliri."

  "You want me, don't you."

  Arctic felt like the ground dropped out from under him. "It's not like that, Shade. I want you to just be willing to do this with me and be happy it's me you're talking to. That's all. I want to be your friend and for you to trust me." Her eyes were wide, looking confused, so he rambled on. "I'm not going to lie to you, ok? I am drawn to you, but not for the reasons you think."

  "Then why?"

  He shrugged. "Because you're different, you're smart, and you're strong. I want to be your friend, Shade. I don't care if I'm ever your lover. Ok?"

  "Promise?" she asked him softly.

  I can't walk any slower, man, Blaec sent.

  "I swear it," he told her, looking down at her hand. "That. That's all I want from you, ok? Now, LT's coming." To Blaec he thought, You're good. We're good. I told her you're coming.

  K. I sure as shit don't want her to blast you one, Blaec said, his amusement crossing the link. "I heard you can help?" he asked Shaden.

  "You want the archers off the wall?"

  "In a bit, we will."

  "If I can see them, I can melt them."

  Blaec nodded at her, standing well out of her personal space. "How does it work?"

  Shaden shrugged. "I look at them and they get hot. Some things explode if heated too fast, like the table. Rocks do it too. People? They die before they explode -usually."

  "Kill a lot of them?" Blaec asked.

  "No. They always stopped me. Deer and other animals, though." Shaden smiled at Blaec coldly. "I can start the fires, I can cook my own food, and I can make warmth. I look at something and it feels like it," she made a shaking motion with her hands, "vibrates inside. The harder I think, the faster it goes. The faster it goes, the hotter it gets."

  "How good are you?"

  "I had nothing else to do for most of my life." She looked pointedly at Arctic. "Why do you think my room was so barren?"

  Arctic told Blaec, "Table, and a cage. She blew the table when we found her."

  Blaec nodded. "Can you see them?" he asked the girl.

  "Yes, and the bows in their hands."

  "Can you see the tower on the far side?" He pointed to a stone spire three stories above the walls.

  "Yes."

  "Could you make one of the battlements on the top explode when I ask?"

  "What's a battlement?"

  Arctic answered, "The large stones that stick up. They're meant for soldiers and archers to hide behind so enemy arrows won't kill them."

  "Yeah. You just want one?"

  Blaec tipped his head in a yes. "Just one, and as big as you can make it. The louder, the better. I'm not worried about destroying it as much as I am about distracting the guards. If they hear the explosion behind them, they may not notice the gates opening. Blow the rock, then burn every man in black and purple on the walls. Whatever you do, no citizens and no Anglians, ok?"

  With her jaw set, Shaden nodded. "Ok."

  "Arctic, you stay with her. Until she's linked, I'll need you to relay. Sorry, brother, you'll miss the battle."

  Arctic laughed and clasped Blaec's shoulder. "I think I'll survive. Keep an eye on Zep? This will be his first time back on the front line."

  Blaec nodded. "Sal said the same. They got his back. Rragri's got the maargra slipping in through the drains and sewers. Going to be a lot of bad smelling mutts tonight. When we're in, can you send the wagons up?"

  "Can do. We taking the courtyard?"

  "I wanna see the layout, first. Probably going to put the greens outside the walls, grauori outside them, but I'll want the iliri inside. Dom and the elites, too, but I'm hoping we'll find some real beds for us."

  "Good call, man. Where's Shade staying?" Arctic asked gesturing at the girl.

  "Shade?" Blaec noticed the shortened form of her name.

  "I like it," she said.

  Blaec grinned slyly at Arctic then nodded to the girl. "I think she's one of us, brother. She stays with the Blades until she changes her mind. Anyone touches her, gut them, and let her eat them."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Eat them?" she asked, looking between the men.

  "If you have the preference, yes." Blaec's eyes never left hers. "We do things different in Anglia." With that, he turned and walked back down the hill, calling for soldiers as he went.

  "Eat them?" Shade asked Arctic this time.

  "I eat humans, Shade." He turned back to the wall. "I'm not human, and we eat our kills."

  She shook her head. "No. No, I can't do that."

  "You don't have to. Most of us want to. We can't resist the smell of them."

  "What about the dark man?" she asked.

  Arctic laughed but shook his head. "Nah. Zep was born human. They don't taste the same to him."

  "The rest of you? You eat people?"

  "Humans. Shift doesn't as much as some of us. Roo always prepares a second meat so Zep and Tilso are well fed. Sal and Jase tend to eat them on the bone. I figured I should warn you."

  "Just," she made a gesture of pulling something to her mouth and biting it, "to bodies?"

  "Humans. They are prey."

  "But not Zep?"

  "He's iliri."

  "The King?"

  Arctic chuckled. "Nah, he's my friend. We're hungry, we're not cruel. In war, we have enough food that we don't have to worry about it. We're still working out what to do when the war is over."

  "You know that's gross, right?"

  "No." Arctic chuckled
. "I don't. Do they not smell sweet to you?"

  "They smell strange, but not sweet."

  "Ah, well they smell amazing to us. When you're ready, I'll share a memory of the scent with you."

  "Do I have to link?" she asked timidly.

  "Nah. I have to touch you, though. I'm not strong enough to throw memories like Sal does unless we're linked already."

  "Where?"

  "Just your hand."

  She took a breath but nodded. "Ok," she said, holding out her hand. "Show me?"

  Arctic looked at her sweetly. He knew she was intimidated by him, and her bravado was her way of saving her pride. His eyes flicked from her hand to her face, then back. He slowly pulled off a glove and held his hand, palm up, to her. "It's your choice, Shade. It will always be your choice."

  She rested her hand in his. As gently as he could, he passed the memory to her, setting it at the very edge of her mind, refusing to go deeper. Her eyes widened as she watched it and he smiled when she inhaled deeply.

  "What do they taste like?" she asked, her hand still in his.

  Arctic passed her a pair of memories. One was of raw human flesh, carved from the kill. He packaged the scene so only the taste of the meat in his mouth was included. The other he shared was of Roo's cooking. Roasted maerte - human meat - seasoned carefully and laid out on a platter after a long fight. He included the rush that came with the taste and the warm feeling that coursed through his body.

  "That's amazing," she said, looking up at him. "They don't smell like that to me. Will you show me how you did that?"

  "Which?" Arctic asked.

  "The sharing thing. It was like a flame in my head, but it didn't burn, just gave light."

  "You've never been shown how to package and share memories?"

  She shook her head. "No. They didn't want to teach me much. They were always scared of me."

  "I can see that. You're pretty powerful, and people are often scared of power."

  "So why aren't you scared of me?"

  Arctic laughed. "Sal's got you beat. I've been living with her for a year and a half and have lost count of the times she saved my life. She didn't start out like this, so I never thought to be scared of her. Not really. Now? She's a pretty tough act to follow."

  "But, aren't you worried that I'll get scared and burn you?" He could hear that she wasn't trying to brag but was honestly curious.

  "Yes and no. I'm worried you'll get scared, but you'd never be able to burn me."

  "Why not?"

  "Sal. She'd stop you. That's why she stayed so close to you yesterday. Just in case."

  "She could stop me from burning?"

  Arctic nodded, very aware that Shaden still held his hand. "Shade, she could stop you from living. From across the camp, she could tell your heart to stop, and you'd just be dead."

  "And," Shaden looked around, "they all know this?"

  He nodded. "Not only do they know it, but they embrace it. I've seen Sal grab a man's mind and make his body block a death blow. It just takes a glance from her. She wouldn't harm them. She can't, not really."

  "Then how could she make me just die?"

  "If you threatened me. She can protect her own. That's what this entire war is, you know? It's Sal against the Emperor. He threatened her people, and she's going to kill everything until she gets to him. She can't do it alone, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't try."

  "Can I try it?" Shaden asked, again changing the subject too fast for Arctic to keep up.

  "Which?"

  "The meat. I'm guessing that's what's planned for dinner, right?" She peered up through her mass of red curls, her mismatched eyes shining deviously.

  "Yeah. If you want to try it, you're welcome to." Arctic rested his thumb against the back of her hand, slowly letting his arm relax. She still didn't let go, and his smile grew. "I'll help if you want to, ok? Some cuts are better than others."

  "Will it make me iliri?" she asked.

  "No. Your mind makes you iliri. Zep is iliri. Roo and Hwa are iliri. The girls are iliri. I think you're iliri, but you haven't truly chosen, yet."

  Gates are about to open, Blaec sent into Arctic's mind. See if she can blow the battlement?

  Will do.

  "Do I smell iliri?"

  "You smell beautiful. LT said it's time to blow up the stones."

  Shaden grinned at him, her smile finally wide enough that he could see her teeth. They weren't sharp like Sal's, but they weren't dull like a human's. She had two sets of clearly pointed canines, but her incisors were flat. Arctic wondered what they'd feel like and pulled his eyes away.

  "How big?" she asked, excited.

  "Loud. As loud as you can. If that's big, great. If it's not, that's ok too."

  "Ok. I need my hand." She slipped her fingers out of his and stared off at the tower.

  Touching the tips of her fingers to her temples, she concentrated. Her pupils constricted, turning to thin lines in her eyes and Arctic smiled. She was so lovely. Her delicate, heart-shaped face was nearly dwarfed by the mass of red and blonde curls. Her nose was small, like a human's, but her eyes were almost too large, making her look younger than she was. Arctic took a deep breath, enjoying her scent. She smelled like herbs - tangy, sweet, and bitter all at once, but clean and pure.

  The explosion pulled him back to the present, quickly. Horses screamed, reared, and men staggered to their knees as the ground shook under them. Shaden stood calmly, a smile on her face as she stared at the walls.

  "Fuck! Grab the horses and calm them down," Arctic called out behind him.

  "You said loud," Shade pointed out.

  "That was perfect," he assured her. "Better than I'd hoped."

  Gates are coming open. Can she clear the walls as well as she makes distractions? Blaec asked.

  Let's see! Arctic turned to Shaden. "You still want to kill men?"

  "Yeah."

  "Go for it. Purple and Black."

  Chapter 8

  Shaden stared at the walls. "One!" she said, proud of herself. "Two!"

  As she focused, Arctic could hear a small growl in the base of her throat. The pitch of it was higher than most iliri. He covered his mouth with his hand to hide the smile. She even growled adorably! Shade continued to call out numbers as men collapsed in place on the walls.

  She's frying them, Arctic told Blaec. And she's tickled about it.

  Just tell Sal if there's a problem. She's listening in, just in case.

  I've got no secrets from her, boss.

  "Twelve!" Shaden called as Arctic saw men moving above the gate.

  "Shade, over the gate, you see those?"

  "Yeah. This might be..." she trailed off and her hands went back to her head. Arctic watched at least eight men fall in their tracks.

  "Twenty," he told her. "More coming up the steps, imp. Fry them."

  "No," she said, pausing. "Those aren't Terrans."

  "Damn." Arctic realized she was right. "Good eyes. See any more?"

  She nodded and kept counting. Below them, Anglians moved forward as the large, acrylic gates swung slowly open. Men raced to the walls, and Shade dropped them. The only counterattack came pouring from the gate, mounted.

  Cavalry headed at you, Arctic told his pack. He felt the acknowledgment.

  "See the Blades?" he asked Shade. "All on dark horses, in black armor?"

  "Yeah."

  "In the front, that's LT, Sal, and Cyno. Sal's in the middle."

  The small group dropped their lances as one and pivoted around Sal, pushing the cavalry into the wall of pikemen. The Blades hit them hard from the flank, discarding their lances and pulling swords as their weapons became tangled. The change didn't slow them. The whole time, Arctic watched Zep closely, gasping when he saw a Terran knock the weapon from his hand. He took a half step forward wishing he was close enough to help.

  "Oh fuck," he whispered.

  As quick as it happened, Sal and Jase moved, blocking Zep from the front line long enough for him t
o draw another sword. Shift filled the gap the cessivi left until Zep pushed Cessa back into the melee. Above, Arctic rubbed his hands against this thighs, only just realizing he'd been clenching them.

  "Is Zep ok?" Shade asked.

  "Yeah. He's had a rough couple of months. This is his first time back on the front line since he died."

  "He really died?"

  Arctic nodded. "Yeah. He took a sword for Sal, right across the tattoo." He gestured at his own throat.

  "Why?" she asked.

  He looked over at her. "Zep loves her. He loves her more than life."

  "People really do that?"

  "Yes. They do. Jase and Zep, they're pretty close in how they love her, but LT's different. Not better or worse, just different. We all know it."

  "How?" she asked him.

  Arctic shrugged, trying to guess the direction of her question. "It's part of linking. We meld our minds for battle so we can watch each other's backs. I can see what they see, they see what I see, and we all share everything at the front of our minds."

  "Everything?"

  "Yeah, but only at the front. So, like, I can't just remember a childhood as a slave, but if Sal thinks Cyno's hot with blood all over him, it's pretty clear."

  "Ah, I see. You're ok with that?"

  "Which?" he asked, confused again.

  "Them knowing what you think?"

  "Oh yeah. We don't keep secrets. Not really. So, yeah, that's how I know how much they love her. We all feel it."

  "So does that mean you all love her too?" Shade asked.

  "Kinda. We love her, but for me, it's like my brother's wife. Shift thinks of her like a sister. Audgan is pretty smitten with her, but Geo thinks she's too smug. She is, you know."

  Shade giggled. "She's the Kaisae. Geo just never looked deep enough."

  Her words caught Arctic off guard, and he looked at her strangely. "Yeah. How'd you know that?"

  Shade shifted awkwardly. "I dunno. It's just how she seems. She has so much but still feels a little empty. She tries to hide it, but there's something missing for her."

  "Yeah. She doesn't have anyone to lean on. I mean..." He groaned, trying to find the right words. "She's got enough shoulders to cry on, but none of us can give her the answers. All her life, she had to do it herself. No one has ever been able to take care of her. She never had a mother to tell her it was ok. She never had a father to bite the man who hurt her. It's always been Sal against the world."