Лори Девоти - Unbound

“And Kelly? Is that why you wanted to find her, too?”

He nodded. “Twin witches are very rare. Legendary. Lusse wants you both, but I also hoped you could…you might be able to break her hold on me.”

Kara stared at him as if she’d never seen him before. He’d never wanted to help her. He just wanted to use her and Kelly to save himself. “And after we helped you?”

His held out his hands. “I don’t know.”

How could he not know? Kara knew — thought Risk knew. Even though she hadn’t said the words, hadn’t even let them form in her mind — she knew.

She loved him.

How could he stand there and stare at her telling her he didn’t know?

Maybe she had fooled herself more than Risk had fooled her. Maybe his ability to shift into a beast straight from her nightmares wasn’t the only thing she had been blinded to. Maybe she was nothing more to him than a means to an end — chattel to deliver to his boss or a tool to use for his own benefit.

Could she even believe his story now? How did she know that his family had sold him, that he was really bound to some witch, or that he was the dog. Each piece was more fantastical than the last. Wouldn’t she be a fool to believe any of it?

“Show me,” she ordered. “Turn into the dog.”

“What?” He looked at her, brows lowered.

“Change. I want to see for myself that you really are that dog.”

“Kara.” He held out one hand and took a step toward her.

She raised her own hand, palm out. “Stop. Either change or leave. I don’t have time to sort through all this right now, to worry about the man that I — just change or get out.” Her voice cracked at the end. This was the only way. She had to know at least part of his story was true.

Risk stared at Kara standing there, her face firm, but the slight quaver in her voice and the pheromones rolling off her giving away her fear.

If he changed here in front of her, what would happen? Would she accept him for what he was, or run — never able to accept his demon half?

Her best friend had been killed by a dog, a mundane stray, and she still bore the scars. How could she possibly accept Risk after actually witnessing his change?

He dropped his hand. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t do it. It was hard enough to stand here and see the uncertainty in her eyes. Revulsion. Terror. To see those after the softness and concern she’d shown moments earlier would be more than he could bear.

Lusse was right. Just this short touch of a human existence, a human relationship, and he was weak. Open to a hurt he’d never even known existed.

“I can’t,” he replied.

Relief, confusion, anger, and finally, resolve flowed across Kara’s face.

“Then leave.” She pointed toward her door.

Risk hesitated for only an instant, then turned and headed to her door. He couldn’t even bring himself to shimmer. Even that small natural act brought more strongly to mind the differences between them and the unforgettable fact that at his core, he was in her eyes a monster.

Kara watched Risk drive off. She didn’t know why he bothered with a car at all. She’d seen his power to dissipate like mist, then reform miles away. She’d apparently experienced it herself. That at least explained her journeys from the bar to his cabin and her house.

Why keep the Jeep?

What did it matter? She pulled the drapes closed with an angry whoosh. He surely had his reasons. None of which were important to Kara.

Her arms folded over her chest, she sat down on the couch. The couch where she and RiskNo. She wouldn’t think about that.

Risk had lied to her, over and over. Making her believe he wanted to help her, that he cared about her.

Okay, he hadn’t said the words, but — She picked up a pillow and shoved her fist into its middle.

That was enough.

As far as the rest of it, maybe he was the dog, maybe he wasn’t. Kara wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She had hated dogs for so long, feared them. To think the man she’d made love to was…She laughed. God. The entire thing was insane. That she might even contemplate a relationship with such a being was beyond ludicrous.

But it was Risk, a tiny voice in her head reminded her.

She squished the square pillow into a ball and buried her face in it.

Why now? Why did he have to drop this on her now? When she had a real lead to finding Kelly. When things were looking up in her life.

Why couldn’t he have just gone on pretending a little longer?

She jerked her face away from the pillow. Damn it. Was that all she wanted — pretense? Was she that pathetic?

Dropping the pillow onto the floor, she stood up.

Okay, so Risk didn’t love her. So she’d come close to making a fool of herself and endangering both herself and Kelly. She hadn’t. She’d made Risk leave.

Now she was alone — no worse off than she’d been before. Better off. She was wiser, knew about her powers, knew the key was at that bar.

She could do this by herself. She didn’t need Risk.

No, that same tiny voice murmured, but you want him.

Risk drove as fast as the Jeep would go, the doors and undercarriage rattling as if pieces would fly off at any moment. He’d left when Kara had asked him, but he couldn’t walk away.

Lusse wouldn’t let him, but that wasn’t all. It was Kara. He couldn’t desert her. She might want nothing more to do with him, but he had to do what he could to make sure she was safe.

Maybe if he didn’t bring her and her sister to Lusse, Lusse would kill him. Of course, that would solve nothing. Lusse would just send another hound to hunt them down — maybe Venge.

Risk whacked his fist against the steering wheel.

There had to be a way out. Kara might never accept the reality of what he was, but there had to be a way to save her from Lusse and whatever else was stalking witches in her world.

Gravel and dust flew from the back tires as he took the turn that would take him through the portal and to his secret escape.

He’d found the doorway centuries earlier. The worlds were littered with portals, most of them just like this, leading to one small pocket of alternative reality.

No one bothered guarding a portal like this — unless it was the being that claimed the patch of world on the other side. But the portal Lusse’d described — one that a forandre as powerful as a garm would protect — that had to be something else entirely.

Lead either to a number of worlds — or one claimed by a very powerful being.

A powerful being who even right now could be stalking Kara.

Another taxi ride brought Kara back to the Guardian’s Keep. She slammed the cab’s door and strode to the bar’s entrance.

This time she wasn’t leaving until she found out who had her sister. Ignoring the sign swinging overhead, she yanked open the door and placed her slush-covered boots firmly inside. Take no prisoners. Take no flak. That was her new motto — at least for tonight.

The bar was busy again — as it had been the first night. Every table and booth was full, all but two bar stools occupied.

The same uncooperative bartender stood behind the bar, his gaze traveling over the crowd.

Staring down a cocktail waitress who swung past her, tray loaded with drinks, Kara forged a path toward one of the empty stools.

“Whiskey. And information.” She dropped a twenty onto the wood.

The bartender picked up the bill, wadded it into a ball and set it back in front of her.

“Go home.” He grabbed a bottle from under the bar and filled the glass of a man sitting nearby.

Kara tugged off her leather gloves one finger at a time. “I’m not leaving. I know you know something.”

“Do you?” He shrugged and swept some change off the bar into his waiting palm.