Лори Девоти - Unbound

“Ah, forandre. You are smart and powerful.” Jormun pounded Risk on the back. “I will hope that the witch loses. I think you would be a much better companion.”

With a nod they sealed their bargain. Risk stepped through the doorway, leaving Jormun rubbing his hands and mumbling to himself. Lusse was right; Jormun did have secrets. Secrets, thankfully, he didn’t want leaked out to the rest of the worlds.

Now Risk just had to make sure Lusse beat the twins without killing them in the process.

“He made them.” The words exploded from Lusse as soon as the door to their space had closed.

Eyeing the end of the room beyond which Kara and her sister’s room lay, Risk didn’t reply.

“Did you hear me? He made them.” Lusse threw her hands in the air. “Do you know what kind of crime that is? The gods will do more than toss him out — they will chop him into bits and feed him to these fish that surround him.” She sniffed as a purple eel-like creature slithered by their tube. “And the power. Where is he hiding his power? I could smell some on him, but nothing like what is required for this.” She wrapped her hands together and stared at the doorway where Jormun’s creatures had left.

“I need that power,” she declared.

“You’ll get it once you win,” he reminded her.

“Yes, I will.” Lusse walked to the end of the tube next to Kara and her sister. A wall of water separated them, but Risk could still see the pair, make out Kara’s graceful movements from her sister’s more determined choppy ones. “They are tempting, aren’t they? They would go well with my garm.”

“But they weren’t part of your bargain.”

Lusse tilted her head, studying the nearby tube, then snorted. “Like that matters.” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “You don’t think I intend to leave you here, either, do you? Bothersome as you can be, you’re mine.”

Heaving out a bored breath, she spun to face him. “Unless you want to be left here, get out there and befriend the idiot giant. Find out how he made those…things. Maybe I won’t even need to prove my superiority. Although, it might be fun.”

She glanced back at the nearby tube. “They look so fresh — entertaining. But—” she ran a hand over her bedraggled hair “—why put out more effort than’s needed? Do your part. I need to recharge.” Flapping her cloak, she stalked to the far end of the tube.

Risk shoved down the growl that formed at the back of his throat. As irritating as Lusse was, she was right. He needed to talk to Jormun more, get him to let Risk talk with Kara, prepare her to lose the battle that lay ahead.

“You know him?” Kelly still stared at the now gray section of tube where Risk had stood.

“He…he’s how I found out…” Kara made a circle motion between her and her sister “…about us.”

“Really?” Kelly blinked. “Is he a witch, too? Do you think that’s why he’s here?” She frowned. “But he didn’t look like a prisoner. They’ve never cleared the glass like that before — except, you know, during the weirdness. And Jormun sure didn’t escort me here. You?”

Kara shook her head, dread filling her with each of Kelly’s words.

“It was like Jormun was showing us off. Why would he do that?” She glanced at Kara. “And who’s the ice queen?”

The woman in question stepped into the tube next to them. Kara licked her lips.

Kelly narrowed her eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Kara shrugged. “I don’t know why they’re here.”

“But you know who they are, what they are — give.” Kelly stepped closer to Kara, until there was nowhere for Kara to go for escape.

“I think she might be Lusse. A witch.”

“A witch?” Kelly turned to study the sophisticated blonde in the adjacent capsule. The woman, Lusse, watched them in return.

“What’s with the cape and gloves? And all the white?”

“I don’t know.” Kara slid down the wall, facing Kelly and the tube holding Lusse. Tucking her knees under her chin, she stared blankly ahead. “I think she may be kind of…evil. She drains other witches of their powers.”

Kelly spun. “And she’s with the hunk because?”

Kara sighed. “He works for her. That’s how I met him. He was hunting me.” The words came out like an admission of guilt.

“Let me get this straight. While I was gone you got yourself a hot boyfriend, the first in what, three years? Who just happens to work for a witch — make that an evil witch, who drains other witches of their powers. Anything else you’d like to tell me?” Kelly walked across the room, her back to Kara. “And I thought I had bad taste in men.”

Kara dropped her face to her knees. She hadn’t even told Kelly the really disturbing part yet. When she found out what Risk was she would never believe Kara could care for him. Kara knew her feelings for Risk sounded insane, but they were real and she couldn’t let go of them yet.

Taking a deep breath, she decided to admit all. “There’s more,” she said.

Kelly raised an eyebrow.

“Risk isn’t a witch.”

Kelly waited.

“He’s…he’s a hellhound.”

“A what?” The words burst from Kelly.

“A hel—”

“I know what you said. I just can’t believe you said it.”

Kara stared at the floor in front of her for a few beats. “Maybe he’s here to save us,” she murmured.

Kelly shot her a sideways gaze. “Yeah, there’s a thought. Do you know what hellhounds are? What they’re used for?”

Kara pressed her chin into her knees.

“They’re part of the wild hunt. Gods used them to retrieve souls. And from what I’ve heard hounds aren’t real choosy about the condition of said soul once it’s retrieved. They live for the hunt, the kill. I didn’t even know they could be human…” Her tone changed. “Are you sure? Maybe he was just trying to impress you.”

A sad Kara nodded. “I’ve seen him…in his other form, I mean. Him and another one. The first night we met.” She went on to explain about her encounter with Risk and the other dog in the parking lot, how she woke up in his cabin and everything that had happened between them since.

Kelly dropped down beside her. “Well, you’ve definitely managed to beat me on the bad choice in men contest, Sis.” She pulled Kara’s hand into her own. “Don’t worry. You’ll get over him. And there he is now.”

Taking a deep breath, Kara glanced up. Risk stood at the end of the capsule, his palms pressed against the glass, and his hazel eyes focused on her.

Her traitorous heart jumping, she looked away. Should she talk to him?

“Well, at least I understand why you were able to overlook the dog bit.” Kelly made a whistling sound.

Kara pushed herself up and wandered to the end of the tube, her palms mirroring Risk’s pressed against the glass. His eyes were intense. Was he trying to tell her something?

“He’s…hot. That’s for sure,” Kelly murmured, joining her at the glass. “But Kara, you know you can’t trust him. He told you he was hunting you for…her, right?” She nodded toward Lusse, who had walked up behind Risk and stared at them with cool disregard.

“But it’s more complicated than that and now he’s here. Don’t you think he could be here to save us?”

The door to Risk and Lusse’s capsule slid open and Jormun appeared. With a wide smile, he motioned for Risk to follow him from the tube.

“No, Kara. I don’t.” Kelly turned, placing her body between Kara and the end of the capsule. “Did you see that? He’s a guest. He’s not here to save us. He works for the other side.”

Kara shifted her gaze out into the Midgard Sea. Kelly was right. It certainly looked as if Jormun and Risk were on good terms, but as the garm had warned her things here could be deceiving.