Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Derek pretended to sleep as Kora slipped from the bed and dressed. She hadn't been interested in the gossip around them at dinner. After she'd finished her meal, she excused herself and came up to their room. By the time he joined her, she feigned sleep. And he let her. Because he knew what she was about.

He waited until the door closed behind her before he rose and called his clothes to him with magic. There was no need to chase after her. He had her scent. He could find her anywhere. Derek went to the window and opened it. He peered outside to make sure no one was near, and then he jumped. He landed softly with bent knees before walking to the edge of the building.

A couple was kissing passionately in the alley. He looked around them and spotted Kora walking toward the gates. And just as he expected, she was headed down. She had been smart enough to wear the new clothes, which would allow her reentry into the upper levels.

He walked down the alley past the couple, who paid him no heed. When he came to the street, he paused and leaned out, checking to see who was about. Then he crossed the street and ducked into another alley a few buildings down. This one was so narrow he had to turn himself sideways and shuffle his feet until he reached the back. A tall wall separated each level, so no one dared to try to get from one to the other any way but through the gates. But he wasn't just anyone.

It might be the wee hours of the early morning with darkness hanging over the city like a blanket, but like most cities, this one didn't sleep. He easily scaled the back of the building to reach the roof. Then he jumped over the back alleyway to land on the wall before dropping to the ground on level five. He repeated the process, following Kora to four.

Derek found her in the shadows, glaring at the temple. There was no way she was getting inside. Her anguish at learning the children's fates had sat uneasily in his chest ever since. She had asked if he would give his life for anything. He hadn't been able to tell her there was only one thing he cared about: freeing the dragons.

Everything he did, every action he took, was to that end.

Or it had been.

Now , he snuck away to check on the eggs while she tried on gowns and pretended sleep when he should have stopped her before she left. She had turned his world upside down. It would be better for him to walk away. He had even attempted it, but the question of what she was kept him from leaving.

But it was more than that. To his shock, he worried about her. Not just her wanting to save everyone but also the way she stared at the palace with open hostility.

Her admission about her family stunned him. He was eager to know more, but he hadn't asked. How could he when she had sat still as stone, her eyes bright with unshed tears just from mentioning them? He had felt the walls coming down around her for protection. She was strong and determined, but she also carried deep emotional scars.

Still , she had allowed a few things to slip—whether on purpose or not. The one she searched for was to make up for a mistake. And they were in the palace. What she would do when she found them was still in question. Her face had given nothing away, but the way her fingers curled on the table had told him plenty.

Shouts from the next level down yanked him from his musings. A child's terrified scream split the night, followed closely by a woman's wail. Kora rushed to the gate, but the guards held her up. Meanwhile , he got over the wall without anyone the wiser.

The sight of the armored priests surrounding a woman with a girl only a few years of age drew him up short. A crowd was rapidly forming, their macabre need to watch the potentially gruesome proceedings overwhelming their better judgment. They knew what was happening. Sadly , so did he. And he wanted it finished before Kora reached them.

Luck wasn't on his side tonight. Kora pushed her way through the crowd until she reached the priests. Then , somehow, she got through them until she stood in the circle with the woman who clung to the child by one arm as a priest yanked angrily on the other.

" Stop !" Kora bellowed to the priest.

The shouts in the street silenced, more in surprise than anything. Derek looked around at the faces, eyes bright with excitement at the prospect of something happening. The residents' lives were abysmal. They looked for anything to take their minds off how bad things were, and right now, a child being taken from its mother was just what they wanted. Add Kora to the mix, and everyone knew there was about to be bloodshed.

Derek could get to Kora in time. But she wouldn't leave without the woman and child. Did he dare interfere and alert Villette that he was in the city? Or did he let things play out and get Kora away before she could be hurt? It was an easy decision.

He shifted to the left to better see her. Everyone now looked at her: the priests, the woman and child, and each spectator. No one noticed him, which was exactly what he wanted. Derek noted the faces of each of the priests. It was easy to pick out which of them would go for Kora first.

" Who are you?" one of the priests demanded of her.

Kora lifted her chin, her brown eyes blazing with fury. " A citizen. What right do you have to take this woman's child?"

" The right of our gods."

Was it his imagination, or was smoke coming from her? Derek fisted his hands when Kora wrapped her arms around the child and held her tightly. If he took her now, she would yank the child, the mother, and the priest with them. Fuck .

" That's not good enough," Kora said.

Murmurs of disbelief and shock rippled dangerously through the crowd. Derek moved closer, his gaze shifting between Kora and the priests. Things were about to get ugly.

" We do not abide the evil that is magic," a priest declared, his voice ringing with authority. " We will wash the wickedness from the realm, one devil at a time!"

" You mean with the blood of an innocent child?" Kora argued.

The priest pulled back his lips in a sneer. " There is nothing innocent about this fiend."

" You act as if the child chose to have magic."

" No one questions us. Grab her!"

Shouts of fear rang out while others cheered at the spectacle. The priests had drawn their weapons and began to close in on Kora , the woman, and the child. Derek touched the cuff and appeared in the circle behind Kora . He grabbed the priest nearest him and shoved him to the ground so hard his head hit the stone. Derek lunged for Kora , his fingers reaching for her wrist as the priest holding the child's arm swung his blade down and severed the limb. The girl's shriek of pain was only drowned out by the mother's screams.

Pandemonium erupted. The scent of blood filled the air, and like crazed animals, the priests had their single-minded focus on Kora and the woman. Derek grabbed a discarded sword and started swinging. The crowd pushed inward, some trying to get away, others attempting to join the fight. But it separated him and Kora .

Derek fought his way through again and was nearly upon her. He reached for her once more, but she was yanked away. A bellow of fury erupted from him when he watched multiple blades viciously pierce and slice her upper body. He felt himself shifting. And for just a second, welcomed it. Then he remembered where he was and managed to get himself under control.

He then hacked his way through the crowd until he reached Kora . She lay unmoving on the ground, piled on top of other bodies. Blood gushed from her to mingle with others' that pooled on the stones. The priests had turned their bloodlust on the crowd and were slashing their way through whoever remained. Derek ignored the cries for help and gathered Kora in his arms. Just before he touched his cuff, he saw both the mother and the girl lying dead among the others.

Derek lay Kora gently on the bed. Her heart had stopped beating. She was dead, but she had been dead before. He stripped her of the ruined clothes and threw them in the hearth to burn. Then he began cleaning the blood from her. He counted eight different wounds on her upper body, some so deep they pierced through to her back.

His ire festered. Each time he remembered seeing a blade puncture Kora , his rage burned brighter. He should've stopped her. He should've intervened. Instead , he had stood there and watched, protecting himself.

After her body was clean, he used magic to replace the ruined sheets. Then , he waited for Kora to come back from the dead. Every second was an eternity. He checked her breathing and listened for the beat of her heart. He studied her wounds, trying to determine if they were healing. But everything looked the same.

The hours stretched as dawn arrived. He didn't leave her side as the noon hour came and went. He rubbed his forehead. Why hadn't he asked her questions about what she was? Would she always come back? Was there something special he needed to do? Maybe he should return to the top of the mountain and put her where he had before.

What if the priests were responsible for her not being able to regenerate?

Derek was debating taking Kora from the city when a gasp sounded from her lips. He was on his feet in an instant, standing beside the bed. Her mouth was open, her back arched as she sucked in a huge breath. Then she collapsed and dragged in another large inhale. Her eyes slowly blinked open to look at the ceiling. She scanned the room, stopping when her gaze landed on him. Fear flashed in her eyes, and it tore him in two.

" I followed you," he told her.

She held the covers against her nakedness as she sat up. " How long was I out?"

" Ten hours."

She tried to swallow. He brought her water and watched as she gulped it down. He refilled it, and she drank that one slower.

" How much did you see?" she asked hesitantly.

He studied her wary expression. He could lie, but he didn't want to do that. " Everything ."

" The child? Did she get free?"

He glanced at the floor before shaking his head. " Both she and the woman were killed."

Kora squeezed her eyes closed for a heartbeat, her pain obvious. " I suppose this is where you tell me I was foolish to intervene."

" You did what you thought you had to do."

She turned her head away. " It was reckless. One more mistake. Two more lost lives I'll carry."

" Those aren't on you. That's on the priests. They were going to kill the child regardless of what you said or did."

" That doesn't make it easier to bear."

He blew out a breath. He wouldn't tell her about the other lives that had been taken. She would try to claim those, too. How many others did she carry that weren't hers? He was afraid of what the answer might be. " Nay , I don't suppose it does."

" I know you want to ask, so ask."

Derek hated that she wouldn't look at him. She had held nothing back as his lover. The desires of the flesh exposed people in ways they never understood. But few cocooned themselves like Kora . Or him. He wanted to know what she was. It was the very reason he was in Stonemore . He could find out right then and end his curiosity.

But should he? What would it cost her to share that? He was afraid it might be more than she was willing to give.

Her head swung to him. " Do you fear me now?"

" Nay ."

" Then ask."

It was on the tip of his tongue, but the words never passed his lips. " I'm going to get us some food and make sure no one saw either of us."

He was at the door when she called his name. He looked over his shoulder at her. Twice now, he had carried her bloody, lifeless body. And twice, it had hit him like a gut punch.

This last time, though, he had experienced emotions he couldn't name. Feelings he didn't want to feel. They were dangerous. Just as she was.

" I'll understand if you don't come back," she said.

Is that the kind of person she thought he was? It bothered him more than it should, especially because he would leave if she were anyone else. Actually , he never would've gone this far to begin with. " I'll be back."

" You shouldn't say that until you know."

He held her gaze, waiting.

" I'm … I'm a hellhound."

All the air left him. The scent he had recognized but couldn't place suddenly made sense. He could do nothing but stare at her while trying to reconcile her words.

" I'll understand if you leave. Or if you tell someone."

He somehow managed to say, " I'll be back."

In the hallway, he leaned against the door and closed his eyes. No wonder he hadn't placed the scent. It had been ages since the last hellhound was seen. Villette had them exterminated, relentlessly hunted until they were no more.

Yet one lived.

And he had brought her to Stonemore .

Derek's duty demanded that he slay Kora and bring her body to Villette . But he couldn't. He wouldn't . Every instinct he had urged him to take Kora and get away from the city before it was too late.

The sound of water reached him through the door. Derek straightened and made his way downstairs. Everything felt just out of focus as if the world was distorted and he needed to catch up. There was no way Kora could learn that he was a dragon. Her fear of dragons made sense now. Of course, she would be terrified of them. They were the only ones who could kill a hellhound.

He was her enemy.

Derek stumbled and grabbed the wall to steady himself. He suddenly knew exactly why Kora was in Stonemore . If dragons were the only ones that could kill hellhounds, her kind were the only ones who could slay a Star Person . It's why Villette had sent Derek and Bryok to hunt them.

The room began to spin. Kora was there to kill Villette . He couldn't allow that to happen. Villette was the only one who could free the dragons. He needed her. But he wouldn't report Kora to Villette either. Villette had stopped looking for hellhounds because she believed they were gone. She had no need to search for more. That kept Kora safe.

Derek looked up the stairs to the door. For now.