Born of Shadows (The League Gen 1 #3)(22)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Caillen listened to the sound of her retreating footsteps as he limped away from the door and made sure to cover his bloody tracks to find some place where he could hole up and take out a few of their pursuers before they killed him. For some reason he couldn’t name, it saddened him that she’d left him to die.

She’s a stranger, what do you care?

Yet he couldn’t shake the image of his father dying alone in the filthy gutter like he was nothing but trash.

Like he was about to do.

So be it. Unlike his father, he wasn’t lying down to be executed. He would die fighting with everything he had, taking as many of the Andarions with him as he could.

Your father died protecting you…

The guilt and pain of that ripped through him as it always did when he thought about it. Which was something he tried to avoid. He knew the truth. His father was a fighter and he’d only surrendered to their pursuers to give Caillen enough time to escape and live.

Again like he was doing for Desideria.

I’m such an effing idiot.

He didn’t know her and yet here he was laying down his life to keep her safe. Not wanting to think about that either, he turned his attention to the street, where he saw through a dirty window that the Enforcers were gathering their numbers before they came in to search for him.

“Come on, you bastards. Don’t be bashful.” He crouched low and braced his arm so that he could fire on them the moment they entered.

A hand touched his shoulder.

He whirled, expecting it to be one of the Enforcers.

It wasn’t. Instead, he saw a beautiful angel who had blood and dirt smeared across her dark skin. Her hair was a tangled mess and there was a determination in her eyes that said she wasn’t about to be argued with.

“I can’t leave you here, Caillen. We got into this together. Together we’ll get out of it or die.”

He was stunned by Desideria’s heartfelt words. “What about your mom?”

“Your friend knows about her and I’d be dead if not for you. Now move it before I shoot you.”

He scoffed at her order. “You’re an idiot.”

“Apparently so.” She pulled his arm around her shoulders and helped him move through the dark, vacant building. “Any bright ideas for an escape?”

“Not really. Every time I try to think of something, the pain asserts itself to the forefront of my attention. Kind of blows everything else out of the way.”

She growled low in her throat. “Oh this is irritating. I hate it when someone gets the better of me. I can’t stand to lose.”

Desideria paused as she saw an opened trapdoor in the floor. It offered very little chance of nondiscovery, but it was the only one they had. “I have an idea.”

Caillen hesitated as he saw it too. “It’ll never work.”

“Do I crap all over your plans even when they’re stupid? No. Now unless you have a better idea, get in there.”

He mumbled something under his breath that sounded like death to bossy women as he snapped a small light stick and tossed it into the small room so that they could see. Ignoring him, she helped him down, then went to make sure there was no blood trail leading to their hiding place.

The Enforcers were just outside, working on breaking into the rusted-out door he’d locked. Their electronic torch made a loud hiss as they shouted to each other. Any second they’d be inside and shooting…

Please let this work.

Following Caillen into the hole, Desideria closed the trapdoor barely one heartbeat before the Enforcers stormed inside to search for them. The empty room was bathed in a dull blue light from his stick—a much more somber and dim light than the one he’d used in the cave. He must have chosen it for that reason.

She went to Caillen who’d passed out on the dirty floor that was encrusted with spiderwebs and rodent droppings. Probably for the best—not the nasty spiderwebs and other things, but being unconscious given their situation. If they were taken, he’d have no idea.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t so lucky.

She heard the Andarions above opening up their equipment and talking to each other in angry tones as they tried to locate them. Damn it, why didn’t she have a translator? It was so frustrating to not be able to understand a single word they spoke.

Biting her lip, she glanced at Caillen’s backpack and remembered his mirror devices from the cave. Would that work to jam their scanners?

Better than nothing. She searched out the devices until she had them in her hand. Her heart pounding, she carried them to the small trapdoor and placed one piece on each side of it before she turned them on.

Please let that be the right way to position and operate them.

If not…

She didn’t want to think about that as she went back to try and stop Caillen’s bleeding. In his pack, he had bandages and all kinds of things she couldn’t even guess the function of—gadgets, medicines, weapons. They were all marked, but she couldn’t read even one character of the highly stylized writing.

Why didn’t I learn Universal?

Because her mother had thought it a waste of time. Yet another reason she shouldn’t have listened to the woman.

She clenched one of the bottles in her hand and hesitated as she debated whether or not to give a dose to Caillen. Bter not guess on what it was or the dose since that might very well kill him.

Fine. She’d stop the bleeding with pressure.

The voices above her head grew louder and angrier. Had they found the door? Were they summoning troops to enter?

She held her breath in nervous fear, waiting for discovery.

Her gaze went to Caillen. His handsome face was so pale and his skin was covered in sweat. Don’t bleed out. If he died, she had no idea how she’d get out of here.

But it wasn’t just that. She owed him and if not for her, he wouldn’t be here wounded right now. This was all her fault. He could have been like other nobles and ignored her attack. Or he could have called security.

Instead, he’d risked his life and saved hers without a second thought. Something very few would do. A foreign tenderness filled her until a sound jerked her attention back to their pursuers.

Someone knocked on the trapdoor.

They’re coming in.

She grabbed the blaster, ready to fight it out. They weren’t going to take Caillen. Not if she could help it.

Above her head, it sounded like two people were arguing. After a few minutes, the voices drifted away out of her hearing range.

Were they gone?

Or was it the same trick they’d used at the cave with the probers?

She looked back at Caillen who would have probably known the answer.

Either way, she needed to tend him before he lost any more blood. Setting the blaster aside, she peeled his coat back, then raised his shirt. Her lip curled involuntarily at the sight of his mutilated chest. She’d never seen anything more gruesome and it amazed her that he was still alive.

How could anyone survive something so brutal? It said a lot about his will to live and his ability to handle pain. What had he been through that he was able to remain so calm in a fight? The skills he had weren’t innate. They were the kind that had to be honed by years of experience and she should know since she’d studied her whole life and hers were nowhere near as sharp.

As gently as she could, she took a bandage from his worn-out pack and pressed it against the worst-looking wound that was in the middle of the ornate tattoo he had running the length of his left side. It appeared to be a foreign bird whose face was painted on his shoulder.

Caillen’s eyes flew open as he let out a fierce breath. He grabbed her wrist so hard that she was sure it’d leave a bruise. But as soon as his gaze focused on her, his hold turned gentle.

He dropped his hand away from hers. Are they still here? he mouthed the words to her.

She nodded.

He pointed to his pack.

She handed it over to him and watched as he removed several items. The first thing he did was pull out a rubber stick that he put between his teeth. She scowled, wondering what it was for. Was it some kind of painkiller?

He grabbed a large foil pack and opened it, then spread the granules over his wounds. He bit the stick so hard, she heard it snap. By the rigidity of his body, she could tell it had to burn and ache. Still, he made no sound at all.

She took the foil pack from him and started applying it to all of his wounds. His muscles contracted every time she touched him. Poor guy.

But he was one hell of a soldier. He took it like a man.

Once she was finished, she handed him a bottle of water before she started bandaging his side. While she worked, he pulled an injector out and took a dose of pain meds.

Caillen sipped the water slowly as he did his best to not scream out from the sheer agony that pulsed through him with every heartbeat. He didn’t need to make himself sick, but he had to stay hydrated. Gah, it hurt.

Closing his eyes, he focused on the softness of Desideria’s hands as she bandaged him and let that soothe him as much as it could. He still couldn’t believe that she’d come back for him. Most people lacked that honor and decency.

Hell, most of the “friends” he’d had in his life would have tied him up while he was wounded and stolen his wallet before they left him for the Enforcers to find.

But she’d come back…

Like an angel.

She took the water from him long enough to wet a cloth that she then used to clean his face. Her hand was so cool and soft against his skin that before he realized what he was doing, he captured it and kissed her knuckles.

Desideria froze at the sensation of his lips on her flesh. No one had ever been so tender with her. The feathery touch made her stomach contract sharply. Her gaze locked with his and for a moment she forgot everything except for the beauty of his real eyes, the sensation of her hand in his. Without thinking, she touched his soft lips with her fingertip. They were the only part of him that wasn’t rock hard. And before she realized what she was doing, she dipped her head down to taste them.

Caillen sucked his breath in sharply at the unexpected kiss. Damn, if he didn’t hurt so badly, he’d take advantage of this fire. But right now, he could barely breathe. Still the heat of that kiss seared him. What she lacked in experience, she more than made up for in enthusiasm and it sent a wave of pleasure through him that eased the pain.

At least for a few heartbeats.

Desideria pulled back as she came to her senses and realized what she was doing.

I’m kissing a man. And she wasn’t allowed to do that. Not yet…

Her mother would kill her if she learned of this. Worse, she’d have to wait an additional year before she could take a consort. Qillaq beliefs were that if a woman couldn’t control her lust, then she wasn’t mature enough to handle a lover. What she’d just done would shame her mother and herself.

Heat flooded her face. “Sorry.”

His cocky grin was adorable for once. “Don’t be,” he whispered. “It’s the best thing that’s happened to me all month. Feel free to fall against my lips anytime you get the urge.”

She shook her head at him. “You’re awful.”

Caillen cupped her cheek in his hand. “Rotten to my core.”

He was also charming in a most devastating way. “Just how many women have you seduced anyway?”

He shrugged, then grimaced sharply. “I don’t count because it doesn’t matter.”

Now that offended her. What a callous pig! “How can you say it doesn’t matter?”

“Because it was never the right one.”

Those words gave her pause. Could he be less piggish than she thought? Was it possible there really was a gentleman hiding under those layers of heartless rogue? “What do you mean?”

“Mmm,” he breathed. “Pain meds are kicking in with a vengeance. Yeah, I almost feel semi human again.”

She turned his head until he was looking at her. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Simple.” His words were slurred now. “If there’s a selfish bitch to be had, I gravitate straight for her. Women only want to use me, own me or kill me. Not once has a woman ever wanted to keep me.” Then he closed his eyes and passed out again.

Those words and the heartfelt emotion she’d heard behind them touched something deep inside her. It made her wonder what the women in his life had done to him to make him feel that way. Of course, her experience with women was similar. The women around her had been petty, judgmental, cutting and jealous. They thought by tearing others down that it elevated them. They were wrong, but it didn’t stop them from it.

She had no real experience with men. Except her dad and she’d loved him like no one else. He’d been the only person in her life who’d ever accepted her as she was. He’d never judged her or even criticized her.

Caillen was nothing like her father, but in some ways he did remind her of her dad. The way he was dependable and caring—willing to sacrifice himself for others.

She frowned at the bloody rag lying beside him. “You are such a mess.”

What if he died?

Desideria refused to think about that and the foreign ache it caused. She couldn’t afford to. As she began putting things back into the pack, she found a small laptop.

What the…? Why hadn’t he used it? Or at least mentioned that he had one?

She opened it to turn it on, then thought better of it. If the Andarions were electronically sweeping the area they’d hone in on the signal. That was probably why Caillen hadn’t used it before now. He was too much of a survivalist to allow something like this to go unused unless there was a good reason for it.

You’re completely cut off.

She’d never been alone before. Even though she was twenty-six years old, her family had viewed her as a child up until a couple of weeks ago. She’d been surrounded by guards and servants. Her sisters and aunt. It was a lost feeling to not be able to reach out and summon them now. Or anyone else who could lend her a hand. Her mother had never experienced this isolated sensation either.