Chapter 81: Skye

My hand tightens around Taran's and she takes a small step closer to me. Now that we're together we won't be separated again. I'll fight until my dying breath for her.
"Of course he'll want her," I say sharply. "He'll pay what you ask."
He smirks at me. "The price is high."
A wave of cold revulsion rolls through me. The price the warlord paid for me was high. He'd given Talon a new car, gasoline, supplies, and access to his fortress for the duration of his stay.
"I also have information he'll want," Talon continues. "For an additional cost."
"We don't trade in information," I snap. "You can keep whatever you think you know to yourself. You will be fairly compensated for producing my sister and then you will leave Sanctuary."
Sliding my arm through Taran's I turn with her, preparing to leave. I need to be alone with my sister, figure out how she got here, what happened to her, what happened to our grandparents, everything. But before we can leave the room, Talon's gravelly voice halts me.
"Fair enough," he says, his voice deceptively nonchalant. "I would like to speak to the Warlord personally though."
I release my sister and turn to look at him, all the feigned demureness fading away as I square my shoulders, lift my chin and give him the chilliest, most queenly stare in my repertoire. "I'm afraid that will be impossible."
"Is he incapacitated somehow, is that why you're now speaking on his behalf?" He scratches his bristly beard. "Have to admit, when I dropped you off here, a pathetic, sobbing mess of a scrap, I hadn't thought to come back and find you running the place. Thought they had better standards around here."
His words are like icy daggers as he knowingly plays to all my fears. The bastard is too smart to believe a lie and I can't have word get out that my husband isn't the one running Sanctuary anymore. I automatically glance toward Wolfe who is studying me with a calculating expression. I can't tell what he's thinking. I can never tell what he's thinking, but I usually know I can use him as backup if I need. In this moment, I don't know what he'll do if Talon calls me out.
"I'm afraid that you misunderstand," I say as regally as possible. "The Warlord is not incapacitated. He simply doesn't want to be bothered with petty Sanctuary business and has entrusted me as his wife to take command while he attends to more important business."
Talon nods thoughtfully, his expression deceptively bland. "I see, well that does explain it." The sarcasm in his voice is clear and I see the guards exchange a quick glance. Fuck, I can't have them questioning a system that has worked for more than a year.
"If that's all, I'd very much like to retire with my sister and get her some proper care. She looks as though she's been through a horde attack." The jab that he didn't properly care for her seems to hit home as his glance slides quickly over her, assessing for damage. Interesting. The Outsider seems to have developed feelings for Taran.
I reach out for her arm and turn to leave again. Again, he speaks. "Tell the warlord I want to talk to him about a cure."
I whip around, tired of this sick fucker playing games with me and my family. "I don't know what you're talking about." I turn my scathing stare to Wolfe. "Please escort this man from the building. Pay him appropriately and escort him beyond the city walls. I don't want to see him again."
The men close in around Talon and I'm satisfied that my problem is taken care of. But, of course the Outsider has more to say and he plans his jabs perfectly. "I'm talking about the cure to the Death Kiss. Humans with immunity to the bite."
I freeze in place my heart pounding so hard in my chest that my ears beat with the blood rushing through my veins. A gasp draws my attention. Taran reaches up to clutch at her neck, terror brightening her eyes.
My gaze clashes with Wolfe's and his hand falls to the hilt of his dagger. I hope that I'm understanding him correctly. This is a critical moment in the future of our Sanctuary. If Talon knows of my immunity and he divulges the information in front of all these men, he'll destroy everything I've worked so hard to achieve.
I give him one warning. "You need to stop talking."
He doesn't heed my words.
"I think your husband will be very interested in his new acquisition." His eyes flit to Taran and every person in the room looks at her. She stares back at him with a stubborn tilt to her chin, but she's gone completely pale. I look to where her fingers play with the edge of her scarf, sliding beneath, touching the skin. Could it be? Is it possible that she was bitten too?
If she was, I can't allow Talon to divulge her secret.
I glance at Wolfe again. He tenses in preparation.
"And what makes you presume to know what my husband will be interested in?" I ask, staring at him. I release my grip on Taran and step closer to my adversary, getting directly into his space. The same spark that I felt ten years ago ignites between me and Talon. The sexual tension that nature instilled in us, clashing with my need to escape captivity and his desire for a payday. He hadn't fucked me all those years ago, but he'd wanted to.
He takes the final step separating us until my chest brushes against his with each breath. Out of the corner of my eye I can see the tension vibrating through Wolfe. He hates my proximity to the Outsider, hates the heat stirring between us. He so badly wants to kill the man standing in front of me. I lift my lashes, turning what I know is a soul-sucking grey gaze up to my enemy.
"What makes you think you can leave this room alive if you breath so much as a word of what you think you know?"
He bends his head to mine. I turn my face to the side so his lips brush my cheek instead of my lips. He moves his mouth to my ear, speaking in a low voice, the deep rumble sending shivers down my spine. "I'm a gambler, darling Skye. Life has taught me to take risks."
I back up a step. "This is a risk you shouldn't have taken, Talon." I flick a look toward my guard.
Wolfe pulls his dagger and, in one fluid motion, swings it up in an attempt to drive it into Talon's ribcage. Talon twists to the side, blocking the thrust and reaching for his own weapon. His weapons would've been confiscated before he was escorted into my presence though, so he has no recourse as Wolfe swings on him again.
Before Talon can properly protect himself, Wolfe throws a jab to the solar plexus, which Talon blocks and then slams the knife into Talon's neck. I'm sure Talon is a good and skilled fighter. He'd have to be, to have reached this age as an Outsider, to battle not only Primitives but humans with ill intent, deals gone wrong, any threat that comes his way.
"No!"
I'm startled by the scream from behind me. I twist around to look at Taran's white, stricken face, the hand hovering over her shaking lips. Have I done the right thing? Was there something between the two? I hadn't stopped to think, just instinctively tried to protect my sister, and by extension, myself.
As I turn away from him, Talon lunges forward, taking my arm in an unbreakable hold. As he struggles for breath, choking on his own blood, we crash to the floor together. He lands on top of me, the blood from his wound dripping onto my white dress. I bring my hands up to protect myself, but his grip is already loosening. I stare into his eyes as the light slowly fades, leaving the icy blue orbs lifeless.
Men lurch all around me, reaching for us, belatedly trying to protect the Warlord's wife from being attacked by a dead man. Wolfe reaches us first. He kicks Talon off me and reaches down to grip my arms, dragging me back to my feet. I'm startled by his touch. I can count on one hand the amount of times he's touched me over the past seven years. Today makes four. He holds me slightly longer than necessary, his green gaze assessing as he sweeps me, looking for injuries. Then he abruptly lets go, giving me a small push back toward my sister. His gaze lingers on my breasts, on the blood.
He steps next to Talon's body and reaches down to drag the knife from his throat. It slides easily from the flesh. Wolfe kneels to wipe his blade on Talon's shirt, dragging it over his chest, cleaning it in an insulting gesture.
The other five guards straighten back into position and stand stiff, facing forward, as though they hadn't even noticed the death that'd just happened right between them, or my involvement. They are a well-trained group.
I slide my arm around Taran and lift my eyes to Wolfe, who has turned back to me. He gives me a slight nod to indicate that I should leave. Everything about him seems to have relaxed, shifted somehow. I'm not sure why. He's a born killer. The hired gun of each Warlord inhabiting the Santa Fe Sanctuary from the moment he could lift a weapon. He should be a mindless puppet, but he's not. He's my protection, and he's my greatest enemy within the city walls. I shiver as an image of him slamming that big, lethal knife into my throat blurs my vision. What happens when he wants Sanctuary and I'm standing in his way? I'm under no illusion that he won't take me out just as quick as he killed the Outsider.
"Come," I whisper and turn away, my arm around Taran as much for her support as it is for mine. "Let's get you cleaned up."