Vane gave him a droll look.
"Does Bride have any loons in her family?" Kyrian asked him.
"Not that I know of."
"Then you're screwed."
"You have no idea," Vane said under his breath. "My pack knows I'm in New Orleans. They've already called out a tessera for me."
Kyrian felt for the wolf. He'd been in a similar situation and it was hard to be true to your preternatural nature while your heart was entangled with a human. "You want to leave her here?"
Vane looked at the baby in Kyrian's arms and a part of him ached at the sight. He'd never really thought about having children before he'd found Bride. And in truth it was strange to see the former Dark-Hunter playing daddy.
What would it be like to hold his own child?
In the back of his mind, he could see a small daughter with red hair and pale skin… like her mother.
"I can't endanger your family," Vane said quietly.
"I might be mortal now, but I'm still capable of fighting."
Vane shook his head. "No you're not. Neither is your wife. My people live their lives commanding magic and the forces of nature. You've never fought the Katagaria before and you have no idea what they're capable of."
Kyrian shifted his daughter in his arms as she started fussing. "So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know." And honestly, he was getting tired of not knowing. A year ago, Vane had known exactly who and what he was.
Exactly how to live his life and how to kill anyone who threatened it.
Ever since the night Anya had died, he'd been lost.
It wasn't until that evening in Bride's shop that he'd felt something other than despair.
Now he didn't know what he felt.
"Kyrian!"
Both men jumped at Amanda's call from downstairs. Kyrian clutched his daughter as they ran for the steps.
Vane was halfway down the curving stairs when he saw something that made his body run cold.
Jasyn Kallinos, one of the Katagaria hawks who was living temporarily at Sanctuary, was in the foyer in human form, bleeding. Amanda stood with her hand on the doorknob. From where she had invited him in.
Vane jumped over the banister and landed on the black-and-white marbled floor in a crouch just before Jasyn. Coming to his feet, he ignored Bride's gasp of alarm.
"What happened?" Vane asked.
"Those fucking wolves attacked us." His breathing ragged, Jasyn met Vane's gaze and the horror there singed him. "They killed Fang."
Chapter 8
Vane couldn't breathe as Jasyn's words echoed in his head. Fang dead?
No! It couldn't be. His brother couldn't be gone. He couldn't. Fang was all he had left and he had sworn to see his brother whole again.
He howled from the pain that skidded through his heart and sent him reeling. How could this have happened? How could they have gotten to Fang?
Jasyn held his hand over his bleeding shoulder as he panted from pain. "We tried to save him, Vane. We did everything we could."
Vane glared at him as he fought back tears of anger and agony.
And now he would do everything he could to make sure the wolves paid for this. Rage simmered deep in his soul. There was no power on this earth that could shelter them now.
No quarter that would keep them safe from his wrath.
He would have all of them, including his father.
His vision darkening, Vane headed for the door only to find Kyrian in front of him. He handed his daughter off to his wife. "Where do you think you're going?"
"To kill them."
Kyrian braced himself as if he knew he was about to have to fight him. "You can't."
"Watch me." Vane tried to flash out of the house only to find he couldn't. "What the hell?"
"I'm not going to let you commit suicide," Amanda said sternly. She handed her daughter to her sister, then came forward to stand beside her husband. "We won't let you do this."
Vane was tempted to blast the binding spell back at her, but didn't want to hurt her. She had no idea what she was dealing with and didn't know how easily he could rupture her powers while leaving his pristine. "You're not as strong as you think you are, Amanda. Release my powers."
"No. Revenge isn't the answer."
"Revenge is the only answer," Jasyn said from behind him. "Let him go."
Something strange went through Vane at that. A weird fissure…
He turned to look at Jasyn.
The man behind him looked like the Katagari hawk. He was the same height and build.
But he was bleeding…
He was wounded.
Vane paused as those facts registered in his mind. For the Katagaria, it was almost impossible to maintain their human form while injured. Only the strongest of the strong could do it. And usually it was done only when they had no choice except to blend in with the human realm or endanger themselves by discovery. To maintain human form under those circumstances bled off powers and drained their strength, both physical and magical. It made them extremely vulnerable to attack and death.