Kian (War Cats Book 5) Page 8

  Maybe if she put some lotion on the tattoo, it would help. Dry skin itched, right? Maybe that was all it needed. Standing up, she pulled her shirt over her head and grabbed her lotion. But after she poured some into her palm, she just stared at it. How was she supposed to do it? She couldn’t reach the tat. That was why she kept scratching it against other stuff.

  Shoot. She briefly thought about using her back scrubber, but winced at the thought of it touching the tender, raw skin of the tat. Before she could think of anything different, a knock came on the door. She startled as she shot a look at it, then quickly rubbed the lotion into her hands and arms to get rid of it. The knock came again, more insistent, and she grabbed her silky robe, thinking the material would be easiest against the tat.

  Knotting the belt as fast as she could, she made her way to the door and pulled it open, expecting Kelly and freezing in surprise when she found Kian on the other side. She hadn’t thought she’d see him again so soon. She even asked for a plate of dinner to be brought to her room, so she could avoid seeing him at the table.

  Best laid plans and all that.

  His dark brown eyes widened slightly when he saw her, and they dipped, tracing the lapels of her robe over her generous cleavage, then following the material down to the bottom before slowly raising his gaze back up her body. A wave of heat washed over her as their eyes met, and she swallowed hard as she saw the heat she felt reflected in his gaze.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice husky. “I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

  “Oh, you didn’t. Come on in.”

  His eyebrows rose but he nodded, brushing past her to walk inside, and she closed her eyes as her tiger whimpered inside her at his nearness. Why had she invited him in? She had no idea, and it wasn’t like her. Of course, she wanted to spend time with him, but it wasn’t wise, and she’d decided to stay away. But it was like her mouth had a mind of its own.

  Uncomfortable with not having a shirt on, she closed the door and wrapped her arms around her middle as she followed him to the couch. She cleared her throat as she sank down next to him, fiddling with the sash of her robe.

  “So what’s up?”

  He glanced over her, his chocolate eyes penetrating. “I can’t just come say hi? I told you, I want to renew our friendship. Friends spend time together and hang out.”

  Her mouth opened and closed for a moment while she tried to find words, part of her mind occupied with how when it was just the two of them, she went back to being able to speak to him easily. “I-I, well, I didn’t think you were serious.”

  “When it comes to you, Jess, I’m always serious. I also wanted to tell you that we caught onto something Vihaan said. It might mean something, it might not. We’re not entirely sure.”

  She was so stuck on the first part of his sentence that it took her a moment to realize what else he said. “What do you mean? I was there and I didn’t hear him say anything of interest. He basically repeated what Ben said after he fought Vynn.”

  Of course, she might not have caught anything because once she shifted back to human, every bit of bravado and strength she had while fighting Vihaan had fled like it never existed, and she’d been as weak and trembly as a newborn calf. Hell, the transformation had begun before she shifted. Once she had Vihaan’s neck between her teeth—which she still had trouble believing she did—and looked up to see Kian coming, she’d almost lost it. If she could have sobbed with relief in that form, she would have.

  “It was subtle,” Kian replied, bringing her back to the conversation. “He mentioned Drako, but he said the Drako. It could just be a form of respect, and still be one person, but we also wonder if it could be a group. The way it’s worded could go either way.”

  Jessica blinked, the world around her fading away as her mind went to a forgotten time and place, long ago.

  “What do we do, Anthony? We have to protect her. That can’t be her fate.”

  “Calm down, Sofia. We’re doing what we can and getting her out of there.”

  Alessa stayed lying flat on the backseat of the car, feigning sleep as she watched her parents through barely open eyes, the occasional light from passing streetlamps flashing through the otherwise dark car. She was scared, because she knew something bad was happening, and her tiger was cowering inside her, nowhere to be found. But that was nothing new, and she knew her parents wouldn’t let anything happen to her. There was nothing to be scared of.

  They loved her more than anything. She knew, because they told her all the time.

  Her mom chewed on her thumbnail as she glanced out the window before looking back at Alessa’s dad. “Are you sure this tribe is the best place to take her? They sound positively awful.”

  Anthony sighed, and when he spoke, he sounded resigned. “They are. But they’re totally off the grid. They let no outsiders in, and they don’t have contact with hardly anyone on the outside. And Durga Valley isn’t on any maps. To most of the population, it doesn’t exist.”

  “If they’re so strict on outsiders, why is the alpha okay with us bringing Alessa? She’s not from their tribe. Neither are we, or anyone we know.”

  Her dad hesitated before speaking. “They know the basics of her heritage. They know she’s also a tiger shifter, and that she’s a princess in our tribe. She’s from a noble family. Bloodlines mean a lot to them.”

  “And? Why would they care? What aren’t you telling me, Anthony?”

  “Kabir wants her to mate his son when she’s of age.”

  A beat of silence echoed through the car, and then Sofia turned and smacked her mate’s arm. “Anthony! That sounds like a forced mating to me. That’s part of why we’re trying to get her away from here. What were you thinking, to agree to that?”

  “I was thinking I wanted to keep her safe, Sofia! Besides, we’ll come back for her as soon as we can. Long before they’re old enough to be mated. It won’t happen, so don’t worry about that. This is the best place to keep her hidden. It is, honey. This will work out. No one will think to look for her there, because they won’t even know about it. We’ll change her name, too. Give her another added layer of security. It’s going to work out.”

  “Change her name?” Sofia asked, her voice quivering slightly.

  “I know her name is important to you. It’s your mother’s name. But we have to do everything we can to make sure this works. Not even Kabir will know her real name. I’ve never mentioned it. We’ll keep it fairly close to Alessa, so it will be easier on her. But normal, too. Nothing that hints at her heritage. Kabir thinks she’s of Indian descent. He wouldn’t have agreed otherwise. I think we can get away with a normal name, but nothing that is obviously native to anything.”

  Her mom blew out a breath. “Okay. I see the necessity, but I don’t like it.” She was quiet for a moment as she chewed on her lip. “Normal, huh. Alessa… Jessica? It’s similar, and it’s a more common name.”

  Anthony reached over and took her hand, and even from the backseat, Alessa saw him squeeze it tightly. “I think Jessica is a nice name. This will work, Sofia. I feel it in my bones.”

  “I hope so. This feels extreme, but I know it needs to happen. Anything to keep her safe from the Drako.”

  He nodded as he glanced at her. “Exactly. She’ll be safe with the War Cats. I promise.”

  Sofia glanced in the backseat and Alessa hastily closed her eyes tightly, but she wasn’t fast enough. She knew for a certainty when her mom spoke.

  “She’s awake, Anthony. She’s heard all of this.”

  “Don’t worry. My gift is perfect for this, and I’ll fix it. I’ll wipe her memory. She won’t remember.”

  The panic Alessa felt was reflected in her mom’s voice. “She won’t remember at all? How will she know us when we come back for us?”

  “I’ve refined my gift over the years. I’ll leave a few memories of us. Enough that she knows who we are and that we love her. But wiping it is another necessity. I hate it as much as you do. But the les
s she can accidentally let slip about her past, and who and what she is, the better. It’s for the best, it really is.”

  Alessa cracked her eyes open as she heard her mom turn toward her. Sofia was beautiful, Alessa had always thought so. But she could tell, even in the darkness, that her mom was crying, silvery tear marks streaking down her face. It made her heart clench, and fear flooded her veins. She didn’t understand most of what they’d said, but she knew if it made her mom cry, it was bad.

  “I love you, Alessa. Your father and I both do. No matter what, please remember that. You’re the most important thing to us, and the best thing that ever happened to us. You always will be.”

  “Jess? Jessica, what’s wrong? What the hell is going on?”

  Jessica blinked, coming out of the memories. Memories? They must have been, although what it revealed was mind blowing to her. Kian looked blurry when she glanced at him, and it took her a moment to realize it was because she had tears in her eyes. She blinked them away, reaching trembling hands up to her wet cheeks, wiping the tears away shakily.

  “What just happened, Jess? What’s wrong?”

  Kian’s voice held a panicked quality, and she blew out a shaky breath as she shook her head helplessly, trying to compose herself. When she thought she could speak normally, she looked at him and shrugged.

  “I don’t know. I think it was a memory.”

  Surprise widened his eyes. “A memory? From before you were here? You don’t have many of those, do you?”

  “No, but now I think I know why,” she muttered, not caring for the fact that her memory had been wiped.

  “What?” he asked, his voice bewildered.

  She didn’t blame him, though. She was confused, too. She waved her hand, dismissing that, her mind racing over everything in the memory. “I think it was your mention of the Drako that caused it to surface. It triggered a mention of him. Them. It. I’m sorry, but even with the memory, I still can’t tell you what or who it is. I don’t have any answers about that.”

  He nodded slowly as he studied her intently. “But you have answers about other things, don’t you?”

  Fresh tears pressed against her eyelids, and she let out a shaky breath as she stood up, wrapping her arms around herself as she walked to the window. The tattoo was itching fiercely and she resisted the urge to relieve it, wondering briefly if that was something her parents had done to give her something to remind her of them. But the thought felt all wrong, and she knew that whatever reason she had it, it wasn’t for that.

  “They didn’t abandon me. My parents, I mean. They always meant to come back. I don’t know why they didn’t, but they wanted to. They meant to.”

  The couch rustled behind her, and she watched in the window as he approached behind her. “I know that has to be a relief. That bothered you for a long time. You talked about it a lot when we were kids.”

  A few tears slipped out as she thought about all the other tears she shed as a kid, as day by day slipped by with no sign of her parents. She reached up to wipe them away, and her belt loosened a little bit, the robe slipping down one shoulder. She hastily jerked it back up but she wasn’t fast enough.

  “Jess? Was that—do you have a tattoo? When did you get that? We don’t have an artist in the village, and you haven’t left Durga since you arrived.”

  Kian stared at Jessica’s reflection in the glass window. Her eyes were wide and shocked, almost panicked, and she didn’t look like she was breathing. She looked on the outside like he felt on the inside.

  He had nothing against tattoos. He had a few himself. How he was feeling had nothing to do with that. It was the fact that he couldn’t think of a single instance since coming to Durga at ten years old when she would have had a chance to get one.

  Did that mean…? No. Surely not.

  She turned to face him, and he could see her reluctance to talk about it in her eyes. But she must have seen the resolve in his, because she exhaled and shrugged.

  “I haven’t gotten one. It’s just always been there, for as long as I can remember. No, I don’t remember getting it, so it must have been when I was young, when the memories are still spotty.”

  What. The. Fuck? Who tattooed a young child like that? It was clear, especially from the memory that just hit her, that she thought highly of her parents, but honestly, they just went down a notch in his estimation.

  Not only was that a decision she should make for herself when she was old enough to understand the importance of it, but getting tattooed hurt. He’d never admit it, but the one on the underside of his bicep had hurt like hell. It smacked of child abuse to him.

  “You’re judging, aren’t you?” she accused, eyes narrowed as she glared at him.

  Hell yes, he was judging, but he wasn’t stupid enough to admit it to her. Choosing his words carefully, he replied, “I’m just trying to understand why anyone would tattoo a young child.”

  Shaking her head, she rolled her shoulders, her expression one of concentration, and it suddenly hit him, what she was doing. What she’d been doing when she rubbed her back against the couch and the corner of the wall.

  “Does the tat itch? Is that why you were scratching your back yesterday?”

  Exhaling, she nodded. “Yeah. It’s been itching a lot lately. Almost constantly today. It’s been driving me nuts.”

  Frowning, he cocked his head. “That’s weird. They only do that right after you get them, but you’ve had yours for more than sixteen years. Is that why you’re wearing the robe? So the fabric doesn’t touch it and make it worse?”

  She shook her head, her gaze going to a lotion bottle sitting on the counter. “Not really. It’s been kind of burning today, so I haven’t wanted to scratch it. I thought if I put lotion on it, it might help. I’d just realized I had no way to reach it when you knocked on the door, and I grabbed the robe to cover up.”

  “I’ll apply it for you,” he replied, heading to grab the bottle before she could reply.

  There had been zero hesitation when he offered. There was a huge part of him that had to help her. It was instinctive, and knowing she was uncomfortable without trying to help was unacceptable to him. And his tiger was pushing him to do something, anything, to ease her discomfort.

  But he was also extremely curious about what she had. What could possibly be important enough to be permanently inked into the skin of a child?

  He turned around to find her biting her lip, looking at him uncertainly. Walking closer, he gave her his most reassuring look as he tried to put her at ease. She was not only submissive, but also shy—two totally different things at the heart of it. Of course she’d be hesitant to let him see more of her body.

  “You don’t have to take the robe off, or even untie it. Just turn away and let it slip down a little. Judging by where you were scratching yesterday, it’s in the middle of your shoulder blades. I won’t see much, and I’ll be gentle.”

  She hesitated more before finally blowing out a breath, giving him a small nod as she turned away. He poured a bit of lotion in his hands, rubbing them together to warm it, not wanting to give her a chill when he applied it. When he looked up, she’d let the neckline of her robe slip back, giving him access.

  Honestly, the first thing he noticed wasn’t her tat. It was the creamy expanse of her skin on display, and he swallowed hard as he stared at it, then cleared his throat to mask the sound of his tiger’s purr.

  Forcing himself to focus, he zeroed in on the tattoo. It wasn’t very big, just a smallish capitalized DB, with a tail running underneath it. Frowning, he leaned in to see what kind of tail it was, because it didn’t look familiar, and then paused, surprise washing over him. The tattoo was done in some sort of black, shimmery metallic ink he’d never seen before, and it seemed to almost move as his eyes danced over it. That had to be one of the weirdest things he’d ever seen.

  “What’s going on?” Jessica asked, sounding nervous.

  “Sorry, I was just looking at it. That ink is somethi
ng else.”

  She laughed, the sound coming out stilted. “Yeah, it’s weird.”

  Not replying, he touched his lotion covered fingers to her tat as gently as he could, stilling as she sucked in a breath. He paused but she nodded, whispering that it was okay, and he continued, touching her ever so softly as he applied the moisturizer.

  “And you have no idea what the tat means?”

  She shook her head. “None. I’m not even sure it has anything to do with me. I know that’s weird, but there’s no explanation that I’ve been able to think of. Of course, there are huge gaps in my memory, so maybe there’s something I’m not aware of. I just don’t know.”

  Kian rubbed his fingers over the tat one more time, even though there was no more lotion on his hands. He couldn’t help it. He’d never touched her like this before and it was quickly becoming addictive. Letting his fingers drop away, he cleared his throat, the fire racing through his veins from touching her taking his breath.

  Fuck, that was potent. So much more so than he’d expected. And he couldn’t help noticing that her breathing was accelerated, like she felt his touch the same way.

  Hell. Yes.

  She drew the robe back over her shoulders and turned to face him. One of her hands was clutching the lapels closed, and her fingers were held so tightly they were white. She’d definitely been affected by that.

  He glanced up into her wide eyes, gazing deeply into the chocolate depths, willing her to see that the touch had affected him the same way. “Is that better?”

  “Yes?”

  Frowning, he cocked his head. Her reply was more question than answer, and her voice was unsure, caught somewhere between a truth and a lie. “You’re not sure?”

  “I mean, it was at first. While you were touching me. It all went away and it felt normal. But when you stopped, it came back.”

  He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. On one level, it was weird as hell, but on another, it was amazing. Because it meant his touch soothed her in some way. And that made him feel about ten feet tall.