The Soldati Prince

  Riley did as he was told and carefully climbed like he used to do when he was a kid. He'd been pretty good at it then and surprisingly still was. When he ran out of branches, he stood on his toes and stretched himself as far as he could to take hold of Rayner's hand. He pulled Riley up like he didn't weigh a thing. Rayner motioned for him to stay, then leaped down, landing perfectly on his feet. He turned and held his arms up.

  "I'll catch you."

  Riley felt a little silly, but he couldn't jump from this height without hurting something.

  "What's going on?" Khalon asked, appearing beside Rayner. He frowned up at Riley. "What are you doing? We've no time for games."

  "I'm being assisted by your second since the almighty king has forgotten I can't leap skyscrapers."

  Khalon rolled his eyes. "That's a fallen tree, not a skyscraper."

  "It's like a freakin' redwood. I'm sorry if I've disappointed you yet again with my human frailty and inability to leap tall buildings in a single bound."

  "Oh, for heaven's sake." Khalon turned to Rayner. "Adira is mewling about being hungry or something to that nature. Go see what she wants."

  Rayner bowed his head and was off, leaving Riley with Khalon and the royal stick that was once again wedged up his fine ass. Khalon raised his arms.

  "Jump."

  Riley sat down on the edge of the tree, eyeing Khalon warily. "How do I know you won't drop me?"

  "If you don't hurry up, I just might."

  Riley swung his legs back and forth, a sweet smile on his face. "Tell me something. When you court your next prince, do you plan on being this charming, or am I just special?"

  Khalon growled, a deep rumble that came up from his chest. Okay, maybe he shouldn't poke the grumpy tiger with his witty repartee.

  "Fine. I'm going to jump."

  Riley took a deep breath and pushed himself off. He managed to maintain his dignity by not flailing--too much. Khalon caught him, his arms wrapped tight around Riley as they stared at each other. They were nose to nose, their lips inches away from each other. Well, that escalated quickly. Khalon's scent invaded Riley, an earthy mix with the faintest hint of some fragrant blossom. His green eyes were hooded and he poked his tongue out to brush his bottom lip, brushing against Riley's lips in the process. He could feel Khalon's hot breath against his skin and he was consumed by the need to kiss Khalon. All he had to do was lean in just a little. Would Khalon reject him again? Would he kiss Riley back? Riley had the urge to offer himself up as prey, to be devoured.

  As if reading his thoughts, Khalon parted his lips. His pupils dilated and he angled his head slightly. He dropped his gaze to Riley's lips, tightening his grip on Riley.

  "Forgive me," Khalon said gruffly.

  "For what?" Riley's voice came out almost whispered. His body felt hot, especially his face, and his fingers had somehow found their way to Khalon's shoulders. Khalon's body was hard against Riley's, his warmth radiating off him. Riley's heart pounded, his pulse raced, and a desire he'd never experienced before coursed through his body. What was happening to him? It wasn't just attraction. It was as if his body needed Khalon's touch the way his lungs needed air. Was it the mark? Was it making Riley think he needed Khalon? He was so freaking confused.

  "I'm... not certain," Khalon replied quietly.

  Apparently Riley wasn't the only one.

  Confusion crossed Khalon's handsome face and he gently put Riley down on his feet, though his hands remained on Riley's waist. "Stay close."

  "Um, okay." Was he blushing? Oh God, please don't let me be blushing.

  Khalon cupped his cheek and Riley leaned into the touch before he could stop himself. "Stay close to me."

  Riley nodded. He wasn't quite sure what was going on. He felt... strange. Did Khalon feel the same? He looked a little unsettled. Riley dropped his gaze when he noticed Khalon's tattoo was moving. The bands were turning on his arm, some in opposite directions.

  "Your arm."

  Khalon followed his gaze down to his arm. He pulled away from Riley as if he'd been burned.

  "What's wrong?"

  Khalon placed his hand over his arm as if he were trying to stop the movement or cover up his tattoo, neither of which was working. He shook his head. "It's nothing. We should keep going." He turned and strode off, leaving Riley feeling... disappointed. Again.

  Riley felt a tickling on his arm and he went to scratch the itch when he saw the bands on his arm moving. They spun around his arm, some in different directions, just as Khalon's had. He needed to get some answers, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be getting any from Khalon.

  As they continued ahead, Riley waited for the right opportunity. Khalon seemed lost in his own thoughts and he was walking at a brisker pace than the rest of them. Riley took the opportunity to sidle up to Rayner.

  "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

  "Of course."

  "What does it mean when his tattoos start moving?"

  Rayner looked startled by the question. "Why do you ask?"

  "Well, when he caught me, we kind of ended up a little closer to each other than expected. When he put me down, I noticed his tattoo was moving, but when I asked, he said it was nothing."

  Whatever he said seemed to amuse Rayner greatly. He let out a laugh, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Is that so?"

  "Yeah, what's it mean?"

  "It means he's made an emotional connection with you, one from the depths of his very soul."

  "Oh. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Because you know, a lot of his emotional connections leave me thinking he's close to following through with a physical connection of his fist to my face."

  Rayner threw his head back and laughed. He wrapped an arm around Riley's shoulders. "You are something else, Riley."

  Ahead of them Khalon paused long enough to glare at them over his shoulder before grumbling something under his breath and marching off again.

  "Tell me, Riley. Did your mark do the same?"

  "Yeah, it did." Riley stared at him. "Wait, are you saying my soul had an emotional connection with him?"

  Rayner nodded. He lowered his head and spoke quietly to him as they walked. "I think you are each as stubborn as the other. I also think the priestess was not mistaken. You were marked as his mate for a reason. Before this adventure is through, we shall discover the purpose. I'm certain of it. His reaction proves it."

  Riley let out a heavy sigh as they started walking again. "I doubt it. It's just the mark making him think we're connected. The only reason he's protecting me is to protect himself, not because he feels anything for me. Which is fine, I get it." Rayner looked oddly surprised by Riley's words.

  "What makes you say such a thing?"

  "Khalon told me the truth. If I get killed, it'll leave him weak and vulnerable." It had hurt to hear, but it was probably for the best.

  "That is true, but there is far more to it than that. Did he not tell you?"

  Riley frowned. "What are you talking about?"

  Rayner glanced ahead at Khalon and seemed to think before coming to some kind of conclusion. He spoke quietly. "It is true. If Khalon does not lay claim to you or if you do not accept your position as prince, the demons will do their damnedest to kill you, and when they do, Khalon will be left weak and vulnerable. They will slaughter him, and the rest of us will soon follow since we will be left weakened as well."

  "What?" Riley couldn't believe what he was hearing. Khalon didn't say anything about the Soldati being weakened too. Why wouldn't he tell Riley?

  "Why do you think there are so many of the damnable creatures everywhere? They know. With the Soldati gone, the human world would be overrun with demons. Your death would weaken us all."

  Riley's heart hurt. Why would Khalon intentionally leave that part out? Why make himself sound like a selfish jerk? To push you away.

  "If you were to accept your position as prince, and he were to claim you, the demons would no longer hunt you, but you would remain mortal, and in our
realm, a human would never survive. Khalon would be forced to live out his immortal life without a prince."

  "What if I accepted my position to be his prince, but he doesn't claim me?"

  "If you were to be killed before he could claim you, he would not weaken, as you have accepted your position as Soldati prince and begun the claiming, but your soul would forever be in limbo, belonging neither to your world or ours, as you have pledged yourself to a mate, but have not been claimed."

  "Well, that sucks too." So if he was claimed and became the Soldati prince, he wouldn't be hunted, but was still mortal, and his death would mean Khalon lived his immortal life without a mate. If Riley didn't accept his position as prince and Khalon didn't claim him, and Riley were killed, Khalon and the others would be weakened, vulnerable, and be killed. If Riley accepted his position and was killed before he was claimed, Khalon wouldn't be weakened, but Riley's soul would be in limbo for eternity. For crying out loud! Was there any scenario where Riley didn't end up dead or screwed?

  "However, I believe that is not the worst of it."

  "God, it gets worse?" What was worse than getting killed and having his soul be in limbo for eternity? Or in Khalon's case, getting killed along with the whole of his army? How could there be something worse?

  Rayner stopped to face Riley, his voice laced with concern. "Think about it, Riley. He claims you and loses his heart to you. Despite what you may believe, Soldati kings are born to love deep. They give their hearts to one mate in their lifetime. We have lived for centuries and will continue to live for many, many more. How long does the average human live?"

  Riley felt the sting in the back of his eyes. "If I'm lucky? Another fifty or sixty years or so. Maybe."

  "So you see, Khalon is not merely protecting his kingdom and your world; he's protecting his heart. The thought of loving you so completely, only to lose you in such a short amount of time, is more than he can bear, and, I suspect, the true reason for his rejection."

  Riley's chest felt tight. He'd been right. Khalon did feel something for him, more than just the connection of the mark. He was afraid to lose his heart, and then of course the small detail of maybe losing his life and the lives of his soldiers. Light flashed before his eyes and Riley gasped. He heard Rayner scream for Khalon before something slammed into Riley's chest, leaving him gasping for air.

  It was like he was drowning. He gulped in deep breaths but no air seemed to fill his lungs. Everything around him grew blindingly white before it vanished suddenly. Riley stood alone in the middle of the woods. The trees were on fire, black smoke blocking out the sun and a fog surrounding him on all sides. Ash rained from the sky and Riley dropped to his knees at the carnage around him. Soldati warriors in human and tiger forms lay scattered all around him. All of them dead. Tears rolled down Riley's cheeks as he pushed himself to his feet, walking through the heaps of dead warriors, their skin or fur matted with blood, their eyes vacant and expressions filled with horror. So much blood....

  Riley turned, realizing the bodies had all fallen in a circle around him. His gaze fell on a body dressed in black and he shook his head.

  "No. Please." He forced himself to move, breaking into a run. He dropped to his knees beside Khalon, a sob catching his throat at Khalon's lifeless body. Blood stained his mouth, his once-vibrant green eyes now pale. "How...?" How could this happen? If Riley was still alive, how could Khalon--oh my God.

  Riley had been so preoccupied by his devastation, by Khalon's death, he hadn't noticed the hand Khalon clutched to his side. With his heart in his throat and his body shaking violently, Riley stared at the man lying on his stomach in the mud, face turned away from him. It couldn't be. He pushed himself to his feet and shakily moved around to the other side of the body, his hands going to his mouth to stifle a cry as he stared into his own lifeless eyes.

  Riley was dead. He shook his head then looked around. That's why they were all dead.

  "No." He choked on the bile rising in his throat. "It's not my fault." Tears blurred his vision as he stepped back quickly, tripping on something and falling onto the muddied ground. He turned to see what he'd tripped on and found it was Rayner, a sword through his chest pinning him to the ground. A cry tore from his chest.

  "Riley!"

  Riley gasped, rising swiftly to the surface and breaking through. There were hands on him and someone tried to hold him.

  "Riley, it's me. It's Khalon."

  Riley threw his arms around Khalon, crushing himself against Khalon as he shook. Oh God. It wasn't real. He pulled back and cupped Khalon's face in his hands. He was beautiful and warm and alive. Riley smiled through his tears.

  "We need to go to the temple. Now," he said. "I need to go home."

  Khalon's brows furrowed. "What? Riley, what--"

  Riley shook his head. He couldn't stay here any longer, couldn't put everyone at risk. They needed to go. It broke his heart, but he pushed away from Khalon, his legs unsteady. When Khalon reached out, Riley threw a hand up to stop him.

  "I'm fine. Please, let's just go. We need to go."

  Khalon nodded and Riley silently thanked him. He walked ahead as Khalon let out a fierce roar. Seconds later, in the distance, and barely audible to his human hearing, the call was answered by several others. A white light beamed above his head, and he watched as the barrier melted away. As soon as it was gone, Riley took off into a run with Khalon and the others on his heels. The other Soldati were somewhere to the east, so Riley headed in that direction, cutting through the trees onto a wider path, running as fast as his legs would go, spurred on by the anguish tearing at his heart.

  "Riley, wait!" Khalon called after him, the rest of his words lost on the wind.

  Riley was too focused on getting to the temple to hear what Khalon said. They couldn't be far. He had to get there as quickly as possible. When he said his good-byes, he would ask Khalon to send his apologies to Flora, Lasa, and Tinia for not saying good-bye and tell them he'd miss them. He probably shouldn't be pushing himself so hard after what just happened, but this wasn't his first vision. He remembered now. Remembered the first time he saw the horror. He couldn't stick around and wait for it to come true. The sooner he was gone, the safer Khalon and the others would be.

  Around them the forest plunged into silence. No birds, no rabbits, squirrels, or leaves rustling. Riley squinted as he tried to see past the trees and bushes into the dense forest. It was dark. Why was it so dark? It was still midafternoon.

  "The path!" Khalon roared as he approached. "You were supposed to stick to the path!"

  The shadows moved as one and Riley gasped, dread sweeping over him. It wasn't shadows, it was demons. And there were thousands of them. Oh God. He'd let his fear and emotions get the better of him and forgotten all about the damned path. How could he have been so stupid? He hadn't meant to run off blindly. He'd just wanted the pain to stop.

  Riley skidded to a halt and the four Soldati formed a tight circle around him, hissing and baring their sharp fangs, their collective roars terrifying. Riley crouched down, his hand instinctively going to Khalon's fur. It wasn't difficult to differentiate Khalon from the others. He was much larger. Yet even if he hadn't been, Riley would've been able to pick Khalon out from among a hundred tigers. How he knew that was beyond him.

  Khalon's whiskers twitched, and he flattened his ears against his head, but he didn't object to Riley's hand on his fur. A shrilling sound knifed Riley's ears and he covered them, his eyes going wide at the half-dozen demons boring into Riley with their empty eye sockets. These weren't like the others. They were fouler, fiercer. And they were going to kill him.

  Chapter Ten

  KHALON ROARED, his call echoing through the trees, a warning to the demons that he would tear each and every one of them apart if they dared lay a hand on Riley. He summoned the power within him, channeling it through his body, the heat spreading until a white glowing light emitted from his eyes and body. He had only to brush near a demon with his light and it w
ould crumble to dust. With another fierce roar, he sounded the attack. His warriors drew from their own power, each one with a unique light force. They only had to keep the demons busy until more of his warriors arrived. Whatever happened to Riley, it was horrifying enough to send him speeding off without a second thought to where he was going or the danger he was running toward. The terror in his eyes was evidence enough Riley had another vision.

  The four of them charged, slashing and leaping into the ocean of demons, all while maintaining a perimeter around Riley. Khalon would not allow them to hurt him. Perhaps the priestess had been mistaken, perhaps not. Whatever the reasons for her bringing Riley into his life, Khalon would not lose him at the hands of demons.

  A wave of foul creatures gurgled up putrid poison, their stench irritating Khalon's nostrils and their screeching resounding through the forests around them. Their razor-sharp claws scraped at the earth as they crawled, scurried, and hobbled toward Riley. The dark demons were a particular worry.

  "You have to give me something to fight with!" Riley shouted at Khalon.

  Khalon hissed. No simple weapon could kill these demons. Leave this to us, Khalon said in his mind.

  "Did you just telepathically talk to me?" Riley looked startled and Khalon would have rolled his eyes if he could. He swiped his claws at another demon, slaughtering it.

  How else do you think we communicate while in this form?

  Riley kept himself away from clawing demons, skirting their rotting limbs as they attempted to get nearer. A tide of demons rose, its shadow washing over Riley.

  Rayner! Khalon sped toward Riley and skidded to a halt. He braced himself as Rayner leaped and bounded off Khalon's back to give himself the height needed to eradicate the wave of demons from its center, catching one of the dark demons with a twist of his body in midair. Rayner landed on his paws and they continued to extinguish the foul beasts.

  Khalon was taken aback by Riley's resourcefulness. Despite his lack of weapons or power, he found ways to outmaneuver any approaching demons, at one point leading a hoard straight to Khalon for him to pounce on and destroy. Riley caught on fast, using himself as bait to lead the demons straight to their destruction. It was a risky maneuver but it worked. Demons weren't very bright and Riley made full use of this knowledge. Adira used a tree as leverage, soaring through the air and twisting to swipe at another dark demon, its companion narrowly missing her claws and hurtling toward Riley.