Kari snorted. “How many times did they mention the erestram?” she inquired, referring to one of the wolf-demons, shock troops in the underworld armies. Kari was the only demonhunter in recorded history to have beaten one in single combat, a fact that was usually blown well out of proportion with claims that she’d killed it and made a cloak out of its hide. Typhonix chuckled but didn’t respond, and Kari turned back to Aeligos and Kyrie. “Where’s Jol tonight?”
“Working late at the forge,” the rogue said sarcastically with his brows raised, and even Grakin joined Ty and Kyrie as they laughed.
“What’s so funny about that?” Kari asked. Serenjols—or Jol, as he was more commonly called—was the eldest of the Tesconis siblings, a massive man who stood over seven feet tall. He was a gentle giant, though, with a shy personality that only gave way to his protective nature when the situation demanded it. He was an accomplished fighter but also a skilled smith, and he’d been working with a group of human blacksmiths since Kari and her in-laws returned from Tsalbrin.
“He’s been working late at the forge for two months,” Aeligos answered with a shake of his head. “He’s seeing someone. I already know who it is, as hard as he tries to keep it a secret. I won’t spoil his surprise, but I can tell you she’s a good woman. Mom will be happy.”
Kyrie smiled and patted her son’s hand. Kari knew the woman simply wanted all of her sons and her daughter, Sonja, to find mates of their own. Thus far only Grakin and Aeligos had any sort of meaningful relationships, though Aeligos’ courtship of the enigmatic assassin Eryn Olgaryn was fleeting at times. Grakin approached from the kitchen, sat beside Kari, and kissed her on the side of her snout, and she leaned into him when he moved his chair closer to hers. Grakin’s other two siblings—his elder brother Erijinkor and his younger sister Sonja—were absent: Erik was on an assignment in the city of Ceritopolonis in the north, and Sonja was training with the archmage Gareth Maelstrom and hadn’t been home in days.
Little Gray’s laughter carried down from upstairs, and Kari excused herself. She walked up to his room to see if he was awake or simply laughing in his sleep. Little Gray was such a good-natured child, rarely bratty or fussy, and he had a wonderful tendency to sleep through the night. When Kari entered his room, his eyes were closed, so she absently pushed the reading chair back into the corner. The moonlight filtering in through the east-facing windows was strong, so Kari closed the drapes and then moved toward the bed. Little Gray opened his eyes and giggled when Kari kissed him on the side of his snout, so she knelt down with a smile.
“What are you giggling about?” she asked him in the rir tongue.
“Saying nite-nite to the Fuzzy Man,” he answered with another giggle.
Kari shook her head. “When you see him again, tell the Fuzzy Man to bonk whoever keeps moving your reading chair and forgetting to put it back. Now you get some sleep.”
“Okay, Mama,” Little Gray said and closed his eyes.
Kari kissed him again and then rose. She heard the creaking in the house again and ignored it, but as she strode toward the doorway, she felt a slight breeze blow past her. Kari’s eyes widened and she became very still; it felt like the draft of another passing body, or the resistance of one. She could feel her heartbeat begin to race and she looked around and listened for any further sounds, but soon her pulse rang so loudly in her ears that she was sure she wouldn’t have heard anything anyway.
Her nerves hardened like icy steel, and a fuzzy feeling crawled just under her skin as her survival instincts took over completely. Her feet and legs were poised and tensed, ready to explode into action, and without thought she moved into the defensive posture that Aeligos had taught her during their days sparring. She was ready to be struck but to counterstrike in defense of her child. Kari turned and stared into the far corner of the room, where the shadows were deepest, and was sure she could feel eyes staring back from the darkness. Without hesitation, Kari dashed over, scooped Little Gray out of bed, and hurried down the stairs.
“Kyrie! Kyrie!” she called. Her mother-in-law met her at the base of the stairs along with Grakin and his brothers. “There’s something upstairs in Little Gray’s bedroom; I felt it move past me!”
Kyrie didn’t bother asking any questions. She rushed up the stairs with Typhonix and Aeligos in tow, and Grakin hugged Kari while she tried to calm her breathing. “I think… it felt like it might’ve been a ghost,” Kari said breathlessly, and Little Gray began to cry, sensing her fear. “I couldn’t see anything, but there was something there.”
Grakin hushed her and kept her in his comforting embrace. “It cannot be a ghost,” he said calmly. “Mother warded the house against unwelcome spirits.”
Kari met his stare. “What if it’s not the house? What if it’s me? What if it’s my father’s spirit following me? What if…”
Grakin gripped the sides of Kari’s face as she continued to get worked up. “Kari, your father is dead! He cannot hurt you anymore. You know this.”
Kari closed her eyes and sighed. After so many years, that was a fact she had to remind herself of again and again. The abuse she had suffered at her father’s hands was ever a part of her, one that no amount of time, happiness, or meditation could ever seem to completely bury. The mental exercises Kari had learned from the war wizard Triela served to keep her centered and focused, but it never seemed to take much for the scars to become raw and painful again.
Giving birth to Little Gray had been the worst instance of it. The pain of childbirth had nearly sent her over the edge, and for those few hours of labor and giving birth, she had relived that personal hell she’d suffered through for years as a young woman.
How it had stung to be so exposed in front of her entire family. There had been no hiding her past after that; the things she had said and the way she had snapped at those around her while giving birth made it obvious to everyone. Stripped of her guard, Kari had divulged her torturous childhood to her family. As she thought about it now, it was hardly surprising how supportive they had been. At the time, Kari had been shocked by how much more they seemed to respect her after hearing her tale. She had expected some small bit of resentment for deceiving them, or for the fact that she hadn’t been completely honest with them before she and Grakin were mated, but the resentment never came. Even Erik seemed to hold her in higher regard than he already had, which was considerable after she’d saved his life on Tsalbrin.
The memories were painful, but they were a part of Kari and seemed like they always would be. However, the strength she gained from her family’s support and the love of her mate was always enough for her to beat them back into submission and cover them up again. Kari’s heart calmed as she basked in the warmth of Grakin’s touch, and even though the others weren’t beside her, she could feel their gentle presence encourage her from across the distances. She was a woman of strength and courage, a hero beloved by the masses, and what her father had done to her only made her triumphs more incredible, more inspiring, and more comforting.
Kari opened her eyes and hugged her son tightly, and the love in Grakin’s expression brought gentle tears of joy to her eyes. Grakin wrapped her and Little Gray in a tender embrace, and the fear that had stabbed into her like a cold blade subsided. “You’re right,” Kari said with confidence. “I just… I don’t know what it was, but I’m sure something was there. But you’re right, it wasn’t… it couldn’t have been my father. He’s gone.”