Katie's Hellion

They stared at each other. His gaze turned from amber to fire, and she wondered if she'd pushed him too far. Rhyn, for once, was quiet. She'd never seen his attention stay any one place for long, but today, he was actually calm. His arms were folded across his chest, his frame growing more relaxed as his brother grew tenser. With effort, Kris drew a deep breath and blew it out.

"I am one of the leaders of the immortal world. Yes, I am used to giving orders, orders that everyone follows. I understand that you don't know our world, and that you have the disadvantage of having been through some truly awful things since being thrown into our world."

Despite her anger, she recognized the physical effort he put into his words.

"For what it's worth, I apologize for treating you like you were subhuman. I need your help for the sake of humanity."

She softened at his obvious struggle. Her gaze went to Rhyn, who looked almost amused again, then back.

"And how can one puny little human save humanity?" she returned.

"Sasha and the Dark One will destroy everything they can. Ully is experimenting with your blood to find a way to create a sort of antidote we can inject into our immortals to render them immune to the powers of Sasha's creatures. He's close but needs more time and more blood."

She took in his words, surprised he'd admit to needing a human.

"Thank you, Kris. I'll help you on two conditions."

"Name it."

"You take the bounty off Rhyn's head and readmit him to whatever weird immortal society you belong to AND I get to leave whenever I want."

"You gave me three conditions, not two. I'll allow you one in the angel of compromise," he said with distaste.

She sensed a brick wall and hesitated, considering. She really did want to help humanity, and she really did want her freedom from stupid immortals bossing her around. Her gaze settled on Rhyn, who was waiting as tensely for her response as Kris.

"Bounty," she said with some effort. "No more hunting, tracking, targeting, hurting, killing, or anything else. He's your brother, for God's sake."

Kris's gaze flared again, and she assumed he'd expected her to ask for her freedom. She heard him grate his teeth, then say, "Rhyn, bring her to the compound."

He turned and stalked away, disappearing with a puff of cool breeze.

"Foolish human," Rhyn said more quietly.