Demon Retribution by Kiersten Fay Page A

expected them to put him
on the ground so fast.
    He vowed it wouldn’t happen again.

     

Chapter 9

     
     
     
    The trees outside the car window followed
the road in a tightly packed order, exploding with bright color. It
was a two-hour drive to Hunter Mountain, where her cabin waited,
and Kyra was eager to finally get there.
    Zoey rested in the back seat with her eyes
closed. Still, Kyra wasn’t sure if she believed the calm exterior
her friend projected.
    Cale relaxed in the passenger seat, being
suspiciously quiet as he gazed at the scenery. He’d hardly said a
word to her since they’d left the department store.
    “ So, your planet was
destroyed?” she said, breaking the long silence.
    He took his eyes from the scenery and
settled them on her. She peeked at him from the corner of her
eye.
    “ Aye,” he
replied.
    She waited for him to continue, but he went
back to watching the trees fly by.
    “ How did it happen? Global
warming?”
    “ Hardly.”
    “ Nuclear
disaster?”
    “ No.”
    “ Why did you tell Zoey and
not me?”
    “ Like I said, she asks a
lot of questions. Couldn’t shut the girl up otherwise. And,” he
paused, “I was hoping to delay telling you. I figured it would
alarm you to know.”
    “ Why would it…” She trailed
off, feeling her throat go dry. There could only be one reason to
keep such a thing from her. Only one thing would cause her to
stress over the destruction of a planet to which she had no
connection.
    He inhaled deeply and let it out slowly.
“The Kayadon came to my planet long ago.”
    Kyra began flicking her nails around the
wheel.
    “ They sold many of my
people as slaves, killed those they could not control, and then
destroyed our home. My family and I now live as nomads.”
    Her heart sank. She chewed her lip, gripping
the wheel tighter. “Are my people…are they…?”
    “ We don’t know anything.
That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. It does no good to jump to
conclusions.”
    “ It’s maddening, all this
time not knowing.” Her voice held all the frustration she kept
locked inside.
    “ Yeah, it is.”
    Kyra felt there was more to his words than
he let on, but her cabin finally came into view.
    “ Zoey! Wake up. We’re
here.” She forced the conversation to the back of her mind. Surely
there was hope. Otherwise her father would never have sent Cale to
her.
    She held onto the idea like a lifeline.
    Zoey sat up, mid yawn, but her mouth didn’t
close as she took in what Kyra knew was an extravagant sight laying
just beyond the flat surface of a small lake.
    “ Holy mother of…how
rich are you?”
    A deep deck surrounded both levels of a
stone and wood cabin, complete with a high angular roof and a set
of chimneys. Another deck protruded from the second story. The
landscaping was colorful and pristine against the dense, rough
wooded area. Kyra paid a hefty sum for its upkeep.
    “ Why on Earth are you
living in the city, and working at a crappy coffee shop, when you
have this?” Zoey complained.
    “ Solitude gets dull,” she
replied with a shrug.
    Over the gravel driveway, she wound the car
around the lake and parked near the front entrance. Zoey jumped out
first and stretched. Kyra and Cale followed.
    “ What do you think?” she
asked Cale over the hood of the car. “Do you think we’ll be safe
here?”
    He took a moment to look around before
answering. “Seems so. No scent of Kayadon in the air. Not sure how
they found you in the first place, so we’ll have to keep our guard
up.”
    Kyra recalled Cale used her father’s book to
figure her location. “Do you think they have a book as well?”
    “ They have your father, why
would they need a book? Who knows what they’re doing to him to
get…” He paused at her grimace. “Sorry. I’m no good at—”
    “ No, it’s fine. I should
have figured…” She ran her hands though her hair. “I just didn’t
want to consider it. But of course that’s what’s
happening.”
    “ Try not to