Canute (The Kindred Series Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Canute

  Frey Ortega

  Canute

  The Kindred Series 2

  An immortal soldier, tested in the fires of war…

  In the aftermath of the attack on his brother and his family, Canute is coaxed into joining forces with another vampire family in the hopes of ending a long feud between two rivaling clans vying for control.

  A false pretense…

  Under the guise of a Kindred bond, Canute finds himself used as a pawn in some war he wants no part of. Angry, confused, and unable to trust himself, he loses his already tenuous control and becomes berserker, losing himself into the night.

  Fighting with fear…

  When Canute wakes up, he finds himself in the presence of a young man named Haru, who ends up being his true Kindred. Afraid that he’s still beguiled and unable to fully trust so soon after an immense betrayal, Canute has to fight past his fears and his weaknesses to accept his Kindred. Between immense betrayal and a war where no one can trust their judgment, can he learn to trust—and love—again?

  Copyright © 2017 by Frey Ortega

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover by: Jess Buffett

  www.sinfullysweetdesigns.com

  Edited and formatted by: Avril Stepowski

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  About the Author

  Dedication

  To all my readers:

  Thank you for patiently waiting for this next one. Here is Canute for all of you!

  Chapter One

  The skyline looked so different from his office in the Chateau Sanguine.

  Canute stared out at the view before him, in awe at the mishmash of old and new that seemed to permeate every inch of the city of Kyoto. Sleek, modern architecture met culturally distinct sites, from sprawling temples with slightly curved roofs to red torii gates and small wooden two-floor buildings that housed centuries-old businesses, to large, intimidating buildings made of glass and steel that Canute was more comfortable in. Those powerhouse skyscrapers made him feel more at home, and less out of place, in the beautiful but definitely homogeneous city.

  He had both arms behind his back. His stance was at ease, practiced from his time in the military. He felt the tension in his muscles begin to slacken. Closing his eyes, Canute sighed.

  Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.

  There was once a time he was probably happy enough to be around such culturally rich sites, but the modern seemed so much more…uniform. There was a sameness that he appreciated. Sure, differences made everyone unique, but Canute had enough of differences when too many wars were waged because of them. Even now, people reveled in their differences, and let an us-versus-them mentality create lines in the sand where there shouldn’t have been.

  Canute had been part of a world where us-versus-them had torn his people apart.

  But he’d rather not think about that now.

  Breathing evenly as he watched the hustle and bustle of an even more densely populated city than Monte Carlo, Canute felt a soft hand on his shoulder and he turned slowly to look at the reason why he was even here in the first place.

  Ranmaru stood there, all porcelain handsomeness with just the softest hint of feminine beauty where it counted. Canute’s breath hitched when he saw his Kindred’s face glow gently underneath the pale moonlight, the long-sleeved yukata of a deep, dark lilac color he was wearing having fallen slightly down his shoulder, revealing more of the soft skin underneath.

  Skin that he had yet to touch.

  “Are you alright?” His Kindred asked.

  Canute nodded. “I suppose it’s just jet lag,” he lied.

  Ranmaru didn’t look convinced. But then again, ever since they met, he’d always been much more perceptive than he let on, and a lot quieter and more aloof, too. He was like this beautiful ceramic doll—his expression was always a little dry and cold, and oftentimes lifeless. He always seemed so distant. Canute didn’t know if this was how having a Kindred soul felt, but it was like a sensation of pain echoing through his chest, like a yearning that hadn’t ceased even after they’d met. Where was the entirety of him being consumed? Where was the feeling of never needing anything other than his lover?

  Nevertheless, Canute believed that Ranmaru was his. He could feel it. He’d known it the moment their eyes caught one another’s. And because their souls were entwined, the younger male was beginning to know more about Canute than the Nordic man wanted to let on.

  At least, that’s how it felt.

  Deep, almost black-colored eyes looked right up at Canute, staring blankly into his eyes. Canute was sure the jig was up.

  “You’re not going to tell me?” Ranmaru asked. “We’ve been here ten days. Your jet lag should be gone by now.”

  Canute looked up at Ranmaru like a deer caught in headlights. He didn’t want to lie to his Kindred, but he also didn’t really want to upset the younger man. “No, it’s nothing, my love. I suppose I’m just a little tired from the trip.”

  Ranmaru regarded him, squinting his eyes right at Canute, before ultimately nodding. “If you say so.”

  The beautiful doll of a man sauntered over to the nearby couch, plopping and sighing. He pulled out his cellphone and started to tap away at it. The expression on his face seemed to crack for just a split second. His eyebrows furrowed. His lips pursed. Inexplicably, Canute felt a pang of wooziness course through his body.

  But he had no time to think about that. As he quickly pushed his nausea down, Canute turned back to look at the room around them,
noting the sheer extravagance of his surroundings. The spacious, almost palatial apartment they had was a sign of Himiko’s own distinct wealth. Apartments like these just didn’t exist in Japan, unless they were for the filthy rich. The suite laid out for them was about as large as an entire floor in an office building.

  Each silence between them had become more tense than the last.

  “Your aunt has been very kind to offer us her suite like this,” Canute said, in an attempt to break the ice. “I’m glad she’s been so welcoming, all things considered.”

  Ranmaru looked up at Canute after a minute or two of tapping away at his cellphone almost angrily. “I’m sorry, what did you say? I hadn’t been listening.”

  Canute blinked. He gritted his teeth, but said nothing.

  Almost every time he spoke, Ranmaru seemed like he wasn’t wholly there, like his mind was a million miles away. It was a quality that he didn’t find particularly kindly to when it came to his Kindred. It’s not as though he was demanding his lover’s attention, but considering they were the only ones in the room, it would have been nice to have Ranmaru actually initiate a conversation for once.

  Canute didn’t know what the universe was doing, but he trusted in it. After all, why would it entwine his soul with Ranmaru’s if the man didn’t complete him?

  He sighed, trying to calm himself down. “Nothing. I was just trying to make conversation.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  Canute’s eyebrow twitched, but he elected to say nothing.

  Ranmaru looked up at Canute, offering a weak smile. “I’m sorry, I have to do something. Will you be alright here on your own for a bit?”

  Canute shrugged. “I guess,” he said. “It’s not as though we spend as much time together as we used to.”

  There was a passive-aggressiveness in his voice that surprised even Canute. His heart ached. Something was wrong, and he knew it deep in his bones, but he couldn’t pinpoint as to exactly what it actually was. Why did he feel this way?

  He could’ve sworn Ranmaru rolled his eyes as the smaller man stood up and strode out of the room, closing the door gently behind him. Like a ghost, he just quietly shuffled away without a trace.

  The Nordic man didn’t think being with his other half would be this way. He turned to his own cellphone, peering at the clock on the screen. He mentally counted what time it was back home at the Chateau Sanguine, before swiping at his lock screen and calling up the only person he knew who could help him.

  Should have been some time in the evening back at home. He would be awake, at least.

  Click. A familiar voice filled him with warmth.

  “I would have thought it would take a little longer before you started to get homesick.”

  His closest confidant, the man he considered his brother, was a man named Cyrus. He also happened to be the family’s patriarch, who was suave and aristocratic with a cool head for business. Until very recently, he was also single—until Bastien, Cyrus’ Kindred, came into the picture.

  Now, there was a sense of warmth to Cyrus that hadn’t been there before. In fact, Cyrus’ words sounded amused. Canute couldn’t help but grin, even though he really didn’t feel all that happy at the moment. Truthfully, he had been feeling a little homesick.

  “I’m definitely missing the Chateau Sanguine,” Canute replied. “But Japan is just as beautiful.”

  He spoke a little too quickly, there. He hoped he didn’t sound too obvious.

  “Oh? Here I thought your Kindred would be keeping you close by and entertained.”

  “He does,” Canute answered back, and now he couldn’t help but realize that he sounded a lot like he was covering things up. His voice lilted towards the end, and he was biting on the inner lining of his cheek.

  “Something tells me there’s trouble in paradise,” Cyrus said. “What’s wrong?”

  Canute didn’t know how to say it. How could he? Cyrus was busy running things at the Chateau Sanguine while he was gone. In between politics, taking care of Bastien, and about a thousand different things that Canute used to help him with, the Nordic vampire knew he shouldn’t have done this. He shouldn’t pile his issues on his brother’s doorstep.

  He could handle his own problems.

  “Nothing,” Canute said hastily, almost too hastily, in fact. “It’s just that…well, I mean, I have to ask. About the Kindred bond.”

  “You can ask me anything,” Cyrus said. “All you have to do is say the word.”

  Canute sighed. “Sometimes, do you feel as though maybe fate, or the world, or destiny—whatever you want to call it—do you think maybe it got things wrong? I feel for Ranmaru, but sometimes I feel like we’re only barely tolerating each other’s presence. We don’t have anything in common, and I just can’t break through the ice.”

  Cyrus was quiet as he listened. Canute appreciated the man taking the time to weigh his words, but he was worried. What if he was broken in some way, shape, or form?

  Finally, Cyrus sighed. “No, I don’t feel that way for Bastien at all. He’s always felt like he’s completed me.”

  Canute felt something inside him drop.

  “Oh,” he answered blankly. “I see.”

  This time, it was Cyrus’s turn to sigh. Canute could almost see Cyrus place a hand on his forehead and shake his head as he spoke. “I can’t lie to you and tell you it’s okay, my friend, when it’s not. Have you claimed Ranmaru yet?”

  “I can’t. Ranmaru doesn’t want to. Not yet, he says,” Canute replied. “It’s hard for me to keep total control, but I’m trying my best. Some days I just want to get it over with, though, and see if that changes things.”

  “Well, it’s odd for someone to know what the Kindred bond entails but not want it,” Cyrus said. “Perhaps that’s the problem. There might be something in his past that makes him not want to be part of it. Have you tried asking him?”

  Canute sighed. “To no avail. He’s still very closed about his past. Something else has been bothering me, actually.”

  “Tell me.”

  Canute turned toward the door, as if willing himself to see if Ranmaru was on the other side. “Sometimes, it seems as though the people around him don’t really know him.”

  The tone of confusion in Cyrus’s voice was clear as day. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean it exactly the way I said it,” Canute replied. “There are times when I’m out that people ask me who Ranmaru is, and that they didn’t know that Madame Himiko actually has a nephew. He never goes out, preferring to stay in either Himiko’s suites or mine, and for the most part he’s ignored by the maintenance and security personnel here. It’s like he doesn’t exist.”

  “Maybe Himiko kept him secret,” Cyrus said. “But this is me trying not to cast a shadow of doubt over your Kindred, my friend.”

  “That’s not all, brother. Sometimes, even Madame Himiko wonders what we’re doing. I catch her asking herself why we’re trying to set up this deal, and suddenly Ranmaru comes barreling in.”

  Canute didn’t even tell Cyrus about that feeling of nausea that overcame him sometimes when Ranmaru looked deep in his eyes. It was kind of like suddenly finding himself with a case of vertigo for a split second, and then coming back to earth after being launched thousands of feet into the air.

  “That’s rather suspicious,” Cyrus admitted.

  That pit inside of Canute told him exactly the same thing. “On the plus side, the work Himiko wants done seems to be almost complete. I hear Oda will be coming tonight.”

  “Then you can come home soon. Maybe together we can figure out how to thaw Ranmaru’s icy exterior, and why things seem a little odd on that end of the world. I’ve been to Japan, and besides the freedom of expression in their pornography, they’re very into courtesies and respect. The people under Himiko’s employ shouldn’t be treating her nephew like that, especially if they’re close enough that she actually ended a business deal with Herod because of his affront to her family’s name.”

&n
bsp; Canute couldn’t help the little guffaw that came out of his mouth. “Here’s to hoping, brother. Here’s to hoping.”

  “If you’re desperate enough to seek it, my sole piece of advice for you is to be patient. You can’t dig for information because you’re still in a rather precarious situation, and with regards to claiming your mate, you can’t force something that another person doesn’t want. It’s like saying having another child will solve your marital problems,” Cyrus said. “Things will just get worse if you try to force their hand, either way you look at it.”

  Canute moved towards the couch and settled there. He leaned back and took a deep breath. The scent of his Kindred lingered, and it was sickly sweet, cloying, like the scent had been honeyed a little too much, to the point of almost being nauseating.

  Wasn’t everything about the other half of his soul supposed to compliment him? Why did they seem so…wrong? Why was it that, where Ranmaru was concerned, Canute felt like something was just the slightest bit off?

  “I understand,” Canute finally replied. “It kills me to say so, but I do understand.”

  “Good. In the meantime, finish up what you need to do in Kyoto,” Cyrus said. “That way you can come back as soon as possible.”

  The call ended with Canute smiling wistfully at his screen and nodding. Cyrus was right. The sooner he finished up, the sooner he could come back home. Himiko only needed him for a couple more things, and they were about to approach Oda personally with their plans.

  Himiko had been uncharacteristically generous. But perhaps it was going to pave the way to a more unified front between their two families.

  Politics—Canute was never very good at that. Diplomacy and following orders were more his forte. He’d always been a soldier above all else. That made him adaptable, but only to a point.

  Plans within plans were never his strong suit. Even his brother had admitted that he was growing rather tired of all the lies. Something told Canute that Cyrus was lying, though. He liked bossing people around too much to ever let go of his position.