“I will return,” Elade said, “but if you or anyone else at the Citadel harms Tevek, I will make you regret it. You have my word on that, too.”
She sheathed her sword and retrieved her armor from near his desk. The silver-blue tabard resting next to it, however, she left right where it was.
Jason followed her out of the room, and once they were halfway down the hall she slammed her fist into the wooden wall so hard it splintered around her knuckles.
“Veshyel!” she hissed. “An evore aka.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Jason murmured. He barely knew anything about the vaeyn language, but he recognized a curse when he heard one. “There are things you need to know. Things about me, things about the situation here…and you aren’t going to like many of them. But I do think you’ll want to help us more than ever.”
Her luminous eyes locked with his, and he had to keep himself from taking a step back in shock. He had never stared into the face of a demon before, but he had looked into the eyes of a frenzied Asgardian on more than one occasion. Sarina could be downright terrifying when she wanted to be…but she had nothing on this. Elade’s eyes blazed with a cold, dark fury that made his skin crawl and his knees go weak.
Then she abruptly let out a deep breath, and the rage was gone. Her face softened, and he once again was standing next to a woman he had only met a few days ago but felt like he could trust implicitly. She flexed her wounded hand, and he watched as the splinters fell out of it and the cuts closed themselves.
“Then tell me,” Elade said.
He nodded slowly, and as they continued back to his room, he told her everything.
***
Kyle Adar gazed out across the docks of Lyebel, his thoughts muddled and unfocused. He stood on the small balcony on the top floor of the compound, wishing he had brought a glass of whiskey with him. He had downed too many already, though, especially considering that he’d scheduled a strategy session tonight. Reports of Ethan’s demons hitting the central garrison hard had inspired their new allies to seize the opportunity. The Solarians in particular believed they could destroy a watch outpost in the northernmost part of the docks. Even a small victory could spark a new wave of recruits, after all, and once they had gained some real momentum perhaps they could take the whole city. Sir Lavonde and his knights seemed a bit less enthusiastic, but they would probably still help.
Jason had been right about one thing earlier: the reinforcements, though small in number, had dramatically improved their position. The Resistance could accomplish a great deal with a handful of elite soldiers and trained channelers, even against a numerically superior force. And once they had the public on their side, even the whole garrison wouldn’t be able to stand against them. Lyebel was home to nearly half a million people, after all, and the Crell soldiers would be forced to fall back to Ashenfel.
Adar sighed and closed his eyes. It had only been a few hours since his confrontation with Jason, but at this point he had mostly managed to regain his composure. He hadn’t realized up until that moment just how much he had been invested in the divine spark. The mere possibility that Galvia could have its own Ascendant again…it was like offering a mutton flank to a starving man. But everything had come crashing down in rather spectacular fashion, and now the entire fate of the Resistance rested on Jason’s shoulders.
He could damn them with a single word to their new allies. Even if he said nothing, the rank-and-file soldiers wouldn’t react well to Jason and his whole group skipping town. He was the son of their “martyred” general, and Selvhara was a legend in her own right. The men would demand an explanation…and Adar had no idea what he could possibly tell them.
“I can’t believe you’re just letting them go,” Ria said as she stepped out on the balcony behind him. He’d been so distracted he hadn’t even heard her approach.
“What am I going to do, tie them up?”
“How about we just shoot them?”
He grunted and shook his head. “There’s nothing we can do. Let them go.”
Ever since the meeting, she had been wearing the same incredulous glare, as if he were a man she had never met before. “They can destroy us, Kyle. You know that.”
“They can, but I don’t think they will,” he told her. “Regardless, it’s out of our hands.”
He could feel the weight of her stare against the side of his face. “The vaeyn is leaving with them,” she whispered. “They probably recruited her to help them sniff out Ethan.”
“I doubt Lavonde is happy about that, but he probably can’t stop her.”
“I wonder what that feels like?” she muttered.
Adar didn’t respond immediately. For some reason, the overwhelming sense of helplessness had actually made him feel…better. He wasn’t sure why at first, but eventually he realized it was as if he had suddenly been released of an oppressive burden. The truth was out in the open now, and ultimately his destiny was no longer in his hands. There was something liberating about that, as bizarre as it sounded.
“We’re finalizing battle plans just after nightfall,” Adar told her. “Lavonde and the Solarians seemed optimistic about an attack as early as tomorrow night.”
“I’ll be there,” she replied. “If Sarina is leaving, we’re going to need a new scout for the southeastern—”
They both turned at the sound of determined footsteps in the adjoining room. He caught a glimpse of a blue cape and the familiar dark figure of a tall, slender woman encased in form-fitting armor. Jason must have told Elade—and now she was here to kill him. The thought should have been mortifying….but instead Adar felt his lips curl into a resigned smile.
The vaeyn stormed onto the balcony and narrowed her glowing eyes at Ria. “Leave.”
The other woman snorted. “You can’t give me orders in here. I’m—”
“In ten seconds, you will no longer be standing on this balcony,” Elade said coldly. “Whether you’re standing inside or dead in the street is your choice.”
Ria’s face twisted, into a scowl, and her hand dropped down to her weapon. But before she could do anything foolish, Adar reached out and grabbed her arm.
“Just go,” he said. “I’ll come get you in a few minutes.”
“Kyle!” she protested
“Go.” He didn’t raise his voice, but his tone was final. He tried to send her the “I’ll handle it” look as best he could. Eventually she let out an annoyed huff before she vanished back into the compound. Elade stepped up into her spot.
Adar grunted softly. “I take it you spoke to Jason about—”
“I’m not here for a conversation,” Elade said. “I’m here to talk, and you’re here to listen.”
Adar bit down on his lip. He suddenly remembered all the dark tales he had ever heard about the vaeyn, and his muscles froze in place.
“You have been harboring demons in this city for months,” she said, her voice like steel. “Your master has summoned in dozens of them, maybe even more, with no regard for what they might do to this city. And you have been sitting here lying to these people, convincing them it was their heroism and their sacrifice making this possible, not the great evil you had unleashed.”
She paused and shook her head. “I’m leaving with Jason. I’m going to track down your master and figure out how much damage he’s done, and then I’m going to bring him to justice. I would expose you right now, but we both know how important this city will be in the coming war. The soldiers fighting for you don’t know a damn thing about what’s going on. They believe in you, and if a war is coming, they deserve to be able to fight to regain what they’ve lost.”
Elade placed a hand on the balcony as if she needed it to steady herself. “So I’m going to leave you here, Kyle Adar, but know that I will be back. You can run and abandon your people if you want, but I don’t think you’ll do that. I think you’re a man who wants something so badly he’s willing to do anything to achieve it. I think you’ll fight to the bitter end even knowing what fate awaits you
, and so for now, I’ll leave you to that. Just remember I can have these knights turn on you in a heartbeat no matter where I am in the world. Live with that knowledge, and make damn sure the men and women here don’t die in vain.”
She glared at him for a moment longer before finally stepping away. The nearby shadows swirled around her like a thick fog…and then she vanished. Adar wasn’t sure how long he stood there staring into the darkness, but eventually he glanced back out over the balcony and swore under his breath.
“They won’t,” he whispered. “Not this time.”
Chapter Nine
Krystia arched her back as Darius buried himself inside her. He was rapidly approaching a climax; his eyes had glazed over and his nose had wrinkled in that adorable euphoric expression he always made just before he spent himself. She smiled and squeezed her thighs more tightly around his waist.
“Take me,” she breathed into his ear. “Please.”
He grabbed onto her waist and thrust deeper. Normally, she would have already climaxed at least once herself, but for the first time since she had known him the thought of his toned body sliding between her legs seemed almost…tiresome. His efforts were as vigorous as ever, but Krystia felt distant, almost like she was watching someone else go through the motions.
And unfortunately, her increasing detachment wasn’t just relegated to sex. Everything had seemed dull and listless since her meeting with Sovan a few days earlier, particularly her interactions with other non-channelers. She had never felt as close to anyone as when her mind had touched his, not even Darius.
He eventually spent himself deep inside her, and she caressed him lovingly as he slumped down next to her, sweaty and energized all at once. She still loved him, of course—nothing would ever change that—but she couldn’t help but feel as if her entire reality had just changed forever.
And perhaps not for the better.
“I can’t remember the last time we had a whole day together,” Darius breathed as he ran his fingers through her hair. “You’re going to be sore by morning, I promise.”
Krystia smiled. “I look forward to it.”
At this point, his mind was an open book to her, and she could clearly see all the ways he planned to take her before the night was over. She was tempted to simply give his mind the appropriate memories while she went off and did something else for the rest of the evening, but she decided that was a dangerous road to travel. She shouldn’t want to appease her lover; she should want to spend time with him. And as Sovan had showed her, she enjoyed it when Darius dominated her.
But for some reason the thought wasn’t doing anything for her right now. Instead, she decided to make a game of it: she could manipulate his perceptions and enhance his pleasure. How addled with lust could she make him before he lost his mind? That seemed like a more appealing challenge, not to mention one he would certainly enjoy.
They were in the middle of their second bout of the evening when a desperate knock sounded at the door. Darius bit hard into his lip in annoyance, and Krystia offered him a sympathetic smile.
“It’s your adjutant, and he seems nervous,” she told him.
He sighed as he ran his fingers along the outside of her thighs. “Give me a minute!”
She slid off of him and waited under the sheets while he threw on a robe and stumbled towards the door. She allowed herself to reach out and gently rummage through the intruder’s mind…
After a brief conversation, Darius returned to her bed holding what she now knew was a report detailing the suspected movements of the “lost” Crell invasion forces along the border.
“By Sol,” he said to himself. “I hope this is true.”
“What’s that?” Krystia asked. She already knew the answer, of course, but she didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable. Her mind was already working through the possibilities.
“A few weeks ago we had expected to see almost fifty thousand additional soldiers along the front lines that never materialized,” Darius explained. “Our scouts completely lost them—they left their regiments on the other side of the Imperium and then just vanished. But I think we finally got our answer—one of our agents working under deep cover thinks she located them.”
Krystia raised an eyebrow expectantly.
“Near Drakendaar,” he told her. “More specifically, they’re all gathered in a central location not far from the Zarul headquarters.”
She frowned. “That’s nowhere near the front.”
“Not directly, but the imperial capital is rife with portals. They could be deployed to any of the major cities within moments.”
“They already have tens of thousands of soldiers in position to do that already,” Krystia said. “That’s the whole point of the portals in the first place. So why fifty thousand more? Are they expecting an attack from us?”
Darius rubbed his fingers together in thought and paced away for a moment. He looked a bit silly, a Legion General strolling around in just a robe, but the sight made her smile nonetheless.
“As far as we can tell, all these troops were drawn from regiments under the direct command of High Sovereign Thelonius,” he said. “That’s odd for a whole host of reasons. The High Sovereign has already preferred to keep a healthy number of his own people in major urban centers across the Imperium.”
“To make sure the other Sovereigns know he’s watching them,” Krystia reasoned.
“Yes, exactly,” Darius said. “The only reason I could see him drawing so many soldiers back to the capital is if there were an insurrection going on.”
“An insurrection? Right in the heart of Drakendaar?”
“Right, we would have heard about it if that were the case. The other option is that perhaps the rumors about instability in Lyebel and to the south in Izaria are even more pronounced than we thought. But there has to be a reason why he’s using his own troops exclusively.”
“Perhaps Ishthare’s Rebellion in the southwest made him jumpy,” she suggested.
“Possibly,” Darius mused. “She had relatively few soldiers at her disposal and yet she still inflicted considerable damage. Maybe he’s lost control of the other Sovereigns altogether. Verrator in particular has been quiet for months, and that’s not like him at all.
“Hmm,” she murmured. “Did that prisoner they captured in Lyebel have any new information.”
Darius’s thoughts flickered unexpectedly, but he managed to sweep them aside before she caught anything specific. “Not much other than the fact his breaking technique seems exclusive to Unbound. He’s on his way here—hopefully the interrogators can get more out of him.”
“Yes,” Krystia agreed. His thoughts flickered again, and this time she caught a glimpse of what he was thinking about: Elade. Apparently he was worried about her. “What happened to Elade?”
Darius turned and scowled at her. “Are you in my head? You know I don’t like that.”
“You didn’t mind earlier,” she said impishly. “But it’s hard to ignore when you’re screaming so loudly.”
He sighed and turned away. “When the priests were interrogating the prisoner, they discovered how she managed to keep her powers. Evidently, she’s Unbound.”
“By Sol,” Krystia murmured, sitting up. “Oh, Tevek…”
“The knights aren’t happy, to put it mildly. Rumor has it the Conclave might not grant him a Binding Ritual.”
She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. “Cowards.”
“I’m surprised Areekan didn’t tell you already,” Darius said. “Or one of the other priests, for that matter.”
“They probably don’t want me to know anything about other Unbound,” Krystia said bitterly. “Areekan gets nervous every time it comes up.”
She seethed in place for a few moments, but then she realized belatedly that perhaps the situation wasn’t quite as bad as she feared. If the Conclave did dismiss Tevek, he would obviously be devastated…but if everything went as planned, in a few weeks she would be able to gra
nt him powers herself. Once Areekan was gone, she could make Tevek her personal champion, and she could grant amnesty to Elade and any other Unbound is search of sanctuary.
But that was getting ahead of herself. A lot had to happen between now and then, and at this point nothing was guaranteed. Ethan would be getting in late tonight, and together they were going to have to plan out their coup. It wasn’t going to be easy, and she honestly wasn’t even sure where to begin. He would certainly have ideas, but she was just as certainly not going to like most of them…
Darius moved over towards her and slid onto the bed. “Not exactly the most stimulating news, I know.”
She smiled and kissed him. She swung her leg back over his waist, and a few moments later she guided him back inside her. Eventually, once she had rekindled his lust, he threw her down onto her back and hoisted her ankles up on his shoulders. But as he thrust deep inside her, another tremor abruptly rippled through his thoughts. In his mind, the body beneath him was no longer pink and petite and human; it was tall and gray and vaeyn.
Krystia’s rage was swift and heart-wrenching. She nearly shoved him off her…but then suddenly his thoughts shifted back to her, almost as if he’d belatedly realized he was in bed with a telepath. Still, the fact he had dared think about another woman while he was making love to her…
She closed her eyes as he pressed down so hard her knees brushed her shoulders. It was perfectly normal for everyone to fantasize now and then, she knew, and perhaps this wasn’t the end of the world. Besides, if Elade was Unbound, that meant she was ultimately on Krystia’s side. Perhaps the two of them could stand together to overthrow the oppression of their kind both here and within the Last Dawn.
Yes…a paladin would be a valuable ally. Tevek seemed to trust her, and perhaps once she arrived in the city Krystia could bond with her like she had with Sovan—not an Ascendant bond, but a true melding of minds. She had learned more than she’d ever imagined just by merging thoughts with him once; what could she learn from a century-old vaeyn? The possibilities seemed endless…and a shiver of pleasure abruptly surged through Krystia’s body.
The Godswar Saga (Omnibus) Page 59