Soul of Smoke

by Caitlyn McFarland

  Deryn gaped at him. “How do you know?

  “Ashem. He’s known for days.”

  Deryn swore. “What are we going to do?”

  “I’m going to go after him once Kai is warm again. You’re going to stay here.”

  “Get sundered! I am not!”

  Rhys grasped the neck of Kai’s coat and ripped it down the middle. Her hoodie was unzipped, so he slipped it off of her, then tore the sweater she wore underneath. When he got to the thin shirt that clung wetly to her skin, he paused.

  “Need help?” Deryn asked.

  Ignoring her, Rhys tore the shirt away, revealing the smooth, pale curve of Kai’s waist, the line of muscle up the center of her stomach, her ribcage, small breasts hidden beneath a white bra, the delicate lines of her collarbone and shoulders...

  He sat back on his heels, running a hand through his hair, his breathing harsh.

  Deryn crossed to the pile of clothes someone had brought him from the hoard and pulled out a shirt. She pushed him aside. “Unless you’ve changed your mind about kissing her, let me do this part. If you want to be an effective little bed warmer, you might want to change out of those wet clothes.”

  Rhys nodded dumbly, stripping and pulling on a dry set of shorts. A moment later, Deryn stood, easily hefting Kai, who now wore only underwear and Rhys’s shirt. Rhys took her, feeling the pulse of energy as her icy cheek fell against his bare chest. Looking at her, his heart shifted, struck not by desperate, instinctive need, but conscious, voluntary wanting.

  He laid her in the bed and stood, looking down at her.

  “I think it’s more effective if you’re in there with her.” Deryn sniggered.

  Ffion came in, holding out a steaming mug. Rhys shot Deryn a withering look and took the mug, glancing inside. Tea. It looked too hot, but he wasn’t sure what would burn a human throat.

  “It should be fine.” Ffion sat on his bed and pulled Kai into a sitting position. She shook Kai lightly. “Kai?”

  Kai groaned.

  Deryn crouched in front of Kai and snapped her fingers. “Oi! Wake up and drink this tea!”

  Ffion shooed her away and took the mug from Rhys, putting it against Kai’s mouth. Kai coughed, but after a minute, the tea was gone.

  “That will do her some good.” Ffion laid Kai down and cocked an eyebrow at Rhys. “Your turn.”

  Rhys forced his face to relax. “Go convince Ashem that we need to go after Cadoc.”

  Deryn stopped smiling and nodded. Ffion followed her out, looking uneasy.

  Rhys eased himself down next to Kai. He wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her close, fitting her against his body, trying to ignore the nerve-throbbing pulse. He pulled a thread of power from the inferno that lived inside him, pushing his body temperature up a few degrees. With a moan, Kai curled into him, pressing her frigid form full against him. Shivers wracked her small frame.

  With so much of her skin against his, the pain vanished. Rhys sucked in a breath, the sudden lack of agony a shock. In a moment of weakness, he pressed his lips to her mass of damp, dark hair, breathing her in. Even the smell of the river couldn’t cover her sweetly spicy scent. He tightened his arms, pulling her closer. Instead of assuaging his need, the kiss had put a crack in his dam of control.

  He kissed her hair again, then again. He pulled back, but it wasn’t enough. His lips brushed the skin of her forehead and control skittered away.

  “Stop,” he commanded himself.

  He pressed his lips to her forehead again, then the bridge of her nose, then its tip.

  “Stop.”

  He leaned his forehead against hers, a breath away from her lips, sweet and full.

  I swear...

  “I’m sorry I can’t give you a choice.” But, Stars save him, he wouldn’t force her into a heartswearing while she was asleep.

  He brushed his fingers along her cheek, then traced her palm, which was curled beneath her chin. He was surprised at the tough calluses on her fingertips and along the middle joints of her second and third fingers. He turned her hand over, studying her scars, fighting feelings of tenderness. She’d wanted to escape him so badly, she’d risked death. To feel anything for her would be asking for pain.

  Perhaps if he explained, she would heartswear to him without loving him. Or even liking him.

  He wanted her to like him.

  Weariness crashed down on him. Pain, fear and sleep deprivation pulled him under, stronger than any river. Burying his face in her damp hair, he fought sleep. As soon as she was warm, he had to go after Cadoc. He had to go...

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Strength in the Darkness

  Ashem scowled at Rhys’s back. He would’ve shouted something, but they were both on edge about Cadoc, and Ashem didn’t want to push him. It would be hard enough to keep him there when Kai woke.

  Ashem couldn’t allow the fate of one soldier compromise the safety of his king, even if that soldier was Cadoc.

  Looking down, he sighed. Ancients, what was he supposed to do with an unconscious woman? He laid her on the ground and allowed her to wake. A moment later, she sat up, glaring daggers at him. “What did you do to me? Where’s Kai?”

  “I assume Rhys took her to his room.”

  Juli went white and shot to her feet. “Take me to her this instant!”

  Ashem rubbed his temples. “If she is hypothermic, Rhys is the best person to care for her. He can do a damn sight more to warm her up than you.”

  Juliet whirled on him. “Profanity is a crutch for the unintelligent. I don’t know why you and your cult are after my friend, but you are going to let us go.”

  Ashem barked a laugh. “No, I’m not. She can explain it to you when she’s feeling better.”

  Her lip curled. “Or you could explain it to me now. Why did you kidnap her in the first place? Why exactly are we in a cave? And,” she strode forward and stabbed a finger into his chest, “what kind of hallucinogen did you slip me?”

  “I assure you, Ms. King. You haven’t been drugged. Though I would gladly sedate you.”

  She pressed her lips together. Any more and they would disappear altogether, and that would be a shame. “You’d love that, wouldn’t you? To have a woman completely helpless and under your control.”

  Ashem pressed his knuckles to the bridge of his nose, willing his unruly mind to stay away from her lips and other soft-looking parts. “Ms. King, you are helpless and under my control.”

  Juli opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again.

  “You do an excellent impression of a fish.”

  She made a noise somewhere between a sob and a frustrated shout, then whirled and ran down into the kitchen. A few seconds later, a bowl shattered, the sound echoing through the cavern.

  Ffion cocked an eyebrow at Ashem as she walked out of the kitchen with a mug of something steaming in her hands. “Good luck, Commander,” she thought, knowing he would pick it up. “And by the way, Rhys may kill you for not telling us about Cadoc.”

  “It was necessary,” he shot back at her. “Get Kai awake and her letters written so we can get this one out of here before she breaks all our dishes.”

  “What about Cadoc?”

  Ashem balled his hands into fists, shaking his head. Ffion bit her lip and hurried away.

  “What?” Juli whirled on Ashem as he entered the kitchen. Her dark eyes were red-rimmed and soft with tears. She threw down the overlarge gloves she wore and shrugged out of her coat.

  He kept his voice dry to cover his discomfort and the pinch of guilt. “You’re making noise.”

  “I am making lunch!” She slammed another bowl down on the counter with a bang. “You are going to bring Kai here this instant before your thug can do anything to her.”

 
“It was your ill-conceived escape attempt that dumped her in a half-frozen river. You are the one who can’t be trusted to keep her safe.”

  All the blood drained from Juli’s face. She strode forward until they stood, toe-to-toe. Ashem inhaled. She smelled like chamomile and rage.

  Her hand flew back then rocketed toward his face. He caught her wrist, her palm centimeters from his cheek. He had a fraction of a second to notice the contrast. His large hand, her delicate one, dark skin and light.

  The world contracted. His ears filled with rushing wind. Her skin burned in his grip. Magic rose up like a tide, loosing the anchorings of his soul. Power burned inside her, and he reached for it. Searching. Pressing. But it was as if an unscalable wall stood between them, and the darkness closed in. If he didn’t reach her, he would die.

  He was heartsworn.

  For a split second, he hesitated, teetering on the brink.

  No. He would not suffer like Rhys.

  He shoved her against the counter, tipped her face up and kissed her. Her lips were soft as starlight. She resisted for a moment, then sank into him as the magic took them both.

  Darkness swirled. Energy pounded, infusing him with strength. So much strength, all from her. The barrier between them cracked, opening, connecting. Magic poured into him. Their souls coiled together, fusing so profoundly it was as if they had never been two separate beings.

  Ashem pulled back and stared into her face, astonished and lost. “Juliet?”

  * * *

  Ashem’s kiss wasn’t gentle. It was reckless, angry and edged with despair. Juli shoved at him, but his kiss the embodiment of everything she felt. Their need was so perfectly matched that she found herself melting into him instead of resisting.

  A shockwave rolled over Juli. If he hadn’t already done it, she would have been thrown against the counter.

  It was as if a veil over her mind had been ripped away, revealing a frighteningly wide space. A creeping, tickling sensation inched from the back of her left hand up to her shoulder. Power coiled through her muscles and blackness swam before her eyes, but she wasn’t afraid. There was strength in the darkness, and power. A completeness that filled the deepest, loneliest parts of her soul.

  Damn. The thought was languid. She felt so satisfied, so serene, she couldn’t even muster mild disapproval at herself for the curse. Ashem straightened, breaking the kiss. His helpless expression rocked her to her core.

  “Juliet?” The voice swirled through her mind, whispering her name like music on a desert breeze. She tried to mentally thrust it away. It wouldn’t go. She put her hands against Ashem’s chest and shoved him back instead. The darkness melted, the kitchen seemed to coalesce around her. The comforting, alien presence remained. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  His rough, capable hands fell from where they had been cupping her face. His eyes, so cool and collected a moment ago, were bewildered. “I’m sorry. I have to be able to protect them.”

  Strange, crystal clear scenes flicked through Juli’s head in quick succession. A man who looked like Ashem, but wasn’t, smiling a horrible smile. A vast desert so dry it sucked the moisture from her mouth. The sky. The sky, with black wings beating in the periphery of her vision.

  “What did you do?” Juli spun away from him and cracked her elbow on the granite countertop. She gasped in pain. For some reason, he winced.

  “I can explain.” He said the words, but only seemed to be half-listening, one hand to his head.

  “Then explain,” Juli demanded, rubbing her elbow. She would not think about kissing him again.

  He lifted his fathomless golden eyes to her face, blinked, and shook his head. A sharp twist of want lanced through her. Not lust, definitely not love. More like a craving. The way she wanted gummy bears or ice cream after a bad day, but a thousand times magnified.

  When he spoke, his words echoed oddly, as if they were both in the air and in her head. He sounded surprised and confused. “We’re heartsworn. It’s...not entirely what I expected.”

  Juli gaped at him. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. Heartsworn. She’d never heard the word before, but somehow she knew what it meant. Mated. Bonded. Part of each other. She found her voice, but it shook. Her confidence had never failed her before, but now it had cracked. “Is...is this some kind of sick joke?”

  “No.”

  The completeness shifted inside her, all of the parts that weren’t herself suddenly thrown into sharp relief. She could feel the places where it filled her up, made her more.

  She leaned back against the counter. She should feel violated, but somehow she had invaded him, too. Her self had become suddenly, inextricably tangled with his.

  “It’s drugs. It has to be drugs. You...did something.” She sidled away from him.

  “Juliet...” He reached for her.

  She held up a hand, stopping him. He froze. He didn’t want to frighten her...but no, she couldn’t know that.

  Juli fled the kitchen, through the curtain, sprinting down the tunnel to the library where she and Kai had spent so much time the day before. He didn’t come after her, but she could still feel him, how irresistibly the thing between them pulled him to her as he paced the kitchen then finally sat on the counter by the tunnel entrance. Heaven help her, it was pulling her, too.

  It’s all in my head. It’s not real. It’s not real.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Just a Need

  Consciousness lapped at Kai like waves. In: someone argued loudly with several other someones. Out: blessed blackness. In: the argument had gotten louder. She heard Cadoc’s name. Out: nothingness. In: something crashed. Fire roared.

  Out.

  In. Comfortable and deliciously warm, she burrowed deeper into the bed. Her hair was damp, but she couldn’t remember why. At the moment, she didn’t care.

  “Mmm...” Clean, wild and masculine, the scent on the pillow made her curl her toes and sigh. In her mind, neon-blue eyes flashed and lips turned up in a heart-stopping half-smile.

  She threw back the covers and tried to spring out of bed, but her feet got caught. Yelping, she hit the floor in a pile of pillows and blankets. Tangled in the sheet, she landed with her knees pressed to her nose.

  “For the love...where are my pants?” She struggled upright, digging her way out of the morass of blankets. She wore nothing but her underwear and a soft, dark blue shirt that came midway down her thighs. Rhys stared at her from across the room, conspicuously shirtless. The red scales of his indicium glinted in the light of a golden ball of fire that hung near his shoulder, emphasizing the sleek cut of the muscles on his chest and arm. He looked utterly defeated.

  She grabbed a blanket and yanked it up to her chest. “Rhys! Why the hell am I in your bed?”

  He rubbed his cheek, as if bringing his thoughts back from a distance. “You don’t remember?”

  It was such a bad frat boy line Kai would have laughed if she hadn’t felt sick. “If you roofied me, I will stab you in your sleep.”

  Rhys’s brow furrowed. “Roofied?”

  “Drugged me and...and...”

  His lip curled. “No.”

  Then she remembered the river. The darkness. The cold, cold nothingness. Warm, strong fingers that closed around hers and pulsed with life.

  She sat down on the bed. “Holy crap. You jumped in the freaking river.”

  He nodded, studying his hands.

  Kai clutched the blankets harder. “You saved my life.”

  “I guess that makes us even, George.” A ghost of a smile curved one corner of his mouth. “I couldn’t just stand there.”

  It didn’t feel like it made them even. It felt like she owed him the world.

  He stood, motioning to clothing hanging on a small outcropping of rock near
the ball of fire. “Your jeans and hoodie are there. The shirts are ruined.”

  So much for their escape attempt. Kai couldn’t tell if she was angry or relieved. She felt like a cat. Let me out. No, let me back in. Just kidding, must escape!

  “Did you kiss me?” Kai pressed her lips together, but there wasn’t really a good way to ease into the subject.

  He tensed. “If you were heartsworn, you’d know. I’ve had other things on my mind.”

  “Oh.” She reminded herself that pulling her out of the river would have been entirely selfish on his part. “What would have happened to you? If I had...died.”

  He crossed his arms and shrugged, a frown tugging down the corners of his mouth. “When one of a heartsworn pair dies, the effect on the survivor is... They recover, but it takes time. They’re still heartsworn, though. They can’t swear to anyone else.”

  “But we aren’t heartsworn. Maybe you would’ve gone back to normal.”

  He shrugged again, face still troubled. “Perhaps.”

  “Oh. Would you...?” She gripped the hem of the shirt.

  “Yes, Kai. I still would have saved you.” Rhys’s voice was soft. He didn’t look at her. Instead, he tossed her the jeans and hoodie.

  Kai swallowed, wishing he’d look at her. But no, she changed her mind about that, too. Now, on top of every other confusing thing she felt for him, he’d saved her life.

  The clothes were still a little damp, like her hair, but she pulled them on anyway. As she zipped up the hoodie, a thought struck her, and she gasped. “Juli! Is she here? You said she was safe, right?”

  Rhys nodded. “She’s with—”

  Someone approached the drawn curtain from the other side. “Rhys.” It was Ashem, his voice tight.

  Rhys went to the curtain and yanked it open. “What is it?”

  Kai moved close behind Rhys. Ashem looked troubled, but distant, his dark brows furrowed over eyes that didn’t quite focus. “Juliet is asking for Kai.”