Dark Dealings

by Kim Knox

  Heyerdar stepped back and her belly twisted, the ache for him sharp and sudden. From the glitter in his eyes, the bastard knew it. “Reist gave you names?”

  Ava rattled them off and stopped as Heyerdar frowned. “What?”

  “Clay.”

  “Palban’s man. He was a Clay. Same one?”

  Heyerdar unclipped the thin roll of metal from his belt and stretched it out. His magic glowed over it, making the surface gleam, and a moment later a tinny voice burst from it. “Dorene, I need information on Clay, works for Palban in the Civil Service. Is he Sentos Clay?”

  “Searching for you, Captain.” Dorene’s voice itched across Ava’s skin, and the flick of heavy papers broke through the silence. Did he have a record of everyone? “Sentos Clay. Illegitimate son of Baron Tullius. Mother, Davia Clay, a prostitute. Both parents deceased. Father bought him his first office in the Civil Service. Former curator of the emperor’s magical books and artifacts collection. Moved to the Treasury five months ago.”

  “Anything on him?”

  “Solitary. No family. Bound to the service. He’s a shadow.”

  “Thank you, Dorene.” The burn of his magic faded and the metal dulled. He rolled it up and tucked it back into his belt. “So we see him first.”

  “Do you have information on everyone?”

  Heyerdar gave her a slow smile and she fought to deny that her body was a traitor. “Yes. Your information I’ll have to update. Virgin? Not anymore.”

  “And you’re a shit.” She rubbed her hands together and backed away from him. She wanted to wash, and she wanted to eat. Already her stomach was growling. “Tabor didn’t deliver breakfast.”

  “Considering the reception he would’ve received, wise choice. He’ll have taken it to my office. You can eat, wash and change there.”

  Ava wanted to argue, but she couldn’t. Sticking close to Heyerdar was probably the safest way to act. The mages wanted her dead. She winced. It was strange to be at the other end of a lust for blood and death.

  * * *

  Sentos Clay gave them a short smile and moved quickly amongst the high wooden stacks, replacing scrolls from the little cart at the end of the row and pulling others free. He was a whip-thin man of medium height, his face gaunt and sallow from years spent in shadow-heavy rooms such as the one they all stood in. “How can I help the Guard?”

  His voice broke the silence and stirred the motes of dust caught in the grey light from the high windows. He paused briefly. “Do you mind if I carry on?”

  Heyerdar waved his hand. “Go ahead.”

  Clay’s soft-soled boots slipped over the stone floor, the slight sound mixing with the sound of Heyerdar’s regular breathing. With her belly full, Ava was more able to concentrate, but still her...awareness of the captain pricked at her senses. She pulled her thoughts away from him. She was Heyerdar’s second pair of eyes on this man.

  Clay’s calmness caught her. She couldn’t explain it. He moved with surety, filing and removing scrolls with no need to look at a list, but something about him was...patient. Perfectly so. He was glass, a reflection. But his strangeness didn’t stir her instincts.

  “Anything more on the list of names I gave Palban?”

  “I have more detail on my desk.” He gave Heyerdar another scant smile. “Mostly to do with Madam Lunete. There is very little on the townspeople. They were law-abiding subjects.” His smile grew. “Not to suggest that Madam Lunete is not law-abiding. She is. Most assuredly.”

  “How did you come to be here?” Heyerdar stared around the room, frowning up into the dark arches of the roof. “You worked for the emperor’s staff. Something of a fall to be clerking for Palban.”

  Heyerdar’s observation didn’t cause so much as a ripple in Clay’s quiet soul. He did point a scroll at Heyerdar. “Cataloguing was interesting, I’ll give you that, Captain Heyerdar. To imagine the history, the power that a mage could turn through each page. To see those strange little chambers glitter with magic.” He shrugged and turned back to the shelf in front of him. “Interesting, as I said. But there was infighting and so many others wanted my position. Here, I move papers.” He glanced back and there was a cut of humor in his gaze. “And they pay me the same stipend.”

  “Zara Tore. She took over from you.”

  “For a short time. Three days? A week at the most. Mage Reist advised the emperor to put the collection under his purview.” His smile deepened with the flash of small teeth. “Highest Mage Abelard came into the hall.” Clay shook his head. “I’m sure you can still see the black streaks from the fire he let loose. Of course, a few months later Mage Reist stepped into his shoes and the fuss died down.”

  Clay still held that unflustered calm. Was he suggesting something with Reist and his moving the books under his domain? She didn’t know. He was a hard man to read. And that was unusual for her. Reist paid for her skills, and in almost ten years she had learned to read anyone. Excerpt Sentos Clay. Her instincts twitched.

  A hint of red pushed across his cheeks. “I’m not implying anything untoward.” He pushed a scroll onto a stack of other scrolls and lifted his smooth hands in apology. “The artifacts and books belonged to the Institute. Only convention had kept them with the emperor’s staff for so long.” He gave a quick nod. “Anything else I can help you with, Captain?”

  “How closely was the collection watched?”

  “It was self-protecting. The—” he shaped a sphere with his hands, “—chambers protected the books, I never knew how.” He shrugged. “I mostly played politics.” He stared around him. “This place can be dull, but at least I don’t have to worry about someone trying to poison me.”

  Clay’s father had bought him his position, a common practice for illegitimate children. He put in his hours for the money...and seemed not to care what he had to do to earn it. Maybe it was his lack of ambition that pricked her instincts. She moved through the Institute and the palace, where power and who wielded it was everything.

  “We also need more information on Lunete’s brothel.” Heyerdar tilted his head. “The paperwork provided only went back to when she first occupied the building.”

  Clay paused. He frowned, the action pushing fine lines across his skin, but not enough of them. His skin was too smooth, too tight. Ava pulled in a deepened breath and caught the soft, subtle hint of bluewood.

  That would explain the floating calm of the man and his lack of ambition. It was illegal in the Civil Service, for those very reasons. Ava’s gaze dropped to his hands. The striations on his nails were marked. Fuck, he was a recent and heavy user. Palban had to be an idiot to miss the signs.

  “I remember something about a Madam Ross. Her family stretched back decades.” A smile lifted Clay’s mouth, and he folded his hands together. “I believe Madam Lunete was her great-niece.”

  He’d caught her looking. For ingesting the drug, his stipend was gone. She had to wonder if, with that amount of powdered bluewood in his brain, he cared enough to try to evade his fate.

  It was doubtful they’d learn any more from the man, and Ava had to stop herself from catching her fingers in her hair. They were turning up more bodies with no way to track down the thieves. She had only that vague sense of hunger, which, given that it was a strong part of her nature, couldn’t be relied on to find anyone.

  Heyerdar nodded to Clay. “Have the information on her sent to my office.” He turned on his heel. Ava tagged after him. Behind them the soft shuffle of parchment started up again, and she pinched at the bridge of her nose. Yet more nothing.

  Heyerdar pulled the heavy door and it closed with a soft burst of air. “Anything?”

  “My only twitch was his extreme lack of ambition. Brought on by bluewood addiction. Palban must be fucking irritating to work for.”

  Heyerdar growled. “That’s what that scent was.” He le
t out a heavy sigh. “I’ll have the Guard pull him in. Bring him up on charges. We’re trying to find murderers and we lift a rock on a corrupt minor official.”

  Ava stared up at him. The mage-light from the nearby wall sconce burned steady over his perfection. “You can’t see into his thoughts?”

  “I’d have to fuck him.” He pulled a face, his eyes gleaming. “He’s not my type. Too calm.”

  Ava ignored him. “You said cockiness and greed catches a thief? If this fourth thief, Ehren, wants something different, where are the other three? The ones that wallow in what they are.”

  “Thieves are hard to track. Impossible. The three will surface again. They’re having fun.”

  “And more will die.”

  Heyerdar frowned. “We can do what we do. I have every man out hunting.” He pulled in a slow breath. “And Reist will have to have his people on proper alert now that one of his own has fallen.”

  Ava knew she should argue, should try to defend Reist, but Heyerdar was right. Reist was slow in his reactions to something so serious. And she hated the little thought at the back of her head. The one that continued to whisper that Reist could be involved, could be behind the thieves in the city. Behind all this death. “So on to Zara Tore.”

  She turned from the narrow corridor. “What I don’t understand is why they’ve killed who they have—”

  Hands grabbed her, one at her throat the other at her hip. Thin and hard. The impression of a moment, before magic seared over her in a blistering white rush.

  Heyerdar’s shout followed her into the darkness.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dragon gill burned against her tongue, acrid yet strangely sweet. The air around her was silent and Ava put a hand over her face, her mouth parched. A cot was soft under her back and the walls were cool and damp. The familiar scent of the stone, laced thinly with old magic, teased her.

  She wasn’t in the palace, nor the Institute...but somewhere in between. The air tasted similar to the tunnels surrounding the vaults. Moving her hips, she found the weight of her sword gone. This was why she had hidden blades. But Heyerdar wasn’t there to scold. That fact twisted tight in her chest.

  Was this where the thieves were hiding? And what did they want with her? Did they really want to know how she controlled the dark thief within her? How she wasn’t a fucked-up mess? A smile stretched her mouth. Too late, she already was.

  Ava pressed her hand to the wall and opened her soul to the faint streaks of magic chasing through the rock. It wasn’t enough, and only deepened the hunger in her flesh.

  “Not much point in that.”

  Ava willed herself to stillness. There was a shape pushing against the darkness, no more than three feet from her bed. He hadn’t been there a moment ago. He felt...familiar. She held down a curse. Ehren.

  “I can still see you.” Humor edged his voice, and anger curled in her gut. He thought this was funny?

  “What do you want?” White light seared away the shadows and Ava hissed. She shrank back against the wall. “What the fuck is that?”

  “An unexpected benefit.”

  The light dimmed. Ehren had dropped a thin cloth over a small glass ball in his hand. A pang of hunger hit her so hard she almost groaned. Magic. Blistering, beautiful high magic. She could almost taste it...and it too tasted familiar. She gagged. “Narve.”

  He glanced up and the flickering light gleamed against the white column of his throat. “They’re already working on breaking my connection to her. But some instinct drew her power from me. Protected her in this.” He stroked a finger over the cloth, and the magic within swirled and rippled but didn’t fade. He wasn’t eating.

  Ava frowned. Clay had said something about chambers...but that wasn’t important. “What do you want?”

  “How do you stop yourself from succumbing to the thief?” He sighed and his finger stilled. “The need to pull in what remains of this woman is tearing at me.” He shook his head. “It’s been too long. I came here thinking...” He looked up. “How do you do it?”

  Heyerdar was right. He was hunting for control. “And if I tell you? What then?”

  Ehren wet his lips. He stared down at the ball of magic in his hand, and light moved across his face and in his dark brown eyes. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

  “At least twelve people are dead. All accidents?”

  His head snapped up and something flashed through his eyes. Was that what her thief looked like, a streak of hollow blackness? “Words forced me.”

  “Who spoke them over you?”

  Ehren opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Cords in his neck strained, and his face flushed red. His teeth snapped shut. He swore.

  “It would be too easy, wouldn’t it?” Ava swung her legs to the floor. She’d never gone up against another thief. “If you could say.”

  Ehren’s gaze narrowed. “Stay where you are.” His fingers flexed around the glass chamber. “The mage was a mistake. I regret her death. But don’t confuse my regret for weakness.” He took a step closer to her. Ava remembered to breathe, to stay loose and ready. “What’s kept the thief in you at bay?”

  “Not being with other thieves?”

  Ehren leaned in. The flicker of heat from the chamber taunted her, pushing at the control he thought she had. “You don’t have your mage to protect you now.”

  Wood splintered and a wild roar burst across the room. Ehren jerked back. The glass ball flew into the air and Ava scrambled to catch it. It hit her palm, stinging, but she pulled it against her chest and pushed out a panicked breath.

  “No. She has me.” Heyerdar pinned Ehren to the wall, his hand tight around his throat. The stones sloshed, and already the thief’s shoulders were sinking into the wall. Magic burned around Heyerdar, hot and wild, and the sudden swell to pull it and him into her body rioted through her. Not now. Now she had to stop him burying their only lead in cold stone.

  “Captain.” She touched his arm, the muscle strained and hard under her fingertips. He gritted his teeth. “We need him alive.”

  His head snapped to her and the molten fire in his eyes held her. Fury burned. “Did he touch you?”

  Her gaze darted to the hand at Ehren’s throat. His knuckles whitened and the thief gagged. The liquid stone slipped over the man’s shoulders, and Ava shivered. “No.” Heyerdar’s grip eased. “No, I don’t think so.”

  Heyerdar’s jaw tightened and his attention snapped back to the thief half-buried in the wall. “You touch her?”

  Ehren swallowed, his face darkening. He groaned and twisted his neck against Heyerdar’s harsh fingers. His lips parted and formed the word no.

  “Heyerdar.” Her fingers pressed into hard muscle and she pulled slivers of his magic into herself. It slid hot and wanted under her skin. Her breathing deepened and Heyerdar’s own chest hitched. He let go of Ehren, but the wall held him firm.

  The captain stepped back from the wall, pulling her with him. He frowned at the chamber in her hand. His fingers skimmed over it, wrinkling the protecting cloth, and the magical light inside moved to his touch. “Lene Narve,” he murmured. “He didn’t eat her.”

  “How did you find me?”

  His gaze fixed on her, and the fury died away but the molten gold still held her. “I always know where you are.” He pressed his thumb to her parted lips, and magic seared her skin. She drew it in with her breath and her ache for him only increased. A dark smile touched his mouth. “Yes, he kept his dick to himself.”

  Ava winced. “Is that all you think about?”

  His smile deepened and she didn’t want to see his beauty. “Yes.”

  Ava turned away from Heyerdar before she pulled more of his magic into her body. “Ehren, where are the others?”

  Rock had grown across his abdomen down to
his feet, caught his upper arms so that his forearms jutted from the wall. He leaned his head against the smoothed curve of the rehardened stone and pushed out a long breath. “I don’t know.” His fingers stretched and dribbles of rock and dust worked free of the wall. “I haven’t seen them for days.”

  “You just thought you’d grab me.”

  Ehren frowned. “It’s him. He gives you control.” His body strained against the hold of the rock, and his skin flushed at the effort. “How long?” His gaze moved over her, quick and assessing. “You had sex with him recently...but you’ve had control longer.” A disbelieving smile touched his mouth. “Elementals? So fucking easy.” Laughter broke from him, but he hissed and caught his breath. He twisted against the stone that held him. “But there are no elementals. Not anymore.”

  “I disagree.”

  Zarand stood in the hole the captain had blown in the wall. Heyerdar’s sword flashed and he pushed Ava behind him. A thin light shrouded his brother, weaving around him like marsh mist.

  Heyerdar growled. “I told you—”

  “That you’d kill me.” Zarand shrugged. His focus moved to Ehren caught in the rock. His jaw clenched and something lit his dark eyes. A slow burn of anger. “But he’s mine.”

  Heyerdar’s fingers flexed around his sword. “What?”

  “Just like she’s yours.” Zarand moved towards the trapped thief. “I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

  Ehren frowned. His cheeks flushed, the deepening redness revealed under the light that wrapped around Zarand. He blinked. “What?”

  Zarand ran his finger along the edge of Ehren’s jaw, and a flicker of magic traced across his bristled skin. The thief drew on a startled breath, his eyes wide. His hands clenched into fists and he strained against the hold of the rock. More cracked away, dark splinters chasing up through the stone.

  “You want control.” Zarand’s voice was a low murmur, and his fingers stroked the column of Ehren’s throat, teasing in more strengthening magic. And something else. Something sweeter. The first flicker of desire tingled across Ava’s own skin and pulsed low in her belly. “I can give you that.”