“It entirely depends on the nature of his arrival. If he is alone, or if he has spared the mortal girl.”
Lydia lifted her head from his arm and looked up at him, trying to scrutinize what he was saying. It was pointless. He was wearing his mask, and she could read nothing from his tone. “You’re scheming.”
“Of course I am. I am always scheming.”
“No, I mean—you’ve been scheming. What did you put into the works? How does Ember factor into any of this?”
“We shall see. If she is dead, it does not matter. If she lives—if she arrives with him—perhaps I will not have to entomb him in liquid rock.”
“You’re going to do what?” She grimaced. “Oh, Aon.”
“What other choice do I have? I will not let him destroy Under. I will not let him tear this place apart in his hatred and rage. I will fill his lungs with concrete—I will feed him the substance until he cannot move. And then, I will leave him there—in that pit—and fill it to the brim. I will seal him away there forever. Never living, never dying…never breathing. Just as he sought to do to you by chaining you to the bottom of the Pool of the Ancients.”
The idea made her shudder. She walked away from him, running her hands through her hair. “I can’t—I don’t know if I can live with that, Aon. Knowing he’s down there, suffering like that.”
“He planned to live quite happily doing the same to you.”
“That doesn’t make it okay!” She turned back to face him. “That doesn’t make it right.”
“None of this is right. None of anything in Under has ever been right. But I will not let him hurt you—I will not let him take you away from me. And that is what he will seek to do. He will march on this place with the intent of making me watch you suffer and die. He will not rest until that comes to pass. I will protect you, Lydia. I will protect this world of ours.” Aon paced away from the hole, walking to the wall of the temporary structure erected over the dig site. He leaned his hand against the wall, his head lowered. “Rxa was…his betrayal hurt me. I do not wish to do this to him either. But I have no choice.”
“And what if Ember’s alive? What if he shows up and she’s with him?” There had to be hope. There had to be some way to avoid sentencing someone to that kind of fate.
“Then he will hate me for what I will do. But in the end, it is the only way to spare us all the pain of living with what we will need to do otherwise.” Aon shook his head. “I can only hope he is delayed in his arrival because of her. That we are left here waiting for him because he is…distracted.”
Lydia groaned as she put it together. “You fucking set them up, didn’t you? You’re hoping he falls for her.”
“I saw how he spoke to her. He had no intention of harming her. Why else would he be that way, if it were not the spark of curiosity? The first glimmers of affection?”
“You knew she’d get left behind when Rxa stormed your home!” Lydia put her face in her hands and let out a loud snarl of frustration. “God damn it, Aon. You had this whole thing worked out.”
“Naturally.”
“I fucking hate it when you pull this shit.”
He walked up to her, his expensive shoes clicking on the stone beneath his feet. He pulled her into his arms, and she rested her hands on his shoulders. “You’re only angry with me when I outsmart you.”
“At least it doesn’t happen often.”
“That you’re aware of.”
She jabbed him in the chest. “Be nice.”
He chuckled. “Never, darling. You should know better than to ask.”
Rolling her eyes, she took a moment to ponder his game. He was always ten steps ahead. “You’re hoping that he…what, falls for her? Why? To have a reason to spare the world?”
“At least until she grows old and dies, yes, I suppose. But it is more than that. If he can care for her, then there is…something salvageable in the man we once knew as the King of Blood. If the angel can still feel affection for someone, then perhaps I can convince him that there is still hope for him.”
“You’re shit at platitudes, Aon. You trying to convince anyone that there’s hope for anything is like a lion trying to convince a deer that he’s become a vegetarian.”
He laughed and leaned his forehead against hers, clad in metal as it was. “Oh, I plan to do it in the worst way possible, don’t worry.”
“Can’t let people in on the secret that you’re a big softie.” She smirked and wrapped her arms behind his neck to pull herself closer to him. “What would they think?”
“Such a scandal would shake Under to its core. Better to leave such things locked away. Come, my love. I have come to dislike this place greatly, and I have far less reason to do so than you.” He pulled her to him for a second before taking her hand and leading her away. She didn’t argue. He was right—she hated this place.
Aon had only ever used it to cause pain. It had a terrible, ugly past.
And it seemed it was going to have an even worse future.
The dead were everywhere. Fresh, old, rotted…it did not matter. There were more dead drengil than otherwise. But there were survivors who had not made it. There were mortals amongst the corpses, mixed with those who wore ink of red, green, blue, and so on. Dtu sighed wearily.
He hated the needless destruction.
But they had won, and for the time being, they were safe. Whoever was left. Dtu sniffed the air and did not find Jakob’s body amongst the blood and gore. Thank the stars. Thank the Ancients.
Evie ran up to him, pulling her carved stone mask from her face to expose her cheery smile. “Puppy!” She threw her arms around his neck, jumping off the ground to do so. “You’re safe. I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
“How did you find us?” Dtu bowed his head over the woman’s shoulder, embracing her in his own way. “Not that I am going to complain about the rescue.”
“Aon sent a messenger to tell us what was happening. We marched south immediately. My army is a mile east of here on the main road. But when we stopped seeing evidence of you guys, we knew you must have found somewhere to hole up. We’ve been scouting for days.” She let go of him to hop back down to her feet, smiling up at him, brimming with happiness.
He did adore the little spitfire. He mourned the loss of his best friend every day, but he knew Edu would be proud of what Evie had become. “Your timing is impeccable. Thank you.”
“You kidding me? It looks like I was too late from my point of view.” She frowned.
Dtu lifted his head to look around the town, or what was left of it. Evie’s soldiers were picking up the corpses and throwing them into a blazing fire on the edge of town. The smell of cooking meat made his nose twinge. But it was best to dispose of the bodies, lest they leave them rotting in the snow. “Some of us are still alive. Therefore, you were not late.”
Kamira walked up to them. She had a slight limp in her gait, but she looked otherwise unscathed. She grinned and, scooping up Evie into a tight hug, spun her around. “There’s my girl!”
Evie laughed and hugged the woman back. “Put me down, kitty.”
“Oh, fine, fine.” Kamira plopped Evie back on her feet and ruffled the Queen of Flame’s wild red curls. “It is so good to see you.”
“And you. Who else is here?”
“Ini. She is praying for the dead by the bonfire. We…” Kamira paused. “Maverick is gone.”
Evie winced and rubbed her hand over her face. “Shit…no. Tell me you’re joking.” When they were silent, she swore again louder. “Vjo is going to be pissed.” She paused again. “Well, no, she won’t, she doesn’t feel emotions, but you know what I mean.”
Dtu huffed a laugh. “Indeed. Where is the spider?”
“With my army on the main road, waiting for me to come back. We have enough to retake Yej. My people are having a blast tearing through the squishy zombies.” Evie cracked a sad if lopsided smile. “I…I’m so sorry about Maverick.”
Kamira and shook her
head. “We have lost many. There are a great deal of souls to mourn. He would insist he isn’t special, and that we should get on with our business and stop being fools.”
“That sounds like something he’d say.” Evie sighed again. “Well…let’s get out of here. Gather up whoever’s left, and let’s go.”
“Dtu?”
He turned his head to the voice. It was one he had come to recognize, and one he had come to look forward to. Jakob walked out of a building. He, too, was limping. The fabric of the trousers on his left leg was torn.
There was blood.
Not much…but enough to send adrenaline crashing through his system. “Jakob. Jakob, are you all right?”
The man looked close to tears as he hobbled up to Dtu and threw his arms around his neck. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry—I messed up—I’ve screwed everything up—I’m so sorry.” The man was babbling as the tears broke free and spilled down his cheeks.
Dtu changed his form to human, ignoring the pain of the crunch of bones as his body shifted. He was accustomed to it. He threw his arms around Jakob and held him. “What has happened? Calm yourself.”
He barely heard Evie’s exclamation of surprise, and Kamira’s whispered words to the Queen of Flames. He knew his affectionate embrace with the young man was going to be happy news to Evie. But…something told him that it was about to change.
“I’m so sorry. Dtu, I—I—please, don’t give up hope for yourself. Please. Look at what we have here, and—and don’t give up on yourself. I couldn’t stand to know that you were going to—” Jakob broke off in a sob and threw his head against Dtu’s chest.
Horror and dread surged through Dtu, adding ice water to the fire of his panic. He clutched Jakob, and he felt tears begin to form in his own eyes. “You were bitten…”
“It’s just a graze. It wasn’t deep. It’ll take a while—but—the—the poison is already…I have a week, maybe. Could be only days. But I—I’m so sorry I failed you, Dtu. I’m so stupid!” Jakob wailed. “I had one job—not to screw up, and I did anyway. And now you—you were just starting to—”
“Shush…shush, Jakob.” Dtu bowed his head to rest his wooden masked cheek against his. “Please. You did nothing wrong. You are not at fault here. We will find a way to help you. We will find a way to stop this. There must be a way—a cure—anything.”
I will not accept the alternative.
You will not die, Jakob. You will not.
Jakob shook his head, sniffling loudly. “There’s only one cure. The graedari. The hunter Ember. Her blood is a cure, but she’s—she’s gone, and we don’t have any other graedari here.”
Ember. Yes. The one with the odd colored hair. The one Aon used as bait to lure Rxa. Dtu growled in his throat. The girl was probably already dead. Either ripped to shreds by the mad risen king of the damned, or by Aon when she had ceased to be useful.
Or by any of the creatures that hunted the shadows of Under.
But there was hope. If Aon had interacted with Ember, he would have likely found a way to replicate a cure. It was not like the King of Shadows to pass up on the chance to horde secret knowledge.
The question simply remained what Dtu would have to pay for his help.
Dtu turned his attention to Evie. “We must go to the Temple of Dreams. And we must do it now.”
Evie nodded solemnly, watching the exchange with her large, bright green eyes that shared in their agony so plainly. “You’ll take my drake. He’s the biggest and the fastest. He’ll bitch the whole way, but he’ll get you there in a couple of days. We’ll rejoin the army and march to Yej. We’ll retake the city. Go. There’s no time to spare.”
Dtu reached out his hand to Evie, who took his quickly and squeezed it tightly. “Thank you, my friend. Thank you.” She hadn’t hesitated. She hadn’t even asked for an explanation. She knew it didn’t matter. The young man was important to him, and therefore, she would help without any question.
“I don’t feel so…” Jakob’s eyes rolled back into his head. A combination of pain, exhaustion, and the poison that was slowly seeping through his body.
Dtu scooped Jakob up into his arms and carried him toward the drake where it sat, preening itself and cleaning the blood from its claws. It was an odd notion for him—to ride an animal like the others might do. But to save Jakob’s life, he would do anything.
Anything at all.
Including making a deal with the King of Shadows himself.
28
Ember hissed in pain.
“Do you want me to stop?” His words were quiet where they were muttered next to her ear.
“No. Don’t you dare stop.”
He chuckled and pressed his thumb back into the offending tendon in her shoulder. She groaned and lowered her head. “Poor little dove. No wonder you’re so uptight. Your muscles are steel cables.”
They were sitting in the bathtub together. There was plenty of room for them both, but she still wound up nestled between his legs, her back against his chest. When he began to squeeze the muscles in her shoulders and along her neck, she had nearly gagged in pain. But it felt amazing, all the same.
She found herself basking in the attention, her eyes shut, leaning into his strong hands. He knew what he was doing. He would. He’s ancient. It was so easy to forget that the grinning, often silly, and almost always playful lunatic she had found herself tangled up with was so very old.
He had managed to keep their time in the bath affectionate, but not sexual. He grunted as he had seen the bruises on her body and muttered a quiet apology each time he found a new scratch that was still red and raw from the night before.
She wasn’t used to affection. It wasn’t a thing that she ever had much of in her life. Not since her time spent with the slahundur Diamond during their training. Once she had struck off into the world with Ash, that was that. Her life was spent with the man she had considered to be her brother.
But this was nice. This was very nice. Rxa kissed the back of her head as he finished working over her shoulders and wrapped his arms lazily around her to pull her against his chest. She leaned her head back and let out a small, contented sigh. “How long can we stay here?”
“In the bath? Oh, probably an hour before we both turn into prunes.” He chuckled. “Or—oh. You mean here in this house.”
“Yeah.”
He let out a breath. “I hoped you wouldn’t ask.”
“Why?” She shifted in her embrace to look up at him. “What’s happened?”
“I lost a good deal of drengil yesterday. The other royals are beginning to organize a defense. An army is coming down from the north to retake Yej. Led by Edu, no doubt.” Rxa smirked. “That big lunk could never resist the chance for a good war. We’ll have to go south soon. Perhaps tomorrow. I don’t want to lose my chance at Aon and Lydia.”
She turned, shifting until she was facing him, straddling his thighs in the water. He hummed, and she found him staring at her chest again. She tried not to laugh and decided to distract him with a kiss. He tilted his head back, letting out a low, pleasured sound against her lips.
When she parted, his eyes had drifted shut. She kissed his cheek. “Please. Give up this war. We can be together.”
“Once Aon and Lydia are dead. Then the world will be doomed, and the others can fuss as much as they want. No one will be strong enough to stand against me. We’ll come back here, and I will stay by your side until you grow fat, old, and die happy in my arms.”
“But…”
Pale yellow eyes met hers. He frowned. “Even if I were to do what you ask, do you think they would leave me be? No. I’ve committed too many grievous acts already. They would hold a trial. I would be imprisoned for the rest of my years. I’m too dangerous.” He smirked. “Aon would never let me be free. And if I let them gather their wits and their armies, then…I’m not sure even my growing numbers of drengil will be enough to protect us.”
“Us?”
He reached up to cradle he
r face in his palm, running his thumb along her cheekbone. “They’ll use you to hurt me. When they find you—a mortal—alive and unharmed, they’ll know what’s happened. They’ll hurt you. Torture you. You will pay the price so that they can make me suffer.”
She watched him thoughtfully for a moment. “You would care if they hurt me?”
His sudden laugh caught her off guard. He leaned against the edge of the large tub and stretched his arms out to rest them on the back of the porcelain surface. He watched her with a bemused smile. “Ember.”
“What? It was a serious question.”
“Silly creature. What do you think we’re doing here? Why do you think I brought you here?”
She shrugged. “To heal. And seduce me.”
“True. But why do you think I wanted to seduce you?”
She shot him a look. “Why does anyone want to seduce anyone?”
“Well, okay. Sure.” He chuckled, and then his expression faded. “Oh. Oh, darling. Do you think all this is between us is lust? Is that all you feel for me?”
Now she felt shy. She looked away, but he wouldn’t allow it. He reached up to catch her cheek in his palm once more and turn her back toward him. “Ember. Look at me.”
She met his gaze reluctantly. Those strange eyes of his, one with the two halves just slightly out of alignment where Aon’s claw had sliced open his face. The scars on his cheeks were still healing, calming down to pale white lines against slightly darker skin. Every day that went by, every moment he healed, he was somehow becoming more beautiful.
But it wasn’t only that.
She was beginning to see more of him with every day. His humor, his tenderness, his strength. His darkness, his agony, his pain. His broken soul and broken mind. He was tragic, even as he was cruel. And every facet she saw of him, she…felt for him. She had been unsettled by his suffering even before. But now? Now that she had gotten to know him?
She owed him the truth. She owed him her honesty. He had been lied to for so very long. She refused to add to the pile of the stones he felt had been placed upon his grave.
Grave of Words (Fall of Under Book 2) Page 25