A Soul For Chaos (The Soulbearer Trilogy)

by Crista McHugh

  “Help me up,” he said when Fane joined him.

  “Are you crazy? Those stairs will never support you.”

  “I have to try.”

  Fane shook his head but cupped his hands together to boost Kell to the first landing. The storm had sheared off the front of the inn, leaving behind fractured and missing stairs along the side wall. The wood crumbled under his fingers as he tried to hoist himself up. His body jerked down and dangled precariously until a hand reached out from the darkness to save him.

  “Can’t stay out of danger, can you?” Dev asked.

  For once, he was glad to see the sullen knight. “Not when it comes to her.”

  Dev tested the weakened floor before giving him a final tug up. “Where was her room?”

  “On the third floor.”

  Dev cursed under his breath and looked up. The roof had collapsed, obscuring any view of the floor above. But despite his rough words, his face was pale and tight, his chest billowing. Dev was just as worried about Arden as he was. “I hope Cinder stayed close to her.”

  He brought both of his little fingers up to his lips and whistled. The shrill call was answered by a low howl and a whimper. Dev hurried toward it, leaping over the fallen timbers as though he was skipping over puddles.

  Kell envied the ease with which the elf crossed the inn. He stumbled and climbed over the obstacles in front of him, hoping he wouldn’t lose Dev in the darkness.

  “Hurry up, Kell,” Dev barked. “I need your help.”

  “I’m coming as fast as I can.” An unseen hole in the floor sent him sprawling, and the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. “A little light would be helpful.”

  “Cinder, light up.”

  At Dev’s command, the wolf’s coat burst into flames that swirled around him like sheer silk veils. Kell’s breath froze. Never in all his dreams could he have imagined such a thing. “Does it hurt him?”

  “No, but I’m having to cast a shield around him to keep from setting the place on fire.”

  The impatience of the words nipped at Kell, and he wiped the blood away from his mouth before moving as quickly as he dared toward Dev. When he got there, Cinder was licking a small hand arising from the rubble.

  Kell’s gut clenched, and his heart beat wildly. “Arden?”

  “Kell?” a faint voice answered back.

  Kell’s knees buckled under him, and he grabbed the hand, grateful to feel her fingers curling around his. She was alive.

  “Are you bleeding?” Dev asked, slinging away a portion of the thatched roof that sat on top of the pile.

  “No, just a few bumps and bruises.” Her voice seemed higher than normal, a mixture of pain and false cheer. “I’m stuck, though.”

  “I’m trying to dig you out.” Dev tossed a section of the wall behind him, exposing her face. “If your lover would care to help me instead of holding your hand, we might be able to get you out of this quicker.”

  Kell’s pride stung from the admonishment, so he kissed her forehead and went to help Dev. As the glow from Cinder fell on her face, he noticed a small cut above her eyebrow that sent a trickle of blood along her cheek. She appeared calm, despite her circumstances, but the paleness of her coloring worried him.

  She closed her eyes and gripped the solid beam that lay across her stomach. “What was that, Dev?”

  “A whirlwind.” His jaw clamped closed after answering her questions, indicating he knew more about the storm but didn’t want to tell her. Hopefully, he’d be more willing to share this information once they got her out.

  “Need some help?” Fane asked from behind them.

  “Yes.” Dev removed the last piece of debris lying over the beam. “If you can help me lift this, then Kell can pull her out.”

  He grasped both of her wrists and nodded to the two knights.

  “Ready?” Dev wedged his arms under the beam. “One, two, three.”

  The two men grunted as they lifted it up a few inches, giving Kell just enough room to shimmy Arden out from underneath. He’d gotten her free to her knees when the floor shook beneath them. Fane lurched to the side, his hands slipping from the beam. For the first time he could remember, Kell saw Dev panic as he had to decide in a split second whether to save his friend or his charge.

  Kell’s heart jumped into his throat. If they didn’t act quickly, two lives could be lost. He threw his weight back, sending both him and Arden crashing into the wall behind them. At the same time, Dev caught the edge of Fane’s jerkin and pulled him away from the new hole that formed below them.

  Dust filled the area, choking their lungs. When it cleared, a burning Cinder looked down at all four of them with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

  Kell wrapped his arms around Arden, relishing the way her chest moved in and out with each quick breath she took. “Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head. “Just very sore.”

  Beside them, Fane mumbled his thanks to Dev and rose unsteadily onto his knees. “I think we need to get out of here before the whole place collapses.”

  “Agreed.” Dev turned to them. “Nothing broken, Trouble?”

  She shook her head again.

  “You can walk?”

  She nodded and took his offered hand. She wobbled when she stood, her hand flying to her forehead. “Dev, I’m feeling a little dizzy. Can you…”

  Her eyes rolled back, and her body crumpled.

  Kell dived to catch her. “Arden?”

  But her eyes remained closed. Her skin was cold and waxy, and her pulse fluttered under his hand.

  He looked to Dev. “Help her, damn it.”

  The knight knelt beside them, checking her for any obvious injuries. “I can’t see any cause for this. A head injury, maybe.”

  Arden’s body stiffened, and her eye snapped open. Only instead of their usual blue, they glowed an eerie yellowish-green color whose brightness rivaled the flames coming from Cinder.

  Kell’s skin crawled, and his pulse quickened. But it wasn’t until she spoke in a deep raspy voice that he let go of her.

  “Blood. So much blood hidden inside, filling her up as it flows out of her.” The eyes rolled toward Dev, and a vicious smile curled up her lips. “If you don’t save her, I’m going to invade the prince as punishment.”

  Kell scrambled away from Arden, from the thing she’d become. He bunched his hands into fists. Terror rose in his throat. “What kind of magic is this?”

  Dev turned to him, his face grim. “Loku.”

  ***

  Dev draped his cloak over her hips before lifting up her shirt. Hidden under the fabric, her stomach was as distended as a woman with child. A deep violet color stained her skin. “She’s bleeding inside here.”

  Fane placed his hands on her flesh, his gaze turning glassy as he cast, and gasped. “It’s worse than I imagined.”

  His palms grew damp as he repeated his friend’s spell to see the extent of the injuries for himself. Inside her abdomen, blood gushed from the ruptured spleen. He focused his magic on repairing the shreds of the organ, knitting them together and staunching the bleeding. Then, once he finished, he faced the arduous task of returning all the blood she’d lost back into her vessels. Sweat beaded along his forehead, and his gut tied in knots from the exertion of the spell. He was just about spent when a fresh wave of magic finished the task for him.

  The ruined inn came back into view as he released the spell. His muscles ached as though he’d been in battle all day. “Thank you,” he whispered to Fane.

  His friend rested his hand on his shoulder. “I promised I would help protect her.”

  Arden lay peacefully on the rubble, her eyes still closed. The rosiness had returned to her cheeks, and her breathing was slow and easy now.

  In contrast, Kell crouched in the corner, his eyes wide with terror. His hand gripped his sword with white knuckles. “Explain this to me.”

  If he wasn’t so exhausted, Dev would’ve laughed at the prince. Wasn’t he saying just
before the storm hit that he didn’t believe in Loku? “She was injured internally, and I healed her.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about.” He pulled his sword out and pointed it at Dev, its tip shaking. “What was that thing that took control of her?”

  Dev gathered Arden in his arms, debating how much of an explanation he dared to give in this place. “That was Loku.”

  Kell rose slowly, his sword still out in front of him. “Has he done that before to her?”

  “Many times, just as he’s done to prior Soulbearers.” He sidestepped around the hole that had almost swallowed up Fane. “Can we please continue this conversation outside? I have no desire to dig you or anyone else out should this place decide to cave in on us.”

  Kell sheathed his sword, his gaze never leaving Arden. Fear had replaced the lust with which he once regarded her, and Dev almost thanked Loku for revealing himself like he did and scaring the prince.

  The floor creaked and groaned under them as they edged closer to the broken stairs. Fane crawled down first and caught Arden as Dev lowered her to him. Once he was on the ground floor, he reached up and helped both Kell and Cinder down.

  Fane leaned close to him. “I say we risk the weather and go to the safe house.”

  Dev looked down at Arden. Would it be safe to take her out so soon? “How far away is it?”

  “Maybe an hour now that the rain’s slowed.”

  He nodded. “Let’s find the horses.”

  He was picking Arden back up to carry her to the barn when Kell stopped him. “What are you doing?”

  “We’re leaving.”

  “You’re taking her out in that storm?” Kell’s brows drew together, creating a wrinkle of anger above the bridge of his nose. “Are you trying to kill her?”

  Ire revived his aching muscles, and he snapped her up into his arms. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s far more dangerous in here than it is out there. Now, you can either come with us or stay behind, but as her protector, I’m going to do what I think is best for her.”

  When he reached the barn, Fane was already saddling up their horses. “It’s a good thing that whirlwind didn’t hit here. Otherwise, I might be forced to borrow whatever beast I managed to find.”

  Despite the night’s events, Dev found himself grinning at the idea of the law-abiding knight stealing. “Wouldn’t that be against the law?”

  “Not when I have every intention of returning the horses eventually.” He finished tightening the saddle on his horse and went to work on Dev’s. “I assume you’ll want her to ride with you.”

  “Correct.” Arden was in no condition to ride on her own, and he’d be damned if he let her ride with Kell.

  Fane nodded toward the prince and said quietly, “He’s not taking this very well.”

  Dev watched Kell pace back and forth along the stalls, raking his hand through his hair over and over again. “I tried to warn him.”

  “Do I need to intervene?” Fane was gifted at entering people’s minds, using his gift to both extract information and make people forget what they saw.

  Dev shook his head, despite the twinge of pity tugging at his heart. “It’s better if he remembers what he’s messing with.”

  He buckled a stirrup and paused. “Was this like the other attacks?”

  “You felt it, too?”

  Fane nodded, his face grim. “Only a strong elementalist could summon a storm like that. What’s worse, there was a taint to the magic.”

  “What kind of taint?”

  Fane resumed readying the horses. “I need to speak to Mage Primus about this. And soon.”

  “Let’s make it to the safe house first.” Dev handed Arden to his friend while he mounted his horse, placing her in the saddle in front of him once he got settled in. “Then we can discuss this further.”

  The rain had stopped by the time they reached the non-descript hut down the road. Fane exchanged a few words with the operator, apologizing for the late arrival, before ushering them inside. His friend followed him into a room for Arden, but Kell lingered in the main room.

  Dev tucked her under the covers, thanking Lady Luck that Loku had decided to take control of her when he did. Normally, he loathed his conversation with the chaos god, but tonight, they’d worked together to save her life. Scaring Kell away was an added benefit.

  Fane adjusted his riding gloves. “Do you know where the other safe houses are between here and Queembra?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m trusting that you’ll follow the Empress’s orders and bring the Soulbearer there before taking her to Conclave.”

  The muscles along his spine bunched up, but he nodded. “Aren’t you supposed to be escorting us there?”

  “I think the Empress will forgive me this once. I need to speak to the Mage Primus before you arrive and let him know everything that happened tonight.”

  Dev rubbed his upper arms to drive the chill out of them. “This taint you mentioned—”

  “I’m not going to talk about it until I have a chance to discuss it with the Mage Primus first.” He drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry, Dev, but I can’t say anything more other than she might be in more danger than we first realized.”

  “All the more reason why we should get her behind the walls of the Conclave as soon as possible.”

  “We’ll get her there soon enough. In the meantime, stick to the safe houses.” He left the room with determined steps pounding on the floor toward the front door.

  Dev peered outside into the main room. Kell sat hunched over the table, chugging a glass of wine and refilling it from the bottle in front of him. The Ranellian was taking the truth harder than he realized, and a touch of pity stirred inside him. He remembered his own reaction the first time Loku appeared to him, how he almost stabbed the Soulbearer in his initial moment of panic.

  It’s for the best. Now he won’t pursue her, and I can finally be rid of him.

  But instead of feeling happy at the prospect, emptiness filled him. This was not the way he wanted to win Arden back.

  He closed the door behind him and pulled a chair up to her bed, watching her sleep. “What is your plan, Loku?”

  “Do you really need to ask?” Loku’s voice replied. Arden’s eyes eased open, their bright yellowish-green glow filling the room. “I’ll never forget the look on Kell’s face when I took over her body. It was priceless.”

  “I appreciate you telling me about her injury.”

  “Be honest, Dev. You also appreciate the fact that I scared him off. Now she’s all yours.”

  Dev’s breath hitched, and he chose his next words carefully so he wouldn’t reveal any of his true emotions to the chaos god. “You know I can never have her.”

  “Bullshit. I know how much you want her, how you’ve craved her since the moment you first saw her. I even thought convincing her to sleep with Kell would awaken some primal element of jealousy in you so you’d finally get off your high moral horse and drag her to your own bed.”

  He tightened his jaw and sucked in a breath through his teeth. It was one thing for Loku to try and manipulate him, but when he used Arden like that, it made him wish the god had a body he could pummel. “Stop playing with her, Loku.”

  “And miss out on all the fun? Never!” The god’s laughter mocked him as it came out of Arden’s mouth. “Face it Dev—Kell may own her body, you may have her heart, but I possess her soul.”

  Her eyes shut, and she trembled in her sleep as though she was caught in the thralls of a nightmare.

  Dev’s stomach flopped, Loku’s words echoing in his mind. He needed to save Arden from falling further under Loku’s power, or be forced to watch the madness consume her.

  Chapter 12

  Deep within the temple of Nelos, the high priest knocked the golden candelabra to the ground with a wail of frustration. He fell to his knees, his muscles so weak that even taking a deep breath required focused effort. The whirlwind he’d created to destroy
the Soulbearer had taken more energy to cast than he’d realized.

  He wanted to destroy this Soulbearer, to have Loku inhabit the body of someone less powerful among the simple people inside the inn. Someone who would be less of a threat and easier to kill once he or she reached Queembra. He’d acted without his god’s permission, hoping that his act would please Nelos.

  But he’d failed.

  A shudder formed inside him, working its way to the surface in violent heaves. “Forgive me, my lord,” he whispered.

  He pressed his cheek against the cold, damp stone floor and waited for his punishment.

  Hours passed before he heard the voice of Nelos inside his mind. “Perhaps I need to find a more suitable vessel to carry out my will—one who does not act unless I tell him to.”

  The high priest clasped his hands together. “No, please, my lord, I will do better. Please do not abandon your faithful servant. She will be here soon, and I will strike at her once again.”

  “You fool!” The walls of the temple shook from the thunder of the god’s voice. “If you attack her here in Queembra, Loku will have his choice of bodies to invade.”

  His eyes burned. “I was not thinking of that. Please, there must be another way I can serve you to rid this world of chaos once and for all.”

  “Perhaps there is.”

  An image of a flower flashed through his mind, its five petals snow white on the edges before turning blood red at the center. A circlet of blue, thorn-like stamens crowned the center. “Have you ever seen this flower before?”

  “No, my lord.”

  “This is the Flower of Lireal. It is found in the center of the mountains of the north, in the realm of the Ornathians. They fiercely guard it, for it is used to make a serum that can destroy souls.”

  His hands trembled as much as his voice did. No one entered the realm of the birdlike Ornathians without permission and lived to tell about it. They viciously guarded the Flower of Lireal, allowing its precious serum to be used only once in all of known history. But he’d vowed upon entering the priesthood that he would carry out Nelos’s bidding. “I can fetch it for you, my lord.”