by Kiersten Fay
Tendrils of the Edge were finally beginning to wane, her emotions settling, only to be replaced by a frantic need to locate her father’s talisman. She’d made sure to always keep it with her, buried somewhere in her belongings. Usually out of sight.
Where did I put it?
She stood and crossed the room, throwing open her closet doors to sift through every pocket of her wardrobe.
It must be here!
She knew it was a silly adolescent superstition. A hunk of metal, nothing more. But still…
She retrieved a small music box stowed near the back and lifted the lid. “Ah, ha!” She hooked her fingers under the chain and lifted the talisman. It was heavier than she recalled, but then, she hadn’t allowed herself to feel its weight in so long.
The chain was thick, made for a male. Along the flat coin-like pendant, the raised symbolic flourishes gleamed against a dark backdrop.
She whirled around as Ethan barged into her room, a slew of emotions contorting his features. Apprehension, anger, determination. But it was only the concern that affected her, reminding her that, in some form or another, her nightmare could yet come to fruition. If the chance arose, he would die for her, she knew it. Dammit, he had already tried once! And every time she thought of that day, she wanted to kill Ivan’s cohort all over again.
“Ethan—”
“Don’t!” he yelled, his tone harsher than she had ever heard it. “Don’t you dare order me away. You’re stuck with me, so you had damn well better get used to it!”
At hearing Cale’s words through Ethan’s lips, her mouth curled. “Is that a threat?”
He cocked a perplexed brow. “Uh, yes?”
She crossed to him and threw her arms around his neck. “Good. I’m going to hold you to that.”
He seemed dumfounded for a moment, even as his arm hooked around her waist. “One of us is addled, and I can’t determine which.”
She laughed and pulled back. “Let me know when you decide.”
“You. Definitely you.”
“Then what would you do to ease this addled mind?”
“Anything.” He turned wary. “What do you have in mind?”
Handing him the talisman, she replied, “Two things. Wear this.”
He studied the symbol for a moment, and she imagined he knew what it meant. “Very well. What else?”
“If I am ever in danger, you must promise not to risk yourself for me.”
He scoffed. “I will wear your charm.”
“Do you have any idea what would happen to me if I lost you?” She tried to cover her desperation as best she could.
He wrapped his palm around the back of her neck and brought their foreheads together. “Yes, because the same would happen to me.”
She shook her head, but did not respond.
“Vietta,” he whispered, sounding almost pained. “You are all that matters.”
“No. You could move on. I…”
“What do you think I witnessed in that illusion spell?” he said. “My people eradicated? My world destroyed? No, none of that. Nothing but you, taken from me every which way.”
She met his gaze, her eyes dampening; his darkening to that deep blue only seen in the darkest depths of a fathomless ocean.
“I’ll never leave you, no matter how much you demand it.”
Molding herself against his body, she hid her face in the crook of his neck, lost for words as tears began to stream down her cheeks. Strong fingers laced through her hair, cupping the back of her head as she fell apart in his arms. All the while, he murmured loving oaths, making her throat tighten all the more, like a sweet torture.
The lovemaking that followed was just as sweet, both of them a little desperate for the other as they stripped off their clothing, haphazardly landing on the bed. As their limbs tangled in fitful passion, Sonya’s fangs throbbed and it no longer embarrassed her. She didn’t hide them. In fact, Ethan seemed to enjoy the sight. His eyes darkened with unmitigated lust as he drove into her with maddening slow movements.
She cried out from searing pleasure as her orgasm barreled through her. Two more quaked, delving her into exquisite bliss, before Ethan shuddered with his own release.
He rolled to the side, pulling her across his chest. She curled into him, feeling the rise and fall of his heavy breaths and running her palm along the delicious planes of his chest.
After a moment, she said, “You haven’t asked me what I saw.”
“Because I know you wouldn’t tell me. But I think I’ve gathered the gist of it.”
“Is that so?”
“Mm.” He sounded drowsy. “I think I have you all figured out.”
“Oh, please do enlighten me.”
“You’re extraordinarily surly when you’re upset. You were eager to get that pendant on me. And you tried to finagle an impossible promise from me. What’s not to get?”
“Guess you’ve got it all figured out then, don’t you?”
“Indeed.” He hesitated. “Your aversion with pirates, for instance, is not exclusive to you alone. Your brothers have also displayed a dislike for them, but your rage runs deeper.”
Sonya’s body tensed, but he pressed on. “Your father was murdered in your presence.” He waited to see if she would respond. Deny or confirm. She did neither. “I can only assume a pirate was the culprit, or perhaps a hired assassin that resembled one.”
Sonya remained quiet for long moments. It was a small success that she wasn’t rushing away from him as fast as her nimble feet could take her. Perhaps she couldn’t tell him exactly what had happened, but his guessing might be enough to thin down her walls. Any interest in the details had left him some time ago. He merely wished for her to trust him enough to confide in him.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could have been there to spare you that pain.”
Her head snapped up, something like dread bursting through her expression. When her lip quivered, he thought his soul might shatter.
“Why would that hurt you?”
“I…you were there…in the vision, I mean. You…died. They killed you too, and I couldn’t…” Her throat worked furiously.
“They who?” He sensed her reluctance, and added in a soft tone, “You don’t have to tell me.”
“The ones who killed my father. There were three. Father hid me as if he knew they were coming. At first everything had played out like I remember, until everyone else I love showed up and I couldn’t do anything…” She swallowed hard.
He pulled her flush against him, understanding. “Shh. It’s alright. It wasn’t real.”
“But the helplessness was. The fear. I lived it.”
“It sounds to me like you were very young at the time, correct?”
She responded with a minuscule nod.
“Then you can’t blame yourself.”
“You can say that a thousand times over, just like everyone else has. And a part of me knows you’re right, but words can’t erase guilt so easily.”
Idly, Ethan trailed his fingers over the soft flesh of her arm, wishing it were otherwise, but her point was hard to dispute. The worst kind of guilt, the kind laced by grief, often stuck like a twisted black sludge.
“So this is why I had to work so hard,” he mused. Little did she know he would have worked thrice as had to get half as far where she was concerned. Her awkward half-shrug sparked his intuition. “Is there more?” He was ecstatic that she was finally opening up to him.
“You—at least in the beginning—reminded me of them. Well, the leader, anyway.”
He frowned as her words sank in. “How do you mean?”
“Clothes, hair, build. Almost everything about you, to be honest.”
His brows furrowed. “So, when you look at me, you see your father’s killer?”
Her lips pursed, but she didn’t reply.
Ethan let his head drop back. No wonder why she hated him. With his visage tied to such a traumatic scar? How could they ever get past something like that?
Chapter 32
The morning hike back to the guild seemed shorter than the day before. And while dealing with Cale’s considerable questions about the land, accompanied by his obsessive protectiveness over Kyra, Ethan had little time to reflect on Sonya’s disturbing revelation.
When Kyra had leaned against a tree trunk choked by ivy, Cale had remarked, “Tell me that ivy’s not poisonous.”
Kyra had rolled her eyes. “Do you think I’d be touching it if it were?”
Apparently, Kyra had informed him of the dangerous plant life—most of which resided near bogs and other swampy areas—in order to relieve his anxiety about the wildlife that often popped out to observe them. Her plan had clearly backfired. Cale now ignored the pack of three-tailed Nax and the flying lizards, instead pointing out each offending leaf, “What about that?”
Ethan had lost count of how many times Kyra had sighed, “It’s fine, Cale.”
Ethan traced the raised lines in the amulet around his neck, feeling a great deal of pride for his new acquisition. Cale had taken one look at it, offering nothing more than a nod of acknowledgment. The etched symbol signified many things in demon culture, including protection from those who meant to do harm. Most races had their roots in superstition, eventually shrugged off by the advancement of science, technological, and civilization. Sonya was much too intelligent to put stock in ancient beliefs, yet when he had donned the amulet, a bit of tension had eased from her shoulders. She’d gifted him a smile so radiant it was now branded in his memory.
Siella spared them the nightmarish greeting when they arrived at the guild’s hidden entrance. She ushered them inside where Azule waited, along with several members of his guild, including Luric.
“It’s a pleasure to receive you again, Majesty.” Azule motioned them to sit near a hearth where several fire crystals warmed the air. An array of food and drink was spread over a table across the room. Azule poured them each a goblet of sweet wine from a tall pitcher.
Ethan could see he was doing his best to honor Kyra with the bounty, even knowing it was a far cry from the feasts once held in the palace.
As she accepted the goblet from Azule, she offered her thanks before inquiring, “Have you given any thought into joining us against the Kayadon?”
Azule claimed a seat and took a long drink. “Those in my guild rely on me to keep them safe. All due respect, but I don’t see how we can go up against such a powerful foe without severe casualties. Assuming any of us survive at all.”
“My father has gone to great lengths to gather us here. He led us to your guild. I must know if you are still loyal to him, to us.”
Azule’s spine straightened. “Of course, Majesty.”
“But you are loyal to your guild as well,” Ethan observed. He could feel Azule’s reluctance, the conflict waging inside.
“It has been only us for so long. What can you expect?”
Nothing less, Ethan thought. He drained his drink, creating an excuse to approach Luric, who had remained across the room next to the buffet of offerings. “You’re Azule’s brother?”
“Younger, yes.”
“Born before the invasion, I assume.”
Luric nodded. “I was planning to follow Azule into the guard, had only a year left of training. We lost our family early in the attack. This small group is all we have left.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way. I believe we can take back what once was ours.”
Luric speared him with a steely gaze. “I believe that, too. Azule is not so sure.”
Siella entered the room, bringing with her another male and female. “This is Ina and Ru, the two who had managed to escape the palace city.”
Hands clasped, the two bowed, and then Kyra waved them over. She was eager to question them about their escape and about the state of the palace. When she directed the conversation toward her father, Ethan stifled a cringe. He had yet to inform anyone of the king’s condition, a condition he suspected had worsened over time.
Ru hesitated only slightly before divulging what he knew. “The king resides in the palace. We are allowed to see him once in a while, from a high balcony, though many begin to question if it is truly him or an illusion.” Ru became uncomfortable. “He does not look well, Majesty.”
Ethan returned his attention to Luric just as Azule crossed the room to join them. “You’ve carved out an impressive shelter here. I expect you could hole up till the end of time and never be found, if you so wished.”
“You found us,” Azule commented.
“Not without a great deal of guidance.”
Azule stiffened. “Yes, from the book you keep referring to. Apparently we’ve been chosen by the king.”
“You resent that. Does your loyalty to your guild supersede that of the king?”
“If the king’s visions are so infallible, how is it he allowed us to fall to ruin in the first place?”
“His magic is impressive, but not infallible. None of ours is. And I won’t lie, there is no guarantee we will succeed.”
Azule and Luric shared a look.
“But not trying is the equivalent of failure.”
When Azule frowned, unconvinced, Luric added, “Is this all there is to be, brother? A life in a hole, cut off from the world? This isn’t living. This is hibernation. It’s cowardly.”
Azule narrowed his eyes. “It’s survival. Could you so easily lead our people to their demise?”
“If you’d merely ask them, you’d find many are willing to go.”
Azule let out a frustrated sound.
Ethan interrupted before the sibling dispute drew the attention of the room. “We have others coming to our aid. The dragons, for one.” After he detailed the full list of allies, Azule fell into disquiet.
“A battle the size of which you speak could destroy our planet. There could be nothing left to claim.”
“What is there to claim now?” Luric countered.
“Enough, Luric. We will speak of this in private.”
“Don’t stop on my account,” Ethan replied. “I’m so rarely on the outside of an argument these days.”
* * *
Sonya flicked a small beetle from her shoulder, sending it careening through the air. It thunked against the base of a tree before dropping to the ground. “Gods, I miss space.”
“But isn’t it so beautiful here?” Anya practically sang. Her exuberance had yet to wane. Sonya smiled as she watched Anya examine every leaf and flower within the bounds of the cloaking spell, circling the ship again and again.
Being back on one’s home must be amazing, Sonya mused, slightly forlorn. As it was something she would never experience for herself, Sonya tried to ride Anya’s happy wave. But she couldn’t keep from feeling wary of this place, so bright and colorful…wild.
A foreign, high-pitched sound from the forest’s shroud set her on edge. It echoed for a moment before dying out. Something on the opposite side of the ship returned the call.
Yet even though this world was new to her, she was already developing a strong protectiveness over it. She could practically smell the Kayadon’s stench invading every surface, attempting to lay claim, and she itched for action.
Sebastian emerged from the ship, his eyes seeking until they fell upon Anya. He smiled as he approached. “What are my two favorite ladies up to? Keeping the mischief to a minimum, I hope.”
Anya rolled her eyes. “I’ve not stepped outside the lines, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Anya was proving to be overly curious with her home world, having been too young when she’d left it to remember much. Sebastian had ordered Sonya to watch over her while she explored, emphasizing that she was not to leave the witch’s protective boundary.
Sonya had amused herself, teasing Anya by jumping back and forth across the line. Her fun hadn’t lasted long. She found it bothersome when the ship just up and vanished from sight, and Anya along with it.
“Are the dragons close?” Sonya asked
Sebastian.
“They should be here any day now. Your acquisition of Ivan has proved valuable. His fleet, too, will arrive within days. The only problem is Portia does not think she will be able to conceal them all. Said she was working on some kind of portal that will allow her to speak with her people about providing assistance.” Sebastian shivered. “Merely walking past her compartment unnerves me. As if the very air is altered by her sorcery. But if she can persuade them, their help would be invaluable.”
“Sounds like everything is coming together,” Sonya observed.
Sebastian nodded and then scanned the area. “Where are the others?”
“Ethan and Zoey are going over the book to see if they missed anything,” Sonya replied.
Anya added, “Marik and Nadua are hunting for game. Marik wants to put together a large meal to celebrate our achievements. And Cale and Kyra have gone off to work on Kyra’s magic.”
Sonya didn’t know much about Kyra’s magic, only that it could be destructive when out of control. “She’d better get a handle on it fast.”
* * *
The fire roared under Marik’s catch: a great beast that, according to Nadua, had been served at every royal function. Marik had been so elated by the prospect of fresh meat that he had insisted on cooking it on a spit, just outside the ship. He’d motioned to the forest, saying, “We cannot waste such glorious scenery.”
The first sun was low in the sky, threatening to set in a matter of hours. It looked as though Sebastian might protest, but then Anya had bounced with excitement, giving him a look that Sonya knew he could never resist.
After that, Sonya had recruited Sebastian and Rex to help her retrieve a decent array of refreshments from her bar, while Ethan, accompanied by Ivan and his crew, had set off to invite the Faieara guild. They’d returned with only a few as the meal was nearly ready. Azule and his brother greeted them respectfully. Two others whom Sonya did not recognize from the previous meeting followed behind. When Siella came into view, Sonya bit her tongue, determined to keep her residual anger to herself.