3013: REMEDY: A 3013 Novella (3013: The Series)

by Kali Argent

  “That won’t be necessary.” Cora spoke warmly, but her smile was as cold as the frozen ground. “I’ll have an attendant show you to your quarters. Will you share a room with your pet?”

  As far as insults went, Kylir had been called worse. In fact, it didn’t even faze him. Astrid, however, was having none of it.

  “My what?”

  Cora’s gaze raked over Kylir from sternum to boots, pausing for a couple of heartbeats on his tail. “Your pet. Will he require his own quarters?”

  Astrid moved faster than he could have predicted, advancing on the Vasera with her fist raised. By the time his brain had caught up with what he was seeing, she’d already moved beyond his reach, so he did the only thing he could. He swung his tail out, wrapping it around her waist, and hauled her back against his chest.

  “You stupid, arrogant, vile—”

  He stopped the vitriol that spewed from her lips by placing his hand over her mouth. “A single room will be fine.” He dipped his head. “Thank you, Vasera.”

  The rage and indignation pouring off his mate battered against him like the mother of all galactic storms. Oh, she’d worked herself into a hell of a mad, and while her reaction had tripped all the switches on his libido, knocking Cora on her ass wouldn’t accomplish anything. Well, it would be satisfying to watch, but ultimately, he’d rather Astrid not end up in a prison cell…or worse.

  When she grabbed his wrist and tugged, he didn’t move, reluctant to find out what else she might say. Then, she did it again, a little gentler this time, and he sighed in resignation. He really couldn’t deny her anything.

  “Are you calm?”

  She nodded.

  “Are you sure?”

  Another nod.

  “Fine.” He did as she wanted, removing his hand from her mouth, but he kept this tail curled firmly around her midsection.

  “Actually,” she said after clearing her throat to get everyone’s attention, “that won’t be necessary. If you can show me to the fountain, I can be finished before nightfall.”

  “The fountain?” Cora tilted her head. “I don’t understand.”

  Astrid waved her hand dismissively. “The Adderstone. Wherever you keep that. Just take me there.”

  “I’ll take them.” A male dressed in a gray tunic who looked remarkably like Finn—only smaller and less like he was dying—stepped through a door at their right and bowed. “Roe Silveroak, Captain of the Northern Guard. If you have what you need, I can escort you there now.”

  “Oh, well, I don’t—”

  “Perfect,” Astrid said, speaking over Cora’s sputtering. “I just need to grab my case from the shuttle.”

  “Should I have an attendant prepare rooms for you and your mate?”

  Years of not reacting to snide comments or threats of bodily harm kept Kylir immobile when the captain’s voice whispered in his ear, despite him still being on the other side of the room. He guessed anything was possible with magic, but like everything else on the island, it was creepy as fuck.

  Without looking at the male, he lowered his head a fraction. Right now, Astrid was angry and not thinking rationally. Once she calmed down and regained her wits, she’d be even more pissed if she had to rush through her research instead of taking the time to do it properly. He didn’t like it any more than she did, but she’d come to do a job, and he wouldn’t let anyone jeopardize that, not even Astrid.

  “One or two?”

  This time, Kylir was prepared. He didn’t react at all, other than to blink once to indicate they would be sharing a room. Sleeping beside her would wreak havoc on his self-control, but there was no way in the universe he was leaving her alone.

  “Kylir?”

  He pushed away his concerns to focus on his mate. “Yes, onye?”

  “You can let me go now.”

  She seemed calmer, and he wasn’t being hammered from all sides by her emotions any longer, but it was probably still better to err on the side of caution. With his tail, he lifted her from the floor and tossed her into the air, catching her in his arms on her descent. He expected her to scream, or at least gasp in surprise. What he got instead was an indulgent grin and a sweet kiss.

  “Neat trick.” She pressed their mouths together again. “Now, put me down so we can get to work. The sooner we’re off this mountain, the better.” Her expression turned stormy, and she began muttering under her breath. “Pet. Of all the fucking nerve. That ignorant, condescending, evil little cu—”

  He cut off her ranting with a hard kiss and sent up a prayer to anyone listening that her words had gone unheard by their hosts. “I like it when you’re feisty, but maybe, try not to get us killed. Yeah?”

  “Oh, fine.” On her feet, she adjusted the hem of her heavy coat, then flipped the hood up over her head. “If you insist.”

  “Have either of you ever transported?” Roe asked, closing the distance to stand at Kylir’s elbow.

  “Nope.” He and Astrid answered in unison.

  “In that case, I apologize in advance. I’ve heard that it can be unsettling for some races, but it’s the only way to reach the cavern.”

  Kylir had about a million questions he never got the opportunity to ask. One minute, he’d been standing in the entrance hall. The next, he’d been sucked into an empty void where all the air had been leached from his lungs. A heavy weight pressed on his chest, and pressure built in his head until his ears rang, and his temples throbbed.

  The sensation lasted only seconds, and when the darkness vanished, he found himself kneeling on the edge of a cliff near the very top of the mountain. Relief at being through the void lasted only a heartbeat, because in the next instant, a loud scream rent the air, and he watched helplessly as his mate tumbled over the edge.

  Not giving himself time to think about it, Kylir took a running start and flung himself off the mountain. Arms pressed close to his side, legs straight, toes pointed, he kept his body as streamline as possible as he plummeted toward his mate—and the ground. Frigid winds stung his eyes, and flecks of ice pelted his skin, but he didn’t slow his descent.

  It took only seconds to catch up with Astrid, but there were the longest seconds of his life. Catching her easily with one hand around her back and the other hooked behind her knees, he righted himself and the air and unsheathed his wings.

  Unfurled and stretched wide, they caught the air, halting their momentum and lifting him several feet upward. Holding Astrid close, he beat his wings against the wind, climbing higher and higher until he reached the ledge. Placing his mate firmly on her feet, he ushered her back toward the mountain face, well out of harm’s way.

  “Apologies,” Roe said easily. “I’m somewhat out of prac—”

  Kylir drove his fist right into the asshole’s face.

  “Out of practice? Are you kidding me? You dropped her off a fucking mountain!”

  “She was in no real danger. I wouldn’t have let her die.”

  Well, that had been the wrong answer. “I’m going to rip your fucking head off and spit down your neck hole.” The only thing that stopped him from following through with the threat was his mate pushing her way in between them. “Move, onye.”

  “Hey, look at me.” A hand landed in the center of his chest. “Look. At. Me.” Pushing the hood of her jacket off her head, she stared up at him with a coy smirk. “I’m fine. Yeah, it was a little scary, but I knew you’d save me, and you did.”

  “I would never let anything happen to you.”

  “See? So, everything is fine. Not a scratch on me.” She drew soothing circles over his sternum. “Breathe, big guy. Just breathe.”

  He tried to do as she asked, but he just couldn’t get the image of her plummeting to her death out of his head. “Nope. I’m going to kill him.”

  “You can try,” Roe taunted, and the bastard even grinned at him.

  “You.” Spinning toward the captain, Astrid jabbed a finger toward his face. “Shut it. You’re not helping.” Refocusing on Kylir, she
fisted her hand in his ruined jacket and jerked hard, practically bending him in half to deliver a hard, searching kiss. “Better?”

  Not really, but he wasn’t any worse, either. “I’d rather keep kissing you than stop to murder him, so yeah, I guess I’m better.”

  Her laughter chased away the chill and melted a little more of his anger. “Good answer.” Turning toward Roe once again, she waved her hand almost regally. “Now that we’ve agreed no one is dying, lead the way, Captain.”

  The cavern he’d mentioned turned out to be more of a wide crevice, seemingly unaltered from its natural state. Pitch black and eerily quiet, it felt like time stood still when they stepped through the entrance made of jagged stone.

  There was a quiet huff beside him, then a flicker of warm light as Roe opened his hand to reveal a small, dancing flame in his palm. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the fire sailing upward to ignite the massive, rectangular chandelier that ran the length of the cavern.

  “The Adderstone is there,” he said, pointing to the right.

  Kylir squinted, turning his head one way, then the other. The stone itself was a deep onyx, barely discernable from the blackened wall of rock, and it didn’t glow like the others he’d seen. In fact, he might have missed it altogether if it hadn’t been for the star-shaped rune etched around it.

  There was no fountain, but water trickled from the mountain itself, only to freeze halfway down the wall, the ice shining an unnerving green in the firelight. Cracks on the ground on either side of them showed where the waters had once flowed, but they sat empty now with only a thin layer of frost to coat the edges.

  A few steps ahead of him, Astrid rested her hands on her hips and huffed, her breath billowing from her lips in a thick, white cloud. “I don’t understand. Where are the flowers?”

  “The gya flowers haven’t bloomed here for a long time,” Roe answered, a world of sadness in his voice. “Some say our island is cursed.”

  “Why isn’t anyone doing something about it?” Astrid demanded.

  “The Vasere, my brother, he is…not himself.”

  “Is he ill?” Kylir didn’t want to be offensive, but the guy looked an inch away from death. “I doubt he could lead the way in the dark right now, much less an entire island.”

  “No,” Astrid interjected, drawing the word out slowly. “Not sick, but there’s something. I could see it in his eyes. It’s like he’s not really there.”

  She would know better than most. “You think he’s drugged?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe?” Her head snapped to the side, and she stared up at Roe expectantly. “You have magic. Can’t you fix him?”

  “Do you think I haven’t tried?” Frustration rolled off him as he began pacing the floor in front of the Adderstone. “There’s noth—” He stopped and gagged, as if literally choking on the word. “I’ve tried,” he finished flatly.

  “Have you told anyone?” Kylir asked.

  Roe continued to pace, his movements agitated and jerky. “All communications are monitored, and no one is allowed to leave the island.”

  Kylir frowned. He supposed the captain’s words answered his question, but it wasn’t really an answer.

  “That’s why you offered to escort us here,” Astrid surmised. “You want our help.”

  “You are the first visitors to the fortress in years. Not even the other rulers come here anymore.”

  Kylir had no desire to get involved, and he definitely didn’t want his mate in the middle of a potentially dangerous situation. Yet, judging by the expression on her face, she had already decided to do exactly that.

  “Out of curiosity,” he said, moving to stand behind his mate, “who is monitoring communications?”

  Roe’s lips moved soundlessly for a moment before he gave up and shook his head.

  It hadn’t escaped Kylir’s notice that the captain talked in vague terms and generalities. He just didn’t understand what that meant. If someone was watching, even as they spoke, he was more certain than ever that he didn’t want Astrid involved.

  “So, what exactly do you think we can do?”

  Hope, warm and bright, emanated from the captain. “Only to pass a message to Vasili Blackthorn. He must co—”

  Again, he stopped, like his throat had suddenly closed around the word. What the hell was going on?

  “Here. We need—”

  Stars, it was just painful to watch. “You need Vasili Blackthorn to come to Neverwood?” Kylir guessed. “Is that what you’re trying to say?”

  Roe nodded, just once.

  It was a reasonable request, and one which involved minimal risk to either him or his female. He didn’t like it. Roe still hadn’t told them why he couldn’t contact the king himself. He hadn’t explained why he needed someone to come to the island. Obviously, something was very wrong there, but Kylir wanted details.

  “One problem at a time,” Astrid intervened. It was an impressively diplomatic answer that offered no commitment either way. “Let’s see if we can figure out how to get these waters flowing again.”

  Roe sighed, obviously disappointed, but he didn’t argue. “Tell me what I can do.”

  “Well, I need my equipment from the shuttle.”

  The captain vanished, then reappeared almost instantly with all of their belongings. “Anything else?”

  “I guess we’ll be needing those rooms after all. Can you arrange that?”

  Kylir exchanged glances with the male, even as Roe said, “Of course, my lady.”

  Part of him wanted to help the captain, and by extension, Finn Silveroak and the people of the Northern Isle. A bigger, louder part of him wanted to grab Astrid, flee the mountain, and never look back. As the two desires warred within him, he dropped his head and sighed.

  It was going to be a long damn week.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  It had been a long damn week.

  No matter what she tried, Astrid hadn’t been able to melt the ice that covered the wall of the mountain, not permanently anyway. Roe’s magic and her own ingenuity had produced fantastic results at first, but only for a few minutes before the waters would freeze over again. Even the samples she had managed to collect turned solid inside the vials.

  While they had seen neither Finn or Cora again during their six days on the mountain, the situation within the fortress was, in some ways, even more frustrating. The hollowness in Finn’s eyes stayed with her throughout the day, and Roe’s stilted words haunted her when she slept. Experience said not to get involved, but her conscience couldn’t let it go.

  Whether it was drugs or enchantments affecting Finn, all the signs were there. The blank, unfocused stares. The random outbursts. The stiff, stilted inflection, as if words no longer came naturally. The unnatural smiles. That deep, dark emptiness that peered through cold, glassy eyes.

  It didn’t matter that she didn’t know him. She didn’t care that she would likely never see him again. She wanted to help. She wanted to rescue him, because when she’d been the one lost and in need of a savior, she wished there had been someone around to fight for her.

  “You’re thinking about him again, aren’t you?”

  Rolling her head against the seatback of the shuttle chair, she blinked innocently and gave her mate a lazy grin. “I’m sure I have no idea what you mean.”

  Hands wrapped around the flight controls, Kylir kept his eyes on the nav screen as he chuckled at her. “You know, it’s a good thing I’m not the jealous type.”

  Astrid rolled her eyes. “Right. That’s why you threatened to drop Roe off the top of the mountain for pulling a dead leaf out of my hair.” Everything in the city of Neverwood and the surrounding forest at the base of the mountain seemed to be either dead or dying. “Not jealous at all.”

  “I’m possessive,” he corrected. “There’s a difference.”

  She didn’t really see it, but she let it slide. “I just feel sorry for him, I guess. I wish I could do more to help.” Her gaze fixed to his hands ag
ain, and she frowned. “What are you doing anyway?”

  “Uh…flying?”

  Smartass.

  “Obviously. I meant, why?” It was a three-hour flight to the Eastern Isle, and they’d only just begun the journey. “Is something wrong?”

  A frustrated huff blew from his lips. “The autopilot keeps malfunctioning. It’ll operate for a few minutes, then switch to manual controls.” He pointed to the large nav screen in the middle of the flight console. “Navigation is down as well.”

  Anxiety stiffened her spine and knotted her muscles. “But everything is okay? I mean, we’re not going to crash into the ocean or anything, right?”

  “No, we won’t crash into the ocean.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Finally, he turned his head to look at her. “I promise we are perfectly safe. I’d never let anything happen to you, onye.”

  It was impossible not to believe him when he spoke with such confidence, but she remained tense. “You’d tell me the truth. You’d tell if something was really wrong?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Kylir!”

  “Astrid!” he mocked, but there was a teasing light in his eyes. “Relax.” He held his hand in front of him, palm up, and lifted it toward his chin. “Breathe.” With another chuckle, he flipped the hand over and pushed it down toward his belly button. “Just breathe. Everything is fine, and I’ll run a system scan when we land. Okay?”

  “Yeah. Good.” Fumbling her fingers together in her lap, she fidgeted in her seat. “Okay. Good. That’s…”

  “Good?” he ventured, unable to contain his laughter.

  Astrid glared at him. “Hilarious. You’re a real riot, Mr. T’Kari.”

  “I aim to please, Miss Strong.”

  For some strange reason, this brought an abrupt end to his amusement. The minutes ticked by, the silence oppressive, stifling, but she just waited for him to work out what he wanted to say. It seemed to take decades for him to find the words, but what came out of his mouth didn’t make much sense.