Heritage: Book Three of the Grimoire Saga

by Boyce, S. M.

  A little gasp jarred him. He peered down at Kara, only to find her gray eyes wide open. A smile broke across her face. He grinned back, but she launched toward him and kissed him. Her hands cradled his head, her lips brushing against his until his mouth went numb.

  He cradled her head with one hand and held her near. He nearly lost this. He would savor every second he had with her.

  She ran a hand through his hair. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”

  “Good idea. I just get in trouble when you’re not around.”

  She laughed and kissed him again. Her kisses trailed to his jaw and down his neck. After a while, she rested her cheek on his shoulder and sighed. Her arms wrapped around him, and he pulled her in as close as she could go. He relaxed and enjoyed the silence. Kara’s body pushed against his each time she breathed. Her pulse beat in his ear, amplified by her proximity. He didn’t want to move. He would be content to lie like this forever.

  “How are you doing?” Kara asked.

  He shrugged. “I still can’t feel much of anything.”

  “What happened?”

  He hesitated. “Carden knew I was there. He sent some of his elite soldiers with Gavin’s Sartori to kill me. I guess they weren’t expecting Gavin to be there.”

  “He nearly let you die?”

  Braeden nodded and kissed the top of her head.

  “I would have killed him,” she said.

  “I know.”

  Her grip around his chest tightened. Braeden flinched.

  She gasped. “Did that hurt you? I’m sorry.”

  “It’s all right. Hopefully I’ll heal soon. I can barely move.”

  “You need to eat. Let me get you food.”

  He tightened his hold on her so she couldn’t get up. “I’m fine.”

  She laughed. “Liar.”

  “I’ll be fine as long as you stay with me.”

  She nuzzled his neck. “Then I’ll stay with you forever.”

  His heart skipped a beat. “Forever?”

  “Of course.”

  The fear of rejection dissolved. If he asked her to be his and bond with him, she would say yes. He couldn’t tell what shifted in his mind, but he no longer feared the question would rush her or push her away. He didn’t even have to ask, but he wanted to. He wanted to make the moment as special as possible, so he wouldn’t ask now. He would pull her away from Ayavel and the Bloods for a short escape, and he would ask her to be his. For now, he would savor every second of her company.

  “How was Kirelm?” he asked.

  She tensed. Her entire body froze, and she even held her breath.

  He lifted her chin with his finger. “That bad?”

  She craned her neck toward him. Tears pooled in her eyes. Her eyebrows pinched her face, and worry lines marred her forehead.

  A jolt of panic shot through him. “What’s wrong?”

  “Carden attacked Kirelm while I was there. I had no choice, Braeden. I took off my wrist guard. I won, but...”

  “Wait, you fought my father?”

  She nodded.

  He wrapped her in a hug and pulled her on top of him. He didn’t let go, even as she started crying into his shoulder.

  “I tried to kill him, Braeden, I promise. But I missed.”

  He released her and stared into her eyes. Another tear streaked down her face. He wiped it away with his thumb.

  “What do you mean, you missed?” he asked.

  “My attack hit a village below Kirelm. I killed...I...”

  Dawning realization crashed into him. She slaughtered innocent people.

  He cradled her face in his hands. “You’ll feel better if you say it.”

  She stared at the bedspread. She wrung her hands. A golden curl fell over her shoulder and covered part of her face.

  Her voice trickled out as a whisper. “I killed over ten thousand people with just one attack, Braeden.”

  His jaw tensed. He didn’t know what to say or how to respond.

  She sobbed. “Ithone’s dead. Aurora is Blood now, and she forced whomever saw my attack into silence. The people think Carden did it, and that I’m some hero. I feel disgusting, Braeden. I’m a liar, a murderer, a—”

  “A hero,” he said.

  She looked up, eyes bloodshot from crying. A blush seeped along her cheeks, but he doubted it was from embarrassment. She stared at him for a few seconds, mouth slightly agape.

  “But I killed people,” she said.

  “You did. Taking off the wrist guard was a risky move. I’m not sure what the best choice was, but war has casualties, Kara. People die, even when they’re not part of the battle. I can only assume Aurora has a perfectly good reason to lie. I know you didn’t hurt those Kirelms intentionally. My father’s damn near unstoppable. You had no choice but to take off that wrist guard, and that means you gave up your self control. I understand what it’s like.”

  Braeden’s daru gave him unimaginable power, but he lost all sense of sympathy when he used his hidden energy. He could only imagine Kara faced something similar with her newfound abilities.

  She swallowed hard. “Thank you.”

  He smiled and wiped away the last of her tears. A smile twitched along the corners of her mouth, but she didn’t seem able to fully grin. He wished he could take away the pain, but it was a guilt she would live with forever. At least he could share her burden.

  “I thought you would think less of me,” she admitted.

  He laughed. “I’m a Stelian Heir who asked you to murder my entire race by making me a vagabond. It was a selfish, stupid request, and I see it now. But I have no room to judge.”

  She laughed. “I’d forgotten about that.”

  “I was afraid so. I have to remind you of what a horrible man I am.”

  “Hardly. There’s more good in you than bad.”

  He smiled. “Not before you, there wasn’t.”

  She grinned and ran a hand over his mouth. “There was always kindness in you, even if you tried to hide it. I wish you would realize that.”

  He pulled her into his chest and took a deep breath. Her isen scent of lilac and pine crashed into him, but the natural perfume of her race no longer triggered a jolt of panic. It was part of her now she’d been awoken as a creature of Ourea, and he would forever respect it. His woman was an isen, and it didn’t matter one bit. He was the luckiest man alive.

  A week after Braeden awoke in Ayavel with Kara at his side, he reclined against the wall of a cave in Hillside. He’d stolen Kara away, as he planned. She sat beside him, head on his shoulder. He took her to the waterfall in Hillside where the two of them often trained when she first arrived in Ourea. It became their spot, back then, so he hoped it would be the perfect place to ask her to be his forever.

  Their cave sat in the cliff directly behind the waterfall. Afternoon sunlight burned through the thin veil of water. Fragments of red and green light danced along the mists hovering above the stream. A river broke away from the falls and ambled through the forests below. Blurred outlines of the green trees on either bank swayed through the shifting water.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” Kara said.

  “I’m enjoying your company.”

  She laughed. “Oh, you little heartthrob.”

  He grinned. “You know it.”

  She ran a hand over his chest. Her fingers caught on the scar from the Sartori’s blade—the only scar on his body.

  “How do you feel?” she asked.

  “Incredible.”

  “Be serious.”

  “I am. Every day, I feel stronger. I can see better, move faster. I’m more clearheaded than ever. I mean, maybe I’m readapting to life after a near-death experience, but I can’t really ask anyone if this is normal. Not many survive a Sartori attack.”

  “You’re lucky.”

  He kissed her forehead. “Yes, I am.”

  She laughed and leaned into his shoulder. Sunlight cast a warm glow on her face. She closed her eyes and hu
mmed with pleasure. He couldn’t have picked a better moment if he’d orchestrated it.

  “Kara, you said you would stay with me forever, right?”

  She grinned, eyes still closed. “Yep.”

  “Did you mean it?”

  “Of course. Why?”

  “I—uh, this book—”

  Panic flared in his gut. The words died in his mouth. He cleared his throat, but a few seconds of silence followed. He should have rehearsed this. Now he would just have to wing it, and he would probably mess everything up.

  He plowed ahead. “I read a book about Ourean history. Apparently humans, isen, and yakona all share a common ancestor.”

  She smirked. “Cool. I’ll have to read that.”

  “It got me thinking about how humans and isen are compatible. Seems like yakona and isen would be as well.”

  “Compatible? What do you mean?”

  He grumbled. “I’m not doing a good job of it, am I?”

  “Of what, exactly?”

  She shifted and opened her eyes, tilting her head until her beautiful face focused on him. He tensed. He’d completely destroyed the moment.

  “You keep twitching. Are you nervous?” she asked.

  He laughed. Twitching? How attractive. Forget it. He’d already ruined the proposal, but there was no way out now. He had to go for it.

  “Kara Magari, will you try bonding with me? And if it doesn’t work, will you still be mine forever?”

  She sat up straight, a half-smile on her lips. Her eyes never left his face, but she didn’t speak. Several seconds passed. Uncertainty crept into his gut. Was this a no? Should he assume the smile meant yes? Or did all girls do this to mess with their men?

  He forced a laugh. “I should’ve bought a ring or something. I didn’t think this through. You were raised human and all. I can buy something. Try again, maybe, or—”

  She reached for his face and pulled him into a kiss. He sighed with relief. Their noses brushed together, and her fingers ran through his hair. The fear in his chest melted, even though she still hadn’t said anything.

  He held her an inch from his face in an effort to tease her. “An answer would be nice, woman.”

  She laughed. “You’re the only one I want, Braeden Drakonin.”

  He grinned and brushed his lips against hers. His attempt at romance must have been the worst proposal in history, but at least it worked. His fingers glided down her back and inched along her waist. She smiled and leaned in closer. At least in their hidden cave, no royals would disturb them.

  Water rushed overhead, splashing into the river below as he held her. They would likely spend the night in the cave, listening to the forest preen and croak around them. It would be their last moment of peace before he brought the war to Carden’s gates, and he would savor every moment he was given. In just a few weeks, Ourea would forever change. He merely hoped it would change for the better.

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

  SOLACE

  Kara ran her fingers through Braeden’s hair. He smiled and closed his eyes. Relief shot through her once again—she’d almost lost him.

  She reclined against the cave wall and stared through the curtain of water pouring over the entrance. The setting sun slipped through cracks in the waterfall, burning through the sheet in a kaleidoscope of color that danced along the floor.

  Her right hand slid through his hair again, and she couldn’t help but catch sight of the wrist guard. She grimaced. That thing. She’d become used to the ache of the spikes in her body, and in a way, she was also grateful it kept her power at least somewhat at bay. But it served as a constant reminder of what she truly was and what she could do.

  She might be able to control the flood of energy over time, but she still had so much to learn—and no time left. It wouldn’t be long before Braeden led the final siege against the Stele. And then what?

  Doubt tugged at her mind. Killing Carden didn’t guarantee the war would end. She needed that trump card—the Sartori vault. There was no telling if Stone had finished it yet, since she hadn’t heard from him in ages. It was possible the isen had changed his mind or simply gotten bored.

  She grumbled under her breath and sighed deeply. Braeden reached for her hand, but he kept his eyes closed. He might even be asleep. She smiled, but it lasted only a second. With Carden dead, Braeden would become the Blood of the Stele. In the past, he admitted he feared what the change would do to him; that power had nearly ruined Gavin, after all. But for all Braeden’s doubt, Kara knew he wouldn’t become like Carden. He fought too hard against his father’s cruelty to succumb to it.

  He nuzzled against her head and smiled again, his eyes flitting behind his eyelids, lost in some dream. She brushed his cheek. He wouldn’t forget who he was. He was too strong for that.

  Kara settled back against the cave wall, trying her best to relax. She couldn’t sleep. Even her quiet moments these days were tense. She had no peace anymore—she wouldn’t, not for a while. Perhaps she could relax when the war ended, or perhaps the stress would last longer. She didn’t know. She didn’t want to think about it, but she couldn’t help herself. She discovered a family secret that would haunt her and any children she had, if that ever happened. She had to live with a curse she might never control. And since she arrived in Ourea, three Bloods had died. Families had been torn apart. Friends turned on each other. And it wasn’t over yet. Despite everything she and Braeden already endured, life would probably get worse before it got better.

  The sun dipped below the horizon, scorching the sky in its wake. Darkness crept into the world as it left, and a handful of the most brilliant stars glimmered in the growing haze.

  Kara smiled. It didn’t matter how bad things got as long as she remembered all the good in her new life. Braeden. Flick. Twin. Richard. Her vagabonds. Her village. Cedric. Stone. She finally knew what happened to her mother and maternal grandparents. She could learn from their mistakes. And now, Kara had a new family of her own.

  During her tenure in Ourea, Kara had become used to fear and uncertainty. Yet, despite all the suffering, at least a little good had come from all the pain.

  EPILOGUE

  REVENGE

  Back before Braeden awoke in Ayavel, even before Kara took her seat in Evelyn’s war room on her return from Kirelm, a maid lit a fire in Blood Carden’s study. Servants went about their business, always listening for orders from their king.

  In a corridor on the fourth floor, a guard raced to Blood Carden’s office with news of the Vagabond’s movements. In a different hallway two floors below, yet another guard received orders to deliver the news of Braeden’s escape from the failed Sartori attack. Neither guard realized his respective superior didn’t like him very much, nor did they realize the Blood of the Stele quite often killed the messenger.

  Deidre lounged on a sofa by the fire in Carden’s study. A wooden chair whizzed by her head and smashed against the stone wall, shattering into splinters from the force. Deidre just sighed.

  Men.

  Carden hurled another chair from its place along the wall. It met the same fate as its brother.

  “How does the boy do it?” Carden screamed.

  Deidre didn’t answer. The question was no doubt rhetorical.

  Carden returned from Kirelm as nothing but a broken mess, all thanks to the little Magari girl’s brutal beating. In his tantrum, he’d sent out an elite force to kill Braeden without pausing to think of the implications or risks. Such rash thinking. He would’ve been lucky to have even a modicum of Deidre’s patience—she’d planned her revenge for centuries.

  Apparently out of things to throw, Carden punched the wall. Cracks splintered through the stones like a spider web beneath his knuckles. “How does Braeden escape everything I throw at him? He’s an insect compared to me, yet he seems to anticipate my every move!”

  Carden leaned against his now-empty desk, shoulders heaving as he caught his breath. He tightened his hands into fists. His gray skin bleached f
rom the tension.

  The Blood spat on the floor. “He’s supposed to be dead. No one can survive a Sartori attack without the antidote, yet his corpse wasn’t rotting next to my soldiers! He’s still out there. I can feel it. Why won’t he die?”

  Deidre stifled a groan. Prima donna. Then again, this was the same man who had been pummeled to death’s door by a girl raised in the human world. Even as a descendant of a legendary isen, Kara should never have had the power to overcome Carden. Not yet, at least. Not unless she’d received highly specialized training. Deidre doubted the girl had those kind of isen connections.

  Carden’s loss to the Vagabond was all the proof Deidre needed. He’d become irrelevant. Too weak to be of much use any longer. She would be rid of him soon, but she needed one more favor. She had to get him to focus.

  She changed the subject. “At least you’ll have the lost table of Ethos, soon. Then Braeden won’t even matter.”

  He grimaced. “Right. Our agreement.”

  She forced a smile. Carden swore to kill Niccoli in exchange for the location of the lost table of Ethos. She didn’t care why he wanted the old artifact. She only wanted her master dead.

  Deidre shrugged in an effort to feign indifference. “All you have to do is kill Niccoli. It shouldn’t be a challenge for you.”

  “It won’t be, nor will it be difficult for me to ensure you uphold your end of the bargain.”

  Deidre suppressed an eye roll. “I wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise. I’m a woman of my word. He and I are meeting tonight. Will you be there or not?”

  Carden took a deep breath. “Fine. Tonight. I suppose killing something would help me let off steam.”

  Deidre’s heart leapt into her throat. He’d finally taken the bait. It took all of her control not to grin with pleasure. Instead, she merely nodded to the door.

  “Shall we?”