Then the old woman was gone, taking light and hope with her.
She reached across the bond. “Rhys?”
He answered with a sense of questioning.
“Promise me something.”
A sense of wariness, now. “What would you like me to promise?”
“Don’t let Owain win. I can’t imagine—” She swallowed. “He can’t be allowed to have the whole mantle. The things he does already...the things he would do with more power. And people still follow him. People who should know better. Promise you won’t make it easier for him just to save me.”
Silence. Then, “I swear it.”
“I love you.” She wouldn’t tell him not to come or ask him if he was leaving. Rhys would do what he thought was best, like he always did.
“I love you, too.”
Kai tipped the capsule into her mouth and swallowed. Patli had given her Naga venom before. It didn’t last long—only a couple of hours—and temporary oblivion was the absolute best way Kai could think of to pass her time until either Rhys came for her, or death.
* * *
Rhys soared through crystal air, suspended between snow and stars. All was silent except for the rush of air and the leathery snap of wings. The cold was the greatest challenge. He, Cadoc and Morwenna were fine—the magic that allowed them to manipulate heat also prevented them from feeling all but the most extreme temperatures.
Juli and Ashem were a different story, however. Rhys had been able to set up a spell that hovered around Ashem, warming the air. He’d had to do it as a man—Elemental dragons weren’t able to use their magic in dragon form, only their breath weapons—so he hoped it would hold. Juli had on the most advanced arctic survival gear money could buy, but winter here was no easy thing to survive, even for dragons.
They flew across hundreds of miles of tundra and icy sea to the island northeast of Greenland where Owain had made his home. As they approached, Juli cast another barrier. It was a tricky thing to do with multiple moving targets, but she managed. They made it through two rings of sentries—though one of them nearly clipped Cadoc as they flew past—and landed outside one of the less-used entrances into the underground stronghold. To Rhys, Cadarnle looked like nothing more than a continuation of ice and snow, but Kavar had “shown” Juli where to go through their bond.
If there was a trap waiting for them here, it was already too late.
Juli slid from Ashem’s back, and the dragons transformed. Human, they waded through the snow to the mouth of a cave cleverly hidden below a tumble of boulders. No one attacked. No nets fell from above. No magic halted them in their tracks.
Kavar was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is he?” Morwenna clutched her sword.
A derisive snort sounded from close by. Instinctively, Rhys called fire into his hands.
Kavar appeared to one side, no more than ten feet away. “He is under your nose. You Draig are the least subtle creatures on the planet.”
Rhys was in no mood for posturing. “Are you here to help us or kill us, Kavar?”
“A bit of both, perhaps.” Kavar shot Juli a furtive glance. She was watching him, too.
Rhys glanced between them, then to Ashem, whose face was unreadable. He couldn’t imagine how it was for Juli to be heartsworn to two people. She loved Ashem, but the magic compelled her and Kavar toward each other like magnets.
...the feelings you have for Kai aren’t real. They’re lust and obsession and infatuation. Don’t let the magic cloud your good sense.
Sunder it. Why couldn’t he get those words out of his head?
“Stop,” Ashem snarled.
Rhys looked up. Kavar had taken a step toward Juli.
Kavar’s smile contorted. He was obviously straining to hold it in place. “You aren’t my commander or my king, Ashem.”
Ashem growled.
Juli said in a low but clear voice, “That’s enough. Let’s get Kai and finish this.”
Kavar’s stance relaxed. The tension between the two Azhdahā did not.
With one last silver-eyed glare at his brother, Kavar let them through the boulders to the entrance. Ashem followed, then Juli and Cadoc. Rhys motioned to Morwenna, but she shook her head, gesturing for him to enter first. “I’ll guard your back.”
Stowing their bags with the extra harnesses in a crack in the boulders, Rhys and Morwenna slipped inside. The tunnel was a tight fit, at first. The ceiling low and sides close. After a few paces, it opened into a wide, empty hall. Two unconscious guards lay just inside, one male and one female.
Rhys felt a grim satisfaction when he saw them. Kavar might still betray them, but this was a good sign.
Juli held up her hands, bringing them all to a halt. She closed her eyes, and Rhys guessed she was seeking any nearby minds.
Rhys had started to shift his weight from foot to foot when Juli opened her eyes. “There were a few people in this part of the stronghold awake. They’re all sleeping now.”
He suppressed a shiver. He didn’t know how many minds Juli had just invaded, but from the stunned look on Kavar’s face and the carefully blank expression on Ashem’s, the power she used had been immense.
Kavar led them down several flights of stairs and through more halls. Rhys memorized what he could of their path, but wasn’t confident he could find his way out on his own. Every now and then, Juli would have them pause as she ensured that everyone around them was asleep. After a while, Ashem bit off a curse and muttered that he would take the next minds they encountered.
“You have to be aware enough to fight,” Juli said, sounding distracted.
“Why are we here, if not to lighten your burdens?” Kavar’s voice dripped sarcasm.
He was right. This had been Juli’s plan. Cadarnle was well guarded, but her power, with support from Ashem and Kavar, might be strong enough to let them walk the halls undetected long enough to save Kai and Seren.
Ashem scowled, and Kavar gave him a mocking smile in return. “I will take the next four minds we encounter. Ashem will take four, as well. Few enough to defend ourselves, but perhaps it will lighten the load for our...lovely...Juliet.”
Ashem bared his teeth, but didn’t disagree.
They passed five more pairs of guards, some in front of doors, some patrolling the halls. Kavar made them pause at every intersection, checking thoroughly for anyone who might see them. He was also the one to make sure the guards they knocked out were completely asleep. Which made sense. If Owain suspected that Kavar had helped them, Rhys doubted that even a millennium-long friendship would save the Azhdahā’s life.
Finally, when they were so deep beneath the earth that even Rhys could feel its weight looming overhead, Kavar stopped. Despite saying that he would only bespell as many people as he could handle, he and Ashem were both glassy-eyed with a fine sheen of sweat on their foreheads. “Her door is protected by two sets of guards who cannot be touched by Azhdahā magic. They wear a modified version of the stones you used to capture me.” He shot a glare at Rhys.
Rhys glared back. His sense of Kai had grown until it was almost unbearable. Mate. Heartsworn. Mine. Close. So excruciatingly close. Sensing him, Kai stirred, her mind fighting off the last remnants of the drug she’d taken to sleep.
“Command them to leave,” Rhys whispered to Kavar. Ancients, if he didn’t get to her now he was going to go tearing around the corner and murder anyone who stood in his way. He didn’t care if it cost a river of blood. He clenched and unclenched his fists, feeling ants under his skin again.
Despite the strain on his face, Kavar snorted softly. “This is on you, puppet king. I got you inside. I’ve told you, I will not jeopardize my position with Owain.”
Juli’s voice was flat and distracted. “Take their charms. I can make them forget.”
Ashem and Ka
var stared at her. Ashem shook his head. “You’re already stretched too thin. We’re all almost at our breaking point.”
Juli didn’t look at them, her gaze fixed on some distant point. “I can make them forget,” she repeated.
Kavar watched her for a long moment, then, without any warning, spun and strode into the hallway. Rhys crouched low and peered around the corner.
“Give me your amulets,” Kavar barked.
The guards started. One raised his eyebrows. “It’s the middle of the night. We’re on duty. Why do you need them now?”
“There is a traitor.” Kavar sounded shockingly like Ashem. “Have you forgotten what happened earlier today? You are guarding the most precious prisoner Owain has ever had, and he has commanded me to examine you. Do you think he cares about the time? Give me those stones. After I’ve looked inside your minds, I’ll return them. Or I will kill you.”
One by one, the guards gave up the onyx stones they had tied to their wrists.
Kavar pinched the charms between his fingers, disgust on his face. As soon as the last of the four guards handed him her stone, they collapsed like birds shot from the sky.
Kavar twisted to stare in their direction. His mocking smile was gone. Ashem glanced at Juli, then exchanged a look of mingled awe and concern with Kavar. He seemed to realize what he was doing, and schooled his face into a frown.
Rhys, Cadoc and Morwenna darted around the corner. Ashem came more slowly, leading Juli by the hand. Rhys tried the heavy wooden door, but it was locked. He motioned for Kavar. His lip curled, the Azhdahā shot one more surreptitious glance at Juli before he pressed his palm against the door. It swung open. Rhys shouldered past Kavar and stepped inside.
Dim light shone in from the hall, but aside from that, the room was pitch-black. He called a ball of golden fire, setting it just over his shoulder. It lit the room, casting a shimmering glow over a table, painted walls, a bed.
And Kai.
She lay stretched out on the mattress, pale and small, her face a white smudge beneath a spread of dark hair. He was next to her in an instant. He wanted to scoop her up, but held back. She’d been tortured for two weeks running. He’d felt her flinch away from the old Quetzal woman who healed her.
Fighting the overwhelming instinct to touch her, he took fistfuls of her blanket in shaking hands and gave her a small mental prod, whispering her name.
“Kai.”
Her eyes shot open. As he’d thought she would, she shrank away and lifted her arms to cover her face. “No! Not again! Leave me alone!”
He noticed as she spoke the words that she slid a partial shield up between them, so smooth, so seemingly transparent that he might not have noticed. That he probably hadn’t noticed. Several times.
Ancients, she had been hiding the extent of her torture from him. How much?
“This is low, even for you.” Her voice had taken a harsh edge. Then it cracked and turned pleading. “Don’t do this. Don’t hurt me by looking like him.”
Rhys would kill Owain, just to make sure he never saw that expression on Kai’s face again.
Chapter Seven
So Much Sweeter than Memory
Kai, her brain muzzy from sleep, hid her face behind her hands so she wouldn’t have to see him. This wasn’t happening. Even Owain couldn’t be so profoundly cruel.
“Cariad, it’s me.” His voice was that perfect, rich tenor she could only conjure in her dreams. She let her hands fall.
Rhys—could it truly be him? could there actually be an end to this hell?—dropped to his knees beside the bed. “I told you I wouldn’t leave you. Let down your shields and let me prove it.”
Kai dug her nails into her palms hard enough that a few of them punched through skin. If he wasn’t here—if this wasn’t Rhys...then Owain won. She would be well and truly broken.
But he knew her shields were up. Owain wouldn’t have known that.
She eased them down.
And there he was.
With a wordless cry, she threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. He lifted her from the bed as he stood, minds intertwining, bodies slamming together, the contact exploding over skin and sizzling through flesh and bone. Awareness of him surged through her like it hadn’t since the moment they’d heartsworn.
His hands were on her face, in her hair, gripping her hips so he could press them closer still. Their lips collided, and he tasted so much sweeter than memory. To Kai, his thoughts were a muddle, cycling through how she was there. Alive. Warm. He actually had her in his arms. He’d been so afraid. So sundering afraid.
His fear raged through her like wildfire and met the morass of emotion churning through her head. It caught and blazed, scorching through her and charring the door that hid her horrors. They slammed against it from the other side, and she felt it give. Everything that had happened threatening to burst free in a choking, drowning tide.
Oh, hell.
She held on, fighting through it, running her fingers over the red stubble on his cheeks. Tears burned the backs of her eyes. She hid the near-broken girl she’d become. With him standing right in front of her, she could not escape the memory that she was supposed to have it together. Be a queen.
So she put it all behind the door. Fear, joy, immobilizing relief. When she spoke, her voice was steady. “You came.”
Rhys traced his thumb over her cheek. A furrow appeared between his brows. He held her away from him, scanning her with his eyes. His fingers, splayed over her back, ran over the indents between her ribs.
Only then did Kai realize how she must look. There was a mirror in the corner, she generally tried to avoid it, but she’d seen it yesterday. Two weeks of torture/healing and days of food deprivation had winnowed her down from athletic to fragile. Her eyes were sunken, hair lank—though she had bathed regularly. Heaven forbid she offend Owain’s nose.
Heat prickled her cheeks. Maybe it was another twisted psychological aftereffect of the torture, but she wanted to apologize for not being the breezy, tireless girl she saw so clearly in his mind’s eye.
“Don’t.” His arms came around her and kissed her again, surrounding her with love. But hatred for Owain boiled just below the surface as frigid as liquid nitrogen, lining his peace with thorns.
A soft chuckle sounded behind Rhys. “Can you do that later, boyo? We need to find Seren.”
They ended the kiss, and Kai peered over Rhys’s shoulder at Cadoc, his face cast in shadows from the ball of fire at his side. He grinned. “Good to see you, brânwen.”
“It’s good to see you, too.” She scanned the rest of the room. Ashem and Morwenna had taken up defensive posts next to the open door, keeping a lookout. Juli had come, as well. And—
Kai recoiled at the sight of Kavar. He looked like a strategically unkempt version of Ashem, with his scruff and shoulder-length black hair. Where Ashem was ramrod-straight and watchful, Kavar just leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, staring at Juli.
“What is he doing here?”
“He let us in,” Rhys murmured. “He brought us to you.”
“Why...?” Kai frowned as her gaze fell on Juli. She didn’t like her friend’s vacant look. “Juli?”
Rhys cleared his throat. “She’s keeping the dragons of Cadarnle asleep. She is...powerful.”
“She is overwhelmed,” Ashem said from close by the door. “We need to leave.”
Rhys tried to shift them and Kai squeaked in pain. Startled, he loosened his hold, letting her slide to the ground. Kai winced. “Just bruises.”
Cold hate burned through Rhys again. Kai flinched away, narrowing their connection. She was barely hanging on to the pieces of herself—an emotional punch like that, even if it wasn’t directed at her—was likely to send her over the edge.
Rhys went mot
ionless when he sensed Kai’s reaction. He inhaled. Then, slowly, he reached out.
He was so slow. So careful. Kai leaned into him again and gripped his forearms hard enough that the fine chains around her fingers dug into his skin. Too much emotion was overwhelming, but this—his arms around her, solid, strong frame towering over her, minds tangled together—this was first time she’d felt safe in two weeks.
Except none of them were safe. Not until they got out of Cadarnle.
“Let’s go, then,” Rhys said, picking up on the thought.
He didn’t have to ask her twice. Kai started for the door with the others, then remembered. “Wait.”
They turned. Morwenna made an impatient noise.
Kai reached up combed her hair away from the back of her neck with her fingers. Owain’s device was still there. If she left the room, it would kill her. “This has to come out.”
She didn’t know what the scar looked like, but from Rhys’s emotional reaction, it wasn’t pretty. He’d been “present” with her when Owain had sliced her skin and shoved the thing in. She’d questioned him after, but Rhys hadn’t been sure what it was. Owain toyed with some aspects of magic that most sane dragons left alone.
Rhys hesitated, then unsheathed a short knife from his belt. His gaze went from the knife to Kai and back again. Worried, because taking the device out was going to hurt. If she connected him to the pain that was so close to shutting her down, would she be able to separate him from it?
Kai closed chained fingers over his hand. “You are the only one—” She faltered, her fingers tightening.
She wished it didn’t have to hurt.
Rhys squeezed her fingers in return. “Cadoc.”
The lanky bard gave him a questioning look. Rhys tilted his head toward Kai. “Hold her hands.”
Cadoc raised his eyebrows, but moved around in front of Kai without comment. A teasing smile lurked around his mouth. “The fair raven. We meet again.” He only had one hand that worked, but it was almost large enough to swallow both of Kai’s as she placed them on his palm.
Truth of Embers Page 6
