“The fuck if I know,” Des says, throwing the paintbrush aside. “Are you in the mood for a bit of reconnaissance?”
Malaki’s face is grim. “This has to do with your asshole father?”
Des inclines his head.
The general’s eye glitters. “I’d love nothing more.” His friend’s scarred face and eye patch look a little sinister in the light.
The Bargainer begins to smile. “Good. I’d like you to meet with some of our old connections back on Barbos. Tell them that the dead king has risen, and anyone who has knowledge of his whereabouts will be handsomely compensated.”
“And if someone can lead me to him?” Malaki asks.
“Report back to me first. I don’t want to chance losing him. Oh and by the way—” Des’s eyes inadvertently land on Temper, “be discreet.”
“Why are you looking at me?” Temper’s voice is several octaves louder than everyone else’s.
The Bargainer arches an eyebrow.
“I’m as motherfucking discreet as they come,” she says.
I’m trying really, really hard not to laugh, but the struggle is real.
Malaki manages a sharp nod. “We will be discreet,” he assures Des.
The sorceress huffs. “Y’all need to get your heads checked. I am not the problem.” She turns on Malaki. “And you don’t need to go making promises for me. I never even said I was coming along.”
“And you don’t need to.” The Bargainer stands. “But if you imagined staying behind so that you could have fun with Callie, then you’ll be sorely disappointed. The future Night Queen has official business that will take her away from the palace.”
It takes me a second to realize Des is referring to me.
“Wait,” I say, “I haven’t agreed to be queen.”
“Yeah,” Temper agrees, “my girl hasn’t agreed—what?” She turns on me. “Bitch, have you lost your mind? Take that crown and wear that shit like it’s your birthright.”
Ignoring Temper, Des’s gaze falls on me, his features sharp. “I apologize, the Night King’s consort has official business that will take her away from the palace.”
I narrow my eyes at my mate. I might not have jumped onboard with this whole queen business, but I sure as hell don’t want to be known simply as someone else’s consort.
“Hoooo!” Temper whoops, falling back into her seat. “You better sleep with one eye open, Desmond. I’ve seen my girl make men pay for less.”
He’s still staring intensely at me. “That’s odd. For as long as I’ve known Callie, she’s the one who’s paid for my services. I admit, it’ll be nice to not be the prostitute in our relationship for once.”
Temper snickers, appraising Des all over again. “Fuck one eye. Sleep with both eyes open.”
I shake my head at Des as I stand, my eyes slitted. “It’s time to go.”
We give curt goodbyes to Temper and Malaki, then slip out of the library.
“You do realize how close you were to getting glamoured, don’t you?” I say as we head down the hallway.
Des’s eyes seem to be laughing at me. “You say that like I’d mind.”
Most men do. Then again, Des isn’t most men.
“So, what is this official business?” I say, changing the subject.
The Bargainer’s face turns grim. “Now that the kingdoms of Flora and Fauna have fallen, the Day Kingdom is our one remaining ally. You and I are going to pay them a visit.”
Chapter 14
I smell the bodies before I see them.
Des and I have barely stepped off the ley line and entered the Kingdom of Day when the scent of burnt flesh assaults me.
I don’t know what I was expecting from the Day Kingdom when Des told me we were going to be visiting, but this isn’t it.
I shield my eyes against the blindingly bright overhead sun until they adjust to the sight before them.
All around us, the world is on fire. Pyres as large as houses stretch as far as the eyes can see, and they roar as they burn. Thick, oily smoke billows off of them, twisting into the air and turning the sky into a reddish haze.
We skirt around them, one by one, the oily smoke coating my skin. I begin to sweat from the heat wafting off of them. It’s stifling, suffocating.
Around us, the flames reach high into the sky, as though they were trying to touch the very sun itself. As blazing as each inferno is, I can still make out the bodies within. There are dozens of them piled on one another, their forms blackened to a crisp. Their uniforms have long burned off, but I don’t need to see them to know these are the sleeping soldiers who invaded the Kingdom of Day.
So this is how Des’s final ally defeated the enemy. They simply killed them all off.
My eyes sweep over the landscape again. Des and I have arrived at the edge of a large floating island. Here, where the land gives way to sky, the pyres sit like grim sentinels. Beyond them, I can only make out the hazy outline of a tangle of flora what appears to be a looming mountain range.
The sun glares down at us through the haze, and on any other day, I’m sure this kingdom is a glorious sight, but right now, the place is like spoiled wine.
Next to me, the Bargainer squints up at the sun, which now burns blood red through the haze of smoke.
“I’ve always hated this place,” he says. “Too bright for my taste. But this …” He shakes his head. “This makes me wish for those insufferably bright days.” He takes my hand, and with that, the two of us head towards the looming mountains.
“We’re not walking the entire way, are we?” I glance above us as we pass under a bright green tree, violet flowers growing from its branches. Around us, the vegetation presses in from all sides. I can only see about fifty feet ahead, and it’s all jungle.
“Cheer up, cherub, you have me as company, and I am an excellent conversationalist.”
Crap, we are totally walking the entire way. That sucks extra balls when the air smells like a graveyard.
I wince. “The smell might legit kill me first.”
Des plucks a deep blue flower from a nearby vine, sliding it behind my ear. “We can’t have that now,” he says.
He leads us to a stairway I almost miss because it blends in with its surroundings so well. It’s woven from vines and leaves and it winds up a tree trunk and ascends high into the air. Once we’re level with the canopies of trees, the stairway levels, turning into a bridge that sways as we walk along it.
“What’s with the bridge?” I ask.
“What about it?” Des asks, disappearing only to reappear yards away at the end of the bridge, arms crossed.
“Ugh, you never ‘walk’ to the palace, do you? You simply pop into existence there.”
Des’s eyes twinkle. “Sometimes—okay, most of the time, but that’s because Janus hates it so much.”
Just as I reach him, he disappears, winking into existence farther along the bridge, where it twists between trees.
“Are you going to do this the entire way?” I complain.
“Maybe.”
“Well, can you make me disappear with you at least?” I ask, waving away some of the hazy smoke that’s hanging in the air.
“It doesn’t work like that—not unless we cobound our power.”
“But I thought that being bonded meant we shared magic.” As I speak, I reach down our bond and tug on Des’s power.
“We do, cherub, but it doesn’t quite work the same way and—” I see his teeth set on edge even as he lets out a little laugh, “you’re trying to use my magic.”
Can you blame me? I mean, the dude can teleport. I want to do that. The rope bridge is cool and all, but I don’t want to walk.
I pull on our bond one final time, feeling Des’s magic slip into my veins and travel down to my fingertips. For the briefest of moments, the air subtly darkens. Then it dissipates, along with my mate’s powers.
“Fine,” I say. “I’ll stop, but I’m not thrilled to be walking.”
“Duly not
ed.”
“We could fly.”
“We could,” Des agrees, which is fairy speak for yeah, no. Since I don’t know where our destination precisely is, I’m stuck following his ass. On foot.
Boo.
I toe the woven walkway. “I still don’t understand this bridge,” I mutter.
I get having bridges when there are rivers and chasms that make walking impossible, but the forest floor looks perfectly fine to walk on. “I mean, if my feet touch the ground, is the earth going to rip apart and swallow me whole?”
“If it has any taste in women, then yes, that would definitely happen.”
“Des,” I say, trying not to laugh.
He vanishes, reappearing farther away than before.
“Where are you going? I thought you were supposed to be this amazing conversationalist,” I complain as I run my hands over the knotted vine railing.
He smirks at me from where he stands five million miles away.
“Or maybe,” I say, my skin beginning to glow, “I should just make you walk alongside me—or carry me the entire way.”
He raises an eyebrow, his glee obvious. “Is that an order?”
“It depends.”
Even with the distance between us, I see him smother a smile. “My, my, you’re awfully bossy for a woman who doesn’t want to be queen.”
“Walk with me, Des,” I say, my voice melodic.
Immediately, the Bargainer appears in front of me, his hands braced on the rope.
I begin to saunter forward, my body swaying. My scales ripple to life along my forearms, my claws sharpen.
Des begins to back up, his gaze never leaving mine. “So is this what we’re going to do? You glamour me until I submit to you?” His silver eyes gleam, his white hair hanging loose around his face. He looks like the kind of rouge I want to defile and be defiled by.
I catch his shirt before he can back up any more, my claws inadvertently shredding it in the process. I reel him in, pressing a kiss to his lips. “Yes,” I whisper against him.
With that, I release him, my skin gradually fading back to its normal color.
The two of us begin to walk, making our way across the suspended walkway.
I touch my lips, the taste of Des still sharp on my tongue. “Is this feeling between us ever going to go away?” I ask. “In three thousand years or whatever—”
“Cherub,” Des interrupts, “where are you getting your information from? Fairies don’t live that long.”
“—is this thing we’ve got between us one day going to fade?”
The King of Night stops to take my hand, cupping it between his own. Then he begins to back up, pulling me along with him. “There are certain things in life that fade with time,” he says, his gaze locked on mine. “What we have, Callie, isn’t one of those things. Our bond will only strengthen over the years.”
He pulls me along, the muted sunlight dappling across his skin. “I will always be here for you—when you turn thirty and when you turn three hundred.”
“Don’t forget three thousand,” I say.
“If you defy the odds and live until then, then so will I.” He gives my hand a squeeze, his face getting serious. “I will be with you on your best day and I will be with you on your worst day. I will be there to hold our children—”
I raise an eyebrow at that.
“We’re going to have many children,” he informs me.
“Oh are we now?”
“And I will be there for them all. I will be there when the last of your mortal friends draws their last breath. I will be there through it all, and I will tease you and infuriate you, and lavish you with whatever it is your heart desires because the only thing mine desires is you.”
I give him a shaky smile, trying not to show him just how deeply his words have moved me. “Yay,” I say.
Lamest response ever.
Only rather than cringing, Des laughs and steals a kiss from me. “And now I’ll walk by your side the rest of the way because I finally, finally goaded you into being naughty and using your glamour.”
That was him goading me?
He gives my knuckles a kiss, then releases my hand so he can walk in front of me. The two of us are silent for a ways after that.
At some point, I begin to hear the thud of footfalls—lots and lots of footfalls. In the distance, trees shake violently, and for a moment, I’m back in Mara’s oak forest, watching the trees writhe and split open.
The memory dissolves as the Day soldiers come into view, their golden armor glinting as they storm towards us.
Des steps in front of me, his wings flaring to life behind him. They stretch wide, the razor-sharp talons looking particularly menacing.
The Day soldiers close in on us, their swords brandished.
Jesus. Their motto might as well be: Slash first, ask questions later.
Des crosses his arms. “This is the welcome you give your kingdom’s last remaining ally?” He clicks his tongue. “Janus did inform you that he was expecting a visit from the Kingdom of Night?”
The soldiers’ weapons lower just a fraction, but they’re still eyeing the two of us—particularly me—with suspicion.
“Where is your retinue?” one of them demands.
“Recovering from battle,” Des says. “I thought it wise to not bring more soldiers to your doorstep, seeing as how … warmly your kingdom welcomed the last batch that visited.”
Even here I can catch whiffs of those blazing pyres.
The soldiers begrudgingly lower their weapons the rest of the way, and one begins to speak. “By decree of the King of Day, Lord of Passages, King of Order, Truth Teller, and Bringer of Light, Janus Soleil of the Isles of Light, you are now in this kingdom’s custody until such a time as His Majesty—”
“I don’t think so,” Des cuts in. “You’ll treat us as the royal guests we are, or we leave. It’s as simple as that.” His wings fold behind his back. “Now, you all don’t want to be responsible for derailing these talks, do you?”
When the soldier doesn’t respond, another muscles his way to the front.
“Please, Your Highness, we’re sorry for the misunderstanding. Our good king is eager to meet with you. This way please.”
And with that, we resume our trek.
It takes an annoyingly long time to get to the palace. I mean, the walk is scenic and all, the forest lush with life, the ground sprinkled with glittering pools and rippling creeks, and blah, blah, blah—lots of pretty shit. But it’s still a stupidly long walk, and now that Des and I have five billion guards hemming us in, our conversation is next to non-existent.
To be fair, I have been entertained. Des has spent most of the last hour plaiting one guard’s hair into at least fifty braids (he hasn’t yet noticed) and moving branches into another guard’s way.
“Mother fucking trees,” the fairy mutters under his breath. “I swear they’re moving in my way.”
“Lay off the spirits, Sythus,” another says.
Ahead of us the forest parts, and—
My God.
The palace rises like a golden mountain from the jungle. The Day King’s castle is brilliant, blinding gold. Just as staggering is the waterfall that cuts straight through it, plunging into a basin that’s hidden by scores of other buildings that cluster around the palace.
“Wow,” I breathe.
One of the soldiers smiles at me. “Welcome to Avalon.”
Chapter 15
For all the Day Kingdom’s opulence, Avalon is a ghost town. The city streets are all but abandoned, though there’s still the lingering, unholy scent of dark magic. But there are no bodies and no blood—the unpleasantries of battle have been moved to the outskirts of the island.
Even when we enter the castle proper seems abandoned, our footsteps echoing in the cavernous space.
I glance around, looking for servants, aides, nobles, soldiers—anyone—but we’re seemingly alone.
The group of us enter a grand ballroom, th
e air touched with the lingering smell of blood and burnt magic. I glance up just as a shadow leaps from the golden bannister high above us, swooping down in front of me and Des.
The fairy lands hard, a fist to the ground. The wings at his back are unfurled, his white feathers tinged with gold. He looks the angel to Des’s devil.
It’s only once he lifts his head that I realize I’m staring into the face of Janus Soleil, the King of Day.
His hair shimmers and his bright blue eyes shine like topaz. It would be easy to confuse the Day King for an angel. He is everything the paintings have made angels out to be.
His pointed ears be the only tell that he’s something else entirely. Well, that and the hard, cunning gleam in his eyes.
Janus doesn’t have blood on him, but I would stake money that he killed dozens of those burning soldiers.
The Day King’s expression eases. “Desmond Flynn, I’ve been eagerly awaiting your arrival.” His eyes move to me. “Callypso,” he says, his eyes guarded as he nods at me, “good to see you again.”
His cool reception reminds me that not so long ago I accused him of kidnapping me.
Janus had a twin, a twin who died. The first time you met him, you were really meeting me.
It was the Thief who’d captured me after all, the Thief who wore the face of Julios, when he snatched me from Des’s backyard.
The Green Man had been dead when the Thief wore his body. Julios had been dead when the Thief wore his body. And that red-headed soldier, the one I interviewed, she had mentioned being lured away by her dead brother.
Holy shit.
I sway a little as a pattern begins to form.
“Callie.” Des’s voice cuts through the screaming in my head.
My eyes move to him.
“What is it?” he asks softly.
My eyes move from his to Janus’s. “The Thief of Souls can wear the faces of the dead.”
The three of us find a secluded place to talk—correction, more secluded. Honestly, the whole thing seems unnecessary. There’s no one left in the palace to eavesdrop.
Dark Harmony (The Bargainer Book 3) Page 11
