The Keeper's Flame (A Pandoran Novel, #2)

by Barbara Kloss

  Vera stood, arms folded over her chest, looking like she might set us both on fire, and then she turned and stormed out of the tree.

  Alex said something beneath his breath, unwound himself from me and ran after her.

  I gasped for air, trying to recover. My heart pounded in my chest, and my lips felt swollen and raw. The taste of him still lingered on my tongue, and I wanted him to come back. I wanted him to come back and kiss me like that again.

  I heard Alex’s and Vera’s voices—angry voices—and they weren’t too far from the tree. Vera’s fury burned even from where she stood, and her voice crackled the air.

  I wanted to know what they were saying almost as badly as I didn’t.

  After what seemed like forever, Vera reentered the tree. The air around her seemed to blur with hot steam. She crossed the room without so much as a glance in my general direction and, with one swift kick, she took out the fire.

  “Get your pack,” she spat and left before I could say a word.

  Okay.

  I grabbed my pack, searched for my gloves, but after a few moments of searching, I shoved my bare hands in my cloak and stepped out of the tree. The shadows had turned grey as the day began to rise. Morning.

  Alex stood near the entrance. His features were hard and his eyes narrowed as he stared absently at the trees. Vera stood a few yards away, her back to us like she was pretending we didn’t exist.

  Without another word, Vera started walking away. Alex jerked his sword from the snow and nodded at me with heavy eyes. “Go ahead.” His voice was low and even. “I’ll keep to the rear.”

  I searched his face, waiting for something more, but he only pulled his sword from its sheath and stabbed the tip of it in the snow.

  What had just happened?

  I suddenly wasn’t so happy about him kissing me anymore.

  Hours had passed—it had to be mid-morning by now—and still, Alex remained silent and Vera all but melted the snow she walked upon. At one point, I’d even tried walking up to her to ask her how she was feeling. I might as well have asked one of the trees. I probably would’ve gotten more of a reaction.

  She hacked at everything in her path, which, considering our environment, left the air and snow as her only victims.

  It was obvious she was angry about Alex and me kissing, and I couldn’t blame her. If I had woken up to the same sight, I couldn’t say that I would’ve behaved half as well. Knowing me, I probably would’ve flung a string of insults that I’d have to apologize for later.

  No, I understood her anger. But Alex’s? He moved so quietly behind me, at times I’d forgotten he was there, and every time I looked, he wouldn’t meet my gaze. His eyes were fixed somewhere else—the trees, the sky—anywhere but my eyes.

  It might have helped if I could have some indication of how he felt, but his emotions remained cold and empty as though they didn’t exist.

  Why did he kiss me, then? Did he think it was okay to play with my emotions like that?

  Vera stopped. “Dead end,” she said flatly.

  I stopped beside her, on the edge of a vast icy canyon with a river of blue ice snaking far below.

  “Now what?” I asked.

  Vera tilted her head, slightly. “Feel free to jump.”

  She wasn’t joking.

  Alex stopped behind us, his cheeks pink as a small cloud of warm air rose from his lips. He looked around until at last, his eyes settled on me. “You have the directional?”

  I reached in my pocket, pulled it out, and clicked it open. This time, the arrow wasn’t spinning. In fact, it hovered over something shaped just like a heart, pointing straight at Alex.

  He stared at the device with a spark of amusement in his green eyes. “You need to concentrate on the stone.”

  I clenched my teeth as Vera muttered something beside me, threw her arms down, and trudged away. Alex looked after her with a frown.

  Unity stone, unity stone, unity stone…

  At first, the arrow did nothing, but as I watched, the round plate holding the symbols began trembling and started to turn. Round and round they went, the arrow spinning oppositely, undecided on where to plant itself, until it finally stopped on something shaped like an orb, pointing in the direction opposite Vera.

  Alex moved right beside me, glancing at the directional, but the moment his arm brushed against mine, the arrows moved back to their prior position. Alex.

  I decided I didn’t like the directional, either.

  He hadn’t noticed, however, because he was looking after Vera. “West!” he called after her.

  She walked past us, features hard.

  I closed the directional and Alex nodded for me to go ahead, but this time he kept pace beside me. He didn’t say a word, though, just walked with that quiet confidence only he possessed. His sword hung naturally at his side, his black cape fluttering gracefully behind him—a stark contrast to the winter all around. As though the world belonged to him and he was master of it.

  We were winding around a boulder when he grabbed my hand lightly in his, and stopped. Vera kept walking ahead, unaware.

  “Daria, I’m sorry about earlier,” he said in a deep whisper.

  I might’ve thought he was referring to kissing me, but his eyes were too soft and rich for that. “What happened?” I asked.

  He stepped closer, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “Well, Vera’s having a difficult time with this,” he squeezed my hand tight and didn’t let go, “and she was going to go off on her own. I all but forced her to stay because it’s not safe for her to be alone right now—not here and certainly not in the state she’s in.”

  “I thought you two were just friends.” I arched a brow.

  “We are,” he sighed, playing with my hair. “I’d suspected it might be slightly more for her, but I had no idea. I’m just sorry you were caught in the middle of it. I haven’t been ignoring you on purpose…I just think that we”—butterflies filled my stomach when he said “we”—“should give her some space and time in order to deal with it. She usually manages her anger with violence, but in this case I’m afraid you would be the target.” A grin played at his mouth as he trailed his fingers lightly along my jaw, his gaze fastened on my lips.

  I stood on my tiptoes, closing the distance and breathing lightly on his mouth. “You don’t think I can handle myself?”

  I felt him smile on my lips as he wrapped an arm around me, holding me close. “I know you can handle yourself,” he said softly. “I’m just trying to handle this as peacefully as possible.”

  He kissed me, slowly and tenderly, but he drew back after what felt like a millisecond. He saw my frustration and smiled, showing his beautiful, white teeth.

  And this smile was meant for me.

  My heart leapt into my throat and I started sweating.

  “We should keep moving,” he said, squeezing my hand before letting go.

  I knew he was right. I highly doubted Vera would stop and wait for us. “Fine,” I grumbled at last, at which he laughed, and then I started walking forward.

  He continued keeping pace beside me, his face bearing nothing but pure amusement.

  Vera wasn’t too far away. I could just see her shadow and white-blonde hair slipping through the trees.

  “Alex?” I asked.

  He tilted his head toward me, his arm brushing against mine.

  “Why did you change your mind?” I asked.

  He was quiet a moment. “It’s still dangerous for us and you already know that your grandfather would never allow it, but—” He paused, turning to face me. “I am so tired of being away from you.” He touched my chin with his fingertips, tilting it toward him, and he kissed me lightly. When he pulled back, his eyes were so warm and so green, I wouldn’t have been able to pull myself away if he hadn’t moved.

  We kept walking, one of his hands holding mine, his other carrying his sword. So much had changed so quickly, and I wasn’t sure what it all meant. Was he really going to stay
? And if he did, how would I be able to see him? What about his duty to Lord Tosca? I was too afraid to ask that question—especially after everything he’d just said. He had been right about my grandfather, but maybe it could change. Maybe if I somehow won my freedom…

  I hadn’t wanted my freedom any more than I did in that moment.

  Still, after everything Alex had said and done, I couldn’t get a feel for him. His emotions remained an icy void.

  “Why can’t I sense your emotions?” I asked as we walked.

  Alex was quiet a moment, and at last released my hand and fidgeted with something around his neck. He pulled a delicate silver chain over his head, and from it hung a small, black stone that looked like onyx but was about half the size of my thumbnail.

  “Take it,” he said, holding it toward me.

  I took it from his hands; it was ice-cold. “What is it?”

  “Tran gave it to me that night we stayed at his house.”

  So many months ago?

  “It’s one of a kind, from the Icelands,” he continued. “Tran said he won it in a bet with a Nord and, from what he said, the Nord was furious.”

  “What does the stone do?” I asked.

  “It blocks others from sensing your magic.”

  There was a soft thud up ahead as Vera leapt from a small boulder into the snow.

  “It blocked me from sensing you,” I said.

  He nodded, squinting at the terrain ahead. “I couldn’t have anyone knowing it was me, and I knew you would find out the truth immediately.” He paused to move a low branch from my path. “When Tran gave me the stone, I never intended to have a use for it, but once I’d decided to, well…you know the rest.”

  I tried to feel him, reaching out with my senses, but there was nothing.

  Alex grinned. “I’ve been wearing that for a while. It’ll take more than a few minutes to wear off. And, just so you know, ever since I’ve worn it, I haven’t been able to sense you, either.” Unease suddenly clouded his features and he halted mid-stride. He stared ahead at Vera, who had stopped walking and was crouched on the ground. “What is it?” he asked her.

  Vera didn’t respond—she didn’t so much as glance up—and Alex sprinted toward her with me right behind him.

  I saw what had made Vera stop.

  Steerforth. He was lying in the snow, his lids half open as each breath shuddered, and the snow around him was splattered in blood.

  Chapter 22

  The Shadowguard

  Alex crouched beside Steerforth. “Steerforth, what happened?”

  Steerforth’s lids fluttered and he coughed; a thick drop of blood oozed from the corner of his lips and slid down his chin. Alex wiped it clear as Vera pulled back Steerforth’s cloak. There was a dark red patch over his left breast, slowly seeping through the rest of his shirt. Vera and Alex exchanged a glance, and Vera placed her hands over the wound and shut her eyes.

  “Who did this to you?” Alex asked through clenched teeth.

  Steerforth mumbled something and coughed more blood. It made me nauseated, seeing him like this, feeling the burning sensation coursing through his body.

  Vera sat back on her heels, her lips pursed. “I can’t.” She extended her palm; in it was a small black dart.

  Alex’s eyes narrowed at the dart and he flexed his jaw.

  The wind stirred and the shadows around us menaced with something dark and deadly. The air pulsed and I dropped. Something whizzed past, grazing my cloak, landing in the snow beside me: a black dart exactly like the one Vera had pulled from Steerforth. The snow around it sizzled and melted, and the dart disappeared. I rolled to my feet as the air pulsed again.

  “Move!” Alex yelled.

  Darts shot like bullets from the trees.

  Alex extended his hand as he dropped. The air shuddered with power as a semi-transparent shield appeared, stretching for the darts. But rather than stop them as Alex had intended, the darts slipped through the hazy arc, narrowly missing him.

  Steerforth started convulsing, screaming out in agony. The air pulsed again, and I glanced back at the trees.

  “Daria, move!” shouted Alex.

  The darts hummed as they shot through the air, straight for me.

  But as I watched them, the darts did something strange. They moved slower and slower, until each tiny black dart was suspended in mid-air.

  A strong gust of wind whipped around me, swirling faster and faster. In a flash, time returned to normal, and the wind hit the darts and tossed them aside.

  Alex’s hard gaze met mine, and a man dressed all in black materialized behind him. Alex deflected the blow at the last second; their swords met with a resounding clang as more men materialized out of the shadows. One, two, three…I counted all the way to eight when Alex screamed at me.

  A bolt of energy powered toward me, and I dodged at the last second. It whirred over my head as one of the men ran at me with black blades. I ducked and spun, kicking one sword then the other from his hands and thrusting my palm hard in his nose, knocking him back, just as another one attacked me from behind.

  He wrapped thick arms around my neck, squeezing tight as I choked and wriggled, struggling to free myself. Alex noticed and started to run for me, but another man jumped in his path—where were they coming from?—the two of them caught in a blurred battle of swords and magic.

  I bit down hard on my attacker’s arm, and for a split second his grip loosened, just enough for me to writhe free. He reached for me again but I dove, sliding the dagger free that was strapped to his boot and jamming it into his thigh.

  He cried out as I yanked it free and I jumped back as he staggered forward. Vera grunted somewhere behind me. She was poised between two men, whirling and planting a foot in the face of one while plunging a sword into the heart of the other with a sickening smack, but he didn’t drop like I’d expected.

  Instead, he shattered as though he was made of glass, transforming into a cloud of millions of tiny black shards, and he was gone.

  Vera stood, dumbfounded, and didn’t see the shadow creeping up behind her.

  I threw my dagger, hard.

  It split through the air with the speed of a bullet, sinking in the shoulder of the man behind her. Surprised, Vera spun around and kicked the staggering man hard in the chest. As he fell back, she jerked my dagger free and slit his throat; he shattered into black glass and disappeared.

  What are these things?

  Vera glanced back at me, eyes fierce, and tossed my dagger back to me before jumping into battle with another.

  I caught the hilt of my dagger and snapped my head around to Alex. It was just him against four, but he moved fast and strong, with grace and fluidity. He flung an invisible wall of energy at one. The man flew through the air as Alex rammed the heads of two into each other before engaging in a fierce sword-fighting match with the fourth. He stabbed his sword through the man’s abdomen; the man exploded into shards of glass.

  Alex glanced up at me, eyes wide. “Look out!”

  I spun just in time to see a sword bearing down on me.

  Right before contact, there was a dull thud and my attacker froze. His sword slipped from his hands and landed in the snow, and he slumped to the ground facedown. The end of an arrow protruded from his back.

  There was a sharp crack, like ice being broken, and the man exploded into black shards, dissolving into the snow.

  Ehren, the champion from the Arborenne, stood between the trees with his bow raised, a few hundred yards away. Within seconds, he’d strung another arrow, and no sooner had the string snapped than air whizzed past my face and a soft cry sounded behind me.

  Another man exploded in black, right over the spot where the first had fallen. Ehren lowered his bow and ran towards us, his hair a white sheet behind him.

  “Is that all of them?” Vera scowled, still clutching her sword before her.

  I looked around, breathing hard, and wiped the sweat from my brow. They were gone. The snow was dirtied
but there were no bodies.

  “Who were they?” I asked.

  Alex looked around. “Shadowguard,” he said through clenched teeth.

  Vera frowned and shoved her blade back in her belt. “Done fighting already?” She actually sounded disappointed.

  Ehren stared up at the sky as though he didn’t trust it. “I doubt they expected the four of us to be working together.” He raised a pale brow.

  Alex stabbed the tip of his sword into the snow so that it could stand and wiped away the hair that was stuck to his forehead. “But why are they here?”

  “I’m not certain,” Ehren mused, moving his violet eyes to me, studying me as though I were an artifact.

  Vera picked up one of the fallen black swords from the snow and shoved it in her belt.

  “I was ahead of Steerforth when I heard the attack,” Ehren continued, moving his unsettling gaze to Alex, “but by the time I arrived they’d vanished, and there was nothing I could do for him.”

  Steerforth.

  I searched the snow for him. His body lay completely still, right at the base of a tree. I ran to his side. His lids rested half open over dulled, empty eyes, and his skin was ashen and cold. He was dead. His body was there, but Steerforth, the young boy that had winked and smiled with all the happy vanity in the world, had gone. So much vitality—gone. And why? In just one moment, everything he’d fought for, everything he was and had been was taken away and cast into life’s infinite vault of memories. All because of a stupid game for power.

  My throat tightened and anger bubbled deep inside of me. I hated this world.

  Alex stood over my shoulder, gazing down at Steerforth. His eyes moved to mine, weighted and strained.

  “We can’t just leave him here,” I said.

  “We can’t take him.” Alex’s voice was quiet.

  Vera appeared beside Alex; her eyes held something savage in them.

  I turned back to Steerforth, looking around for his pack, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. The shadowguard—they must’ve taken it.

  I slipped mine off.

  Alex put a hand on my shoulder. “What are you doing?”