Angel Blessed (Angel Caste Book 5)

by K S Nikakis

  She craved his mouth but he held her close as his hands slid under her jacket and up her spine, circling the skin over her wing-roots and sending exquisite pulses of heat deep into her body. She wondered whether he sensed her wings’ sensitivity to touch or whether the caress had been accidental. Then he swung her into his arms, ducked back into the maark, and deposited her on his sleep-cover.

  He lay beside her, and his lips brushed hers, moved to her ear lobes again, then left an exquisite trail across her cheek while he expertly flicked open the buttons of her jacket, unknotted her shirt and eased both off. She was naked to the waist now, like him, and he paused to look down. ‘You are perfection,’ he murmured.

  Viv caught his face to hers, hungry for his mouth, and as the kiss deepened, clung to him, wanting him then and there. She tugged at his trousers and he smiled, as he slid her out of hers.

  ‘I want you now,’ she cried in frustration.

  ‘The you shall have me now,’ he said softly, removed the rest of his clothing, and entered her. The release was exquisite and the darkness inside ebbed, but he’d put her needs before his, like Sehereden had.

  ‘You didn’t …’ she stopped, not knowing the term for male satisfaction.

  ‘I didn’t what?’ he asked, his playful tone telling her he knew exactly what she meant. His kisses prevented further speech, and her skin fired under his touch again till her need of him was unbearable, and this time he ensured her ecstatic rush of pleasure was matched by his own.

  Chapter 31

  He didn’t sleep afterwards but nor did he speak. The men she’d been with would roll over after sex and ignore her, and Sehereden, for all his considerateness as a lover, had quit the bed afterwards too. There had been no time to simply be with Thris either, not without Ky’s glare.

  Whatya expect, Vivi? A heart to heart with the man who’s hated you since day one? The Syld’s fingers played through her curls as she lay in the crook of his shoulder, but he stared at the maark’s ceiling, and she felt increasingly unsure about him. No man refused sex, she reminded herself, and that’s exactly what she’d offered. Her thoughts swung to his deal with Ithreya. If getting Sehereden’s child meant her staying at the Scinta-ril, the Syld’s new civility was understandable. He might see satisfying her sexual needs as an incentive for her to stay too, but she wanted more than that.

  She extricated herself and went back to her own sleep-cover. He watched her but still didn’t speak, and she flipped the cover over herself and curled up facing the maark wall. She might get her happily-ever-after with Poss, but she wondered if it were going to be enough.

  The Syld was at the fire when she emerged the next morning, despite it still being dark. He’d heated urrut-sa, and she sipped it as he toasted retsen. There was no softness in his face, so Viv assumed last night’s activities weren’t to be mentioned. Nothing new in that, she concluded cynically.

  ‘Long route in the light to the Scinta-ril, or shorter route in the dark?’ he asked.

  ‘Neither, if I can find a rift.’

  ‘I thought it was hard to tell where they went.’

  ‘Not as hard as I led the Astraali to believe, nor as hard since my time with the Iahhel. The Wheel has rifts that exit within the fold. It would save time to use one.’

  ‘Not if we end up somewhere else.’

  ‘I won’t enter a rift I’m not sure of. Besides, I’m sick of wondering if there’s a knifeman behind every tree.’

  ‘You doubt my ability to protect you?’

  ‘I thought you’d like to be back at the Scinta-ril sooner rather than later,’ said Viv, realising she’d blundered into a sensitive area. ‘I’d like to get there fast, too. I want to see Poss,’ she added.

  They set off upslope, the Syld accommodating her request to visit the nearby caves, but they hadn’t gone far when she sensed a rift. ‘I’m pretty sure it exits in the Leferen,’ she said. ‘Enda must be smiling on me.’

  ‘Enda and Soaich are gods of this fold. What gods inhabit Moonsun?’

  ‘Various ones.’

  ‘And which do you look to for protection?’

  Jimmy Wright had been a lapsed Catholic but she couldn’t remember Lettie being anything. ‘None. I don’t believe in gods. If there were gods there’d be no rapes or massacres.’ Her throat tightened and she stared away into the distance. ‘I’m taking this rift, Syld. I want to revisit the Lefer.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘One of them was kind to me.’ His face still showed nothing and she wondered how long it had taken him to learn how to hide his feelings so completely. ‘You don’t need to come. I’m used to travelling alone. We could meet at the sett.’

  ‘We travel together.’

  ‘Then it’s the rift,’ snapped Viv, wishing she had the skill to hide her feelings too. ‘You don’t have any sensation of movement when you’re transiting, but don’t worry if I fall on my face at the other end. It’s my usual exit.’

  ‘I won’t let you fall.’

  And he didn’t, which was pretty skilful given it was his first transit. The rift terminated where Viv had first entered The Wheel, and it was still before dawn, which meant her timing was good too.

  ‘The Lefer bring their dead here,’ the Syld said, his gaze on the pods. ‘It’s a work of many days to weave the pods with their beaks, but they don’t seem to care they fall to the forest floor and maragh consume their contents.’

  It made sense the rift was here then, thought Viv, given what Kald had said about the dead keeping rifts open. ‘I’d like to get off the ground. I got chased by a maragh last time and climbed that tree. It was where I met the blue-crested Lefer, so maybe it will come back.’

  He nodded. ‘You go first in case you slip.’

  She hadn’t slipped last time, and she’d been concussed and pursued by a pig-bear, but she didn’t want an argument. She climbed steadily, stopping at a broad branch, and settling with her back against the bole. ‘I’m not going higher,’ she said. ‘The trees are brittle.’

  He nodded. ‘They give the Lefer some protection from wood-cutters and hunters,’ he said, as he settled on a branch beside her. ‘What makes you think that particular Lefer will be here?’

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘How long do you want to wait?’ He was keen to get to the Scinta-ril, which was understandable, but if Viv had been alone, she’d have lingered a couple of days.

  ‘I’d like to hear the dawn chorus again. It’s when the Lefer sing at sunrise,’ she added, in response to his blank look. ‘Moonsun’s birds sing the same and if you’re in the mountains, it’s the most beautiful sound in the world. My mother used to take me, very early in the morning, and we’d sit and listen, even if it rained.’ She swallowed several times. ‘The Wheel’s mountains, vals, and rils are very similar.’

  ‘You’ll like my sett then. It’s high on the Scinta-ril.’

  ‘I saw it. But it was burned and I was running.’ She stopped, as her throat closed over again. For God’s sake, Vivi, get a grip.

  ‘It’s been rebuilt and you’re no longer running.’

  ‘I—’ she began, but at that moment, an explosion of birdsong heralded the dawn, and neither of them spoke as the bells and drumbeats of birdcalls built to a crescendo and then settled into a gentler wash of chirrups and fluting calls. And then, right on cue, a blue-crested Lefer crashed through the canopy and settled on the branch above.

  ‘Is that the one?’ asked the Syld softly, drawing his knife as the Lefer hopped closer.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ whispered Viv, ‘but he’ll do.’ The Lefer chittered softly and cocked his head.

  ‘He wants your hair. They like bright things.’

  ‘I know, but I’m gifting him something better.’ She pulled the Waradi tryst-bracelet from her pocket, turned it so it caught the light, and tossed it to him. The Lefer snatched it from mid-air, and flapped away, cawing in triumph. ‘We can go now,’ she said, and climbed down.

  ‘Now all we need is another rift,�
�� the Syld said, when they reached the forest floor.

  ‘Bingo!’ said Viv, and stopped. ‘We can use the same one, although technically it’s not the same one, given it opens on the Scinta-ril.’

  ‘But it came from Astraal.’

  ‘The one that was here previously did,’ agreed Viv,

  His brows drew in suspicion. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’

  ‘Rifts don’t, but I want to transit before it closes. Enda seems to favor us, and it’s best to go before Soaich arrives.’

  ‘You don’t believe in gods.’

  ‘I might be persuaded if they treat me nicely,’ said Viv, and stepped into the rift.

  They exited beside a mountain stream but not into the clear skies they’d left. Blue-black clouds boiled and the wind was sharp-edged. ‘The Scinta-ril,’ said the Syld in relief. ‘You’ve done well.’

  ‘Thank Enda, not me.’

  ‘But not Soaich for the storm he’s gifted us. We’re a half day’s climb from the sett, but we’ll head nightwise to the Soril Forests. It’s safer if Soaich sends his Bolts.’

  Viv followed him up the bank, keeping her head down as the wind whipped her hair around her face. He didn’t speak, which was nothing new, but she’d have liked to know how far the forests were.

  He led her over a rise into a gentle depression and as the temperature dropped, Viv glanced at the sky nervously. ‘Not far now,’ he said, without turning. He was adept at picking up her thoughts and if they’d been mounted, she’d have blamed the horses. They crossed another small ridge and saw trees at the bottom.

  ‘The Soril are favoured by arlings and senglings,’ he said, as they made their way in. ‘But they won’t be here in this weather.’ It was warmer in the tree’s shelter but branches clashed and twigs rained to the forest floor.

  ‘The camp site’s ahead,’ he clipped out.

  Viv blinked at his abrupt change of tone but could tell nothing from the back of his head. ‘You’ve been here before?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Great; nothing like a one-word answer to get to the nub of a problem. Well, Vivi, have a guess. ‘With Sehereden?’

  ‘Yes.’

  She jumped at a crack like rifle-fire and the canopy flashed blue. ‘Run!’ he ordered. He grabbed her hand and they sprinted through the trees, down gullies, and up stony rises until he slewed to a stop at a stand of enormous trees, slid between them, and pulled her down beside him. ‘Maiwins,’ he panted. ‘They give good shelter but nothing’s sure when Soaich hurls his Bolts. If one strikes you, you’re dead.’

  ‘One did strike me, and I’m not dead,’ said Viv, as she huddled against the maiwin’s massive trunk. The Syld looked at her sharply. ‘I was with Sehereden and we got caught in a storm after we left Amethen’s sett. Sehereden found shelter but I stayed in the open. I’d been in a fold where there’d been coloured stars and thought the Bolts were a pretty variation of them.’ There was another crack and blue flash and Viv flinched.

  ‘What did he do?’

  ‘Forced air into my lungs for most the night, and gave me his amé.’ She half smiled. ‘He saved me.’

  ‘He saved me too,’ said the Syld quietly, ‘just by being here.’

  The burst of heat would have been a comfort, given the chilly wind, had it not stemmed from his suffering. ‘Ataghan—’

  ‘Maiwins will be insufficient shelter when the rain starts,’ he cut in. ‘Stay where you are while I pitch the maark.’

  ‘I don’t mind getting wet. It’s too dangerous for—’

  ‘Stay!’ he ordered, and heaved off his pack.

  ‘I’m not a bloody dog, Syld,’ she muttered, under her breath. She settled on her backside and hugged her knees while he found some flatter land, jammed the struts into the ground and fastened the oiled cloth over them. Not a moment too soon, as it turned out.

  ‘Inside,’ he ordered, as a roar heralded the downpour. It was an order Viv was happier to obey, but she still rankled. He pulled the sleep-covers from his pack, and then some food. ‘Bolts can linger after storms. We’ll stay here until tomorrow.’

  She nodded her thanks for the food he passed her but didn’t speak, and he regarded her. ‘You’re angry, Ilris. Why?’

  ‘I’m not one of your men to be ordered about.’

  ‘When you join my sett, you’ll be under my authority, as are all who live there.’

  ‘If I join your sett.’

  Viv felt his tension ratchet up. ‘I understood that you wanted to be with your lein,’ he said tersely. ‘I also understood that you’d ended your search for your mother. Was I wrong?’

  ‘No, but it doesn’t mean I’m putting myself in any man’s power, including yours.’

  His eyes bored into hers and she looked away. If it hadn’t been deluging down she’d have made her escape, and she still might, except he’d prevent it. The excuse would be Soaich’s Bolts but the real reason was his need to control.

  ‘Do they lein-tryst in Moonsun?’ he asked abruptly.

  ‘They call it marriage,’ said Viv, sneeringly. ‘It’s all about respect and only coupling with each other. My mother married Jimmy Wright and he beat her almost every night. And if you’re a woman in Moonsun and you’re murdered, it’ll most likely be the man you married. Even where there’s no violence, there’s lying and cheating. Not much different to here, I suppose, given Caibel’s mother is lein-trysted to someone else.’

  ‘Is that why you didn’t lein-tryst with Sehereden? Because you didn’t trust him?’

  ‘I couldn’t be honest with Sehereden about what I really was, and he believed I’d have a child with him.’ She stared at the rain sheeting down at the maark’s entrance. ‘Moonsun’s surgeons are more skilled than those here, Syld. I won’t be having a child with anyone.’ She chewed her lip. ‘And we didn’t have enough time together. Something always went wrong like Esh-telin and Stelin Ridge.

  ‘Did you trust him?’ The question of trust was obviously important to the Syld, given he harked back to it.

  ‘Yes. I trusted Sehereden.’

  ‘And do you trust me?’

  Shit! She felt like throwing the question back in his face. And do you trust me, Syld? And her stinking angel blood gave her no room to dissemble. She stared at the rain, searching for inspiration, and found none.

  ‘Ilris?’

  ‘No. I don’t trust you.’

  Chapter 32

  The silence stretched, made worse by the maark’s confinement. There was nothing she could say to soften her words and she wished she’d come up with a more obscure, more acceptable, answer. She glanced sideways at him, relieved his attention was on the rain.

  ‘I understand why,’ he said evenly, ‘but it goes back further than me, doesn’t it?’

  Viv stared at him confusion. ‘What does?’

  ‘The betrayal.’ Viv swallowed dryly and he turned, his gaze measuring. ‘Your mother abandoned you; your choose-father beat you; your lover Rim abused you, as did Thrisdane, who chose transcendence over your love. Sehereden was different, but he left too, taken by death, while I …’ He paused. ‘I doubt even Rim’s excesses surpassed mine.’

  ‘How do you know these things?’ she whispered.

  ‘From what you told Fariye, and Sehereden, and from what you didn’t tell them; and from what you’ve told me and revealed in your delirium, when Soaich had you in his claws. And I know what I’ve inflicted on you, although not the full depth of its damage—but I can guess.’

  Viv pushed a shaking hand through her hair. The Syld still regarded her, as if he awaited her judgement or forgiveness, but she could offer neither. Her time in Erath seemed dream-like now, but Syatha’s revelation of Viv’s power to choose remained clear. Every instinct told her to walk away, to endure the rain and risk the Bolts, but she stayed where she was.

  ‘I think my mother’s abandonment was accidental,’ she said slowly. ‘When I first set out with Thris to find her, I imagined her as I’d last seen her, and I imagined being safel
y back in her arms. It’s taken me a long time to realise she’s gone beyond my reach. I could spend the rest of my very long life chasing her memory through the folds, but that’s all it would ever be.

  ‘Or I could stay here with Poss, and have something real in my arms, something loving and precious. And as for you … I know your pain, Syld. Not for Sehereden, because I’ve never lost a lein, but the pain deeper inside, where things are in pieces that should be whole.’

  She shuffled over to his side. ‘You have a choice, Ataghan.’ His face was a mask and she gently turned it to hers. ‘You have a choice.’

  His mouth came to hers with shocking suddenness, and as his arms came around her, he ignited a passion in her that matched his own. There was no slow love-making, just a hunger that fired and was sated, fired and was sated, until they rested at last, tangled naked in each other’s arms.

  The rain had slowed to a pitter on the maark’s roof but the light had ebbed. ‘About time Soaich left us in peace,’ she murmured. ‘Maybe we should go on.’

  ‘And maybe we should stay here.’

  She propped on her elbow. ‘Is that an order, Syld?’ she asked ironically.

  ‘It’s a suggestion, as we’ve not yet reached the sett.’ His expression was gentle, as it was when he looked at Fariye, and she savoured it, as she kissed him lightly on the lips.

  ‘Ilris.’ He murmured the word with such tenderness it pierced her heart. He’d soon be back to his usual, closed-off self, but she was hungry for the moment to last. It didn’t, he sat up and reached for his clothes. ‘I’ll find some dry fuel and set a fire. Then we’ll eat. It’s a half day’s journey tomorrow, but we’ll leave at first light. I need to be back in my sett.’