“Yea, and you’re not supposed to injure me either!”
“I didn’t.”
Suri grit her teeth. He was the worst. “Let’s take a break,” she said, momentarily letting go of her grip on the sword to stretch her hand. It wasn’t meant to stay clenched like that for ten hours straight. She’d long ago stopped caring about how sweaty she and her clothes got, or how tired she felt. That was a given when you get into serious training. But she needed to rest. She was warily backing away to the edge of the courtyard, where she could rest against one of the cool, marble walls, when Raja took two menacing steps in her direction.
“Oh, come on. There is such a thing as over-training, you know.”
“We’re not even close to that,” Raja replied.
“I’m tired, ok? I can’t even hold my sword.”
Raja shook his head. “You’re not human anymore. You need to push yourself.”
“‘It’s the fastest way to unlock my fae abilities,’” Suri finished, quoting what Vestrix had told her.
Raja stared at her with a blank expression. “So why are you complaining?”
Suri bowed her head and shut her eyes tight. Don’t use your death magic. Just because he’s an arrogant twat doesn’t mean you can kill him. She could take him in a battle of spells. She was sure of it. But battle magic was tomorrow’s training, and it was with Vestrix. Raja was swords.
“I’m. Not. Complaining.” Suri opened her eyes, stretched her hand for a few seconds, then took up her grip on the sword again. “Show me.” She had to forget about her romance with Raja. In the courtyard, he was her teacher, and nothing else. Problem was, Suri never had the time to seek out Raja in private. Thanks to Vestrix, her schedule was packed full of training and chores. And when she wasn’t doing that, she was eating, sleeping, and reading the big book given to her from aunt Hilder. The Blackwater Family History.
Sorting out what the heck was going on between her and Raja was low on the list of priorities. Suri realized that. But it didn’t help that she had to see him every day in the Black Gauntlet headquarters, train with him, sometimes eat with him, and then have Amber ask her every night, ‘how’s it going with Raja? When am I going to meet him?’
That’s what I get for not having a boyfriend in…pretty much ever. I’ve become smitten with the first guy to kiss me. Stupid.
Raja studied Suri for a second to make sure she was paying attention, then moved through the pattern of sword moves at half speed. He was graceful, but Suri could feel the strength behind his sword. Heck, she had felt it. Raja was like flowing water, hard or soft when he wanted to be, never off balance. His footwork was superb.
Suri did her best imitation, turning her hips the way he did, spinning, raising her sword high then cutting low. Turning quickly off her back foot, twisting her body, using the force of momentum to make the strike more powerful. All while keeping straight her wrists and back.
She completed the last moves in the sword dance pattern, stopping with her sword held low in front of her, and knowing that she made at least three mistakes. Her left forearm shook, strained from holding the practice sword for so long.
“Better,” said Raja, regarding her cooly with crossed arms.
Suri took in a deep, shuttering breath and let it out through her nose. She felt light-headed. “This has to be the heaviest practice sword in the world,” she said. It felt like an iron bar. The ones at the Academy had been much lighter.
Raja snorted in amusement. “Maybe I’ll give you a day of training with the Min’Toroth shifter clan. Their swords weigh hundred pounds.”
Suri rolled her eyes. Shifters don’t count, you dolt.
She hefted the sword in her right hand. Her muscles were knotting up, but she was still able to raise it high and steady, trying to judge its weight. It is heavier than normal.
“Filled with lead?” she asked, jokingly.
“Yes.” A flat reply. Impossible to tell if he was being serious.
The flowers were in bloom. White orchids, purple lilacs, and others Suri did not know growing tall in their garden beds against the walls of the courtyard. The sun was low in the sky, and the shadows were growing long. A pair of birds chirped and danced through the air, sometimes catching each other, then spinning away, looping up and off into the sky.
Suri blinked as a drop of sweat ran from her forehead and into her eye. She gulped past a dry throat, looked longingly at the bucket of well water on Raja’s side of the training ground. Back in San Francisco, she had thought that going to the gym twice a week was keeping her in shape. Her body ached, telling her otherwise. An old quote sprang to mind. ‘The more you sweat in times of peace, the less you bleed in war.’
It seemed odd that her neck would hurt from swinging a sword, but it did. She craned it back, stretching it, wishing for a breeze that the courtyard walls never seemed to let in. It was then that Raja attacked her, scoring a blow against the side of her bicep.
“Ah!” Suri yelped. She raised her sword and dodged back, quick shuffle steps taking her across the floor of the training ground.
Raja did not relent. He was on Suri before she could blink, smashing at her with big, sweeping strikes.
It took all of Suri’s strength to keep her sword from rattling out of her grasp. Until she’d started training with Raja, she’d had no idea that fae were physically stronger than humans. Or maybe the fae at Black Gauntlet were simply in killer shape. Don’t make excuses, Suri thought, as she parried one of Raja’s thrusts. Besides, your half-fae.
Raja pushed forward, shoving Suri back across the training ground. She was running out of room, unable to keep up with Raja’s superior footwork. “Don’t slow down!” he said. “Attack!”
Suri’s muscles wouldn’t let her. Her arms were nearly locked up, paralyzed from too much training. It felt as if they were hardening into pieces of wood.
Her feet were moving too slow, out of synch with the rest of her body. She stumbled, fell to the ground and hit her elbow on the hard stone. Raja lashed out with his training sword, holding it one-handed and keeping his disciplined, military posture as he whacked Suri.
She tried her best to defend herself, blocking the odd strike, but too many got past her guard. The edge of Raja’s sword grazed her jaw, sending her reeling back and tasting a bloody lip. Then Raja stopped and walked away. Leaving Suri a panting, bruised mess.
“Lord Korka will not be so kind,” he said. “He will strip you naked and parade you for all of Lodum to see. Then he will kill you. Slowly, to make an example.”
“Not if you kill me first,” Suri muttered.
Raja’s back was turned. He held the water bucket high in the air, drinking straight from it, letting the water run down his chin and chest.
A warmth began growing in the pit of Suri’s stomach, like an ember kindling into flame. She felt a surge, a chemical passing through her veins and heart. Not adrenaline; that was long gone. She was on her third wind. This was something different.
Suri wanted that water. A tyrant, Raja, was keeping it from her. She lurched to her feet and bounded for Raja’s back, long strides taking her quickly across the courtyard. One strike. If I can just land one strike on the bastard…
She pulled back her sword for a thrust that would knock the bucket from Raja’s grasp—and crashed into him headfirst, as Raja spun around, sword raised to intercept the strike.
They fell into a tangle, rolled off the stone training floor and into a flowerbed. Flattening a group of orchids as they wrestled. The water bucket lay forgotten, fallen on its side, contents draining out onto the ground.
Suri pushed on Raja with her sword to try to pin him, jaw clenched in determination. Raja’s sword was trapped under his body. He used his large hands to grab onto Suri’s sword and fight to keep it off of him. A few seconds of straining left them at a standstill, the sword five inches above Raja’s chest. They stared into each other’s eyes. A drop of sweat fell from Suri’s forehead into Raja’s golden hair.
She rolled herself off from on top and lay on her back, on the cool dirt of the garden. She wasn’t as tired as she had been a moment before, but still she breathed hard, taking in a good fifteen lungfuls of air. Half to get her breath back and half to calm down, before she rose to a sitting position and sat cross-legged.
Raja did his best to wash the dirt from his pants, using the little water that was left in the bucket. He gave Suri a long stare. “Well done, Ms Blackwater,” he said. “Training is done for today.” And with that he left, taking the door that led to the showers inside the main building.
When he was gone, Suri smashed her training sword against the courtyard wall. “Damnit,” she muttered. Another day with Raja, wasted. Another day with nothing resolved. He would be gone from the showers by the time Suri got there. Raja was quick to clean up, at least when Suri was around.
She had to accept the fact that Raja had changed his mind. He clearly didn’t see her as anything more than a pupil. As she sat in the flowers, Suri realized that she had been hoping for Raja to kiss her during their tussle. Isn’t that what happens in the movies?
She plucked a flower. Gazed at it with blank exhaustion. Not noticing a large raven jump from atop one of the courtyard walls and take flight. The raven extended its long wings, soaring away from the Black Gauntlet headquarters and out over the city of Lodum.
5
Augustus Maximilian Hyde stood on the balcony outside his room. He wore a black dress shirt made of silk, with a stiff, upturned collar. Around his neck was an enchanted blood-red scarf. He took a sip from his goblet, pleased that the servant had poured his favorite kind of blood: straight from the heart of a gifted human female. Yet he wore a frown. At thirty-five years, he was young for a fae vampire, and he did not have the simmering patience of his father. It had taken all of his willpower not to kill the stupid human girl back at the Academy and try to steal the seed. Only the knowledge of his father’s harsh punishment, should he have failed, made him take the deceptive course.
It had been unfortunate that the Master Shifter, the old crone, had known Augustus. He swirled the blood in his goblet and looked out over the darkening sky. It’s only a matter of time until the Masters put two-and-two together. Eventually they will track her down.
Perhaps his patience had been a mistake. Now he was far from the behelit, and Mona was in the thrall of his father. Augustus’s role was done, and he could already feel himself being pushed aside. In his family, the weak die and the strong prevail. If father decides that Mona would be a better heir…
The young vampire shook his head. He had proven himself many times. Besides, it was obvious that his father as only using the girl. He would discard her after he got what he wanted, just as he did with everyone who couldn’t play the game at his level. But Augustus had to stay one step ahead. Consider the possibilities, as unlikely as they might seem. It is the unexpected blade that is most likely to kill, after all. The time may come when I have to dispose of her, he thought. Or turn her against him. It was a time of great upheaval, in both Faerie and on Earth. The balance of power was shifting. With the Faerie King gone, all the great fae Lords were poised to fill the vacuum. There was great fortune to be had, for those with the skill to see it.
A large raven landed on the balcony next to Augustus’s hand. It transformed into a women dressed in a feathered cloak. Her face was hidden inside the hood, a curtain of long, black feathers covering the opening.
“Lady,” said Augustus. He dipped his chin ever so slightly. The amount befitting Vestrix’s achievements and rank, but not an inch more.
Vestrix stood still as a statue. “Does your father know you called me here?”
Augustus frowned. It was always about his father. What a sour way to start their meeting.
“No, and I ask that we keep it that way.”
“You know that he and I have dealings.”
“I know. I want to know what they are.”
“You waste my time, boy.”
“He is lying to you.” With that, Augustus turned his gaze again to the city. His balcony was far enough above that the ordinary houses and streets, belonging to the rabble, were like toys on the carpet of a playroom. Small and insignificant. Prone to being knocked over and moved around.
The lower classes were disgusting, but they were everywhere. Impossible to ignore in the capital. The view had slightly improved since the destruction of the human district. The vile, human presence had been wiped out, leaving a charred patch in its place. Ready for rebuilding. Rebirth. The city was cleaner now. Augustus could smell it in the air.
“I trust Yonafrew more than I trust you,” said Vestrix. “Let me guess. You wish to usurp your father and take control of the Hyde dynasty. Tell me I’m wrong.”
“My father has another behelit. It belongs to the royal family.” This was not precisely true, but it was close enough that Vestrix could not detect a lie.
The Lady of Arrows was silent for a long moment as she processed the new information. “You have seen it?”
“I helped him acquire it,” Augustus replied, with a smile.
“Then you are a traitor. You are as good as dead.”
“Ah,” said Augustus, “but no one knows outside of our family and a few, close associates. That is, until now.”
The feathers on Vestrix’s hood shifted as she shook her head. “Jansilian will find out. You do not know what you have done.”
“Oh, yes. The ‘Faerie King,’ who is not here. We all know he is attending to greater matters.”
“His family already searches for the behelit. It will not be long until they find it. I’m sure they would pay a considerable sum for the information of its whereabouts.”
It was a great gamble, one that Augustus had been planning for days. He had expected the Lady of Arrows, leader of the Black Gauntlet Guild, to make this threat. Still, he couldn’t stop the fear from crawling through his gut. Traitors to the Faerie Throne were tortured for one hundred years, each day a howling pain. The sentence was double for nobility.
“It has only been missing for days. It passed back and forth between realms many times since then,” Augustus calmly replied. “You know as well as I that Faerie is in turmoil. The balance of power is shifting. Lord Korka—”
“Careful,” said Vestrix. “Do not speak that name lightly.”
“Lord Korka must be defeated. My father disagrees. They have been allied for some time now. The deal you made, for the transport of weapons and enchantments, will not happen. My father will delay, then sabotage the shipment when you have run out of time.”
Vestrix’s hood came down. Suddenly she was in front of Augustus, hand gripped lightly around his throat. “Say it again,” she said. Her thumb rested on Augustus’s jugular. Not pressing, but feeling his pulse. Her pale face was calm, like the sky before a storm.
“My father will betray you.”
Vestrix looked into Augustus’s eyes, searching. Slowly, she removed her hand from his neck, and stepped back. Her hood lifted up on its own, once again hiding her face behind its curtain of feathers.
“I owe you a great debt,” she said. “I suppose I will not tell the royal family that you stole their most precious heirloom.”
“I only told you so you know what you face. The Hyde family and Lord Korka, united. Three behelits, not one.”
There was a moment of silence.
“Then we are doomed,” said Vestrix. “Although, I suppose you have a plan.”
Augustus smiled and took another sip of blood. “You are not wrong. I do wish to usurp my father. He cannot be allowed to ruin my family.”
“What does that have to do with Black Gauntlet?”
“We have the person bonded with the behelit. She is a human. Young. She was easily enchanted by my father, and now follows him around like a puppy dog. What we lack is the behelit itself, the seed. It is at the Academy. Find it, bring it to Lodum. Keep it safe at Black Gauntlet. When you have it, give me a sign. I will kil
l the girl.”
Vestrix frowned at that. “I’m not for killing innocents,” she said. “But in this situation, perhaps it would be doing her a favor.”
“She chose an early death the moment she bonded with the seed. All we can do is time it to our benefit. My father will have the power of the seed taken from him when he least expects it, and you can hand the seed to Jansilian himself. Tell him what happened, earn his trust, and destroy both Lord Korka, and my father.”
“Your family would be ruined.”
“Not if the King is told the truth: that Augustus Hyde, ever his servant, helped deliver the seed to him.”
“You are a treacherous snake,” said Vestrix.
“And the future Lord of House Hyde.”
“Maybe so. We shall see when Jansilian returns. He may spoil your plans, in the end.”
Augustus shrugged, accepting that possible outcome. “Will you do it?” he asked.
Vestrix jumped onto the balcony railing. The feathers on her cloak shifted in the breeze. And then she was gone, a raven quickly flying off into the night.
What other meetings does she have? Augustus wondered, as he exited the balcony and entered his bed chamber. That one is too sly, by far. But as far as Augustus could tell, she had not guessed his real plan. He had been so careful in his preparations, yet it could all come toppling down at any moment. Patience, he remembered. We still have time.
6
Enforcer Chief McNaulty’s voice could be heard throughout the entire building. It was not unusual for him to be yelling. On the contrary, it was almost a daily occurrence for him to go off the deep end. The more expensive his suits, the more anxious he gets, Logan thought. I wonder why that is.
He still didn’t know who was paying off his boss to ignore the missing councillor. Not that it mattered anymore. That ship had long since sailed. Suri had vanished, and with her any lead they might have had into finding Boyde Weathers.
At first, Logan had thought she had been kidnapped by someone at Brexly Hall. But then he saw that her motorcycle was gone, and a quick check with Suri’s roommate confirmed that the young mage was ‘busy doing things’ that did not involve Logan. So much for partners. But Logan was used to being left alone. It didn’t sting anymore.
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