Dark Dealings

by Kim Knox

  Ehren swore under his breath. His chest heaved and more rock cracked away, almost freeing him. Zarand put a hand to his shoulder, supporting him, and the thief groaned. Zarand echoed him. Heyerdar’s brother was right. There was a bond between elementals and thieves.

  “No. He’s mine.” Heyerdar sheathed his sword. “He’s wanted by the Crown.”

  Zarand’s dark gaze slid to his brother. He stepped closer to Ehren, and the hunger in the thief stained the air. “He’s wanted by me.”

  More stone fell away and Zarand caught Ehren as he fell forward. For a long moment the thief rested his head against the other man’s throat, and magic spilled over him.

  “You want more?” Zarand’s mouth touched his ear and Ehren shivered. Hunger lapped from him, his soul opening under the invitation of the elemental whose large hand skimmed his spine. The trail of magic sank into the other man’s flesh. Zarand’s voice was little more than a raw whisper. “I can give you everything. I will give you everything.”

  Ava closed her eyes, denying her own want. Heyerdar’s hand tightened on her arm and he pushed his own magic into her hungry soul. She didn’t want it. Not like this. He made a mockery of the bond forming before them.

  “What do you know, little thief?”

  The derision in Heyerdar’s voice snapped at her and she tried to pull free of him. He turned and a hard hand found her hip, holding her. The chamber of Narve’s magic dug into her chest and she winced, the temptation to consume what was left of the mage strong.

  “Nothing.” Fuck, she wanted out of this room. Heyerdar’s brother—a man from her own past—and a thief who’d killed so many were getting what they needed, wanted. Whereas she had a man who fucked her for his own pleasure, and one who would soon fuck her from obligation.

  Heyerdar took the covered chamber and dropped it onto the cot. Its light rolled. But before she could hunger after it, he turned her to him and pressed his erection against her belly. The charge of energies in the small shadowed room was affecting him too. “He’ll want the pull of hunger. Just like me. It’s as sweet as feeding is to you.”

  Heyerdar wanted her only for that reason. She knew that. Still...a small part of her was bitter. Zarand wanted more. It was there in the way his fingers threaded through Ehren’s white-blond hair, tilting his head back. Ehren’s mouth parted in invitation. The look of adoration on the elemental’s face twisted her heart.

  “Do you want this, Ehren Carrsen?” The low rumble of Zarand’s voice prickled her skin, and something about the question was familiar. His teeth grazed Ehren’s bottom lip and the exhalation of magic glistened. “You can walk away.”

  “Is this all I have to do? Fuck you?”

  “Once I have you, you’ll have only me. You have anyone else...” Zarand’s eyes shone like jet, black and endless, and he released the man. A smile cut his mouth as Ehren swayed towards him. “Or anyone else has you...then this association is over. Old magic. It’s particular.”

  Ehren sucked in a breath and blinked. He ran his hand through his tangled hair and shot a glance at Heyerdar. “And you’ll just let me go?”

  Heyerdar snorted. “No.”

  “Nahum—”

  “He’s killed—or helped to kill—twelve people.”

  “The mage was an accident. I didn’t mean to take her life. But it was me or her.” Ehren focused on the chamber on the cot. “She wouldn’t back down. Wouldn’t listen. Then the fucking Words kicked in...”

  “Words?” Zarand’s heavy hand dropped onto Ehren’s shoulder. Magic slipped over to sink into his body, and the slight thief swayed. “Then I have a deal for you, Nahum. I remove the Words from him. In return we leave. Deal?”

  Ava nodded. “He could tell us who spoke those Words over him.”

  Heyerdar swore. “He’s a murderer.”

  She laughed. “Aren’t we all? Old magic is death.”

  He stroked a thumb across her cheek and the thin strands of his magic, always there, sank into her skin, making her warm and filling her with want. “If I let you go, you can never come back.”

  Ava’s chest tightened. He was letting her go? What? Why? The rush that hit her when she realized he was talking to Ehren and Zarand almost dropped her to the cot. She couldn’t give up her addiction to Heyerdar. Not yet.

  The captain looked to his brother. “And no more strays dumped here.”

  Zarand straightened and the brightness of his magic wreathed around him. He stood behind Ehren and the slip and slide of his energies rolled over the man. A large hand gripped the thief’s shoulder to steady him. Possibly to steady both of them. He put out his free hand. “Deal.”

  Heyerdar frowned at it and took it. He shook once. “Deal.” With a nod, he pushed Ava towards the gaping hole in the wall.

  “What...?”

  “You want to stay and watch?”

  She blinked. “He’s going to...? They’re...? Here?”

  Heyerdar gave a short laugh. “Did you think a kiss and a grope could break the mages’ Words?”

  He moved her down the corridor, the glow of his magic lighting the narrow tunnel. The feel of old magic and the heavy weight of rock and earth pressed against her. The first threads of Zarand’s magic slipped through the air. Ehren’s soft, breathless moan followed. Her belly tightened. The air shimmered with lust, and the swift riot of need caught her.

  “Are...are we like that?” Ava hated the hesitation in her voice. She shouldn’t have started down this path with Heyerdar, but right then she couldn’t give it up. Not when she’d seen the need spiraling out from Zarand, felt the rise of it from Ehren in the air she pulled into her body.

  Heyerdar pushed her back against the cold wall. He loomed over his, his face flickering with the light of his magic. “No.” His hand cupped her jaw and his thumb stroked across her lips, parting her mouth. His low voice filled the silence. “No, we’ll never be like them.”

  Ava closed her eyes. He was right. He was... She gasped as he dropped to his knees in front of her, his sword hitting the smooth stone of the floor. His hand stroked across her belly and the heat, the promise, pulled a reluctant groan from her. “We can’t do this here.”

  Heyerdar loosened the ties to her breeches, and his searching fingers found the warmth of her skin.

  She sucked in a breath. “Heyerdar!”

  He growled against her belly and she caught her fingers in his shining hair. His tongue traced a warm, wet path down over skin, increasing the coiling tightness, the need for him to do more than tease and play, the need for him to make her scream.

  Magic burned and she consumed it, dragged it from him in a torrent. He liked that. He liked her to rip energy from him and pull it down into her hungry soul.

  Heyerdar groaned and the vibration pushed a heated shock of desire through her. “Yes, just...that.” He gripped her hips, pushing her up the wall with ease, and his tongue found her.

  Ava fisted her hands in his hair. The double rush of his magic and oh-so-talented tongue twisted a wild tangle of need in her body. Her soul fed, wrenching magic from him, loving his low groans and the hard, tight hands on her hips.

  She bit her lip to deny the shortness of her breath, the increasing sounds breaking from her. Fuck. He couldn’t, he shouldn’t be able to drive her to her release so quickly. But his teeth, his mouth, his tongue, his hot breath and growls fired through her, wrapping around the fierce surge of his magic.

  Ava crushed her eyes shut. The tension in her belly filled her mind, pushing at the gold flare of magic. He would make her come. And make her come hard. That knowledge forced her to push against his mouth, wanting him faster, deeper, regretting that it was only his tongue—

  Her release smashed over her and she cried out, ripping magic from him in a vast wave, drowning in it. Bliss. Complete and utter bliss. Heyerdar’s mouth s
tilled and his cool lips pressed a final parting kiss. Ava trembled. A tear broke free. Fuck, he would not make her cry at something that didn’t mean anything. He’d used her. She’d used him.

  Heyerdar released her and she slid down the wall, her body boneless and hardly her own. Magic filled her and sated her hungry soul. She lifted a shaking hand to her face. “We’re supposed to be working together.”

  “We are.” Heyerdar straightened his tunic and sword belt. He wiped his palm over his wet mouth. “We were...helping.”

  Ava’s fingers dropped away from her eyes. It hadn’t been a moment of wanting her. It had been a sharpener for the men fucking in her former cell. She couldn’t seem to get it into her thick skull that she’d always been an obligation. Something used. And she did need that reminder with Heyerdar. When her secondment ended she very much doubted she’d work with him again. Or do anything else with him.

  She willed herself up. Heyerdar helped her, his fingers quick to retie her shorts and breeches. He brushed dust and grit from her hips and she had to back away. Her mouth twitched. “Think they’re done?”

  Heyerdar tilted his head. He paused, frowned and then nodded. “Done.” He strode back to the cell, his sword bouncing against his thigh and his fingers combing the hair she’d tangled. “Come on, little thief.”

  Her own fingers curled into her palms. She was missing her blades again.

  “It’d be hard to eat that sweet little pussy of yours with steel in my spine.”

  She glared at his broad and disappearing back. “I’d like to see you try.”

  His laughter trailed in the air before he turned into the cell.

  Ava blew out bad air and pushed her mind back to the problem of thieves in the Institute and the palace.

  “The Words are broken?”

  Heyerdar’s low voice threaded through the silence and Ava broke into a run. She skidded to a halt at the open doorway. Heyerdar’s bulk blocked it and she could feel his magic pushing through the walls. He still didn’t trust his brother or the thief not to run.

  Ava ducked under his arm and his hand landed on her shoulder, his grip holding her close to him. The warmth of his magic seeped over her. She had to ignore it. Ehren sat on the bed, his hair sticking up and a slightly dazed expression on his face. His hands shook as he rebuttoned his undershirt. She’d had the...benefit of little hits of magic, getting her used to the overwhelming rush. Mostly. To get an elemental’s power in one incredible burst? She understood his confusion.

  “Ehren.” Heyerdar snapped his fingers. “Who spoke the Words over you?”

  Zarand swore. “He’s not yours to question.”

  Heyerdar ignored his brother. “Where are the other thieves? Who changed the wards on the South Gate?”

  “I don’t know his name.” Ehren let out a long breath and his shoulders sagged. “But he twisted the wards. Said his mother was a mage. He had the start of a thief’s change stroked into his skin, but something healed it. He can play with high magic.” His dark gaze fixed on Ava. There was a wildness around the edges, the hint of old magic threading through his irises. “It’s always like that?”

  She hated that a blush burned across her face. She nodded and ignored the brief brush of Heyerdar’s thumb against her neck, the fiery touch of his magic that slipped under her skin.

  “Answers, Ehren. Or that fuck will be your last.”

  Zarand pulled a dagger free from his belt and moved to stand beside Ehren. He ran a finger along the man’s jaw, and the thief shivered. “Do you think you and your thief can go up against me and mine?”

  “If he tells me what I want to know, I don’t fucking care.”

  “I heard a rumor that the wards were twisted.” Ehren straightened and pushed himself up. His body brushed up against Zarand, connected by hip and arm, the faint swirl of magic sinking into his flesh. “Thieves...disappear. Vanish into thin air. There are stories of children ripped from their beds. My cousin...”

  Zarand frowned and stroked a heavy swathe of magic across Ehren’s cheek. So much he closed his eyes and fought to breathe.

  Ehren swallowed. “Everyone thought it was another trap, a chance to get us here and for the Left Hand to do what he does best.”

  Heyerdar inclined his head.

  Ava frowned. Was he really that desperate for control that he’d risk dying for it? “Why did you believe it?”

  “I was becoming like them.” The thickness of Zarand’s magic burned away from him, Ava could almost taste it. His mouth thinned and the corners of his eyes pinched tight. “A fucking monster.”

  Zarand’s hand engulfed his and another inrush of magic eased his expression.

  “I knew there was a thief here. That the mages kept one and that she was...sane.” Ehren pressed his free hand to his chin, his jaw. “I arrived here a month ago. The wards on the South Gate were twisted back. Didn’t so much as sting.”

  “And you met the man?” Ava asked. Heyerdar hadn’t fallen back on the stupid rule about the silence of messengers. “Where? When? Describe him.”

  “He never showed himself. I found a chamber—like Narve’s—but older, near the South Gate.” He winced. “I was starving. I consumed it. It was barely a sliver of magic. Ancient.” He paused. “Tainted.”

  Their instigator had twisted the Words into the ball of high magic. Had planted the lie that the man was a half-started thief. Lies within lies. Fuck. It had to be a mage. Only someone able to take high magic into their bodies, to be changed by it, to turn and play with it, could do something so delicate.

  Heyerdar’s hand stilled on her neck. He’d realized they had to be dealing with a mage too. “So the Words caught you? What then?”

  Ehren frowned. “It gets...hazy. A room above an inn, maybe? Somewhere noisy. He promised me that I’d get close to Ava, that there was a secret to a thief finding control.” His eyes flared with magic and Ava felt the drain of it from his flesh as he pulled it inwards. “He was...dark, quiet. Had something of this place about him. He’d touched old magic.” He shook his head. He’d used magic to clear the image of the man in his memories. “Whoever it was wove a strong protection. That’s all I have. He was careful. Kept himself hidden. I can’t see more.”

  Zarand tilted his head and the familiar gesture surprised Ava. “Are you done?”

  “No. What did he want from you? From the others?”

  “I don’t know. He let the others loose, let them eat anyone they wanted.”

  Heyerdar frowned. “He didn’t point you at anywhere?”

  “Malan chose the brothel.”

  “Why?”

  Ehren looked down at the floor and Zarand’s fingers stroked his shoulder, the shimmer of magic sinking into the other man’s body. “He said it felt right. They—Malan and the brothers, Lagdom and Granog—found the flusherman. He was right too.” He closed his eyes. “They hadn’t shared a man for a long time. Insisted that I join them. The Words pushed at me. The man who’d put them in my bones wanted us to sink deep into our nature.” He drew in a long breath. “Something about the brothel was important. Something they knew.”

  “Come on, what?”

  “I’d tell you but I don’t know!” Ehren gritted his teeth, his hands clenched. Magic flowed into him and his shoulders sagged. For a moment, his dark eyes glazed before his soul consumed it. “I hid, fought the Words, tried to contact her.” His gaze flickered to Ava. “I killed the mage instead. I was desperate. I grabbed you. I’m sorry.”

  “Where are the other three now?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Heyerdar swore under his breath and Zarand stiffened. His hand flexed around his sword. “He’s telling the truth, Nahum.”

  “Yes, you’d say that.”

  Ava shared Heyerdar’s frustration. They had one of the four thieves in the room wit
h them and he was worse than useless. He could tell them nothing. “Was there no connection between the five men you killed?”

  Color flushed across Ehren’s cheeks and a quick light burned in his eyes. “I only joined them for the flusherman. The others, I didn’t touch. If there was—”

  “You don’t know what it was.” Sarcasm dripped from Heyerdar. “Can you list anything you do know?”

  “Enough.” Zarand’s voice was low and hard. “He’s answered your questions.”

  “One of them ate the Searlaim family. Why?” Ava wanted that explained. Ehren said he hadn’t been involved, but he knew the man who’d committed that horror. “Why did the sick bastard eat all of Searlaim’s children and his wife? Was it just because he could?”

  “With the flusherman we were careful. We hid him, didn’t want it known that we were in the city. Then the feeding, the rush...it overtook the others. That’s all I can say. Again, I don’t know what happened later.”

  Ava couldn’t let the butchery of Kaia go. “And the baby? Why carve up the little girl with thief words?”

  Pain flickered in Ehren’s eyes, and Zarand tightened the grip on the man’s hand. Gold light wreathed around his knuckles. “A baby? A thief makes a thief. When you’re born to a thief, your mother eases the ancient pattern over your heart. It awakens the darkness.” He lifted his right hand and the familiar lines were pale against his palm. “And the teken forms.”

  Had her mother done that for her? “Then for a thief to...?”

  “To carve up a baby with the Words? It’s barbaric. A mockery of a sacred rite. But some thieves think it’s needed for outsiders.” Ehren let out a long breath. “I’ve seen it before. With those born outside of a thief family. A mother...knows. The baby shows the signs, the possibility of being a thief. They scramble to find anyone willing to draw the pattern. They’re desperate. The baby has to be Worded, or it dies.” He winced. “Carving usually kills it quicker.” He shook his head. “I can believe it of those three, especially Malan. They were hardly sane in the beginning. Came from somewhere far north. They attacked their warlord. Idiots.”