Dark Dealings

by Kim Knox

  “Their loyalty protected them,” Heyerdar murmured. “They broke it and had to run.”

  Ehren’s mouth pulled upwards in the parody of a smile. “I ran from them after the flusherman. Hid down here. Watched. Waited.”

  “For me.”

  Ehren nodded. He glanced up at the man beside him, quick confusion straining his face before it settled. “There wasn’t even a rumor about elementals.”

  “The mages like to hoard their magic.” Zarand looked at the chamber on the cot. His face was tight. Something about the glass ball pained him. “Keep it close to their bones when they’re alive and siphon it into glass when they eventually die. It’s the only balance they can have. But magic is meant to flow.” And he teased another stream of gold into Ehren as an example.

  Ava looked away. Heyerdar had declared they weren’t the same. That Ehren and Zarand would share something different. He was right. The growing bond that warmed over them made her empty soul ache. She told herself it wasn’t for Heyerdar. She wanted her bond with Reist. As tenuous as that seemed now.

  Zarand straightened. “Are we done here?”

  Heyerdar scrubbed a hand across his jaw. His frustration was obvious. “You come back again, I’ll kill you both. Understand?”

  His brother gave him a thin smile. Something moved in him, an emotion Ava couldn’t name. “I have what I want.”

  Heyerdar stood aside and picked up the glass that contained Narve’s magic. Ava moved with him, putting herself away from the two men. Zarand’s taut smile lingered and the flow of magic deepened, forcing Ehren’s shoulder’s to lift and his mouth to part as he fed him.

  A metallic whine filled the air, and Heyerdar unrolled the device from his belt. A tinny voice broke from it, fast and panicked. “Captain, there are reports the thieves have burst into the imperial apartments. The Highest Mage, his staff and the Guard are fighting them off even now.”

  Heyerdar swore. “Where is the emperor?”

  “Report is that the Highest Mage Reist has him secured.”

  A muscle jumped in his hardened jaw. “Are there guards with the emperor?”

  “No, Captain.”

  He looked to his brother. “Get out. I have work to do.”

  Zarand smiled, something warm and almost indulgent. “She has not yet mellowed you. And you’re going to have to kill me, because we will meet again.”

  Heyerdar bristled. Zarand turned back to Ehren and cupped his heavy, dark hand around his jaw. Magic warmed from it and the thief’s face reddened. Ehren couldn’t control it, that much was obvious. A flare of white light burst over the two men before they vanished. Ava rubbed her eyes, the glare stinging against her lids.

  Heyerdar was already moving, striding out of the hole in the wall, his fierce pace eating up the length of the narrow tunnel. Ava grabbed her sword propped up against the wall and ran to keep up.

  Anger burned off him. He should’ve been with his men, using his own body to protect the emperor. Instead he was under the palace, hunting for her. He muttered under his breath and increased his pace. She’d hit a nerve. Heyerdar had put her before his duty to the Crown.

  He swore.

  “Then stay out of my head if I think things you don’t like.”

  Heyerdar grunted. “You know Reist is behind this. I warned the last emperor about his ambition. And this one. They ignored me.”

  Ava started after him as he disappeared up the narrow, twisting stairwell cut out of the dark rock. She couldn’t allow herself to believe Reist was a traitor. He’d been her friend. She’d trusted him completely. “Reist didn’t do this.”

  “Keep believing that.” Heyerdar’s voice echoed around her. “It won’t help.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Heyerdar held up his hand and Ava jerked to a stop. Her heart beat hard and her breaths came fast. The doors to the imperial apartments stood open. Beyond it the wide marble corridor was littered with bodies. Mages, civil servants, attendants, torn apart and wizened. Flashes of deep blue silk wove through the black serge and leather of guards. Senior mages had fallen. And the scent of flesh and magic stained the air. Ava tried not to pull it in, but her thief stirred and she wanted it. Wanted the death and wanton destruction set out in front of her.

  Heyerdar swore under his breath and gripped her hand. His magic, fresh and warm, pulsed under her skin and sated the darkness in her. “Scared, little thief?”

  She wanted to say something sarcastic, something biting, but there was little point. She was terrified. “Yes.”

  “I will protect you.”

  Ava stared up at him. “Your job is to protect the emperor.”

  “And you.”

  “Heyerdar—”

  He squeezed her hand and shook his head. “Feel that?”

  She closed her eyes and willed her heart to slow, for the wild rhythm in her body to ease. His promise had caught her by surprise...but he had chased Ehren into the bowels of the earth to find her. She cursed and pushed those thoughts out of her head.

  There. Just on the edge of her senses. The clash of flesh and magic. The bloated sensation of stolen magic, thick and too sweet, caught her breath. The thieves. They’d taken so much magic and fed deeply from blood, bone and muscle. She shuddered. They were unlike anything or anyone she’d ever touched before. Fiercely strong.

  “It’s the emperor’s suite.” He frowned. “We need to get there now.” He ran a hand over his jaw. “Take my magic.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m going through the walls.”

  “That’s—”

  “We don’t have time for a debate.” Heyerdar pulled her to him and threaded his fingers through her hair. She caught a moment of his eyes, hot and angry, before he kissed her. Instinct kicked in and she stripped sweet, golden magic from him, layers pushing into her. Heyerdar groaned and gripped her backside, grinding himself against her. He pulled back with a growl. “I could fuck you.” He grazed her swollen bottom lip with his teeth, the tease of his magic tugging at her soul. “But we have thieves to gut.”

  Ava twitched a smile and stepped back from him. She took his hand again. “You say the sweetest things.”

  Heyerdar winked and her stomach did a strange little flip. He stared down at their joined hands. “Trust me?”

  “Maybe?”

  “Good enough.” He pulled her with him towards the slab of the marble wall. “The magic will shield you, so breathe normally.”

  “I consume magic. How long will it—”

  The white wall of stone liquefied and swallowed her. Ava fought the panicked drum of her heart as the stone eddied around her. Heyerdar’s hand was firm around hers, and she clung to his strength and willed the thief and the emptiness of her soul back. She had to keep the magic she had and she was reluctant to take more from him. Distracting him could leave her trapped.

  She closed her eyes, trusting him, and her legs pushed through the mud. Mud. It was mud and she was out in the open, some swamp down on the southern edges, all tangled roots and lazy, buzzing flies. The silence roared in her ears—breaking her illusion—and she filled it with shouts of boatmen, the slice of their oars through the thick river water, the raucous calls of wild birds. It was what she was good at. Illusions. Deception.

  They burst out of the wall into free air and Ava staggered. Heyerdar held her upright and pulled her across the narrow corridor. The imperial apartments were unknown to her and the stretches of sunlit marble were unnerving. They were also empty and silent. The distant pulse of the thieves added to the itch under her skin, stretching nerves already taut with fear.

  “Enough magic?” Heyerdar’s gaze became a narrow slit of gold. “Yes.” And he hauled her after him into the thick marble and the layers of cut rock.

  Ava willed her heart to slow, shutti
ng her eyes tight and hating the flow of liquid stone around her. She reached for the imagined sound of birdsong and the burn of sunlight on her skin. She lived in the shadows, but this darkness, cloying, wet, enfolding her, was one that terrified her.

  Another rush of clean air, and the freedom to move, to hear, to see, hit her. She pulled in heavy breaths. “How...how many more?”

  Heyerdar cupped her cheek and his magic chased under her skin, easing the wild thud of her heart. She swallowed and looked up at him. A wry smile ticked his mouth. “One more. But when we come out of it, they’ll be right there. The emperor must be protected at all costs. Understood?”

  She jerked a nod and let him plunge her into another wall. No birdsong, no lie of sunshine. There was only the thick fall of endless mud around the golden shroud of borrowed magic. Time pulsed. What was her life turning into? If she got out of this wall, if she survived the coming fight with insane thieves bloated on meat and stolen magic, she was going to find the bastards who’d started all of this. And snack on them for a while. A long while.

  Heyerdar’s hand tightened around hers, and the warmth of magic burned across her skin. She pulled in a hot breath. Her thief was showing. Shit. Not good.

  “Ready?”

  Heyerdar’s question snapped through her and her pulse jumped. The mud flowed away until it created a cavern within the rock. The thin golden shroud of magic slid down over her eyes and she pushed her breath out, sucking in air that was too hot and filled with grit. She gagged. He simply looked at her, steadily, his hand still holding hers, his chest rising and falling in an even rhythm...even as grey sludge moved all around him. She squeezed her eyes shut, stopping the tears. Fuck, she wanted out. How was he so calm?

  “I buried Balint under the stable yard. Headfirst.”

  “You...?” He was telling her this now? Dropping it in casually... The darkness in her stirred. She grabbed it. Needed it for what was about to happen. “He was still breathing?”

  The captain’s eyes shone. “Oh, yes.” He gave her a sharp smile and touched her cheek. “I’ve had fun with you, little thief.” He slid his sword from its sheath and nodded for her to do the same.

  Ava’s damp fingers flexed around the grip of her short sword. Her heart was in her throat. She wasn’t ready for this. Not one bit.

  Heyerdar dragged her forward.

  * * *

  They burst out of the wall into chaos.

  A handful of guards and a mage flashed metal and magic, even the marble burning with sharp power. It rippled through the air, mixing with the stink of sweat and fear and desperation.

  They knew how many had fallen before them...and that they were the last line of defense for the imperial apartment only yards farther down the marble corridor.

  Ava stilled. The thieves formed a solid wall between them and the mage and his guards. Muscle thickened the thieves’ bodies, magic and meat giving them new height and strength.

  One of them—Lagdom—reached out and grabbed the last mage by the throat. No effort. Just a swipe of his large hand. Ava’s gut twisted. Magic sheared away in white-hot sheets, wrapping around Lagdom. The mage tried to scream, tried to fight, but already his flesh was withering.

  Another long moment and his body clattered to the floor, nothing left but bones, wrinkled skin and torn fabric.

  Lagdom roared and the guards staggered back.

  Stolen magic bristled from the three men. They overflowed with it and she could sense dozens of threads, traces of people left on and in their bodies. How were they going to stop them—

  “You.”

  Heyerdar’s low, ferocious growl rippled over her skin and she shivered. All right, that was how.

  He pointed his sword to the back of the nearest thief and Ava resisted the very real need she had to dart behind Heyerdar. There were no shadows. Nothing to give her confidence. Her nerves had consumed what little magic she’d had left within her and she faced...monsters.

  She couldn’t label them anything else. She faced the true horror of what a thief could become. Of what she could become.

  “The Left Hand.” The nearest thief let loose a vicious smile and Ava’s gut cramped. Her brain pushed a name forward. Malan. He was the one who’d eaten the children. His dark gaze jumped to her, and threads of white fire wove through the black of his irises. “And the tamed thief.” His gaze narrowed. “Recently fucked...and something else.”

  “The guards, Malan!”

  Lagdom lurched after the men who broke free and disappeared through double doors.

  Malan waved his hand. “Leave them. Their fear’ll taste sweeter.” His sharp grin tightened her grip on her sword. Magic shrouded him, glistening around his tall frame. She ignored the gnawing rise of her thief, the darkness that wanted to take him, devour him. She wasn’t one of them and she willed her arm not to shake. Malan’s gaze flicked to Heyerdar. “I’ve never tasted an elemental before.”

  “You want some?” Heyerdar took a step back. “You have to work for it.”

  Something flashed through Malan’s eyes and the muscles in his jaw strained. Words still held him. Whoever controlled him—and she was not thinking Reist—pushed at him. With a sudden speed, he lurched forward. But not for Heyerdar.

  Searing magic and muscle wrapped around Ava. A heavy hand grabbed her sword arm, holding her wrist. Fuck. She didn’t want to open her soul to this monster. Didn’t want to pull in the death he’d consumed.

  Heyerdar’s growl caught her. He knew who Malan was from her. Knew what he’d done. “You only attack little girls?”

  “They’re luscious.” And Malan lifted her hand to his mouth and licked it. Ava shuddered. “She’s spoiled, but palatable.”

  The other thieves looked to her. No, to Malan. She tried to cry out, but a second later they surged towards Heyerdar. Ava jerked against the man who held her, desperate to break free. Her heart pounded. They grabbed Heyerdar, fingers and mouths and teeth on his body, ripping magic from him in a shock of feeding. The captain staggered and Lagdom groaned.

  “Fuck. Forget mages, Malan. This magic...”

  The thief rose swiftly in Ava, angered and bitter. Heyerdar was hers to feed from, not these diseased monsters. She gritted her teeth, twisting, fighting against Malan’s solid hold. She had to stop them, stop them from taking Heyerdar.

  Fear gripped her, stiffened every muscle. She had to... With a shaky breath, she opened her soul. Darkness tore from the thief that held her, the taste and power of the dead surging over her. Malan swore, his hand wrenching her arm, and he bit hard through the linen to the muscle in her forearm.

  Ava screamed. Pain seared across her thoughts, hot and fierce, tearing out the power she’d stolen. She snarled, too aware that Heyerdar was faltering under the two other thieves. They would not have him. He was hers.

  Heyerdar shoved Lagdom away from him and the man crashed into the marble wall. The stone liquefied and surged over him. He thrashed, fought, magic burning away as he tried to escape. But it held.

  Heyerdar spat blood. He grinned and his teeth were stained red. “You scared, Malan?” Heyerdar straightened and, in a careless swing, cuffed the youngest thief, Granog. across the face. The man staggered and crumpled to the stone floor. “You going to let your...lackeys take it all?”

  Heyerdar caught her eye. And the thief in her wanted him. Wanted to devour him whole. His beauty, his power, the blood that slicked his jaw and mouth forced a quick ache. She growled and kicked Malan hard in the shin, scraping her boot down before she stamped on his foot. His leg gave out and he fell. Ava broke free of him and lurched towards Heyerdar.

  “No.” He held up his torn hand. “Get to the emperor. Protect him.”

  Granog surged to his feet and charged again. Heyerdar scrambled back down the corridor, drawing the thieves away from the emperor’s rooms. His swo
rd flashed. Cutting. Slicing. Magic sparked. Granog shrieked, consuming magic to save his hide. Ava wanted to be with Heyerdar, the thief in her demanding that she ignore his order. But she couldn’t. And she had to act.

  Ava scuttled away, clinging to the wall, putting herself beyond Malan’s reach, every movement away from Heyerdar a cut to her flesh. “But you...”

  Heyerdar glared at her. “You’re a thief. Be a thief.”

  Malan let out a pained snort and rolled to his feet. “You think your pet thief can defeat him?” The man choked over naming his master, just as Ehren had. He straightened, his hands flexing at his sides, and Ava backed away, edging closer to the door the guards had escaped through. His dark gaze slid to her. “I’ll tear you in two. But first I’m having him.”

  Heyerdar grinned, the wild animal at his core shining from him. “You’ll try.”

  The blur of the captain’s sword sliced through the sunlight and caught Granog’s shoulder. More sour magic sparked, spilling out into the air. It didn’t stop him. He shrank, his frame feeding on itself, and the wound healed. Lagdom did the same, consuming the power within him. With a sharp crack, he broke free of the restricting marble.

  Both men converged on Heyerdar.

  “Why did you kill those men?” The question burst from Ava. She was supposed to be running, protecting the emperor. But as she had her duty to the Crown, she also felt the insane tug to protect Heyerdar. “Who were they to you?”

  Heyerdar glared at her, but Granog answered. “We needed—” His neck twisted, the muscles of his face contorting. The word burst from him. “Markers.”

  “For your master.” The captain thickened his voice with sarcasm.

  “I have no—” Granog’s jaw jutted, his body curled over and magic shriveled from him.

  Ava barked a laugh. “He has you barely able to speak.”

  Granog snarled and the magic in his flesh burned. A sudden rise of mist almost shrouded him. “Markers. Pointers. Ties to him. Would show him. You were supposed to find him first, the one who put hooks in our minds. Not us.”