Radiant's Honor (Founders Series Book 2)

by Mari Dietz

  Copyright © 2020 by Mari Dietz

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Radiant's Honor

  Founders Series Book Two

  Mari Dietz

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Thank you

  Also by Mari Dietz

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  For my mom and dad.

  You’ve always encouraged me to do what I love.

  It took me a long time to believe in myself. Thank you for your never-ending support.

  1

  Vic

  Vic slid on her back across the gravel training ground. Loud laughter filled the air. As she pushed herself up, the pebbles bit into her palms. Dust entered her nose and mouth, making the training experience even worse. Before her exercise started, she’d promised herself that she wouldn’t lose her temper. Her blood pounded through her ears. Punching him in the face seemed like a viable option.

  “Flat on your back is fitting for you, isn’t it, founder reject?” Landon tossed his staff in the air and caught it. Overly flashy but fitting to attract the attention of the other reapers training in the wide gravel area behind the Nyx Order. His lean build made him fast, and his years as a reaper made him a nightmare to fight. A few reapers tittered but didn’t meet her eye when she turned to look at them.

  Landon, the now second in command, paid special attention to the newest Nyx recruit. In the last week, Kai had struggled to keep the Order afloat. Vic could handle Landon, so she thought. His idea of training was more like bullying. The personal barbs about her being a founder had grown more blatant as time passed. Her mind danced with images of his nose cartilage crunching under her fist and fresh blood pouring from his nose. Yes, punching him would feel great.

  “If you’re saying I get more action than you, that’s probably true. I’m not sure what mog had to debase itself to sleep with you last.” Her rebuke lifted her spirits, and she had to admit, the chorus of laughter from the audience gave her the warm fuzzies.

  A shadow drew across his charcoal eyes, and he flicked his fingers toward himself. “Come and get another round, then. Not sure why our commander finds you so special, but if you have something besides magical bedroom skills, I can’t wait to see it.”

  His mouth bent downward, over his weak chin, and he spat in the dirt at Vic’s feet.

  He assumed an awful lot. She clutched her staff and placed her foot behind the other. A breath of dusty air calmed her down. He wanted to get under her skin. Even if he won this sparring session, she wanted him to leave with bruises.

  He smirked, and in a flash, he cut to the side. Even though his limbs were long, he had an amount of grace to his fighting. Vic diverted his first attack with a simple sidestep. She knew he liked to feint. She flipped her staff to angle it at him and blocked his attempt to hit her stomach. He loved knocking the wind out of her. In his confidence, he’d grown predictable.

  Their wooden staffs collided with a loud clunk, and her arms vibrated; she didn’t have the muscle or weight to push him back, but she had enough to stand her ground. She planted her boots in the gravel, and the pebbles only gave slightly. Her calves burned from keeping herself steady.

  While he tried to force her back, she gave in to his pressure. He faltered, leaving his left side vulnerable. With all her force, she swung her staff, connecting it with his ribcage. A pleasant crack sounded in the yard. She rolled to the side and bounced up before he could recover.

  He didn’t make a sound, but his arm hung lower, covering his injured side. A tic developed in his jaw, and Vic laughed. With a low growl, he darted straight at her. She dove out of the way. Moving too fast, he couldn’t control his turn, and she whacked him in the back. He grunted in pain. Taunting him often led him to make a mistake, but it never fazed him for long. Landon had become the second in command because of his skills in combat. Even though he annoyed her, the other reapers respected him.

  He swiftly recovered and didn’t give her a chance to distract him again. He launched an all-out assault on her, and it was all she could do to keep up. Only the sound of their wooden staffs echoed in the training field. Vic’s arms ached as she blocked him. Then one falter became all he needed. Landon’s staff grazed under hers, and he yanked, driving the staff from her grasp. With one last swing, now that she was vulnerable, he sent her hurtling her to the ground.

  Vic gasped as her breath left her lungs, and a large shadow stood over her. Landon held his staff over her, and she thought he might hit her again. He blinked and stepped back without offering to help her up.

  Landon planted his staff in the ground and leaned on it. “It’s a pity money can’t help you improve. You can’t buy skill.”

  Vic brushed the dirt off her clothes, and it came off in brown clouds. She gritted her teeth. “If I had money, I wouldn’t waste it on trying to prove something to a small, sad man who’d rather beat up someone than help them improve.”

  A whistle sounded in the training yard, signaling the end of her torture.

  Landon cracked his neck. “You won’t last long, founder bitch, even with Kai protecting your back. Enjoy sewer patrol. You go down there so often that you’ll always smell like shit.”

  Vin groaned inwardly. Her team had ended up in the sewers every night last week thanks to Landon. The second in command made the shift schedule, and he’d decided that whoever lost to him in training got sewage patrol. The other teams rotated in fighting him, but Vic fought him at every session. According to him, she needed the most training.

  An arm rested on Vic’s shoulder, and Bomrosy nudged her gently. “Is Landon out here trying to prove he’s the biggest jerk of them all?”

  Before Landon could respond, Vic laughed. “He hasn’t proved anything yet.” She hurried away before Landon could take a jab at Bomrosy. He liked to remind her that she didn’t have a relic and was thus a drain on reaper resources. Vic had grown tired of the second and longed for the day when she would no longer have to deal with him.

  “Wait for me. I still need to run through the walls today.”

  Around the training yard, they had an obstacle course of walls that were flat, curved, smooth, rough, and anything else they could think of. The ability to scale a wall with their bare hands was sometimes a necessity in the streets. The wall Vic hated the most was the smooth one at the end. After trying multiple times, she gasped for air and wanted to kick the smooth stone. She wiped the sweat off her brow and grumbled to Bomrosy, “It’s not like they make the houses of smooth stone in Verrin.”

  “Some are.” Bomrosy glanced at Landon as he vaulted over the smooth wall with ease. “Do you tell Kai what he says to you?” She flipped her thick braid over her shoulder, her golden-brown eyes creased with worry.

  Vic waved her hand dismissively. Had Bomrosy been worrying about this the whole time during the walls? “They’re on
ly words. I can handle it. He isn’t the first to mention that I’m from a rich family and he won’t be the last.”

  She wanted to help Kai with his burdens, not increase them over the petty second.

  Bomrosy frowned. “It seems obsessive. He was always annoying, but he latched on to you.”

  She waited while Vic opened the stone shed where Nyx kept all the training staffs. The earthy smell of the dark room reminded her of a basement, and she welcomed the cool air on her sweat-covered skin.

  “I’m lucky, I guess. He probably saw me holding hands with Kai and assumed I’d gotten in because of him. He might also assume I’m here because I’m a founder.” Vic put up her training staff, and they walked across the training field and into the dining hall. “Honestly, I’d rather not waste any more of my thoughts trying to figure out what goes on inside that pea-brained mind.”

  “True, let’s focus on tonight.” The cook handed Bomrosy a plate with a portion of fish and a purple vegetable that looked like a carrot.

  They could no longer take as much as they wanted, but they still got plenty to eat. Losing GicCorp’s money and their spot as the top Order had hurt them. Kai had spent hours sorting through reaper complaints since he’d taken over the Order. The reapers knew Xiona had made mogs on purpose, but they didn’t know GicCorp had involved her. The majority of the reapers believed GicCorp was punishing them by cutting their funding because of the battle with the Dei Order reapers. Landon tried to poke holes in the story. If he ever found out they’d purified Xiona, Kai’s days as commander would be over. Kai counted on the reapers’ trust, and they couldn’t know he’d already broken it by lying to them and protecting the one who’d illegally purified their leader.

  “What’s tonight?” Vic sat down on a bench and shoveled in her meal. The purple carrots ended up tasting like the fish sitting next to it. If it filled her belly, it was all good with her.

  No other reapers sat next to them in the dining hall, and the isolation got to her sometimes. She wanted to be part of their community but had entered the Order during a chaotic time. The other reapers’ laughter echoed through the hall, and Vic stared too long at their playful nudges and smiles. Thankfully, Bomrosy had accepted her.

  Bomrosy tapped her neck.

  “Ugh.” Vic swallowed down her glass of water. Her skin had healed, and they needed to rebrand her. No one in the Order knew Xiona had kicked her out. Xiona and her lackeys couldn’t tell tales of her being kicked out since they’d all been killed in the battle with Dei and Xiona had been purified. Landon had asked about her injury, but she’d played it off as it being from the Dei battle. She still wore the bandages, even though they had long since healed her, and Landon had noticed. Creepy stalker.

  “You’ll get used to it.” Bomrosy took their plates and washed them at the sinks provided at the side of the dining hall while Vic waited for her.

  After she’d finished, they headed to Bomrosy’s shop.

  “Does Kai even have time?” Vic played with the bandage around her neck. The new skin under it itched.

  “Stop trying to get out of it.” Bomrosy ducked into her shop.

  The scents of metal and oil surrounded them, and unique tech inventions lay scattered around the room. Bomrosy swore the room was organized, but Vic couldn’t see how. Although if Vic borrowed a tool without asking, Bomrosy would know exactly what she’d taken. Her proudest invention so far was the light created without magic or fire. Vic didn’t know how it worked, but the radiant would love it. As she scanned the room, she jumped in surprise at the person sitting on the bench. They wore a scarf over their head, but Vic recognized the ex-commander, Xiona.

  “What in the blight is she doing here?” Vic hissed.

  Bomrosy turned away and guided Xiona back to her bedroom, which adjoined her shop. She shut the door behind her. “No one comes here, and I don’t enjoy leaving her alone all day.”

  She organized bottles that contained dark liquid.

  “It’s not like she minds! If anyone finds her here, they’ll revolt, then kill William, then Kai, then me.” Sweat formed on Vic’s brow. “What are you thinking? You know better than this.”

  Bomrosy went to her tools and placed them on small hooks on the wall. “I know. Xiona did so much for me, and I want to take care of her.” Her back stiffened. “She didn’t start out hurting people.”

  Vic tried to hold back a snort, but it slipped free. “Well, she killed a lot of people, not just hurt them. If you must take care of her, don’t do it here. I can’t believe you’d be so careless.”

  Didn’t she understand what would happen to them if anyone found out?

  Bomrosy hung up the rest of her tools with more force than necessary. “I was careful. I came in the back way, and no one saw us. She’s alone most of the day and stays in my bedroom most of the time. She must have wandered out.”

  “Oh, no, she needs to be alone. What if she wanders around the Order? Can’t you go to Kai’s and watch her there?” Vic pressed her fingers to her temples. Was Bomrosy insane? Vic bit back the words she wanted to say to her friend. She wanted to yell, but that wouldn’t help the situation. A small pounding formed in the back of her head. The last thing Kai needed was Bomrosy bringing the ex-commander into the Order.

  Her lips formed a thin line. “You’re right. I just … I want her to know I’m here.” Her fingers brushed a set of tools more worn than the rest.

  “Take her back. Do it now. We won’t tell Kai, and please, don’t do this again.” Vic paced the stone floor.

  It seemed like Bomrosy would argue, but instead, she covered up more of Xiona’s face and led her out the back. Few people came to see Bomrosy unless they’d broken their scythe, but the risk of keeping Xiona here wasn’t worth it. She didn’t care about the ex-commander’s history of good deeds, according to Bomrosy, but Bomrosy was putting Kai at risk. Turning Xiona into a radiant hadn’t been the plan, but there was no going back now.

  Vic continued to pace, counting the minutes as she waited for Bomrosy to return. Maybe they should have waited until dark to move Xiona.

  The front door opened, and Vic jumped.

  “You look guilty.” Kai smiled and came into the shop. He checked the room, and seeing it empty, he pulled her into a firm hug.

  “Guilty? Me? Ha-ha.” Vic wondered if he could feel her heart pounding. She willed herself to calm down and enjoy this brief moment with Kai.

  His russet curls were still damp, and the comforting smell of cedar surrounded her. He had either just woken up or, more likely, had tried to wake himself up with a shower after spending all morning dealing with founders and GicCorp. The dark circles under his brown eyes hadn’t diminished.

  He arched his brow and let her go too soon. “I was joking, but now I have a feeling you are guilty.” He glanced past her. “Are you stealing tools from Bomrosy again?”

  Before she could come up with an excuse, Bomrosy walked in the door and shut it carefully behind her. She paused, then grinned at Kai. “Hello, stranger. Can I put in an order for more fishy purple carrots?”

  Kai sat down on the bench with his legs spread. “Don’t mention it. If I hear one more person complain about how they should get more food because they took down more mogs, I will jump out the window.” He rolled his shoulders. “I don’t know how Xiona dealt with these people all day.”

  At the mention of her name, an awkward silence entered the room. Vic sacrificed herself and broke it. “So, who’s ready to see me get branded?”

  Bomrosy coughed and pretended to be fascinated with a glass object on her workbench.

  Kai squeezed her hand, and his callouses brushed against her pale skin. “Sorry about this.”

  Vic shrugged. “I can’t wear the bandage forever. Or I could? Make it a new fashion statement? The founders would be all over this. Bandage necklaces.” She attempted a fashion pose and pursed her lips.

  Bomrosy laughed, and the cheerful sound made Vic feel slightly better.

  Kai
raised his brows at her nervous rambling. “It’s almost time to hunt, so we better get moving.”

  All three of them left Bomrosy’s workshop, the hallways now empty of reapers who were probably resting before their shift. On the first floor, they went to the back room for branding ceremonies and glanced around before entering. The gloomy branding room remained empty. Vic thought it always smelled like smoky, burnt flesh. They flicked on the magic lights. The icy stone walls would be their only witness.

  “I hear you’re in the sewers again?” Kai asked as he gathered kindling for the flames.

  “No comment.” Vic stared ahead. Kai got to avoid the sewers since he took turns patrolling with each team. “Somehow, you’re never with us when we end up there. A weird coincidence, no?”

  Kai built the fire and swiftly heated the branding iron. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The light from the fire hit his golden-sepia skin just right, making it glow warmly in the dim room.

  “Sure.” She grabbed the edge of the bandage and peeled it off, flinching as her already raw skin rippled in pain. This was a mistake. He took the iron out of the flames and held it close to her. The heat from the brand hurt, and Kai hadn’t even placed it on her neck yet.

  “Can I just keep the bandage on my neck?” Vic pleaded. She’d never imagined branding the tender flesh of her neck this many times.

  She knelt in the empty room while Kai stood over her. Quite the difference from her first time getting the Nyx brand.

  “I’m surprised the healed skin turned out so well. You did a glorious job skinning her, Kai.” Bomrosy acted like Vic was one of her experiments.