by Melanie Card
“But you suffered, and I could have said something. Quayestri don’t let innocent people suffer.”
“Only in an ideal world, and this one is anything but ideal,” Ward said. “If it was, surgery would be legal. Hundreds of lives could be saved if the Grewdian Council proclaimed it legal to perform necropsies and we learned about the inner workings of the body. Physicians could study the dead and learn to help the living, and—”
“No need to convince me. I already agree with you on it.” Nazarius raised his hands, his expression lightening, the shadow of his guilt easing from his eyes and aura.
“Sorry. Guess I’m still passionate about it.”
“You still need to be careful about who you show this passion to.”
“Why? I’ve got an assassin and a Tracker by my side. I think I’m protected from violence and the law,” Ward said with a laugh.
The shadow of guilt darkened Nazarius’s gaze, and he turned his attention back to the valley.
Ward sighed. He knew what that meant. “You have to leave.”
“I’m the Seer’s man. I go where I’m commanded.” Nazarius’s hands dropped to the hilts of his weapons again.
“The Master or the Grewdian Council?” If it was the Master’s command, then Nazarius was still trapped, and Ward didn’t know how to free him.
“The Seer of Dulthyne, actually. Two days ago, he foresaw a bit of trouble in a village a few days from here. This afternoon a bird arrived from the Council asking the Seer to tell the duchess she had to send half a dozen men to investigate.”
“So he had a true vision?” During their short time in Dulthyne, the Seer had been influenced by the curse and hadn’t had a true vision. The incident had left a scar on his soul that Ward knew would take a long time to heal.
“He’ll be all right,” Nazarius said, as if thinking the same thing. “He just needs time.”
“We all do. Even you.”
Nazarius snorted. “I’m good. I’ve got half a dozen soldiers to back me up if this little bit of trouble becomes a problem. Besides, I’m friends with an assassin and a vivimancer. What one can’t handle the other can.”
“You just have to send a message,” Ward said.
“Works both ways. Although I suspect you and Celia will be easier to find than me.” Nazarius flashed Ward a warm smile and turned to head back inside. “The two of you are going to stick out wherever you go.”
“Safe travels, Lord Tracker.”
Nazarius dropped into a full one-kneed court bow. “You, too, Master Vivimancer.”
After a heartbeat, he rose and strode from the patio. Ward leaned against the railing and watched him go. When Ward had first met Nazarius, he’d never thought the Quayestri Tracker would have become a friend. Now he was one of the few to be counted first.
He stared at the candlelight in the parlor and the magic shimmering from it and the people inside. He scanned the group for Celia out of habit but knew she wasn’t there. Just like he always found himself alone on the patio mesmerized by the sunset, she found herself in the soldiers’ training grounds, teaching Dulthyne’s finest a thing or two about fighting dirty.
They were so different. He was still astounded she hadn’t killed him in the last four weeks—particularly when he’d run headlong into trouble and she knew running away was best. And yet, it was their differences that made them stronger. Celia challenged him to become a better, stronger man. He never would have thought he was capable of even half the things he’d done since meeting her.
Warmth filled him. The heady, toe-curling simmer he always got when he thought of Celia choosing to be with him. When all this had started, he’d thought she was only sticking around because she didn’t know what kind of spell he’d cast on her to bring her back from the dead. Now he knew a different kind of spell had been cast, the kind only the Goddess could cast on two souls. He didn’t need Celia Carlyle, and she certainly didn’t need him, but together they complemented each other, supported each other, and challenged each other. No, he didn’t need her, but he certainly wanted her. And she wanted him back.
He headed into the parlor. The Duchess of Dulthyne caught his gaze and gave him a warm smile but didn’t call him over. After the first couple of uncomfortable nights, she’d stopped asking him to socialize with Dulthyne’s high society—as small as it was. Stories of Ward and Celia defeating the city’s curse and closing the Gate of the Abyss had swept through the city, and people kept giving him strange, furtive glances, some fearful while others were filled with awe. Even Ward’s family looked at him with side glances when they thought he wasn’t paying attention.
He eased past his uncle and Jared talking with the city’s mine master. Jared glanced at him. His gaze leapt to the mine master, back to Ward, and he rolled his eyes. Socializing with nobility wasn’t something Jared enjoyed, either. He mumbled an excuse to his father and joined Ward on the other side of the parlor, walking with him as he stepped into the hall.
“Please convince Grandfather we’re done here. If I hear about one more eligible daughter, I might scream,” Jared said.
Ward chuckled and headed deeper into the glimmering white halls with Jared beside him. Necromancers usually weren’t considered good husband material—too creepy, with their dealings with the dead—but since the curse had been destroyed, Ward’s family was being seen in a new light.
“The Lady Ingrith, Duchess of Dulthyne, is unwed.” And looking, although given that she now controlled the city until her nephew came of age, she’d probably have many suitors soon.
“She is pretty, but I’m not sure she’d like the roaming necromancer lifestyle,” Jared said. “Your lady, though…I’m guessing she’s the one who’ll drag you across the Union looking for adventure.”
Ward was actually a little surprised Celia hadn’t started demanding they leave Dulthyne already, although she was fighting with the soldiers every night. Perhaps that eased her need for action. And perhaps spending the last month running for their lives had satisfied any desire for adventure she might ever have. “I’m not sure ‘drag’ is the right word anymore.”
“A few weeks ago I wouldn’t have thought you the adventure type.” Jared shrugged.
“A few weeks ago you wouldn’t have expected to find me undead and running headlong into trouble.”
Jared snorted. “There is that. So what now? Settle down? Start a healing clinic? I have no doubt the Grewdian Council would love to get their hands on you.”
“The Council, the Quayestri, and any number of princes.” The thought had occurred to Ward as well. He was going to need a plan, but he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his newfound abilities, and he wasn’t going to make any decisions without talking with Celia.
“Whatever you do, if you need a necromancer, you just have to call,” Jared said.
“You sure you want to offer that? My doing often involves pirates and vesperitti and Innecroestris and scary people with swords.”
“I’ve been learning a few things from this skinny cousin of mine about doing the right thing, even when it involves scary people with swords.” They reached the stairs leading up to Ward and Celia’s guest suite. Jared leaned on the carved stone banister and held out his hand for Ward to shake. “I’ve learned a lot from this particular cousin.”
Ward took Jared’s offered hand. He didn’t know what to say. Jared had always been the bigger, stronger, more magically gifted cousin, and Ward had been…well, Ward.
“I’m proud to be your cousin.” Jared clasped their hands, capturing Ward’s in both of his. “Safe travels.”
“Thank you.”
Jared’s smile deepened, and he strode back down the hall toward the parlor. Ward climbed the stairs and headed to the suite he shared with Celia. It was still fairly early in the evening, and she was probably still practicing with the soldiers, but when he opened the door to the suite, soft lantern light flickered from the partially closed bedroom door.
He crossed the small sittin
g room and eased open the bedroom door. Celia lay in bed, her black hair splayed across the white pillow just like she’d been when he’d first seen her. She was stunningly beautiful, with sculpted features, long dark eyelashes, and pale skin. A hint of her aura shimmered round her, giving her an unearthly appearance that stole his breath. Every time he looked at her, with or without seeing her aura, she stole his breath. She was amazing and strong and wild, and she’d chosen to be with him.
“It’s not wise to enter a lady’s bedchamber without her consent.” She opened one pale blue eye and captured him, body, breath, and soul.
“Particularly since I know this lady sleeps with a dagger under her pillow,” he said.
She smiled, and the warmth in his chest expanded.
“But I think this time I have her consent,” he said.
She shifted and pushed back the covers, making room for him, and her smile turned seductive. “You do.”
He sat in the space she provided and reached for the top button of his shirt to undress for bed, but she pushed his hands away.
“Let me do that,” she said, her tone soft, still alluring, with a gentleness that came with an affection deeper than just desire, but with true friendship.
“Always trying to undress me.” The first time she’d unbuttoned his shirt had been over a month ago, shortly after she’d stabbed him in the arm in the cavern in Brawenal City. He’d thought she was dead then and had stopped himself before anything could happen.
She flicked open the first two buttons. “It does seem to be one of our things.”
“And what are some of our other things?” He leaned close with only a breath between them.
She dipped in and brushed her lips against his then dipped away. “Maybe a little bit of this.”
“Just a little?”
Mirth brightened her eyes. Eyes he’d once thought frozen and deadly. Now he knew different.
He wrapped an arm behind her back, tugged her close, and kissed her. He wanted to show her how much he loved her, how much he was committed to her. Theirs was a love forged out of trial, life and death, honor and trust, and fate. He poured everything he felt, all his appreciation and respect and desire for her into that kiss, until they were breathless and the heat in his chest sizzled.
She eased her lips away, her forehead pressed to his; her hands slipped inside his shirt, hot against his skin. “I love you, Ward de’Ath. You are the best man I’ve ever met and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“I thought the traditional thing was that the man was supposed to do the proposing?” he said, his heart filled with joy.
She leaned back and quirked an eyebrow. “Have you ever known me to do the traditional thing?”
He dipped in for another quick kiss. “Nope.”
“And really, if we’re going with tradition, my father would make an arrangement with your father, we’d be marched to the Goddess’s altar, and a dowry would exchange hands.”
“It’s so romantic when you put it that way,” he said.
“Exactly. I like this way better.” She flicked open another button.
His gaze dropped to her hands and the bandage around her forearm. “You’ve hurt yourself.”
“It’s just a nick.” She shrugged and undid another button. “The sergeant got in a lucky strike tonight.”
“Let me look at it anyway.”
“Don’t bother.”
Ward captured her arm. “I want to bother. What’s the point of being a vivimancer if I can’t heal the one I love?”
She sighed and let him undo the bandage. The cut wasn’t deep, enough to bleed but not to require stitches. He drew a small thread of magic from the flame in the lantern on the bedside table and let it seep into her skin. Warmth filled him, her awe and love for him as well as a hint of the magic he now controlled. The cut finished sealing shut, and the red skin faded into white.
“I’ll never get tired of watching that,” she said.
He wouldn’t, either. It still amazed him how easy it was to draw on magic that wasn’t supposed to exist and heal in ways that no one was supposed to be able to do. Ward brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
Her smile deepened. “And I’ll never get tired of your kisses, either.”
“But you will get tired of being in Dulthyne.”
She pursed her lips.
“You already are.” And in that moment he knew he was, too. He’d spent his time amazed at the sunset, he’d healed Nazarius, Declan, and as many as he could from the village. The village was rebuilding, the Necromancer Council of Elders had determined Ward didn’t need to be punished, and Nazarius was heading out on his next assignment. Everyone was moving on, and it was time for Ward to move on, too, but he didn’t know where or to what.
Celia squeezed his hand, her expression worried. “But I’ll stay here if here is where you want to be. You are what’s important to me.”
“But I shouldn’t make you choose between me and your nature.”
“Natures can change. You’ve taught me that.” She raised her chin, revealing her strength and determination. “I’m not the same person you woke from the dead. I’m who I want to be, and what I want is to be with you.”
“I thought it was you teaching me natures can change.”
“Don’t turn this around, Ward de’Ath,” she said, her tone turning playful again. “This is an argument I intend to win.”
“But fighting with you is so much fun.”
She grabbed the front of his shirt, wrenched him down to the bed, and straddled him. “Fun, huh?”
“Yes.” He leaned up and kissed her until she relaxed, her body molding into his, pressed tight. “I know you said let’s not tempt fate about seeing what the Goddess sends us next, but—”
“You’re bored, too,” she said, her lips still against his. “I’m going to have to work on that.”
“I’m never bored with you.” He wrapped his arms around her. “But the Goddess has given us these gifts, me magic, you martial training. I think we should use them.”
“Don’t tell me you actually want to search out trouble?” she asked in mock horror.
“I want to search out everything with you.” He hooked that lock of hair curled by her cheek behind her ear. “Will you travel with me for life?”
“You can’t turn this around on me,” she said with a fake, playful pout. “I proposed first.”
“So that’s a yes?”
“It’s a yes.”
He kissed her, his heart filled with warmth, the light from her aura shimmering in a halo around them, and she kissed him back. Death had brought them together, and now life awaited. He couldn’t wait to see what adventure they’d find next, together.
Did you love this Entangled Teen digital-first book? Check out more of our titles here!
And for exclusive sneak peeks at our upcoming books, excerpts, contests, chats with our authors and editors, and more…
Be sure to like us on Facebook
Join the Teen Book Club
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Instagram
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Liz Pelletier, Robin Haseltine, and the team at Entangled Publishing for their continued belief in Ward and Celia, as well as a special thanks to J. Gunnar Grey for your friendship and invaluable critiques.
And last but not least, I cannot express how grateful I am to my husband for supporting me and encouraging me to follow my dreams.
About the Author
Melanie has always been drawn to story telling and can’t remember a time when she wasn’t creating a story in her head. Her early stories were adventures with fairies and dragons and sword swinging princesses. Today she continues to spin tales of magic in lands near and far, while her cat sits on the edge of her desk and supervises. When she’s not writing, you can find her pretending to be other people thanks to her local community theatre groups.
Sign up for our Teen newsletter a
nd be the first to hear about new releases from Melanie Card and other fantastic Entangled authors!
Reviews help other readers find books. We appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative. Thank you for reading!
Discover the Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer…
Ward Against Death
Ward Against Darkness
Ward Against Disaster
Discover more Entangled Teen titles…
Scintillate
by Tracy Clark
Cora Sandoval’s mother disappeared when she was five and they were living in Ireland. Since then, her dad has been more than overprotective, and Cora is beginning to chafe under his confines. But even more troubling is the colorful light she suddenly sees around people. Everyone, that is, except herself— instead, she glows a brilliant, sparkling silver. As she realizes the danger associated with these strange auras, Cora is inexplicably drawn to Finn, a gorgeous Irish exchange student who makes her feel safe. But then she meets another silverhaloed person and discovers the meaning of her newfound powers and their role in a conspiracy spanning centuries— one that could change mankind forever…and end her life.
Gravity
by Melissa West
In the future, only one rule will matter: Don’t. Ever. Peek. Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed—arrogant Jackson Locke. Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.
Dragons Are People, Too
by Sarah Nicolas
Not only is sixteen-year-old Kitty Lung a were-dragon, but she’s a secret operative charged with protecting the president’s son. Plus her mom is also her boss, and Kitty is secretly smitten with her über-hot partner, Bulisani Mathe. Then all hell breaks loose. Dragons are being hunted by humans and some kind of spirit creature has kidnapped the president’s son. Now Kitty and Bulisani are the last free dragons. Their mission? To rescue the president’s son, and free their draconic kin. And somehow manage to stay alive.
