A Soul for Vengeance

Chapter 20



Arden held the pendant long after her reflection had replaced Zara’s. Her mind whirled from the news. The Thallians had conquered her homeland. Kell had even been hurt. And she’d known nothing about any of it.

At least she knew the reason why Kell never answered her summons. He’d lost the mirror, but by some stroke of luck, he’d have it again soon, and she could lay some of her worries to rest.

She held no reservations about returning to Ranello to help Kell, but she also knew she couldn’t do it alone. She’d need the help of a god if she wanted to drive the Thallians out. And that meant making peace with Loku. She lifted her shields just enough to hear his voice again.

“So now you come crawling back to me?” He spat the words at her. “Why should I help you when you’ve been too stupid to realize they’ve been duping you the entire time you’ve been here?”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a reason they haven’t bothered to teach you Elvish. Just take a look at all the letters on your father’s desk.”

Arden crossed the study and peered at the stack of paper and the incomprehensible combinations of slashes and swirls that covered them. “You can read this?”

“Am I a god, remember?”

“Then what do they say?”

Loku laughed. “I’d be more than happy to teach you a little spell that will translate everything for you. Of course, you’d have to release some of your restraints on me.”

There was always a catch. The last few months had only proven to her that Loku was willing to manipulate her for his own means. What if this was another attempt to take over her body again?

She stared at the letters, trying to find something familiar in them, and seeing nothing. She sighed and loosened her restraints on Loku a bit more. “Fine.”

Magic rippled along her spine, but she clamped down on it before it reached her shoulders. She could hear the pout in Loku’s voice as he said, “You’re no fun anymore.”

“You should’ve thought about that before you tricked me into coming here.” She tapped the pages. “Now, back to the letters.”

A heavy sighed echoed through her mind. “Very well. It’s simple, really. Touch the page and order the words to be translated.”

“That sounds ridiculous.”

“Do you doubt me before you even try it?”

“You haven’t given me much reason to believe you lately.”

“Ah, my little Soulbearer has finally cut her teeth, and it’s very enticing indeed.” The sensation of fingers caressing the back of her neck stopped her breath. “Think of the fun we could have once we get back to Ranello. You, me, and the glorious chaos of destroying the Thallians.”

Images of the earth rolling under the feet of an army filled her mind. The ground opened up and swallowed them whole, their screams making her pulse jump with a mixture of joy and terror.

“Yes, Arden, see how simple it could be once we get you home. I’m sure your prince would be so grateful. He was always much more appreciative of you than Dev.”

Pain wiped out the images when Arden heard Dev’s name. She’d be going back to Ranello without him, and the idea of that opened up a new level of vulnerability. She’d grown so accustomed to him following her every move over the last year that it seemed strange to be planning a trip without him at her side.

But nothing could be done about that now. He’d made his choice, and she needed to focus on the task at hand. She followed Loku’s vague instructions, splaying her fingers along the bottom of the page and channeling her magic toward the words. The ink lines trembled at first, then turned to liquid and flowed into new shapes as though the ink were fresh and being directed by the hand of an invisible scribe. New words appeared on the page, ones she easily recognized.

She scanned the contents of the first letter. The Empress was ordering Varrik to secure the contents of the castle in case Thallus tried to invade Gravaria next. The second letter from Arano described how the Thallians were using something called kokalla to enslave the Ranellians and asked her father if there was a suitable treatment for it.

But it was the third letter that turned her blood to fire.

She should’ve recognized the heavy strokes as Dev’s handwriting. When the contents were translated, she read it again to make sure she hadn’t misunderstood the contents.

Varrik, please let me know when the pass is clear so I may retrieve her and bring her back to the Conclave where she belongs.

Arden crumpled the letter up in her fist. Dev knew where she was, and her father was in on the plan. So much for his promise to keep her presence here a secret. Was there anyone she could trust?

“And here he was trying to make me look like the bad guy,” Loku said. “But don’t worry. I know a way we can clear the pass before Dev even knows to come this way.”

“Show me.”

The chaos god chuckled. “Let’s go.”

Arden tossed the letter back on the desk, not bothering to smooth the paper back out. Let her father know she’d read his letters. Maybe then he’d think twice about deceiving her. She ran to her room, Cinder tight on her heels, and collected her things in a matter of minutes. But when she came down the stairs, Callix was there to block her escape.

“Where are you going, Soulbearer?”

“That’s none of your business.” She pushed past him. “Tell my father I know the truth about everything and I’m going home.”

The dark-haired elf grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the study. “No, you’re staying here until he gives you permission to leave.”

Permission? The mere thought of that word awakened a stream of irate magic that flowed down her arm. This wasn’t Ranello where she was under the control of her blood, and she wasn’t a simple girl who was content to be ordered around by a stranger.

Callix yelped and released her. Tendrils of smoke rose from his reddened palm.

She glared at him without a shred of pity. “No one tells me what I can and cannot do, especially when my homeland is in danger.”

Once she’d slammed the door behind her, Loku added, “Perhaps we should make sure they don’t follow us.”

“Brilliant idea.” She pressed her palm against the door, sealing it shut. A new wave of yellow-green magic followed, surpassing her efforts and wrapping around the entire castle. Now all the exits were sealed shut. “Thank you, Loku.”

“Anything for you, my little Soulbearer,” he replied, his voice oozing affection now.

The grounds remained silent as she saddled her horse and rode toward the pass. Cinder loped alongside her like an eager pup, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as frost plumed around him with each breath. She stopped in front of the wall of snow wedged between the rock walls, blocking her escape. “How are we going to clear this?”

“You have no idea how happy I am to hear you refer to us as ‘we’ again.” A trickle of his giddiness danced through her gut. “Please, allow me to do it for you.”

Which of course meant granting more control to him. She eased up her restrictions a little more, and a tempest of magic poured out of her fingers. She reined it in, steering it toward the remnants of the avalanche. Cracks fissured the hard-packed snow. A blast of wind followed, and as quickly as the avalanche had blocked her escape months before, the pass opened up.

Arden tapped her restraints back in place just in case Loku had more destruction in mind. “Thank you again.”

“Any time.” A pair of invisible arms wrapped around her in a warm hug. “At this rate, we should get to Hebera just as storm season is ending.”

And once she found a ship to take her back to Ranello, she was going home.

Dev could’ve spotted Arden on the streets of Queembra even without Varrik’s tracking spell. She’d pulled the hood of her cloak down low to conceal her face, but he knew the grace of her movements, the pout of her bottom lip, the impatient way she tugged her horse through the crowded street.

Besides, very few people had the gall to travel with a fire wolf.

A brief moment of panic had seized him when he received Varrik’s letter telling him Arden had managed to escape Lothmore. But for once, Lady Luck had smiled down on him. She’d have to pass through Queembra to get to Hebera. That, combined with the tracking spell Varrik had imbued on her necklace, made his job simple. All he had to do was wait for her to come to him, and then he’d drag her back to the palace where he’d have an ample opportunity to reprimand her for running away. He even toyed with the idea of binding her in those mithral chains while he did it, but the temptation of her in bed might be his undoing. Even now, his pants grew uncomfortably tight at the image.

By Jessup, he missed everything about her, from her hot temper to her sassy retorts to the way her breath always seemed to catch every time he came near her. He missed the music of her laugh, the gentle touch of her hand, the clean scent of apples that seemed to cling to her skin. He even missed the way she completely spoiled Cinder and had stolen the fire wolf’s loyalty away from him. And as soon as the Empress selected his replacement, he was going to come clean about everything.

He ducked back into the shadows as she drew near, holding his breath until it was the perfect moment to spring. His hand clamped around her mouth, muffling her scream while he dragged her into the narrow alley. A set of sturdy teeth bit into his gloved hand, and an elbow jabbed him in the ribs. His breath exited in a hiss of pain. He whirled her around and pressed her back against the wall. “That’s enough.”

Her eyes grew into perfect circles. The familiar yellow-green ring around her irises flashed. “Dev?”

“Just be thankful it was me. Now come along—you’re coming back to the palace.”

He tried to pull her with him into the street, but she jerked her arm free. “I refused to be jailed again, especially when Kell needs me.”

A stab of pain followed by a rush of jealousy coursed through him. He’d finally gotten her back, and all she could think about was that pretty-boy prince. He managed to grab ahold of her wrist, squeezing it until she stopped resisting him. “Do you seriously think you’d be able to sneak back into Ranello all by yourself without getting caught?”

She lifted that stubborn little chin of hers. “You forget what I’m capable of doing.”

He replied with a one-note laugh. “The whole empire knows what you’re capable of doing, Trouble—they’re still cleaning up the mess here from your last disaster.”

“Don’t call me that.” Her upper lip curled into a snarl, and she wrestled even harder against him. “Besides, why should you care what I do? You resigned as my Protector, remember?”

It was almost too much to bear. The angry flush on her cheeks. The unconscious way her curves rubbed against him as she struggled, teasing him in ways she’d probably never intended. The disdain in her voice that challenged him to prove himself. With the exception of the one night he’d accidentally drunk too much, he’d held his desire in check. He’d forced his feelings for her under the surface for fear he’d let his guard down, and she’d pay the price for his negligence. But now was the time to let her know the truth.

He backed her against the wall again, cupping her face in his hands, and kissed like he’d been wanting to do from the moment he’d first laid eyes on her. Her breath caught when his lips met hers, her body stiffening under him. He pressed on, deepening the kiss, silently begging her to open herself up to him.

And when she did, a moan of pleasure replaced her hotheaded protests.

The last time they’d kissed, he’d held back for fear of losing control. Now he held nothing back as his tongue danced with hers. He wanted to show her the depths of his feelings, from the way his blood warmed with arousal with each caress to the way his soul hummed in peace from holding her in his arms. He wanted her to know why he’d resisted so long, and why he’d finally chosen her over his duty. He wanted to show her how much he loved her so there would never be any doubt about it.

But with each dizzying spiral, he came closer to losing the last shreds of restraint. If he didn’t stop now, he’d risk making an ass of himself in public and doing all the things he’d pictured doing to her in bed. He broke away, his hands still holding her cheeks. “Later,” he said, as much a promise to himself as it was to her. “Right now, you need to come back to the palace and have a bath.”

Her brows pinched together, her blue eyes still glazed. “A bath?”

“Yes, a bath. You’re covered in mud, in case you haven’t noticed.”

She glanced down at her splattered boots and cloak before hiding her grimy hands behind her, her cheeks reddening more over that than their very public kiss. “Please, Dev, I can’t afford to waste any time.”

Neither could he, but for an entirely different reason. Even after he’d shown her how much he cared for her, it wasn’t enough to sway her from her desire to return to Ranello. Perhaps he’d waited too long and had lost his chance to claim her heart. He sighed and took a step back, trying to hide the pain in his voice as he said, “And you won’t. If you want to have any impact against the Thallians, though, you’ll be much more effective if you can convince the Empress to send forces with you.”

“As if Marist would even be willing to listen to me.”

“You won’t know until you try.”

She stared at him as though she were trying to gauge his honesty. The ring in her eyes glowed, further adding to his unease. Despite Varrik’s assurances that Arden had managed to successfully control Loku, the chaos god still whispered thoughts in her mind. Loku was undoubtedly thrilled at catching Dev in his moment of weakness and would use it to manipulate Arden in the future. But for now, all he cared about was getting her off the streets and behind the safe walls of the palace. He held out his hand. “You’re the one who said you couldn’t waste any time.”

Her gaze traveled from his hand back up to his face. She slid along the wall toward where her horse waited, her eyes never leaving him. “I suppose I could risk staying there one night.”

“Thank you.” All he needed was one night, and he was determined to make the most of it.

Arden ran her fingers through the tepid bath water, recalling the first spell Dev had challenged her to perform. Tendrils of steam rose from the once still surface as her magic heated it to the temperature she preferred. She stripped her mud-caked clothes, wrinkling her nose at how dirty she’d become during her ride, and sank down into the tub.

“That was a rather interesting turn of events, wasn’t it?”

Arden yelped at the unexpected question from Loku. Her nerves were already rattled enough as it was from Dev’s kiss. Sweet Lady Moon, what had gotten into him? “You didn’t cast another one of your spells on him again, did you?”

The chaos god chuckled. “No, my dear little Soulbearer, that magic was all you. Seems you’ve managed to make Dev forget about his duty for once. And don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy every second of it.”

Enjoy was putting it lightly. If he hadn’t stopped when he did, she would’ve ripped his clothes off and done things to him on a public street that would have everyone around them convinced that Loku had finally driven her mad. “I won’t deny it, but I’ll also add that I’m still confused by his kiss.”

“You’re dumber than I thought you were if his kiss left you confused.”

“Perhaps I’ve become suspicious of everyone’s motives after all the shit you’ve put me through.” She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her cheek on them. “As much as I’d like to believe Dev might feel something for me, I suspect he only kissed me to shut me up.”

“My dear, if I still had a body, I’d kiss you to shut you up. And then I’d follow it up with all sorts of naughty things, starting with taming that wicked little mouth of yours.”

A flush rose from the pit of her stomach clear up to her temples. “Well, thank goodness you don’t have a body.”

“We can still remedy that, you know. I’m sure there’s a way to find out where your father hid my ashes.”

She rolled her eyes. “Not going there, Loku.”

“Too bad. You don’t know what you’re missing.” A set of invisible fingers danced down her spine, sending shivers through her with each step. “But then, perhaps you don’t want me to know that you know what kind of power you wield over Dev.”

“Power?”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t notice how aroused he was.”

As if she could forget. The last time he’d kissed her like that, he’d been under a spell. Today was different. She could actually taste his hunger, but it was tempered with something else that left her warm and pliable in his arms. She’d known simple desire with Kell. This went far beyond that. “I’m not going to use sex to manipulate Dev.”

“Then why don’t you use it to enjoy the moment? I can’t guarantee you’ll ever have a more perfect opportunity to get him off his high horse and buried deep within you.”

Arden gasped at Loku’s crude insinuations, only to catch herself lingering on the thought more than she ought to. How many times had Dev refused her under the guise of his role as her Protector? How many times had she opened her heart up to him only to be rebuffed? Her eyes stung. “I’m sorry, Loku, but I’m too scared to take another chance on him. It’s not worth the heartache.”

“Perhaps this time will be different.”

She was about to ask him what he meant when the door creaked open. She glanced over her shoulder as Dev stepped into the room, his eyes downcast. Loku’s presence faded from her mind—a small blessing since she didn’t need his voyeuristic commentary right now. She shifted so her back was to him and hugged her legs even more closely to her chest, trying to ignore the warm fluttering in her stomach. “You could’ve at least knocked.”

“Yes, I could’ve.” He strolled toward her, each thump of his boots quickening her pulse. He knelt beside her. “You haven’t washed your hair yet.”

“Perhaps I was just about to get to that before you barged in.”

She dared to sneak a glance at him. That was her first mistake. The heat in his green eyes set off an inferno deep inside her. Then she made her second mistake—letting him undo the tie on her braid and comb his fingers through her hair.

His voice was soft, and yet it still cracked with his raw desire. “May I?”

She didn’t trust her tongue to make a coherent response, so she nodded. Her shoulders tensed as he dipped his hands into the water behind her, grazing her bare back in the process, and she sucked in a sharp breath.

“Is something wrong, Trouble?”

She forgot all about the awkwardness of him being so close to her when she was completely naked. “You know I hate it when you call me that.”

“Yes,” he replied with a wry smile. “But perhaps I enjoy getting a rise out of you every time I call you that.”

“So you admit that you enjoy annoying me?”

“Only as much as you enjoy annoying me.”

The bath sloshed behind her. A stream of warm water poured from the crown of her head down her back. She let her neck relax and tilted her face up, eyes closed, as Dev repeated it. “Just be careful not to rust out your concealed weapons.”

He graced her with his cynical one-note laugh. “I already took care of them.”

She opened one eye and caught the glint of light on the handle of the knife hidden in his boot. She pulled it out. “Not all of them.”

“I’ve learned to always be prepared for trouble when it comes to you. Now shut up and let me wash the mud out of your hair.”

The last traces of unease faded away as she followed his command. When she’d first met Dev, she balked at the idea of letting him see her without her clothes, much less do something as intimate as this. Now, though, everything about this moment felt so right, from the gentle way he massaged her scalp to the scent of spices and evergreens that rose from his skin as he rinsed the soap from her hair. She could stay like this forever if she could. A mournful note filled her soul when he started wringing the water from her hair. She expected him to step back and order her to get dressed now that she was clean, but he lingered beside her instead.

“Arden, I—” His words choked, and she looked up to find a strange emotion flickering across his face.

“Yes, Dev?”

For a few seconds, neither one of them moved. Her heart pounded as he licked his lips, but his eyes never traveled to below her face. They stayed fixed with hers as though he were trying to channel everything that was inside him through them. Her breath caught when she saw glimpses of tenderness, admiration, and longing in their dark green depths.

“You never gave me a chance to explain before you left.” He tucked her hair behind her ear, sending spear of heat straight into the lowest recess as his fingertips grazed the scarred tips.

“And what would you have said?”

His fingers trailed down along her jaw, then tilted her face toward his. He brushed his lips against her forehead in the gentlest of kisses and said, “I would’ve told you the real reason why I ask to be relieved of my duty as your Protector.”

Her hands trembled in time with her chin. “Which was?”

“Damn it, Arden, can’t you see that I’m so madly in love with you I can’t see straight?”

Before she had a chance to absorb his confession, his mouth was on hers again with the same intense hunger as when he’d kissed her earlier in the alley. This time, she didn’t try to fight it. She never wanted it to end. She grabbed his shirt in her fists, holding on to him for dear life. Dev loved her, and she wasn’t going to let him go for as long as she breathed.

He pulled back, his chest heaving and his pupils wide, his voice tense with barely contained want. “Arden, please.”

She knew what he was asking, and she’d never deny him. “I love you, too, Dev,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck and let him carry her to the bed.