“She’s as lovely as her mother,” he murmured, turning to show that he cradled Lyssa in his arms. The baby’s gaze was fixed on his red hair as if fascinated by the bright color.
Lucia’s heart stuttered to a stop at the sight of her daughter in the grip of a monster. “Put her down, Kyan.”
Kyan turned and raised an eyebrow, his brown eyes finally fixing upon Lucia. For all he looked like Nic, right down to the freckles on his pale face, she could see the ancient fire god that now existed behind his gaze.
“So, you’ve heard that I’ve found a new home,” he said.
“I swear, I will end you, right here and now.” Lucia pulled the amber orb from her pocket, knowing she didn’t have the magic to live up to her threats—not today—but she prayed he didn’t realize that.
“I only came here to talk,” Kyan said. “This doesn’t have to be unpleasant.”
“Put my daughter down.”
“I feel like an uncle to this little one. Lyssa is like family to me.” He gazed down at the baby’s face. “Aren’t you? You can call me Uncle Kyan. Oh, we’ll have great fun together if your mother ever forgives me for my horribly bad behavior.”
Lucia gaped at him for a moment before she began to laugh. It sounded more like a hiccup. “You want me to forgive you?”
“This young and healthy body has given me a fresh outlook on life.” He kissed Lyssa on her forehead before he gently placed her back into her cradle. “Your pregnancy was impossibly swift, wasn’t it? Magically so, I’d say.”
When he turned to face Lucia again, she struck him hard across his face.
So hard that her hand stung from the blow.
Kyan’s brown eyes flashed with blue light, and he wiped the trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth with his thumb.
“Don’t ever do that again,” he hissed.
Lucia fisted her hand, appalled at her own lack of control. But she’d needed to strike him, needed to try to hurt him.
And she’d made him bleed.
Kyan didn’t bleed. In his former body—that of a fellow immortal Melenia had chosen to be his original shell a small eternity ago—she’d watched as his hand was impaled by a dagger. It had been a bloodless injury that had healed in moments.
If he bled, that meant that he was vulnerable.
His gaze narrowed on the amber orb still in her grip.
“You know what I can do,” Lucia said as evenly as she could. “You know I have the magic to imprison you just like Timotheus can.”
It was the biggest bluff of her entire life, and she prayed that he couldn’t sense her dwindling elementia.
“I didn’t come here for a confrontation,” he said simply.
“Funny how seeing you holding my daughter after sneaking into the palace feels very much like a confrontation to me.”
Kyan shook his head. “It’s unfortunate that we’ve come to this, little sorceress. We got along very well for a time. You helped me and I helped you until our unfortunate disagreement.”
“You turned into a monster made of fire and tried to kill me.”
“Not a monster, little sorceress. A god. And you should know, your grandmother’s magic was a pale comparison to yours. She failed in doing what I needed her to do.”
Lucia took a breath, tried to remain in control of her erratic emotions. “I heard.”
Kyan’s gaze flicked to the orb again. “Olivia is close by. If anything happens to me, anything at all, she will summon an earthquake great enough to send this kingdom and everyone in it into the sea, like nothing more than a tiny pebble cast into a deep pond.”
She wondered if he too was bluffing. If he was weak and vulnerable, the earth Kindred could be the same, despite being within the shell of an immortal Watcher.
Finally, she pocketed the orb. “Say what you came here to say.”
He nodded, then ran a hand through his messy red hair. “I need to apologize for my treatment of you, little sorceress. And then I need to ask for your help.”
Lucia almost laughed out loud at this.
First Cleo, and now Kyan.
It had been quite a day so far.
“Go on,” she said.
Kyan frowned and turned toward the balcony. “All I wanted was to be reunited with my siblings—flesh and blood, unlike we’ve ever existed together before. Free from our prisons to experience what it means to truly exist. And yes, I still believe this world is flawed. And yes, I would still burn it to ash and begin again.” He spared a glance at her. “But I would be satisfied simply to rule over this imperfect world. And you could be my most trusted advisor.”
Ah, so he’d decided to be “charming” Kyan again. The same one who’d lulled her into the belief that she could be friends with a god.
“Is that all?” she replied drily. “You just want to rule the world.”
“Yes.”
“And for that, you need my magic.”
“Even if your grandmother hadn’t been killed, the ritual she partially performed still wasn’t right.” He stared down at his hands. The triangle symbol for fire magic was visible on his palm, but pale like an old scar.
She frowned. “What’s not right about it?”
“Nothing has been right since my awakening. Melenia intervened, as she always did. She helped me take form more than a millennium ago, and I suppose she felt herself knowledgeable enough to do it again when the time came. I woke in my former body without your direct intervention. I’m certain she sent one of her slaves to raise me with his or her blood—strengthened by the massacre of the battle I awoke to—far weaker than I should have been. Far weaker than if you’d done it yourself as it was meant to be.”
Lucia fell silent, allowing Kyan to speak. She had wanted to know this since the beginning, why she had been able to see his location on the glowing map of Mytica during the location spell with Alexius, but she’d sensed that he was already awake.
Idiotic Melenia, allowing her impatience to be reunited with her lover to taint her decisions.
Perhaps Lucia should thank Melenia for her impatience, though. It had kept the fire god from awakening as powerful as he could have been.
“Tell me, how are Cleiona and Taran?” Kyan asked after falling silent for a moment, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.
“Fine,” she lied.
He sent an amused look at her. “I find that hard to believe.”
“They seem fine to me. Totally in control of themselves and their bodies . . . unlike Nic and Olivia. It only shows me even more how my grandmother failed you.”
“She certainly did,” he agreed.
“Perhaps they will learn to channel the magic within them as well as I can.”
“You think so, do you?”
“Sure.” It was what Cleo said she wanted—to control her magic.
Kyan shook his head. “Cleiona and Taran cannot control what doesn’t belong to them. And if they try, they will fail and die.” He turned to lock gazes with her. “But I think you know this already.”
Lucia tried so hard not to react, but she felt the truth of what Kyan said deep in her gut. “How do I save them?”
“You can’t. Their lives are forfeit. Their bodies have already been claimed by my siblings.”