Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

Iwas about to scream and put up a fight when I smelled cardamom and ginger. My favorite spiced-tea-drinking male had pulled me into a broom closet. The low light flickered above Kohen Badshah as he stared at me with wide, bugged eyes. Reaching out, he dragged the tips of his fingers across my temple and then down my jaw, causing a traitorous rush of emotions to wash over me.

"You're alive," he breathed.

His hand shook slightly as he pulled it back. "I… carried your dead, burned body out of The Wilds. But now… you live?"

My heart pinched at the thought of Kohen carrying my body out to the imperial soldiers so that I could be brought back to my father and given a proper burial.

"Yeah," I laughed nervously. "And you bonded the dragon?"

"Onyx," he corrected me.

"Where is he?" I asked, obviously noting he wasn't nearby.

"On the roof of this club, waiting for us to help him free your firebird."

The air whooshed out of me. "What?"

Kohen squared his shoulders. "I saw you bond. The sky glowed like the northern lights, but then you fell. Burned. Dead. And your firebird rained down in ashes. Gone." Kohen relived the memory and I felt bad that he had to see that. He thought I was dead this entire time.

"After I handed over your body, I thought that was it. Until thirty seconds ago when you walked in here and Onyx informed me that Li-ana…" He struggled with the name. "…was being held captive."

Anger like I'd never felt before rushed through me. "Tell me where!" My words were a growl. Who the hell was holding my creature captive? It explained why she hadn't shown up!

Kohen cocked his head to the side. "What are you going to do? Go and save her by yourself?"

"Don't mess with me, Kohen. Where is she?"

He sighed. "Onyx said that he just got word from her. They are old friends. She can't communicate with you because you haven't touched since the rebirth. The bonding needs to…" He paused as if trying to understand what Onyx had told him. "Cement itself in the first twenty-four hours after rebirth or it's broken. It's a firebird thing."

Panic seized me. Twenty-four hours? I'd already wasted nearly twelve of those since I'd woken up in the body bag.

I stepped closer to Kohen. "And Onyx knows where she is?" I pressed.

He gave me a halfcocked grin. "Sounds like you need me. A favor maybe?"

I let the murderous gaze that I had previously reserved for Jace in the Lottery slide over my face.

"Kohen, you don't want to know all the ways I have been taught to dismember a man."

His grin grew wider. "Fine, you don't have to beg, Aisling. But we need to lose the soldiers following you. Liana suspects the Imperial Fleet could have taken her."

No.

Pure shock coated my skin in that moment. "Why would she suspect that?"

Kohen rolled his eyes. "I don't know. But listen, can you meet me on the roof in a few minutes? We obviously can't be seen leaving together."

I snort-laughed. "Obviously."

A flash of hurt crossed his face, but then it was gone, replaced by a mask of indifference. "You have three minutes or we're leaving without you. I'm only helping because Onyx cares for your creature," he snapped and then slipped out of the closet, leaving me alone.

Jeez. Was he about to be on his period or something?

Stomping out of the broom closet, I turned the corner to look for the exit door and ran right into Jace.

His musky cologne hit me like a sack of bricks, and memories of us making out on his couch flashed through my mind. A deep ache formed in my chest and I had to push down the grief that tried to well up.

I thought Jace was my forever; his betrayal hurt me more than I would ever admit.

"Aisling." Jace put his hands on my shoulders.

"Don't. Touch. Me," I growled, and he immediately released me.

He stared at the floor and I moved to sidestep him when he spoke: "My parents are getting divorced," he said.

I froze, shock ripping through me for the second time in a few minutes. Aldric and Brianna were a perfect couple. He the leader of my father's fleet, she the doting housewife who'd raised two rowdy boys to be Imperial Fleet soldiers. She would cook scones from scratch and he would rub her shoulders and ask her if he could pour her a glass of wine. I used to watch them in awe, dreaming I could one day have a marriage like that.

"I don't believe you," I said.

He swallowed hard, his eyes suddenly swimming with tears. "They told us two days before the Lottery and I… lost it. Went out and found the first girl I could and…"

Realizing where he was going with this, I reached up and grabbed his jaw firmly, forcing him to meet my gaze. "Jace Ledger, you will not make excuses for why you cheated on me. Nothing excuses that betrayal."

A tidal wave of emotions threatened to pull me under in that moment. I still hadn't processed the loss of him. These lips that I would kiss until bruised were no longer mine.

He blinked back the tears and nodded, but my heart broke at the sight of him vulnerable. Jace didn't cry. Jace didn't get emotional. Jace was made of steel like me.

"I'm sorry," was all he said. "I know you will never forgive me but… I miss my best friend." He whimpered the last part, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to punch him in the throat or hug him.

"Dammit, Jace, we were so good together," I breathed. My mind was suddenly flooded with memories of making pancakes with him and swimming at the cove and kissing for hours and naming our future children. I put all of my hopes and dreams in him and he crushed them without a second thought because he was having a bad day.

He nodded, picking at his nails and peered up at me with terror. "Tell me we can be friends. I don't deserve to ever have you as a girlfriend again but tell me we can still be friends?"

Dammit.

I had to get on the roof and go after my creature whom my bond would die out with if I didn't find her within the next twelve hours. And I had a curfew! I didn't have time for this soft, mushy stuff.

"I'll think about it," I told him honestly and he sighed, looking relieved. "And I'm sorry about your mom and dad," I added. Maybe his dad cheated too. It was an evil thought that I felt badly for the second it popped into my head.

He nodded. "Thanks."

I squeezed his shoulder and ran for the middle of the dance floor, scanning for my blonde-haired bestie.

I found her dancing her heart out, cane pumping up into the air as her wolf creature sat still at her back as if assessing threats.

"Aisling!" Tetra trilled as I neared. This woman loved to dance, and I never had the heart to tell her that she had zero rhythm. Her confidence was infectious and added to her appeal, making me just smile as I watched her awkwardly thrust her hips to a jerky beat, holding her bad leg up so it wouldn't get stepped on.

Stars, I adored this woman.

I grinned and she threw her arms around me, pulling me in to dance.

My gaze flicked around the room and to the soldiers stationed there. They were all watching me.

Damn.

I leaned into Tetra's ear and whispered: "My creature is being held captive and I have twelve hours to find her. I need to get to the roof and meet Kohen. His dragon is going to take us to her."

I pulled back to see that she was staring at me with wide eyes and an open mouth.

I gave her a fake smile. "I need a distraction," I mouthed, looking at the soldiers.

Her gaze flicked to the men standing against the walls of the club and she nodded.

"Be safe," she mouthed, concerned.

She then bent down and held her creatures gaze.

I had no idea what she was planning, but Tetra was cunning and would come up with something brilliant, I had no doubt. She suddenly dropped to the floor, convulsing as her creature tipped her head to the ceiling and let loose a spine-chilling howl.

Chaos exploded on the dance floor. People scattered, making room for the soldiers to rush towards Tetra as I ran for the exit.

Well, that was certainly a distraction!

I shook my head, slipping into the door that said Stairwell.

I took the stairs two at a time. That bastard better not have left me! I burst out the top of the steps to find Kohen mounted on Onyx's back. The Talanagi was a sight to behold. My heart increased its pounding as I neared the giant beast and he peered at me with curious green eyes. I bowed my head out of respect and Kohen quirked his lips.

"Why are you smiling?" I asked him, just now realizing we were probably going to fly to wherever we were going. Not smart then that I wore a black miniskirt and tights.

"Something Onyx said," Kohen mused.

"What did he say?" I asked as Kohen reached out a hand to me.

At least I was wearing underwear.

I grasped his hand and he hauled me up, tucking me behind him so that I was forced to straddle his backside and cling to his waist to stay seated on the beast.

"I'll never tell," he said, peering back at me.

"Hey, eyes forward. I'm wearing a skirt," I told him.

He scoffed as if my attempt at modesty was funny, but then his face darkened.

I frowned. "Onyx say something funny again?"

Kohen swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "No. It's just that I carried you naked out of the woods for over a mile."

It was like all the air had been sucked from the area and I couldn't breathe.

Kohen Badshah saw me naked. For over a mile.

"Not that I was looking. I was too busy trying to save your life and you were covered in burns," he added.

Silence descended over us and I nodded solemnly. "Thanks for that."

He faced forward, taking in a deep breath as I grasped his waist loosely, and he held on to two horns that protruded from Onyx's head.

"You're going to want to hold tighter than that," he stated.

I sighed, grasping his waist tighter and hating the way my body reacted to him being so close. I felt like I was betraying my father. "Can you get a saddle made or something?" I felt like I was going to fall off.

"Maybe if I were as rich as you." He chuckled. "I'm lucky to get three meals a day. I didn't have time to find any ember while I was fighting for my life in The Wilds."

He lightly clicked his heels and Onyx took off into the sky. My stomach dropped out and I clung to Kohen desperately as we climbed higher, pressing my chest into his back.

Lucky to get three meals a day? Was he joking? Maybe not. Shame washed over me and I wanted to change the subject.

This was crazy. I was flying on a dragon with the ex-prince of Imbria. If my father knew, he'd lose his mind.

We flew in silence northeast across the city towards the farms and rolling hills of Cedar Creek for almost twenty minutes before Onyx began his descent.

There were so many things I wanted to ask Kohen—like did his dragon have special magic? Did Kohen? But I recognized we weren't friends and I didn't want to pry.

As we lowered over what looked like farmlands, I zeroed in on a huge red barn. Something knocked inside of my chest, an awareness of sorts.

"She's in there!" I pointed to the barn.

Kohen nodded.

I could feel her, and now that I could, anger raged within me. They were hurting her somehow.

My nails dug into Kohen's abdomen and he peered back at me. "Easy, tiger, I'm not the one hurting her."

I released my grip and focused on my breathing. Other than a small dagger stashed in my boot, I had no weapon. I wasn't prepared for some rescue mission when I went out clubbing. I should have told my father, let him bring a hundred imperial soldiers to this place and break Liana out… but I didn't. Which meant a small part of me questioned who could have done this. It might be imperial soldiers… That very thought made me sick.

"What's the plan? I didn't bring weapons," I told Kohen as Onyx landed in the thick forest near the barn.

Kohen looked back at me, grinning ear to ear. "This type of thing is my specialty." He winked and my stomach bottomed out.

Why was he so dangerous and good looking? That combo was lethal. The one person my father wanted me to avoid was like a magnet to me. I ended up being around him whether I wanted to or not.

"Not to mention we have a dragon." He smoothed the scales on Onyx's back and hopped off of him and onto the ground. I went next, slamming onto my boots beside him and realizing I'd just ripped my black tights. Not very dragon rider friendly.

"So… we somehow sneak in and…?" I was hoping for a well-drafted plan, but Kohen just reached into his boot and pulled out a small hollow tube the size of a pencil, then a handful of darts from his pocket, and began uncapping the tips to reveal their razor-sharp points.

"Just follow my lead, princess. We will get your creature out, and then we can go back to not being seen together," he said, the last part with an extra layer of attitude.

I rolled my eyes. "You realize my father is the emperor, right? I can't just be… friends… with the son of his mortal enemy!"

His gaze flicked down at me and his eyes were practically burning. "Why not? I've done nothing to your family. And you took everything from me. My father, my mother, my home, my title."

His mother? I hadn't heard about that. "I took nothing from you," I corrected. If he was saying that he personally did nothing to my family, then I was going to make the same distinction.

"Whatever. Let's just do this. I owe you for helping save my life with your father's goons, and after I help you get Liana back, we are even." His face was back to that mask of calm.

So that's why he was helping. He felt he owed me after what happened in The Wilds— something I couldn't believe I did and didn't want to think about ever again.

I shrugged. "Fine."

He loaded the mini darts into the small pipe and then crouched through the woods to the edge of the clearing that led to the barn.

I followed, keeping as silent as I could.

There were two soldiers in plain clothes leaning against the barn and scanning the woods. One held a bow in his hands, and the other a long broadsword. Neither had creatures with them, which meant they were either in the woods, or creatureless, which I doubted. I couldn't tell who these guys were. One looked like he could be Luskin, but without him speaking I wouldn't know.

Both men suddenly peered up to the sky, and I followed their gaze to see Onyx flying circles above, drawing their attention.

Kohen pulled the pipe to his lips and leapt from the cover of the trees, shooting darts and hitting both men in the neck before they even realized what was happening.

They both reached up and grabbed the darts at the same time, trying to yank them out, but then fell to the ground before they could.

"Holy crap, Kohen," I breathed. "Are they dead?"

He narrowed his gaze. "They should be. They stole your creature, Aisling."

I sighed. He was right. I glanced at the men to see they were still breathing, and I was reminded of Meera bragging about being able to make poisons and sleeping tinctures. Had Kohen gotten them from her?

My gaze fell to the men's boots. They could be Fleet-issued… it was hard to tell in the darkness and they were covered in dirt.

"Behind you," Kohen said suddenly and I spun, bending low to pull the dagger from my boot as I did. A wolf creature was already halfway in the air, pouncing at me. I reached up with my blade and met it, stabbing it right through the heart. Shock coursed through me as the animal twitched on the end of my blade and then slid off of it, dead, on the ground.

I turned to Kohen with wide eyes to see that he had just taken out a coyote creature. They'd attacked at the same time. They must belong to the two men. My heart raced, palms sweaty, as I looked down at the evidence of what we'd done. I'd never harmed another person's creature before.

"They were coming to kill us," Kohen told me.

I nodded numbly. One gift I had was the ability to compartmentalize trauma. I stuffed this event into my little black box inside and wiped my blade on the grass. The men would wake up and find their bonded dead…

"It's called self-defense, Aisling," Kohen said, and I cleared my throat, nodding again.

"Let's go inside. I feel her." I tapped my chest.

Kohen didn't seem fazed about gutting the coyote creature, and it made me wonder what he'd done in his life to survive. It reminded me of what he'd said in The Wilds, about doing anything to survive. It was both scary and commendable. He opened the door and slipped inside and I followed him.

"Hey! Who are you?" someone with a Marble Shores accent asked, and I looked up to see a man running at us with a sword in his hand.

Kohen froze, slipping his hand into mine. "Whoa, chill, bro. I was just trying to find some place to be alone with my girl."

The way he so easily slipped into character told me he'd lied often over the years to do things like this. But why was the man's accent from Marble Shores? Why would my own people be involved in this? My mind spun.

The man slowed, lowering his sword, and seeming less alarmed.

"Parker! Cane!" The man approached us, calling outside to his buddies.

When the man got close enough, Kohen dropped my hand and exploded forward, cracking the side of his temple with the butt of a dagger and knocking him out cold. He must be creatureless, because no animal jumped out to defend him.

I felt it then, a kick to the chest like my heart had just woken up after being asleep my entire life.

Liana.

I leapt over the fallen man's body, weaving in and out of crates and hay bales that were stacked up inside of the giant barn.

"Liana!" I screamed frantically. I could feel her now. She was in pain, weak. Kohen's footsteps sounded behind me, and then I turned the corner and found her. I gasped when I saw what had become of my creature. She was tiny, only about ten pounds if I were guessing, and twelve inches long, bare of feathers. A baby bird. They had her pinned to the ground with a glowing golden net. Some strong magic had been infused into the net and I reached out to grasp it and try to pry it off of her when Kohen yanked me backward.

"That looks protective in nature. It could kill you."

"We need to get it off her!" I growled. I wasn't mad at Kohen. I was mad at whoever did this to her. This was powerful creature magic.

"Stand back. Let me try something," Kohen said. I frowned, taking a step back, and he knelt before the net holding Liana. She stared up at him with wise purple eyes, unafraid but clearly in pain.

"Onyx, help me," Kohen whispered, and then opened his palms.

I gasped when an orange flame burst from each palm, coating his hands. He made no indication that it burned him, so I stood there in fascination as he grasped the golden ropes. His teeth clattered shut and he growled, his body convulsing.

"Kohen!" I rushed forward to try and help.

"Don't touch me," he groaned. His body shook and he snarled like an animal as he tore the net in two. The moment the net snapped, it turned black and then shriveled to ash in Kohen's fingers.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

The flames died out on his palms and left nasty bubbled burns in their wake.

"I'm fine," he muttered.

Taking him at his word, I rushed to Liana, scooping her up into my arms and holding her like I would a newborn baby. The moment our skin touched, the bond burst to life inside of me, connecting us fully. I could feel her heart beat within my very own.

‘Thank you, young one,' she told me.

With our mental link restored, I spoke back without moving my lips.

‘Are you okay?'

‘Put me in the moonlight. I was taken during my rebirth cycle and it needs to be complete.'

I stood, explaining to Kohen what needed to be done. He nodded, leading the way outside. By the time we got to the unconscious man near the front door, I peered down to see that Kohen's hands were completely healed.

I raised one eyebrow at him but he said nothing.

Talanagi powers were said to be incomparable to other creatures', sometimes giving their human multiple gifts. Fire… healing… it seemed Kohen had two. Maybe more.

We burst outside and I was relieved to see the two soldiers were still unconscious. Bending down, I lay Liana in the moonlight, then stood next to Kohen.

Almost immediately, a pearlescent glow engulfed her small form and she began to grow. Movement in the woods pulled my attention, and Kohen put out a hand to calm me. "It's Onyx."

I sighed, relieved. Onyx walked over to where Liana was growing, feathers sprouting from bare skin, and sat patiently with us. I was enraptured by the sight. Liana went from a two-day-old, bare-skinned bird, to a ten-foot-tall firebird with colored feathers and sharp talons in five minutes. When she was fully transformed, Onyx walked over and nestled her head with his.

‘Are you lovers?' I asked bluntly. There was nothing too personal to ask my creature. I felt fully open and comfortable with her.

She chuffed, laughing. ‘He is more like a son to me. His mother died in The Wilds and I raised him.'

That was really sweet.

‘How did she die?' I asked, curious.

‘A rival dragon,' was all she said.

Yikes. It seemed in The Wilds they had the same issues as we had here.

‘Do you know who took you? Kohen said you thought they might be imperial soldiers?'

She glanced at the two men on the ground. ‘I do not know for sure, but these two had some kind of Amersean accent.'

I nodded. ‘Marble Shores.' She spent her whole life in The Wilds. She wouldn't have known exactly where.

‘And they somehow knew they had to trap me before I completed my rebirth. They were trying to keep us apart so that we wouldn't complete the bond. You are the first human in a thousand years to defeat the fire beast and survive.' She stood taller, proud.

Shock ripped through me. The fire beast? The thing I fought in the sky right before I awoke in the morgue? ‘Others have tried?'

She chuckled. ‘Many. More try to bond with a Talanagi than you think. It just doesn't make it back to you since they all die or they are Luskin.'

She appraised Kohen then, looking him up and down as he stood patiently beside me. ‘I like him,' she said randomly.

I bristled at that. ‘That's complicated…'

‘I know. I've seen your memories. I still like him.'

Okay… noted.

"We should get out of here before they wake up," Kohen announced.

Liana peered down at the two men and I followed her gaze. These two men stole and hurt my creature. They tried to keep me from bonding her. I pulled the blade from my boot and walked over to them. I promised myself I would never be the stupid girl in the books who let the bad man live only to be shocked when he came back for her again and again.

I wasn't a stupid girl and I was going to make sure this was a one-time thing. I remembered when my father first took me hunting. My arrow wasn't a clean shot, so he made me slit the deer's throat to put it out of its misery. It's easier if you moved your face away and didn't look at them.

Dropping to one knee, I turned my head and slit their throats cleanly, tucking the trauma away in my little black box. Elaine and my father would approve of this. Let this send a message to whoever thought they could steal from Aisling Everhart, future empress. Because that's what this was, an attempt to steal my creature from me. They couldn't kill a firebird, but they could keep her and I from bonding. And they almost succeeded.

"Okay, that shouldn't have been sexy but it was," Kohen mused behind me, and I scoffed. He thought murder was sexy?

Ignoring him, I walked back inside. I finished off the man in the barn.

After stepping back outside, I wiped my knife on the ground, reholstering it.

Five people. I'd killed five people and I wasn't even enlisted in the Imperial Fleet yet.

"I don't relish killing anyone," I announced, because I didn't want Kohen or his creature to think any less of me for killing an unconscious man. "But I will not allow this kind of thing to ever happen again. Enemies must be dealt with quickly and fiercely." It was something my father taught me, and words to live by.

‘Well done, young one, but the man who is in charge of all of this still walks free,' Liana said.

Chills raced up my arms. ‘Who?'

‘I did not see him, as my eyes had not yet formed, but I would know his smell from anywhere. Cigars and whiskey, burnt ember, and cheap musk cologne.'

Relief rushed through me at her description of the smells. I hadn't realized until now that I had suspected my own father of possibly doing this in an effort to keep me from overshadowing him with my power. But my father didn't smoke, nor did he wear cologne; Zuri hated strong smells. I couldn't believe I'd gotten so paranoid as to suspect my own father of this!

Chill out, Aisling, I chastised myself.

"What time is it?" I asked Kohen.

He peered at his watch. "Half past eleven."

Crap. My curfew.

"I gotta get home or my dad will send the entire Imperial Fleet out looking for me," I told him.

He nodded, slipping his leg over the back of Onyx and hoisting himself up. I guess we both had our own rides now.

"Hey, thanks… for helping me find and free her." I stroked Liana and looked up at Kohen.

He nodded, his face expressionless. "Now we're even." Then Onyx kicked off the ground and took for the skies.

Man, he was hard to read. Calling me hot one second and then shutting down the next. Pretty on par for the men I seemed to attract.

‘Can I ride on you?' I asked Liana, unsure if that would hurt her or not.

She bowed deeply in response. It took a few minutes for me to find a comfortable way to sit on her and not feel like I was going to fall off.

Once I was snugly seated, she kicked off into the sky and we sailed over the city on my way home. I just prayed my father was asleep when I got there.