30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

C aelus's solid arms encased me in a warm, comforting cocoon. His slow, steady breaths were the only indicator he was asleep. My heart fluttered at the sight of his relaxed face. I admired his strong jaw and how much younger he looked while relaxed.

He turned onto his back and pulled me so that I was straddling him, his hardened cock centered between my thighs. I yelped, and my blood heated with desire. "I thought you were asleep." I tried to ignore that my bare breasts were on full display in the morning light.

His gray eyes, bordering on silver, latched on to me as if he were memorizing my body. "You were making it hard with all your staring," he said, voice thick with sleep.

"Is that so?"

He smirked, gaze careening down my body once more. "Among other things." His eyes softened once they locked with mine. "How did you sleep?"

After exhaustion overtook me, nothing could have awoken me. The heaviness in my chest was lighter—the tenseness of my shoulders lessened. Being with him put me at ease, made me feel safe. I wasn't sure when it started. It could've been that first night we met.

I smiled. "Better. Maybe the best sleep I've had."

His calloused fingers pressed into the skin of my hips gently, and he smirked. "Happy to be of assistance, my lady."

I rolled my eyes with a sigh, but my smile remained. "You're having too much fun with that."

He laughed, and a knock sounded at the door, startling me. The eccentric tone of Stumbleduck's voice called, "That burly dwarf made breakfast! Best be quick, or you two won't have any!"

My face flamed, but Caelus remained content. That gnome announced to everyone that Caelus and I had spent the night together. I didn't mind them knowing I cared for him deeply—they'd learn, eventually.

It was the newness of it and of everyone knowing what we'd done—what they'd likely heard last night. I pulled the blanket up around me and groaned.

In one swift motion, Caelus pushed himself into a sitting position and pressed a kiss to my forehead. His gentle fingers pushed a loose bit of my hair behind my ear, his eyes lingering for a moment. "They won't know anything more than we shared a room, unless you want them to." A soft breeze caressed my shoulder. "Convenient tricks, remember?"

I wrapped my arms around his neck, grinning. "How silly of me to forget." And it really was. Of course Caelus would have used his esprit to keep everything we'd shared private.

We quickly dressed, and I chose the blue garb Selena and Alissa had gifted me prior to me leaving the temple, with black pants. I checked myself in the mirror and found that the earring Thalia had given me was missing. I searched around the room and even asked Caelus. He helped look, but neither of us could find it. My stomach grumbled, and I gave up, hunger winning out.

Downstairs, we sat at the dining table of the crown prince's hunting lodge.

Esteban, Kenzo, Caelus, and I sat together. Stumbleduck was nowhere to be seen. It took some modifications, but Esteban had adjusted a seat to be tall enough for himself.

I watched Kenzo, and he barely showed any signs of an injury. He'd found new clothes that were black, with a peek of sunrise orange, the color of the royal family. The clothes were likely left behind by the prince.

Esteban pushed a plate of dried apple slices, hard cheese, and bread in front of me.

I grabbed a piece of dried apple and popped it in my mouth, ignoring the mischievous grin from Kenzo looking from me to Caelus. So far, he'd been wise enough to keep whatever he was thinking to himself. Caelus's glare may have helped too.

If Esteban thought anything of Caelus and me sharing a room together, he said nothing. I knew that wouldn't last, since his trust in Caelus was thin at best.

Caelus picked at the measly breakfast before deciding on a bit of cheese. "While we wait for the Copper Jackals' arrival, I'm going to have a look at Thistlewall."

Kenzo's grin fell.

"I can go with you," I said.

He shook his head. "You should stay. Rest. Explain everything to Malik when he arrives."

"Kenzo or Esteban can explain. I don't need more rest."

His narrowed eyes met mine. "You've been training your esprit since we left Tiruhm and healed two people yesterday."

Guess he'd noticed.

"Your esprit needs to recover."

"He's right, girl. That power may be from the gods, but it's still finite. You need to rest."

I squeezed my hands beneath the table. "I feel fine."

"Not to seem like I'm teaming up against you, but are you well versed in the ability to go unseen?" Kenzo asked.

Quick and quiet steps were something I'd been working on with Selena, but that had been interrupted before I'd been able to make any meaningful progress. Otherwise, my only other experience was Lord Ebonhammer's ball, and that hadn't gone well. I doubted kissing to seem like we were lost would work in Thistlewall. Without Caelus's abilities to keep my steps quiet, we probably would've been caught.

"See?" Kenzo said when I didn't respond. "Let him do what he's best at. He'll be back before you know it, without a hair missing on his pretty head." Kenzo popped a dried apple into his mouth.

"And what if you need help?" I asked Caelus.

Caelus crossed his arms, remaining seated. "I believe I told you before that I normally work alone. Working with you has been a rare exception to the plan."

"Which is rather odd for a crown's guard, isn't it?" I asked.

Kenzo choked on his water.

Caelus sighed, standing.

Kenzo excused himself, and Esteban grumbled, "Be wise, girl," before scrambling down from his chair.

I stood and faced him once the two of us were alone in the dining room.

Caelus twined a lock of my hair between his fingers, a contemplative look taking over his features. "The king . . ." He ran his other hand through his hair. "I am a crown's guard."

"Then why does it seem like you're about to tell me you're not?"

He swallowed hard. "The work I do for the king isn't well known. My skills are well suited for discretion. Perfect for a king who worries about losing power. He sends me across the kingdom as he sees fit. Alone. But I'm not that different from Kenzo when I'm in Ryseer."

"You're a spy?" I asked.

"I suppose that's one way of putting it."

It made sense, given his control over air and wind.

"Working with people—with you—is still new. It's habit to go alone, but that doesn't change that it'd be more dangerous if you came. It's a strain on my esprit to mask both of us." He freed the lock of hair from his fingers and cupped my cheek. "I only plan to figure out what we're up against."

I hated his rationality, his ability to be logical. Hated it because I would be more of a hindrance than a boon, no matter how much I wanted to be the latter. And despite my protests that I was fine, my eyelids were heavy, and the usual buzzing tempest within was barely a murmur. I needed the rest, but the thought of him going alone or getting hurt for me, for Teeg . . . "You're right," I conceded. "But—"

His lips brushed mine, cutting me off.

"Promise you'll be safe."

"For you," he said, wrapping his arms around me.

I memorized his hard body pressed against all my soft curves.

Kenzo cleared his throat, and Caelus released me. He shot Kenzo a glare and said, "I'll be back by nightfall. Go rest."

I took a shallow breath before nodding.

Despite wanting to go after him, I obeyed and headed for the bed we'd shared. I wrapped the blankets encased in his spring-rain scent around me and drifted off quickly, hating that they were all right about how drained I'd become.

It was early afternoon when I woke. There was little to do in the prince's hunting lodge. I admired the lavish craftsmanship of it. How it could be mistaken for belonging to anyone besides the royal family was a mystery. There were sunrise motifs scattered throughout the wood, paintings, and even the rug in the room I'd been using.

Bored, I headed for the stables, if only to have something to do outside of the lodge.

I sighed. I hated waiting, but that's all we could do. It was silly since most of my time at the temple had been just that. My day had been dictated by Klareth and whatever task or punishment she wanted me to endure next. But somehow, waiting for Malik felt like a lifetime. Waiting for Caelus was like a never-ending eternity.

All with almost nothing to pass the time.

In the stable, I found the beautiful chestnut gelding Kenzo rode. Kast was gone, and my heart sank. I'd known he wouldn't be here, but seeing the empty stall was different and renewed that feeling of helplessness I'd felt when I'd been asked to stay.

I patted the nose of Kenzo's horse and offered him a handful of oats. "I'm sure you're enjoying the wait, aren't you?"

He nudged my hand and ate from my palm.

Footsteps sounded behind me, and I spun around.

"It's me, you jumpy nincompoop," Stumbleduck said. Soot and dirt covered his hands and smeared his cheeks.

The gelding nudged my arm with his nose, searching for more oats. "You missed breakfast," I said.

"I'd eaten before you lot even thought about waking up. Managed to get some traps set up, too, in case any more of them flaming wolves try to come after us!"

I stepped away from the horse's eager prodding. "Nothing that will cause our friends to lose any limbs, I hope?"

"If they have any wits about them, no."

My brows shot up. "They need to arrive in one piece."

Stumbleduck waved a hand in dismissal and stepped out of the stables. "I trust your friends have eyes," he called out.

I frowned, following after him. "Are they marked? Because your little toy soldier wasn't very obvious before you threw it at me."

He scoffed and walked around to the back of the stable. "I threw it at Tall Boy. Knew he'd be fine."

"We were standing together."

Stumbleduck stopped in front of a spot of freshly dug soil that stood out among the green grass. "Boy's fast." He pulled out a metal pole no more than a foot long from the pack he wore at his waist and pressed a button on the side. The pole extended, and a handle formed at one end and the blade of a shovel unfurled at the other.

"What're you doing?" I asked.

"The poor soil is singing secrets at the top of its lungs! A nice little ditty about finding treasures and mysteries. Though most people don't rebury treasures they find."

I chose to ignore the more nonsensical parts of what he said. "You think someone buried something here? This is the prince's hunting lodge."

He began digging, shoveling pile after pile of dirt to the side. "All the more reason to dig, young lady."

I crossed my arms. Everyone was young to this gnome, and I couldn't tell how old he was from appearances. Maybe in his sixties, if he were human, but gnomes aged differently, just as the dwarves and fey. "Just how old are you?"

He flung more dirt away, and then he swiped away the sweat from his brow. Leaning against his shovel, he began counting on his fingers. "Three hundred and fifty-one."

My eyes widened. I was no more than a child in comparison to him. My mind raced, trying to recall information I'd read long ago about the average lifespan of gnomes. He'd outlived it by fifty-one years.

There was no way I could let him dig this hole by himself. I grabbed the handle of the shovel. "Let me."

Stumbleduck jerked it away from my grasp. "I won't have you treating me like I'm some impotent old man!"

My hand fell away, but I stayed with him while he dug, silence falling between us.

It wasn't long before Stumbleduck paused and began prodding at something beneath the earth. He dropped the shovel to his side and brushed away the dirt until it revealed what was unmistakably a lifeless arm.

I gasped, a hand shooting to my mouth.

Stumbleduck picked up the shovel and began loosening more of the surrounding earth until we could make out the clear shape of a woman's body. She'd been buried prone, her back facing the sky. Someone had preserved the body. The skin had barely mottled or discolored and had remained mostly intact.

A seven-pointed star with a circle of whirling lines connecting the points was branded into the flesh. It stretched across most of the upper and middle back, the uppermost points between the shoulder blades. The mark was elegant yet horrid.

"Who did this?" I asked.

"Get back to the house. Tell the other two," Stumbleduck said, his nonsensical tone gone.

I opened my mouth to ask why, but the mark pulsed a faint green and faded back to a dark scar.

The air stiffened, permeated with a heaviness that clung to my skin. I clutched the moonstone-lotus amulet Marus gave me, my cool fingers trembling. My lungs tightened, and I struggled to take in a breath. I backed away, step after step, until I'd made it several feet. Then I turned and sprinted for the lodge, my feet digging into the mud.

Hooves thudded against wet earth around me, but I kept moving, heart thumping rapidly.

The autumn chill grew colder. The muddy clopping of hooves grew closer. I didn't bother to chance a look over my shoulder to confirm who it was. The dread and terror emanating from that mark compelled me to put as much distance between myself and it as possible.

Boots squelched against the mud behind me, and I pushed harder, my thighs burning with the effort. Arms wrapped around me and sent both of us colliding onto the wooden veranda of the lodge. A scream escaped me, and Selena, her braided strands falling forward, held my arms to my sides.

The door flew open behind me. "Is everything all right?" Kenzo asked.

Selena looked at him. "Depends. Has my friend gone mad?"

Malik's intimidating frame appeared behind her, arms crossed. He gave me a scathing look, but the image of that mark pulsing and the sticky feeling of dread that followed filled my mind. Why did that pulse make me panic?

"If she's gone mad, she's useless," Malik said, stepping past where Selena had me pinned.

Selena's head whipped toward him. "Don't sugarcoat it."

Kenzo asked, "Did something happen?"

A grunt sounded behind me, and the next thing I knew, Esteban was leaning down next to me. "Are you all right, girl?"

I inhaled deeply, catching my breath and calming my mind. "We found a body," I said between breaths. "There's . . . something on its back. I could feel it."

My chest relaxed, my lungs loosened—the sense of overwhelming fear leaving my body.

Malik's green eyes grew icy, connecting with mine. "Where?"

"Next to the stables. There's a mark. It's not . . . It's not just a brand."

He headed for the stables, not waiting for anyone else.

My fists clenched and unclenched. I swallowed hard, trying my best to forget that sense of dread—of hopelessness.

Esteban placed a hand on mine, and I met his worried gaze.

Selena shot me a concerned look and then released me. She offered me a hand. I took it and smiled thinly before following Malik.

Kenzo and Esteban trailed behind. Selena remained at my side, filling the silence by asking how I'd been and what had happened in Tiruhm. My answers were short, clipped.

I'm fine.

Teeg wasn't there.

Whistlemane is probably an Abyssal.

It wasn't that I was unhappy to see her. But it took all my focus to bring a sense of calm back to my body and gain control again. If it wasn't for all the esprit I'd drained, lightning would have likely been leaking from within me.

Stumbleduck faced our group. Behind him, another body lay next to the first one. The same mark on their back. Both appeared to be human—adults.

My feet shifted, and I rubbed my arm to soothe a chill that ran through me.

Malik bent low and examined the marks on the two bodies. "The mark is fey. It's preserving the flesh, but the soul . . . It's gone."

"How can you tell?" Selena asked.

"Esprit comes from the soul. With enough training, anyone can sense it. There's nothing left."

"But that mark," I muttered. "It felt alive." The mark pulsed as though it knew I'd been thinking of it.

Another chill ran up and down my back, and I crossed my arms to fight it off. That tightening started in my chest again. I fought the urge to back away.

Malik placed a hand on the closest body, and red smoke wrapped around his fingers. Bits of flesh on the corpse began to decay and then rapidly repaired itself. He jerked his hand away. "Fuck." The red smoke fell away, and his hand was burned. "Interesting. We'll take them back to the guild. Gh'ells may learn something."

A member of the Copper Jackals I didn't recognize came forward and gathered one body into his arms. I took a step closer and brushed my fingers against their arm. I tried to form a connection, but that thread didn't form as expected. There was no light to attach to. The soul was gone, just like Malik said, but there was something else. A jade-colored void. My vision darkened, and a chill filled my entire being, but I couldn't seem to withdraw.

A laugh sounded in the void, dark yet inviting.

"Eira!"

I blinked, and Kenzo was standing in front of me, hands on my shoulders. He'd been shaking me. I let out a gasping breath. "I'm fine."

He didn't look as though he believed me. "You're pale," he said, voice more concerned than I'd ever heard from him.

I gave him a weak smile. "I need more rest. Like Caelus said."

He conceded, his arms falling back to his sides. Selena gave me a sidelong look like she didn't entirely believe me, either, but we made our way back to the lodge, neither asking more questions.