Treason: Book Two of the Grimoire Saga (a Young Adult Fantasy series) Page 18

  Braeden paused. The fire in his hand flickered.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “I have Deirdre, who can find anyone anywhere. If you fight me, I’ll break you anyway and order Deidre to bring Kara here. She won’t last long. But if you willingly return, it will make life much easier for me. Thus, I will spare your woman. I rarely bargain, boy, and this offer won’t last.”

  Braeden tightened his fist as he considered this new option. “I don’t trust you to keep your end of it.”

  Carden smiled. “If you obey me, I’ll never have a reason to hurt her.”

  Braeden frowned, but he had few options. It wasn’t like he would be able to escape again. Now that Carden had him cornered, there wouldn’t be a waking moment when he wasn’t watched. Hell, his father could simply order him never to leave the kingdom, and Braeden would have to obey.

  The only reason Braeden hadn’t been killed was because Carden needed him. If there wasn’t a way out, he might as well bargain for Kara’s safety.

  “I—” Braeden paused, not quite able to say the words.

  “Yes?” Carden asked.

  The king grinned, and Braeden knew why—after twelve years of running, Braeden had finally lost.

  The guards yelled on the balcony. Something screeched in a pitch so high Braeden had to cover his ears. Carden did, too, and Braeden used it as a chance to inch closer to the terrace. To possible escape.

  A great black creature landed on the balcony, knocking several Stelians over the edge and pushing the rest off with its long tail. They screamed on their way down. The creature arched its neck, and Braeden caught a flash of lipless teeth frozen in a grin. After that, it took him only a moment to recognize the blonde sitting on the creature’s back.

  The dragon pushed into the room and screamed at Carden, the noise so high-pitched that it knocked the king back into his desk. As Carden toppled over its chair, Braeden saw a familiar hilt sticking from a leather sheath mounted on the wall behind it.

  The Hillsidian Sartori.

  He leaned forward, ready to lunge for it. If he grabbed the sheath, it wouldn’t burn him. But as he started forward, Carden stood. The king glared at the dragon, a red tint to his eyes. Energy drained from Braeden’s feet as his father donned his daru.

  There were only a few seconds left to escape, and Braeden wasn’t about to waste them on trying to grab a Sartori. Gavin’s Sartori, at that.

  He ran toward the dragon and jumped on, wrapping his arms around Kara’s waist as the dragon darted back through the door to the terrace. Fire rained after them as Carden ran to catch them.

  The fleeting worry that the king would follow them made Braeden turn around and pull a blade from the air. He aimed at his father’s chest and loosed it.

  The blade landed right over Carden’s heart, and the king stumbled backward for a few steps before he fell to the floor.

  It was a risk. If he’d killed his father, Braeden would have to face being the Blood. For all his talk of wanting freedom from Carden’s control, he’d never meant to take his father’s place. The thought terrified him, but if Kara still wouldn’t make him a vagabond, it was the only option left.

  He wrapped his arms tighter around her as they flew over the Stele and its forests, burying his chin in her neck. He didn’t care about propriety, or even the possible rejection.

  She’d come back. When anyone else in the world would have left him to a lifetime with Carden, Kara came back.

  She looked over her shoulder. “I have Flick. Where should we go, Braeden?”

  He watched the forests speed by beneath them. Even if they flew for an hour, they wouldn’t be a safe distance from the kingdom. The sun began to sink into the horizon, and it wouldn’t be long before it was dark. One of his limited options stood out above the others.

  “You don’t need Flick. Fly low and head that way,” he said, pointing off to the left.

  She glanced back at him in question, but nodded. Her eyes narrowed, so serious that he couldn’t help but smile. He tried to remember the scared girl she’d been—the one who stumbled into his life without a clue of what to do—but that girl was long gone.

  “What am I looking for?” she asked with a glance to the setting sun.

  “A series of caves dug into the side of the mountain.”

  “You mean where we found you?”

  Braeden nodded.

  “But that’s almost doubling back to the castle!”

  “Exactly. They won’t expect it. Besides, Stelians are afraid of those caves. Even Carden doesn’t go in there. We need shelter because we don’t want to be outside when it gets dark.”

  “But I can take us back to Ayavel. Or we could teleport to the village.”

  “I don’t want to go back to Ayavel yet. Have you mastered teleporting?”

  “Well, no, not completely. But—”

  “When will you learn not to try new things in the heat of the moment?” he asked.

  “Okay, okay. Scary caves it is,” she said with a laugh.

  They flew just over the canopy, the leaves whistling as they passed. It took about ten minutes, but the grottoes came into sight. For the second time that day, hope flashed in Braeden’s gut as he saw the caves. He just prayed things turned out differently this time.

  The dragon landed on the roof of a cave. A dip in the rock led to a cave entrance on this second level. No guards remained in the clearing below, probably because Braeden had escaped.

  Kara patted the dragon’s neck, and the creature dissolved into dust.

  Braeden grabbed her hand and led her into the cave, but paused just past the threshold. He strained his ears. Footsteps echoed down one of the other tunnels. He tensed and nudged Kara against the wall. He leaned into her to block her with his body and hide her from view. Well, that was one reason, at least.

  A woman with curly brown hair walked into the clearing from a first-level cave and sighed, staring off toward the castle. He could hear the rustle of something heavy being dragged across the grass, but the edge of the cliff blocked whatever she pulled behind her. She dropped it and looked back at the grottoes.

  Braeden’s grip on Kara tightened when he recognized Deirdre. The isen turned back to the castle, apparently without seeing him, and shook her head.

  Deidre smoothed her hair. “Not even a guard to welcome me. Useless Stelians. I can’t wait to be done with them.”

  She carried on down the trail toward the castle, and Braeden couldn’t help himself. Once she disappeared into the forest, he looked out over the edge to see what she’d dragged into the clearing.

  The carcass of a feihl lay in the field, the last half of its body still in the cave.

  Any question as to how she had survived the grottoes disappeared. Braeden shuddered. There was more to that isen than met the eye, and he hoped they never again crossed paths.

  “What the hell is that?” Kara asked, peering over the edge beside him.

  “You don’t want to know. Come on,” he said.

  He led her through the cave, but didn’t dare light a fire when it became too dark to see. Instead, he tightened his hold around her fingers and maneuvered the caves, using his connection with his kingdom to find an abandoned guard tower.

  When an old stone door came into view, he let Kara go in first. The feihl couldn’t fit through the entry, so they wouldn’t have visitors. He closed the door behind him and set a trap on its handle. Whoever tried to open it would lose an arm.

  Still without a word, he led her up a short flight of steps to an old room with a small window that overlooked the forest. A stone table sat beneath the window, but it proved to be the only décor. He closed this door, too, and set a trap against it as well.

  He turned to find Kara standing in the middle of the room, her eyebrows furrowed as she looked him over. Flick jumped off her shoulder and onto the windowsill, where the little creature glanced out over the forest.

  Kara inched closer. “Braeden, are you okay? You
’re all fidgety. I’m a little worried about you.”

  “This is the other reason I wanted to stop,” he said without really answering her.

  He cupped her face in his hands. Without a second thought, he kissed her.

  Her cheeks flushed under his touch. He grinned through the kiss. The panic and fear melted away, and all he could do was continue. He inched her toward the wall until she had nowhere else to go. He never let her move away for more than a breath, but she didn’t resist. She didn’t fight it.

  She leaned in with a sigh that tied his stomach in knots. Her fingers traced his back, moving slowly upward until they found his the base of his head. She pulled him closer.

  He slipped his hand just under the hem of her shirt and ran his fingertips along her waist. She gasped. He grinned.

  Braeden couldn’t contain himself. He couldn’t stop, nor did he want to. In fact, he wasn’t going to break away until she begged for air.

  Chapter 13

  Forbidden

  A crevice in the wall pushed into Kara’s back, but she didn’t care. Braeden’s hands slipped to her waist and pulled her closer. Bolts of heat raced through every inch of her he touched. She couldn’t get enough of him. Her fingers traced circles on his arms until her fingertips went numb.

  Stop, Kara.

  That was most certainly not her consciousness. No sane woman’s mind would tell her to stop a kiss like this.

  Push him away.

  She huffed, but didn’t let her lips stray from Braeden’s for very long. She closed her eyes and grinned.

  Leave me alone, Vagabond.

  Push him away, Kara!

  Is there a way to turn you off?

  An image of Helen, bloody and lifeless, flashed before her. The image consumed even Braeden’s beautiful face.

  Kara gasped and pushed away from him until her head curved against the stone wall. Her pulse thudded in her ears.

  Oh, that wasn’t fair. The Vagabond had done that. It was the same image he’d forced her to relive in an effort to stop her last kiss with Braeden. Her only other kiss with him, for that matter.

  But Braeden pressed his lips against hers, apparently oblivious to her reaction. He brushed his thumb across her cheek and reached a hand up her back. Energy danced through her like jolts of lightning. She sighed and leaned into him again.

  The first Vagabond could go to hell.

  A new image flashed before her eyes. She gagged. The vagabond fabricated one this time—of Braeden. He lay on the floor, not breathing, and stared at her with glazed-over eyes. Black blood spilled from his mouth.

  You will do this to him.

  Kara choked on a sob and pushed Braeden away.

  “Stop,” she said, her voice cracking.

  Braeden cupped her face in his hands and kissed her nose. He teased her by brushing his lips against hers. She longed to lean forward, but resisted.

  He looked her over and spoke in a voice that came out like a growl. “Why?”

  “You know why,” she whispered.

  He shook his head. “Don’t pretend you don’t want this.”

  “I quite obviously…” Kara sighed. She had to keep him at an arm’s length, but she had no idea how to do that. All she wanted was another kiss.

  He shook his head. “Never mind. I don’t want to upset you. I’m sorry I grabbed you like that. I just thought”—he rubbed his face—“never mind.”

  If she kept him talking, it would reduce the urge to pull him closer. “No, you can tell me. We should get this out in the open.”

  He leaned against the wall next to her. “I thought I was never going to see you again, Kara. When anyone else would have left me, you came back. Words aren’t enough to thank you for that.”

  “I’d do anything for you,” she said without thinking.

  She instantly regretted the confession.

  He grinned. Her breath quickened without her meaning it to, and he resumed his position in front of her. He wrapped his hands around her waist and pressed her back against the wall.

  “Then kiss me again,” he said.

  Nope, she wasn’t strong enough to resist that.

  Change the subject!

  “You’re”—she cleared her throat—“you’re making this difficult, Braeden, just like back when you rescued the royals. What were you thinking? You didn’t need to sacrifice yourself to let us escape!”

  It wasn’t her best topic change, but it would have to do. As long as he touched her, she wouldn’t be able to think right and her heart wouldn’t beat at a steady pace.

  Flick chirped and curled up against the wall nearby. With a pang of guilt, Kara realized she had almost forgotten her pet was even there.

  Braeden took a step back. “I didn’t sacrifice myself during the escape, Kara. I knew we could have gotten out of there.”

  “But Aurora said—”

  “Aurora knocked me off the horse. My form slipped when I went back to save her. She saw the real me.”

  The breath left Kara’s lungs for a moment. “She knocked you off the horse? Why?”

  Braeden sat on the floor and leaned against the wall. Kara followed suit, careful not to sit too close. She still didn’t trust herself around him, especially not after a kiss that could make her knees buckle.

  “You know why,” he said.

  “Because you’re Stelian? But you saved her life! Twice!”

  “She obviously didn’t care.”

  They sat in silence. Braeden stared at the opposite wall while Kara watched him. The angry lines in his brow deepened with each passing second—his glower frightened her.

  When he finally spoke, he rubbed his temples and seemed to look everywhere but at her. “I’m not good, Kara. I’m just not. I never will be. I like killing. I like pain. I like being feared. I’ve been ashamed of it my whole life, but no more.”

  “Those might not exactly be your best traits, but that doesn’t mean you’re evil. You protected me when you didn’t have to.”

  “It was selfish. I only kept you safe because I thought you could turn me.”

  “What about that night on the way to Losse? I told you I couldn’t turn you into a vagabond, but you stayed anyway.”

  Kara lingered on the memory. He’d left for a while. She’d sat on a rock for hours before the raw fear crept through her that he might not come back. Until then, it hadn’t even dawned on her as a possibility.

  “When I walked off into the woods, my first instinct was to leave you,” he said.

  She leaned away. “What?”

  “That was my instinct. It’s just—I couldn’t. For the longest time, I didn’t understand why, either. I walked around for hours trying to figure it out. I tried to tell myself that all I’d wanted from you was freedom, but I realized that wasn’t true.

  “All my life, I’ve kept people at an arm’s length. I lied to everyone. I’ve never loved anyone. But around you, I can be myself. That’s a new freedom to me. You accept me. And I wanted to repay you by keeping you safe. You needed someone to trust as much as I did.”

  Kara took a deep breath, but she didn’t have a response.

  “I don’t kiss just anyone, Kara. You mean more to me than anyone alive,” he said with a sigh.

  He reached for her hand and massaged her fingers with his. Though she couldn’t force herself to pull away, she did manage to keep herself from tightening her grip.

  She couldn’t let this go any further. She didn’t want Braeden to end up like Helen, or to be used as leverage again. But before she could muster the courage to speak, Braeden continued.

  “I can’t deny this anymore, Kara. I would do anything to keep you safe, and even just admitting that out loud terrifies me.”

  “Braeden”—her voice was so much quieter than she’d intended—“I know what you want, and I can never give it to you.”

  He held her gaze, but his expression hardened into something unreadable.

  She plowed on. “Vagabonds can’t love anything
more than our purpose. The first Vagabond made that clear enough. And when I wouldn’t listen, when I thought—”

  When I thought I was going to lose you, she wanted to finish, but her voice broke as she remembered that agonizing fear. Her gut twisted at the thought of his pain in the dungeon and the way he’d hung his head, too weak to fight and resigned to fate. That fear still made her heart race. The first Vagabond had used that against her.

  She took a deep breath. “He manipulated me. He made me swear to make more vagabonds in exchange for saving your life. You were leverage, Braeden, and he’ll do it again and again to prove his point. Gavin, Ithone, Frine—all the others will do the same.”

  “Is that what you meant when you said you’d do anything for me?”

  Kara nodded.

  He pulled her into a hug. She let him hold her, but she couldn’t hug him back. She just wasn’t strong enough. If she even reached for him, she would cave. He cradled her head in his palm, and she leaned into his neck. The world melted away when he touched her. He was her one safe place.

  “I’m not exactly helpless,” he said in her ear.

  She caught his eye and paused before she spoke, but she had to make him understand. “You were helpless in that throne room, and that helplessness is the reason I compromised what I believed in to save you.”

  His jaw tightened, but he didn’t respond.

  “You’re incredible, Braeden, on so many levels. You’re strong, powerful, clever, smart. But some people will do anything and kill anyone to control the Grimoire. Carden can likewise control you if you have a weakness. We can’t be each other’s weakness.”

  “Caring about someone doesn’t make you weak.”

  “The Vagabond threatened to let you die to get what he wanted. I was weak.”

  Braeden let her go. Cold seeped into her skin now that he’d left. He pushed himself to his feet and leaned against the window without looking at her. For a long while, neither of them spoke.

  Kara wanted to say something, but she needed a new topic. They might as well talk about the rescue.

  “How did you get the Heirs out of the Stele?” she finally asked.

  “I killed my own subjects.”