Page 22 of A Taste For Lies (The Apex Kingdom #1)

Chapter 22

TARAN

M y hands are reaching for her of their own accord—I couldn’t stop if I tried—when she stumbles forward, clutching her chest. Her fall is so sudden, she nearly kisses the ground, but I’m already in motion. One swooping reach, and I’ve got her. She’s in my arms, eyes squeezed shut, face contorted into a grimace.

“Lynx?” I choke out. She doesn’t respond. Her body stays locked in its tense position—she doesn’t even seem to realize I’m holding her.

My stoneclaw is frantic, and I’m not far off. It must be something to do with the linking or this tree. Maybe if I took her outside—

I secure her body closer to my chest, her scent nearly suffocating—too much, too sharp—and stride out into the velvet night. It’s a relief to be in the fresh air, but it has no effect on the Lynx. Her breath comes out in short pants, one hand still pressing on her chest.

I scent another Apex.

A snarl rips out of my throat, and the Lynx moans.

“Easy. It’s just me.” Astrid’s eyes reflect the moonlight as she approaches. Of course, I scented her earlier and I knew she’d be keeping watch for us outside the tree. I’m hanging onto my control by a very thin thread that could snap at any moment. Astrid attempts to come closer, but my involuntary growl—more creature than male—stops her in her tracks.

Her head drops in supplication, though it hardly helps. “What happened?” she murmurs.

“I don’t know! She just collapsed.” I can hear the panic in my voice. “Lynx. Can you hear me?”

Her only response is a pained whimper. My canines punch into the inside of my bottom lip, and I taste copper.

“Lynx,” I try again, my stoneclaw a thrashing maelstrom inside me. Then, in desperation, the false name she gave—the little name Eleni called her. “Lor!”

“Taran,” she gasps, her eyes fluttering open, and my name has never sounded sweeter. A shiver snakes through my entire body.

“What’s happening? Are you hurt? What can I do?” I know I’m acting the opposite of how you’re meant to when talking to someone recently injured, but my heart is pounding in my chest, and a dull roar crashes against my ears. Dimly, I’m aware of Astrid studying us with that enigmatic look on her face.

The Lynx winces, still rubbing her chest. “It’s…it’s nothing. Just a little painful.”

“Nothing?” I explode. “Nothing?! You just crumpled to the ground. You would’ve broken your nose if I hadn’t caught you.”

The little thief looks around and seems to realize where she is. “You can set me down now.”

My arms tense, the muscles bulging. I grit my teeth and attempt to wrest back control. She’s alright—she just said she’s alright.

“Taran?” Amber orbs peer up at me in the moonlight, framed by heavy dark lashes. Gods.

I inhale a deep breath through my mouth and set her down, one hand splayed across her lower back to steady her. That she doesn’t fight it lets me know exactly how “fine” she really is. I do my best to keep my tone non-threatening but as usual, my next words come out more growled demand than gentle. “What happened? ”

She blows out a breath. “Any chance you’d be willing to chalk it up to a weird side effect of the linking and leave it at that?” She peeks up. I don’t answer. My hard expression must speak for itself, and she sighs. “Thought not.”

“She should sit down,” Astrid remarks.

“I’m fine,” the infuriating woman protests again, but I’m already steering her to a fallen log nearby, its surface worn smooth from the many worshippers who’ve rested here. Once she’s settled, I sit beside her, reluctantly removing my arm now that she’s stable. Astrid passes her a waterskin, and she takes it gratefully.

I let her sip the water slowly, but my patience is wearing thin. “Lynx,” I warn.

“Could you get the lantern, please? I realize Astrid can see just fine but it’s a little awkward sitting here in the pitch dark.”

“You’re stalling,” I grumble, but I do her bidding anyway. By the time I’m seated back beside her, a calculating look has overtaken her face. A hand still rests against her chest, but the pain has clearly lessened. Good. My stoneclaw’s patience—always in short supply—has reached its end.

“Let’s have it, Lynx.”

She pulls in a deep breath. “I don’t remember anything before the day the Shanterran guild master found me wandering around Heshan in a daze. I was fifteen. I knew my given name but not my surname. I knew my age and how to speak my mother tongue—Veridian—but I had no idea where I hailed from. Nothing of my family or how I ended up in Shanterra.”

Astrid sends me a pointed look, and the Lynx doesn’t miss it. “You don’t believe me.” She sighs.

“We believe you,” I tell her. A barely there widening of Astrid’s eyes is her only tell. “Go on,” I urge.

The thief gives me a skeptical look but continues. “Ever since then, ever since I can remember, I’ve had this…ache in my chest. It feels like a hole. Like a piece of me is missing.”

I unconsciously lean towards her. “You feel your missing memory? ”

“Maybe,” she answers, but I can tell that’s not what she thinks it is. But then, what is it?

After a moment’s hesitation, she pulls the chain from beneath her shirt, holding up the lynx charm. Finally seeing the diamond lily I bought her hanging there around her neck shouldn’t fill me with this level of satisfaction.

But it does.

“This is why I need the guardian records. When the guild master found me, I was wearing this charm. It’s my only clue to my past. I thought…maybe one of my parents…”

This is why she reacted so strongly when I told her about the rules against Apex relationships. I foolishly thought—never mind what I thought. “What does that have to do with you collapsing?” My tone is too brusque, the words too blunt. I know it immediately, but the damage is already done.

Her expression closes off again. “The ache has been getting worse.”

I frown. “Since you came here?”

She shakes her head. “Before that.”

Realization dawns. “This is why you agreed to come to Ravenscrest. To help us.”

Her mouth twists. She hates revealing this to us; the guild has taught her to hide her motivations at all costs. “Yes.”

“So when I tried to share my powers…”

She buries her face in her hands. “It felt like my chest would break apart from the force of it. Every time you told me to open my eyes, it was stronger—”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I shout. Her head snaps up, a familiar scowl fixed on her face, but it’s too late—I’m already lost to the rage of my stoneclaw. I feel my eyes shift and know they’re glowing silver-gray fire.

“Why didn’t I tell you that I have no memory before the age of fifteen? Oh, I don’t know,” she mocks. “Maybe because you’re my client , and an Elite , and a fucking Apex besides! Why in Jinai’s name would I reveal something like that to you of all people?” The words lash through me, sharper than claws. It would’ve hurt less if she’d hit me .

“No,” I bite out through gritted teeth as I restrain my stoneclaw’s reaction. “I mean, why didn’t you tell me the linking was hurting you?”

Her lips part, but no sound comes out.

“It sounds like we should get those guardian records,” Astrid cuts in. “Especially if the Lynx can’t attempt linking until we determine what’s causing the…ache.”

“He promised me them anyway,” the little thief grumbles. “ Before we go after the amulet.”

I rake a hand through my already unkempt hair, trying to pull my fraying emotions back under control. “I’ll talk it over with Carter and Maeve.”

“I want to be involved in the planning,” the Lynx says. “I’m the professional here. This is what you brought me to Ravenscrest for. I need to know where you’ve already looked for the amulet, where exactly Lord Winters keeps the records. And then—”

“And then?” I prompt, although a part of me doesn’t want to know.

She winces. “And then I need to meet the mark.”

Faunera save us all.