Page 63 of Jeweler to the Blessed (Champions of Chaos #1)

His heart will change the tide of Kavios.

— FROM CHAMPIONS OF KAVIOS

H art carried me from the throne room. When I next looked up from the work of clawing free from him, we were on the path headed east around the back of the castle—the one I’d used to escape to Forest’s Edge.

“Put. Me. Down!” I pounded against his back again. I had no idea if he was still using magic. There was an awareness of the place where his hand gripped my ankle, but I blocked out all else associated with it. It reminded me too much of when we’d touched for other reasons.

He dropped me.

I clambered to my feet, readying to run back to Alaric.

“He’s gone.”

I froze. A new pain struck my heart, icy and direct, like a dagger piercing flesh. It was like reliving the scene, the crack of Alaric’s head against the wall. Every part of me was taut like a bow. I needed a direction to aim toward. Then I thought of Alaric calling Sebastien’s name.

“Alaric knew who you were? What you were?”

Hart nodded.

Another piece clicked into place about Hart and Alaric’s relationship. “The thing he was helping you research, supposedly helping you find. It was Chaos’s Champion.” I clenched my teeth briefly in frustration. “It was me.”

He didn’t deny it. “We need to keep moving.”

I tried to bury my feelings. I’d been practicing this for years, but I found with this—with Hart—it wasn’t so easy anymore.

“You expect me to go with you? You’re the Cursed King. You lied to me?—”

“I left information out.”

It might have been worse, but at the moment, my anger was pushing down the pain of Alaric’s loss. I needed it.

“Only because you didn’t know what to do with me yet. That’s your curse, right? The one you never finished explaining. Your curse is that you can only take from me.”

I’d already convinced myself this was true. The way he touched me as we left the throne room was proof enough. For some goddess-forsaken reason, I just needed him to say it.

Those piercing green eyes held my glare. “I don’t have time to explain. We have to go.”

He would have known as soon as he’d touched me what I was. That was back on the night of the festival when he tried to stop me from following Macen.

“I’ll go on my own.”

He sighed. “You can.” The fight fled from him, and his broad shoulders fell like he’d been carrying the weight of this city for too long. “But if you want to free the captive while they’re still distracted, you’ll need me. Themis made sure of it.”

“What does that mean?” Themis’s words echoed in my head. She needs the curse. There is Order in an even playing field.

“Your curse matches mine. If you want to use your magic, your emotions will no longer do. You’ll need mine.”

Fucking goddesses.

Something churned in my stomach. I didn’t know where to look, what to do, how to think.

Alaric was gone.

He’d known what Hart was. Why hadn’t he told me? Why hadn’t Alaric told me anything?

Now, I’d never know. I couldn’t think of that.

Hart had used me—shamelessly. My cheeks heated at the thought. I didn’t care if he followed. He was right, but I needed to get out of here. I’d do what Alaric wanted to, what had gotten him captured in the first place. What we’d failed to do last night. I’d free the captive.

Tears sprang to my eyes. It was a moot point now. Rodric had lost his leverage over me. He no longer had a jeweler. I wouldn’t risk it though. Alaric had thought it was important enough to risk. The captive needed to be freed.

I shook my head and started walking. “Do what you want.”

He followed, and for whatever reason, I still didn’t fear him at my back. When I was first deciding whether to trust him, I knew he’d had too many opportunities to kill me and hadn’t taken them. That was still true. He was honest when he said he didn’t want me dead.

“What do you want, Hart?” I paused. “Or should I say Sebastien?”

“Hart was my mother’s surname before she married. Sebastien Hart—the name I gave you wasn’t a lie.”

“It wasn’t the truth either.” I wiped away the past eight days of not even knowing his real name. It was low on the list of information he’d hidden.

Hart briefly slipped into the tavern before we left through the Eastern Gate. No one stopped us. I had a feeling his nightmare magic had strayed farther than the throne room. The guards seemed too busy putting themselves back together to care about our business.

I tried to swallow my sadness with each step, but tears stung the back of my eyes. Every time I tried to close them, even just for a second, I heard the crack and saw the flail of Alaric’s body as Themis tossed it like a ragdoll across the throne room.

It was a long hike to the foothills.

As we neared The Storm, Hart took the lead, guiding us around the settlement’s edges. The climb steepened, and my thighs burned as we pushed toward our goal.

The hardest part of the hike was knowing we’d be on a steep decline as soon as we entered the mines. I was not looking forward to that or the return trip.

A thick copse of trees covered the overgrown entrance. Hart gave me a sidelong look, and I thought maybe he was waiting for me to change my mind. I wouldn’t.

Everything had changed, but this remained. Alaric wanted the captive free. With Alaric gone, I had no reason to submit to the Glanmores. I’d take their adamas supply and run.

Pushing through the leaves and branches, we finally entered the mines. My thighs shook as I learned the descent was steeper than the main entrance and just as slippery.

The mines were closed today, the one day of the year that the workers were given off. Instead, they would gather on Cross Street in a few hours to celebrate the newly Selected.

We made our way to the door to the adamas chamber. Two guards remained at attention there. I was sure the royal family had increased the protections on the room after Alaric’s attempted liberation.

Hart’s blade was in his hand, and the guards were dispatched in moments. The only sounds were their bodies hitting the ground as Hart dropped them. I exited the tunnel we’d descended, waiting for Hart to break the lock.

“You have to open this,” he said, pointing to the chamber door.

“Can’t you? You’ve taken more than enough.”

He shook his head.

He had to be lying, but I could see an unwavering resolution in his gaze. His answers after using his power in the mine cave-in made so much more sense. He said he’d take without consent to keep me safe—to protect the source of his power.

We’d spent a night in each other’s arms. I was sure he had plenty stored. But he’d also held my ankle as we’d left the throne room. That feeling, when he took my fear to unleash nightmares, was different from our other connections.

I shook my head. There was no time to deal with this.

I couldn’t believe where we’d ended up—hated that I could read it all on his face.

Maybe I had been free to choose my place as Eris’s Champion, but it seemed those around me were doing all they could to manipulate that choice.

Hart, Mother, Alaric—even thinking his name was like a dagger twisting in my chest.

Hart held his hand out to me. “You can do it …”

I was sure he was about to tack on the nickname “Chaos” but stopped himself.

“Take some of my anger. I have plenty to share. Use it to open the door.”

What did he have to be upset about? He’d used me. All of this was his fault.

My blood boiled even as my heart twisted. This was a mess. I took his hand and let his anger flood me. I didn’t calm my own either, even if it made no difference. I was angry at him, at Alaric, at Mother, at the goddesses, and most of all, at myself.

I ripped the door from its hinges with a strength that shouldn’t have existed. I tossed it to the side and glared at Hart.

He raised his hands in surrender even though his gaze was reverent, something I noted was lacking with his goddesses in the throne room. I shook my head and stepped into the adamas cavern.

“Be careful,” Hart started, trying to angle before me as we entered.

After what he’d made me do, I gave him the glare that comment deserved. I couldn’t ignore the pulse of magic alive within me.

“ Champion ,” the voice called.

It was still in my head like it had been in the Oldwood. I couldn’t tell if Hart could also hear it. The words were soft in my head, but something rumbled loudly in the cavern.

“He’ll be weak,” Hart whispered. “He’s pure Chaos, and he’s been caged by Order for too long.”

“ Chaos curse him again. I’m not too weak to burn him alive. ”

I paused at that, even though the threat wasn’t directed at me. Something shifted in the darkness, and hot air blew toward my face. Hart raised the torch from outside the cavern entrance. I stepped back as I glimpsed my first sight of the captive.

As long as I lived, I’d never forget the wonder and devastation of the sight.

I hadn’t been far off when I’d likened the thing I’d touched to a snake.

The light spilling from Hart’s torch showed scales black as night.

The captive’s tail curved around the length of the cavern, and as we entered, Hart looked up.

I followed his gaze to see the captive’s wings spreading out and filling my vision.

A dragon. The captive was a dragon.

“Charon,” Hart said as if soothing a wild beast. “We’re here to free you.”

“ Champion. Your uncle was here. ”

The dragon’s words to me were soft, or as soft as I deemed the creature capable of as he bared his teeth at Hart.

I nodded stupidly, unsure how to respond to the dragon’s words in my head. Hart raised his hands in a gesture of peace. I should have been better prepared for this, the heat and magic birthed from the captive.

“Your fire—it makes the adamas?” I asked, unable to help myself.

Hart glared at me, hands still raised in peace at the dragon’s obvious displeasure. A claw swiped toward Hart, and he lunged away. “Not the time.”

“ Yes, Champion, it’s my fire. I try not to expend it since I’ve been held prisoner, but I’ve been here a long time. ”