Page 16

Khaos

F ury wakes the moment she steps outside the house, uncoiling inside me.

I don’t turn around but wait until she comes up level with me, and her scent washes over me. Tonight she smells of the ocean, like a cool salt breeze on a hot night. Like freedom. I reach out and clasp her shoulder. The heat of her skin warms my hand. Inside me, Fury stretches and then relaxes. Being close to her calms his rage.

“Stop,” I murmur.

“Why?” she asks.

I have noticed that she’s really bad at taking orders. Part of me likes that. The rest of me wants her to do every little thing I tell her to without question… or face the consequences. But tonight, I’m feeling mellow. This world might be uncivilized, but once away from the mirror, I prefer it to Earth. So does Fury.

“Because you’re about to cross the wards,” I tell her.

She peers into the darkness, a frown on her face.

“There,” I say, waving a hand in front of me. She follows the movement, and her eyes widen when she makes out the faint golden shimmer of the wards forming a protective band around the house.

“Magic?” she asks.

“Of course.”

She frowns. “Can you do magic?”

“No.” I have to keep reminding myself that she knows nothing—or rather remembers nothing. “Only females can do magic.”

“Really.” She raises a brow. “And what can the men do?”

“We shift.” I look her up and down and let a small smile curve my lips. “Among other things.”

In the dim moonlight, I see awareness flicker in her emerald eyes, and my blood heats. She leans closer, as if she can’t stop herself. I think about warning her to keep away again, reminding her that she shouldn’t offer what she’s not ready to give. But I bite my tongue.

I can’t resist reaching out, running a finger down the soft curve of her cheek. She leans into the caress and closes her eyes. She looks so young. I’m not that much older in years, but I’m guessing in experience, we’re centuries apart. I shouldn’t be doing this, touching her. But being this close seems so right—certainly, Fury thinks so; if he were a cat, he’d be purring. There’s no doubt she calms my raging beast.

A connection is forming between the two of us—a connection I suspect neither of us desires, but it’s there, nevertheless. The thought fills me with a sort of despair. I haven’t felt connected to anyone since Khendril, and look how well that turned out.

And my father may yet demand her delivery, and I doubt that would go well.

For the first time since Khendril’s disappearance, I consider the possibility of risking everything and defying my father—something else that probably wouldn’t turn out well. There’s a reason he’s been in power for over five thousand years. History has proved that he can be ruthless—even when his own children are involved.

Another howl fills the night, this one urgent, dragging me from my unpleasant thoughts. My hand reluctantly drops to my side, and I take a step back. Fury snarls.

For a second, she leans closer to me, then she gives herself a shake. “What are you doing out here?”

“Likely the same as you,” I reply. I hadn’t even attempted to sleep; there’s too much going on in my head. While she calms Fury, she sends me into a frenzy of what-ifs. “I couldn’t sleep, and then the wolves started their song.”

“Friends of yours?” she asks. “Wolfy family?”

I snort. “No.”

“Do they do this often? Come and serenade you, I mean?”

“Never. But then I suspect it’s not me they are singing to.” I study her, my head cocked to one side. “Just what are you?”

“I don’t know.” She sighs. “But what sort of girl gets serenaded by wolves?”

For the first time, I get a glimpse of what it must have been like for her, waking up with no memories.

Then she sighs again. “I don’t think they mean us harm.”

“Is that another of your intuitions?”

“Yes.”

“I think you’re right,” I say. “There’s no sense of ill will from them, and it appears they’ve chased the monsters away.”

She’s silent for a moment, chewing her lower lip. Finally, she says, “Is Zayne going to be okay?”

“I think so.” And strangely enough, that’s true. The boy is stronger than I thought. “If you want to know more, talk to him. It’s now his story to tell.” I stare up at the sky for a minute, then back down at her. “You should go back to bed. We have a long way to go tomorrow.”

“Where are we going?”

“The city of Zandar Aurion.”

“So there are cities here? With people?”

“Yes. Zandar Aurion was once the capital city, home to the ruling family. But not anymore. It’s been deserted for a thousand years.”

“Have you been there before?”

“Once or twice.” It was the first place I visited once I’d realized that the girl from Khendril’s message wasn’t about to materialize. I found nothing, just the empty ruins of a dead city. I came again once each year, but with the same results. If this Thanouq exists, then he’s determined not to show his face. To me, at least.

“Wow, do you realize that you’re actually telling me something? Maybe we need more midnight meetings.”

Or maybe not. I ignore the comment.

“So why are we going?” she asks.

“To meet a man called Thanouq, who hopefully knows how to find the Crone.”

“Then what, I wonder?” She’s silent for a minute, likely thinking up her next question. She has so many. I should go, but I can’t make myself leave.

“Tell me about Lucifer,” she says. “I know you have no clue about his mirror, but you must know something about him.”

I do. So I’ll tell her what I know, and with luck, the information will jolt her memory. But like the Crone, Lucifer is a creature of legend, though maybe that wasn’t always the case. “The first records of him are from just over five thousand years ago. No one knows from where he came.” Except maybe my father. But he refuses to speak of Lucifer. “For hundreds of years, he moved freely from Hell to Valandria, and Earth to a lesser extent. I presume he had access to mirrors at that point, though they must have been different, since apparently, he never ventured to Astrali and the Chamber of Mirrors.”

“That’s the place we went to? The rooms with all the mirrors?”

“Yes. All the mirrors lead there. On Valandria, Lucifer was building an army. He lured many to his side with promises of wealth and power, and he killed many others. So my father created an army of Guardians, half-breeds, with the power to shift. For a long time, there was a war waging, and Lucifer was winning. It seemed that the whole of Valandria would fall under his dark power.”

“It hasn’t, has it?” She glances around as though expecting to see Lucifer pop up out of the shadows.

“No. Something happened five thousand years ago. Lucifer vanished and has not been seen in person during all that time.”

“Dead?” She sounds hopeful.

“No. Unfortunately, he still leads his armies from Hell. But without him, they were weaker, and the Guardians managed to hold them back. There was a balance. Then, around a thousand years ago, the shadowguard appeared. That’s when the ruling family was killed, and the city of Zandar Aurion destroyed. We kill the shadowguard, but they come back in greater numbers.”

“What are they?”

I shrug. “Demon wraiths bred in Hell. Evil creatures that should never have existed. Over the years, the shadowguard have multiplied, and they’ve been taking control of more and more of this land. The Guardians do what they can, but their numbers are dwindling. My brother Khendril was a Guardian until he…”

“Until he what?”

“Until he betrayed his oath, his people, and ran away.” I can taste the bitterness of his betrayal on my tongue.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. He made his choice.”

But the peace of the night has been ruined. Khendril left to protect this girl, and suddenly I need to be away from her. Before I say something I can’t take back.

So instead, I say, “Don’t step beyond the wards.”

Then I turn and walk away, as Fury whines his displeasure.