Page 37 of The Malice of Moons and Mages (The Broken Bonds of Magic #1)

Thirty-Seven

Audra

T he dim all’ight saved Audra’s footing through the nighttime woods while Lua searched for any potential threats. A well-fed liger gave them a wide berth. Rodents and winter-coated deer fled at the crunching leaves beneath their feet.

Audra turned the bloodstone inside her pocket. It was sharp-edged, unyielding, and brought a sense of calm that might be either imagined or true. Xiang said it would block Lua’s power and keep him from knowing her emotions. But Xiang couldn’t know the bond’s complexities or that it had and would, she suspected, continue to evolve.

She didn’t like that Lua knew her emotions and his feelings had intruded into her awareness over the last week. The unwanted intimacy lowered her guard against him.

Lua wasn’t only a deeply wounded man; he was Moon Oji Lua Koray—thirteen stars, murderer—who undoubtedly held significant responsibility for the destruction of her people. Every thought that he’d saved her more than once was countered by the innate understanding that he hadn’t had a choice. Yet the frequent heat of his gaze on her skin made something flutter behind her ribs. Hating him had proved to be impossible.

Before the last assault, Stonetown had been a quaint village known for its elaborate festivals and stunning views. Sheltered near the apex of the mountain, the sharp terrain and narrow roads made it difficult for large parties to access, which had enabled its resistance to the Moons far longer than most other northern villages.

The town they stumbled into resembled little of its former reputation. Dark smoke wafted from precariously slanted chimneys as they walked down narrow, neglected streets. A battered inn tilted to one side, already showing signs of stirring in the early morning.

Lua and Audra looked suspicious, from the distinctive color of his eyes and pale complexion to their lack of belongings other than the single, muddy pack flung across Audra’s shoulder. Never mind that they looked like they’d intentionally wallowed in dirt.

“Are you hungry?” Lua’s breath tickled her skin.

She should have been, but she wasn’t. It must have been the bond’s doing. Growing stronger together was almost preferable to the years of struggle she’d endured.

Lua’s eyes shone brighter too. He smiled more readily when he looked at her. Confiding in him about everything had probably been foolish. But it felt right too. As if there were no one she should trust more. Other than Ferin.

“We’ll need supplies,” he said.

“I’m not stealing from these people.”

He looked at the patched mortar and signs of failing repairs that scarred each building. Generational loss and sadness oozed through the town. “Why would you?”

“In Oxton?—”

“I had nothing other than you to sustain me, and we were dying. Oxton is thriving and rich compared to this place.” He met her eyes. “Allow me some grace, I don’t steal from the poor.”

“What about those fishers?”

Lua’s jaw clenched. “Kept us alive. I’m not proud of it, but I’d do it again if I had to. ”

“That man, Xiang, had been on the Requin ,” she said. “He said they’d answered his questions and he let them go. But he was lying.”

Lua’s lips drew into a thin line.

“You were right. The crew of the Requin is dead,” she said, “And they made it to the ruins so quickly. How did they track us?”

The inn’s door banged open as a hefty, bald man with rolled-up sleeves stepped into the street and emptied a bucket of brown water off to the side. It splattered against the neighboring building. He patted the bucket empty and nodded to them.

“You’re welcome if you need a bite. I’ve made extra,” the man said. He propped the door open before disappearing inside.

Lua watched him suspiciously. The silver at his fingertips quelled when Audra touched his wrist. “You’ll find that those without much are often the most generous. It’s normal to give food away rather than let it spoil, especially if there’s a lack of paying customers.” Her stomach rumbled as fried hash scented the air. Maybe she was hungry.

His magic vanished, and he gripped her hand. “A good meal and a little rest would do you good.”

“Do us both good.”

The man, Arn, vanished into the kitchen and returned to the dining room a few minutes later with two plates of eggs, biscuits with clotted cream, small fried cookies twisted into simple script, plum jam, and two cups of salty milk tea. He settled the plates before them with a pitcher of water. The musty room was otherwise empty.

“Long night?” Arn asked. “Probably best to keep moving though, eh? Any problems with the ligers?”

“Saw one, but they let us be,” Audra said.

He settled behind the bar, wiping down counters with a yellowed cloth. “Lucky. Never know this time of year. Sometimes the cats get bold.”

The familiar food was savory, warming her core in ways she hadn’t realized she missed. Lua ate lazily, like a man who’d never known hunger or desperation. Or like one who never considered this meal might be his last.

“Any decent mage with more than a couple of stars can track a spell. Once you get the knack of it, it’s easy to find. There’s a skill to it, certainly, but magic leaves traces everywhere it’s cast.” Lua spoke softly, leaning back while watching the innkeeper. “They tracked the bolt to the Requin . Then the wind to the fishing boat.”

“The wind?”

“Spell fragments would have lingered in the sails. Enough for a skilled mage to find.”

Audra bit her lip, thinking of the spell to steal the horse, but the Moons didn’t pass them on the road. “Then the argentavas?” Audra asked. “But there were other paths to get to the border and the spell you used at the livery in Oxton?—”

“Xiang knows where I’m headed. He’d have picked the most likely route and stuck to it, hoping to beat me there.” He shrugged. “He couldn’t have expected what happened at the monastery.”

The image of the soldiers’ and mage’s faces dissolving into ash made her push the plate away. “Is that what happened to the fishers?” she asked quietly.

“We needed the fishers to survive. The other was defensive—a choice to kill a moderate-level mage and their companions. I took no satisfaction in the first. The second, well...” His voice turned cold. “I told you. I’ll never let anyone hurt you.”

She stared at the table. There was a possessiveness to his tone. It didn’t matter that his motivations were ultimately self-serving. She’d seen the red welt around his neck, the one that matched her own. Protecting her was protecting himself.

“I should have killed them all,” he said.

“Why didn’t you?”

He leaned toward her, too close. His presence warmed the air between them. “You asked me not to.”

They were inches apart. She held her breath, wanting his touch and hating herself for it.

“There’s more if you’ve any hunger left,” Arn said, pulling her from the trance.

“You’re kind, sir.” Lua’s voice dripped with uncharacteristic charm. Reminding her of a purring cat that allowed exactly one pet before biting. “Is there a room available?”

He looked from Audra to Lua and winked. “I’ll get one ready. ”

Her face flushed. “No. We’re not?—”

“Much appreciated, sir.”

Arn called a name as he ascended the sloping flight of stairs in the corner.

“We don’t have any money,” she hissed. “The food was more than enough. To take his generosity further?—”

“Money isn’t what’s needed.”

“What then?”

“A solid spell or two to keep this place from falling,” Lua said.

“Won’t that leave a trail?”

“If I do it? Definitely. But Western magic was always difficult to track. This allows for some good practice.”

“No. Absolutely not. I’ve only picked through some trash. Can’t even start a damn fire. And now you think I can seal this place back together? I’m more likely to demolish it.”

“I’ll guide you. The spells will last as long as we both live.” His tone was disarmingly positive.

“Moon, I can’t.” Her voice faded beneath the sudden heat of his smile. Her heart tugged.

“I like when you call me that. Your lack of reverence is amusing.” He brushed the hair from her cheek. Those cool fingers killed the words in her mouth. “Whatever we do from now on must be done together, including this.”

She stared at him. Wanting and longing conflicted with a greater sense of duty and the familiar comfort of working alone.

Lua took her hand. His expression was tenderly sincere, as if he knew what she needed to hear. “Audra, I won’t abandon you. You’re not alone anymore.”

Their threads knotted tighter at the same moment Audra realized she was on the edge of being lost to the Moon Oji and his spells. Their fates and desire aligned, even if their goals did not.