Page 45 of The Malice of Moons and Mages (The Broken Bonds of Magic #1)

Forty-Five

Lua

A udra’s chest gently rose and fell as she dreamed. Her warmth seeped into Lua’s side beneath their shared blanket. They’d walked cautiously into the night as the clouds parted to allow the ring and moonslight to guide their way.

Lua prayed for guidance, but neither moon spoke—not a whisper since the sea. Their neglect was unnerving, as if they were waiting to make a decision.

Audra and he had shared deep kisses and tentative hands that had eventually settled in slumber. He’d wanted more, but it was too new and raw. He kissed the crown of her head, inhaling the scent his soul had grown to crave.

Lua feared disturbing anything between them. Who he was, the things he’d done, would horrify her. It wouldn’t matter that he’d had no choice or couldn’t clearly remember. He wouldn’t blame her for hating him if she knew everything. Even if he wasn’t the man he used to be.

Audra sighed, shifting in his arms before resettling. Her dark hair lay across her cheek. He should tell her about the coronation. There would be a moment when both moons were eclipsed that the tether between them would thin. The moons would withdraw his magic until they shone again. Then he’d receive their blessing and his reign would begin: Rajav Lua Koray and Raani Audra Shan. He wouldn’t allow anyone to dispute it. With their combined power, even Selene wouldn’t be able to usurp him.

Selene had kept Bolin on a leash so tight it nearly strangled him, but now Lua understood why Selene’s power had grown over the last seventeen years. Bolin had the blood born of Western magic. Lua wondered if Selene knew what she had or if she intended to do to him what Li-Hun had done to their mother—use him until there was nothing left but dying flesh and agony.

Lua had never openly disobeyed his father, not even when the Rajav’s paranoia and obsession intensified, and he demanded that all remaining Western mages be eliminated. Lua thought it had been only about the dragons, but he understood more after Stonetown. Audra’s magic had controlled his even when he could not. Even though she was inexperienced, she’d undone his siphon instinctively. If they weren’t anchored, she would have been a serious threat.

His chest tightened. She would plead for her people, and, for her alone, he would go to war and liberate them. He’d gladly slaughter the Starlings and drive them back south. After everything, it was the least he could do.

The dragons were a different matter, though. Audra would have to understand. He bit his lip, wondering what would happen if Zin and Ferin interfered.

Although they hadn’t spoken of it, he was certain she’d acquiesce on this. She was reasonable, after all, and her emotions had begun to match his own. He didn’t care if it was love or the mutual cravings of their entwined magic. Every fiber of his being longed for hers. He wanted her to need him the way he clearly needed her. To be her world, her everything. He didn’t care if that was selfish.

Her fingers toyed with the ends of his hair. No, he would never give her up.

When they rolled up the blankets and resumed their journey, Audra’s smile was as cautious as his own, but she reached for him more often and he responded. Each glance she spared him left him feeling awkward and vulnerable, but he didn’t mind it. She was the warmth that bloomed inside his frozen veins. A new home for his scarred heart. But he wouldn’t say those things to her until after the coronation.

The blood-red river shone bright against the muted winter landscape, turning the snow covered shore a lighter shade of pink. Wherever the river leached into the ground, nothing grew. Audra’s eyes traced it warily toward the mountain on the northern horizon. “What’s wrong with it?”

A vague memory scratched at him, but he shook his head and gave the only answer he knew. “The minerals from the mountains keep it from being potable.” Lua explained. “We’ll have to stick with snow.”

She searched the shoreline. “Where do we cross?”

He flashed an arrogant smile and pulled her close. His fingers interlaced with hers as he tugged on their magic. Silver and green swirled around them.

“What—?”

His lips brushed her temple as he lifted them from the ground. He no longer cared if his magic left a trail. Nothing could stop them now.

Threads reached out, latching into the air as they floated upward. She clung desperately to him. Halfway across the river, a thread slipped. They dropped a foot before Lua sent another yarn across and latched onto thick tree branches. Using their combined magic was like drawing fingers through still water: easy. They could have flown for another mile, but Audra’s nervousness was contagious. She’d have to learn control quickly. Her magic was like a stumbling foal and more powerful than she realized.

When Lua steadied her on the ground, the exhilarating thrum of her heart coalesced with his. He rubbed his thumb across her lower lip before his mouth met hers. She softened into him with a small moan. Green and silver spun around them, insulating them from the chill for timeless minutes.

He pulled back with a breath, admiring the brightness of her eyes against her skin. Audra was everything beautiful he’d neglected noticing before. She was moonslight on water, red-feathered birds on gray days. She was the first taste of rain after a long drought and blue poppies breaking through spring snow.

A subtle energetic shift caught his attention. Lua shoved Audra behind him. His magic whipped wide to meet two streams of gray that arced toward them.

“Songs,” he hissed, Selene’s people. Three mages stood on the horizon, lined against them with a dozen dark soldiers. Their hands formed mudras as lips moved soundlessly.

Audra gasped as the spells wove together like a giant fishing net made of lightning. Lua gripped her hand and a counter spell slashed through the Song’s tapestry, tearing it into small pieces that dissipated in the air.

Two mages hurled another spell at Lua, while another targeted Audra. Their spell burst apart as his silver countered. His fury surged with his magic, but he didn’t know if it was his emotion or hers.

A silver spike impaled Audra’s attacker into the ground. The two remaining mages worked their way to opposing sides as soldiers raced forward with drawn blades. A spell broke into smaller barbs raining down around Audra and Lua, but he turned the shimmering shards back at their soldiers. Three fell, ice freezing their blood before it could stain the grass. A few others stumbled.

A hint of familiar magic caught Lua’s attention. One of Xiang’s usual mages, Verina’s voice echoed around them, but he couldn’t make out her words. If she’d been with him at the monastery the fight might not have gone as quickly as it did. Xiang had been foolish to leave their most powerful mage behind. But Verina wasn’t on the field before them. It was a diversion.

He conjured a razor-edged defensive shield and hurled it outward.

“Lua!” Audra yelled. She shoved him sideways, a sharp stream of gray magic flying from the left. An emerald barrier surged from Audra’s arms. It shattered the gray magic like glass. Her cheeks flushed as the barrier turned wire thin and snaked toward the source of the attack. She grunted. Their power swelled as a row of trees toppled, shredded, revealing Verina’s shocked face .

Audra met Verina’s next spell with a chorus of curses and magic. Green and gray collided in the air. Lua was tempted to pull her back, but Audra seemed to handle her own.

Lua blew back another volley of spikes, but the soldiers dodged and dove down the hill. Ten blades shone as Starling burned through parting clouds.

Audra cursed again as another gray thread whipped past her cheek and struck the ground behind them. She clapped her green-glowing hands together, blowing the mage’s hood off. Verina stumbled, shrinking back and raising her hands against the light. Audra’s next lash sliced Verina’s throat. Crimson scattered across the snow.

Three Song soldiers raced toward them, only twenty paces from the couple. Lua gripped Audra’s hand, yanking her back to his side. Their magic rose between them, focused and furious. Horizontal and blade sharp, the spell split the soldiers into halves, their torsos falling mid-step as they screamed. The shimmering crescent continued, severing heads and limbs before striking the mages full force. They disappeared in a cloud of gore and blood.

All was quiet save for the sound of Audra and Lua’s gasping breath. Audra stared at the horror spread across the landscape before dropping to her knees and retching. She quickly dissolved into empty heaves and hiccups. Lua knelt beside her, until her shaking arms wrapped around him.

Too many years had passed since his first kill, and her emotions were too intense. He didn’t tell her that he was proud of her, which he was. Nor that he knew they’d be unbeatable. That the magic came so readily to her, that she’d protected him, was proof of the legacy they would build together. Instead of words, he held her quietly, and that seemed to be enough.

“Oji!” A familiar voice rang from behind the carnage. A row of Silence soldiers atop glossy black horses were framed along the horizon. A soldier called out again while raising a salute. Even across the distance, Lua could see the broad smile on Quin’s face falter as the party moved closer. Quin had trained for years to replace Dain as anchor, he’d be sorely insulted by Audra’s presence.

Anjing, a wiry, middle-aged ten star and the second highest ranking Silence mage behind Fallue, rode beside him. They trotted forward, heedless of the death beneath their hooves. Audra wiped a hand across her mouth as Lua helped her to her feet.

“We’re safe now,” Lua said.

She stared at the soldiers, trembling. Her disbelief sang between them.