Page 61

Chapter

Forty-Six

Liv

“ K azhi?” I couldn’t believe my eyes.

The Eagle had led us along the top of the canyon cliffs, and as darkness set in, we approached the fire I had spotted earlier to find the Guard drinking from a bottle.

She sat on a rock before the fire, which was sheltered from the wind by a large overhang.

Past her were shelves built along the rock and a bed roll tucked to the side.

I hadn’t seen her earlier, hiding in the shadows.

The Eagle prowled closer to the fire. “I almost didn’t recognize you, covering yourself with Guardian tattoos.”

Were they friends?

His tone suggested they may not be. “The last time I saw you?—”

“Enough,” Kazhi stopped him, nodding in my direction.

“Who said you could drink that?” He tore the drink from her hands.

I froze, waiting for Kazhi to plunge a knife into his chest. Instead, she gave him a warm smile. Her teeth were red from the drink and looked too much like blood. “You left the good stuff sitting around. And you took too long.”

“I don’t enjoy that you know where my various perches are located.”

Kazhi was a startling contrast to the red rock behind her as she sat against the overhang, the fire casting shadows over her features, dancing across the white and black striped tattoos on her face. She reminded me again of a lizard, this time one that belonged in the desert.

“Why didn’t you fly here?” Kazhi asked, uncaring of Eagle’s threatening stance before her. “I can’t risk staying too long.”

The Eagle’s stare was as terrifying as hers. “I took my time and enjoyed watching the Ikhor suffer. Punishment for coming through my canyons without permission.”

Heat rose to my face.

He turned in my direction just as my hands fisted. “And keep that anger to yourself. You’ve already had one warning.”

The Eagle strode back and circled me, his attention sharp, clear and intelligent.

I took a deep breath, calming my racing heart.

He was a powerful, pure-blooded legacy of Mountain. The vibration of his magic floated around us.

“You’re a magic user yourself. Why should I be careful?” I asked.

He stopped, piercing me with a glare. “You will do well not to reveal a magic user lest you find yourself dead.”

“And yet you’ve brought my magic up twice?” I glared back.

“Liv,” Maev warned.

The Eagle continued to circle around me, while Kazhi and Maev watched. Muscle packed his broad shoulders and slim waist. If it didn’t look like he was ready to kill me, I would have found him sexy.

“Why does your body look so plain? Did the possession of the body strip it of its legacy?”

“I am not an it,” I spat back at him. “And although the magic is affecting me, I never had signs of a legacy.”

“It’s rather … exotic,” he said in an appreciative tone, his gaze roaming over my body.

“Don’t bother Eagle,” Kazhi said. “The Shadow Guard claimed her already.”

My jaw clenched. She spoke as if Brekt had never left. She saw what he was now. Did she have hope, too, that he could be saved?

“I never had the pleasure of meeting this generation of Guards,” the Eagle turned for the fire, moving past me. “Until today. Not sure what I think about them. Where was the fourth?”

Kazhi toed the dirt. “You met him—a version of him, anyway. He became the Aspis. A surprise even to me. I always felt magic stirring within him and thought it was his legacy.”

“The other one reminded me of one of your boys,” the Eagle said, poking the fire, and the flames rose.

Kazhi shot me a look when I opened my mouth to ask.

What did he mean one of her boys?

“Is that why you travel with them?” The Eagle asked.

“I don’t particularly enjoy talking about my past.” She raised her chin, stopping him from whatever he was about to say.

“I suppose things have changed since we last fought together. You have joined a new team.”

She peered up at him. “You haven’t changed a bit. Still ignoring the rest of the world while you defend the passage. One would think your skills could be used elsewhere.”

“I am where I wish to be.” His voice was low. A warning.

Kazhi seemed excited by his threats. “I appreciate you bringing the Ikhor to me. You could have been a little faster. The others are waiting for me to come back from scouting.”

The Eagle’s attention went over my shoulder to the canyon we left behind, scanning the cliff edge. “I took my time because I wanted to know what followed the Ikhor.”

Maev, who was about to sit by the fire, froze, looking at where the Eagle was watching.

“Followed?” I couldn’t see anything in the growing dark as the shadows of the canyons blended. “Is it the Aethar?”

“Pirates?” Maev asked.

Kazhi got up from the fire, swiping the drink from Eagle while he was distracted, and stood next to me, looking in the same direction as the rest of us. Her knotted hair moved with the wind, but she otherwise was as still as the others.

“I don’t know what it is,” I said. “I can’t feel it …”

“It’s not magic.” The Eagle was like a statue, waiting for whatever it was out of sight to reveal itself.

“I feel nothing.” Kazhi seemed on edge for the first time since I met her. “Is it the Aspis? I can’t sense it as I can the Ikhor.”

“You can’t feel the Aspis?” I asked. “But you can feel me?”

Kazhi nodded. “Magic users sense magic, which you are. The beast is something else.”

What did that mean? This pull between the Aspis and me wasn’t the tug of magic?

“I saw no sign of the beast trailing us.” The Eagle continued to watch the darkness past the small fire.

“How does the Aspis not have magic?” I asked, but he ignored me.

Instead, Kazhi answered. “Whatever it is made of is not something we can sense.”

“So what followed you, Ikhor? During our walk here, you continued to look behind you as if seeing something there.”

Piercing, wild eyes ensnared me.

The fire cracked behind me, making me jump.

Maev gave out a small cry of alarm before she sat back on the rock, attention glued to the dark.

My heart was in my throat. Ever since the swirling shadow started visiting me, I always felt like something was close, watching. “Did you see anything?” I whispered.

“I saw nothing.” Suspicion lingered beneath the Eagle’s tone.

Kazhi returned to the rock, giving Maev a look of ridicule before sitting.

My heart sank—was it too much to hope I wasn’t going insane? Was I the only one who could sense it? See it?

Kazhi said she sensed no magic from the Aspis. It was the same with the shadow … did my imagination conjure more than the shadow?

“You all saw the half-beast, right?”

Everyone around the fire turned my way, but only Maev nodded.

Not completely insane then.

People I didn’t trust surrounded me, as it had been while travelling with the Guards. But this time, I understood the ramifications of what happened when you hid secrets. Nothing ever changed. And I wanted things to change.

“There has been a shadow I’ve seen countless times. It’s followed me since I became the Ikhor.”

“Did it look human? Did it have a face?” The Eagle sat on a squat rock, his wings blowing dirt across the fire as he readjusted them.

“No, it was only shadow,” I said, settling myself closer to Maev. “Parts were darker where a face might be. But I saw nothing that resembled a person. It had arms at one point. But no face.”

“That’s what you were talking to the other night?” Maev took off her pack and set it at her feet, eyes darting to the cliff every few seconds.

“Shadows belong to the Night-legs,” Kazhi said.

“Do you think Erabas could still be alive?” Maev asked. “Maybe he’s trying to reach Liv, knowing she’s looking for him. Maybe he sent this shadow to find her.”

“Everyone knows he’s gone.” Eagle’s tone suggested he was certain.

“Gone? Not dead?” I asked.

“Gone. The first children know the old stories. He left these lands a long time ago. It’s why there are so few of his children.

No more are born, only bred. He has not blessed a child in millennia.

He hated what this world had become. Erabas was a fickle creature.

Some say, however, that he lives in the shadows of the night.

When it’s truly dark and no signs of his brethren can be found, he will lurk.

So, if you’re looking for Erabas, you must search for pure darkness. No day, no water and no ground.”

“That is impossible. Such a place doesn’t exist,” I scoffed.

Eagle tilted his head. His piercing gaze tore into me.

“You’re from the Lost Lands, Bones.” Kazhi took a drink. “Have you not learned that many things exist beyond what you imagined? Be more creative.”

I sat straight. “Interesting. I guess we don’t keep each other’s secrets.”

She stopped drinking to take in what I meant. “And what secrets of mine do you think you can get away with telling?”

I crossed my legs, holding her gaze. “I suppose you have suggestions for such a place? Where to look for the God of Night?”

Kazhi smiled. “Your new teeth are sharp Bones. I like them.”

“The gods don’t wish to be found,” the Eagle said, answering my question. “Nor do I care ever to meet one of those temperamental beings. I have my own problems. Which I will be getting back to when the sun rises.”

“So why am I here?” I waved a hand at the fire where we sat.

“You are looking for those temperamental beings.” Kazhi rested her elbow on her knees, the drink dangling between her legs. “We wish to speak on that.”

“Fine. A trade,” I dared.

“A trade for what?” the Eagle asked.

“Tell me how to find the pirates that stole Ollo. Then I will tell you what I have planned regarding the gods.”

Maev reached for me, grabbing my hand and squeezing.

“Pirates?” Eagle asked.

Kazhi’s face lit with interest. “I would have expected you to run hiding at the mention of pirates, Bones. You want to go search for them?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t bother,” the Eagle replied. “If they’ve taken someone you know, it’s for ransom. Otherwise, they’d be dead.”

“Ransom?” Maev’s voice rose.