Page 5 of The Storm of the Empire (Flyers Of The First Kingdom #3)

FOUR

LUKA

S he searched my face as I strolled into training the next day. I was trying for an air of confidence. There were already a few students milling about the room, so I kept my comments to myself, but I felt her gaze follow me as I set my jug of water down and took a place to one side to stretch out. I half expected to be thrown out on my ear.

Midway through my warm-up routine, I couldn’t help myself anymore and finally lifted my line of sight to meet hers, only to be met with a glare.

Was she upset with me?

We’d been playful, but I had left once she was asleep. Had I burned a bridge? I lifted an eyebrow in a silent question.

She hesitated a moment, then shook her head and mouthed, “Nothing.”

“Sure?”I didn’t believe her.

She nodded in response and turned her attention to someone else.

Sometimes, I wished I could do that mind speech stuff the dragons and their ryders could all do. At least if I had to be left out of conversations constantly, I could have my own. They’d be naughty, of course. What else would you use that skill for?

I could only imagine the stuff Zaria said to Nyx all day long. The edging they could do without even touching each other. I could edge Hazel this entire class, teasing her with banter until she was panting by the end.

But since I didn’t have any stupid magical powers, I settled on the next best thing, teasing her with sword skills. All I had to do was get her to spar with me. I wouldn’t let her kick my ass, but if she did…my cock half hardened at the thought, and I had to push all the ways I could to tease her with my tongue out of my mind, at least until I was out of these damn gray sweats.

She avoided my gaze as she got training going, guiding us through warm-up stretches and then drills. I kept sliding over to try and meet her eyes or get some read on what had happened to her mood. But she artfully kept her attention on the whole class.

Come on. I couldn’t have fucked up that bad, could I? But not so much as a glance or gesture in my direction. All mask. But I’d gotten a glimpse of what was under her mask last night, and I was determined to lift it again. She was going to be a hard egg to crack, but I liked a challenge, and it had been far too long since I’d had a worthy opponent.

My mind spent the entire quarter of a candle mark in the gutter, but I managed to control myself enough to not create a scene. Barely. I’d had to beg my way into this class, and I was well aware half the flyers didn’t want me here, so a hard on in class would not be well received by anyone.

Finally, I had my chance with her as she paired off other students. She stopped near me, her attention at my feet, but she slowly lifted her gaze, assessing every inch of me. I knew she’d used it against me.

Our eyes met.

“Let’s see what you’ve got and if Tieran is lying about your abilities,” she challenged.

My brows lifted. I guessed being her sparring partner was more than I could have hoped for, but the way she was facing me down had me on alert.

Was this just a test for the class, or did she have something she wanted to work out on the mats?

She lunged at me, and we sparred.

She had me sweating in no time, working me over. It was intense but short lived, and my chest heaved as I stepped back. Others in the class had taken notice, and though I was fighting for breath and sporting a few welts, I could hold my head up high. I hadn’t let myself down, and I’d surely shown I deserved a place in the class.

“Not terrible,” Hazel said over her shoulder as if I mattered not.

I smirked but wished she would turn around and give me more. Instead, she approached the pair on the next mat. “Change partners with the pair to your left and go again,” she called out, then without another word, she threw herself into another battle without so much as a chance to catch her breath.

I was tapped on the shoulder, and I turned to find my next sparring partner. I had to accept that that was it.

She spent the rest of the class getting further and further away from me and never looked back. I had to turn my attention to my selection of partners so as not to get more welts, and when the class ended, Hazel took two flyers aside and was deep in conversation with them.

I wouldn’t wait around to catch her attention. If she was happy with a one-time thing, so was I.

I had things to do, so I headed off to my bathing chamber to make myself presentable again.

“I’m getting nowhere,” I admitted, slumping down into the chair in Nyx’s office. I’d thought about my progress as I’d rested after training and decided to pay Nyx a visit to discuss things. As an added bonus, I’d found Jaxus in his office, too.

“Funny… It looked like you were getting somewhere interesting with a certain weapons master.” Jaxus smirked giving me a once over.

I balked. On second thought, his presence was no bonus.

Nyx curled the corner of the papers he was reading over so he could peer at us on the opposite side of his desk.

I swallowed.

“What do you mean?” I hedged, taking it Zaria had been right in her assessment about leaving Hazel alone.

“I mean I saw a very good likeness of you leaving her quarters in the early hours holding a pair of boots and a bundle of clothing, creeping away like a thief in the night.” Jaxus quirked a brow in challenge.

“Interesting.” I held still, playing it cool and resisting the urge to shift under his scrutiny

“Very,” Nyx joined, setting down his papers and giving us his focus. He eyed me thoroughly and then glanced at Jaxus. He set his elbows on his desk and cupped his cheeks with his palms, giving me the opposite of what I expected. “What, by the Goddess, might you have been doing?” .

I’d thought he might be pissed I’d dallied with his friend, but his glee could not be mistaken.

My eyes skipped between them, noting the smirk on Jaxus’ face, too

“Are we sure it was me you saw?” I prevaricated.

Nyx looked to Jaxus with exaggerated interest. He was lapping this up. “Yes, Jaxus, are you sure?”

“Well I could have been mistaken, I suppose,” he mused, but I could feel the jaws of the trap closing on me. “It was dark. I was coming in from a night patrol, so I was tired, and I could have seen another male. But I do have a dragon’s night sight and a dragon’s sense of smell so…” He shrugged.

I lifted a shoulder in non-answer.

“And you dropped this.” He produced a coin purse with my initials on it from his pocket and held it out.

Well, shit. I reached for it, but he jerked it back.

“It’s yours, then? I thought you were unsure.”

“An honorable fae does not kiss and tell.” I sniffed, taking it.

Nyx scoffed. “Which means you’re free to tell us.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you pleased for your friends, or just happy that you can relax your silly jealousy over Zaria and I?” Nyx’s smile fell off, and I chuckled. “As I thought.”

Jaxus stifled his own snicker and cleared his throat. “Well, I think it’s an interesting development. You have yourself a feisty female on your hands.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. I suspect it was a pleasure not to be repeated.”

Nyx frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, don’t get all protective—that’s entirely her call. I just attended her class, and she acted like I was a stranger. I’m happy to respect that if it’s what she wants. There’s no ill feeling on my part.”

Jaxus blew out a breath. “Well, that was anticlimactic.”

“Sorry to disappoint.” I clapped my hands together sitting back. “So, can we discuss the many other ways I’m not living up to expectations now? I’m hitting a wall with the priests, and I need some ideas.”

Both males sat back in their seats and looked deflated. I wished I had better news, but I had drawn a blank.

“What do we know?” Jaxus asked.

“We know the priests are involved with moving the Dragon’s Bane. We know they are using illicit means to smuggle it through the kingdoms because that’s what got Kiera injured. But how they arrange it, I don’t know.”

“Do we really know, though?” Nyx tapped a finger on the desk.

“Well, at least some of them are. I definitely recognized the priest in the square from delivery drops during my days at the compound. I did many of them. But whether he’s one of a few or they are all involved, I still don’t quite know. They aren’t an easy bunch to infiltrate. They keep very much to themselves, and I have to stay away from the river now in case I’m burned. I’ve watched the temple in the main square for days, but our friend has not been around, and since he is the only connection I can make, I’m at a loss.”

“And you don’t know where deliveries are taken once they reach the river bank?”

“No, I was never part of that end of things. We just delivered to the bank where fae I can only assume are all priests in plain clothing, since we know at least one was, take the sacks into the tunnels. From there, who knows where they go? And when I spent those months on ships after…” I couldn’t bring myself to say it. “We took things all over the Twelve Kingdoms, but I can’t be sure any of it was Dragon’s Bane. We were paid to ignore what we carried."

Nyx steepled his fingers and stared off in thought. “The tunnels go everywhere under the city. They link the temples as well as lots of other landmarks. They even connect with the palace, although those are all sealed off and guarded these days.”

“So what you’re telling me is that I’m looking for a needle in a haystack?”

He sighed. “It looks that way.”

“It seems to me that until you can find this one priest you recognized again, we have no leads to go on. So maybe if the tunnels connect the temples, you could expand your search. Take the temples one at time and see if our priest shows up anywhere else?” Jaxus suggested.

I groaned. “Do I want to know how many temples there are in this city?”

“Don’t get lost,” Nyx said, and I could tell he felt a little bad.

“So I’m going to be sneaking around just looking for stuff?”

“Would it entice you if I granted you some official permission to snoop? Be in places you wouldn’t otherwise be allowed?”

“That sounds like a whole lot of trouble and paperwork I’m going to have to deal with later,” Jaxus muttered.

“That does sound alluring, more so because it will annoy Jaxus.”

Jaxus huffed, but Nyx grinned.

“It’s decided then.” I always worked better when I followed my gut and I’d grown restless staying in the palace. It was time to move on.

“Get to it,” Nyx replied and I took it as official permission to do as I pleased.