Page 8 of This Vicious Dream (Kingdom of Death #1)

Madinia

I travel for almost an hour, galloping through the forest, careful to stick to the trail. Hope wasn’t difficult to find once I escaped Calysian, and I used some shameless bribery to separate her from Fox.

Still, Calysian has likely found Fox by now, and the demon horse is much faster than my mare, which means I need to find somewhere to hide.

But memories are slamming into me. Memories of fighting with him in another forest.

Calysian tuts as he lifts his hand, reinforcing his ward against a sudden barrage of dark power and fae-iron-tipped arrows.

I send more power toward those arrows, and several of them drop straight to the ground. “Feel free to help whenever you get tired of watching.”

“There’s that sharp little tongue. Do you ever get tired of wielding it?”

I ignore him.

“Ah, silence. Adorable. Tell me, just how did you end up here, Madinia Farrow?”

Grinding my teeth, I ignore him some more. A life-or-death situation, and he wants to chat. Idiot.

The memory fades, and I urge my mare on. Calysian was fighting at my side.

Attempting to protect me.

Even worse?

I tried to protect him .

Another memory rises, even as I try to ignore it.

An arrow streaks toward Calysian’s unarmed back.

I slash at it with the last of my power—just enough to send it off course.

He turns, one eyebrow arching as the arrow clatters harmlessly to the ground. His lips curl back, baring his teeth in a snarl, irritation sparking in his eyes. “That’s another life debt.”

“You would have saved yourself anyway,” I snap, breathless.

“It doesn’t matter. Intention matters,” he growls. “Make me owe you again, and I’ll kill you myself.”

I bare my teeth at him in return. “Try.”

His gaze sharpens, narrowing on my face. For a moment, irritation flashes hotter, but then it cools, slipping into that lazy, maddening amusement that makes my skin prickle. I look away, my chest heaving, the effort of staying upright draining what little strength I have left.

“That one was free,” I pant, leaning heavily against the tree at my back. The world tilts and spins, my vision darkening at the edges. I can barely feel my fingers, let alone call a spark to them. “You don’t owe me anything.”

He shakes his head, his tone flat but not unkind. “Wait here.”

For once, I don’t argue. My legs give out and I slump to the ground, the rough bark of the tree digging into my shoulders. A single muffled yell cuts through the silence, and when I glance up, Calysian is already striding back toward me, wiping blood off his blade as if it’s nothing more than spilled wine.

I guide my horse around a fallen tree branch, my heart slamming into my ribs. Calysian had said he owed me, but then…

“Madinia,” he croons, his voice low and smooth. “Look at me.”

I draw a long, steadying breath and turn, ignoring the way his tone makes my lungs squeeze, like they’re being wound too tight. This man is a predator through and through.

His dark eyes lock on mine, filled with a ruthless calculation that sends a prickle of unease skittering down my spine. He stares at me like I’m nothing more than a pawn on his game board, a piece he’s considering putting into play.

“The fates have seen fit to push us together more than once,” he says, his voice calm, confident. “One day, when I need you, you will help me with my own goals.”

The entitlement dripping from his words makes my stomach churn, anger sparking like a flame catching dry wood. I say nothing, but my silence feels like its own kind of defiance. Still, he seems content, as though he’s already decided I’ll fall in line with his demands.

He truly is an idiot.

My breath catches as the memory fades. I was the one who was an idiot. I’d known he was dangerous and yet I never took him seriously.

Still, how could I have known he was the dark god?

His true nature helps to explain why he’s so convinced I will help him. Not just because I know where his grimoire is, but because he believes in fate .

I snort, petting Hope’s neck as she echoes the noise. I wonder if Calysian will still believe in fate when he learns just who he is and how much was taken from him.

My distraction costs me, and it takes me too long to realize someone’s following me. I pull Hope to a stop, both of us panting.

“Come out,” I say, my hand a ball of flame.

Calysian wouldn’t bother hiding, which means it’s likely a soldier—

Huge eyes stare at me, wet with tears. The girl is covered in blood, and she sways dizzily on her horse.

“They’re both dead,” she says, her voice empty. “Dead.”

“Fliora.” My lips are numb as I stare at her, and she stares back at me. Devastated. Heartbroken.

She must only have seen ten or eleven winters, and she looks even smaller than when I first met her earlier today, as if some of the life has been sucked from her bones.

Slowly, her head turns, as if she can hear something I can’t. Her gray eyes lighten until they’re almost white. “He’s coming,” she says. “I can show you where to hide.”

I follow her off the trail to a small clearing. The forest is dense but not impassable, and I dismount, guiding my horse into the undergrowth and willing her to stay still.

“How did you find me? How did you avoid the soldiers?”

“I know this forest well. I used to live near here. With Mama…” her lip trembles, and she gazes up at me.

I wrap one arm around her shoulder and she leans into me. When she stiffens, I release her, and she turns, pointing.

“He’s coming.”

We’re only a few footspans from the trail, close enough that I can still see glimpses of the path through the trees. The sound of a galloping horse cuts through the forest—it has to be Calysian. Blood roars in my ears, but I crouch next to Fliora, steadying my breath.

If he dismounts and searches, he’ll find us instantly. But he won’t.

Calysian expects me to be fleeing, putting as much distance between myself and this forest as possible. And if not for Fliora, I would be.

The undergrowth around us is thick enough to break up our shapes, to blur the outlines of us and our horses into shadow and brush. Not enough to be impenetrable—but enough that, at full speed, Calysian’s gaze will be fixed ahead.

At least I hope it will.

Hooves thunder past, the sound fading into the distance as he rides past us. I let out a long breath and survey the girl in front of me. She’s covered in blood, her face white. Now that she’s found me, I can see the realization of what happened slowly seeping into her.

“We’ll stay here tonight,” I say gently. “I stole plenty of food from Calysian.”

His horse tried to bite me, but I gave him an apple and he settled down.

I continue talking, telling her about the horse, about the troll, about anything I can think of. My words seem to give her something to focus on as we set up camp. We’re close to a small stream, and I hand Fliora soap and one of my spare tunics. “You need to wash. But I’m not sure if it’s safe to build a fire.”

“It is.” Her eyes are dazed. “The soldiers have gone, and the dark god travels north.”

I go still. “You know who he is?”

“Mama told me,” she whispers. She turns away to wash, and I finish setting up camp. When she returns, she takes a seat next to me on a fallen log.

“Here.” I hand her some bread and soft cheese.

“Thank you.”

I push more of my power into the fire, adding another branch. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Fliora’s eyes fill with tears, but she sniffs, holding them back. “They came after you left. Mama was still unwell, and Laysa was helping her to bed. They burst through the door and up the stairs.” Her gaze turns stark. “Laysa pushed me into the closet and slammed the door shut. But I could hear.”

My chest aches for her. She must have been so scared.

My fault. It’s my fault.

“They wanted to know where you went, and Mama wouldn’t tell them, so they…they killed Laysa first.”

I close my eyes. There’s no apology to give, nothing that can ever make up for what she has lost.

“They said they would find you anyway. And then they cut Mama in the stomach. When they left, I ran from the closet.” She hangs her head. “I should have come out earlier. I could have helped her.” Tears roll down her cheeks and I wrap my arm around her shoulders.

“No.” My voice is hoarse. “If you had left the closet, you would have died. Do you understand that? Your mama would have been so upset with you if you didn’t stay hidden.”

She’s quiet for a long time. Eventually, her hunger must begin gnawing at her, because she takes a bite of bread. “Mama said I was to find you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Before she died.” She places the bread in her lap, gazing into the fire. “She told me to find you.”

They left her alive. A sword to the gut is a terrible death. And the bastards left her alive to bleed out in front of her daughter.

Likely I should be telling Fliora that her mother is in a better place, or maybe that her mother didn’t suffer. But all I can give her is the same promise I would have wanted. “I’ll make them pay.”

She nods, and more tears trickle from her eyes. My throat aches, and I suck in a slow breath. Why would her mother have sent her to me? I’m being hunted by hundreds of ruthless men.

What were you thinking, Shaena?

“Do you have other family?”

She nods. “My aunt lives in Ferelith. Where we used to live.”

It’s on my way, just a few miles from here. “I’ll take you to her.”

“Mama said I was supposed to stay with you.”

“Fliora…the dark god. He’s hunting me. He won’t hurt you if he finds you with me, but he’s still dangerous. And the soldiers…you know what they’ll do to you.”

“I can hide you from the dark god. It won’t last for long, but it will cloak you from his senses.”

I stare at her. “You can do that?”

A tiny smile. “My grandmother could do it too. She protected women from bad men who wanted to find them.” Her smile drops. “She died too.”

I wince. “I’m sorry. Uh, are you doing it now?”

“Of course.” She blinks at me with those huge blue eyes. “Otherwise he would have found you already.”

Calysian

I search for Madinia for hours, before I’m finally forced to set up camp in the forest. Fox is tired, and I won’t risk him breaking a leg in the dark.

By the time the sun rises, I’m searching once more.

Hours later, I have to admit I have no idea where she is. That strange knowing that has pushed me in her direction is gone, my instincts useless.

A deep sense of unease lingers beneath my frustration. The soldiers who escaped will have told their superiors what happened in this forest. Which means more of them will be coming.

Even with her impressive power, Madinia is only one woman. They could take her, could hide her, and I’d never find her again.

Or my book. Most importantly, my book.

I’ve begun dreaming about it. Each time I close my eyes, I can feel it in my hands. I remember enough to know that the last time I touched it, my hands shook with despair. Despair and fury.

I travel through the forest, heading north. It was, after all, the direction we were moving in originally, and I can’t imagine Madinia turning back toward the city and the risks waiting for her there.

Although, perhaps that’s exactly what she would do.

I grind my teeth, and Fox snorts, likely sensing my frustration. Attempting to understand Madinia is like trying to decode a puzzle without a key.

And yet…

For once, I’m fully engaged with the world. I’m not watching it from afar, shifting pieces into place in an effort to get what I want. I may be reactive instead of proactive, but I’m fully alive for the first time in centuries.

It must be because I’m so close to my book.