Page 22

Jud e

Beware the temples of the gods. While places of worship, below the altars lie cavernous chambers filled with traps and deadly puzzles.

Excerpt from Asidian Lore: a Tale of the Gods

I rose before the rest of the camp—all except the Fox, who’d taken the last watch.

She didn’t say a word, but she dipped her chin to me in a poor attempt at welcome. I ignored it. Too little, too late.

Across the fire, Kiara slept, flanked by her brother and Jake.

My blood heated at the mere sight of her. The moonlight swept across her sharp cheekbones, making her appear even more feline, more threatening, and eerily stunning.

If life was kind, I would’ve woken up beside her this morning, my arms snaked around her middle, her back pressed to my chest.

We’d only just reunited, and I couldn’t even touch her. Couldn’t brush my calloused fingers down her soft cheek, graze her full bottom lip. Lips I yearned to taste.

These past days had been unbearable, excruciating to the point where I forced myself to swallow some of Finn’s foul-tasting liquor. After the incident in the clearing, he’d handed me his metal flask, his eyes widening in surprise when I returned it empty.

Finn didn’t press, which I appreciated, but I noticed how his gaze often strayed my way, deep lines creasing his forehead. He had every right to worry. I was in a sorry state, and that made me dangerous. Uncontrollable.

For just a few weeks, I’d started to believe I was worth something beyond my role in this divine power struggle. That I was someone who could be loved, even the corrupted and ugly parts. I had hoped , and that wasn’t something I’d ever done.

And how quickly I had learned to harness such an emotion, only for it to be crushed.

I should’ve known better.

Dimitri plopped down beside me, lifting his hands to the fire to warm them. The woods pressed in on either side of our camp, spindly branches poking out like pointed spears.

It was always cold in Asidia, though this time of year was worse, and soon, snow would fall. We called it the Dark Winter, because even the snow was a shade of gray.

I tugged my cloak tighter, but I didn’t need the warmth—my body continued to burn, warming fingers and toes that surely would’ve been half frozen had my magic not thrived.

Dimitri whistled the same tune over and over, his knee bumping mine.

I had to hold myself back from punching him square in the face and putting an end to the grating sound. I despised whistling. Or tapping. Jostling. Loud breathing.

Isiah had often tapped his foot when impatient, and it drove me damn near to the edge. He knew it , too, the bastard, and would see how far he could get before I barked at him to stop. He’d smirk in return.

“My daughter used to like it,” Dimitri said without preamble, pausing his whistling and bringing me to the present. He wore a twisted smile that spoke of buried heartache. “Tell me to stop if it bothers you.”

Gods above , I wanted nothing more, but his eyes shone with a desperateness I couldn’t spurn.

“It’s fine.” It wasn’t, but I took a sip from my canteen before I spoke the truth.

The dried meats the Fox packed were dispersed, though I hardly touched my rations. I probably should eat to maintain strength, but the offensive amount of salt she used might kill all of my remaining taste buds.

“My daughter died with her mother years ago.”

I went rigid. Something told me that whatever Dimitri was about to tell me might end with me growing to care. Attachment had plagued me like a virus as of late…but for some reason, I found I wanted to know the man’s secrets. Why his smile was weighed with sadness.

“She wasn’t even eight,” he said, swallowing thickly. “She was a spirited thing, and only when I whistled this tune did she settle.” His somber smile fell , and I tracked his gaze across the fire to where Kiara was doing her best to inch away from Finn.

The bodyguard appeared to be telling some raucous tale, his hands moving excitedly, nearly smacking her in the face a few times. She shoved a few pieces of jerky into her mouth with a grimace.

Since our encounter in the clearing, Finn had lost his scowl, looking almost relaxed. It probably helped that Emelia had gradually grown less tense—the pair seemed to feed off each other.

“Don’t you ever let go,” Dimitri said, tilting his head toward the pair. “I learned the hard way that a heart can break over and over again when its missing half is taken. I promise you, boy. It’ll never be the same again. No matter how hard you try to replace them, to carve out a new life. A love like that comes only once in a lifetime, and it can ruin you when it’s gone.” I watched as he lifted to his feet and wandered to where his mistress tended to the horses. The Fox’s features softened at the sight of him, and she cocked her head in welcome.

I returned to the fire, contemplating his admission.

My heart had never been something I thought could break, merely because I didn’t count myself lucky enough to one day fall in love. Dimitri was right, though…my love would be my ruin.

Deciding to torture myself, I sought the object of my thoughts. As if she felt my eyes on her, Kiara lifted her head and stared back at me, her eyes all but burning into my flesh. I felt like I was suffocating, the warmth in my chest radiating outward, the heat engulfing me until my lungs ached.

Loving Kiara was dangerous. But I was forever a glutton for punishment.

I held her gaze, silently relaying my apologies, my wishes, my heartache. My cowardice. Praying that she understood why we sat on different ends of the camp, why I didn’t give in to my baser instincts. The slight tilt of her chin told me she did, but there was another emotion swimming in her eyes. Almost like…confusion.

Where is that confusion directed? I wondered. At our mission? Or me ?

I bit into my lip hard enough that blood coated my tongue. I prayed it was the mission, but a nagging voice inside of my head taunted it was the latter. Maybe it was for the best, her slowly pushing me away. It would make everything easier in the end, right?

Even I couldn’t convince myself of that.

Kiara was the first to turn away, her brother murmuring something in her ear. Liam hadn’t left her side , and neither had Jake. Liam smiled more in her presence, and whenever Jake shot him a lopsided grin, he blushed deeply, color stretching down his neck.

Thus far, I hadn’t seen the two share a private conversation. Kiara always remained between them, a buffer. I caught Jake staring at Liam more times than I could count, but Liam was either too aloof or shy to meet his eye.

I was gathering my courage to walk over and ask what troubled her when Finn barked out an order.

“Time to head out! Evidently, we have a realm to save.” He marched over to Dimitri and slapped him on the back none too gently. His comrade gave him the middle finger in reply, and Finn merely let out a rumbling chuckle with a childish glee I hadn’t expected.

The Fox lingered on Finn as he mounted his horse, her hardened stare turning tender before she climbed into her saddle.

I’d studied her for hours on end during our travels. Sometimes I’d catch her staring at me, but she’d always shift her attention elsewhere when our gazes met.

Why she looked at me like that in the first place was a mystery. She hadn’t attempted to speak with me in private. Not truly. Emelia had no right to steal glances at the son she left behind.

“The temple is beyond those hills,” Finn said once everyone had saddled and mounted their mares minutes later. He pointed east, to where the land rose high into the sky, the black trees seeming to kiss the glimmering stars that shined above. “We are nothing but travelers wishing to bestow an offering, so keep your hoods up and knives concealed. But if you believe you’ve earned a soldier’s attention, turn back. We’ll formulate another plan.” He stared a beat too long at Emelia, a silent conversation passing between them. As if they’d reached an agreement, she finally gave him a weary smile, one he returned.

My horse made no fuss as I guided her to the trail. Her lack of complaint had me missing Starlight, but the mare was with Kiara, and that eased the sting.

I’d insisted she ride her, even though the horse bestowed me with a look I’d characterize as “irritated . ” Her agitation had to be for show, because she nuzzled Kiara each time she mounted her and whinnied excitedly when she ran her hands through her forever-tangled mane.

“You ready for the big day, sunshine?” Dimitri asked as he steered himself my way. He’d taken to assuming the role of my shadow. I wasn’t sure why he bothered.

“My name’s Jude,” I said, his little nickname for me like nails on glass.

Dimitri scoffed, rubbing at his short scruff. “I call you sunshine because you’re so warm and fuzzy.” When I rolled my eyes, he laughed. “You know, I’ve actually been to the temple before, but the second I tried to inspect the place, I was kindly escorted out. It probably didn’t help that I was drunk off my ass, and I might not have been as stealthy as I’d believed.”

“Shocking,” I replied, focusing ahead, or more specifically, on the back of a certain redhead. Her hair was wild and free of her usual braid. I wanted to run my fingers through it.

“You won’t have to worry about that happening again,” Dimitri promised. “The Mistress helped me get my shit together, and I haven’t touched a drink in years.”

“At least she helped someone,” I grumbled. My mother seemed to take in a lot of strays, caring for them as her own. Bitterness soured my mouth, even as I thought of all Dimitri had lost. I’d have taken to the bottle as well, had the roles been reversed.

The world was a brutal place. The closer we ventured to the temple where we’d meet our destiny, the more I decided upon one single notion—

I wouldn’t allow the one beautiful thing in my life to be taken from me. Fate would have to pry Kiara from my cold, dead hands, and it should expect a fight.

…

There were more people than we anticipated loitering on the outskirts of the temple.

That was favorable for us. Blending in with the crowd bestowed the perfect cover.

Dismounting our steeds, we steered them along a path leading to a stable packed with horses. A young boy no more than fourteen accepted our coins and led our horses away. Starlight flashed me her signature glower before she vanished into her pen. I suspected she was sick and tired of being caged.

The earth was worn from too many footprints, making the route heading to the temple easy to follow, though a few torches were lit every fifty feet. With our hoods pulled low, we took on the personas of weary travelers seeking the Moon God’s grace.

Even Emelia dropped her chin and raised her hands as if in prayer, but her jaw was clenched so tightly, I heard her teeth grind. Finn sidled close to her, always close, and hunched his shoulders, trying to make himself appear smaller and less of a threat.

The final three in our group transformed before my eyes. Adorning a mask of naivety and pure childlike wonder, my girl lost that fire in her gaze, turning her smile timid and soft. And at her side, Jake’s trademark swagger became almost bashful, his head lowered demurely.

Liam, on the other hand, didn’t have to fake his innocence.

The temple was constructed of marble, the palest shade of moonstone. A gold crescent moon hung from its apex, the metal glowing as if it were a beacon. It towered over a field of Midnight Blooms, the flowers swaying gently in the breeze, a spot of color among so much pale white.

A handful of moon priests and priestesses wearing silken ivory robes stood guard at the bottom of a formidable staircase leading up to the main entry. I squinted, noting several more of the cloaked individuals manning their stations at the top. Shivers raced down my arms. None moved, not even an inch.

They reminded me of statues—their deadened eyes unblinking.

I dipped my chin, looking anywhere but at the faithful . Still, those watchful eyes seared my flesh, the intensity causing the hair on my arms to rise in warning.

Our group paused at the steps where a handful of travelers conversed in hushed tones, their arms laden with offerings. I tilted my head, taking in the arching stairs winding high into the never-ending night.

A soft snort sounded to my left.

Kiara hadn’t been strong enough to hide her annoyance at the promise of cardio, and my lips tugged up against my will. Climbing this monstrosity would certainly get her heart racing. As if she knew I thought of her, Kiara’s head whipped my way, and our eyes locked.

She mouthed, “ Cardio ,” before scowling. Just as I thought.

While I maintained the distance between us, I found myself lifting a brow, eyeing her in a way I used to when I was merely her commander.

My body could be reduced to ash, and yet I’d still be drawn to her, whatever pieces that remained of me lifting on the winds and demanding to circle her orbit. Her fearlessness never ceased to amaze me.

“Take your time climbing,” she instructed Liam. To everyone else, she threatened, “Go slow or I’ll incinerate you.”

Grabbing her brother’s hand, she set the pace, and I watched from the back, my scar throbbing in tune with my heartbeat. That throbbing transformed into a sharp stinging the farther we journeyed, and I gritted my teeth, knowing my body reacted to the sacred ground where we stood.

It did not welcome me or my magic, and I sensed my power recoil.

It took us over twenty minutes to reach the top at our relaxed pace. Liam’s exhales held a slight rasp, but he appeared otherwise in good health, and I attributed his vigor to my mother’s medicine.

I scanned the temple, noting the arch the size of ten men outlining the entrance. A dozen or more priests and priestesses lined its sides, all frozen until approached by a traveler.

“Welcome.” A priestess with jet-black hair jerked mechanically to life, waving me forward. The others flanking her remained stoically in place.

Instinctively, my hand went to my sheath. This priestess’s eyes were too bright, her pupils too dilated. Silver-painted nails caught my focus, the tips as sharp as a blade. No trace of warmth radiated off her.

“We come to offer tribute,” Emelia announced, making an exaggerated show of bowing.

The priestess smiled with all her teeth, though it had the opposite effect of calming. “I’ll be happy to deliver you to the offering chamber,” she said, her long nails clicking against one another as she cocked her head. When her gaze fell on Kiara, I reined in my urge to growl. I didn’t like how she studied her, like she was a fly caught in a web.

My mother muttered some more magnanimous bullshit before the priestess ushered us through the archway. Metal sculptures framed another set of stairs in the center of the space, sinister winged beasts suspended in mid-flight. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were modeled after the very same creature Kiara had fought off a decade before.

Tension saturated the air, and sweat trickled down my spine, the sense of foreboding weighing on my every exhale. That same heat expanded down my back, and the feeling of eyes burning into the back of my skull grew. I glanced over my shoulder.

This time, I regarded a hooded priest who trained his eyes dutifully on the marble as he climbed the last step. There was a familiarity about the confident way he moved—I longed to shove aside his hood and glimpse his face for myself.

“Through here,” the priestess commanded, forcing my attention away from the curious priest. She ushered us past a twenty-foot-tall statue of the Moon God that had been erected at the top of the stairs, the center of the dome open to the night sky.

No two depictions of the god were the same, but they were all beautiful. It was said he transformed as often as the phases of the moon.

This particular sculpture painted the god slightly older than the others, his hair masked by his hood. Round eyes peered at us, slight creases lining the sides. A tingling scraped down my spine.

“Jude.”

I tore away from the statue and fixed my attention on the woman who’d called my name. Kiara had shucked her innocent act, if only briefly, her stare hard when she assessed me. “Everything all right?” she asked, brazenly moving closer. Too close.

I held out a hand, my throat constricting. “Please. No further.”

Kiara didn’t listen. It shouldn’t have shocked me.

“I won’t touch you,” she promised, less than three feet away. Jake lifted his head, observing her from the corner of his eye with tangible worry.

“I feel off here,” she admitted, her gloved hand motioning to the temple floor. “It’s unnerving.” Her eyes lost their edge, turning glassy and unfocused. “Wherever the talisman is, I sense its power, and whoever dares cross us—Moon God or not—should be frightened when we have it in our grasp.”

Her voice was a rasp. Nothing about her posture or words felt right , and I started to reach for her before cursing and dropping my arm. Fuck , I wanted to touch her. To grab her hand, her waist, to caress her chin, lower my head to her lips and taste her.

It was maddening.

“Soon,” she murmured, a frustrated grumble leaving her. Kiara’s stare roamed my form, straying on my arms and torso before lifting back to my face. Her admiration made me want to lunge for her, danger be damned.

Thankfully, Kiara moved out of my reach before I could do anything stupid. She stood beside Liam, as tense as I’d ever seen her. I wondered if she had similar thoughts.

“Almost there.” The priestess spun on a heel, her robes waving about her lithe form. She moved like air, guiding us down a hall boasting dozens of offering rooms. With each step, my thoughts blurred, my need for Kiara overshadowed by a surge of warning.

Something was coming. My newfound power buzzed in my veins, and with every blink, tiny pinpricks of light danced across my eyes.

A door off the main chamber creaked open with a single wave of the priestess’s hand. “Come inside,” she intoned, her attention once again aimed solely at Kiara.

I didn’t like that one bit.

Kiara grabbed Liam tighter, gifting the woman a tight smile as she led the way.

I came up last, right after Dimitri, who grinned like this was some joyous sightseeing trip. I was thankful he wasn’t whistling.

“Each of you can offer your blood to the God of the Moon. The merciful god who watches over us all and commands the night.” The priestess nodded her chin toward a platform where a bronze bowl rested atop a velvet-lined table. A simple blade sat beside it, the serrated edges clean. “He might grant your prayers, should they be worthy enough.”

We’d planned on scoping the temple out once alone in an offering room, and Emelia had promised she’d be able to help locate an entry to what lay below, to where the real entrance hid.

From what I understood, the faithful were left to their prayers during the ritual, but the priestess didn’t retreat. Her unwavering stare targeted Kiara before veering to me. When she lingered on my face, her nose wrinkled.

“Well, go on,” she pressed, nodding to Kiara first, her grin shrewd. “Will you be the first, child?”

Kiara shifted on her feet, her cool mask slipping. I could nearly make out the thudding pulse point on her neck. “I—”

“I wish to go first,” Liam interjected, stepping up to the dais, much to the priestess’s dismay. Her grin faltered, her canines poking into her thin bottom lip.

Kiara began to protest, but Jake whispered something in her ear, silencing her.

While the chamber was dimly lit with torchlight, I made out how Liam’s hands shook, his posture slumping. It didn’t stop him from taking the blade in his hand and slicing it clean through his palm.

Thick blood bubbled up, and when he made a fist and squeezed, it dripped into the bowl. The droplets pinged ominously as they fell one by one. Gray steam rose from the basin’s edges, and the scent of the dense wood and fresh snow wafted to my nostrils.

Liam stumbled back a step, his still-bleeding palm leaving a trail of red on the floor. Beside him, Jake’s jaw clenched, his deadly stare focused on the open wound.

“Ah. You didn’t send out a prayer, dear boy,” the priestess warned, her voice sounding tinny and far away. The whites of her eyes nearly eclipsed her pupils. “Give yourself to him and he will grant you something in return. He grants us all peace, if only we devote ourselves to him.”

It couldn’t have been merely peace that turned the priests into these fanatical shells.

Liam stuttered, trying and failing to form a coherent thought, every word coming out garbled. He grasped the edges of the table with both hands, swaying. The steam rose from the offering dish, spiraling into the air where it curled around his face like claws.

“That’s it,” the priestess praised, taking a step closer. “Inhale.”

Liam coughed, his eyes watering from whatever poison he breathed in. Kiara curled her fists, the leather of her gloves squelching.

She lunged at the same moment shouts rang out from the hall.

Kiara dove for Liam and wrenched him back, away from that cursed bowl. With him safely in her arms, her focus aimed for the door, where more screams sounded from beyond, the walls practically shaking from their force.

“What in the hells…” Jake flanked her, dagger drawn and ready, and Emelia and her men straightened and whipped out their blades.

“One moment.” The priestess hissed in annoyance before sauntering toward the door and whipping it open, exposing the unfolding chaos.

The pristine white hall was packed with soldiers clad in red, the men shouting over the screams of the patrons. Grasping each traveler, the King’s Guard lifted hoods and removed scarves, shoving people to their knees as they exposed faces. Like a plague, they spread across the hall, searching…

Undoubtedly searching for us.

“Screw this.” The Fox sprinted to the door. “Thanks for the help, but we’ll take it from here,” she said, just before shoving against the priestess’s back. With a yelp, the woman stumbled out into the hall. The Fox slammed the door in her face and grabbed a nearby chair to prop it against the handle, locking us inside.

“We need to find the entry!” Finn shouted, jerking his stubbled chin in the direction of the dais. “Didn’t you say all these rooms had a way below?”

“Not all—”

A body thudded against the door, interrupting her. Before any of us could jump to secure it in place, the wooden chair propped against it went flying across the room. The door splintered and shattered, revealing a muscled figure. Instantly , my blood boiled when I took in his face.

Harlow . He entered the room, his cold eyes bottomless pits of apathy. Even the Fox stumbled out of his way in shock, staring at him as if he were a ghost. And by all accounts, he should’ve been.

Was Harlow the “priest” who’d trailed me? The eyes I felt on my skin?

Thick bandages poked out from his cloak, and he had a slight limp from where the jaguar had dug his teeth into his leg. Yet he still rolled his shoulders back and appraised us all like unworthy opponents.

“How…” Jake trailed off, asking the question we all thought.

Harlow grimaced. “The beast was easy to wound once arrogance blinded it,” he said, much to our shock. He raised his weapon, but his grip wasn’t firm. Brax had done more damage than he showed.

I felt no pity.

“All I’ve done was protect you, and now you’ve entered the one place you should’ve steered clear of. You’ve all but welcomed him to destroy you.”

He claimed he was there to protect us, yet he’d allowed me to be tortured. A friend didn’t let that happen.

“Oh, lieutenant,” Kiara snarled, stepping into the light. “Your first mistake was threatening Jude. Your second was coming in here alone.”