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Kiara

The legend of Aloria, Protector of the South, is one of profound loss. Heartbroken after the death of her lover on the battlefield, her grief turned to flames, setting her body alight. A creature of sorrow and rage, she raced into a surge of enemy soldiers. They say she fought, even as she burned, and only when the last assailant fell did she crumble to ash.

Excerpt from Asidian Lore: a Tale of the Gods

The instant that Harlow set his sights on Jude, I’d reached my limit.

Hells, I’d already been teetering on the edge before he’d shown up and flaunted his blade, spouting lies.

If anyone was to blame for the pandemonium that was about to unfold, it was him.

My shadows burst free—thick coils of smoke lashing out from my shoulders, my torso, and my chest. They sliced through the air like whips before crashing onto the ground, leaving smoke steaming up from the stones.

There were shouts and pleas and the sound of my name.

I ignored them all.

My ears were ringing, my magic reacting to my rage, feeding off it.

The darkness flared like sparking flames, streaming up my back and taking on the shape of twisted wings. They unfurled with a resounding snap, curving about my frame protectively.

Being here, in the temple, bolstered my strength, and the ground I stood upon shuddered as if in reverence.

My attention returned to Harlow, my power a storm of beautiful chaos. I was fear itself, and the thought of watching the light in his eyes die sent a thrill down my spine.

All but one of the sparse torches bracketing the walls fluttered out, the breeze forged by my wrath now casting us in a near cloak of darkness. Or casting the others in darkness.

I, on the other hand, could see quite well. My vision was a thing of distorted yellow, the temple’s chamber highlighted with the same shimmering gold I’d come to know and now cherish.

My anger drove me. My frustration, my pain.

Years of abuse spun in brutal circles around my head, the memories seeming to squeeze until I could focus on nothing more. I wanted to hurt everyone who’d hurt me. Who’d called me cruel names and bowed their heads, unwilling to meet my gaze. Like I was some feral beast rather than a lonely girl with misery in her heart and wasted hope in her soul.

Copper washed across my tongue , and I smiled , swallowing the flavor of the night with a grin. If this was evil, why did it feel so damned right ?

Jude stood immobile. He didn’t move closer, but he didn’t need to. Once his eyes landed on me, my racing adrenaline seemed to pause, to take a deep breath, and listen.

“Kiara,” he whispered calmly, “you’re letting it rule you. Not the other way around.”

Didn’t he realize darkness ruled us all ? It had for the last five decades.

“It feels right,” I protested, but the words were hollow.

Jude shook his head as the Fox and her men scrambled back, pressing themselves against the chamber’s walls and far from me and my shadows.

Only when Jake snatched Liam, shoving him behind his frame, did my magic truly waver with indecision.

Liam . His eyes were squeezed shut as he bowed his head, which rested against Jake’s shoulder. Fear seeped from his pores and all but scented the air.

He was afraid. Of me.

“Come back to me,” Jude ordered from far away. “I won’t lose you.”

I abandoned Liam and gazed upon the commander. He’d taken a step forward, the only one who dared approach.

I bit into my bottom lip so hard, more blood trickled forth, the sting clearing some of the haze. He spoke my name again, and I closed my eyes, lulled by the sound.

“Center yourself,” he coaxed gently, and I swam in the echo of his command. There was a note of awe mixed in with his fear, his tone soft but firm.

The rage that fueled me simmered, almost screaming as I shoved it down.

I homed in on his voice as he continued to whisper words of encouragement, and slowly, I grew strong enough to open my eyes and cease the violent trembling that racked my body.

“Watch out!”

I jerked to the side on instinct, seconds before Harlow lunged for me, a blade glinting in the dim light of the single torch.

My frail calm vanished.

Thrusting my arms up into the air, I focused my weapons of night on the impending threat. My magic hissed as I wielded it, not yet used to being tamed. It buzzed, waiting for my direction.

Harlow swayed feet away, his mouth pressed in a thin line. “She’s too dangerous,” he muttered before he raised his blade defensively. The weapon he carried hung by his side, and I knew he debated striking again. He shook his head as if disappointed. In what , I wasn’t sure.

My nostrils flared as fierce golden light blazed at my back. I spun in place, the air stolen from my lungs at what I found.

Jude’s eyes glowed like pits of pure fire , just like the night he’d healed and saved me from the threshold of death’s sweet abyss.

Against my wishes, my power reacted, recoiling as if sensing an enemy. One who wore Jude’s face.

“Kiara,” Jude repeated once more, though this time, he garnered my entire focus, Harlow and the others blurring. He lifted his palms as he took another bold step. “Control it. I know you can.” His eyes tracked to where the others cowered. “Do not kill him when his intentions are not yet clear. You’ll never forgive yourself.” His tone held an ethereal quality to it, tiny bells resonating after each syllable. My shadows swayed as if caught in a gentle breeze, bespelled by his voice, his light.

“But he threatened you! Let you be tortured!” I protested, even as my demons calmed, even as my magic cooled. A man such as Harlow didn’t deserve to live, and he’d obviously chosen Cirian’s side. He wore his insignia. His colors.

A flash of gray whipped out from my body and struck the ground inches from Harlow’s boots. Surprisingly, he remained unfazed. His shoulders were rolled back, his chin lifted. Ice snaked around my neck and tightened.

The shadow beast warred with my will, and I feared it was winning.

“Don’t!” Jude warned as a foul wind whooshed into the chambers, causing the ceremonial bowl to go flying against the wall. It shattered upon impact, the shards of porcelain picked up by my wind and becoming a part of my arsenal. Harlow stumbled as my power advanced his way, his arrogant sneer wiped clean.

My body flickered in and out of focus as it had done before, and I raised my arms high before me. I was the only weapon I’d ever need.

Jude stood behind me. I could feel him, could sense his presence and the mere inches separating us. He held me back, making me falter.

“Let me finish this,” I snapped, focusing on a single rope of ash, the shadow closest to the lieutenant. It rose, inching for Harlow’s neck—

Jude grabbed my arm , and a searing spasm worked down my spine, forcing me to my knees. I fell, crumbling to the hard floor. As did my shadows.

Where Jude touched, it burned, his heat battling with the chill of my night, fighting to maintain the upper hand, even when he loosened his grip. The sliver of Raina I possessed awoke, like it was a slumbering dragon forced to peel open its eyes.

“Please,” Jude rasped. “You’re so much stronger than this, and killing Harlow won’t fix anything.”

“He wants to hurt you!” I shouted, feeling delirious, feverish, and unhinged. Warmth trickled from my nose, slipping between my frozen lips. Blood .

Jude’s hand twitched around mine, but he didn’t let go. “You once brought me back from the brink, and I plan to do the same for you. You fall and I catch you.”

The twin scars connecting us gleamed, shining a hesitant gold.

My chin dropped, and I drank in the ethereal vision of my scar glowing through my shirt, its effulgent light mingling with the shadows emanating from my torso.

My name was a desperate whisper in my ear, hot breath tickling the outer shell. Jude pressed his lips to my skin, moving down my jaw, my neck, then back again. He released my arm, only to grasp my chin and angle my head, compelling me to soak in depthless yellow eyes.

I drowned in them. I drowned even as burning pain slithered down my body, blood gushing from my nose. It had to be his touch, his closeness, that was destroying me. But at that moment, I hardly cared. I’d missed his touch so very much.

“Let go, Kiara.”

A rush of panic engulfed me, and the ice in my blood warmed. The thought of killing Harlow didn’t feel as appealing as it had seconds before, not with Jude’s glassy eyes on me, his lips at my ear, whispering dulcet promises. He emboldened the divinity I contained, and it was winning out against my baser instincts.

I let go.

“Then catch me, Commander.”

The room shook as I screamed, my magic rushing back into my mortal body. The flashes of silver ceased to strike, and that vile wind stopped blowing. Nausea threatened as I stole more of my power back, the darkness restless and unwilling to be restrained.

I fought. I fought because Jude didn’t look at me as though I was a beast; he never had. Even now, at my worst, when I’d lost all restraint and turned into the monster I always feared, his features were soft and warm and hopeful. Jude guided me home.

When I fell, the last piece of the shadow beast vanishing from the room, Jude kept his promise.

He caught me.

“Shhh,” he murmured in my ear. “I got you.” The blood trickling down my nose continued to flow, and Jude cursed, screaming out for Jake.

The commander’s otherworldly eyes brightened the space enough for my friend to see, and he bounded to our side a heartbeat later. Gently, Jude transferred me into Jake’s arms, the act causing his lips to thin and his brows to furrow. A deep rumble shook his chest, and he gritted his teeth when my hand fell from his skin.

The bleeding stopped almost immediately, but my ribs ached as my scar pulsated, matching the beating of my heart. Matching Jude’s.

Without the whooshing of my power, thunderous clamoring sounded from the hall beyond, and I made out the telltale shouts of soldiers. There was an ambush occurring, and I’d already wasted so much time.

“Go!” Harlow shocked me by speaking, his gravelly voice ringing in the dim chamber. He made no more moves to attack, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

Emelia didn’t waste time. Using the faint light shining from Jude, she rushed to the altar, her movements sure as she searched beneath its smooth surface.

“There should be a lever here,” she said, fumbling for a crease in the marble.

I gazed at Harlow as she sought out our exit, analyzing him for a flicker of emotion. He displayed nothing , not anger or relief. And it had me questioning if he was telling us to go because he couldn’t beat me, or if he actually was on our side as he claimed.

“Hurry, you fools! Before the damned guards find you!” Harlow ordered, followed by a spark of light to his left. Finn lit a handheld torch, the weak flames barely reaching me. He hovered above Emelia, aiding her quest.

“I told you I had your best interests in mind,” Harlow spoke to Jude as he clutched his wounded shoulder, his chest rising unevenly. His focus swayed to me. “Before Kiara tried to kill me, I was attempting to warn you. You may love her, but she has the power to destroy you in the end. Destroy us all. If you didn’t have a death wish, you’d have already carved out the missing piece. As you should have weeks ago.”

With those parting words, the man I’d attempted to kill rushed for the threshold, kicking away pieces of the ruined door. He stood guard, his back toward us as he awaited advancing guards.

Maybe he wasn’t on my side, after all. Rather, he was on Jude’s.

“I got it!” A gear clicked into place, drawing my attention from the lieutenant. Emelia had managed to lift the top of the altar with Finn’s assistance. “Hurry! The soldiers will be here any second now.”

Jake and Liam each took one of my arms, hoisting me to my feet.

Everything ached, just as it had after Jude and I kissed, right before he set fire to the woods. Touching him pained me, and yet it was all I wanted to do. I wasn’t usually an affectionate person, but I craved him like no other. I both hated and loved that he had such an effect on me—

Because I didn’t know if what I felt was genuine or magic. A connection forced upon me.

Arlo’s warning continued to ring in my head, and no matter how much I argued, the doubt lingered.

I was frightened, and not of gods or monsters.

The Fox placed the thin wood of the torch’s handle between her teeth and gracefully hoisted herself over the sides of the now open passage. She felt around until her boot clanged against metal. A ladder.

Another loud crash rang out in the hall, and Emelia hastily descended into the unknown, Finn and Dimitri trailing after. Jude ushered Jake, Liam, and me in front. His ethereal eyes maintained their glow, although they had faded ever so slightly.

“Her first,” he ordered. I met his stare , and something fragile within me broke. If only he knew my traitorous thoughts.

Liam helped me climb onto the side of the altar, and I followed Emelia’s example, swinging my legs over and into the void.

When my foot clanged against the first rung of the ladder, I nodded at Liam and he reluctantly released me, leaving me free to descend.

My arms ached and my muscles burned from the effort, but I numbly grasped the rungs and pressed ahead, knowing I had to move fast so the others had time to escape.

The damage I caused was done, even if my insides churned and my magic hissed. I had to be stronger. I couldn’t risk everyone I cared for again.

When we were all inside, clinging to the ladder, Jude swung the top of the altar shut, the resounding crash stinging my eardrums.

There was no returning. Not until we completed the mission.