Warrior Everlasting (11 page)

Somewhere along the way, she realized Ariston wasn’t to be feared. He wasn’t to be hated. He was to be pitied. Because Ariston didn’t wish for world domination. He didn’t even wish to rule Paradesos.

He wished for death.

She settled into her blanket nest next to him after a particularly long dance. Her back and legs ached, and she rubbed them while spying on him from the corner of her eye.

“Can I ask you something?” she asked suddenly.

He lounged on his throne, staring at the cage, at nothing, at everything. He turned toward her, his shoulders tensing. “I don’t suppose if I say no you’ll care.”

“Why won’t you let them go?” Scout nodded toward the cage. Toward the souls whose hands fell lower and lower each day.

“Because without them, I can’t build an army to march on Paradesos. Honestly, Scout. Every time I think perhaps you’re more clever than I gave you credit for, you ask a question like that.”

“But you don’t want to rule Paradesos. You want to die.”

He stood abruptly and smoothed the front of his jacket. “If I want to die, Scout, I have to have a soul. My soul waits in Paradesos.” He whirled away and stormed from the room.

“He’s tried to kill himself. Many times. He cannot die,” Aella said, watching him go. There was no anger in her voice, only pity. She, who had more reason to hate Ariston than anyone, did not. She felt sorry for him, just as Scout was beginning to.

He did not bring her food that night. It made it easier to forget her pity and remember her hate.

****

“We’ve got to get closer. I can’t hear her from here.”
Ashra tossed her head anxiously, her feet pawing at the empty air. Without Scout, her razor-sharp wit had all but disappeared, and now she was almost polite.

It was terrifying.

“We can try to go around the back. If we stay in the shadows…”
Torz suggested half-heartedly, but even he didn’t have any faith in that plan.

It hadn’t worked before. Ariston had sent his soul stealers after them the last time they’d gotten too close. But Trey had seen her, as they fought the demons off. Scout was in there, and she was alive. She had been dancing, unaware of him only a hundred yards away. Ariston had been so distracted watching her that he hadn’t thought to send his soul stealers after them until she’d finished and collapsed on the floor.

Dancing. That was it. “We wait until Scout dances.”

Ashra had already explained that Ariston would force her to dance because it would soothe the Taraxippus and the souls. He’d never liked noise, Ashra said, and their constant wailing had to wear on him after so many hundreds of years. When she danced, she held them all enthralled, even Ariston.

Torz glanced at Ashra, and she snorted.
“Your rider might be useful yet.”

They got close enough that they could see into the castle’s many windows, but not close enough that Ariston could sense them and send his demons. It also wasn’t close enough that Ashra could talk to Scout, and it wasn’t close enough to see anything except a toy-size version of the girl he loved when she moved into the center of the floor. They spent the day in the shadows, watching. Scout did not dance. Long into the night, Torz and Ashra took turns sleeping while the other kept watch.

But Trey didn’t sleep. He rarely blinked. He ran his fingers against the leather bracelets on his wrist and prayed he’d have the chance to add another.

An entire day passed. Torz left to find food, they ate, and Trey watched. And prayed. And begged her in his mind to keep fighting, to not give up. And in his sleep-deprived brain, he started having conversations with her.
“Scout? I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I know you must hate me. I know I deserve it. I pushed you too far. But if you could just not give up on me, then I promise I’ll get you out of this.”

Sometimes, he imagined her answer. Sometimes, he didn’t like her answer. Other times, it wasn’t so bad.
“Trey,”
she would say, her sea-foam green eyes glinting mischievously.
“When have I ever needed someone to get me out of anything? Just give me time. I’ll get myself out.”
He imagined stroking her long, silky curls. The feel of it against his rough fingers. She’d lay her head against his shoulder and wind her fingers through his, and he could listen to her breathe and know she was alive.

“She’s up. She’s stretching. That means she’s going to dance, right?”
Ashra’s voice held more hope than Trey had heard in all the days they’d been trying to figure out how to get Scout out.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so.” He remembered the last time he’d seen Scout stretching. In the gym, in school, a lifetime ago. She’d hated him then, more than she did now. She'd enjoyed watching him make a fool out of himself in front of the entire football team and the drill team.

Now both those teams were probably all trapped inside the castle with her. Kasen and Cole, Trey’s two best friends. Coach Cavenaugh. Kamille, Scout’s drill coach.

“She’s dancing. Let’s go.”
Ashra’s wings snapped out, and she leaped into the sky, soaring silently through the mist, clinging to the shadows. Trey ducked low against Torz’s back as they followed her. She went high, fighting her way up, far above the reaching turrets of the castle, and then over the top and down the other side, inch by inch, her wings rocking her back and forth against the current. It took too long. Trey knew Scout had to be hurting. She couldn’t dance forever. They had to hurry.

“Hurry, Ashra. Hurry.”
Hurry, hurry, hurry.

They landed in the darkness as Scout fell to her knees in front of the cage in a low bow. It was completely silent — there was no wailing and no shrieking. The back of Ariston’s throne sat in front of them; Trey could see the throne but not Ariston. Which was lucky, or he might leap through the windows and kill him.

He watched as Scout limped closer, rubbing her neck. He could see her bloody knees and feet. His eyes drank in every detail — he felt like he was starving for the sight of her. It took every ounce of will he had not to go barreling inside and carry her out.

She smiled, a sweet, gentle smile, and Trey’s heart stopped. Was she smiling at Ariston? Had he cast some sick spell over Scout that she could possibly look at him that way? Next to him, Torz and Ashra had both seen it, too.

Ashra’s head came up so sharply she nearly broke her own neck.
“Do you see?”
Her voice, in its excitement, nearly pierced his skull.

Torz was breathing too fast, his wings snapping and unsnapping.
“Aella. She lives!”

Trey had no idea what they were talking about. He squinted in the darkness, dragging his eyes from Scout. And there, right where Scout’s sweet smile was aimed, stood the transparent form of a girl, locked in a cage of bones. Scout hadn’t been smiling at Ariston. It had been at the girl. Aella. Iros’s betrothed. The one everyone said had to be dead.

She was not.

“We’re so close. We could just break the window. Grab Scout. Grab the girl. We could be out of here before the soul stealers even knew what hit them.”

“And what good would it do us, Trey? We would still have to save her sister, or she’d never let us leave.”
Ashra gave him a pointed look.

“Yeah, but we could at least keep her safe with us—”

“We need a plan. Or we will end up dead, and no one will be safe,”
Ashra snapped.

Trey was forming an argument to that when Scout spoke, her voice carrying easily through the thin glass. Any coherent thought he’d had fled.

“Are you planning on feeding me tonight, Ariston? Or are you hoping I’ll starve to death so you don’t have to deal with my soul screaming at you for eternity?”

Trey’s heart nearly stopped at the sound of her voice. He’d imagined it a thousand times in the days since she’d been captured. But his daydreams had not done her justice.

“Your soul would do me absolutely no good. It would stay at the top, unreachable. Like your sister’s.”

Ariston’s voice, on the other hand, made his blood run cold.

“If it won’t do you any good, let her go.”

Scout’s voice carried too much pain, too much desperation. Trey knew he would never be able to carry her out of there. She wouldn’t leave Lil Bit behind.

“If I let her go, how on earth would I convince you to stay?” Ariston sounded amused.

Trey wanted to break his face. Ariston knew Scout would gladly swap her life for Lil Bit’s. And she played right into it.

“Let her go and I’ll stay forever. I’ll give you my word.”

Ariston chuckled. “Sort of like Beauty and the Beast, then?”

Scout tipped her head, scowling. “Except the Beast had redeeming qualities. You don’t.”

Trey grinned.
That’s my girl.

Chapter Fourteen

Scout crossed her arms over her chest so Ariston couldn’t see them shaking. She wasn’t sure if it was hunger or exhaustion or fear, but her entire body trembled. She’d made Ariston angry. Which was stupid. After yesterday, she should have learned — if she made him angry, she starved.

And she was already starving.

He leaned back, steepling his fingers while he watched her with cold, black eyes. “Which seems to be your type, doesn’t it? Boys with no redeeming qualities.”

Scout’s heart slowed and her shaking worsened. She knew where this was going. “Leave him out of this,” she said through clenched teeth.

Ariston shrugged. “Well, he left you in the hospital after he put you there. That certainly isn’t very redeeming. And then he followed you here only to leave you at the first opportunity.” He pursed his lips as if considering. “Also not redeeming.”

Scout walked away to her blankets, wishing she could see through the windows behind her. Why did it have to be so dark all the time? “He explained why he couldn’t visit the hospital, and I’ve forgiven him. And—” She leaned around the throne so he could see her glare. “He didn’t leave me. I left them because you tricked me.” In a superb move of self-control, she refrained from sticking out her tongue.

Ariston looked far too self-satisfied. She’d expected him to at least frown, but his smile just widened.

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” He stood up, turning in a slow circle.

The soul stealers started shrieking again, feeding off his anger.

He spread his arms wide. “I don’t see him here, do you?”

“He’s not stupid, Ariston.”
Not like me.

“In fact.” Ariston tapped his chin. “I don’t see him in Aptavaras at all. And I see everything in Aptavaras.”

Scout swallowed hard. “You’re lying. There’s no way out of Aptavaras. Iros closed the gate.” She watched as he flinched at the mention of his brother’s name, and it made her glad.
Two can cause pain, Ariston.

“Well, I don’t know how.” He shrugged again, feigning indifference. “But they’re not here. They left you.”

“No they didn’t,” she said firmly. “They wouldn’t. Ever.”

Ariston moved lightning-fast to kneel in front of her. “Think about it, Scout. They can’t save you. There’s no way. And look at their track record. Ashra would just as soon throw you from a cliff than fight for you. She cares for nothing but herself. Torz might stay, but not if Ashra left. And your perfect Trey? He left you for three months because of guilt. Guilt, Scout. Fear, as you may know, is a much more powerful motivator than guilt.”

He watched Scout’s face, breathing hard. When Scout only glared back at him, he leaned away, rising to his feet with liquid smoothness. If not for the soul stealers’ frenzy above, Scout would have no idea how angry he actually was.

His voice, when he spoke, was completely unaffected. “But I’m sure they just went back for help. You must be right.”

Scout, too, stood up, despite her trembling legs and the way her heart pounded so hard it made her head spin. “They didn’t leave. They’re still out there somewhere, and nothing you say can convince me they’re not.” Despite her own anger pulsing through her, her voice was strong and steady.

Ariston turned.

Ah, there was the frown she’d been waiting for.

“If you refuse to see reason, Scout, there’s nothing I can do to persuade you.”

Scout’s vision was clouded by a haze of red. “Trey would not leave me. He loves me. He didn’t
leave
me in that hospital. He tormented himself just outside the doors. It broke his heart, and those three months I went through are nothing compared to what he’s gone through. So you can chase him with your demons and threaten him and torment him, and he will not leave me. So give it up, Ariston. Your little mind games won’t work.”

The red haze faded, and Scout nearly fell to her knees with the realization that she believed her own words.
Trey will not leave me. He will not leave.
Trey was out there somewhere, waiting. Like he promised. And now she just had to get out of here so she could tell him she knew this.

“And another thing.” She advanced on him. “You know nothing about my unicorn.” She kicked the blankets away from her feet, storming across the black floor.

Ariston didn’t back away from her fury, but he crossed his arms like they could protect him.

“Nothing. Ashra cares more about everything than herself. I watched as she made a whole bunch of your stupid demons mad, just so they’d follow her away from exhausted Irwarros who couldn’t fight anymore. I watched as she gave up her life and her home to bring me here. Because I wouldn’t have a chance on my own. I watched as she gave up sleep so we could rest, and she hid her pain behind sarcasm, not because it made her look weak, but because she didn't want anyone else to have to endure it. She’s the most stubbornly unselfish creature I have ever met. And because you don’t believe that, you have no idea what she can do to you.” Scout finally stopped, inches from Ariston’s face.

He stared at her without speaking, his jaw clenched so tight she could see the muscle in his cheek working.

And then he stormed past her, jerked his scepter out of its holder by his throne, and grabbed her arm. “Surround us. Don’t let them through.” He snarled, and immediately they were besieged by a wall of Taraxippus circling the orb of light, above them and on all sides.