Wicked Path (The Daath Chronicles Book 2) (38 page)

“Is something wrong?”

“No… I… just need a moment.” He stood and dashed to the water, diving in.

Hadda squawked at my side.

I brushed the sand off my clothes and followed him. The water cooled my hot skin, drowning the fire I had inside. He stood, waist deep, running his hands through his hair. Moonlight caressed the muscles in his back and arms.

“Is everything all right?” I stepped behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“Yes.” He placed his hands over mine.

He turned, and under the moonlight, his eyes were back to beautiful blue.

“What happened?” I released him and washed the bits of sand off my arms.

He shook his head, droplets splattering across the water. “It’s difficult to control myself with you.”

“I know what you mean.”

He rubbed my cheek with his hand.

“I don’t want to spoil you.”

“Spoil me?” His word choice was crude.

He frowned and sighed. “Would you prefer defile?”

My stomach twisted in hurt. Defile? His tone was sharp. Was he trying to be a gentleman or his usual cold self? Regardless, the words sent a wave of shame through me. I regretted letting our kiss go so far.

Confused and unsure, I scowled. “Don’t worry, you won’t.” I headed back to the shore. Hadda was already flying to me. She nudged my face with her beak. I patted her head, thankful for her company.

I glanced back at the sea. Lucino stood waist deep in the water like a glittering shadow. The glowing plankton sparkled pink on the shore.

Was I being foolish?

From the distance, Lucino’s gaze found mine and we stood in that moment, silent and longing. Neither of us made a move.

I wanted to, desperately.

But he had upset me.

He dunked underwater and I turned around, sadness overwhelming me, then sulked back to the fire.

“Don’t go.”

I gasped as his breath hit my neck and he hugged my waist. He appeared so quickly, my heart skipped at his presence. I traced the top of his hand that rested on my stomach, relaxing into his embrace. “I won’t.”

ou and Cael will travel to King Corban with one of my messengers and inform the king of this threat.”

Cael and I sat in General Malak’s office. After Jonas delivered Croxley’s note, the tree had been in an uproar, and I’d been summoned back to the general.

“I have to go home,” I said.

“You will go to King Corban.”

“You can’t tell me what I have—”

Cael placed his arm in front of me, blocking me from the general. “When will we leave?”

“Tomorrow.”

I shook my head. “This is ridiculous.”

I should never have told them what I remembered. If I had kept it to myself, they would’ve let me go home. They would’ve had no need for me. The one thing I should’ve lied about and I didn’t.

Cael pushed me out of the room before I started yelling at the general. When we were far enough away, he grabbed my shirt.

“Are you insane? That’s the general of The Order you were speaking too. Disrespect is considered treason!”

I pushed him off. “My family needs me.”

“Your king needs you.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do, Blond Boy.” This time I pushed him harder.

“You don’t have a choice.”

“Raven and I are leaving, and there’s nothing you can do to stop us.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Cael raised his hands and started chanting.

I sent a right hook at his face.

The punch landed squarely in his jaw. He absorbed the shot and I pulled back to strike again. He shook off the punch and slammed into my chest, throwing me against the wall. He turned his head to the side so I wrapped my arm around his neck in a chokehold. He kept his chin tucked and I couldn’t get a solid grip.

Prying his head out, he twisted away from me and stepped back. It was the first time I’d ever seen him angry, and he was livid.

Good. I’d enjoy this fight.

A sudden loud boom shook the tree forcefully.

“What was that?” I grabbed the wall to steady myself.

Cael’s eyes went wide.

We both stopped moving and listened.

Boom.
Shock waves vibrated the floor. Not good.

We were under attack.

Raven!

Cael and I sprinted to the tunnel, passing guards grabbing weapons and priests running around.

“Who could be attacking us? No one knows this location,” Cael said as we descended the steps into the tunnel, heading back to the work tree.

“Lucy.” She was never going to stop hunting me.

It had to be Lucy. How could we be so stupid? She never gave up. She waited, and we led her straight to our people’s most sacred place.

Dirt fell from the ceiling as we ran. I should never have left Raven alone.

When we reached the secret entrance to the work tree, Cael listened, but the screams and sounds of metal rang through the door. He opened it slowly. No one was nearby. We slipped out.

I held my sword in my hands, wishing it were a bow. Cael took out his sword and we crept through the shack. People fought giant men wielding great swords, hatchets, and massive battleaxes. They were the size of the brute I’d first killed in Raswood forest: hulking figures that wore animal furs and swung massive weapons.

“We need to find Raven,” I whispered.

Cael nodded and we slipped out of the shack and into battle.

The brutes staggered around on fat legs with bodies bigger than the tallest man. A behemoth spotted us and charged in, attacking Cael and I. He swung a massive polearm with a scythe on the end, its downward arc aimed directly at our heads. The sharp blade blurred past my shoulder and splintered a chair in half as I barely dodged the attack.

Cael didn’t miss the chance and attacked from the front. I dipped low and spun in a pirouette as I darted at the brute’s flank, slicing at the back of the his knee. The giant fell forward with a deafening roar. Cael anticipated my strike and positioned himself for the killing blow. He put all his weight behind that one swing, lopping off the monstrous head. Its eyes blinked in disbelief as it rolled from its dead body.

One down, another twenty to go.

Raven’s dark form scurried up one of the rope bridges, followed by a beast twice her height. I would never make it to her in time.

If I only had my bow!

She grabbed one of the bridge support ropes and sliced another with her dagger. The bridge buckled, then dropped, taking her attacker with it. He gripped a plank with his meaty fingertips, but his big hands couldn’t hold and he plummeted to the ground. Raven put the dagger in her mouth and scrambled up the rope to a higher level.

There was too much chaos to reach her, and she was already moving farther away from me. Raven could fight. I had to trust in her ability and go find Lucy—the one responsible for all this.

An ear-piercing scream blasted a group of priests on the far right, throwing them back and onto the floor, their bodies contorted in unnatural positions.

Lucy!

From my pocket, I withdrew two small balls of cotton I made when I first realized Lucy followed us, then shoved them into my ears. The fluff didn’t block the sound completely, but I hoped it muffled it enough so she couldn’t use any of her tricks on me.

With my sword out, I ran at her back. Nothing could stop me. I had her.

She turned, smirking. “Hello, Avikar.” Her lyrical voice sounded distant through the cotton, but her eyes said it all. She was excited to see me.

I had nothing to say to her.

“Ahh!” I charged her with my full strength.

My blade sliced through empty air. She slipped behind me, lightning fast, trailing a finger up my arm, playing me, then danced back in front, smiling.

A blast of light surrounded her and she screamed.

I turned.

Ginna had rushed Lucy’s exposed flank, light streaming from her hands. “Now!”

I swung, missing Lucy again. The light dissipated, replaced by a red haze. Lucy wasn’t smiling anymore. She opened her mouth and let out a wail that sent Ginna flying backwards, ripping off her left arm in the process. With Ginna’s invocation stopped, Lucy marched forward, her black hair rising around her face in wicked wisps.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” she said.

Thin darts slid out from the armor by her wrists, probably poisoned. She raised her hands and flicked them forward, firing the blades at me. I was too close to dodge them all, but the three that passed through my parries never connected.

What?
I wondered if Ginna had protected me, but how could she when she lay on the ground, writhing in pain?

Lucy’s face twisted in rage, and she threw three more darts, all of them bouncing off the air, a few spaces in front of me.

I had no idea what was happening, but I took advantage. I charged in swinging my sword in a diagonal arc. Lucy wouldn’t dodge this one.

The blade of my sword shattered against Lucy’s raised forearm. The shards showering to the floor.

What?

“Poor Avikar. You didn’t think your silly human weapons could defeat the magical protection wards of my ancestry, did you?”

I was in trouble. Outmatched, and now with no sword. I couldn’t beat her. I was a stupid farm boy who
thought
he could be a hero, and all I had was this stupid dagger.

The dagger!

It had scored a hit on the ice spider when Raven’s blade couldn’t. It was my only chance.

Lucy smirked at the fear in my eyes. She didn’t seem to care that I’d drawn my dagger, spinning it in a full rotation one last time before I met my fate.

“You’re a foolish boy. If you bow and swear your allegiance to me, maybe I’ll let your little Raven live.”

Hearing Raven’s name poured strength into my soul. I couldn’t lose. If I did, Lucy would kill them all, and love every twisted moment of it.

“You’re mine, Avikar, and I always get what I want.”

Even with the cotton blocking most of the sound, her words found me. Everything about her was magical. The way she moved. The curves of her body. The sensual look in her eyes. A beauty most men would kill for. A part of me actually wanted to give in, to bow before her. My willpower slowly faded, and her voice flowed through my mind, filling me with warmth. I was slipping way.