Blood of the Guardian (19 page)

Alec couldn’t deny it. He shrugged. “She’s married now. She’s no threat to you. And, who says that someone can’t care for two people at the same time?”

Alec flinched, his own words smacking him as Rayen flashed in his mind. Could he really like the girl? Taryn hadn’t been gone but a few short months; how could he fall for someone else so soon? But, by his own words, he’d claimed it possible.

“Alec?” Kat said. “Are you okay?”

“Um, yeah,” he said, shaking off his revelation.

“So you think … he’s embarrassed?”

“It’s only a guess.”

The hope faded from Kat’s expression.

“Although,” Alec quickly added, “when I walked in on you two at the inn in Renfrew, you distracted him so much, he didn’t even realize he’d forgotten his clothes.”

Alec remembered Nolan’s red face, seeing the horror spread across his friend’s expression. Nolan kept his composure so often, Alec had enjoyed watching him squirm. “I’d say he’s interested in you.”

She licked her lips. “So what should I do? For being interested, he’s ignored me enough.”

After a good hour of discussion, they decided that getting Nolan away from the castle would be the best option. They also decided Kat might want a more subtle approach, even if it would be difficult controlling her thoughts. Alec would arrange a trip tomorrow, after Nolan woke and had taken the light of the stones, and they would run into Kat “accidently”. At some point, Alec would go back and work at the armory, leaving Kat and Nolan alone.

There were major flaws in this plan. Since Nolan’s transformation, he’d become even more aware of things. They’d have to control their emotions at all times. For Alec, this would be nearly impossible. Which meant the plan was doomed to fail.

Still, Alec would try. He hadn’t been a good friend to Nolan since Nolan’s transformation. Alec struggled with forgiveness—a trait he shared with his father. But Nolan had tried to do the right thing by bringing his conceited twit of a brother back to life. It wasn’t Nolan’s fault that Kael was Kael.

He headed back to the castle, thankful to be away from the Rol’dan barracks. As he passed the armory, he noticed the smoke still trailing above, a sign his father was still working. He’d have a chance to get to sleep before Father’s thunderous snores took over.

It’d been a good night overall. He’d gotten off the nightforsaken boat, finally, though he suspected his land sickness was returning. He’d beaten his father for the first time and given him a pair of scars to remember it by. And he’d taken a step to help Nolan, but he wasn’t sure how well it would work out in the end. Alec paused, and the building ahead seemed to pitch and fall like the sea. Whatever Greer had done was wearing off.

Where did the Guardians go? Maybe Emery knew. He entered the castle, but before he turned to Emery’s room, he hesitated. Surely he wouldn’t want to be bothered on his wedding night.

Nolan could help him, but his power was already low. Nolan needed to rest.

Then he considered Rayen’s tea. It had helped him before. He clenched his hands into fists, uncertain whether he wanted to see Rayen or not. He didn’t quite know his feelings for the girl, so he avoided thinking about her at all. Besides, who knew how much longer the Talasians would stay, especially since Emery turned down Kamalin’s proposition. They might match her to someone else in the kingdom, a duke or someone in position. Alec tensed, not wanting to even consider the possibility. Even as he fought with himself, his feet led him to the blue wing where the Talasians were staying.

The first thing Alec noticed when he stepped into the hall was the absence of light. The flames from the lanterns, which typically lit the hall, were gone. Maybe the Talasians had put them out. Were they afraid of the fire? Alec descended one floor, where nobody currently slept, and borrowed a lantern from the wall.

As he ascended the stairs, he noticed another oddity. He hadn’t seen a single Rol’dan guard. He at least expected some of Kamalin’s warriors. But there wasn’t a sign of them. Maybe he’d misunderstood and Emery had put them somewhere else.

Alec grunted. He remembered Emery saying they would be placed in the blue wing. Or maybe they’d rejected his offer and returned to the boat. He held the light high, inspecting the empty hall one last time. Then he caught sight of a thin trail of dark liquid leading across the floor. It disappeared behind a closed door.

Alec froze, listening. The castle droned with eerie quiet. He bent and swiped the stain, examining it next to his lantern. Blood coated his fingers.

Alec shifted the lantern to his other hand to free his sword arm. He slid out his weapon as quietly as he could and followed the trail, his heart thundering a heavy cadence. At the end of the blood trail, a door hung loosely closed, latch broken.

He nudged it, and it opened silently. The lantern light splashed across the floor, first catching on a boot, then a leg, and then it revealed both Rol’dan and Talasian bodies piled, one on top of another.

Blood pooled under them like a large rug. Their faces were so distorted and crushed in they were unrecognizable.

Alec turned, his stomach rolling. He swallowed back bile. What the Darkness had happened? Fear spiked, and he jerked his head around, looking for the murderer. But the hall still lay in silence, undisturbed, except for the mutilated bodies. He sucked in a breath.
Rayen!

Heart thundering, he scanned the corpses. All men. He dashed into the hall, pushing open each broken door as he passed. Dead warriors lay in each of the beds. His head swayed with dizziness. He had to find her.
Oh, Brim. Don’t let her die too.

As he reached the end of the hall, he heard voices. He pushed the door open and froze.

Two Rol’dan soldiers held the Talasian king between them. A shirtless Rol’dan, with a long beard, pinned a struggling Rayen to the ground. He was removing his belt with one hand and holding her with the other. He hadn’t noticed Alec.

Alec’s vision clouded with rage as he flared his Speed. How dare he touch her! Then a memory flashed in his mind, freezing him in place.

Another time … another place … a different bearded Rol’dan taking off his clothes … another woman being held down. His mother. He sucked in a breath as long-suppressed memories forcibly ripped free.

White-hot rage swelled. It abruptly ended with pain erupting through Alec’s head and a curtain of darkness yanking over his mind.

Chapter Seventeen

ALEC GASPED, FILLING HIS ACHING LUNGS. A scream choked from his throat as cracking bone reverberated through his skull. Greer squatted over him, his large hands pressed to either side of his head. Worry melted from the Guardian’s angular, glowing face.

“He’s alive!” a voice said.

Alec blinked back the darkness threatening to close in. His head throbbed as if his father had knocked him in his temple with a blacksmith’s hammer. Somehow, he’d survived.

“There’s another in here!” a voice yelled.

Greer disappeared, and Emery replaced him in Alec’s vision. He looked haggard and pale.

“Alec,” Emery said. “Can you hear me?”

Alec touched his face and came away with blood-coated fingers. More blood pooled on the floor around him. Memories of what happened flared back to life. The soldiers were gone, along with Rayen and the king. The blood he lay in was his own.

“Alec,” Emery said, “what happened?”

He remembered the trail of blood and the dead warriors. Then he envisioned Rayen and the soldier hovering above her, a man just like the one who had murdered his mother; he’d replayed that moment in his dreams for years.

He met Emery’s concerned eyes, but Alec’s emotions seethed. Emery had let the soldier defile her. He’d let him kill her. His mother was dead because of him. Finding a burst of strength, Alec punched Emery square in the face.

Emery grunted, falling backward into Alec’s blood; Megan gasped and went to his side.

Arms grabbed Alec, hauling him to his feet, holding him roughly.

General Kael Trividar stepped to him and leaned in. “What in the Darkness was that about?”

“He killed her!”

“The princess?” Kael asked. “She’s dead?”

“No.” Alec’s breath came heavy, his anger swelling. “My mother. The soldier killed her, and he watched her die!”

Emery’s jaw fell, then he shook his head, regaining his composure. “He’s hallucinating.” He rose, with some help from Megan, and motioned toward Alec. “Let him go.”

“Are you certain, Your Majesty? We can lock him in—”

“Let. Him. Go.”

The soldiers jerked back, surprised. Reluctantly, they released Alec’s arms.

Alec staggered, only then realizing how much the men had supported him. And the pressure in his head throbbed like a small drum against his skull.

Emery approached him, staring him in the eye. “Alec, we talked about this already. That man is dead. Alcandor killed him years ago. If you need to, we can discuss it again. But for now, we need to know what happened tonight. We need to find the Talasian king and his daughter. What happened?”

Alec blinked back a wave of dizziness, past and present meshing into one horrific memory. His mother. No, not his mother. Rayen.
Rayen is in trouble
.

“Take Alec to a room upstairs,” Emery said. “Let him rest. Hopefully, he’ll gain back some—”

“Rol’dan!” Alec blurted out. “It was Rol’dan.”

Kael cursed and spat on the ground. “Which ones?”

“A b-beard. He had a long beard.”

“Well that helps a lot,” Kael said, sarcasm thick in his voice. “Narrows it down to half the Strength Rol’dan.”

Alec blinked, his vision clearing slightly. “A p-patch, over his eye.”

“Ekon,” Kael sneered.

Alec examined himself. The stain on his shoulder looked like a minor scratch compared to the gore covering him now. He reached for his empty sheath. His sword was gone.

A soldier approached Kael and saluted.

“Report,” Kael said.

“General, sir.” The soldier’s mouth pressed into a tight line.

“What is it, Lieutenant?” Kael pressed.

“We’ve found the Talasian king.”

Silence hung heavily over the group.

“Your Majesty. He’s dead.”

Alec’s head spun.
Why had I hesitated? I could’ve saved the king! Instead, I just stood there gawking. And what happened to Rayen?

“His body hangs from a tree near the docks.” The lieutenant hesitated. “They sliced him open and let him bleed to death.”

“And the girl?” Alec blurted.

The lieutenant pulled his gaze from the king to Alec. “We didn’t see anyone else. Only the king.”

“And the Talasian ship?” Kael asked.

“Gone, my lord.”

Emery ran a hand through his dark hair and paced. He scanned the room until he found Maska, who’d been standing toward the rear of the room. “Maska. What does this mean?”

Maska frowned. “They will return to Talasi. And most likely return with their army. We must prepare for war.”

“How does succession work, Maska?” Emery asked. “Who leads them now?”

“His children are his heirs. If the girl lives, then the rule belongs to her. If she’s dead as well, leadership passes to the war commander.” He frowned. “And if it’s the same man who commanded the army when I left … he isn’t one who promotes peace.”

“We must find the girl,” Emery said.

“What if she left on the boat?” Kael asked.

Alec’s stomach dropped. “I don’t see how she could’ve escaped.”

“Then we’ll assume they took her,” Emery said. “General Trividar, prepare a rescue team.”

Kael saluted, flared his Shay, and disappeared.

Emery strode from the room, followed by the Rol’dan soldiers.

Alec jogged to catch up, but by the time he reached them, his head was swimming.

Emery caught his arm. “You need to rest.”

He yanked away. “No. I need to find her.”

“You aren’t in a condition to do anything.”

“I’ll take the stone. It’ll restore my strength, and then I’ll be fine.”

Emery’s gaze flicked to Megan, and an unspoken conversation passed between them.

“What’s wrong?” Alec asked.

“The stones are gone.”

Alec stared. “But … Nolan has the … ” His voice drifted off. He turned, searching for his friend. Where
was
Nolan?

“We went to get Nolan when we heard the commotion,” Emery said. “His belongings are gone, as well as him and the stones.”

“He left?” Alec said, stunned. He knew he’d been in a bad mood, but why would he run away? “Where’d he go?”

Emery shrugged. “Don’t know. We would question the gate guards, but they’re dead. Nobody saw Nolan leave.”

Why would Nolan leave when they need him?
He must’ve gone before this whole mess started. If he’d been here, it would
not
have happened. Nolan would’ve heard it with his sharp senses and come to the rescue. Instead, he had crept away without telling anyone? Why?