Soul of Smoke (10 page)

He nodded, and Kai saw him surreptitiously checking the title of the book she’d grabbed. She thought his mouth curved up on one side, but the fires on the walls went out. A golden ball of flame appeared at Rhys’s shoulder, much like the one Cadoc had used, and it threw his face into shadow. They left the library and walked up the tunnel in silence. Rhys moved with slow deliberation, but otherwise seemed all right. Hyper-aware of him at her side, Kai didn’t feel like the silence was awkward. In fact, it was kind of nice.

Rhys pulled back the curtain at the same time Ashem roared his name.

“I’m here.” Rhys nodded for Kai to go through first. She ducked under his arm and out into the kitchen.

The dragons stood in a cluster at the cave mouth, staring out. Cadoc came over and offered Rhys a hand, but Rhys waved him off.

“What is it?” Kai followed them back to the opening and looked into the sky. She saw nothing.

Rhys went rigid. “Sunder me.”

Confused, Kai squinted into the cloud-smudged blue. At first, she saw nothing. Then her eyes landed on a white bird circling in the distance. Except it wasn’t a bird. It moved wrong, as if its wings were attached differently. And it had a long, whip-like tail.

With dawning horror, Kai realized it was a dragon. A white dragon. As if, by viewing the record, Kai had somehow brought him here. “Is that...?”

“Owain.” Rhys’s voice was grim.

“What do we do?” Deryn squeaked. For once, her voice was completely free of snark.

Kai folded her arms tightly across her chest, hugging herself. If the record was any indication, Owain would kill Rhys and the others if he found them. Though she hadn’t known the dragons long, the thought turned her heart to a rock.

“We do nothing.” Ashem fixed each of them with a golden glare. “The only person who can locate the barrier around this cave, let alone break through it, is Kavar. Owain won’t be able to find us without him.”

“Why?” Kai whispered, not caring how ridiculous it was. Owain was still too far away to hear her if she shouted. Still, whispering felt safer.

Rhys answered, still watching the sky. “Kavar is Ashem’s brother. His twin. They can sense each other if they get close enough.”

“Kavar can’t have made it to Owain’s stronghold at Cadarnle and back, yet.” Ffion pushed a bronze curl from her face. “Why is he in the middle of the sky? He has to know we can see him. He isn’t even veiling. He’s going to be seen by humans.”

“He wants to be seen,” Rhys growled. It was hard to tell in daylight, but Kai thought his eyes were glowing.

Cadoc bared his teeth. “He thinks we’re stupid enough to show ourselves if we have a chance to catch him.”

Silence fell. Kai’s shoulders and neck tensed as Owain circled closer in a slow, headache-inducing sort of fear. At length, he was joined by another dragon, then another, but she only caught brief glimpses of each as they seemed to shimmer out of existence in front of her eyes. “How—?”

Rhys glanced down. “They’re veiled. It’s how dragons hide from human eyes, though we can still see each other. There are...” his gaze flicked across the sky, “...half a dozen of them.”

Kai jerked, her legs twitching like they wanted to run. That was stupid. There was nowhere to go. “Is Kavar one of them?”

Rhys looked to Ashem. “No. But even if he was, I wouldn’t know. The Azhdahā use barriers instead of veils. You encountered a barrier when Deryn brought you to our camp. It’s a mental trick that repels unwelcome eyes and minds. They’re the only ones who can hide from other dragons.”

“And there’s a barrier around us?” Kai rubbed her neck, trying to dispel some of the tension. Barriers, veils, mental shields. It was getting difficult to keep track of dragon magic.

Ashem spoke. “I don’t sense him. Unless Owain has gotten ahold of the mind-hiding magic our people are working on, Kavar is nowhere close. Of course, there’s a spy on the Council, so perhaps he has.”

“A spy?” Spies. War. Killing. All of a sudden, Kai felt a desperate urge to be home.

Ashem scowled at the dragons in the sky. “There’s no other way Kavar could have known we would be in that meadow.”

Kai licked her lips. The dragons outside drew closer. It hadn’t bothered her as much as it should have, being kidnapped by dragons. They were
dragons
. She had gotten to spend time with creatures of legend. She had seen actual magic. That was awesome, but not worth becoming collateral damage. “Owain is the leader on the other side of your war, isn’t he? Why would he care enough to personally search the mountains for one little group of soldiers?”

They all looked at her, expressions blank, as if she had just said something exceptionally stupid. Then, for some reason, they looked at Rhys.

He gave her a wry smile. “There aren’t many dragons left. Every single one makes a difference.”

Abruptly, Ashem seemed to notice Rhys was pale and sweating. “Griffith, get him something to sit on before he collapses.”

“I’m—” Rhys started.

“Just sit, scalebrain,” Cadoc interrupted.

Griffith came back with a chair. Rhys sat, growling something under his breath.

Every pass brought the white dragon closer to the cave. After half an hour, they came close enough that Kai could make out the way the dragons’ “veiling” distorted the air—like heat mirages in the sky. She reached out and found herself gripping Cadoc’s arm.

He smiled wanly and squeezed her fingers. “It’s all right,
brânwen
. We’ll all get home safe. You’ll see.”

After an eternity, Owain and his dragons flew out of sight and didn’t return. But no matter how hard she tried, Kai couldn’t make herself believe Cadoc’s words.

Chapter Nine

The Whisper of Skin against Skin

The next morning, Kai woke with a restless energy she couldn’t shake. Between Owain’s fly-over, Ashem’s scowls and Rhys’s...well, whatever it was Rhys made her feel, she had so much leftover adrenaline from the day before she thought she might explode. Rhys wasn’t the only one getting twitchy from being stuck in this cave.

She walked out into the cavern, trailing her hands along the rock walls. Scrambling up the rise and just onto the ledge, she came face to face with an iron-gray sky. White mist trailed cold fingers down the mountains, pooling in the valley below. Kai hugged herself to keep from shivering. There were no roads she could see, no cabins, no smell of smoke from campfires, only endless peaks, mist and icy, wet wind.

At least today there weren’t any dragons.

Voices stopped her when she would have walked onto the ledge. She leaned forward, peering around the edge of the cave mouth. Rhys and Deryn sat outside, half-hidden by a couple of huge boulders. Apparently, Kai hadn’t risen as early as she’d thought.

She backed into the cave and looked out at the mountains again. It struck her how absolutely delusional she’d be to leave here on her own. Her throat closed and her eyes burned with unshed tears of frustration. Last night, homesickness had filled her so full she thought she might drown. The feeling had ebbed as morning arrived, but hadn’t vanished entirely.

Chilled, Kai backed into the cavern, pacing its perimeter. The walk turned into a jog, then a full-on sprint. After a few laps she stopped, putting her hands behind her back, arching and breathing deep. Running wasn’t enough.

She pressed one hand to the cave wall and her fingers came to rest on a narrow strip of stone. She’d traversed this wall already. Today, traversing didn’t feel like enough. She needed a rush. She needed height. Mats or no mats, she was going to climb.

She sank her fingers into a crack above her head, then lifted her foot and settled her toes on a small, outthrusting irregularity at about knee-height. In seconds, she lost herself in the climb.

Peace.
Focus.
A
place for fingers
,
a
place for toes.
Balance and lift
,
body tight.
Get through cruxy spot.
Arms and legs burn.
So
,
so good.

She was twenty or so feet off the ground in a particularly tricky position when voices broke her trance. Rhys and Deryn appeared from the ledge, heading toward the sleeping room. Deryn made a few quick swipes at the air, as if she held an imaginary knife. She said something in Welsh and Rhys laughed. He gave her a playful shove, and then rolled his injured shoulder.

He looked good. Much better than he had, even yesterday. Though he still had a long way to go, Kai might not have noticed if he hadn’t been walking next to Deryn. The girl moved like a cobra.

Kai pressed her body against the wall, willing them not to see her. Suddenly, her need to climb felt silly. She stayed as still as she could, hoping they would hurry up and get out.

No such luck. They paused and Rhys held up his good hand, curling his fingers into a fist and moving it slowly in the same twisting strike Deryn had, demonstrating something. Kai’s arms were shaking, getting pumpy. The leg that held her weight trembled.
Dang it!
Isn’t he supposed to be resting?
If I can get into a better position...

She slid her fingers up the wall, seeking a crack, a hole, any inconsistency that would let her pull herself into a more comfortable position. If she could get weight on both her legs...

Her fingertips grazed a promising handhold just barely out of reach. She risked a glance up. If she could get a grip on the small shelf of stone above her, she could get high enough to wedge her other foot into a crack. To reach the handhold, she’d have to jump off her already shaking leg.

She jumped.

Rhys spoke, surprise etched in his voice.

“Kai?”

She missed the handhold. For a frozen moment she hung by the fingertips of one hand, other arm windmilling uselessly. Climbing accidents she’d seen flashed through her mind: bloody, swollen faces, shattered bones, dented skulls, days and days in the hospital.

I
shouldn’t have climbed so high.
I
shouldn’t have...

She fell.

With an
oomph
, she came to a stop feet above the ground. The heat of a body pressed against hers; strong arms cradled her to a firm chest. She looked up into eyes the color of a Bunsen burner flame. The feeling of latent, electric power washed over her. Even weak, Rhys’s strength was frightening.

She tried to say thanks, but her voice wasn’t working. All she could do was shake and gasp.

Rhys held on to her. “Breathe, George. I’ve got you.”

Kai found her voice, weak and wheezy. “Thanks. I guess you’re the knight now.”

His mouth turned up in that enigmatic half smile. “Better a knight than a king.”

Deryn made a derisive sound.

Rhys shifted Kai, wincing. He held most of her weight with his good arm, his injured side supporting her legs. Still, a wet, red stain was spreading on the fabric of his sky-blue shirt.

Deryn frowned at Rhys’s shoulder and then at Kai. “What were you thinking? A fall from that height could have killed you.”

“She would have reached that bit of stone if I hadn’t startled her. My shoulder is my own fault.” Rhys’s gaze slid hesitantly, almost unwillingly, over Kai’s body. Her cheeks heated.

He smoothed his thumb over her sleeve. “Can you stand?” He’d been so careful to avoid touching her that Kai couldn’t help but notice he wasn’t in any hurry to put her down. He smelled clean and masculine, with the smallest hint of wood smoke. Feeling the hard muscles of his chest and arms pressed against her side went to her head, making her dizzy.

Holy hell
,
get ahold yourself Monahan.
Kai swallowed. “I’ll be fine.”

Deryn muttered something about idiot brothers. Ignoring her, Rhys set Kai on her feet, his fingers lingering. Kai’s shirt had hiked up to around her belly button, but with his hands on her waist, just above the hem, she couldn’t pull it down.

He cleared his throat. “Good.”

His hands fell. His fingers grazed her right hip, no more than the whisper of skin against skin.

A pulse throbbed through her body, like standing too close to speakers at a concert. A wave of power threw her back against the wall. She managed not to hit her head, but the rock dug bruisingly into her back.

“Ow! What the—?”

Rhys staggered as if he’d felt the blast of power, as well. His eyes had gone as dark, as blank as a TV without a signal. An uncomfortable prickling started in Kai’s stomach. “Rhys?”

Deryn had cut off mid-mutter. “Rhys? Oi!” She snapped her fingers in front of his face then looked from him to Kai’s pushed up shirt. Her face went white. “Oh, sunder me.”

Rhys stared at Kai, his pupils dilated so far only the barest hint of blue iris could be seen around the edges, glowing bright.

“What’s wrong with him?” Kai asked. The thunderstorm feeling had swollen, and the air felt chokingly thick. Though he wore a man’s body, there was nothing human in Rhys. Only the dragon looked out of those eyes. Fear climbed Kai’s throat. She swallowed.

Deryn ignored her, still looking from Kai to Rhys.

Rhys lunged.

Kai shouted and threw herself to the side, bracing for impact, confusion and fear overwhelming higher thought. The expected attack never came. She opened her eyes.

Deryn stood between them, braced against her brother. She grunted, teeth bared, muscles standing out in taut cords on her slender arms. Her eyes were ablaze with turquoise light; her face drawn with some inner conflict Kai didn’t understand. “You don’t want this,
fy mrawd
!”

Deryn heaved Rhys backward. He staggered, but only fell back a step before feinting left, then lunging right. Kai tensed to run, but Deryn moved like a striking snake. Somehow she was between them again, shoulder in her brother’s chest, blocking like the skinniest football player who’d ever lived.

Deryn shoved, throwing Rhys back again. Before he could recover, she flung out her hand the way a police officer might command traffic to stop. With an ear-splitting groan, the floor cracked. A fissure opened at Deryn’s feet. Kai flinched as a geyser of water burst into the air, drenching them all in cold spray. It fountained higher, stretching and spinning until it formed a translucent bubble-like shield of swirling water that surrounded her and Deryn, blocking them from Rhys.

Rhys raised his hands in front of him, blank face contorted by the water shield. Light sparked between his fingers, growing into a ball of spinning flame. Deryn swore. She set her feet, raising her arms above her head like a priestess summoning a long-dead god. Kai cowered behind her, nearly hyperventilating and so utterly confused.
He’s trying to kill me.
I’m going to die.

She couldn’t stop her scream as Rhys flung the fireball. It exploded against the shield, denting the bubble inward. Clouds of steam billowed upward. Deryn made a strained sound somewhere between a screech and a growl and thrust her hands down and forward. The bubble sprang outward, the last of the flames curling away to nothing on its surface.

Distorted shouts came from the sleeping room. Cadoc, Ffion and Griffith sprinted toward them, their words unintelligible through the water. Relief washed through Kai. Rhys would stop now. He had to stop now.

Instead, he raised his hands again. This time, instead of forming a fireball, a jet of flames spewed from between his splayed fingers. Water hissed and turned to steam, the air becoming unendurably sweltering in seconds. Deryn’s stance grew unsteady. Flames raged outside the shield, which shrank by the instant. Kai hunched, damp hair clinging to her forehead and the back of her neck, another scream building inside her. She shoved it down, catching Deryn and supporting her as the taller girl sank to one knee, sweat beading on her forehead. The bubble of water continued to shrink. Soon it would be gone. Kai’s throat closed in terror, her breath coming in rasping gasps. Rhys was going to burn them alive.

Her enchantment with dragon magic dried up as completely as a desert in the summertime. One coherent thought flitted through her otherwise nonfunctional brain.

I
want to go home.

The jet of flames faltered. For a split second, Kai could see. The others had reached Rhys. Griffith was trying to drag him away. Deryn’s shoulders relaxed. The bubble became less stable. Then Griffith’s clothes caught on fire. He let Rhys go to beat at the flames. Rhys renewed his attack. Deryn shuddered and let out a sob.

The flames faltered again. Through the wall of water, Kai could see that Cadoc stood behind Rhys now. Instead of trying to pull him away, Cadoc had his hands clasped over Rhys’s wrists. A glowing trail twisted between Rhys’s fingers, over his wrists and into Cadoc’s hands, shrinking the jet of fire.

Ffion hovered, gesturing sharply at Cadoc to stop. Cheeks flushed and eyes glazed, Cadoc shook his head. His lips moved, but Kai couldn’t hear over the rush and sizzle of water and flame. She thought he looked at her and nodded reassuringly, the ghost of a grin on his lips, but it was hard to tell.

The flames fell away at last. Rhys struggled, but Griffith had his arms around him, pinning him in place. Cadoc had fallen to his knees, his hands curled against his chest. Deryn collapsed. The water bubble fell, soaking her and Kai.

Kai looked up and found herself locked in Rhys’s flame-blue eyes, filled with rage and desperation. Her heart seized.
What.
The.
Hell.

With a roar, Rhys threw Griffith off. He raised one hand, aiming at Deryn and Kai. Fire sparked between his fingers.

Suddenly his arm fell. His eyes rolled back in his head. Griffith caught him and lowered him to the floor, unconscious.

“What happened?” Ashem’s deep voice echoed in the silence. He strode toward them from the kitchen. Some still-functioning part of Kai’s brain registered that Ashem must have knocked Rhys out with his magic. She swallowed.

“He’s heartsworn.” Deryn’s voice was blank. She pushed herself up, teetered around the two-foot wide crevice she’d ripped in the floor, and bent to touch her brother’s face.

“He’s
what
?” Cadoc stared at Kai, all humor gone. “He can’t be.”

Ffion’s brow creased. “A Wingless mate.” She glanced at Ashem. “How many do you think will go to Owain over this?”

Ashem frowned and shook his head.

“Heartsworn?” Kai echoed. “Isn’t that what Ffion and Griffith are?” Her stomach clenched in a sudden, hard knot. She flashed back to falling. Rhys catching her. The tips of his fingers brushing her skin. “Heartsworn to
me
?”

“He can’t be,” Cadoc repeated softly.

“Oh, can’t he?” Deryn shouted, “I saw him. Just like when it happened to Ffion and Griffith. Blank eyes and a second later it looks like he’s trying to eat her!”

“I am not heartsworn.” Kai tried to sound commanding, but her voice shook. Her hand went to her carabiners. Open, closed, open, closed.

Rhys moaned and stirred. Kai tensed.

“Why is he waking up?” Deryn demanded.

Ashem scowled. “Because I want him to.”

Cadoc looked at Rhys, then back at Kai. She’d expected concern. Instead, he seemed detached. She gave him a questioning look, but he turned away. Kai felt like she’d been slapped.

Rhys took an unsteady breath and opened his eyes. The incandescent light was gone. No longer blank, they fixed on Kai.