Warrior's Dawn (Fire and Tears) (2 page)

Her response earned her a full-throated, surprisingly deep burst of laughter. The sound was so wonderfully rich and sexy, Mina lost her breath. Her mouth dropped open for an instant before she caught herself and snapped it shut.

When he laughed, when he smiled for real, he moved well past beautiful and into the realms of unreal. She felt stunned by him just then, and for a long moment, couldn’t drag her attention from the lush, tempting shape of his mouth.

She blinked and straightened in her seat. Damn the man. Why did she have to react to him this way?

“I have always been charming,” he said when his laughter eased. “It’s my particular gift.”

“Speaking of gifts, elves have magic. What’s yours?”

“Why do you need to know?”

“Because we’re going into enemy territory together. I need to know what use you’ll be, outside of the information you provide.”

“And what use will you be in watching my back when you’ve as much as admitted you’d rather stick a knife in it?”

“I’m not going on this mission to watch your back. I’m going to ensure the List of Names is brought back to the council. But I’ve been working for the better part of the last year and a half as a spy. I’ve snuck in and out of the part of the city held by the Sorcerers innumerable times in that period. And I’m still alive.”

“Can you fight?”

“If needs be.”

“Are you any good at it?”

“I’m still alive.”

He tilted his head in acknowledgment of the point. “Weapon of choice?”

“Short swords.”

“That gets you in dangerously close to an enemy.”

“If I have to pull my swords, the enemy is already too close to avoid.”

He leaned forward in his chair, resting his forearms on his thighs, and gave her a thoughtful nod. “You’re prepared to fight with me to get the List of Names?”

“I’m prepared to do whatever is necessary to end this war once and for all.”

“Do you know why your people want the List?”

“Do you?”

He smiled, a slow and seductive lift of his lips, though she wasn’t sure he intended the look to be seductive. “The council had to tell me, or I wouldn’t cooperate with their questions.”

“Doesn’t that go against your bargain with them? The reason you’re allowed to live here rather than be executed as a traitor?”

“Maybe. They were too anxious for the information to realize that, though.”

She didn’t want to admit she didn’t have all the details. Not to him. Samuel and Iona Brightarrow had assured her that the List of Names, the list containing all the
real
names of the Sorcerers, would give them the power they needed to end the war. They hadn’t told her how, exactly, but she hadn’t pushed for an answer either.

It would have something to do with magic—elf magic. She knew enough to realize the real names of a being of power were valuable and dangerous. Most human practitioners like the Sorcerers concealed their real names and instead went by adopted monikers, something that couldn’t hold any control over them in a spell.

She also knew why she hadn’t been told exactly what magic would be used against the Sorcerers. If she were captured before she could end her life, the less information she had to reveal, the better. As a spy, she’d gotten used to this way of things, because the threat of capture and torture was always a very real possibility.

“They haven’t told you, have they?” Althir said after a moment.

She pursed her lips in a scowl and focused on the bars of his cage rather than his face. “They told me everything I needed to know.”

He leaned back in his seat again. From the corner of her eye, she could see him studying her.

Finally, he said, “You don’t trust me. And you shouldn’t. But you’ll still travel with me into enemy territory. On the hope that this will end the invasion?”

She nodded.

“Why should I trust you?”

“You shouldn’t. But you’ll have to rely on me once we cross the border. And you can do that.”

“If I betray you?”

“I’ll kill you. Happily. That’s why I’ve been allowed to volunteer for this mission.” She finally faced him. “Are you going to betray me?”

He held her gaze for a long moment and then dropped his to stare at the floor. “I don’t discuss my magic here. When we get into Noman’s Land, I’ll tell you what I can do, for my part, beyond provide directions.”

He glanced up and caught her unawares, capturing her in a look full of something hot and dangerous. This time, she had no doubt he meant the seduction in his eyes. To her horror, that heat and promise made her pulse jump sharply and her breathing quicken.

“Suffice it to say,” he murmured, his tone deep and intimate, “my charm is one of my very useful skills.”

She stood so quickly she knocked her chair over. “I doubt the Sorcerers will be bothered with that.” She tried to keep her tone hard and impersonal, but even she heard the breathlessness, the hint of a tremor. From his ever-so-slight smirk, she knew he did too. “We leave tomorrow noon. We’ll spend the first part of the night in Noman’s Land. Then we go in.”

He nodded, his expression never changing as he watched her hurry from the basement. Even when she disappeared into the shadows, she felt his gaze hot on her skin. Once out of the basement, she continued up to the streets and out into the cool night air.

For a long moment, she stood beneath a brightly lit gas lamp, breathing in the faint dampness of approaching rain and letting the chilled breeze cool her overheated skin.

She’d known when stepping forward for this mission that it was going to be the most dangerous thing she’d ever done. She hadn’t realized just how much of that danger would come from the very elf she was partnered with.

Chapter Two

Althir studied Mina where she leaned against the parapet watching the dim streets of the Sorcerers’ territory. She surprised him. So much so he was quite fascinated with her. He hadn’t been truly fascinated by a human woman in years.

He wasn’t sure if he could call her beautiful. Her features weren’t soft and even enough for that. Her eyes were a little large, her nose a little broad. But she
was
pretty. And her curves were so full and lush, he found himself studying her body with great frequency.

Though his brother’s mate was a tasty-enough-looking woman, Layla Brightarrow was like all the Sinnale—she’d lost too much weight under the deprivations of war. Althir had felt no real interest in any of the women he’d seen since turning himself over to the Sinnale. They’d all grown hard and sharp in the last two years. Not one with anything soft left for a man to lose himself in.

Except for Mina. She was the only woman he’d seen whose shape still begged to be touched and explored. On the other hand, her personality was all edges and bitter angles, a harsh contrast to her delicious figure. The war had left her as angry and damaged as anyone, and she made no attempt to hide it from him. Her full lips rarely lifted into anything like a smile, and her dark eyes held distance. But also a quick intelligence.

She kept her fair hair pulled into a tight bun at the base of her neck, which did nothing to soften the curve of her cheeks or distinct lines of her cheekbones. Yet, there was a hint of something in her face and expression, something that had once been as gentle and enticing as an early spring breeze.

For some reason, the incongruity between her lush body, her hard attitude and that hint of who she might be if not for the war, struck him as infinitely interesting.

“We won’t be able to make the Citadel before dawn,” he said into the silence that had accompanied much of their night’s vigil. “Not on foot. Not if we want to stay hidden.”

“I didn’t intend for us to head there directly.” She glanced over her shoulder, giving him a brief glimpse of her velvety dark eyes. “You’re sure the List will still be in the Citadel? Wouldn’t they have moved it when you defected to the Sinnale?”

“They don’t know I know about it,” he said bluntly. When she raised a brow, he bent forward into a slight bow. “I believe I mentioned my charming personality has come in handy before.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, you Sinnale aren’t the only ones with a talent for collecting information.”

She turned fully to stare at him. The intensity in her gaze would have left him more uncomfortable if he hadn’t been courting it.

“You’re trying to tell me you spied on your allies?”

“Information is always useful,” he allowed. “Always.”

“And you
charmed
this information, about the existence of the List, from one of the Sorcerers?”

“Hardly. They’d never admit to such a thing. Too dangerous.” He joined her at the retaining wall and stared out over the streets. He felt her gaze on the side of his face.

She was interested in what he had to say, couldn’t help herself despite the distance she tried to keep between them. And that only encouraged him to try drawing her out more. There was something so deliciously satisfying about capturing her reluctant attention.

“At least one of their human servants is aware of the List. That particular human was…” He turned suddenly and caught her stare. “She was quite susceptible to my charms.”

Mina snorted and looked away. The reaction made him smile. Why he was enjoying this game with her, he couldn’t be sure. But attempting to tease and infuriate her gave him more pleasure than anything had in a very long time, so he wasn’t inclined to stop.

“Then we can expect the List is still in the Citadel.”

“Yes. But not the one you’re thinking about.”

She turned back sharply. “What are you saying? I thought there was only one Citadel?”

“The information the Sorcerers allowed to get back to the Sinnale.” He leaned against the low wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “Your spies are very good. But the Sorcerers know about more of them than they let on. Though they take and use many, they allow a few to ‘escape’ with information they want you to have.”

Her face seemed to grow paler in the dim light from the gas lamps below.

“Why do you think you’ve never gotten ahead in the war?”

“They have magic. Once we ran out of elven weapons, we didn’t have anything to counter that.”

“At which point, they could have initiated a full-on assault and taken all of Sinnale.”

She shook her head. “No. We still fought. They never had enough people—”

He lifted one shoulder. “True. They use up as many of the captured as they turn minion. And the minions are eventually used up as well. They need a constant flow of new blood to maintain their powers and the balance of power between them.”

“Which is where you traitors came in,” she spat. “Using elf magic to lure my people into their hands without so much as a struggle.”

His amusement dropped and his fists clenched. But he continued. “The traitors are a convenience. But hardly necessary to the Sorcerers’ efforts. They could take the advantage at any time. Yet they haven’t. Why do you suppose they keep the war going?”

“Like I said, they never had enough minions. We have superior numbers.”

“But no magic. They’re aware of this. Do you think your people aren’t tortured when they’re taken?”

She spun away from him, her fingers digging so sharply into the brick wall he was surprised she didn’t draw blood.

Very quietly, she said, “I know very well what captives of the Sorcerers suffer.”

“Then you know the prisoners reveal information,” he went on relentlessly. He didn’t know why he was pushing this, why he pummeled her with truths she didn’t need. But he also couldn’t seem to stop himself. “So why didn’t the Sorcerers take the city while you were essentially helpless against their magic?”

“We still had blades. Some, anyway.” She let one hand fall to the hilt of one of the two short swords strapped her to hips. “Enough to hold them back.”

He snorted. “Not nearly enough.”

“The minions fell to our regular weapons.”

“Again, you’re missing the point. Even with elf weapons, you barely have enough to hold the Sorcerers back. Why do you think they let any of you remain free?”

He watched the tension tighten her body and jaw, her chest rising and falling sharply with her increased breathing.

“Why?” she murmured around clenched teeth. “You tell me.”

“They need the conflict. The war. The blood. This
feeds
them. And they have every intention of drawing it out until they wring every last drop of pain and terror and agony from your people.”

“And then?”

Her voice was so quiet now, he barely heard it.

He straightened and let his arms drop back to his sides. “Then… As my brother always suspected, they will turn their attention to Glengowyn.”

Her sharp brown eyes pierced him. “And yet you still joined with them, when you knew they’d turn on your people? How could you?”

In his mad zeal to push her toward the real truth of her war, he’d cornered himself. Disgusted with both his own behavior and this entire situation, he grunted a curse and walked away from the wall.

“There was more to it than that,” he muttered, not caring if she actually heard him or not.