The Rising King (17 page)

“Dylan?” Anger slowly erodes the confusion in her eyes. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I just—”

She looks again at her dress, feels the expensive material, and her face flushes red. “Oh my God. What did you do to me?”

“He didn’t do anything. We’re just trying to help,” Leo says in my defense. Mom and I stare at him, and he shuffles his feet uncomfortably. “I should leave, huh? Okay, I’m just going to put these bags in the third bedroom.” He picks one up and takes off.

When he’s gone, I turn to Mom. “I didn’t do anything except drag you out of that hellhole you were staying in. Do you want to go back?”

It’s clear her feelings are hurt, she’s angry, and she’s scared. Why do I never generate happy feelings from her? She runs her hand along the marble top of the entry table, a suspicious look on her face. “How can you afford this place?”

Leo returns for the other bag as I say, “Relax. I’m not a felon.”

Leo gives a light snort as he grabs the other bag. “Technically, she is.” Leo shoots up straight, eyes big. “I just said that aloud, didn’t I?” He grimaces and takes the other bag into the room.

He’s pointed out the elephant in the room. Might as well go with it. “Augustus says hi. That must’ve been some meltdown you had. Once the sheriff knew I was your kid, he couldn’t wait for me to leave town.”

“You’ve been following me?” Her skin drains of color. “Baun sent you, didn’t he?”

“He doesn’t know I’m here.” She doesn’t look convinced until I say, “Grandma sent me. She wants you to come home.”

The bitterness that flows from her makes me rethink that part of my mission. Mom’s face scrunches up as though she smells something sour. “This is…what? An intervention?”

“A rescue. Seriously, from what I’ve seen, you need one.”

“I’ve made some solid contacts here.”

All I’ve ever wanted to do is be the son she wants. But how can I when she pushes me away all the time? I give up and my anger flips into high gear. “To do what? Date ’em, roll ’em, and dump ’em in the desert? Was Augustus your test to see how you liked it? He’s a decent guy. Why’d you mess him up like that?”

“Mess him up? You think
I
messed
him
up?” Her eyes glaze with that crazy look I’ve tried to forget. She spies a crystal vase full of fresh flowers and snatches it up before I can even think to intercept her. “Let me show you what a real mess I can make.”

I dodge the vase and it lands with a thud behind me. Water and flowers scatter all over the floor. I hold up my hands and infuse her with a sense of calm. “Mom, calm down.”

It doesn’t work. It’s like she’s immune to my suggestion and gets even more irritated.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” In rapid succession, she chucks her shoes at me. I easily bat them away. She quickly scours the area for more ammunition and picks up the basket of complimentary fruit.

“Not the fruit,” I cry just before she starts lobbing apples, pears, and clusters of grapes at me.

Leo comes out of the room and Mom aims at him. He ducks as a pear and the mini-pineapple I’d been saving for my afternoon snack barely miss his head.

Pitted dates and a few kiwis fly like grenades, exploding on impact. With the fruit gone, the basket sails in my direction before she goes for the remote. I duck and it bounces off the wall behind me. A pillow flies Leo’s way, and then a heavy glass bowl filled with lemony scented potpourri barely misses my head and shatters on the floor, its contents mixing with the water, fresh flowers, and seriously bruised fruit.

Mom makes a dash for the kitchen, and I shout for Leo to stop her. She has great aim and has sent more than one ex-boyfriend to the emergency room. If she gets a hold of knives, this will get seriously bloody.

Leo grabs her around the waist, lifts her up unceremoniously, and tosses her into her room. Her screams are cut short when he snatches the door closed. I create a lock and we both sag against the walls on either side of the door.

“Dude, that was epic.”

He has no idea. “She was just getting started.”

We can hear her sobling, a combination of sobbing and yelling, on the other side of the door, begging me to let her go. When I don’t immediately do what she wants, she starts blaming me for her losing her temper. “You can’t keep me here. It’s illegal.”

“Did you learn that in your stint in jail?” I yell back, regretting the jab as soon as it’s out when I hear her tearing through the room.

“What do we do now?” Leo asks.

“She’ll calm down soon. She always does.”

But that was before, when she still felt some form of responsibility toward me. I don’t really know the woman behind the door.

I push away from the wall. “We’ll give her an hour.”

“And then?” Leo follows me.

Stooping in front of the shattered crystal pieces, I touch the ground. The pieces quiver and then reassemble back into a bowl. It’s perfect in every way. I can’t allow Mom to dictate our relationship anymore. I stand and look at Leo. “We’ll find the magic with or without her help.”

A frown transforms his usually optimistic face. “That sounds ominous, bro.”

I stare at the damage Mom’s done, and think of the damage she’ll inadvertently cause if I can’t find that magic. “I don’t have time to deal with her messed-up issues anymore. People are dying. An hour is all I’m willing to give her.”

Part Two

Trapped, for all to see.

Yet here I stand,

Waiting, watching, wondering,

Who really holds the key?

What Is, Isn’t Good

They’d been back in the city less than ten minutes and somehow Baun knew. He’d actually sent Lucinda to fetch Kera.

It was nearing afternoon. The streets were almost cleaned of the signs of battle—magic had made easy work of what could have been an arduous project—and life had begun to move again. People were out and about, and if not exactly enjoying the day, they had accepted what had been left for them.

All Kera wanted was to find Dylan and admit what she’d done. Better for him to hear it from her than someone else. “What does Baun want?”

A
tsk
ing sound filled the air. “Baun? Such disrespect toward your king.”

She was too tired for Lucinda’s games. “The council and Dylan rule. Until Baun earns his people’s trust, he is a figurehead at best.” She watched a frown dig into Lucinda’s forehead and waited. When it was clear the woman wasn’t inclined to answer her, she repeated herself. “What does he want?”

Lucinda swept her long white braid over her shoulder and cocked a knowing brow at Kera. “Are you not the all-powerful one now? Surely you know. Or have you been so busy seeking vengeance your other senses have dulled?”

A Lutine in a huff was something to avoid, but Kera was beyond caring. “Is this about the Seven Sisters? Your friends are alive…in a manner of speaking.” She wished differently, but a promise had been given.

Lucinda grabbed Kera so quickly, she didn’t have time to react. One moment they were in the middle of a busy street, the next they were in a darkened, shadowy room filled with Nightmare Men. Kera didn’t understand. What was their enemy doing gathered together in one place? Was an attack imminent? She tried to free her wrist from Lucinda’s punishing grip, but when the Nightmare Men didn’t move to attack, she realized she and Lucinda were invisible, a trick the Lutine had used on Kera before, and she instantly stopped struggling.

Lucinda slowly lifted her lips into a tooth-baring smile that showed no sign of humor. “The first sign of evil. Denying the evil within you. Look around. They were all once-powerful
firsts
.”

Kera’s gaze flickered over the nearest Nightmare Man. Everything about him repulsed her. How could something so disgusting have once been a being known for beauty and laughter and light? It wasn’t possible. “You lie.”

Lucinda twisted until she stood behind Kera and leaned in to whisper, “For once, I don’t have to.” Clutching Kera’s shoulders from behind, she pointed Kera at the bone- and sinew-covered men. “This is what real evil looks like when it’s let loose. Their souls are stained pitch-black, and the dark magic they harbor slowly eats them alive, a virus they cannot cure. They’ve been relegated to wander the edge of life, only finding freedom with the ring your king possesses. Where they got that ring is a mystery, but it sets them free in the light, something they desire more than anything.”

Kera instinctively jerked back, not wanting to get too close. “Navar never looked like them.” She’d seen Navar more often than most people before he’d died and he’d looked like any other
first
.

A knowing grin crossed Lucinda’s face. “Navar was cleverer than most. His glamour was very powerful.”

“H-he disguised himself?” How had he managed that? Did she have that kind of power in her?

“He showed what everyone wanted to see. If you don’t believe me, ask that pathetic mole who follows Baun’s heir around. He sees what no one else can.” Lucinda switched sides and whispered in Kera’s other ear, “He’s seen what’s in you, hasn’t he?”

“No,” she lied, because she was sure Bodog had seen a speck. He watched her too closely. The magic inside her was dark, but she would never let it control her. Not like these men had done. No matter what Lucinda said, Kera’s motives weren’t evil. “I know what I’m doing.”

“So did they.” Without breaking contact, she latched onto Kera’s wrist again and pulled her from one Nightmare Man to the next. “Look at them. Baun lured them here and trapped them. They’re defeated. Frustrated. Very poor losers. All those with great power are. Denied their ability to terrorize, to control, it makes me wonder what they would do if I left you here.”

Without warning, Lucinda shoved Kera under the nose of one of the men. He suddenly froze and sniffed. Lucinda yanked off the leather bracelet that covered the wound Kera received fighting the Dark Souls when they attacked her village. It had grown, covering more than just an inch of skin, just like the wound on her shoulder that refused to heal, thanks to her encounter with the Dark Souls in the forest.

“So, it’s begun. Most
firsts
heal from an attack by a Dark Soul.” Her gaze flickered from the ugly spot of exposed muscle and bone to Kera’s eyes. “But when they attacked you, they exposed you for what you are. What you’ll become.”

Nostrils flaring, the leader looked at his comrades and swore they weren’t alone, which stirred them up.

“Look,” Lucinda said in a moment of wonder. “They know you’re here, can sense your power, and they’re in a froth to find you.”

She was right. They roamed the shadowy room, grunting and cursing and striking out at any imagined movement. Only the leader didn’t move. He just breathed deeply, smelling her power like a hound on the hunt. He leaned forward and took a deep sniff.

Beads of sweat peppered Kera’s forehead. She wouldn’t put it past Lucinda to leave, if only to prove she would do it.

The leader lashed out, and Lucinda yanked Kera out of his way at the last moment. Her lips parted and a giggle of excitement filled Kera’s ear. The Lutine was having fun at Kera’s expense.

She turned toward Lucinda and said matter-of-factly, “Go ahead and leave me. I will fight them.”

“Brave words. Will you survive, I wonder? Or will the magic you use consume more of your flesh?”

Kera didn’t know the answer so she kept silent and fought to keep her power in check. After a few more close run-ins, the Nightmare Men settled down.

“Be careful, little liar. Magic as big as what you carry causes more harm than good.”

She hated it when Lucinda called her that. “I have only seen the good it has done me.”

“Only good?” Her fingers tightened on Kera’s wrist, causing it to ache. “I felt the ripple. You used the magic. You created another Unknown place.”

Kera shook her head. “What I made is small and not permanent. If the Seven Sisters had not killed Wyatt, it never would have been created in the first place.”

A slow grin stretched Lucinda’s lips into a hard-toothed grin. “The second sign of evil. Justifying wicked acts.”

Was Kera justifying her actions?

No. The Lutine was baiting her for no other reason than that she could.

Seeing Kera wasn’t taking the bait, Lucinda changed course. “Let’s play a game. I shall ask you a question and you answer it. Truthfully. Can you do it?”

The muscles in Kera’s jaw tightened. Lucinda would let her go only after Kera ceased to be fun. “Ask.”

Lucinda’s eyes narrowed. “How are you any different from the human you killed?”

She blinked back her surprise. Was she referring to Jason? She had to be. Of all the questions Lucinda could have asked, that was one Kera hadn’t expected. It took her a moment to think. “J-Jason wanted to destroy everyone and everything in his path. But—but I supply justice. To a select few.”

“Jury, judge, and jailer.” A low growl sounded from Lucinda. “You condemned my friends to one hundred years in forms so fragile they may not recover. They feed off the souls of those they kill. Maybe they don’t always kill those who deserve to die, but what are a few innocent lives compared to the bad ones they destroy? You’ve upset that balance.”

That wasn’t balance, that was pure selfish motivation.

“They upset the balance when they killed Wyatt. He deserved to live,” Kera snapped back. “It’s their punishment. They killed him because he was in love, and they were jealous. How is that right?” She shook her head, unable to believe she had to defend her actions. “I did as promised. They are still alive. I could have killed them, but I didn’t. I even left Neve to tend to them.”

“Yet you conveniently forgot to tell her she was condemned with them.”

That was a lie. “She knew. She volunteered.”

“Did she have a choice?” Lucinda volleyed back.

If she had wanted to get a reaction out of Kera, she’d succeeded. Kera stiffened and without breaking contact, she twisted her wrist and ended up grabbing Lucinda’s. “What are you really after?”

Lucinda suddenly laughed, and the next instant, they were outside Baun’s door. Her big cat-shaped eyes blinked lazily. “I just want to know if I need to protect my back when you are around, little liar.”

Kera squeezed the surprisingly delicate wrist she was holding. “
Don’t
call me that.”

With a flick of her wrist, Lucinda broke away and opened the door to Baun’s room. “He is waiting for you.”

“Lucinda,” Baun called from the room. “Please stay. This involves you as well.”

Suddenly all the bravado drained from Lucinda. She became quiet, obedient as she moved into the room and sat in the chair Baun indicated.

Kera quickly refastened the leather bracelet, covering the wound on her wrist. When she took her seat beside Lucinda, she watched Baun. His eyes were red-rimmed and puffy and his clothes were mussed as if he’d just rolled out of bed. She hadn’t seen him this disheveled since he’d gotten out of prison.

He sat, placed his elbows on the desk, and ran his fingers through his hair before looking up at Kera. “I know what you’ve done and I cannot say I blame you. We will discuss that later. Right now, I need your help. I sent Dylan on an errand. He should have been back by now, but he isn’t.” He sighed and pushed himself straight. “To be honest, I don’t even know where he is.”

She told herself not to panic. Dylan was resourceful. Powerful. Just because his father didn’t know exactly where he was didn’t mean anything was wrong. “Where did you send him?”

“That is the worrying part. Not far. To his grandparents’ home. It should have taken him a few hours. It’s already been a few days.”

Panic immediately swept through her, shoving her to her feet. All manner of terrible things invaded her imagination.
Pux
. Millispits. Some horrible creature that had attacked not only Dylan, but his grandparents. She had to leave. Now.

Lucinda’s question stopped her. “What kind of errand did you send him on?”

“I needed him to retrieve something important.” When she cocked a slanted eyebrow at him, he waved her off. “I won’t go into detail, but I am assuming, since he is not back, he ran into trouble.”

A low laugh that resembled a purr filled the room. “A paternal streak. I’m intrigued.” She settled further in her chair and studied him. He fidgeted under her unrelenting stare, and a pleased smile appeared before she relented. “It’s your son, and he has powers far greater than most. Greater than you. I doubt there is much he cannot handle. He will eventually come back.”

Pinch-lipped, Baun poured himself a glass of absinthe. Kera’s father never touched the stuff. Said it played with men’s minds, but here Baun was drinking it like water. “You’re right. It’s just”—he paused for effect—“he took his friend with him.”

The way he said that sent a chill down Kera’s spine, and by the look on Lucinda’s face, it did her as well. “Leo? His friend Leo?”

He nodded and shrugged. “I fear the human is in trouble, therefore Dylan is. You know how they like to stick together. Why else would they not be back?”

Lucinda turned to Kera. Her pale cheeks held a bright flush. “Can you find them?”

Most likely, but she wasn’t 100 percent sure, so she turned the question back onto the Lutine. “Can’t you?”

Silence filled the air. Lucinda looked from Kera to Baun, and it was clear she didn’t want to admit to her limitations, but finally said, “No.”

Baun sat back in his chair. “Really? I thought you could.”

The way Baun looked at Lucinda, like he was more than disappointed, didn’t sit well with Kera. She actually felt sorry for the Lutine.

“I can find them.” She turned to leave and came up short. Lucinda had materialized in front of her. The Lutine rarely used her power to transport from one location to another so frequently except when she was stressed. Hearing Leo was missing obviously upset her.

“I’m coming with you,” she announced.

Kera nodded, but before they left, Lucinda stared at Baun. Her tone was anything but submissive now. “What did you send them to retrieve?”

Baun’s lips were hard and paper-thin. Kera had the impression if he could lie, he would do so now, but he couldn’t. “The Salter’s magic.”

A pale-blue hue washed over Lucinda’s skin, as if all the blood in her body had been drained. She walked toward him almost as if in a trance. “You know where it is?”

When she stopped in front of him, he clasped her arms and squeezed. “I suspect where it is, but that is all.”

He brushed a stray lock of shockingly white hair away from Lucinda’s face and gently swept his hand from the top of her head to her nape in an obvious petting motion. Lucinda pulled away, but Baun wouldn’t release her. “Bring my son back.” He fished from his pocket a bright fuchsia-colored choker embedded with diamonds and dangled it in front of Lucinda. The Lutine’s eyes latched onto it. Her nature naturally gravitated to shiny and bright. “Payment.”

She reached for the choker, but he held it away. “Make sure the coin is found.”

She nodded, snatched the choker, and swept out of the room, the determination in her eyes a fierce reminder of the danger hiding behind the beauty.

Kera looked back at Baun. He had returned to his desk and was sitting once again, and utter despair shadowed his features. He reached up and touched the edge of the tapestry, animating it. Flames rolled. Smoke blew and thickened. Slowly, he leaned back and stared at the fabric of Teag. Heaving a heavy sigh, he settled into his chair and watched it burn.