Veiled Innocence (Book One, The Soul Cycle) (22 page)

A few couples lingered near the candlelit doorway, but otherwise, it was relatively quiet. She distanced herself from them and took a deep breath, not daring to look as Rowan brushed past her and disappeared into the hedge maze.

She
tilted her head back and stared at the sky, which was black as pitch. The air smelled of flowers
,
and she inhaled deeply, trying to erase Draxonus from her mind.
You must focus. Your prey is close; you cannot lose sight now. He is just a man, nothing more. 

She glanced up just as the clouds parted, exposing a starlit sky. She caught a tiny streak of white tearing across the black expanse before it was swallowed up by the heavens once more. She paused, staring at it, but her childish fancy was gone as quickly as it had come. She shook her head. “What a ridiculous thing to do. Wishes are the dreams of fools, Vishka.”

She pulled herself away from the wall and descended the stair
s
into the grass. Choosing a cobblestone path, she walked until the music was but a dim memory and the flirting of a handful of drunken courtiers faded away into the chirps of the evening crickets. 

As she rounded a bend, two low voices caught her ear. 

“You weren’t followed?”

“No.”

“For your sake, you had better hope not.”

There was a metallic
ching
as a blade was drawn and someone took a deep breath. Almost
instinctively
,
she
m
erged, becoming air and shadow. 

Her form moved through the darkness until two figures came into view. She immediately recognized the gold armor, and her pulse quickened as the familiar bloodlust turned her vision red. 

Orris had backed Rowan against a statue, pressing a dagger to his throat.

She studied Orris’ aura, and her heartbeat quickened. It was barely discernable, as if it was masked somehow, but she could make out a thin line of silver light encasing his crimson aura.

S
he watched Orris lean in closer so that the two men were eye to eye.

“You must obtain it, and your indecision is costing me precious time I don’t have, boy.
I don’t care what it takes,
even
if you have to slit her pretty little throat in her sleep, got it?” He dug the point of the blade in until a single drop of blood trickled down Rowan’s neck.

Rowan glared at him defiantly
. “And if I don’t?”

“Then you will die along with the rest of them,” Orris hissed. His eyes flashed with fire, and Vishka’s thoughts stopped. 

Did his eyes just –

The breeze shifted, and Orris’ head jerked to the side, his orange eyes searching the darkness.

He looked right at her.

She
was so startled she nearly fell out of the form. Orris abruptly released Rowan and vanished so quickly
she
had trouble wondering what had happened. She did not miss the waft of sulfer on the air in Orris’ absence. 

Rowan sank to the ground unconscious, a thin red line on his neck.
She
almost ran to him, but she stopped herself.
The blade must have been edged in a chemical. Besides, he’s just a mortal, nothing special. Why should I care? 

For reasons sh
e didn’t quite understand, she m
aterialized and
kneeled
beside him, pressing two fingers to his neck. “Still breathing,” she murmured.

Relief surged through her, and she was so happy for a moment that she nearly missed the fact she was feeling an emotion at all. Rowan
groaned and his eyes fluttered.
W
ith a look of sudden terror,
she
gathered her skirts and m
erged as Rowan came to.

***

LIAN WASN’T SURE EXACTLY
how long she had stood in the ballroom before deciding to look for Gabriel. She knew in her heart where she would find him. Like waking from a dream, s
he pulled herself from her daze
and set off toward the garden. Her slow walk
became a frantic sprint as the memory of his hurtful gaze replayed through her mind.

He looked so
shattered
.
What did I do now?

She burst through a couple chatting at the garden doors, ignoring their rude comments. Little patches of white blotted her vision as her eyes adjusted to the sudden darkn
ess. He was nowhere in sight.
With increasing dread, she bounded down the stairs two at a time. On the last step, her heel twisted
,
and she lost her footing.
Throwing her arms in front of her, she yelped and braced herself for the impact. But it never came. When she looked up, two delicate yet very strong arms were supporting her. 

“You seem to be accident prone, Lady Lianora,” Merí said, helping her stand.

Lian blushed and dropped a low curtsy. “Forgive me
, Countess. I didn’t see you.”
Merí quirked a brow
,
and Lian rushed on. “Thank you so much for catching me.”

Merí waved her off and stepped around her. “I wouldn’t go into the gardens tonight. You never know what may be lurking in the shadows.” She paused and looked back at Lian thoughtfully, as if really seeing her for the first time. “Tell me, is it safe?”

Lian’s bro
ws furrowed. “What do you mean? Is what safe?”

Merí’s eyes sparkled. “The crystal.”

Lian’s face paled as she remembered their first
encounter
. Merí had stared at her as if she could see the necklace, though it had been tucked inside her neckline.

“Safe enough,” Lian said, narrowing her eyes. “What do you know?”

The Countess ignored her question.
“For your sake, I hope so.” Merí’s voice dropped, and she took a step forward so her face was right beside Lian’s. “Do not trust Rowan.”

Lian looked at her sharply. “Why are you telling me this?”

Merí opened her mouth to speak but was cut short when a brilliant flash of orange light erupted just beyond the door.

“What on Eresea…” Lian muttered. She stepped past Merí, whose face had turned grim. 

A
weird sound
ca
m
e
from the ballroom. It was
a bizarre crackling, like everybody was unwrapping gift paper all at the same time.
She
looked around the edge of the entrance
,
and her jaw dropped.

Half of the ballroom was entirely consumed in flames.

Seige

FIRE CREPT ALONG THE
ceiling, picking up speed as it grew.

How had this happened? It was well away from any torches or candles that might have been the culprit.

Her
body was as immobile as a statue, like maybe if she stood there long enough and blinked
enough times
it would all disappear
,
like another one of her visions. Part of her refused to believe it was real.

But it was real, and that realization hit her like a blow to the stomach. Her fingers trembled as she watched her world be consumed by beautiful, terrible flames. 

The enchanting music turned into a mass of ugly chords as the musicians
realized what was happening
. Screams filled the ballroom in a cacophony as people stampeded for the exits. Flames climbed the walls, engulfing the decorations that had been hung with such care in a matter of seconds.

Above her, the fresco turned to ash.  

It was all happening so quickly,
and her
past and her present blurred together by smoke and fire. 

She
stared at the fresco. The g
ods stared back at her as the fire erupted through their bodies of paint and sealant. In the center was Dreaka, the oldest of the Immortals, her arms spread benevolently in the air as if she were welcoming her destruction with an embrace. As the fire swept over her fair face, her eyes flared to orange and then a pale blue, like ice.

Like ice. Ana-Elise. Lord Feron. Prince Alastor. 

My family
.

She
craned her neck, straining to see the dais over the sea of bobbing heads rushing past her.

Her stomach heaved, and she gritted her teeth against the rising spiritual onslaught.
“
Leave them
,
”
commanded the dark voice.
“
What have they ever done for you?
”

She
squeezed her eyes shut, seeing their faces behind her lids. The dark feeling stirred in her heart, and she imagined trapping it behind a cage of pure, white light.

“No,” she said. “You’re not winning this time.”

She shuddered
,
and the voice, along with the dark feeling, faded
into submission, though it never truly vanished
.
It was like it had
let
her win.

Standing on her tiptoes, she saw Alastor wrap a protective arm around Ana-Elise, guiding her toward the door while her father spoke to Gabriel. She lost sight of them as a man careened into her, nearly knocking her down. People running past jostled her around so violently her bones rattled. She fought the crowd, elbowing her way through, until she was finally upon the dais.

Ana-Elise and her father were gone. Alastor shifted restlessly
with a fretful look on his face and
his hands cupped around his mouth as he called Ana’s name. Behind him, Gabriel shouted orders to the knights and guards nearby. 

She
ran to Alastor, grabbed his shoulders
,
and wheeled him around to face her. “Alastor, where is my sister? Where’s the Duke?”

He shook his head, his breathing ragged. “I – I don’t know. I think…” He fixed his wild, pale eyes on her. “I think she went to look for you.”

She
froze, unsure what to make of that. A few days ago, she had been certain Ana cared no more for her than she did a cockroach. Now she had raced headlong into a fire to search for her?

“What about the Duke? Where’s Feron?”
she
pressed.

“I don’t kno
w. He just… vanished.
When I first saw
the fire,
I tried to get them out of here. I swear I turned my head for only a second
,
and they were gone. Ana. Oh, gods! Ana. Oh, gods…” He covered his mouth as pain spread over his face, at last swaying and collapsing into her arms.
Gently, she lowered him to the dais.
  “What have I done? What have I done?” He kept shaking his head, clutching at his temples like a madman as he spoke the phrase over and over, staring at the floor for answers.

Her heart sank to her stomach as she held him. Without a second thought, she shouted, “I’ll find them!
G
et yourself out of here!”

She released him, and after a second’s hesitation to make sure he could sit up on his own,
she
bounded off the dais into the crowd. 

“No, Lianora, stop!”

Alastor’s protests died away as she tore down the hall, her eyes searching frantically for her father and sister.
A
s she cleared the
ballroom, more screams rang out, mixing
with the terrible rumble of what sounded like low growls and wing beats. 

She didn’t have time to think what it all meant. Finding her family and g
etting out of there came first. S
he couldn’t quite shake the feeling of déjà vu, like she had been through this before, long ago in a time when the stars still shone bright.  

She
called their names, ducking in and out of a herd of terrified servants as they plowed by her. The smoke was getting thicker, and the hot air scalded her throat each time she inhaled. She covered her mouth with her glove, doubling over in a fit of rough coughs. The orange glow of the fire had caught up to her, and
she knew if she did not act now
she might not be able to escape with her own life.
I can’t give up. I promised Alastor. 

Suddenly
,
a man screamed in agony in a room up ahead
,
and she took off running, using the wall for support. Her head was spinning from the lack of oxygen
,
but she kept going.
Someone must be trapped
, she thought, as she rounded the corner, imagining a whole slew of nightmarish scenarios.   

Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. 

Feron lay motionless in the middle of the floor while a man wrapped in dark robes hovered above him. A pale hand touched his neck, feeling for a pulse. After a moment, it dropped
,
and he bowed his head.