Unleash the Inferno (Heart of a Dragon Book 3) Read online

  “Aye.” Sebastian motioned toward the doorway where he saw movement. “Come join us, Paik.”

  The wizened Seer Fey stepped from the shadows onto the marble balcony floor, leaning heavily on his staff. The afternoon sun reflected off of his green hair. “Lincoln,” the Grand-Master grunted.

  “Paik.” Lincoln shook his head, his lips twisting into a bitter smirk. “You killed my mother.”

  “Nay, lad,” the Seer Fey nearly growled. “That honor belongs to you and you alone. Have you so quickly forgotten the battle in the Channel of Lise when your mother and I waged taibe warfare? When you chose to use your Pixie charm to drive us away and save your rag-tag citizens rather than your own mother, who had given you life? She was a Seer Fey who still had much time on this earth, and should have lived out her days. Nay, you killed her as if you had struck the flint for her funeral pyre yourself.”

  Lincoln jerked, and Sebastian smiled. “It was an honorable thing to do, Pixie—sacrificing your own mother for the sake of so many others. Small comfort now, though, isn't it? Where is the warmth of honor when the cold breath of the sepulchre wafts across your face?”

  “Seer Fey don't use sepulchres, King,” Paik said dryly. “The Ancients scatter their ashes on the winds so as to more easily take their place among the Stars. Helga looks down on us from the heavens already. She died before her time.”

  “You sound sorry,” Lincoln commented bitterly. “You fought against her in the Channel, but you were battling her long before that. She trusted you enough to ask for advice when she realized that the Amulet was not as it had seemed for centuries, when she found that the Touches were manifesting themselves in such a chaotic fashion with little rhyme or reason behind them. When the Seer Fey rifted over the Amulet, you stood on one side while she and very few others stood on the other.”

  “Helga,” Paik declared, his eyes blazing green fire, “was a champion of a deluded cause. The Amulet has always been intended to return to the Seer Fey. She did not see that, and though she was a Council member, an Ancient of the Marron Mountains, she was blinded to our true inheritance.”

  “Nay,” Lincoln snapped. “It is you who are blind, Paik. Helga realized that the Amulet had been corrupted, that it is now evil, and its effects are evil. When she died, she died with the idea that the Amulet had to be destroyed. Paik, surely, as the Grand-Master of the Seer Fey, you can see that, too. You can understand what Helga understood—that evil, once touching taibe, will corrupt the wielder.”

  “The Amulet destroyed!” Paik spat. “A curse be upon her, then, if she had been working to such an end.” His gnarled hand gripped his walking stick, his nostrils flaring. “That theory—that the Amulet has degraded—has long since been abandoned by the Council! We no longer seek to destroy the Bond of Blood and Fire—or the Amulet! It is ours, by the Star’s blessing. If what you say is true and Helga was working to destroy it, she died a traitor to who she was, a traitor to the Seer Fey. The Ancients are a small circle, and even the absence of a few is deeply felt by the rest of us, no matter on which side of the issue we stood.”

  “You imprisoned her!” Lincoln shouted.

  “And you freed her.” Paik's voice was bland as he turned his attention to Sebastian. “Shall we continue, King?”

  Sebastian gripped the railing, gazing across the courtyard and the walls, the battlements, and far up onto the slopes of the Marron Mountains. “You seem to know quite a bit about the Amulet, Pixie. Have you any idea of its whereabouts?” He turned his burning gaze on the Pixie, searching the pale face for any hint of an answer, but all he saw there was distaste.

  “You'll get no answer from me.”

  The Pixie's gaze was iron. Sebastian exhaled in anger. “Then if you wish to spare your daughter's life, you will return to West Ashwynd and my dear niece and nephew.”

  Lincoln narrowed his eyes, distrust dripping from his gaze. Sebastian's lips tightened. “And you will find out from them if there are Seer Fey in West Ashwynd, and if so, which of them follow Helga's plan to destroy the Amulet, and which of them seek to remain loyal to the Bond of Blood and Fire. Those who followed Helga, I want you to bring to me, or at least information regarding their whereabouts.”

  Lincoln stared at him. “No.”

  Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “I don't expect you to bow so easily to my commands, Pixie, if it is only your own life and reputation on the line. However, I intend to walk your daughter through a slow and torturous death should you hesitate to do as I wish.”

  The Pixie swallowed hard, and his jaw clenched. Again, he whispered through tight lips, “I refuse, Sebastian.”

  Paik shuffled forward until his shadow cast itself over Lincoln. “You refuse, Lincoln, even though you know that with your daughter ends Helga's line? Even though you know that should you and Marigold die, there will be very few left to oppose the Ancient circle? That our strength will slowly overcome your weakness, and you and Marigold will no longer see the morning sunrise across the Marron Mountains? You are willing that those things should happen?” Paik leaned closer. “Because I can promise you, Lincoln, that you and Marigold will be granted freedom the moment you bring to us any Seer Fey who wish to destroy the Amulet. I can even promise you a trusted position as a liaison with the Seer Fey Council, a high honor for a Pixie. It is all you have to do. Will you not consider it?”

  Lincoln's face was whiter than parchment, but the lad shook his head jerkily from one side to the other. “No, Grand-Master. I cannot consider it.” He straightened on his bench. “You see, the Andrachens are more than just a name. Kinna, Cedric—they are a part of my heritage and Marigold's heritage. My loyalty as a Pixie lies with them, not because of the Bond of Blood and Fire, though it started with that, but because they will be good leaders, wise rulers for our country. I will not renounce them, and I cannot in good conscience join with those who stand against them. What you command me to do—is in opposition of what they would wish.”

  Ice flushed beneath Sebastian's skin, so cold it momentarily snatched the breath from his lungs. Lincoln's attention dropped to the King's hand, and Sebastian realized the balustrade had coated with a crystal sheen of ice beneath his grip.

  Control. Sebastian breathed deeply. He could not allow himself to lose possession of his thoughts.

  “Very well, Pixie.” His voice ground between his teeth, and his hands shook beneath his attempt to subdue his temper. “If that is the game you wish to play, so be it. You'll return to my dungeons. You have until the first thaw of spring to change your mind. After that, your daughter dies, but not before she loses her tongue and her eyes. It is your choice.”

  Lincoln pulled a long, shuddering breath into his lungs, releasing it slowly. “Nay, Sebastian, it is yours. And may you burn forever in torment for the suffering you've caused.”

  Sebastian's fists clenched once, twice, flashes of his brother's face searing his mind. This was Liam's fault, all of it. If Liam hadn't been the whoreson he'd proved to be, Sebastian wouldn't have had to prove his worth to his parents, to the court, to the entire kingdom. Now his brother was ever-present in his mind, driving him to work harder, grow more powerful, find the elusive cure that would at long last remove his brother's influence over him, even from beyond the grave. Death had not driven him from Sebastian's mind. Liam taunted him relentlessly; every plan, every strategy, every minor command—Liam's sneering lips questioned him, made him second-guess himself. He hated him.

  Killing Liam had given him only a small portion of what he'd deserved, but Sebastian still paid for the anguish his brother had caused him to this day.

  Chapter Five

  Kinna

  The night was quiet on the outer walls at the far end of The Crossings' manicured gardens. Kinna trailed her fingers through the still waters of a reflecting pool, watching the stars distort and cavort on the glassy surface. Chennuh huffed a heated breath next to her as he collapsed onto his mirrored stomach, settling his enormous head against her leg.

&nbs
p; She scratched his muzzle and then around his eyes. His throat rumbled with his pleasure, but Kinna sighed.

  Immediately, a picture of Ayden swam through her mind as Chennuh questioned her thoughts.

  “Aye,” she murmured. “It's my fault for not being faster.” She'd grown so used to repressing her tears that it was second nature now. Her eyes remained dry, but the pain in her heart did not ease. “I stood frozen on the courtyard steps. If I had only moved faster, done something different...” Her voice trailed off into memory and pain. She felt like the dried husks of corn thrown from the kitchens. She had no more weight to remain on the ground; the winds tossed her, and when they blew too harshly, they ripped her to shreds and hurled her in a thousand directions.

  Chennuh's thoughts reflected her pain. Kinna saw vivid mental pictures of Luasa, Chennuh's mate and Ayden's psuche partner, pass before her. His longing for his mate was visceral, unfurling in fire in the very heart of him, sliding through him, emitting from him with pain-filled rasping pants through his nostrils.

  Dragons, once paired, mated for life. There was no second chance. Chennuh would never again find a she-Dragon for partner.

  Fury at herself consumed her, but then her rage turned on Sebastian for being the instrument that had orchestrated Ayden's death. Beneath the anger, deep uncertainty filtered through her mind.

  “What if Cedric and I can't hold it together, Chennuh?” she asked. “What if Sebastian wins yet again? The uprising has given people and creatures alike hope, a new outlook. Sebastian's victory would tamp that out, and it would be darker than before. Once a light goes out, the ensuing darkness is twice as black.”

  Flames licked across Chennuh's muzzle as he grunted his disagreement. Kinna smiled as she traced his scales lightly. “Aye, together, you and I, we can do anything.”

  Chennuh huffed another sigh, and then abruptly raised his head, his watchful eyes staring down the garden path toward the corner where a hedge maze concealed sight.

  “What's the matter?” Kinna asked, alarmed.

  Luasa's picture, brilliant and mirrored, exploded into Chennuh's mind, and Kinna gasped.

  A moment later, Luasa stalked around the corner, her wings furling from flight. On her back, a familiar silhouette slid off, running toward them.

  “Kinna!”

  “Ayden?” Kinna gasped. It was a dream. A phantasm. He surely could not be real.

  But he was real.

  He reached her, pulling her roughly to him, and his skin was solid, his clean scent she had missed for weeks filled her nostrils.

  Kinna wound her arms tightly around him, burying her face in his neck. She was crying, sobbing, as she struggled to take in the moment.

  He was here.

  He was alive.

  And then he was kissing her—his hot, deep kisses proving beyond any doubt that he was no spirit. The feel of his lips on hers surged through her body and shut down her mind. His hands smoothed back her hair, cradling the back of her head, as he trailed kisses across her cheeks, wiping away the moisture tracks with his thumbs.

  “Kinna,” he whispered at last, drawing back, his silver eyes brilliant in the moonlight.

  Kinna wasn't ready to release him yet. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head on his chest. The steady thud of his heartbeat sounded in her ears, healing her battered emotions. “I thought you were dead.”

  “I know. I'm sorry.”

  Kinna's eyes slid shut, the vibration of his voice sliding into her ears and flooding her with such profound relief. “What happened?”

  “I don't know, exactly. Only that I woke in the woods not far from ClarenVale's lake with many things broken that then healed much sooner than they should have.”

  Kinna stepped back, surveying his face. “But... Ayden, that was over a month ago. Where have you been?”

  Ayden took her hands in his, rubbing his thumbs gently over their backs. “I met Sage's mother, Kayeck.”

  “What?” Stunned amazement filled Kinna.

  “Aye. Kayeck sits in the circle of the Ancients, but her loyalty lies with Helga. She is the one chosen by Helga to hold the Amulet behind safeguards.”

  Pieces connected in Kinna's head. “Kayeck... is Helga's trusted Seer Fey sister.” Kayeck was who Helga had referred to as the gatekeeper of the taibe maze that hid the Amulet.

  Ayden nodded. “I don't know how much you know, Kinna, but the Seer Fey—all but a few—wish to regain the Amulet, to take its power back to the Marron Mountains. But the Amulet is now corrupt; even if it is hidden in the mountains with the Seer Fey Council, it will spill its corruption into the world. With such taibe that the Seer Fey already wield, they will not be able to resist its power or its corruption. Kayeck told me she had written to Helga—”

  “Aye, she had. As a result of that letter, Helga sent Cedric to take the Amulet from her taibe maze so that we can destroy it.” She shook her head. “We must do away with it as soon as Cedric returns so that Sebastian can never make use of its corrupt power.”

  Ayden leaned his forehead against Kinna's, closing his eyes. “I wanted to be back before Sebastian attacked on the Channel, but I had not yet mastered the Touches. I'm sorry.”

  Kinna shook her head, her arms tightening around him. “I am only glad you are back.”

  Ayden brushed his mouth over hers again. “How I've missed you, Kinna.”

  Kinna smiled tremulously, rubbing her thumb over his lips, across his bristled jaw. “But you've had a Seer Fey for company; you can't have missed me so terribly.”

  Ayden barked a laugh. “Aye, crochety Kayeck had her good points, but she was not the queen of my heart.” He kissed her softly and stepped back. “She was close to Helga, her Seer Fey sister, she said. They were tightly bonded, even up to Helga's death, which Kayeck only told me about three days ago. Kinna,” his voice was low, “I'm so sorry. She was your nurse when you were a child, wasn't she?”

  Tears again flooded Kinna's eyes as she nodded. “She was, but I cannot remember her. I remember only bits and pieces of the flight from Lismaria after Sebastian had ordered Cedric and me killed. Joanna and Tristan, my Pixie mother and father, made up most of my first memories. I only really learned to know Helga after we visited her cabin in the woods on the way to the Tournament.” Her words died away as she thought once again of the horrid leaping flames on the rock below The Crossings the night of the Channel battle. Ayden couldn't know the absolute pain of watching the woman's bodily sacrifice to keep the helpless citizens of ClarenVale safe, and oddly enough, it isolated her from him.

  Ayden didn't understand; he couldn't comprehend what it was like to have the weight of responsibility burdening her shoulders. She'd had the power to command her troops, and she hadn't. Because of her strategic lacks, Lincoln had been forced to step in and do what needed to be done.

  Still, she felt the bite of failed responsibility. It was a lonely place to be.

  She wound her arms across her chest, shaking her head. “Lincoln saved us all,” she murmured, “but in the process, he sacrificed his own mother.”

  “He could have done no less.”

  “But I didn't,” Kinna whispered. “I should have, but I couldn't. When it came right down to it, I failed. I didn't protect my people. They flooded out of the walls, defenseless, in danger, and Lincoln had to see it done. He sacrificed his own mother to save the people I couldn't protect.”

  “Surely it wasn't your fault, Kinna; Sebastian's navy is far larger—”

  “It wasn't the numbers, Ayden. What happened was a lack of preparation on our part. Cedric and I knew Sebastian would attack; we should have been prepared. Even with smaller numbers, we could have put together a better defense. But the attack came, and we were too late.”

  Ayden reached for her, but Kinna backed away another step. Ayden's silver eyes flashed confusion. “Kinna?”

  Kinna turned away, struggling to get a handle on her shaky emotions that had returned full force as she played out Helga's fier
y death in her mind. Unbidden, a tear slipped from her eye. She dashed an arm across her cheek.

  The only sounds were the Mirages whiffing satisfying huffs of smoke over one another as they cuddled together near the wall.

  Ayden at last cleared his throat. “I gained mastery of the Fire-Touch, Kinna.”

  Kinna stared into the indigo night. “You'd mastered that before the battle at ClarenVale.”

  “Aye. But now I've also mastered the others as well.”

  Kinna wheeled abruptly, staring at him. “Truly? How?”

  “I found—answers—in the month that I spent with Kayeck. My whole life, I've struggled to know where I came from—the lost boy from Lismaria. In the woods with Kayeck, I—discovered who I was, and there was strength in that. The Touches came immediately afterward.”

  Kinna glanced down at Ayden's palm where he rubbed his thumb over it. “All those years when you lived a lonely life with the Ash-Touch—”

  Pain flashed across Ayden's face. “Let's not talk about that right now, Kinna. The pain has never completely gone from my memories.”

  “I wonder if pain ever disappears from our memories,” Kinna murmured.

  Ayden's eyebrows arched. “What do you mean by that?”

  Kinna had no answer.

  THE NEXT EVENING

  The banquet hall was less lavish than it might have been when Sebastian's subjects had disgorged all their earnings to pay his punitive taxes, but a freshly roasted boar still graced the center of the long table, and various fruits and greens clustered thickly around it. Kinna's empty chair waited at the head of the table, and representatives from all the Clans clustered far up and down the table's length. They talked and laughed among themselves, as happy as she had seen anyone since the Channel battle.

  “Kinna,” Ayden said, appearing at her side as she made her way along the wall toward the head of the table. “A word?”