A Soul For Atonement (The Soulbearer Series Book 4) (9 page)

She didn’t have to say
Loku
. Syd had had more balls than brains, but it was the chaos god who’d been the mastermind behind the theft of the relic.

Callix cursed again. “Too bad you couldn’t search Loku’s soul while you were in there.”

“I can only search souls with permission, and I doubt he would ever grant me that. The god of chaos holds too many secrets.”

Arden’s eyelids fluttered, and her face turned pale. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Perhaps you should lie down.” Varrik helped his daughter to her feet and wrapped his arm over her shoulders. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to discuss this further.”

The Soulbearer leaned heavily on her father as she stumbled out of the library.

Sazi cradled her chin in her hand, lost in thought for several moments. “I did not see that scenario.”

“Don’t feel bad. None of us did.” Callix kicked at the floor and stirred up a flurry of dust motes. “We were all under the belief that we were safe from chaos.”

“And we are, as long as Loku’s soul is contained.” She lowered her hand. “I must inform the Mage Primus and the empress.”

She hurried out of the library, leaving him alone with the lore of Gravaria.

He approached the Ornathian book that had been left open on the table and read the legend of how the winged goddess, Lireal, saved the Ornathians by cutting her own throat and spilling her blood. Her divine essence hardened into a heart-shaped gem, and as long as it remained in her temple, the Ornathians would be protected from the wrath of the other gods.

It would easier to plead with whichever god sent the blight than to go into Chaos
. Too bad their attempts to do so had failed over the years.

“My poor daughter has quite the task ahead of her,” Varrik said behind him.

“She’d be better off letting them all die.”

“This coming from a man who never loved anyone more than himself.”

Callix spun around on his heels, his temper flaring. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Just that.” Varrik crossed his arms in a nonchalant manner. “It is easy for you to dismiss her efforts because you’ve only ever thought of yourself.”

“Nonsense. I’m thinking of the good of the empire. If she finds a way to open that portal, we could have a repeat of history, especially if Loku gains control of her.”

“Then perhaps she needs someone who will make sure that doesn’t happen. A Protector, perhaps.”

Callix opened his mouth to agree, but hesitated when he caught the underlying implication of what Varrik had said. Bitter laughter rolled from his chest. “Nice try, Varrik, but I was relieved of that duty long ago.”

“By the man whose very life hangs in the balance.”

The same rush of guilt rose in his chest, smothering him. “He was a condemned man before this.”

“He was acquitted of his crime, but still bore the punishment. That speaks far more about him than the suspicions that tarnished his name.”

“He’s a Tel’Brien. Arano would’ve found some other way to get him out of it.”

“And yet Dev wouldn’t let him.” Varrik closed the Ornathian book and placed it back on the shelf. “He’s a man I would gladly give my only daughter to in marriage. I just hope he lives long enough to see that day.”

“Instead of worrying about Dev’s life, why don’t you worry more about your daughter’s? She’s determined to do anything to save him. No amount of imperial ties will help her if she actually manages to find a way into Chaos.”

“I’m quite aware of what she is capable of doing, especially under Loku’s influence.” Varrik gave him one more guilt-inducing glare. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to discuss a new plan of action with Sazi. Arden needs all the allies she can get, and so far, Sazi’s the only one who’s offered to help.”

“What about you? Why aren’t you following her into Chaos?”

“We both know why I can’t.”

Yeah, because if Varrik found himself trapped in Loku’s realm, yesterday’s demonstration would seem like an innocent parlor trick.

“So you do know where the urn is.”

Varrik shook his head and flicked his gaze to where Sazi stood in the doorway. “I don’t, but I would be in danger of revealing who does.”

The Lore Keeper led Sazi out of the library, their murmured conversation too distant for Callix to comprehend. Instead of following them, he wandered through the stacks, hoping something would jump out at him. A text. A scroll. A sign of some kind from Ivis.

And he got it when he came to the end of one of the rows and found himself standing in front of the tapestry depicting Loku’s defeat. For centuries, the tapestry had guarded the entrance to the vault where Loku’s ashes had been kept. Now it was nothing more than a visual reminder of how Callix had abandoned his family legacy.

He studied the tapestry from every angle. The stark terror in the faces of the people running toward the edges. The fury in Loku’s eyes as his body burned. And finally, the calm acceptance as Piramus accepted the burden of becoming the first Soulbearer.

Callix rubbed his thumb over his ancestor’s face and wondered if he would’ve done the same. His mother was a member of one of the strongest elvan bloodlines in the empire, and he’d been specifically bred to carry on the family tradition of containing the god of chaos. Quertus believed the elvan blood would slow the eventual madness, and Callix’s earliest memories included learning spells to protect the Soulbearer and contain the malicious soul inside.

But all that changed when a knight was accused of murdering his best friend. Even though Dev was found innocent, he still asked for punishment. And the Mages Council, knowing Callix’s reluctance to carry on the family tradition, sentenced him to become the Soulbearer’s Protector.

The thing Callix had loathed as long as he could remember had been lifted from him.

Only now, it hung from his neck like a millstone.

And there was only one way to be free of it.

Ivis, give me strength. I’m going to need it
.

Chapter 10

Arden tucked the last of her things into her pack and glanced at the afternoon sun. With a little bit of luck, she might make it through the pass before nightfall. She’d already wasted too much of the day recovering from Sazi’s spell. She knew where the stone was, and she had even less time to find it.

“Come along, Cinder,” she said to the wolf perched on her bed with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

He hopped down and followed, acting completely unconcerned that this would be his last night in a warm bed for the foreseeable future. His tail wagged as though they were going to hunt rabbits, not search for a portal to another realm. And he certainly didn’t seem to be aware of how dangerous this mission had become.

But Arden knew. The awareness that slowed her steps as they descended the stairs made it difficult to look her father in the eye when she reached him. This could be the last time she saw him, and the overflowing emotions in her heart failed to reach her throat. When words failed, she flung her arms around him and said, “Thank you, Father.”

He drew in a sharp breath, then returned her hug with even greater intensity. “I wish I could go with you, Arden.”

“I understand.” She let go of him and pointed to her head. “He’s going to be pissed off, though.”

“I’m sure.” Varrik gestured to his study. “I’d like to show you one thing before you go.”

When they entered, the first thing she noticed was Sazi stretching her shiny, dark wings. Then she noticed the oval-shaped mass that rippled where the wall should’ve been. “What did you do?”

“I spent most of the night creating a portal that will take you to the place where Syd was captured,” Varrik replied, rubbing his hand through his hair.

So that explained the dark circles under his eyes this morning. “And how long will it be active?”

“I’m afraid this one will close as soon as you and Sazi pass through it. The distance is too great for my magic to keep it open much longer than that.”

All at once, the mission didn’t seem so impossible. The portal easily shaved a week off their travel, granting her more time to search for the entrance to the Realm of Chaos.

That is, if she could convince Loku to show her where it was. She hesitated to release him from his confinement as long as her father was within striking distance. But once they were in the Ornathian kingdom, would he cooperate? Or would he thwart her at every turn?

“We do not have much time, Soulbearer.” Sazi maneuvered a pack past her wings and onto her muscular shoulders. “I can feel the portal starting to close.”

“Wait,” a man said from the hallway. Callix ran through the doorway wearing a traveling cloak and carrying a pack whose contents threatened to spill out. “Is there room for one more?”

Arden opened her mouth to say there wasn’t, but her father silenced her by placing his hand on her shoulder.

“So you decided to live up to your potential?” he asked his apprentice.

“More like make sure chaos doesn’t take over.” He nodded to Arden. “This one can’t be trusted.”

Magic prickled along her arms like a thousand tiny flames. “We don’t need him.”

Callix leveled his gaze on her and gave a cocky smile. “Are you so certain of that, Soulbearer? I’m well versed in Gravarian lore, as well as skilled in both magic and combat.”

She closed the space between them, not caring that she had to lift her face to continue the staredown. “Then let me put it another way. I don’t want you coming along.”

“You wound me, madam,” he said, covering his heart with his hand and wearing an exaggerated look of pain on his face.

Warning bells went off in the back of her mind. From the moment she set foot in Lothmore Palace last year, he’d been her sullen shadow. Always watching her. Always suspicious she’d use her power to help the Milorian family wrestle control from his. Always ready to find some fault in her and let her know she was unworthy to be the Soulbearer.

And now he was not only volunteering to help her, but lightening his normal seething hatred of her with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

She turned to her father for assistance. “Tell him we don’t need him.”

“On the contrary, I think you do for all the reasons he listed.”

“But he hates me.” Fury burned in her cheeks. “Just last night, he whacked me over the head. I’d spend more time wondering when he was going to stab me in the back than looking for the Blood of Lireal.”

In a remote corner of her mind, a familiar presence rattled the spell that confined Loku, reminding her of his presence even though she couldn’t hear his words.

Time to get her known ally to weigh in. “Sazi, what do you think?”

Sazi looked at Callix first, then Varrik, and finally Arden. “I think he should accompany us.”

“Sweet Lady Moon, are you all mad?”

“If anyone’s in danger of madness, it’s you, Soulbearer.” Callix gave her a smirk and secured his belongings. “Shall we?”

Arden dropped her pack and crossed her arms. “There’s something you three are keeping from me, isn’t there? A reason why he would suddenly offer to come along?”

They all exchanged wordless glances that confirmed her suspicions.

“Fine. If you won’t tell me why, then I’ll have to ask the one person who
will
tell me the truth.”

“Don’t.” Callix grabbed her forearm and sent a wave of reinforcing magic straight to the confinement spell. “He’s lied to you before, and he’ll do it again.”

“As opposed to you?”

Something flickered across his face. A split second of doubt, of remorse, of vulnerability. It happened so quickly, she couldn’t pin down the cause, but there was more to Callix than she’d first assumed.

“Please, Arden, if you trust your father and Sazi, then trust their judgment.”

His voice rang with a certain rawness that surprised her. She’d been prepared to tell him to piss off, but now those heated words lay frozen in her throat.

“Hurry,” Sazi urged, “before it closes.”

Arden studied Callix a second longer, looking for any clue as to why his attitude changed, but found none. She picked her pack up and nodded to Sazi. “Let’s go.”

Sazi went through the portal first, followed by Callix.

Arden cast one more glance toward her father. “Ask Lady Luck to send us a miracle or two.”

“If anyone can do this, it’s you,” Varrik replied with a solemn smile. “Be safe.”

Be safe
. The same words Dev had said to her when she spoke to him the other night. She clasped her hand around her pendant and took a deep breath. “Okay, Cinder, here we go.”

The wolf stayed pressed against her leg as they entered the portal. The only other time she’d ever passed through one was when Dev had created one through the wall that separated their rooms in Trivinus. Walking through that one was like walking through a spider’s web. The magic clung to her skin like a gossamer film that faded within a second.

This portal was an entirely different experience, which she could only attribute to the distance it spanned. Her vision blurred in a rainbow of colors, all flying past her at dizzying speeds. The ground beneath her feet dropped, followed by her stomach. Her body careened out of control, propelled forward by some unseen force. And just when she thought she was rushing headfirst toward her death, the ground solidified under her feet, and she pitched forward into a pair of strong arms.