A Soul for Trouble (7 page)

***

Arden had no idea why she was pulled from a sound sleep, but she awoke to see her so-called protector on the verge of striking her.

She did the only thing she could think of doing at that moment—she screamed.

Cinder shot up and wedged himself between them, knocking Dev out of the bed. He landed with a loud thump on the floor.

She wrapped her arms around her furry hero and held on to him for dear life. Her racing pulse began to slow, but her lungs still sucked in air as quickly as they could. Sweet Lady Moon, what had she just witnessed?

“Trouble, are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine, no thanks to you.” What else could she say?

She cast a side glance at him. He stayed on the floor. Pain tightened his features, but he refused to look at her.

“Why were you trying to punch me?”

He pulled himself into a seated position and ran his hand through his hair. His pupils stretched the green in his eyes into thin emerald rings, and his chest heaved up and down. “It’s complicated.”

Loku’s laughter filled her mind as she shrank farther away from Dev.

“
I was curious at first when I discovered that Dev was dreaming of doing naughty things
to you, but now that I see how worked up he got from our conversation, I’d say it was worth
it
.”

She grabbed her pillow and wanted to rip the feathers out of it. “
Loku, you bastard! How
dare you use me like that?
”

“
Oh, come now, I’m sure you would have enjoyed it if he acted out his fantasies
.” His words produced a hum throughout her body. Images of Dev’s dream flashed through her mind, of them lying naked in a bed, his lips trailing along her throat. Her mouth went dry and her breasts grew heavy as she imagined what they would feel like in his hands.

“
You are a lusty wench after all. And more importantly, it looks like you almost had Dev
persuaded to neglect his duty for one night. He has quite the tent pole in his pants
.” More laughter reverberated through her mind.

She hurled the pillow at the opposite side of the room.

“Trouble, what’s wrong?”

Her cheeks flamed. Had Dev really been as aroused as Loku said? And if so, how did he manage to keep his hands to himself when she was sleeping mere inches away from him? “I’m sorry I screamed like that,” she whispered.

“
Let’s face it. You’re just like your mother
.”

Rage burned inside her stomach, making her forget every second of pleasure she had experienced moments before. “Shut up, Loku!”

“Ah, so he’s tormenting you now.”

“Loku was the cause of all this? Was that why you looked so angry?” She hugged Cinder even tighter and buried her face into his warm fur.

“He took control of my dreams and…” His voice broke.

He didn’t need to finish. She already had a good idea what kind of dreams Loku had given him.

“I should have expected something like this from him. I think he gets some kind of thrill from tormenting me.”

“
How right he is
.” Loku chuckled like a devious child. “
At least I woke you up before he
struck you.
”

“
Loku, I have half a mind to slit my throat in front of Dev just so you’ll have no other
option but to take him as your Soulbearer
.”

“
But think of all the fun we’ll miss out on. He’ll never thrill you like I can
.”

“
You’re determined to drive me insane, aren’t you? Just like all the others
.”

“
No, my sweet Soulbearer. I have other plans for you
.” She ran her hands through Cinder’s fur. The solid warmth under them reminded her that this was real, and that thought comforted her. “I’m sorry, Dev. I don’t know how I let him gain control of me like that.”

A bitter sound that resembled one note of laughter burst from him. “Loku is tricky. He’ll weasel his way into your mind and seek out your deepest desires. Then he’ll use them to seduce you into surrendering your free will to him.”

“I guess I should be happy Cinder woke up when he did.”

“Yeah, me too,” he muttered.

The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Something in the atmosphere changed, and an icy prickle of dread crawled down her spine. The scent of rotting meat assaulted her nose.

“Dev, do you smell that?”

He sniffed the air. “No, I don’t smell any—” His words broke off, and his body stiffened.

“Trouble, get your boots on now.”

“What?”

“I said,
now
.”

His fierce tone made her jump. She obeyed without asking any more questions. Whatever she sensed unnerved him, too.

Chapter 8

For once, she’s listening and not giving me any sass about it
. Dev paused from strapping a dagger to his thigh to watch Trouble. Her pinched face spoke volumes. She sensed the danger, too, but he doubted she knew what it was.

He pulled a slim blade out of his boot. “Here, take this.” Her eyes widened. “I don’t know how to use a weapon.”

“I figured as much, but I want you to at least have something in case we can’t avoid the undead.”

“Undead?” she squeaked.

Great. She’s certainly living up to her name. Getting her out of this alive might be more
than I bargained for.

Satisfied he had an adequate arsenal attached to his body, he armed himself with a short sword and lowered the ward on the door. “Stay close to me, and don’t speak until I tell you to.” He opened the door and peeked out into the dark hallway. Every muscle in his body tensed, ready to spring into attack if necessary. Silence greeted him. After checking both ways for any shadows, he stepped out of the room and motioned for Trouble to follow him. The wolf padded silently ahead, scouting out the back staircase.

Much to her credit, she knew how to sneak out of a building without being heard. That was one thing he didn’t have to teach her. But based on the awkward way she gripped the knife, she’d be more likely to stab herself than anything else. He paused in the kitchen long enough to adjust the handle and give her a brief, wordless demonstration on how to use it.

The aura of dark magic almost threatened to smother him by the time they made it to the stable. He saddled his horse and pulled her up behind him.

At first glance, the streets looked deserted, but he knew better than to trust his eyes. The necromancer had to be close by to cause the twisting in his gut that made him want to double over. He nudged the horse forward, aiming for stealth rather than speed.

A shadow slithered out of the corner of his eye, and he barely had to time tell Trouble to duck before an arrow sailed over their heads. So much for avoiding a confrontation. He dug his heels into the horse’s side.

Another arrow shrieked past him, bathing his cheek in an icy breeze. He veered the horse down a side street toward an open field. Normally, he would have preferred having a wide area to fight, but the three arrows that sank into the side wall of the last building in town reminded him that he’d be a prime target. He pulled on the reins, turning the horse sharply to the left and back toward the main road to Boznac.

Five pairs of glowing red eyes stared back at him from the shadows of the building, the stench of undead filling his nostrils. Trouble’s arm squeezed his waist, easing his own terror and reminding him of his duty. She was his only priority. He urged the horse to run faster as a volley of arrows danced around them.

Strangely enough, no more arrows followed. He listened for the sounds of more hooves but only heard the ones beneath him. Unease knotted his shoulders. It was almost too easy to escape.

The horse’s sides heaved from carrying the weight of both of them during the wild gallop, and he was forced to slow down before he killed the beast. An empty plain dotted with boulders stretched out in front of them under the light of the three moons.

Trouble loosened her grip around his waist. “Do you think we lost them?” His skin still crawled, but he wanted to test her ability to sense dark magic. “What do you think?”

“I can still smell them.”

“What do they smell like?”

She shifted behind him. “Like something even vultures refuse to eat.” He bit back a laugh. “Do you sense anything else?”

“I can’t really describe it, but yes.” Her fingers twisted in the fabric of his cloak. “It’s like I’ll never feel warm or happy again.”

That’s one way to describe it
. “Remember these sensations. If you have them again, you’ll know that undead are nearby. It may be the only warning you get.” A few minutes of silence passed before her muffled voice said, “Thank you for getting me away from whatever was shooting those arrows.”

“Are you finally starting to believe me?”

“Possibly.”

He almost groaned. This girl was more stubborn than any previous Soulbearer he’d protected before. The gods must have sent her to try his patience.

One of the boulders shifted in front of him. The hair stood up on the back of his neck, and he rubbed his eyes.
Lady Luck, please let me be seeing things
. The boulder moved again and raced toward them.

***

A tingle shot down Arden’s spine a split second before the horse reared and tossed her to the ground. Pebbles dug into her flesh, and the stars danced in the sky above.

“
Get up before you get killed
,” urged the voice in her head that was becoming all too familiar.

She rolled to her side in time to see a pair of hooves kick up the dust in front of her. Fear rushed through her body, and she scrambled to her feet to escape the frenzied horse. The smell of rotting flesh intensified. Shadows coated the darkened surroundings, deepening the chaos around her. The clang of swords echoed nearby.

“Trouble, behind you!”

A shriek escaped from her mouth when she turned to see the man wielding a scythe. The blade sliced through the air. She jumped back. A whoosh of air rippled her tunic from the near miss.
Sweet Lady Moon, he’s trying to kill me.

“
This brainless minion won’t kill you yet. I think he wants that honor.
”

“
Who wants that honor?
”

The grey-skinned man swung the scythe again, forcing her back to avoid the blade.

“
The necromancer is standing about twenty feet behind you
.” Her chest tightened. It was all true—everything Dev had tried to warn her about. Undead.

Necromancers. And now they wanted her.

“
They only want you to get to me
,” Loku continued.

She twisted to avoid the blade and changed her direction. Like hell she was going to be herded like a mindless sheep. “That’s rather conceited of you to think that,” she said to him through clenched teeth while she focused on her attacker.

“
Didn’t I ever tell you that the world revolves around me? Life is dull without chaos
.” If she weren’t inches from being slashed into ribbons by a man with glowing red eyes and scythe, she would have laughed. Her hand wrapped around the handle of the knife Dev had given her. The slim blade would probably shatter if she tried to block a blow with it, but at least she could flash it around and let her waxy-faced attacker know she wasn’t going to give up without a fight. Maybe she’d even be lucky enough to draw blood.

Other than her own, that is.

A burst of flames ignited nearby, chasing away the darkness. Her heart pounded in her throat. Cinder was on fire. She ran toward the glowing wolf with the intention of extinguishing the inferno but stopped when she realized he was wasn’t in pain. Quite the contrary, actually.

He seemed to attack the undead around them with renewed vigor.

“Trouble!” Dev pointed behind her.

Scythe-man caught the end of her braid as she whipped around, and her hair tumbled into her face.

Several small pyres burned around her, and the number of attackers grew smaller. Dev struggled to avoid three of them while Cinder attacked two more.

“
Remember what Dev told you. Fire can kill undead.
”

“
But how—
”

“
Gather it up inside you like you did in the inn and launch it at him
.” If only she had a few seconds to cast the spell. The curved blade hissed through the air. Its wielder took a step toward her, directing her toward the dark-cloaked figure waiting on a boulder behind her.

Fury at becoming a pawn in his game gnawed at her stomach until it burned. The heat travelled through her body from her core to her fingertips, building in intensity until her fingernails glowed like white-hot coals. With a strangled cry, she released the magic. Six fireballs erupted from her hands. Scythe-man moaned as the flames consumed his face, and he dropped to his knees.

Arden grabbed his harvesting tool, swinging it with all the strength she could muster. The blade cut cleanly through the undead’s neck, and his head rolled across the ground.

Waves of nausea enveloped her. What had she just done?

“Very impressive, young Soulbearer,” a gravelly voice murmured behind her. “Loku chose well this time.”

Although her lungs burned for air, her breath froze at the end of a shaky exhalation. She lifted her head. The necromancer glided toward her like a shadow of a large bird. An icy chill gripped her. Her hands shook when she raised the scythe. “Back away, or you’re next.” His laughter felt like thousands of ants crawling on her skin. Sparks of black lightning zapped between his fingers. “You think you can destroy me?”

“
Uh-oh. Time to put up a shield
.”

Before she understood what Loku meant, a bolt of the black lightning struck her. The scythe fell from her hands as she doubled over in pain. Searing blades tore at her insides, clawing their way to the surface. A black veil descended over her vision and, off in the distance, she heard her own screams.

She had never prayed for death until that moment.