Soul of Smoke Read online

  The hardest thing about rappelling was getting around the ninety degree angle made by the edge of the cliff. Kai managed smoothly then ignored the webbing digging into her thighs and butt while she waited for Juli to get situated.

  “You were right,” Juli said through clenched teeth. “This is uncomfortable.”

  “Are you okay?”

  Juli gave a tight nod, and Kai shifted the rope, allowing it to slide a little through her glove as she pushed off from the cliff face. Juli’s descent was jerky, going from too-fast drops to abrupt halts, but she was doing pretty well, considering.

  The dark air swirled with the cold scent of as-yet unfallen snow. The stone beneath her feet was uneven and unyielding. Kai fell into a trancelike state: release, jump, brake, release, jump, brake. She didn’t think about badly tied knots, unsteady anchors or what would happen if her numb hands slipped. She let herself fall, keeping one eye on Juli. Foot after foot, they descended through the sky.

  Sooner than she’d expected, Kai hit the ground. Only then did she feel the burn of her muscles, feel the weakness in her right arm, and hear the harshness of her own breath. For a long moment, Kai stood, looking up at how far they’d come. A slow grin broke over her face.

  Juli collapsed against the rock, her heavy breathing uneven, then sat hard on the ground.

  “Jules, we did it.” Kai started to laugh. She danced around at the bottom of the cliff.

  She could fly. She was invincible. She could do anything.

  If they could get down the cliff, getting home wouldn’t be a problem at all.

  “Ugh. Stop.” Juli looked like she was about to throw up. “Save your insanity for when we find people. We need to put as much distance between us and them as we can before they wake up.” Juli picked up one of the packs and slung it over her back.

  Still grinning, Kai let her harness fall from her hips. She picked it up, along with Juli’s, and stuffed them into her pack with the long rope. They both pulled on their gloves, blowing into hands.

  Juli frowned at the swath of visible sky. They’d landed in a clear spot at the base of the cliff, but now they’d be heading into a forest of dark pine and spindly aspen. “The river is west, straight ahead. We follow it south. Do your best not to leave a trail.”

  Kai opened her mouth to say a trail wouldn’t matter and then closed it again, a little sad. Outside the cave, the real world settled around her. To speak of dragons seemed suddenly ridiculous. She untied the lantern and handed it to Juli then looked up at the top of the cliff, twisting the carabiners once again clipped to her belt.

  This is it for Rhys. He’ll never be able to be with anyone but you.

  No. He wouldn’t come after her when he realized how far she’d go to get home.

  They walked for hours, the only sound the crunch of their shoes over dead pine needles and thin soil. Kai’s legs burned from the steep downhill angle, and her right arm was stiff and achy from controlling the rope during the rappel. At least she didn’t need to worry about falling asleep on her feet; the freezing air wouldn’t let her.

  Kai was about to ask Juli if they’d gotten off-course when the sound of running water reached her ears. They stepped out of the trees and onto the bank of a river, its water gleaming dark in the light of the lantern.

  Juli let her pack drop and stretched her arms, grimacing. “If we keep following the river it will take us to a city eventually.”

  “Eventually, as in, ‘it could just go to the ocean.’” Kai said, staying beneath the overhanging branches of the trees. The forest around them was turning from black to gray as the first signs of dawn filtered between the mountains.

  Juli snorted. “Then we’ll walk down the coast until we find someone.”

  “If we don’t get caught.”

  Juli’s confidence was unshakeable. “We won’t. We have several hours head start and both know how to move around the forest without leaving a trail. Do they have dogs I don’t know about?”

  Kai shook her head. “No, but—”

  “Then they would have to be animals themselves to track us.”

  “Actually—”

  “Get your head in the game, Kai. You were practically raised in the mountains when you weren’t flipping around on a balance beam. Clearly, we have the advantage.” Her face, always intense, went stormy. “I won’t let them take you again.”

  Kai sighed. “Then we’d better keep going.”

  They followed the rushing water, staying as close to the bank as they could. By the time the sun was fully up, Kai was stumbling.

  Juli came to a halt next to a jumble of boulders. One had come to rest on top of the others in a way that formed a hollow just large enough for two people. “Let’s stop. We need to rest.”

  Kai was so tired her vision blurred, but she shook her head. They couldn’t have gone more than fifteen miles. A dragon could fly that in minutes. “It’s not far enough.”

  “I say rest.” Juli took off her pack and threw it into the little cave between the stones.

  “Seriously, Juli.”

  “Seriously shut up and get in.”

  Too tired to argue further, Kai did as she was told. They squeezed inside and Juli pulled blankets from the hoard out of her pack, as well as the space blanket from Kai’s pack, which Ashem had retrieved from the meadow.

  “Just an hour,” Kai said. “We won’t be safe until we’re back with people.”

  She had a vision of Rhys striding up to their apartment and pounding on the door. A brief smile flitted across her face. Charlotte would faint.

  Frustrated with herself, Kai swore quietly then shot a glance at Juli, who thought swearing was for people who weren’t clever enough to think of something better.

  She would not think of Rhys.

  Exhausted and cold, she drifted to sleep.

  Chapter Nineteen

  A Sudden Chill

  Fire.

  It started as an annoyance and grew until it was unbearable. Rhys’s heart was a white-hot pit. Flesh burned. Bones melted. He was nothing but heat and blackness and pain.

  With a yell, he wrenched himself out of bed. He hit the floor on hands and knees, then hauled himself up with fistfuls of sweat-soaked blankets. His breath harsh and uneven, he doubled over.

  The door curtain flew open.

  “Rhys! What happened?” Deryn knelt in front of him and tried to make him look at her.

  He couldn’t bear to be touched. It hurt. He jerked away, moaning through clenched teeth.

  “Ashem!” Deryn screamed, her voice throbbing through his skull. “Ashem! Something is wrong with Rhys!”

  “What’s happened?” Ffion came in with Griffith behind her, his broad frame filling the door. She put a soothing hand on Rhys’s back.

  He shrugged her off. “Don’t,” he managed to grunt.

  “It’s Kai,” Ffion said. “It’s got to be. I’ll find her.”

  Griffith shifted closer, but didn’t try to touch him. “Hold on, boyo.”

  “What happened?” Ashem snapped. Rhys felt his mental touch, but Ashem withdrew as fast as if he’d stuck a finger stuck into flame. He swore long and loud. “Where is the girl? This ends now.”

  “She’s gone!” Ffion was back, panting and pale.

  “Sundering humans!” Ashem swore again. “I thought they might be planning something, but I didn’t think they’d do it so fast. How did they get down?”

  A sudden chill gripped Rhys. If Kai had tried to climb over the cliff—if she had died—

  He shoved Griffith out of the way and staggered through the main cavern and out onto the ledge. His heart in his throat, Rhys leaned over the edge.

  Nothing. No small, broken body, no blood, no sign of Kai at all. Rhys dropped to his knees, the relief almost as kee
n as the pain. She was alive. Or at least, she hadn’t died going over the cliff.

  “Change,” Ashem commanded. He had come up behind Rhys, also looking over the side of the cliff. “You chased Cadoc almost ten miles before you collapsed. The dragon can deal better with the pain.”

  Rhys dragged himself to his feet and lurched back into the cave. He opened his mind. Power washed over him. Fire sprang up around him, his self widened, and the agony shrank. Still beyond anything he’d endured before, it was no longer all-consuming.

  “Better?” Ashem, small in his human body, stood in front of Rhys.

  “Not much.”

  Ashem nodded. “At least you’re coherent.” He looked at the other three. “We’re going after her. Rhys will be able to find Kai. You two stay with Deryn. Owain could still be out there.”

  Rhys didn’t care what Ashem was saying or that Deryn was shouting, the thought of Owain and Kai wandering around the same mountains sent a jolt of terror through his heart.

  He leaped from the cliff, his right wing barely twinging as he spread it wide to catch the air. He pushed himself upward, circled once. When the pain lessened, he broke the circle, angling southwest.

  “Have you found her?” Ashem glided a few lengths below him.

  Rhys growled in acknowledgement. “Southwest. I don’t know how far.”

  “Rhys, Cadoc contacted me yesterday.” Something about Ashem’s mental voice was off. Nervous. Unsettled.

  “You’ve spoken to Cadoc? Where is he?”

  Ashem took a moment to answer. “Owain is still in the mountains. We have to be careful.”

  “What does that have to do with Cadoc?”

  A long moment of hesitation, and then, “He’s been captured.”

  Rhys felt as if his insides had plummeted to the rocks a thousand feet below. Cadoc, captured. Kai with no idea, no weapon and no one to protect her. Ashem might as well have torn him in two. Rhys snapped his jaws. “I should char your hide! I told you we needed to go after Cadoc! He might already be dead!”

  “Cadoc is a soldier. I did what I had to.” Despite his words, Ashem’s voice was ragged. “But Kai...the only reason she got down the cliff is because I forgot to assign someone Cadoc’s watch.”

  “Blood of the bloody Ancients, Ashem.” If Cadoc was still alive, Owain was torturing him. They had to rescue him. But if they didn’t go after Kai now, she might be captured, too. If Kavar assaulted her mind, he’d find out about the heartswearing, and if he did... Sunder me. Literally.

  Rhys shifted his flight southwest. The pain was less in that direction, though nothing could ease his deep sense of foreboding. “We get Kai and Juli and then go after Cadoc. I won’t leave him alone.”

  * * *

  Cadoc wasn’t sure how long it went on. As promised, Izel returned every hour. At least, he thought it was Izel. She never wore her own face. Once, it had been someone else, an air Elemental, which meant electricity instead of knives.

  His body became nothing but layer upon layer of agony, vision blurring, mind numb. Blood dripped steadily from the tip of his nose, plopping too loud into a pool of red at his feet. Once, hazily, he thought someone was with him, holding a bowl beneath him, collecting the blood as it fell. Then he’d blinked and been alone.

  The ladder rattled as someone descended. His torturer wore his father’s face again.

  “Morning, boyo.” Brychan grinned.

  Cadoc said nothing. His father’s grin widened. “Or maybe it’s afternoon. Or the middle of the night. Would you like to know how long you’ve been here?”

  Cadoc didn’t respond. The knife came out, and his father carved a burning slash across his chest. “You’ve got to speak when you’re spoken to, son. Don’t be rude.”

  There was a shuffle from the small hole above. A pinched, gray man scrambled down the unsteady ladder and whispered excitedly in Brychan’s ear. Brychan laughed then straightened and gave Cadoc a sickening smile. Almost gleeful, he unwound the chain that held Cadoc aloft from its anchor.

  Cadoc collapsed. When he looked up through swollen eyes, Brychan was gone; Izel stood in his place. Uwan was in the corner, hunched and silent.

  Izel bared her teeth at him. “It’s been a pleasure, but we have a new guest, and I’m eager to visit him.”

  With that, she unbound his wrists, leaving the manacles that secured the magic-blocking chains. She barked at Uwan, who scrambled ahead of her out of the pit, leaving Cadoc alone.

  He waited for the next torture session, but no one came. Each second stretched into agonizing eternity.

  He rolled and let out a short cry of pain. Movement at all was difficult; movement without severe pain was impossible. His shoulders were the worst. The first time he tried to move them, he screamed. Inch by agonizing inch, he brought his hands down to his sides. He should have been healing faster, but lack of food and water prevented it. Gingerly, he curled into a ball to keep warm. The fire inside him guttered, his magic wavering in and out of reach. He’d never known cold until now; it felt like emptiness.

  The thought crossed his mind that Izel could have been lying. She might have left because Ashem had tracked him here. Maybe his friends were outside, trying to get to him. Hope kindled deep within him that the torment might be over. He tried to smother it. Hope was infinitely more painful than despair.

  The rope ladder slapped the floor of the pit. Cadoc bit his swollen tongue to prevent a groan. They were back for him after all. He clenched his fingers, and the fine chains on his hands that kept him from using magic clinked softly.

  Someone descended. There was a harsh laugh, then the thud of a body hitting the ground. The person who’d dumped it disappeared as Cadoc looked up. The ladder was pulled out of sight, and he heard a soft moan that made his stomach drop and his blood freeze.

  The light of the single wall-fire flickered over the new prisoner. He was covered in blood and bruises, but that didn’t hide the red hair, or the indicium that swirled up his arm and over the entire right half of his torso.

  “Ancients, no!” Cadoc scrambled over as best as he could on all fours. He put his fingers to Rhys’s neck, almost weeping in relief when he felt a strong, steady pulse. Beaten and barely conscious, Cadoc didn’t feel the usual wash of power that accompanied his friend’s presence.

  Rhys moaned and rolled onto his back, one neon blue eye flickering open. “Cadoc?” Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Bruises covered one side of his face, and his right eye was swollen shut. He brought one hand up to his eye. He wore the same magic-blocking manacles as Cadoc, and they clinked softly as he moved.

  Cadoc sat back hard. “I’m sorry. Ancients, Rhys, I’m sorry. If I hadn’t—” Cadoc put his hands over his face, too horrified by the memory of what he’d done in kissing Kai to finish the thought. “Where are the others? What happened?”

  Rhys looked at his hands, then blinked blood out of his eye and looked at Cadoc. “How badly are you hurt?”

  “I’m alive,” Cadoc said bitterly. “And I seem to have my wits, if I ever did.”

  Rhys coughed. “Owain said...you told them.”

  Cadoc felt as if the world had dropped out from under him. “I didn’t.” At least, he thought he hadn’t. He wasn’t sure what he might have said while he was screaming. “I didn’t,” he repeated, less sure. He tugged at the shredded remains of his pants, tearing off strips and pressing the fabric in an oozing slash below Rhys’s ribcage that was deeper than the others.

  Rhys hissed in a breath through his teeth. When he spoke, it was with difficulty. “Where did...they catch you?”

  Cadoc sat back and rubbed his face. “Twenty miles from the cave.”

  “That close?” Rhys coughed, and blood seeped from beneath the fabric Cadoc had pressed to the wound beneath his ribs.

  “Ancients.” Shaking,
Cadoc tore another strip from his pants and pressed it to the injury, putting Rhys’s hand on top. Once he was sure Rhys could hold it, Cadoc sat back and yanked on the chains around his hands. If he could get them off, he could cauterize the wound, stop the bleeding. But fine as they were, he couldn’t break them. He swallowed against the tears of terror and frustration. “Sunder me,” he whispered. He took a breath, then another. The gravity of what had happened came crashing down.

  Rhys, captured.

  “How did it happen? Where are the others? What happened to Deryn?”

  Rhys’s face went even paler beneath the blood. Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes, and he shook his head once.

  Cold crept up Cadoc’s stomach, into his throat, choking him. “Where are they?”

  “Dead.” Rhys’s voice held a flat finality that hit Cadoc like a blow. “Owain...he ripped her apart in front of me. There’s no hope, fy mrawd.” Rhys blinked and swallowed, tears still dripping down the side of his face. “It’s over.” Rhys took a ragged breath. “Twenty miles. Hard to believe if you’d made it twenty miles farther south, you’d have been home, and none of this would have happened.”

  Something about what Rhys had said seemed off, but Cadoc was too preoccupied with guilt and pain to care. If Deryn was dead and Rhys was here, it was over. The war was lost. Cadoc’s world had imploded. “What about Kai?”

  For the first time, Rhys sounded confused. “Kai?”

  A rush of heat burst through the cold that had almost turned him to stone. “Kai,” Cadoc repeated, his heart quickening. He spoke more deliberately. “What happened to Kai?”

  There it was again, the split-second of confusion, of hesitation. Then, with no trace of significant suffering, he said, “Dead, like the others.”

  Cadoc went still for a long moment. “The cave wasn’t south.” Unable to hide his relief, he let out a rasping laugh. “You aren’t Rhys. Rhys is home safe. The others aren’t dead. This is another illusion.”

  In a blink, his bloody, battered best friend disappeared, and Owain sat up where Rhys had been. He stood, an oddly approving look on his face. “You’ve lasted longer than I thought you would.” Then he laughed. “It looks like you aren’t as good at telling your kings apart as you thought you were.”