2. Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
Lucenna
L ucenna hated liars. Hated it even more when she was fooled by them. She felt utterly stupid for not seeing Klyde for what he was. It made her so angry she choked on it, and looking at him only made it spew from her pores.
Dark blond hair had fallen around his jaw in rumpled waves, still tousled from his sleep. A light sheen of sweat glistened on his bare chest beneath the light of her purple Essence that contained him.
She leaned down until they were eye to eye. This close, she got a full view of his scars and his familiar scent that reminded her of the sea. Klyde looked back at her silently as she searched his eyes for something to support his claim. Yet all she saw was a man.
A useless, lying man.
Lucenna narrowed her eyes. “The Skellings are extinct.”
“Or so they say, love,” Klyde replied in his smooth, brogue accent.
“I am not your love ,” she hissed. He winced at the tightening grip of her magic.
Lucenna had long misplaced her book on the Ice Phoenix, but she had read it several times over. And once she had been told about these Skelling creatures who were as large and powerful as dragons, she had done some research of her own.
“Skellings were wiped out during the Dark War,” Lucenna told the others as she straightened. “He is no more a Skelling than I am compelled to believe him.”
Zev’s eyes bled bright yellow with his wolf, and he took a deliberate sniff. “He smells human to me.”
Rawn canted his head, making one of his pointed ears poke out of his hair as he studied the captain. No doubt listening to his heartbeat.
Klyde frowned at her. “We can discuss Everfrost history at another time. You and I both know I can speak nothing but the truth.”
Even as the power of the truth spell hummed in the air, Lucenna couldn’t help but distrust everything he said.
“What does this have to do with Tarn?” Zev asked.
“The Skellings were said to hold King J?kull’s only weakness,” Dyna said, watching the captain carefully, fingers leisurely drumming on the armrests of her chair. Her crimson locks had been braided back in a coronet. She wore black boots and black trousers, a fine blue redingote on her frame. Her green eyes were indifferent yet piercing. Looking every bit like a woman in power on her impromptu throne. “Their existence brought about his downfall.”
Lucenna remembered quite clearly the passage on J?kull’s death. He had been an immortal, one of the Seven Gods of the Seven Gates, yet he had been killed by his own creation.
Dyna crossed a leg over the other. “Do you know what Tarn is after?”
Klyde’s gaze met her cool one. “Aye, I do. After years of following his exploits, I probably know more about him than anyone. And I assure you, I have the means to stop him.”
“Slay him, you mean.”
His jaw clenched. “If it comes to that.”
The statement left Lucenna momentarily stunned … because it wasn’t a lie. Klyde was prepared to kill him. To come to terms with spilling his family’s blood, he had to have thought about it for a long time. Was it out of hate for his brother or out of love for his nephew? Because she had seen a storm rage in Klyde’s eyes when Dyna taunted him with Tavin.
He would do anything for that boy.
“I am not your enemy, lass. You can trust in that.”
Dyna ground her teeth as if offended by the vile word. “I have given you the chance to explain yourself, captain. But make no mistake, I do not trust you .”
And she probably never would.
A disquieting feeling fell over Lucenna and the others. She glanced down at the sachet clutched tightly in Dyna’s fist. It was made of dark green velvet, embroidered with flowers made of golden threads.
In the center lay the rune for dissipation.
A powerful rune.
A spell breaker.
They had each sewn one the night Dyna expressed her worry about protecting her mind. She had carried the sachet everywhere she went for fear King Yoel would attempt to erase her memory again. But never could any of them have ever imagined Cassiel would be the one to do so.
What would that damn prince think to know his compulsion never lasted more than a few minutes? Even in her confusion, Dyna still found her sachet and regained her memories the moment he stepped out into the courtyard. She had watched him shoot into the sky in a plume of blue flames, leaving her with the reality of what he had done.
Naturally, they were all furious with him, but how Dyna felt, Lucenna could only imagine.
“I know…” The captain searched Dyna’s face a moment before saying softly, “I understand very well the pain you feel, and I am sorry for that.”
Not only because Klyde had also been left behind, but because he had never fallen under Cassiel’s compulsion in the first place. The magic imbued in his mercenary jacket had protected him.
Dyna’s chair screeched on the floor as she jerked to her feet. She turned away for the door as if needing to flee the crack his words had cleaved through her carefully formed armor. The barrier on her magic was stronger than the last one had ever been, but her emotions were so potent right now, Lucenna thought she almost felt a flicker of her Essence.
Dyna paused when she took the doorknob. “When you say you have the means to kill him…”
“It is the only weapon that will, no matter how powerful he becomes,” Klyde said. “I hope that will be enough to buy my way into your fellowship.”
“Show it to them. If they can confirm what you are implying, then I will consider allowing you to join us.” Then Dyna slipped out of the room.
Lucenna wanted to go after her, Zev too, but Rawn shook his head slightly. She probably didn’t want them around her right now.
They had a task to focus on.
Lucenna crossed her arms as she studied the captain. He kept his expression neutral. During the questioning, Klyde had been perfectly still, but he couldn’t quite stop one of his knees from restlessly bouncing now. The only sign he was nervous about being left to her devices.
“I like you like this,” Lucenna said. “All tied up.”
His mouth lifted in a half smile, making one of his dimples appear. “Oh, I’m quite sure. Would you like me to beg you to release me?”
“Perhaps I’d like to torture you a bit first.”
“Oh? Tempting .” He flashed her a wry grin.
The sight of it only infuriated her more. Gods, it was humiliating how close he had come to seducing her.
It didn’t take much.
Only a smile and the kind of attention that made her feel seen. He knew how to say the right thing to get his way, and he was doing it now.
Electricity danced along her arms at the thought of singeing that ridiculously handsome face.
But Rawn frowned at her disapprovingly. “My lady.”
She glowered. Honorable elf.
“You’re angry with me,” Klyde stated the obvious.
“Oh, I am far past angry,” she hissed through her teeth.
At least things between them were now clear.
Lucenna flicked a finger to release him from his bonds. Though she took her time and made sure the magic chafed him a bit.
Once freed, Klyde rubbed his wrists. “Thank you.”
“Thank Lord Norrlen. If it were up to me, I would have given you a few new scars.”
He still had the nerve to laugh. It wasn’t a jest.
Lucenna worked her jaw. “Well? Show us this weapon that can kill an immortal.”
“I’m still not convinced he’s a Skelling,” Zev growled, the words rumbling in the back of his throat.
Rawn canted his head. “Looks can be deceiving, my friend.”
“I suppose you can say I am human. Mostly. Like the wee lass, my ancestry is somewhat … peculiar.” Klyde headed for the unused bed and crouched by the old wooden chest set by the footboard. “Skellings were powerful dark fae in their time.” His eyes flickered to Lucenna. “And they were known to have a penchant for murderous women.”
She gritted her teeth, containing the urge to murder him for saying such a thing in front of the others.
“What happened to them?” Zev asked.
“It’s not really known for sure.” Klyde lifted the chest’s lid and sorted through whatever was inside. “Most believe they died out during the Dark War against the Shadow God, also known as the Endless Night. Others believe the Skelling tribe retreated deep into the Frost Lands when their chief died. They were powerful, wild things, especially when they shifted into their hawk forms. But the half-breeds with human blood who couldn’t shift or fly joined civilization.”
“Humans mated with Skellings?” Lucenna asked incredulously. She imagined them as ugly, bird-like beasts with beaked faces and feathered bodies.
“It’s not mentioned in most of Azure’s history books, but the first union came to be nearly two thousand years ago,” Klyde said, his tone taking on a mysterious note. “When the Queen of the Everfrost, wife of the Ice Phoenix, married her sister, Ansa Morkhàn, to the son of the Skelling Chief.” Klyde bore a satisfied smile at the shock on their faces. “It was to bring peace to the land. But Ansa’s grandchildren were not born with wings and could not survive with the tribe, so they returned to the Morkhàn clan. That’s where their descendants remained, to one day become the heirs of Old Tanzanite Keep.” Standing, Klyde faced them, holding a large object wrapped in a frayed white cloth. “And from there comes my family line.”
Despite the fire in the hearth, she suddenly felt colder, like whatever secret was hidden beneath the cloth made the temperature drop in the room.
Lucenna didn’t move, and her heart beat faster as she watched Klyde slowly unwrap the cloth. Nestled inside was a long black blade, but not one made of steel. It was curved, fashioned with a rough handle. The circumference thinned along its length toward the sharp, pointed end.
A Skelling talon.