Chapter 5
“What the hell happened to her?” Esa asked, her voice floating into Imani’s ear.
Imani’s eyes wouldn’t open, but she could imagine Kiran shrugging.
“It could be a number of things. Her magic was too much for her body, though. She needs to learn control over her power—and fast.” A pause. “It’s strange … but I’ve never felt that amount of power coming from Imani before, like she’s acquired more. But that’s impossible without a master brand.”
“We need to keep her alive long enough to complete our agreement. She should start to learn more control.”
Kiran sighed. “I’ll probably have to ask Zadie to train her.”
Esa huffed a laugh. “She’ll never agree. Not after training you for all those years.”
With a heavy head weighing her down like lead, Imani tried and failed to wake up.
Finally, after three attempts, she groaned and rolled onto her side.
Grasping at the blanket someone had laid over her, she brought it to her nose, inhaling Kiran’s masculine scent.
Her body heated from it alone, and his healing essence rushed through her, as well.
Disgusted, she kicked it off her body and looked around.
Her unfocused gaze took in the scene around her. They were still in Kiran’s carriage.
Across from her, Kiran’s head bent toward Esa’s.
Imani couldn’t see his face, but she could see Esa’s as the pixie threw back her head with silent laughter and a hand over her mouth, showing the gorgeous, long column of her throat.
She looked incandescent with joy, his attention the light in which her beauty shone especially bright.
A cutting jealousy tore through Imani’s chest. In this moment, she was an outsider, and while not a new feeling, it was highly unpleasant.
If she hadn’t been dizzy with the residual effects of almost dying, Imani would have laughed at herself for such a foolish reaction. Instead, she rubbed her face and turned her gaze toward the window.
Suddenly, the laughter stopped, and a zing of energy crossed the air. Imani snapped her eyes to both of them, but she kept her mouth thinned.
Silence reigned in the coach as Imani waited for them to speak first, to ask their questions.
A pit in Imani’s stomach grew. She knew how Esa and Kiran operated, and from now on, she’d always be prepared to give up a secret or make a bargain.
It didn’t make her any less nervous wondering what answers he wanted from her.
She couldn’t let them know her true desires—her true weaknesses.
More than anything, she prayed they didn’t know about the Drasil.
Especially Kiran. If he knew what she wanted more than anything—and knew how much information she had on it—he’d manipulate her down to her bones. He’d know exactly how far he could push, what to offer, and what she’d never refuse, always giving him the upper hand.
Aching to fill the silence, Imani asked the first inane question that popped into her head. “How long until morning? Also, why aren’t either of you asleep?”
“What makes you think it’s nighttime?” Kiran asked.
“It’s dark,” Imani deadpanned. Glancing out the window, she noticed they had traveled a bit farther into Niflheim but had clearly stopped for the night with Kiran’s shield up protecting them again.
“Ahh, is it?” He tsked. “I don’t think you know what dark is, my darling.”
Esa shot Kiran a chastising look, but he simply lifted that infuriating smirk.
Imani blinked extremely slowly at him, not bothering to hide the disdain on her face.
“I saved your life,” Kiran announced, sitting back and crossing his arms over his chest. The maniacal smile remained.
“And what will it cost me?” Imani’s biting voice was barely above a whisper.
His lashes lifted, and there was a wealth of questions in his stare.
Imani met and held his gaze, a waiting expression on her face.
The wild creature inside him, the one she was infinitely curious to see on the outside of his flesh, lurked behind his eyes.
Was it a snake? Or something more sinister?
“I’m glad you’re open to a bit of reciprocity. Because when this happens again, I might not feel so inclined.” He clapped his hands together. “Now! Esa tells me you might have an answer I’d very much like to know.”
“Well, I can’t confirm or deny until you ask me the question,” she hit back coolly.
“I need to know who the true Essenheim heir is and where they are.”
The tone of his voice was a quiet warning. If she kept these questions and their answers to herself, the tone said he wouldn’t hesitate to punish her in the most creative of ways. If she resisted, his response would get ugly, and dangerous.
Imani kept her grin to herself. This was the exact question she’d hoped he would ask.
While the answer wasn’t of much importance to her, given the state of things, his question was important to him and that in and of itself would tell her more about Kiran.
In fact, she needed him to want things like this from her moving forward.
His ego was a liability, making him think he was in control while she offered up bits of useful but inconsequential information—like the answers to the questions he had just asked.
“Esa says you don’t believe Tanyl is the rightful heir anymore,” he stated bluntly.
She sighed. Esa had been salivating as she spoke about her divination visions earlier, and this was a secret, out of all of them, that she’d been willing to share.
“Ever since my divination magic manifested—”
“Ever since you stole it from your sister,” Kiran interjected.
She ground her teeth together. “Yes. Ever since then, when I touch someone for the first time, I get a vision of the future. Similar to the heartmate spell I cast for you, it lasts only a few short moments in my mind, and it’s always the same—it’s always their death.”
“And have you seen the true Essenheim heir’s death? And the imposter’s death, as well?”
“I’ve watched Tanyl’s death. He’s not the true heir. I’ve not seen the true Essenheim heir’s death, so I don’t know who they are, nor do I know where they’re hiding.”
He studied her, sucking on his bottom lip before releasing it, nodding slowly. It was several moments before Kiran spoke again, and yet he held a guarded look in his eyes when he did. “How do you know he’s not the heir?”
“Because, in his death vision, he’s not much older than he is now. He’s dueling for his life, wand out, casting spells, and he has no Crown of Life on his head. Everyone knows that’s impossible. Once the crown is bestowed, it can never be removed, or the person will die instantly.”
Kiran steepled his fingers together and stared at her. “Who is dueling Tanyl?”
“I can’t see that part of the vision.”
Kiran picked up a knife from a side table and threw it into the wall with a frightening calmness. “What use are these supposed visions if you have no details?”
“I know enough details to know he’s not wearing the Crown of Life when he dies. Therefore, he is not the true heir.”
“I’m disappointed. How do I know you’re not lying about this little trick of yours?” His voice was flat and emotionless.
An emotionless Kiran scared her. That Kiran breathed violence and thrived on fear.
Imani wanted to slap him like he’d hit her earlier. For once, she was telling the truth.
“I’m not,” she snapped, hands trembling again. “If I could prove it to you, I would.”
He gave her a grin that suggested she was about to regret one of her decisions. “Excellent. I’ll call for you when we get to the castle, and we’ll see how much power you truly wield.”
It took a moment for Kiran to break their stare-down, but when he finally did, something unreadable passed over his face. In the next instant, he marched over to the door and flung it open. “Out,” he said, tossing her wand onto the moving ground below.
She had no idea if he believed her or not, but like a good little sheep, she shot up and jumped out without a word.