Ashes (The Divided Kingdom) Read online

  She pleaded, tilting her head to the side like an eager puppy.

  Trick growled, waving his hand in a flourish before placing it over his eyes. “I can’t watch.”

  When Cade frowned, Ana touched the back of his hand. She’d already caught him up about Edward’s intention to introduce phoenix DNA to his formula, relinquishing that intel without a backward glance. Now Trick had given her the go-ahead, she was going to let another secret go. “The Treaty’ve heard rumors about Edward’s cruelty before. They’ve still done nothing. The reason we know…” She hesitated. She traced designs on his hand, hoping to comfort him. Cade had always wanted to believe in bodies of justice, that they had his conviction for righting the wrongs of the world. His blind spot. Reality was such a smack in the face. “Gabriel’s mother was one of their investigators. She was sent into the palace with the purpose of seducing Edward for information.”

  Cade looked as though she’d hit him in the balls. Slightly sick, slightly stunned. “How long was she there for?”

  “Fourteen years.”

  Dawning comprehension mingled with an unwillingness to believe. He asked the question. His voice was hoarse. “Who is Gabriel’s father?”

  Ana’s jaw hardened. “Edward.”

  Cade fisted his hands, blind rage simmering like a pot of soup, making his jackal snap. It prowled underneath his skin, a predator craving blood.

  He couldn’t even question the truth, not when Gabriel’s features flared to the forefront of his mind. That too-big nose was like a beacon; it should’ve tipped him off, then and there. The betrayed eyes blinded so nobody would see.

  His father. Edward.

  Monster.

  And the Treaty. One of their own had been murdered, her son tortured and kidnapped. How could the system he’d believed in—was a part of— have failed?

  Betrayal thundered through him, trampling the view he’d had of them as an unimpeachable shining light. He’d been naïve, a small child clinging to the hope of a righteous ruling body. So what that he’d been sent to investigate the disappearances of missing kids? He’d been sent seven years too late. That was when Alana had said it started. Seven years of death when the Treaty should’ve stepped in. Enough of blind faith. There would be good people working to unite, but equally those who sought to divide.

  Another father who’d viewed his son as a threat, another murder. Cade didn’t know why Edward had befriended him, but that wouldn’t hold him back anymore. This time, Cade would act. He wouldn’t fail.

  “There’s a sword that keeps Edward young.” His voice was rough, ragged from the snarls that wanted to pour out, like tar into an ocean. He could sense Alana’s concern through the hand she pressed to his. “Excalibur.”

  “The one he stole from the crypt of that long-dead king?” Vander straightened from his stance against the wall. All of the Southlands knew the famous war tale. He scratched his chin. “That’s why he lives so long? How?”

  “Arthur was a fae. When he died, some of his power flowed into the sword. Enough to grant the wielder longevity.” Cade had seen a lot in his years as the Treaty’s bitch. If he could stop this evil, he had to open up completely. “It also makes him immortal.”

  “No wonder we’ve never managed to kill him,” Sapphy commented.

  Trick was staring with the eyes of a predator. “Continue.”

  Cade dropped Alana’s hand to clasp his together, aware the path he was heading down wouldn’t be an easy one to return from. “Edward showed me it once. I think he wanted me to be awed.”

  “Were you?” Faer asked with interest.

  “Man, I got my own sword.”

  Faer grinned.

  “I learned a lot from sneaking around the crystal palace and from Edward himself. When you’re that arrogant, you think nothing can get to you. Except it can.”

  Vander stilled, energy pumping off him in great waves. “You know how to kill him.”

  Faer’s head whirled in his direction, eyebrows climbing. The sharp points of his horns gleamed in the dull light. “No shit?”

  “No shit. The thing with fae magic is that it’s two-pronged. Action and reaction. So, that which gives you life…”

  “…takes it away,” Alana finished. Her eyes were boiling honey, gleaming with fever and hope. “By the holy fires, Cade. You’re sure?”

  “Positive. He locks it in his office in a safe. The combination is the day and month he became high ruler.” He shrugged at her double take. “I’m a merc.”

  “So, if we could get to the safe and get that sword…” Alana mused, working it out in her head. Her hand fisted on her knee. “…we could actually kill him.”

  “Whoa.” Sapphy shook her head. “My mind’s exploding.”

  Trick stood. “You know the palace security?” he demanded, no longer tired or moody. He thrummed with purpose like an electric generator.

  Cade nodded. “I’ve been in and out of that place for years. Piece of cake.”

  “I doubt it.”

  At the new voice, Cade bounded to his feet, extracting the dagger he’d secured at the small of his back. He snapped to the figure in the doorway, a snarl twisting his lip.

  A human with dark blond hair and a scar slashing down his right cheek blinked at him. “Please.” He swept his light blue eyes over him in mockery.

  “Mikhel?” Alana spoke from beside Cade, having the same quick reflexes. She dropped her arm but kept her dagger out.

  “Good to see you, Ana.”

  Cade’s chest vibrated with a growl, disliking the strange human’s focus on his woman. “Who’re you?”

  “Mikhel,” Trick greeted him, stepping forward. His brow arched in question.

  “You don’t call, you don’t write…” Mikhel spoke as though he should be teasing, but there was nothing.

  The void stares back.

  “Who the hell is this?” Cade repeated, shifting until he was an inch or so in front of Alana. Her foot came down on his, but he didn’t so much as flinch. His focus was hunting-silent, his jackal ready to shift if needed.

  “His name is Mikhel.” Trick was fixed on the human. “We deal for information. It seems as though he has some.”

  Mikhel inclined his head. “The usual setup?”

  Trick nodded.

  The human glanced toward Cade. “Your plan is sound, except for two problems.”

  “What?” Cade demanded tightly. His muscles were so tense he felt he could be snapped in half, like a chocolate bar.

  Mikhel lifted a hand with two fingers raised. “One: Edward’s put a price on your head that makes the national debt seem like a drop in the Southern Territories’ waters.”

  “How do you know who I am?”

  The information merchant’s ironic gaze burned. “Second, now Shade’s a wanted man, the high ruler has seen fit to shake up his security. Rotations have been altered, new guards brought in. His own sons are organizing additions as we speak.”

  “Shit,” Cade spat. It’d been a possibility that he’d hoped—stupidly—Edward wouldn’t think of.

  Mikhel shrugged with enigmatic carelessness. “You’ll be needing a different plan.” His eyes shifted deliberately to Alana. “A way to strike from the inside.”

  Cade had the sudden feeling he’d stepped into quicksand. His mind, trained to see what others missed, caught what the information merchant was suggesting.

  “Shade and the Hoods can’t get in,” he murmured, sinking fast as he twisted toward Alana. How the hell does the human know? “But a princess could.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Alana, wait!”

  Ana shut out Cade’s yell as she rushed through the brick halls leading away from Trick’s quarters. Betrayal, marked with bold scarlet letters, flared in her mind. She hadn’t paused after Cade had dropped the P word, simply hurried out o
f the room without an explanation. Her gang must think she was insane.

  A strong hand caught her elbow. “I said, wait.” His eyes were both apologetic and resolute as he tugged her around to face him. “We need to talk about this.”

  “No, we fucking don’t.” Ana jerked her elbow away. Her chest heaved with breaths difficult to take. Flames burned unbearably hot beneath her skin. “How could you?” she fired at him, ignoring her own dictate. Pain split into shards that sliced her heart.

  Cade exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. His face was twisted in remorse. “If you want to stop this war with minimum bloodshed, Alana, it’s the only way.”

  “No.” Ana swung her head in denial, a violent motion that echoed the churning in her stomach. “No. I vowed I’d never go back.”

  “What makes you think you’ll have to?”

  “You think I’m stupid, Cade? As soon as Princess Alana shows herself, how long do you think it’ll be before the news wings its way up to the High Lands?”

  “We’ll invent a cover story,” Cade explained. His jackal was flickering in and out of his eyes. “We’ll say you’ve been running to prevent your parents’ assassins from killing you.”

  “What happens if they think I’m the killer?” Ana tugged at the short strands of red hair around her face, whirling to slam her palm against the brick. She felt trapped in the confines of the narrow passage. “I never want to return, Cade. Fail everybody? No.”

  “Have you thought about what happens after Edward’s dead?” Cade persisted. He crowded nearer. “I have. It’s been bugging me, how we’re going to escape the Treaty’s justice.” He gestured. “The word of a princess will have more weight than a gang leader. If you want to save your friends, you can pardon them after you’re restored to the throne of the Royal House.”

  “No. I won’t.” Ana shoved at him, petrified at the idea. Her parents’ words swirled in her head like a tornado of disappointment.

  Not poised enough, not elegant enough, not dainty enough.

  Too rough, too boisterous, too loud.

  “Come on, Alana,” Cade gritted out. “You must have known you’d have to. The High Lands deserve a proper queen.”

  Queen.

  Bile was all she could taste, vision flickering to red. Flames nibbled her skin, sweat bursting through her pores. “You don’t understand—I hated that life. The politics and the backstabbing and the never-able-to-say-what-you-think, never-able-to-be-what-you-are.”

  “You’re not a child anymore, Alana. You have responsibilities. You can’t run forever.” His face wasn’t unsympathetic, but she could see he’d already decided.

  “Who says I’m running?”

  “I do. I say you started running when you were eighteen, and you just kept going.” Cade pushed his face into hers. The electric light that glinted from the lightstrips built into the walls shadowed his eyes. “You run from every situation you don’t like.”

  She rammed her hands against his chest, and when that didn’t work, she jabbed at him with a right hook. He dodged, shunting her against the wall.

  “I fight for a just cause,” she hissed. The first blue lick of fire smoked through her palms. “I don’t run from danger.”

  “No, you run toward it. It’s like you’d rather be dead than live up to what you were meant to be.”

  The hurtful words stung like poisoned darts. He was as disappointed in her as her parents had been. “You really think I’m such a coward.”

  “Not a coward. You’re scared. You’ve been trying to push me away since I got here, because you don’t like the way I push you. I get under your skin, force you to look at yourself. At how good a ruler you could be.”

  “Don’t try walking through doors with that ego.”

  “Ana.” His hand cupped her cheek, persisting when she tried to throw it off. Her back was against the wall as he stroked the skin. “I love you.”

  Panic shattered into all-out terror. “Don’t.” Memories curled inside her and snickered. Her palms extinguished with an abrupt flash, dashes of ice filtering through her veins.

  “I love you,” he repeated, insistent, “I love you today, yesterday and tomorrow, but you need to face what you are. Every single piece. You aren’t simply the gutter-gang leader at the head of a rebellion. You’re the heir to the throne of the High Lands, and your people need you. Trust yourself. Who else could’ve come to a destitute land and started a rebellion?”

  “You know what, Cade?” Ana was frantic, thrusting away his words so they couldn’t touch her. Every instinct screeched that she needed to get away. “You’re talking out your ass. If you…cared…for me, you’d tell me why you became a merc.” When silence met her dare, she laughed, the sound sharp enough to bleed. “See? It’s not so easy to face the past. Because sometimes the past shouldn’t be faced.”

  His face could’ve been carved from the finest marble, his jaw ticking away, until, “I’m not a merc.”

  Ana snorted, contemptuous. She chafed her arms in repetitive rhythms as she fought to spark her embers. Cold, she felt so cold.

  He swallowed, then paused to listen. When he was satisfied nobody had come after them—thanks to Trick, no doubt—his head remained angled away. She detected a plea as he spoke.

  “I work for the Treaty.”

  At first, she couldn’t connect the words in a sentence that made sense. Then a roar rushed through her ears, dampening sound. Not that he was speaking. He was just watching, waiting.

  Half a beach littered her throat when she tried to speak. “W-what?”

  “I’m a Blade for the Treaty.” He was tense; she could tip him over with one hand if she wanted to. “They sent me to discover why kids were going missing off the streets. It’s why I was around for Edward to call in a favor.”

  “Blades exist?” She shook her head to get rid of the gurgling in her ears. One hand braced against the passage’s brick wall.

  “Yes. It’s a secret branch; most of us get sent undercover. Gabriel’s mother was probably one.”

  “They sent you about the kids. They know about the kids.” Her chest was tight. “And they sent one man.”

  “A spy, Alana. To unearth information. It’s part of what makes me so good at undercover work.”

  “That’s why you have such a vicious reputation? It’s fiction.”

  His grin flashed, out of place in the gloomy hall littered with medical supplies and clothes for the poor. “Mostly. The criminals I go after get imprisoned, not entombed. As a merc, it’s easy to get close to criminals.”

  “So you lied.” Numbness wrapped her in an insulating blanket.

  “Because it was necessary.”

  “Necessary.” The ice was beginning to crack, the embers burning. Beautiful coils of red-and-gold flame pulsed underneath her skin, replacing the gurgling with an insistent shush.

  His hand passed over his face, rubbing at his jaw. “At first I wasn’t sure if you were on the right side.”

  “When you slept with me? When I told you about my parents?”

  “Ana…”

  “Don’t call me that.” She flung herself away, her hands and arms catching fire as it burst free, thick and fast. “Your people abandoned Gabriel?”

  His jaw hardened. A snarl curled from his mouth, hands tightening by his sides. “I didn’t know about that, and trust me; I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

  “Are you even on the level? Or are you here to investigate us?” Ana’s heart was on fire, so painful she would’ve doubled over if pride hadn’t stiffened her spine.

  “No!” he insisted. His hand went to grab her, but fell as she lurched out of reach. “I haven’t told them a thing.”

  “It makes so much sense now.” She spoke to herself, shaking her head at her stupidity. “Why you were so adamant about going to the Treaty. Fuck, you don’t even act like
a merc, half the time.”

  “Alana, the word of a Blade is trusted absolutely. Added to a royal voice, when Edward is slain—”

  “You don’t feel like handing him over anymore?” she mocked.

  His face set in uncompromising lines. “No. The bastard deserves to die, but your gang can be saved if we do the right thing.”

  “By the holy fires, stop saying that! How could it ever be the right thing? I was a disappointment.”

  “For fuck’s sake, Alana!” His voice was like a whip of thunder. “You were never a disappointment. But you will be if you don’t face the truth. You have an opportunity of not only saving the Southlands’ people, but of having a voice on a larger scale.” His body thrummed with tension, echoed in the lines of his face. “You can make people’s lives better.”

  “From the comfort of an armchair.”

  “You think your cousin’s doing anything for the people?”

  “I’m sure Sebby’s doing the best he can.”

  “He’s an imbecile, Alana. You know it. You’re running, again.”

  A hiss left her. “There’s another way. I know it.”

  “Sure. You can launch a war. Everyone who isn’t killed will be arrested and put to death.” Inflexible words. “You know this is the best way.” He tugged at his hair, the black length spilling over his shoulders. She remembered the silken feel of it moving over her and wanted to scream. “And there’s something else you should know.”

  “What, that you love me?” She sneered, because it hurt so much.

  His hands whipped out and caught her, dragging her to him as a violent growl left his throat. “I do love you, you infuriating pain in the ass.” He slanted his lips over hers, pushing his tongue inside her mouth, demanding she accept him.

  Dazed, she was thrust away before she could even fight. She glared at Cade when she could function, wiping her mouth with her arm. She’d shed blood if she could wipe his words away as easily.

  “I was recruited one week before your eighteenth birthday,” he said with no preamble. “They asked me to investigate whether your parents were accepting bribes.”