Dark Dealings (22 page)

“They won’t allow me to keep you.” Joy and fear twisted hard inside her. Reist had been willing to betray his growing love with Fallon—and that woman had let him—to stop the bond forged between a thief and an elemental. Heyerdar was the emperor’s Left Hand. He was important—

“You’re important.” Heyerdar murmured, pushing back tangled strands of her hair. His lips brushed her jaw and Ava couldn’t hold back her groan. “Mages have broken nature. They’re not breaking us.”

She found his mouth and sank her teeth into his bottom lip, drawing a soft, sweet slice of magic from him. “Find me some whitebane tea and I’m all yours.”

Heyerdar grinned. “Always practical. You have a deal, little thief.” He paused. “But first, I want something from you.”

She pulled back, meeting the seriousness in his golden gaze. Her nerves stretched. Was this the
anything
Fallon had hinted at? Heyerdar was older than Reist. Who knew what his jaded palette needed?

“Jaded?”

Ava winced. “Can you stay out of my head?”

“I’ve touched you. I know you.”

“That must be inconvenient...” She pressed her lips together and met his narrowed gaze with an expectant one.

“I’m going to trust you.”

She blinked and followed his gaze down to where their bodies met. Heat bloomed in her chest. He was trusting her completely. She swallowed. “You’re going to let my nasty mouth near your dick?”

“When you put it like that? No.” He leaned forward to taste her lips, magic playing across her skin. She drew it in with her breath, letting it chase warmth into her belly. “But I trust you.” His hands gripped her backside and she couldn’t help the moan she released into his mouth. “And you have to trust yourself.”

His attention snapped to the door. “A mage and one of the senior civil servants. They have a warrant.” He swore under his breath. “Find one of my tunics.” He eased her away from him. “We have to explain ourselves to the emperor.”

Chapter Nineteen

Heyerdar held her hand, his grip sure and strong as they followed the mage and the civil servant through the weaving corridors to an antechamber behind the throne room. Two armored guards snapped to attention as Heyerdar approached. He gave them a brief nod, his fingers flexing around hers.

Nerves ate at her and she wondered if any of them were Heyerdar’s. The emperor would make a decision on whether they could be together. Mages had always loathed her and feared him. It was their perfect opportunity to throw her out of the city and deny Heyerdar the other half of himself.

“Presumptuous, little thief.” He whispered the words into her hair and she could hear and feel his growing smile.

“I
own
you.”

His hand tightened around hers. “You do.”

Ava’s heart gave a little flip from joy and then panic as the guards pushed open the doors. The little windowless room beyond was dimly lit from mage-lit sconces, the edge of a desk visible. The black-robed civil servant gave a curt bow, murmured, “The emperor awaits you,” and scuttled away. The mage dragged his gaze over their joined hands, sneered and followed him.

“Shall we?” Heyerdar said.

Ava willed her feet forward, resisting the need she had to yank magic from Heyerdar, to let it bolster her courage. But she didn’t need him to be distracted. The guards pulled the doors closed with a heavy thud and the air inside the room thickened. Grabbing at her dark center was beyond her. So she controlled the wild thud of her heart and eased air in and out of her lungs. She couldn’t panic, not now.

The Emperor Morgant Eldon Cadmus the Sixteenth, a slight man with dark hair turned to grey, sat in a huge leather chair behind a wide desk. Reist stood to his right.

Her gaze flicked to him. What had he said to the emperor? She could implicate him in the plot to take the throne. Indirectly, Reist had aided Clay. Had he struck first? Panic fisted in her belly. Heyerdar had let Ehren go. A murderer, a conspirator against the palace and the Institute. The Left Hand had broken his own law.

“I see what the Right Hand reported is true.” The emperor’s pale gaze fixed on their joined hands and Ava’s fingers burned, the urge to pull herself away from Heyerdar too strong. She didn’t. She wanted him. Wanted what they had. Her stomach hollowed as Cadmus’s gaze moved to Heyerdar. It revealed nothing. “You took a virgin.”

“I did, Highness.”

There was no apology in Heyerdar’s voice, no pride. It was simply a fact.

“The mages—” Cadmus’s gaze flicked to Reist, who stood stiff and silent at his side, “—have always said that if you did, then you would feed off and destroy the soul of the woman you took.”

“No, Highness.”

Cadmus frowned. “No?”

“I could bind them to me. They would...crave me. I’ve always been very careful in the bed partners I’ve chosen.”

Ava knew her face was burning and she stared at the floor. Fuck, this was embarrassing. But it did explain away his time at the brothel and she herself had accused him of always seeking out well-used women. And it was better to be embarrassed about this than the fact Reist could have revealed another truth.

“And yet you bedded Ava Kalle.”

Heyerdar stiffened. “She is a thief. Old magic. Elementals and thieves were bound for each other, long before the mages intervened and corrupted nature.” He let out a slow breath. “Every mage in the Institute has denied themselves their other half. If they had the Words of a thief pressed into their skin...” A wry smile pulled at his mouth. “We’d be overrun with elementals within a month.”

Cadmus’s frown deepened. “Is this true, Reist?”

Reist paused before he gave a slow nod. “Yes, Highness.”

Cadmus balled his slender hands into fists against the dark wood of the desk. “Why was I never told this?”

“No mage would self-mutilate in such a way. To take on the insane hunger of a thief...” Reist shook his head. “We fight hard to suppress the inchoate nature we’re born with in the lower halls. We do it or die.”

The emperor sat back in his chair, his face slipping into shadow. “And what threat do these two bring?”

Ava’s pulse jumped. There was something in the tone of his voice, as if he’d already made a decision. She was too scared to pick apart the sound logically. Was he agreeing to their bond? Or was he looking for an excuse to break them up?

“Highness, we cannot allow an elemental and a thief to remain together. The surge of old magic would undermine—”

“The Right Hand loses absolute power over his pet thief.” Heyerdar growled the words over Reist’s. They should’ve caused her pain, but her view of her former master had slipped. The implicit trust, her belief in him being always right, was gone. He had not given up Heyerdar but he wanted her now, as she knew his secret. “The only threat from her, from us, is losing me.”

The emperor lifted both eyebrows. “A bluff, Captain?”

“No, Highness.” Heyerdar straightened. “But I believe the depth of the connection between an elemental and thief is being underestimated. I died for her.” A muscle jumped in his jaw. “And I’d do it again.”

Ava closed her eyes. He’d died and, in that moment, she’d killed and eaten a man in revenge. Even she, until that moment, had underestimated what she shared with Heyerdar. The thought of what she’d almost thrown away shocked her, forming a knot of pain in her chest. Heyerdar’s thumb stroked across her skin and the pressure eased. They were together. No matter what.

Cadmus sighed. “I agreed to her living in the Institute because of the worth Reist convinced me she would have to us.” He sat forward again. His gaze fixed on Ava, and her stomach lurched. He’d made his decision. “And she has, in accurate reports over who should become a mage. She will continue with this role. It’s too important to the welfare of my city and my empire for her to stop. However.” He held up his hand as Heyerdar had opened his mouth. His teeth came together with an audible snap. “Her being under the sole guardianship of the Institute is untenable.”

“Highness—” It was Reist’s turn to object.

Ava couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. Words repeated over and over in her head, pleading with him to allow her to stay with Heyerdar. Being in the city, being
alive,
simply wasn’t enough anymore.

“The man who would have my throne.” Cadmus’s voice had softened and a dark smile pulled at his mouth. She wondered if there was a little bit of the thief in the emperor’s ancestry. “He died in a way that befitted his audacity.”

Fuck.
Fuck.
He knew she’d eaten Clay. She wanted to run, hide. She tried to wrap her darkness around her, build the mask that would obscure her panic, but she couldn’t. She had to get away before he ordered Heyerdar to kill her for her crime...but the emperor was still smiling that soft, disturbing smile. Yes, definitely a strong hint of thief ancestry. She willed herself to breathe again, not to think about the fear burning across her skin, the panic that must be all too obvious on her face.

“There should be a reward for the one who rid me of the pretender to my throne.” His head tilted. “I will allow her to remain with you, Captain Heyerdar.” Ava fought not to sag as Cadmus was still speaking. “She will live with you in that hole in the ground you call your chambers. Her reports to her former master will continue. But she is now on secondment from the Imperial Guard.” He looked between the two men. “Is that understood?”

Reist gave a stiff nod. “Yes, Highness.”

“Thank you, Highness.” The words felt dry in her mouth and completely inadequate for the joy pushing hot and fast through her flesh.

The emperor laughed and pushed himself to his feet. Quickly, Ava dipped into a bow, the two Hands following her. “I’m making you
live
with him, Ava Kalle. Don’t thank me yet.” He straightened his gold-threaded tunic and lifted his chin. “Our business here is done. My decision is final. Is that also understood?” He continued on, not waiting for their assent. “I want reports on who we lost today and how those gaps will be filled. First thing in the morning.”

Heyerdar moved to open the heavy doors, nodding as his emperor passed him. He shut the door with a dull thud and turned his attention on Reist. Ava gripped his hand, pulling thin threads of magic from him to distract and calm him. His chest lifted and he glared down at her, the molten fire and magic in his eyes making it hard for her to find her next breath.

She wasn’t scared of him. She wanted him. And he was wasting time. A smile touched his mouth.

His gaze fixed on Reist. “I was going to pin you to the wall, leave you there for a day or two. But I have better things to do.”

“If you hurt her...”

Heyerdar growled. “I will never hurt her as much as you did.” He took a step towards Reist, every muscle hard and ready.

Ava pulled more magic from him, easing the sudden flare of his temper. His tension evaporated and she took an insane pride in knowing that she could do that to him. A mental smirk escaped. Making him more biddable.

He lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”

She met his gaze. “We have reports to write. I’ll have to come back to the Institute...”

Magic threaded through his irises, the sudden rise of power catching her heart. He touched her jaw, his thumb caressing the line under her lip. A golden wisp of his power teased her skin and jumped her pulse. His smile was dark. Wicked. “Why are we still here?”

“Ava.”

Her attention snapped to Reist. There was something in his gaze. Regret? Pity? He honestly thought that she’d chosen Heyerdar because he was all she could have. Reist was an arrogant prick. She gave him her thief smile. A little bit sharp, a whole lot wicked, and the mage blinked. “I have who I deserve.”

“She also has the full and open protection of the Left Hand.”

Reist’s gaze narrowed, moving from Heyerdar to herself. His expression tightened and he lifted his chin. He knew. Knew that she’d shared his secret—his attempt to break the wards—with Heyerdar. He nodded. And there was the realization, as he had kept quiet about Ehren, that they would stay silent about his connection to Clay. They were secrets that would stay between them.

“Then we are in accord.” With a final look to Heyerdar, Reist slipped out through a door behind the emperor’s heavy chair. They were alone.

Ava let her shoulders slump. She had him. Heyerdar was
hers.

She turned her probably disbelieving smile on Heyerdar, and the rise of lust in him was quick and obvious. She pressed herself against his hard frame, aching to kiss him, to have him. Against the wall, her on her knees, her mouth around his dick, licking and sucking. Just as he’d promised. His sign of absolute trust. Heyerdar groaned and fisted his hand in her hair.

She grinned. “I don’t think the emperor would appreciate us getting naked here.”

“You’re thinking it.”

“Yes. I am.”

Heyerdar backed her towards the wall. “When can I deny you anything?”

Her heart skipped. She hit the smooth wall with a soft exhalation of air. “Do you want to?”

He teased her lip with the whisper of magic, and she let him offer rather than pull it down into her. “I’m your master now.” His large hands gripped her hips. “And you have to do what I tell you.”

“For now.”

Heyerdar growled and lifted her away from the wall. He stood in her place. The hard features of the Left Hand stared down at her, magic and mage-light glowing across his skin. “On your knees. Show me what your mouth can do.”

Ava’s face burned, the hard pulse in her blood making her head spin. She wanted this. Wanted him. But the thief in her, the part that could eat a man alive and whole and have no qualms, burned beneath the surface...

“I trust you.” He cupped her cheek, unexpected warmth in his eyes.

She let out a slow breath, her sudden and unexpected panic ebbing.

“And my dick will grow back.” He frowned. “Probably.”

Laughter burst from her. She was bound to this man, heart and soul. Decades, possibly centuries stretched out before them, because of the magic he would drop into her empty soul. It didn’t scare her. She wanted and admired him. Knew that she was even falling a little bit in love with him. And that didn’t scare her either.

She tilted her head and her hands stroked down the smooth leather of his tunic. Magic spilled over her skin and she pulled it into her greedy soul. He hissed. She dropped her hands lower. “It’ll grow back? You’re sure?”

Heyerdar gave her a mock glare. “I said probably.”

Ava cupped him, her thumb stroking across his hardness. “You
would
be less fun without it.”

He groaned. “Get to work, little thief.”

She smirked up at him and dropped to her knees. He drew in a breath, not from fear, she knew that, could almost feel it, but from excitement, anticipation. Want. She stroked the length of his thighs, up until her thumbs teased the underside of his balls. “Trust me?” The question was low and honest. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Heyerdar threaded his fingers through her hair, tilting her head back. “You could never hurt me.”

Ava pressed her lips together to deny sudden tears. She could love him. A real love, not the fantasy she’d painted around Davin Reist. She turned her head to kiss his palm, tasting his skin and the hint of magic. Her fingers untied his beeches. “You really do say the sweetest things.”

* * * * *