Page 3 of A Kiss of Flame
“No one crafts that elaborate or expensive of an enchantment as a decoy,” she told him flatly. Carvatticus had invited himself on her hunt after Paris, and Levian had been happy for the company, knowing he’d have to return to Obsidian any day. Still, she was growing frustrated with his cavalier attitude when her determination to root out these thieves was anything but.
“Pixies have been known to do far stranger things to safeguard their valuables,” he replied, picking a bit of debris from his hair. “It could be buried a hundred miles from here, or hidden in a sea cave, or locked in a secret trove no one could ever possibly find.”
Instead of barbing back, she stumbled to the top of the pile of stone and debris that once was the tower. “It has to be here,” she declared. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach.
Car crossed his arms over his chest and cocked a brow. “You don’t think there’s any chance the thieves beat you to it?”
Levian shook her head. “No.” It was hard to explain in words, but she could feelsomething. Now that the protection enchantment she’d set off was broken, she could sense something with a tilted energy. Levian was uniquely sensitive to such things, likely because she was not only a mage but half-dryad, and the wood fae were always more aware of the energies and essences of everything around them. “It’shere,” she made clear.
Car replied with a resigned heavy sigh before he glanced down at the rubble pile over which she stood. “I suppose you mean beneath your feet?”
She tapped her nail on her lip once more and peered around her. Levian had been unsure about the clues that had led them to this remote and dilapidated estate on the edge of a German town long forgotten. It did seem unlikely that the orb would still be here after all this time and not hidden away as Car had suggested, but Levian had gotten a sense from the old pixie with the shop in Paris that there was a likely chance the orb had never left the estate even after the rest of it had been picked clean.
Levian unbound her mane of wild pink curls, shook out some debris, and tied them up in a fresh ponytail to get the few dislodged strands out of her sweaty face. Then she closed her eyes, took in a deep, steadying breath, and concentrated. The strange energy was faint but present. She pushed through the throbbing in her temple and the deep ache in her bones and focused on the faint hum like she was hunting a buzzing fly. She opened her eyes and pointed a few yards to her right. “There—I think.” It’s where the vibration felt most concentrated.
Car stumbled to where she’d pointed and knelt over the pile of loose stones. “The things I’ve done for you,” he grumbled sourly before picking up several and tossing them over his shoulder.
Levian smirked. “You’ve done far worse,” she teased affectionately as the High Daemon Lord knelt before her, digging for dark buried treasures.
He grunted. “Of that, I am well aware, ViVi.”
She chuckled as memories fluttered forward. One particular, of Car with not one but two black eyes, thanks to a little misunderstanding between Levian and a young daemon male who had been twice Car’s size. At one point, Barith had drunkenly accused her of holding a torch for Car, which had sent her drink flying into the dragon’s face with disgust. They did love each other, but there hadneverbeen any romantic chemistry between them.
As Car easily tossed stones and other debris over his shoulder, thanks to his enhanced daemon strength, Levian found her mind wandering in odd directions. She wondered if Car would settle down now that he was High Daemon Lord. She’d always found it amusing that neither of them seemed to be able to hold onto lovers for more than a few seasons at a time. He’d always made it clear he wasn’t interested in children or a lasting partner, and though she did not doubt the former, she did doubt his insistence on the latter. Car was clever and calculating, but beneath his catlike persona, he was extremely warm, loyal, and caring. She smirked. Carvatticus and Barith were actually quite similar, which was amusing as they’d never been particularly keen on one another.
Levian’s heart grew heavy. She missed Barith. Typically, the dragon would be the one down on his knees digging through the rubble for her. She wondered where he was and what he must be doing. Her heart gave an aching thump.
Car grunted with exertion, thankfully drawing her out of her head and her darkening mood. She really was tired if she was drifting so quickly. Levian tried to think. It could take all night to dig to the bottom of the pile, but she couldn’t summon theHeart Orb by magick even if she did have the energy to attempt it. The daemon tossed a rather large stone off to the side with a very loud curse, and the moment he did, Levian felt the energy around them shift. She looked closer at the stone. There was a very faint etching of a seal over the surface. “I think this is it,” she declared with surprise. Car left his digging, wiping his dirty hands on his jeans, and came to stand next to her. She pointed to the crest. “This is a family crest, isn’t it?”
“I think so?” he said, unsure. It was a very faint mark.
Levian wiped away the dirt and moss and reached out to touch the crest.
“Should you?” Car questioned sharply before she could. “I don’t want a pit to open beneath me and swallow me whole.”
The mage felt the sting of embarrassment anew over her carelessness earlier. She was confident it was a crest, but she felt nothing like the touch of a spell coming from the stone. “Thisisn’tenchanted,” she grumbled before standing. She looked over to Car. “Break it.”
He lifted his brows. “Are you sure?”
She knew the thieves were after the orb, but she wasn’t sure they’d uncovered where to find it or if they ever would. Which meant she had an advantage. If she found the orb and brokered for its sale on the black market, she was sure it would flush out her thieves.
“There’s no spell,” she assured him—again.
Car shot her a look. “That doesn’t mean whatever is in here isn’t booby-trapped,” he clipped back.
He wasn’t wrong, but she was tired, irritated, and ready to soak in a long bath. “Throw it against that wall there, and maybe it’ll bust open,” she ordered. It was crude but not the worst idea.
The daemon lifted the stone and tossed it as hard as he could against what remained of the wall at the tower’s base some yardsaway. A loud crack echoed through the forest as it broke through the low wall and sent everything toppling.
There was no release of gas or powder or anything else seemingly nefarious. Car looked at Levian. Levian looked at Car. “Ladies first,” he offered, motioning for her to take the lead.
She rolled her eyes and stomped toward the crumpled wall. It took only a second for her to spot the cracked stone amongst the rubble and the small wrapped object hidden in a hollow at its center. “We found it!” she chirped with excitement.
Car leaned in over her shoulder and made an uneasy sound. “You sure about this, Vi Vi? I’m no expert on Dökk lore, but isn’t it best to let some sleeping objects cursed by Shadow Fae rest as they are?”
Once more, Levian had to tamp down her irritation. Car had been trying to talk her out of this every step of the way, even if he had physically helped in every way she’d asked. She understood that he’d not been galavanting about the world for the last several centuries doing precisely this, or some variation of it as she had. “Shall I leave it here for some village child to find instead?” she retorted.
Car glared down at it, and Levian could feel his uneasiness. Before he could protest or make a fuss, she unraveled the loose scarf around her neck and used it as a barrier over her hands. She reached into the hole and plucked out the little package within. She stood and delicately unwrapped the dirty black silk until a small black orb the size of a golf ball was revealed. It was light in weight, but there was a heaviness to it that was hard to explain, like a gravity that pulled inward. Long white strands shifted within and moved across the surface.