The Spirit Heir (22 page)

But a loud curse filled her ears, pulling her thoughts back to the fight. Rhen's voice. Jinji would recognize that anger-laced baritone anywhere.

"Rhen!" Jinji shouted, unable to stop herself.

A moment later, she realized her mistake, ducking as the hiss of metal soaring through air whispered into her ear, narrowly missing her skull. The knife clanged into the wall behind her, slipping uselessly to the floor, but heavy feet pounded in her direction.

Idiot.

Jinji cursed. After all of Rhen's work, she had revealed her location. Shuffling backward, Jinji felt for the knife, relieved as her fingers clutched the hilt of the blade.

The boots sounded closer.

Closer.

Jinji held the knife before her face, ready to attack. Yet her fingers trembled, revealing her fear, and her heart rose to clog her throat, making her breath come short and shallow.

"Again!" Rhen yelled.

Immediately, Jinji listened, gasping as the fire flared to life around her and the charging soldier filled her vision. He grinned as the candles revealed her position, eyes gluing her to the wall. Raising his sword, the man gritted his teeth, barely pausing as he realized she was a woman. Jinji jumped to her feet, gripping the knife, pulling back to make one last throw, one last attempt to save herself.

But before the blade left her hand, the man twitched, eyes turning vacant as a metal sword punched through his chest. One jerk and he was dead, falling face first to the floor.

Behind him, Rhen dropped the weapon, chest heaving. Blood trickled down his arm, revealing a shallow cut on his bicep, but there was no other wound to hinder his movement as he raced forward, grabbing her tightly.

Before Jinji had time to react, Rhen was kissing her roughly, pulling her close so that his arms wrapped around her torso, almost lifting her from the ground. Fire flared to life in her stomach as lava coursed through her veins.

Rhen's touched burned.

His lips demanded more, hungry.

Jinji arched her back, leaning up, answering with a need all her own.

But Rhen pulled away, and as quickly as it had started it was over. Easing apart, he gently lowered Jinji back to the ground, releasing his hold, staring at the floor.

Energy sparked the space between their bodies, raw, prickling Jinji's skin. Part of her wanted more. Part of her was afraid of what that meant.

"Jin…" he whispered, trailing off. But she knew Rhen well enough to hear the apology in his tone.

Jinji lifted a finger to his lips, silencing him, forcing him to look up and meet her eyes. She wanted desperately to tell him how she felt, how there was nothing he should feel sorry about, how she wanted his kisses—all the time, whenever he offered them. But the words got caught in her throat as nerves stole her breath, silencing her.

This was new territory.

New words.

New feelings.

All emotions she did not know how to express, how to define. Against her will, one word slipped through her lips.

"Taikeno," Jinji whispered.
My love. My future
. But pain clenched her heart, stealing away the explanation. Long ago, in what seemed like a different lifetime, that word had been reserved for Maniuk—the man who was to be her joined, was to father her children, was to stand by her side and lead their people into the future.

But now, a newworlder had stolen her heart, given meaning to an ancient word she had never fully understood until this moment, staring at the warmth in his emerald eyes, candlelight sparkling like stars in his irises. Rhen had saved her. Not just in this fight, but in everything he had done since the moment they first met. Every look. Every conversation. Every touch. All of it had brought her back to life.

And for the first time, Jinji felt like maybe she had done the same thing for him.

Maybe.

Rhen's brows scrunched in curiosity as the silence stretched, as Jinji let the word fill the space between them without giving him more. It was the language of her people, the Arpapajo tribe, meaningless to a Son of Whyl. But she wasn't ready for him to know just how much he meant to her, not yet, not here surrounded by the dead, survivor's euphoria melting away as the reality of the situation sunk in.

Six men had followed them down here.

How many waited above?

Jinji stepped back, breathing in deep cool air, burying the heat for another time. Looking up, as though she might be able to see through the layer of dirt and grass, up to the surface above, Jinji asked, "Who are they?”

"They wear the burgundy and gold overcoats of Airedale," Rhen said, sighing heavily.

"What?"

"Airedale has proclaimed allegiance to the enemy." Rhen motioned to the bodies on the floor. "The only reason these men would travel so far south of their home, so close to the Straits, without notifying Rayfort is to help fight against the crown, to help the Ourthuri break through."

Jinji winced, knowing Rhen thought of his family, of the ever-fading chance of their survival. "What do we do now?"

Without hesitation, Rhen laced their fingers together, bringing her eyes back to him. "Whatever it takes."

And then they were moving, racing from the room and searching for the exit. Jinji wove the illusion of candles down every hallway, bringing the buried castle back to life for a brief time. The different sets of footprints in the dust proved an easy path to follow, and soon enough, they had reach the staircase leading back to the surface.

Behind them, Jinji flooded the rooms in darkness as she unraveled her illusion. Hands still clutching one another, Jinji followed Rhen up the steps, carefully and slowly as they traveled in the dark. No torches this time. No light. Not when at any moment, more unwanted visitors might storm down. If that happened, the two of them would need every advantage possible.

But as they reached the top, sun casting a warm glow, breaking up the shadows, no one else was in sight.

Rhen crouched at the top of the exit, sinking onto his stomach and slithering to the edge of the tower, peering for soldiers hiding in the trees. But after a few minutes, checking every angle, he cautiously stood. No arrows raced toward him, no knives. In fact, the only sound Jinji heard was leaves rustling in a light breeze, birds chirping. The woods were peaceful.

Jinji rose from her hiding place on the steps, joining Rhen at the top of the tower, smiling as the sun warmed her skin. It was good to be outside, good to breathe fresh air, to say goodbye to stale, dank dark. Humans were not meant to be underground, not while alive anyway.

"Were those the only ones?" Jinji asked, voice still low, still wary.

Rhen just shook his head. "There must be more, maybe not here, but somewhere. Let's head back to the boat."

Offering his hands, Rhen lowered Jinji over the side of the tower, gently bringing her closer and closer to the ground until he released and she dropped the last foot, landing lightly on the grass. He held her so easily, lifted her as though she weighed nothing, carried her with almost no effort at all, each time making her feel precious.

Looking up, Jinji wished she could help Rhen some way, but he clearly didn't need it as he ambled down the vines, landing swiftly by her side.

A moment later though, as Rhen searched the trees for a sign of where to go next, Jinji realized it was her turn to take the lead. Out of a castle, surrounded by dirt and forest, Jinji was the expert. And it took her no time at all to find their tracks. Deep impressions sank into the mud, large feet that had to be Rhen's. Farther back, sticks were broken, snapped by boots. Leaves were crushed, discolored to an ugly brown. All over, Jinji noticed little signs to follow as she led them back the way they had come, back to the boat, back to freedom.

Breaking through the tree line, the ground dropped away, revealing endless blue water and an ominous cloudy sky, threatening to bubble over with rain. Above, the sun beckoned. But shadows danced across the sea, and miles away, a storm waited on the horizon.

Rhen showed no fear as he walked right to the edge, glancing down the cliff. Turning back around, he grinned. "The boat is still there."

But a moment later, a shadow passed over his features, a haunting gaze, and his mouth opened as if to shout. Then an arrow sailed into her line of vision, aimed directly at his heart.

"Rhen!" Jinji shouted, throwing her hands out and weaving the first thing she could think of—wind. Surging around them, a gust blew straight at the arrow, spinning it off course so it soared harmlessly over the edge of the cliff, disappearing with the fall.

Moving faster than she ever had before, Jinji wrapped an illusion around the cliffs, almost the same image as in real life except without the two of them, just the rock and the clouds and the waters below.

Exactly as she thought, the soldier in the woods gasped. It was all she needed to know her illusion had worked, not that Jinji really doubted her strength anymore. But still, a smile snuck across her face, satisfied. Hidden behind the weave, Rhen and Jinji had simply blinked out of existence.

Signaling for silence, Jinji lifted a finger to her lips. Rhen nodded, not quite sure what happened, but aware that Jinji had acted, had used her powers. To him, nothing had changed. The illusion was woven in front of them, almost like a painting they now hid behind.

Though her pulse raced, Jinji forced her movement to slow as she stepped carefully toward Rhen, eyes locked on the ground so she did not make a single noise that might give their position away. Once their fingers locked together, Jinji allowed herself a glance backward.

The soldier stared ahead, baffled, and rubbed his eyes. He wore the same uniform as the men who had hunted them underground—deep burgundy with three yellowish stripes slashing diagonally across his chest. A moment later, another man stepped out from the trees. His eyes were also glued to the horizon.

"Did you see two men here before? I swear…" The soldier trailed off, shaking his head.

"I wouldn't have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes," the second man said, voice filled with awe. "They vanished."

Together, the men stepped forward, walking to the edge of the cliff. Wincing, Jinji called the illusion tightly around Rhen and her, curling it around their bodies. By the time the men reached the lip, staring down, reality was all they saw.

"Is that a boat?" one asked. Beside her, Rhen stiffened. Jinji swallowed deeply, biting her lip. How had she forgotten to hide the boat? A simple illusion of water was all it would have taken.

"Yeah, you want to climb down and explore?" the second asked, but humor colored his words.

"Oh sure, why not?" the first mocked, nudging his companion closer to the edge as fear flooded his eyes.

Beside her, Rhen shifted.

Jinji turned, reading the hunger in his eyes, the need to act, the impatience. He wanted to push them over, to go on the offensive while the two of them remained invisible behind her illusion.

But visions flooded her thoughts—visions of Rhen being shoved over the edge, of Rhen plummeting to his death, of Rhen slamming against the water, broken. Swiftly, Jinji clutched his arm, tugging, holding him back. They should wait, safe behind her magic, until the cliffs cleared. There was no urgency, time was all the two of them had—time enough to wait.

Rhen looked down, eyes bulging as he flicked his head to the side.

But Jinji shook hers.

"No," she mouthed, silent.

After a moment of hesitation, the tension left his body and Rhen gave in, heeding her orders to let the two men live, to have patience. As he shifted his weight back, away from the soldiers, a twig snapped beneath his boot.

Louder than lightning.

Louder than a scream.

Utterly deafening.

Jinji's head jerked up, and she met Rhen's eyes for a fleeting glance before spinning on her heels. Not two feet in front of her, one of the men raised his bow, cocking an arrow, eyes focused on nothing and everything at the same time.

Before Jinji had time to shift a finger, the arrow landed squarely in her shoulder, ripping a scream from her chest as she lost her balance, teetering and then falling over the edge.

Rhen grabbed for her hand, fingers searching desperately for her skin, but in the end he clutched only the air, face frozen in horror as she slipped away.

Jinji locked her eyes on his, watching him grow smaller and smaller, confused for a moment. Was he moving fast? Was she? All Jinji could feel was the pain throbbing down her arm, piercing her heart, blinding her vision in iron white heat.

Floating in oblivion, the world drifted away as agony stole all thought.

Time stretched.

Stopped.

Was she still screaming?

Still falling?

Jinji thought of the wind, wrapped herself in yellow air strands, weaving and weaving until she could no longer tell what was up and what was down, until she was so surrounded by yellow spirits that for a moment, she thought the sun had swallowed her whole.

But cold ice slammed into her body.

Dragging her away.

Dragging her under.

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