Divined (25 page)

“This is foolishness,” Vazuil raged. “Need I remind you of what is at stake here? The Bloodied One will kill thousands in his search for power. He will drain this world dry. And you speak of saving one girl? Her life is nothing compared to what’s coming.”

Riece looked to Clio. “Can we kill him now?”

“Definitely.” Clio’s blood was roaring, sparking flames throughout her body. She had been powerless to save the Emperor, powerless to protect Ixie. But she could kill Vazuil. She would have this small piece of control.

“You think I would come to you without an assurance of my safety?” His eyes flickered between the two of them.

“We’ve given you no such assurance.” Clio tightened her grip on the dagger.

“What will you do if you can’t find your father’s mortal ally, if you can’t find the amulet and stop this ritual?” Vazuil’s words came out in a heated rush.

Clio glanced to Riece without lowering her blade. “I take it you’re about to tell us how we will need you to defeat my father if the ritual is completed. But only a Deity can kill another Deity, and you and I are both equally mortal.”

Vazuil grinned. “There is a way for a mortal to kill him.”

Clio turned to Atzi. “Do we need a mortal? What if you summoned Kusa?”

Vazuil let out a hard peal of laughter. “The Lost One? He can hardly walk, and you expect him to stand against the full power of the Bloodied One?”

Atzi grimaced but shook her head. “He’s too weak.”

“I know you, Clio. You want this piece of fate in your own hands. Not some broken Deity’s.”

“All right.” Clio knelt. “Tell me how I can kill him, and I promise to let you live.”

“As if I could trust your word. No, I will hold that knowledge close to my heart.”

“Ealis, can you dig it out of him?”

Ealis studied Vazuil. “It doesn’t work that way. I can determine a person’s feelings, their secret desires, their painful regrets, whether they are lying, but not the minute details of knowledge. I only get flashes. Nothing precise enough to show me something of this nature.”

“I’ll offer you this much,” Vazuil said, his expression guarded. “Once the ritual has begun and the blade has started draining blood, all of the blood’s power will be channeled into the amulet in the name of your father. But there’s a way to break the amulet’s power, or rather, a way to untether it from him so a mortal could wield the blade. And since the blade will hold the power of all one hundred Deities…”

“I could use the blade to kill him,” Clio finished.

He nodded. “It requires a specific ritual, though. One I won’t be foolish enough to tell you until the last moment.”

“I’ve no reason to trust you.”

Vazuil held his hand out. “Have your prophet test me. He’ll be able to see I’m telling the truth.”

Ealis stepped up before Clio could say anything and sliced a narrow gash across Vazuil’s arm. “There’s no deception in his words.” Ealis frowned. “Still, Clio, I wouldn’t trust him.”

Clio stood. “Know this, Vazuil. If this is all part of another trick of yours, do not doubt that I will kill you. Even if the city burns, and my father slaughters the world, even if I’m to die—I
will
kill you. With my final breaths, I will watch you die.”

Vazuil’s eyes were tight and narrow. “I would expect nothing less of you, Oracle.”

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

“The sun will be rising soon,” Clio said, standing in the middle of Nox’s chamber and seeing the exhaustion on each and every face in the room. “Everyone should try to get some sleep before we have to move.” She looked to Atzi. “A word, please.” Clio walked into the small bedchamber.

“We need more,” she said when Atzi entered.

“More what?”

“You’re the Oracle, and we’re about to go into this completely blind. Can’t Kusa Show you anything useful?”

Atzi’s mouth flattened into a grimace. “He’s given us a lot.”

“We need more. Summon him, and maybe he can tell us more.”

“I’m not going to summon him.” Atzi glared. “Not while you’re harboring a man who claims he knows how to kill a Deity.”

Clio squeezed her hands into tight fists at her sides. “Atzi, we need something, anything. Don’t you see how powerless we are? We don’t know where Zarae is or even if she’s the one working with my father. We don’t know if we can trust Vazuil. We don’t know if we can save Ixie or if she’s even still alive.” Fear clenched Clio’s chest, making her breathing shallow and tight. “I don’t even know where to send everyone next. The whole city is unsafe.”

Atzi opened her mouth to respond, her eyes bright with anger, but suddenly her gaze slipped to the back of the room. A Vision. Clio took a deep breath.

“He Showed me a place we can hide.”

“Good. It’s something. You’ll take the rest of them there while I go to the palace. Tell no one where it is.”

“Fine.” Atzi stepped forward, closing the distance between them. “But let me remind you, I’m not one of your Vessels to be ordered around. I’m the Oracle, you aren’t. And I vowed my life to this cause while you were still too busy poisoning yourself and spending the night with your commander to care about the responsibility.”

Clio raised her hand as if to strike Atzi, but the Oracle had already stepped away, and Clio was left swallowing a mix of anger and regret that left her shaking.

“Kusa will Show me where to meet you after you’ve finished your mission.” Atzi’s voice was cold, and she strode from the room without waiting for Clio’s reply.

Clio’s knees buckled under her, sending her staggering back into the wall. Desperate to hold on, she clung to the stone, waiting for the panic in her chest to subside.

Instead, Tirza entered the room with Riece trailing close behind.

“I did not sign on to become a part of another one of your suicide missions,” Tirza yelled, pulling her elbow out of Riece’s grasp.

“Tirza, I can’t do this right now,” Clio wheezed. Her lungs were still too tight, and she felt the world tilting around her.

“Well, I’m afraid you don’t have a choice in the matter, Clio.”

“Tirz, come on, leave her alone.” Riece spoke gently, but Tirza was only further enraged.

“No! She’s done it all over again. Every time, it’s the same thing.”

“What do you want from me?” Clio asked, willing herself to stand tall.

“You’ve already taken my brother. Don’t involve Nox in this as well. Don’t make him risk his life for you. Give me one person, Clio. Just one.”

“I’m sorry, Tirza, but I can’t.” Clio met the hate in the young girl’s eyes. “This is their choice as much as mine. I won’t stop Nox if he wants to help. We need him. Ixie needs him.”

“Ixie?” Tirza’s eyes went wide. “Ixie’s what happens to those who follow you. You blame the Deities for everything, but Ixie didn’t risk her life for them. She did it for you. Riece does it for you. And now Nox will do it for you. And they’ll die, just like Ixie will.”

“I’m getting Ixie back!” It came out a wail, and suddenly all the tears Clio had been holding back were streaming down her eyes.

Riece pulled Tirza from the room. Clio couldn’t hear what he said to her, how he made her leave, but then he was back, and the room was empty except for them. His hands were warm on her arms. He pulled her against his chest.

“We’re getting her back,” he murmured into her ear.

“She’s being tortured because of me. Because she took the risk that should have been mine.” Each word caught in her throat, stuck behind swollen tears and bared fear.

“You take risks, Clio. You risked your life going after the Emperor.”

“No.” Clio wiped her eyes. “She was right.”

“Who? Tirza? No, she wasn’t. We’re going to save Ixie.”

“No. Although, Tirza’s likely right, too. I meant Atzi.” She stepped out of Riece’s arms, inviting the sudden sting of the cold. “I hid for too long. This whole time I’ve been hesitating, waiting. I never should have left Sheehan. I should have stayed with Derik, with my people. Maybe I could have kept him from Zarae and this war. I shouldn’t have hidden away in Cearo. I wasted so much time. Everything I’ve done has been cowardly and selfish.”

“Clio, that’s not—”

She shook off his hand. “It is. And Ixie was the only one who saw the right of it.”

“Clio,” he repeated, his mouth set in a firm line. “You can be called many things. Stubborn? Definitely. Unbearably witty?” He grinned, and Clio found her lips beginning to curl. “Absolutely. Terrible taste in men, present company excluded, of course”—his smile broadened—“but cowardly?
Selfish
? There are no two words worse suited to you.”

She didn’t resist when he wrapped his arms around her a second time.

“Do you remember when we met?” he asked.

“You mean when you almost had me sacrificed on top of Morek’s pyramid?”

“Yes, Clio. Then,” he said with half a smile. “You could have escaped. But you came back. You freed those girls.”

“I came because I wanted to kill the priest who’d murdered my sister.”

“You could have killed him another day. But you wanted to stop the sacrifices. Then with Ashira, Ixie, Lireen. You saved them all. You’ve given yourself to those around you. I should know. You’ve done it for me on several occasions as well.” His hand cupped her face, and all Clio could see was his eyes. “You’re the bravest, most selfless person I’ve ever met. It’s why I love you more every day.”

She didn’t feel the tears anymore, the panic, the fear. All she saw, all she felt was Riece. His thumb on her chin, his eyes in front of her. She could do this. He looked down on her, and slowly, Clio stretched to lay a gentle kiss on his lips.

“Thank you,” she breathed. She stepped back, still smiling. “You’re not coming with me, you know.”

His grin faded, replaced by familiar frustration. “After everything I just said?”

“After everything you just said,” she echoed. “Tirza
was
right. I’m not letting you risk yourself.”

Riece laughed. “
Too
selfless if you ask me.”

“I didn’t. But you did just say this was the kind of act that makes you love me more every day.” She tilted her head, grinning playfully.

“I say one nice thing, and you use it against me.” He shook his head, but Clio caught the corner of his smile. “But you can’t make me stay.”

Clio frowned. “I won’t have this argument with you. You’re too important to walk into the new stronghold of the Order.”

“And there’s the stubbornness.”

“Yes, I’m stubborn. You’re not coming. Ixie’s there because of me. I’m the one who should get her back.”

Riece’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Let’s make two things clear. One, if anyone is going back into the palace, it’s going to be me. The man who gave me everything was murdered by the Order. I won’t miss the chance to take some of them down. And two”—he stepped in closer to her—“if there’s any match for your stubbornness in this world, it’s me.” He kissed her quickly, pulling back to grin. “Get some rest, Clio. We’ll be setting out soon.”

CHAPTER FIFTY

Clio slept fitfully, her dreams full of powerlessly watching Mannix stab Ixie in the heart. When Ashira came in to wake her, Clio was already up and pacing the room, thinking of the surest routes through the palace.

“The group is setting out,” Ashira said.

“Good. You’ll keep your eye on Vazuil?” Clio walked out into the main room where Atzi and Ealis were packing bags.

“Atzi can watch him better than I.”

Clio whirled on Ashira, surprised by the edge in her voice. “I’m asking you.”

“I’m coming with you.”

Clio threw up her hands. “Not you, too.”

“Ixie’s as much my family as she is yours. Could you stay behind while someone else went after her?” Ashira asked, crossing her arms.

“Ashira, you aren’t a warrior.” Clio rubbed her eyes. The effects of the night had begun to wear on her, and she felt a dull ache growing behind her eyes.

“I can fight.”

“Just getting inside the palace will require us to kill priests. I can’t risk having you out there only to freeze when the moment comes.”

“What if we didn’t have to kill to get inside?” Ashira walked over to one of Nox’s chests and kicked open the lid to reveal a stack of amber robes.

Clio shook her head, mute. She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of it herself. Too focused on Ixie, she’d overlooked the simplest way in.

“There are three spare robes. I’m coming with you.” Ashira was already pulling on the amber cloak.

“Fine,” Clio conceded, too tired to fight with anyone else.

Ealis, Atzi, Vazuil and Tirza snuck out of the temple through the back where citizens were allowed to leave small offerings to the Deities, while Clio, Riece, Ashira and Nox trailed behind, dressed in the robes of the Order.

Beneath the amber, Clio had a blade strapped to her forearm and two strapped to her legs. She pulled her hood up, careful that none of her white hair escaped the tight braid at the back of her head, but she didn’t so much as see another priest until they reached the palace wall.

Four Order men stood guard at the gate, donning the weapons and shields that should have been in the hands of Riece’s army.

Nox dropped his hood, and the men bowed their heads.

“Nox,” one of the men said, keeping his gaze low as if he couldn’t look Nox in the eye. “The High Priest has been looking for you. He says you’re to assist him in the ceremony.”

Nox waved them up. “Yes. I’m on my way there now.” He gestured behind him to Clio, Riece and Ashira. “I had to collect men to add to the watch of the prisoner. The High Priest suspects the Oracle will make a rescue attempt.”

It was a lie they had constructed on their way over. If Clio was successful, and they broke Ixie out, they had to make sure blame didn’t fall on Nox.

“Is she still being held on the south terrace?” Nox asked.

The priest shook his head. “The High Priest moved her to his own chambers.”

Clio’s gut twisted. Ixie said the High Priest had been taken with her beauty. It was how she had secured a private audience with him upon arriving in the city. Now… Clio would kill him if he had touched Ixie.

“Have you heard? Have they broken her yet?” Nox kept his voice light, disinterested.