The Lady of Toryn Anthology (Lady of Toryn trilogy) (56 page)

Ashlyn paused, processing his words. “Did...did Ellis
and Trace get Kou?”

He took such a long time to respond that she looked
up at him, and the sorrow in his brilliant green eyes cut deeply. She knew the
answer before he spoke.

“No,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

She pursed her lips, fighting back tears.

“Hey.” Vargo rose, moving to sit beside her on the
mattress, and rubbed her back gently.

The compassion in his tone pushed her over the edge.
“My father is dead,” she choked out, and sniffled pathetically.

“I know, princess,” he said, and pulled her into his
arms. “I know.”

She buried her face in his shoulder and began to
cry.

Chapter
2

The
Letter

The candlelight waned slightly in the faint breeze
making its way through the Cosmean Caverns. The flickering flame refracted off
the crystals in the walls surrounding them, turning the small room into a
glittering, swirling reflection of light. It was like looking out from the
inside of a diamond.

But Ashlyn paid no attention to the beauty around
her. She was breathing deep, legs folded neatly, hands resting on her knees.

She had meditated more in the last three days than
she had in the past ten years combined. As a teenager, she’d scoffed at her dad
trying to tell her that meditation helped clear the mind, heal emotional wounds
and resolve inner conflict. Now she knew better. And the extensive network of
caves beneath Cosmea provided a perfect opportunity for solitude.

“Why are we here again?” Vargo moaned, breaking into
her thoughts. “And how exactly is it possible that you, the most hyperactive
person in Kresmir, have no issue sitting still for three hours straight? I
think my legs have permanently fallen asleep.”

 
Vargo, on the
other hand, did not provide any opportunity whatsoever for solitude.

Ashlyn opened one eye and fixed it on the red-haired
Spartan, who was sprawled grumpily against a stalagmite just a few feet away.
He’d tolerated her forays into the caves yesterday, but today he’d apparently had
enough of her spiritual revolution. So far he’d done nothing but complain.

She really couldn’t blame him. He was a lot like
her- a wanderer by nature. This was probably the longest that he’d ever stayed
in one place without an assignment to keep him occupied.

She decided to quit before he got any more irate,
and broke form, stretching her arms over her head and cracking the sore muscles
in her neck. Her body was slowly recovering from its influx of vampire blood.
Although her bizarre super-senses hadn’t showed any signs of fading, the barely
contained and infuriatingly spastic energy that had hummed inside her body was
almost gone, and so were the sour mood and ultra-dramatic emotions that were
apparently vampiric side effects.

The experience had given Ashlyn new perspective on
Drake and his often inexplicable behavior. If he had to deal with that kind of
angst day in and day out, it was no wonder the guy was such a stick in the mud.

Aik had told her yesterday that he’d done some
research on vampirism after they’d arrived in Cosmea, and been relieved to find
that there really had been no danger of her turning into a vampire permanently.
As Drake had stated, the conversion did require certain magic rituals to be
performed, and obviously that hadn’t happened during her transfusion. The only
drawback to her situation, Aik had warned, was that some side effects might be
lasting.

If the worst consequence of her near-death
experience was the sudden appearance of highly developed senses, though, Ashlyn
was counting herself one seriously lucky resurrected ninja.

“We don’t have to meditate,” she said to Vargo,
pulling up her knees and wrapping her arms around them. “What would you rather
do?”

“What is there to do here?” the Spartan groused. He
shifted against the stalagmite, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

“We could go to the Landslide Festival, I guess.”
Ashlyn watched the light flicker off a stunning crystal formation near the
entrance to the small room. The Cosmean Caverns were a natural wonder,
stretching on for miles, with most of the caves circulating fresh air through
various entrances along the way. Even the caves that were deeper in the
mountains, far from an exit, rarely smelled stagnant.

Vargo took out a cigarette and put it between his
teeth, but didn’t light it. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I’m not real good in
tight spaces. You can keep meditating, I’ll shut up.”

“No, I think I’m done.” She smiled at him, genuinely
grateful for his presence. “Just being in Cosmea is kind of…I don’t
know…regenerating. I’ve always thought that maybe Toryn was like this once. You
know, before it became a tourist trap.” Her tone turned bitter on the last
sentence.

“Don’t be so hard on your old man. Maybe he thought
it was best for Toryn.”

“It wasn’t all him, really. It was mostly the four
lesser lords. They made a lot of decisions without him. Although I guess I
could blame him for not taking an interest in what they were doing.”

Vargo chuckled. “You really call them the lesser
lords?
That’s
not condescending.”

“They weren’t really lords! Just glorified advisors.
I think they’re all dead now anyway . It’s a little late for them to be
offended.”

“You have such a sincere and touching respect for
the dead.”

There was a pause as they both considered his words,
and then he groaned, running a hand through his hair. “Sorry. That was a
severely uncool use of sarcasm. I’m a jerk.”

“No…it’s okay. I know you didn’t mean anything by
it.” She watched as Vargo pulled the cigarette from between his teeth, rolling
it in his hands. “You know, I haven’t seen you light a cigarette since we got
here.”

“Trying to quit.”

“You never smoked them anyway,” she said, bemused.
“What’s to quit?”

Vargo smiled ruefully. “Habit.”

“Why do you do that, anyway? Light up cigarettes and
never smoke them? I’ve wondered that for years.”

He shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. “It’s
stupid.”

“Oh, in that case, don’t tell me,” she teased. “I
wouldn’t know anything about being stupid, myself.”

“Shut up. Smart-ass.”

She said nothing, waiting expectantly, and finally
Vargo rolled his eyes.

“Okay, fine. My father smokes. Every time I smell
cigarette smoke, I remember him…and how he lives. I swore I’d never be anything
like him. The cigarettes keep me…from forgetting.” Vargo shook his head. “I
told you it was stupid.”

“That’s not stupid!” she exclaimed.
“That’s…surprisingly mature.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“I’m serious!”

“Yeah, thanks for being seriously surprised at my
maturity.”

“Well, you have to admit, neither of us are what
anyone would call logical thinkers. We’re both more of the ‘jump now, think
later’ types.”

“Speak for yourself,” he said. “You’re the one
always running off, trying to get yourself killed.”

“And yet, strangely enough, I’m not dead yet. Maybe
there’s a method to my madness.”

“That method is called ‘FLD saving your ass
repeatedly,’ and it’s not something to brag about.”

She had no comeback for that, and smiled guiltily.

“Let’s just hope you’ve got it all out of your
system now,” Skye’s voice broke in, and both Vargo and Ashlyn turned to see him
walking in, carrying a small wooden box and a torch.

“Come to join the party, Damien?” Vargo said to the
blond swordsman, making a sweeping motion with his arm. “We were just about to
start charades.”

“Wouldn’t want to miss
that,”
Skye said unenthusiastically, and Ashlyn giggled.

“When did you get here?” she asked.

“Just now. Aik told me you were down here.” Skye set
the wooden box down beside her, and she peered over the edge. It was filled
with leather-bound books with the curled pages and ink smudges indicative of
journals. Ashlyn’s curiosity was piqued, and she looked up at Skye
questioningly.

“These were your dad’s,” he said, taking off his
dark glasses and looking around the cave. The light from the torches reflected
off his completely obsidian eyes. “We went back to the cave on the southern
part of the island and recovered them, along with a number of
shift
stanes and weapons.”

“Did you find Kou?” Vargo inquired, climbing to his
feet.

“Not yet. But we got the rest of his
shift
soldiers. Three of them actually
surrendered and requested to return to the city and their families. Restlyn is
dealing with that.”

“Only three?” Ashlyn asked, disappointed. So many
lives had been lost in this war. It was such a waste.

Skye continued, “Jackson sent four more Spartans to
the northern continent to help Ellis and Trace search for him, and FLD is still
in Toryn.” He hesitated, then glanced at Ashlyn. “There are three Spartans here
now. They’re not here to make you uncomfortable- just to make sure that if Kou
does show up, he won’t cause any trouble for you. I knew you’d rather have them
here than in Toryn, and you do need some protection from Kou.”

“Of course,” Ashlyn murmured, running a hand over
the journals. She didn’t know the other Spartans, but Cosmea was part of the
Free Lands, and they had every right to be here.

“I said I’d bring you back for debriefing,” Skye
said to Vargo.

The red-haired man nodded, and nudged Ashlyn’s foot
with his. “You gonna be okay down here alone for a bit?”

She smothered a smile behind her hand, biting back
the sarcastic retort that immediately sprang to her lips. “I think so,” she
said meekly.

“I’ll be back as soon as I’m done.” Vargo didn’t
wait for her reply, heading for the exit. “Saved me from any more meditation,”
he tossed over his shoulder, and Ashlyn rolled her eyes. He was just as eager
to get out of these caves as she was to get some time alone.

Skye watched Vargo leave, then turned back to
Ashlyn. He pulled an envelope from his vest and held it out to her. “This is
for you,” he said.

“For me? What is it? Season passes to the Silverbell
Theme Park?” She snatched the envelope and waved it with feigned glee. “Oh
Skye, you’re the absolute best at picking out ‘so glad you’re not dead’ gifts.
Although a fruit basket would have been nice, too.”

Skye’s boots scraped on the stone floor as he turned
away. “It’s from Drake.”

Before she could think to collect herself, he was
gone, and she stared down at the envelope with considerable trepidation.

To say that her relationship with Drake Lockhart was
tumultuous would be the understatement of the century. But then, Drake brought
a lot of baggage with him. His story was as dark and dramatic as it got. He’d
been the leader of Lord Angelo’s Spartan assassins, but had fallen in love with
an Angel named Loritta and tried to save her from Lord Angelo’s genocide. When
Lord Angelo found out, he’d punished Drake in the worst way possible, first by
torturing him and then by turning him into a vampire and unleashing him on the
citizens of Endro. It took weeks before Drake was subdued by the Endroans, who
also gifted him with the
resist
stane
to control his bloodlust. By then, Loritta was dead, and Drake spent years
believing that he had murdered the only woman he’d ever loved.

If there was a bright spot in the tragedy of Drake’s
life, it was that his quest for revenge on Lord Angelo had revealed the truth.
He was not responsible for Loritta’s demise. She had been killed by Lord Angelo
shortly before Drake was turned.
 

Ashlyn had been crazy about Drake for what felt like
forever, crushing hard during their adventures together three years ago. Even
after they’d gone their separate ways, she’d always harbored a secret affection
for the stoic vampire. It hadn’t been until recently that she’d begun to
suspect that the feeling was mutual. Her awkward attempts at initiating a
relationship had first been met with rejection, and then…

And
then he kissed me by the waterfall.

Her cheeks heated as she remembered that night.
They’d rescued Lord Li from Kou’s army, but Kou had cut the cord that held
Drake’s
resist
stane, and the
vampire’s murderous nature had taken over. Drake had tracked Ashlyn and Lord Li
after they’d escaped the army, and attacked Ashlyn outside the cave she’d taken
refuge in.

At the last moment, he’d managed to stop himself,
begging silently for help as he fought to control the monster within. Ashlyn
had given him
resist.
It was then
that he had kissed her.

Later, when they were back in Toryn, he’d given her
the second
resist
stane, only to turn
around and reject her
again
just
hours later.

You
deserve to be with a man,
he’d told her.
A man who can rule beside you, who can grow old with you.