A Soul for Trouble Read online

  “Do you always ask this many questions?” A smile played in his voice. “Gravaria hasn’t outlawed magic. You’ll be trained by the most skilled mages in the land.” She wrapped her arms around his waist as the horse started walking. “Why would they want to train me?”

  “Because you are the new Soulbearer.”

  “You keep saying that.” Annoyance crept into her words. Did he only speak in riddles?

  “What exactly is a Soulbearer?”

  “Do you want the whole story or a quick explanation?”

  “How long are we going to ride?”

  He remained silent for almost a minute, and she wished she could see his face. “Your body is now the home to the former god of chaos, Loku.”

  Perhaps it was hunger, exhaustion, or sheer insanity, but Arden began laughing so hard, tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. “I have a god living inside me? You expect me to believe that?”

  “Loku, will you please confirm your presence inside your Soulbearer?”

  “Hello, my dear sweet Soulbearer,” the voice answered in her mind, sounding exactly like the old man did seconds before he died. “I’m looking forward to getting to know all your secrets. ”

  She screamed and almost fell off the horse. If Dev hadn’t caught her hand, she would have landed in an undignified heap on the forest floor. Her breath flowed in and out in raspy shudders, her body shaking.

  “You’re not going to have another seizure, are you?” Dev asked.

  She wrapped her arms even tighter around his chest. “No,” she murmured into his back.

  “Do you remember the green mist?”

  She nodded and fought the urge to cry. At least she had an explanation for the voice inside her head now.

  “That was Loku entering your body. I’ve seen it five times now, and every time, it’s the same.”

  A few more minutes passed in silence before she finally gathered the courage to ask,

  “Why does he need a Soulbearer?”

  “Are you ready for the whole truth?”

  She nodded again, wiping her nose on the back of his cloak. If he was trying to scare her, he deserved a little snot on his clothes.

  “Loku is the god of chaos. About six hundred years ago, he decided to challenge the other gods and opened a portal from the plane of chaos to this realm. His careless actions almost wiped all life from the kingdoms of Gravaria, Ranello, and Thallus.”

  “He’s exaggerating. I never came close to destroying the world like he implies. I just wanted to spice things up a bit.”

  “The other gods fought to destroy the creatures he unleashed, while the Master Mages of Gravaria devised a plan to contain Loku.”

  “Those arrogant pricks tried to kill a god. Ha! ”

  “They managed to separate his soul from his body and imprison it inside a mage named Piramus. He became the first Soulbearer, and the other gods destroyed Loku’s body after they closed the portal.”

  “How’s that for an eviction notice? Murder and imprisonment. No chance to redeem myself. Just, ‘Here’s you punishment—enjoy spending the rest of eternity trapped in mortal bodies.’”

  “Since then, there have been nine other Soulbearers. Robb, the old man you met last night, was the previous one.”

  “And I freely admit it was a mistake choosing the poor guy, but it was either him or Dev. ”

  “Whoa, hold on a minute. Give me a chance to digest all of this, both of you.” The two versions of the story seemed to flow together. She needed to figure out who was telling the truth.

  “Ah, is Loku giving you his side of the story?”

  “Yeah, and it’s slightly different from yours.”

  “As I would expect it to be.”

  “He said he had a choice between you or Robb. What did he mean?” Dev stiffened, and the warmth fled from her body. “It was the tradition that the protector would become the next Soulbearer, but Loku had other ideas. I was originally appointed to protect the fifth Soulbearer, an elvan mage named Quertus. Upon his death, I was supposed to absorb Loku’s soul and become the sixth Soulbearer. Unfortunately, Loku convinced Quertus to take his own life at the feet of a human guttersnipe named Syd.” Laughter echoed in her mind. “You should have seen the look on his face when I denied him his chance to be the Soulbearer the first time. It gets more comical each time I do it to him.

  I convinced the eighth Soulbearer to run away from him and leap off a castle turret, which was how I ended up with Robb.”

  Arden gasped and squeezed Dev’s ribs. Sweet Lady Moon, what kind of gruesome death did he have in store for her?

  “What did he say?”

  “He told me how Robb became his Soulbearer,” she replied in a trembling voice.

  A low rumble spread through his chest like a growl. “That was an unusually cruel end for a Soulbearer.”

  “Do they all eventually kill themselves?”

  Neither one answered her immediately. “Human minds are more fragile than elvan ones.

  The burden of being a Soulbearer makes them more susceptible to insanity and suicide.” The blood drained from her face. “Stop the horse, please.” The second it halted, she slid off the horse and started running.

  Dev called her name. Footsteps pounded behind her, but she only quickened her pace. It didn’t matter where she ended up, as long as she got away from Dev and Loku and the promise of her grisly end.

  The wolf raced ahead of her, stopping suddenly. She tripped over him and went sprawling across the ground. A pair of hands yanked her up by her bodice and spun her around.

  “What were you trying to accomplish by running away like that?” Dev’s eyes flashed, and he gripped her arms in an iron vise.

  Anger from his rough treatment overpowered her fear. Her hands balled into fists, and she swung at his jaw. His head jerked back, but he didn’t release her.

  “That’s the second time you’ve belted him. I wonder how much longer he’s going to take it from you? ”

  Fear gripped her heart. As hard as Dev tried to reassure her that he was her protector, she’d felt the muscles that rippled along his body, not to mention the sword and two daggers hanging from his belt under his cloak. He could kill her with a flick of his wrist.

  She waited for the blow, but it never came. Silver light radiated from his hands. Her pulse slowed, and a strange feeling of calm wrapped around her. Her fingers uncurled. “Please, I don’t want to be a Soulbearer,” she whispered. “Can’t you take Loku from me?” His expression fell flat, and he released her. “I’m sorry, Trouble. I wish I could.”

  “So I’m stuck with him?”

  “Until you draw your last breath.”

  Now she understood why some of the previous Soulbearers decided to kill themselves.

  The idea of slowly turning into Robb terrified her.

  “It’s not all that bad. You and me, we’ll have fun together.”

  “I wish I could believe you, Loku.”

  Dev’s hand wrapped around hers. She savored the brief contact. After her mother died, the villagers treated her like a leper, scared to touch her because she appeared so different from them. When they did approach her, it was with fists and threats. Yet here was a man who knew what evil lived inside her and wasn’t afraid to hold her hand.

  “Are you feeling a bit more rational now?” He waited until she nodded before he added,

  “Good, let’s go. There’s a necromancer in the area, and I want to get as far away from him as I can.”

  Her feet moved in response to the gentle tug of his hand. “Why?” One auburn eyebrow arched. “Besides the pain of dealing with undead?”

  “So you weren’t lying about that, were you?”

  He lifted her up on his horse and stared at her. “This isn’t some wild tale I’m fashioning to scare you. I believe the necromancer was behind Robb’s death.”

  “And if that’s true, you’re the next target.”

  Arden froze. What kind of trouble had she gotten herse
lf into now?

  Chapter 4

  Trouble stopped asking questions for almost an hour after Dev told her about the necromancer. The silence soothed him after all of her hysterics earlier. Thankfully, the calming spell seemed to work on her.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked when the shadows began to lengthen from the late afternoon sun.

  Her nose moved from side to side against his back.

  He cringed at the thought of what she might have wiped on his cloak. “I’m planning on stopping at an inn tonight. You could use a bath and some suitable travelling clothes.”

  “I smell bad?”

  Far from it. Underneath the smoke, she still smelled of warm bread and baked apples.

  “You’re covered in soot and dirt.”

  She sighed. “I suppose a bath would be nice, and a hot meal.” A hot meal would do her some good. Several meals, in fact. She was far too thin for his liking. The hollowed recesses under her cheeks and along her collarbones made him fear she would snap in his hands.

  “Why did you want to return to that place when they treated you so horribly?” She removed one hand from his waist. Although he couldn’t see what she was doing, he suspected she was playing with the thin gold chain around her neck. “It’s the only home I’ve ever known. My mother was from there.”

  “And where is she now?”

  Her body went rigid. “She died ten winters ago.”

  “And your father?”

  “Why are you interested in my past?”

  The acid in her voice almost singed him. He had unwittingly stumbled on a touchy subject with her. But at least now he knew why she worked for that bully of an innkeeper. “I was just curious about you. Perhaps if I knew more, I might understand why Loku chose you.” She flinched, followed by a hiss.

  “What?”

  “Loku said something very crude.”

  Despite her reaction, he couldn’t suppress his amusement. “That sounds like him.”

  “Have you ever heard him?”

  Her body began to relax against his again, and the sensation felt so good, it almost unnerved him. She was the first female Soulbearer, a fact he couldn’t ignore. Dev cleared his mind and focused on her question instead of the pressure of her cheek between his shoulders.

  “I’ve had a few conversations with him over the years. Occasionally, he’ll take over the Soulbearer’s body and speak.”

  “Like last night?”

  The image of her face when Robb grabbed her hand and Loku spoke to her flashed in his mind. He’d called her tasty. Odd choice of words for the thin girl riding behind him. Dev had drawn his sword and was about to rouse Robb from Loku’s control with a whack on the shins when the assassin’s blade lodged itself in the old man’s back.

  Guilt over his failure weighed down his limbs like heavy chains. This was the first time a Soulbearer had been murdered. He feared what the Mages’ Council would say when they learned about it. They would probably strip him of his responsibility. Not that he minded. He’d been risking his life to protect Soulbearers for over a century now, and Loku had thwarted him at every opportunity.

  “Why did you choose her over me, Loku?” he asked.

  Trouble flinched again.

  “What did he say?”

  She hesitated. “He said you were too stiff.”

  “Were those his exact words?”

  “Um, no, but I don’t want to repeat what he said exactly.” Dev chuckled. He could only imagine what Loku said. “For a barmaid, you seem unusually prudish.”

  His comment earned him a smack on the back of his head. “Just because I worked in an inn doesn’t mean I saw to my customer’s every comfort. And if you think you’re going to get under my skirt, think again.”

  His cheeks burned for a second. It had been so long since he’d been with a woman, he’d almost forgotten what it felt like. She didn’t need to remind him. His throat tightened, and he cleared it before replying, “You don’t have to worry about that. As your protector, I’m never allowed to let my guard down. What I meant to say is that you should be used to such language from your customers.”

  “Most of them preferred not to speak to me. I think they feared I would set them on fire or something.”

  The loneliness in her voice almost made him glad he was taking her away from this backwards kingdom. He just wished it wasn’t under these circumstances. “So you are a witch.” Her arm tightened around his waist, forcing the air from his lungs. “I never said that.”

  “There’s no reason to hide it from me. I’m a mage, too.”

  “Then we’ll burn together if we’re caught.”

  “The key word there is ‘if.’ I plan on getting you out of Ranello as quickly as possible.” They emerged from the forest with the sun setting on their backs. An arid plain stretched out in front of them, baked golden in the early autumn sun. Farther up the road, smoke curled from the chimneys of a small settlement. Dev pulled the hood of his cloak lower to conceal his face and ears. The fewer questions asked about him, the better. “When we come to the inn, we’re getting one room.”

  “I want my own room.”

  He clenched his jaw and counted to five. “No, we’re going to share one room. I’m not letting you out of my sight after sunset.”

  “So much for your gallant promises to leave my virtue intact.” The leather reins nearly cut into his palms from squeezing them so tight. Trouble had a bit more of a sassy tongue than he’d expected. “I’ll sleep on the floor in front of the door. Now, stop arguing with me before we draw too much attention to ourselves.”

  ***

  One room? What the hell was he thinking? That she would be so grateful to him for kidnapping her—sorry, saving her life—she would willingly throw herself at him? It didn’t matter that he was probably the best-looking member of the male gender she’d ever seen. She still wasn’t a two-lora whore.

  “I bet you’d warm his bed for less than two loras.” Her cheeks burned. “Loku, will you please get your mind out of the gutter? ”

  “I wouldn’t have said it if you hadn’t been thinking it.” Arden buried her face in Dev’s cloak and prayed to the Lady Moon no one would see her embarrassment as they rode into the town.

  They stopped in front of a mud-brick building with a thatched roof that towered over its neighbors. The carved wooden sign above the door proclaimed it to be the Happy Hog Inn.

  She slid off the horse, wincing. Her muscles ached from the long ride, and the skin between her thighs felt like it had been rubbed raw by pumice stones. Her skirt wasn’t designed for riding.

  The cool breeze penetrated her weary bones. She welcomed the blast of warmth flowing from the cheery interior. Various travelers crowded around the tables in the main room. A wisp of silence hung in the air as they entered.

  A thin man with deep creases folded into his leathery face approached them. He wiped his hands on his apron a little too thoroughly, probably a way to excuse himself from shaking their hands. “Welcome to the Happy Hog. How can I help you, strangers?” Her spine stiffened. Of course, they would draw attention without saying a word. A hooded man, a yellow-haired girl, and a wolf. Who would find anything normal about that?

  “We were hoping you had two rooms available for the evening,” she replied, hoping her voice sounded calm.

  “One room will be fine,” Dev growled behind her.

  She plastered a sweet smile on her face, ignoring him. “I prefer two.”

  “One.” His green eyes glowed from shadows that concealed his face, and her blood ran cold.

  “You’ve pissed him off now, my little Soulbearer.”

  “Tell me something I didn’t know.”

  The man cleared his throat. “I only have one room available this evening. The trade routes are full with the harvest going on, and so is my inn.”

  “We’ll take it.” Dev discreetly dropped several gold coins in the man’s hand. “My apprentice could use a bath and some more suitable clothing for travelling
. Perhaps you could assist us with that, as well.”

  The innkeeper’s eyes widened past his droopy eyelids at the sight of gold in his palm. “My boy has a few things he’s outgrown that may fit the young lady. I’ll tell my girls to start heating up some bathwater as well.”

  “No need to do that. My apprentice will be fine with a cold bath.” Arden gritted her teeth. So this was her punishment for disagreeing with him. She would have preferred a slap to the face rather than the cool intensity of his glare. At least she’d know he’d gotten his anger out of his system.

  “Come this way, and I’ll show you to your room.”

  Dev’s hand pressed against the small of her back. She followed the innkeeper to a small corner room with a fireplace and a bed large enough to share. Her gaze fixated on it, and her pulse raced. Would he keep his word and sleep on the floor?

  “I hope you’ll find this to your liking. Let me light the fire—”

  “I can do that.” Dev moved in front of the fireplace, blocking the innkeeper. “Just please see to the bath.”

  He backed away, colliding with the young woman carrying the metal tub. “Of course. I’ll be back in a few minutes with some water.”

  Dev closed the door behind them and crossed his arms. “Why did you disobey me?” Arden mimicked his posture. She wasn’t going to let him know how much she wanted to hide under the bed. “I’m the Soulbearer. You’re my protector. If anyone should be giving orders around here, it’s me.”

  “Wrong. Until you complete your training, you’re just a little scrap of a girl with a half-crazed god of chaos trying to control your mind and a necromancer on your tail. You need me to keep you sane and alive, so until we get to Gravaria, I suggest you do as I say and not challenge me again.”

  She lifted her chin, refusing to look away from him. “Or you’ll do what?” His upper lip lifted in a snarl.

  “Uh-oh, wrong answer. You’re awfully good at pissing him off, my Soulbearer. I’m going to enjoy watching you two in the coming years.” Dev opened his mouth to say something, but the entrance of three people interrupted him.