Page 145 of Ashborne Phoenix

‘You aren’t weak,’ Kham insisted. ‘You are very, very strong—in a power they do not understand. Your fearlessness in the face of their strength makes no sense to them. They believe you have a weapon they cannot see, that could so easily defeat the power which has flattened all before it. So they retreat. They do not understand they’ve merely witnessed a door opened into the shadows. Light allowed into the sanctum. They look for far more nefarious armaments. Meanwhile, you remain safe behind a shield of love. Their power cannot touch you, and their darkness cannot penetrate.’

I didn’t feel fearless. I stared at Grace, trying to find the courage to leave her for an hour, and couldn’t do it.

‘You see that, don’t you, Voski?’

‘See what?’

‘Darkness never overwhelms light. Even the smallest candle, a seed of flame, can be seen at a great distance in the dark. It is only when the light is doused that the darkness wins. You shine a great light. As does Grace. Your flame will not be smothered.’

I hadn’t thought about it that way before, but he was right. In my life as a spy, light and flame played imperative roles. They were our weapons against darkness and hunger. Yet, they penetrated so completely, we were forced to choose when to apply them, so we wouldn’t alert our enemies to our presence among them.

I lost my breath for a moment, observing the allegory with everything that had happened.

Kham chuckled in my head. ‘Now you see it.’

I sat back in my chair, staring at Grace with a slack jaw.

Love is a shield.

Light overwhelms dark.

They can’t remove us. They can only run from what we bring and hope it won’t annihilate their shadows.

I blew out a breath, and my heart flipped as the tension eased out of my limbs.

No more fear.

‘Do what must be done. Trust the rest to the Creator’s plan, and to your very fierce dragon who watches over you,’ Kham murmured in my head.

‘I couldn’t give two shits about what happens to the Cruors right now. I wish they’d all died,’ I admitted. ‘All I want is for Grace to be safe and well. But that means we need to get out of this Godforsaken place.’

Before Kham could answer, there was a solid thud on the door of the suite—as if the back of a fist were applied to it. Grace startled out of sleep, and I leaped up, swearing, rushing out to the sitting room—cursing again when the banging continued until I wrenched the chair free, flipped the lock and swung the door wide—to freeze.

Standing in the doorway, broad enough to block my view of the guards beyond, was a fiercely upright nobleman. His black hair slicked back to frame his angular features, wide brow, and intelligent eyes.

Hanson.

The Unknown Quantity

~ VOSKI ~

Lord Hanson had always made me uneasy. He’d presented himself as an ally to my squad sister, Bren, when she worked here in Fyrehold. By her account, he had treated her with a respect usually lacking in this kingdom. Yet, he was aligned with a former Furyknight who’d proven to be a traitor.

I’d never quite ascertained where his loyalties lay before we were forced to leave. But I’d had very little to do with him, only observing from a distance when I’d been here before, and hidden myself among the servants.

He hadn’t been in any of the Cruor gatherings. Was that a good sign? Or simply good luck?

As we stared each other down, I didn’t miss that his usual lazy smile and casual stance were replaced with a tense posture that bordered on a threat.

His eyes darted past me to scan the room as I stood my ground and growled at him. “Lord Hanson, the guards were ordered not to allow anyone to the door unless the stakes were life and death. I trust you bring the antidote to a deadly infection, or some such?”

He smirked, but the smile fell from his features quickly. “Lord Ashford?” he said darkly. Then glanced to the side at the servants before returning a piercing gaze to me. “Among other things, that is.”

I went still. “Sir, I have no time for—”

“You’ll wish to speak with me. I believe we share a common goal. Your sister once endured my company. You should, as well.”

I rolled my jaw and fixed him with a gaze that usually unsettled others. But he merely stared back at me, waiting for a response.