Frozen Tides (Falling Kingdoms #4)(17)

Lucia reached into her cloak, pulled out a bag of coins, and placed a silver one on the table to pay for their meal, her mind still reeling from this new and powerful discovery.

A bald man with a short black beard approached their table, smiling. “Good evening to you both.”

“Good evening,” Kyan replied.

He rested the edge of his dagger on the table. “I’m not one for formal introductions, so let me get right to the point. I’m very interested in that pretty bag of coins you were just waving about. How about you give it to me, and then all of us can leave this public house unharmed?”

Lucia regarded him with disbelief. “How dare you insult me,” she hissed, lurching up to her feet.

He laughed. “Sit down, little girl. And you too,” he said, looking fiercely at Kyan.

“Lucia,” Kyan said calmly, taking a seat again. “It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not.” In the space of a heartbeat, Lucia had grown ready to peel the skin from this loathsome thief one inch at a time for this insult.

“Oh, you’ve got some fire in you, don’t you?” The thief’s loathsome gaze slid over her open cloak as he nodded with leering approval. “I like pretty young girls with fight in them. Makes it more interesting.”

“Kyan,” Lucia snarled. “Can I kill him?”

“Not quite yet.” Kyan leaned back in his chair and pressed his palms down against the table, looking completely at ease. “See, Lucia? This is a perfect example of what I was talking about before. Mortals have so much potential, but they lust after such base, unimportant things. A few pieces of gold or silver, meaningless sex. Small symbols of power or momentary pleasure. Immortals aren’t any better. It disgusts me.” He looked up at the thief and shook his head. “If you’d only ask for help, we’d give it to you. Are you hungry? Let us buy a meal. I do recommend the barley soup they have here.”

The thief eyed him. “As if you’d actually help a stranger.”

Kyan nodded. “If every mortal looked at others as their friends, not as their enemies, the world would be a much better place, wouldn’t it?”

Lucia regarded Kyan with total bemusement. He sounded like the Limerian priest who used to give long sermons about the goddess Valoria and her virtues.

Trust strangers. Give of yourself. Be kind.

She’d once believed in such nonsense.

“That’s so incredibly kind of you, friend,” the thief said, smiling. Then he raised his dagger and stabbed it down, hard, pinning Kyan’s left hand to the table. “But I’d really prefer to get what I asked for. Give me that bag of coins now, or I’ll stick my dagger in your eye next.”

Lucia stared at Kyan with shock as the fire god calmly studied his impaled hand. “I offered to help you, and this is what you do?” he asked, dismayed.

“I didn’t ask for your help. Only asked for your gold.”

Kyan slowly pulled his hand toward himself, forcing the blade to slice between his fingers.

The thief grimaced and nearly gagged. “What the—?”

Now free from the dagger, Kyan rose to his feet, his previously peaceful expression only a memory. His eyes had shifted from amber to blue, so bright that they glowed in the dimly lit tavern.

“Your weakness disgusts me,” he said. “I need to cleanse it from this world.”

The thief took a step backward, raising his hands in surrender. “Look, I don’t want any trouble.”

“Really? You could have fooled me,” Lucia said, her skin still crawling from the lecherous way the man had looked at her. “Kill this pathetic mortal, Kyan, or I’ll do it myself.”

She felt the heat before she saw the fire. A narrow whip of flames snaked toward the man, licking his boot and slowly winding up his ankle, calf, and thigh like a vine of fire. Every patron in the tavern took notice as chairs skidded against the wooden floor and men and women collectively rose to their feet with alarm.

Lucia watched fear flicker in their eyes as they watched the strange fire entangle the thief.

The thief stared at Kyan with wide eyes. “No! Don’t—whatever you’re doing—don’t do this!”

“It’s already done,” Kyan replied simply.

“You—what are you? You’re a demon! An evil beast from the darklands!”

The flames engulfed his mouth and face until his entire body, head to toe, became a torch. Then, suddenly, the fire turned from deep amber to brilliant blue—just as Kyan’s eyes had.

The thief screamed. The shrieking sound reminded Lucia of a frightened rabbit caught in the jaws of an ice wolf.

The crowd around them scrambled, tripping over each other in their rush to get outside. The thief continued to burn, and the fire caught hold of the dry wooden chairs, wooden tables, wooden floor. Soon the entire tavern was ablaze.

“He deserved to die,” Kyan said, calmly.

Lucia nodded. “I agree.”

Still, Lucia felt shaky as she followed him through the flames—flames that didn’t burn or even touch her. She glanced over her shoulder as the screaming finally stopped and watched as the thief’s body shattered like a blue crystal statue hitting a marble floor.

Once outside, Lucia took one more look at the burning tavern.

There was no one in this world who could stop them from reaching their goal. A god and a sorceress—they were the perfect match.