Shattered Souls (Guardians of the Maiden Book 3)

Cassiel’s wings were aching by the time they reached the forest outside of the Port of Azure. They stopped in the exact spot they last spoke to Lucenna. Letting his wings rest inside his enchanted jacket, he paced in the night as the wolf buried his nose in the grass to search for a scent, and Rawn crouched to study the ground by moonlight. Cassiel couldn’t do more than wait, but after an hour of windy silence, he knew the truth.

“This is pointless,” he said. “Her scent is gone.”

And it meant Dyna was out of his reach.

His chest only caved in further, and he leaned on his knees, struggling to breathe. She may live through a broken bond but he wouldn’t. No Celestial could live with only half a soul. But instead of grief, only rage seared in his veins. How dare they touch his mate. Something hot scorched his skin, and the air warped. His sword seemed to vibrate at his waist with the need to avenge.

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Tarn and everyone who served him, he would set every one of them aflame. His vision warped, shifting color. Someone was calling him but he couldn’t think past the roaring in his ears. Everything inside of him was blaze with an all-consuming decision to obliterate everyone and everything that kept him from Dyna.

“They took her from me.” His voice sounded strange to him, like a monstrous beast speaking from his mouth. “They will all burn.”

Blue flames surged from Cassiel’s fists and flared up his arms.

Zev and Rawn jumped back with a startled shout.

The heat burning through his body vanished beneath Cassiel’s shock. All three of them gaped at the fire dancing at his fingertips. They glowed vividly within the dark trees as though he held tendrils of fallen stars.

“Elyōn,” he breathed. “What…”

“I thought I had seen you do that before. Is that not normal?” Zev asked, the cerulean firelight illuminating the astonishment on their faces.

He had to swallow before he could speak. “Nothing about this is normal. This shouldn’t be possible…”

And why didn’t it burn him? He felt the tremendous heat it expelled in the air and so did the others by the way they stood far away from him. But in his hands, the scalding heat didn’t seem to bother him. The flames swam through his fingers, and up his wrists, merely hovering there as though…waiting for something. He stood stock still, not daring to move in case he made it worse.

They were staring at him. “Prince Cassiel…”

“What?”

“Your eyes are burning,” Zev said. “With flames.”

Then Cassiel noticed his vision was also cerulean. He tried to blink it away in a panic and it eventually went back to normal. “What is happening? This is Seraph fire.” He stared at his hands. “It’s not supposed to be…free…in this manner.”

“There is no record of it happening before?” Rawn asked.

The question distracted Cassiel enough that the flames died away. “It did. Once. A thousand of years ago with the first Celestial king, but never since. Seraph fire very rare and only wielded by weapon alone.”

“Well, not at the moment,” Zev said warily. “What does it mean?”

Cassiel groaned and roughly raked his hair out of his face. “I don’t know and I don’t care to know. I cannot fathom anything past the fact that my hands were on fire and it didn’t harm me. At the moment, all I care about is Dyna.”

They stared at him, clearly wanting to ask more about it, but whatever they saw on his face warded off their replies. He didn’t have answers. His heart trembled and questions rattled in his mind, but it was a problem for later.

“What are we to do now?” he asked them. “We can’t do this without Lucenna, and her scent is gone.” Cassiel’s eyes widened when a new concern hit him. “There is a chance she may not be in Urn’s Chip anymore.”

“With the bounty on our heads, Lady Lucenna may not be able to board a ship.”

Zev rubbed his face. “She can easily cast glamour to change her appearance and get past the guards.”

Rawn shook his head. “She fears capture by her father and she is now wanted. Highly populated areas carry a higher risk. I believe she would resort to what feels safe, and that is taking to the wilderness to avoid main roads as she had before. But the kingdom is vast and I must admit, I have little hope we will find her.” He sighed. “This may be beyond us.”

Cassiel felt as if he might spark fire again. They couldn’t give up here. “I will fly above and search for her myself.”

“You will only search aimlessly, Prince Cassiel. You are but one person.”

“Then I will search the skies until I fall down dead!” He was at his wit’s end. The three of them were not enough and they couldn’t follow him into the sky.

His breath caught, and he looked up at the moon. There were others up there. The Valkyrie were out searching for him. Calling them was at a huge risk, but he didn’t care. For Dyna, he would do anything. Even if the cost was giving up his freedom…and his wings.

Cassiel removed his jacket.

“What are you doing?” Zev asked.

“I’m leaving to find reinforcements. The Valkyrie will be nearby.”

“Is that a wise choice?” Rawn said.

“At the moment, it’s the only choice.” Cassiel folded his jacket and slipped it into his pack. “We need Lucenna to find Dyna and we need help to find them both as soon as possible”

“But won’t they force you to return to the Realms?” Zev asked.

“They will certainly try, but I will convince them to aid us in the search first. We were headed for Hermon Ridge before all of this happened. If we don’t reunite our group and cross Troll Bridge before winter arrives, we will be stuck in Azure. And well, I will probably perish from the broken bond. So yes, I must do this.”

Zev exchanged a look with Rawn. “Which way do you think they went?”

Cassiel studied the dark stretch of sky. “Most likely north. They will assume that is the direction I would take to avoid any towns and cities.”

“Then we will head east.”

“Why east?”

“We know Dyna is somewhere west,” Rawn said. “Lucenna will not have returned south. East is the best direction.”

“And Lord Norrlen said there are Lycans in the plains near Emberdin,” Zev added. “They’re called the Lupin Pack.”

The news left Cassiel momentarily speechless. Zev shifted on his feet, optimism entering his expression. This was the first they were speaking about it but he could tell how much it meant to know there were others like him.

“Wolves help wolves.” Zev shrugged. “Perhaps it’s the same for Lycans.”

Cassiel nodded and clapped his shoulder. “I wish you luck.”

“And to you.”

Rawn mounted Fair. “God of Urn willing, this works and we will be reunited soon.”

Please, Cassiel sent a prayer to Heavens. Guide me back to her.

His wings flapped open and he leaped into the icy air. Catching the wind, he rode it high into the misty clouds, chasing what he couldn’t reach.

“I will find you,” he whispered into the frozen void. And he swore some part of him heard her reply. I’m waiting.

Cassiel flew all night, searching high among the clouds for any sign of the fierce, female warriors who may very well be his last hope. He kept his sword out, the cerulean flames trailing behind him like a flag. Every thirty miles, he would swoop down to set a tree aflame and leave behind a trail for only those who recognized Seraph fire. But dawn arrived on the horizon, marking the end of his fruitless search. They must be further up north. He would have to travel on foot during the day to avoid being spotted by humans, then take to the skies again once it was dark.

The bitter air chilled his lungs, and he exhaled heavily with a curse. The action made his chest tighten with pain. It was telling him his body couldn’t endure much longer this way, but he refused to stop. He would never stop searching for her.

Cassiel sank through the clouds to fly to land—only to fall into a waiting net. It snatched him off his orbit and forced his wings against his back.

“There you are, little prince.”

He barely caught a glimpse of familiar red feathers before he was plummeting through the air. His vision spun with streaks of sky, clouds, and golden armor. It felt as if his insides shot up inside him at the fall.

“Sowmya!” he bellowed. “Release me this instant, or I will have you demoted!”

The lieutenant’s chuckle blended with the roaring wind. They came to a short stop, and he was thrown from the net. Cassiel tucked his wings, and rolled mid-air to catch the ground and rise on his feet.

He glared at the female. “Was the net necessary?”

Sowmya gave him a cool smirk. The morning light glinted on the golden scale mail armor layering her shoulders and upper arms. On her plated chest was the embossed seal of Hermon Ridge: a Hyalus tree within a mountain. Her deep, wine-red wings fluttered as she removed her helmet, and tendrils of black hair tumbled around her dusky face flushed pink from the cold. “We could not risk you escaping us a second time.”

“You clearly followed my signal. I wanted to be found.”

“Yes, Your Highness. We rather enjoyed putting out the fires you left behind for every citizen in Azure to see.”

He stiffened at the curt voice and turned to face Yelrakel, Captain of the Valkyrie. Her gray gaze regarded him through her golden helmet molded into wings. She had always been like that with everyone. Eventually he realized she was simply a stoic female who took her position very seriously. Her large, gray wings arched behind her in the mild breeze as she marched to him with the rest of her squadron. Each held a different weapon: flaming swords, spears, bows and whips of fire.

She and Valkyrie clanked a fist over their hearts and lowered their heads to him in greeting. They were as unique to each other as the shapes of clouds in the sky, with a variety of skin tones, texture of feathers and hair, and eyes of every color.

Removing her helmet, wisps of red hair stuck to the sweat on the Captain’s forehead. She glanced at his sword. “Your flame, it has been blessed.”

“Yes.”

“When did it change?”

“That is not important right now.” He pressed on his dry eyes. “I spent all night searching for you.”

“As have we.” Her mouth pursed. “I’m sure you can imagine what I have come to say.”

Cassiel nodded stiffly. “Yes. Make the proclamation.”

Yelrakel straightened her shoulders. “The High King summons Cassiel Soaraway to answer for his crimes in regards to the events in the Port of Azure, and other related offenses. He is called to Hermon Ridge where the inquest is to be held.”

He knew it was coming, but hearing the summons sent a chill down his back and his wings shuddered. What he had done in the port couldn’t be ignored. His father would exile him, if only to make him an example before anyone else breaks Rael’s Laws.

Still, Cassiel held his composure. “I acknowledge the order, and I will make my way there presently,” he said. Yelrakel nodded and turned to lead her squad into the sky. “Once I have sorted a personal matter.”

The Captain jerked to a stop and metal ground against metal as all of the Valkyrie turned to stare at him.

“There is someone I must find, and I need your help.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “Your Highness, the High King—”

He held up a hand. “I understand my position, Captain. No one in their right mind would risk offending my father further, but truly, I’m not in my right mind. Delaying my summons will not change the outcome we both know awaits me.” He exhaled a low breath at her grim expression. “But I must do this. I must find her.”

“Who?”

This was it. The moment he exposed the extent of his misdeeds. Giving divine blood to a human was the most severe crime for their kind. But the Valkyrie wouldn’t go against his father’s order…unless there was another to overrule it.

There was one clause Rael made sure to put within their laws that all Watchers had to obey it as protectors of the Realms and the crown. The security of mates within the royal family overrode any order.

Dyna should be here taking part in this decision, but finding her took precedence. He needed to make the choice for both of them.

Cassiel straightened his shoulders and spoke his pronouncement. “I am searching for Dynalya Astron. A human who not only holds immunity and amnesty in all four Celestial Realms, but is now Princess Consort of Hilos. For she is my wife and True Bonded mate.”