Dark Dealings Read Online Free PDF Page B

her but she only had a twinge of guilt at what she planned to ask of Heyerdar.
    The air tasted different in the lowest chambers. She was never quite prepared for it, because like everyone else she maintained a discreet distance from the emperor’s senior captain. With her new knowledge, she could name it. It was the essence of the elemental, his magic staining the walls, the air. Layers of it. So thick she could almost eat it.
    She fought to focus. The words of Roald and Kare ran through her mind, of watching Heyerdar grab two boys and bury them in the wall. Of his listening to their screams and doing nothing.
    A shiver ran over her skin but she ignored it. She had a deal that could get them what they both wanted. And if he said no, she could run.
    Her heart in her throat, she slipped through the gap in the heavy doors leading into his rooms.
    Sweat trickled down her spine that had nothing to do with the warm air. She was playing with her life. He was elemental, unpredictable. She’d heard rumors of past apprentices sent on dares and never returning, of him leaving a pile of bones outside the doors to his rooms. They’d looked gnawed.
    Ava frowned, irritated that she’d fall back into myth and rumor. Still, her fingers dropped to the small blade at her hip. It wouldn’t be much of a defense against muscle, armor and steel, but it bolstered her courage.
    She moved forward, her gaze darting over the worn tapestries, the flickering lamp stand picking out the gold threads in the embroidery. Ancient images of the Institute covered the fabric, the symbols of the elementals stitched into each stone. It was a reminder that his was the oldest form of magic.
    She paused at the next door, her heart in her throat. She flexed her fingers before they balled into a fist. Taking a deep breath, she rapped twice on the thick wood and forced herself to wait.
    She clung to her calm as the hinges grated and the door pulled back.
    Heyerdar leaned in the stone arch, his hand draped over the high lintel of the wooden door. He’d removed his armor, the thick linen undershirt stained by rust and dark leather. Lamplight touched his golden eyes and the streaks of copper in his blond hair. He tilted his head, his frown in place.
    “What do you want, thief?”
    His low voice was bitter, the curl of anger she’d felt when she’d taken his trace of magic into herself still there in his voice. Reist had stolen his woman. And nobody took anything from an elemental. Ava didn’t answer. She did what she did best and slipped past him into his room.
    “I didn’t say you could come in.”
    His snarl followed her, echoing in the low arch of the stone chamber. He glared, his golden eyes more animal, more a part of nature than human, caught her and pinned her to the stone wall. Literally. Almost as if the cut stone reached out to grab her, took her body and wouldn’t release her. So much for her plan to run. He was an earth elemental. Of course the wall was his to command.
    She pulled in a tight breath, the constriction of the stone somehow pressing tight against her lungs. She could almost taste his magic, and her mouth watered. “I have a proposition for you.”
    His gaze raked over her and he turned away. “I have no interest in you.”
    “Never said you did.”
    “You think I’m not particular?”
    “I know your tastes, Heyerdar. And they’re very particular. Tall. Blonde. A higher mage’s blistering magic.”
    He stood before the blackened hearth, his back to her. His shoulders tensed. “Get out.”
    Ava ploughed on. “A woman no longer in your bed.”
    Before she could move, he’d turned and with inhuman speed forced her hard up against the wall. His eyes glowed, his magic so close to the surface she could almost taste it. It licked at her senses, her own need aching to eat him. He’d be a foul burn, his blood and meat sour in her mouth, but with the new way she had... She pressed her lips together and her heart quickened.
    “Try to