Page 2 of Storms of His Wrath

Silence pressed down like a weight over the council, unease shifting their bodies.

“It had to be the stone,” Prillu said, almost to herself. “It must have transported her.”

Akoro went perfectly still, a deadly calm descending over him. He took a step toward her, then another, until he towered over her. “The stoneyougave her,” he said, the words landing heavily. “Why would you give my Omega an active stone to experiment with?”

Fear flickered across Prillu’s face, but there was something else there too—not guilt, but something close to shock. Her bewilderment gave him pause; he’d never seen such an expression on Prillu’s face.

“I checked it myself.” She swallowed, her voice breaking slightly. “There was no activity in it.” Her large eyes were haunted, filled with genuine alarm. “It was dormant, my king. I wouldn’t have risked something happening to the princess?—”

“Even though she is to blame for your sons’ injuries?” Akoro asked, his voice deep and biting. “Even though your anger with her about that never faded?” As he spoke, disappointment twisted in his stomach. He had believed her when she said she’d uphold her vow, but maybe he’d been too trusting.

“No! No, my king. I didn’t plot against her. I was hoping for her success.” Prillu’s large eyes were bright and piercing, her throat drawing in a swallow. “Of course I was angry about what happened to my sons, but the princess’s control of magic and her ability to end our struggle with it is the only way they will have a safe life here in Tsashokra. I would never plot against that possibility.”

Akoro studied Prillu with predatory intensity, his eyes tracking every minute shift in her wild expression. Something in her desperation cut through his doubt—the slight tremble of her hands, the uncharacteristic widening of her eyes, the raw edge to her voice. His rage still burned hot and savage in his chest, but his instincts, honed from years of detecting deceit, told him she wasn’t lying. The realization lifted a small weight of relief from his chest while deepening the dread that Naya was in real danger. “Where did you get the stone?”

“It was from a new batch,” she explained. “That’s why I picked it. There were unlikely to be any mistaken active stones from there.”

“Where did this batch from?” Oppo asked.

“Ntorkkan.” As she spoke, Prillu’s expression changed to one of realization. “From Soge Otenyo’s district.”

Otenyo. The same soge who had demanded Naya’s punishment for the city’s devastation; who had lost a votechallenging Akoro’s authority; who had been furious enough to attempt an ambush on their journey to the Omega forest.

Silence fell over the rooftop, heavy and charged.

If the districts were plotting against the Sy Dynasty using tools that could not be detected, then they were already more powerful than anyone realized.

“But how could they deliberately target the princess that way,” Tshel asked, doubt in her tone. “How could they know the princess would have ended up with that stone?”

“Yes, it’s unlikely,” Ranin said.

“Or it’s very sophisticated,” Akoro growled. “What we have seen goes against everything we know about magic and our city. We cannot underestimate whoever did this.” He looked over them all and his eyes landed on Nrommo. “Gather a small troop,” he ordered. Turning sharply on his heels, his ceremonial robes billowed as his voice cut across the roof, sharp and tense. “We’re traveling to Otenyo’s district.”

CHAPTER TWO

The pain struck first, raw and merciless across Naya’s face, then came the blood, hot and fast, spilling down.A circle of Omegas tightened around her, their expressions shifting from suspicion to alarm at the blood spurting through the fingers she pressed against the wound.

One of the Omegas to her right spoke, her tight voice carrying through the canyon. “It’s annol ttaehh mael.”

Naya didn’t recognize the words, but gasps shot out into the air from around the circle, horror transforming all the Omegas’ faces. She tried to organize her thoughts, the pain worsening with each second. “I-I need to….” She automatically reached for her awareness to access magic to stanch the wound.

As soon as she accessed it, it jumped outward in every direction, and shock hit her. Powerful magic was embedded in the entire canyon—from the river that flowed through it, to the high walls—all of it pulsed with a slow, heavy thrum. She hadn’t originally noticed the magic surrounding them, which reminded her of the magic in her forest.

The crystal at the top of the tall Omega’s staff began to gleam, as though it had been hit by sunlight. All of the Omegas stopped moving at the sight of it.

“Stop that,” the tall Omega said sharply to Naya. “Are you trying to kill us all?”

Was that crystal gleaming because of her?

“Stop accessing magic,” the tall Omega said again. “You don’t need it to heal, we will do that for you.”

Naya hesitated for a moment and then reined in her awareness, pulling it back like she would a physical limb. The crystal’s light dimmed instantly, and the Omegas visibly relaxed, though wariness remained in their stances. Naya kept her eyes on the crystal. She’d never seen anything like it. In her land, it took application of will or language to move or affect magic. How could this crystal merely sense an awareness? And why had they all tensed?

The tall Omega, who appeared to be the leader, barked orders to the others, and suddenly hands were on Naya’s arms, steadying her. The lead Omega strode forward until she was directly in front of Naya, her dark eyes scrutinizing Naya’s face. “How did you get this wound?” she demanded. “You are not an Omega of thessukkurian. Who did this to you?”

Naya stared at her. They were speaking the Common Tongue. She leaned back slightly, her thoughts whirling, realization creeping over her. She didn’t know anything about these Omegas. From everything Akoro said, she’d thought they’d been abandoned and discarded, left to fend for themselves against dangerous magic that was destined to kill them. Yet here they were armed with weapons in a beautiful, magic-laden canyon that no one in Akoro’s council had listed on any of the maps. They spoke the Common Tongue, and their use of magic was sophisticated, especially if they were ones who’d brought her here. And if they had, they were no different from Akoro when he kidnapped her. She had to be careful. Just because they were Omegas, who she’d assumed were destitute and in need of her compassion and help, didn’t mean they were friendly.

She opened her mouth to ask a question, but a wave of dizziness lurched through her—a floaty disorientation that made the world tilt and sway.

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