A Soul For Atonement (The Soulbearer Series Book 4) by Crista McHugh Read Free Book Online Page A

me.”
    “And if I don’t?”
    Sazi lifted her gaze and rose to her full height, looking down on the young empress. “Then I will do what I must.”
    “Is that a threat?” Marist tapped the letter in her palm, unfazed by what would intimidate a normal mortal.
    “It is simply the truth.”
    A few more seconds passed before the empress held out the letter. “Loku cannot be allowed to regenerate his body.”
    “I know this.” Sazi took the letter, but Marist refused to release it until she had one final say in the matter.
    “I will not betray my goddess.”
    “Nor will I.” Sazi pulled the letter free from the empress. “I pray that I will not be tempted to consider otherwise.”
    As she flew west toward the far mountains that surrounded Lothmore Palace, the heaviness in her soul refused to yield. Betrayal came at a price.
    But so did obedience.

Chapter 7
     
    Arden’s bones ached by the time she rode through the gates of Lothmore Palace. For two days, she’d pushed her horse to her limits, resting only when the mare refused to take another step. The cold bite in the evening air and flurries swirling around her signaled winter was not far behind, and a new worry settled over her heart. The last thing she wanted was to be trapped here all winter because of another avalanche in the pass like last time.
    “ We’re here. Now what?”
    “We force him to tell us where the urn is.”
    A new worry twisted her gut from the malice in Loku’s voice. How far would he go to extract that information? “And if he doesn’t?”
    Vicious laughter echoed through her mind. Loku bore little love for Varrik, if their last stay in Lothmore was any indication, and she could almost taste the chaos god’s thirst for revenge over being outsmarted by the Lore Keeper.
    “ I won’t let you kill him ,” she warned. “ If I need to contain you —”
    “ If you contain me, then you’ll never learn where he hid my ashes, and you’ll never find the Blood of Lireal .”
    She winced. Sweet Lady Moon, what kind of mess had she gotten herself into? As much as she hated to admit it, she was at Loku’s mercy.
    Unless I find a way to do it on my own . Giving Loku back his ashes was not without its own set of consequences, but her weary mind offered no other suggestions. She slid off her horse and made her way to the door.
    It opened before she had a chance to knock. A brown-haired elf with almost colorless pale blue eyes greeted her with a barely suppressed sneer. Callix de Jaquoix, her father’s apprentice. “We’ve been expecting you, Soulbearer.”
    “It’s always a pleasure seeing you, too, Callix.”
    Time hadn’t dulled the loathing in his eyes as he stepped aside to let her enter. The Jaquoix family had ruled the Gravarian empire for centuries, but it was the marriage of Renna di Miloria to the former emperor that established the shift in power. Her father had explained that it was more than just politics that seemed to fuel Callix’s mistrust of her. The first five Soulbearers had been members of the Jaquoix family, and her position as both Soulbearer and a member of the Milorian family was a threat to his own.
    Just like the last time she entered the palace, a warm spell wrapped around her and drove the cold from her bones, welcoming her despite Callix’s chilly reception. She didn’t have to ask where to find her father. Varrik di Miloria was happiest among his books, and when he wasn’t in his massive library, he was in his small study. Since Callix mentioned they were expecting her, she went to the study first.
    One only had to look at Varrik to see where Arden had inherited her fair coloring. What had made her freak and outcast in Ranello answered any doubts about who sired her. With the exception of the shape of her mouth, Arden was a feminine version of her father, right down to the pointed tips of her ears, which had long been cut away by her fearful mother.
    Her father was pouring tea when she entered, but he