A Soul For Chaos (The Soulbearer Trilogy) by Crista McHugh Read Free Book Online Page A

explored the rest of the cabin, painfully aware of how the horizon rolled from side to side. “There appears to be a small bed here, Dev. Will this work for you?”
    He tossed his things on the built in bench that was long enough to serve as a third bed. “It will. This way, I can keep an eye on who’s entering your room.”
    “Feeling threatened, Dev?” Kell came behind her, placing his hand on her shoulder as though he was her blood.
    She shrugged it off and picked up her pack. At the rate they were going, she’d probably spend the rest of the voyage keeping them from beating the crap out of each other.
    “Not by you. There are more important things for me to protect Arden from—like magic.” Dev caught her gaze. The seriousness behind his green eyes made the hairs on the back of  her neck rise. “Deadly magic.”
     

Chapter 6
     
    The high priest of Nelos hurried through the underground corridors, nearly drunk from giddiness. Not only had the Tribunal of the Gods called a new meeting to discuss the Soulbearer, but he was now armed with information from Nelos himself on how to destroy Loku before the cursed god landed in Gravaria and plunged it into panic and disorder. Once chaos was vanquished, he could help usher in a new era of law and order. There would be peace and prosperity, and the people would no longer have to fear Loku gaining control of his Soulbearer and unleashing havoc on their homeland. 
    He was the last one to enter the temple. The woman wearing the mask of Ivis glared at him from behind her glittering mask and slammed the doors behind him with a flick of her wrist. “At last, here’s Nelos.”
    He ignored the sarcasm dripping from her voice. “The law never sleeps, and neither do its servants. I was preoccupied with my many duties.” Including a summons from my god.
    She turned her attention from him and addressed the room. “We have received word that an attempt was made on the life of the Soulbearer in Ranello.”
    The priest forced his body to remain still, grateful for the mask that concealed his face from the others. How did she know about the attack? Or worse, was this meeting called to thwart his efforts before he struck again?
    Jussip peered down the blade of his ax as though he were inspecting it for any nicks that might dull its edge. “Not surprising, considering how much those backward Ranellians fear magic. I’m more surprised she’s lived this long.”
    “The attack didn’t come from the hands of her people.” Ivis wove in a pause for pure theatrical purposes. “The attack itself was magical. Someone summoned an earthquake in Trivinus.”
    Her accusing gaze lingered the longest on him. If she was expecting him to confess, she would be sorely disappointed. Nelos had granted him the power to make the earth buckle and sway under Ranello’s crown city, but he refused to brag about it. Not when he’d failed to complete his objective. The god of chaos still lived, trapped in the body of a witch who fell deeper and deeper under his control with each passing second.
    “What makes you think one of us was behind the attack?” Sulia asked.
    “Only a powerful mage could summon an earth spell and carry it that distance.”
    “Then perhaps you should be interrogating the Mage Primus or one of the other mages in the Conclave,” Kylow sneered.
    “No,” the winged goddess, Lireal, replied. “The Mage Primus is not behind this, nor is any common mortal.”
    “Lireal speaks the truth.” Ivis stood and came to the center of the circle. “A spell of this magnitude requires the assistance of a deity, which is why we’ve all gathered together. One of our gods tried to kill the Soulbearer, and we need to petition him or her to stop.”
    Fury boiled up inside him, both from him and the god he served. “And why should we dare interfere with the workings of a god?”
    Ivis spun around to him in a swirl of her golden robes. “Because even gods are fallible.” Her heretical