Taste Of Darkness

She’s fought death and won. But how can she fight her fears?

Avry knows hardship and trouble. She fought the plague and survived. She took on King Tohon and defeated him. But now her heart-mate, Kerrick, is missing, and Avry fears he’s gone forever.

But there’s a more immediate threat. The Skeleton King plots to claim the Fifteen Realms for his own. With armies in disarray and the dead not staying down, Avry’s healing powers are needed now more than ever.

Torn between love and loyalty, Avry must choose her path carefully. For the future of her world depends on her decision….

Praise for New York Times bestselling author

“The action in this book is non-stop, with many twists and turns to keep the reader guessing about what’s in store on the next page.”

—Examiner.com on Scent of Magic

“Filled with Snyder’s trademark sarcastic humor, fast-paced action and creepy villainy, Touch of Power is a spellbinding romantic adventure that will leave readers salivating for the next book in the series.”

—USA TODAY

“The descriptions are vivid and draw you

into the rugged journey across the mountains.

You’ll want to follow their voyage into the next book.”

—RT Book Reviews on Touch of Power

“This is one of those rare books

that will keep readers dreaming long after they’ve read it.”

—Publishers Weekly on Poison Study, starred review

“Snyder delivers another excellent adventure.”

—Publishers Weekly on Fire Study

“A compelling new fantasy series.”

—SFX magazine on Sea Glass

Also by New York Times bestselling author Maria V. Snyder

from MIRA BOOKS

Avry of Kazan series

TOUCH OF POWER

SCENT OF MAGIC

TASTE OF DARKNESS

from MIRA INK

The Chronicles of IXIA

POISON STUDY

MAGIC STUDY

FIRE STUDY

STORM GLASS

SEA GLASS

SPY GLASS

Inside Series

INSIDE OUT

OUTSIDE IN

www.mirabooks.co.uk/mariavsnyder

Taste of

Darkness

Maria V. Snyder

www.mirabooks.co.uk

For my father—a perpetual tinkerer, who showed me the benefits

of hard work and persistence. It took me a while to catch on,

but I eventually “got” it. Thanks, Pop!

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Kerrick

Chapter 5

Kerrick

Chapter 6

Kerrick

Chapter 7

Kerrick

Chapter 8

Kerrick

Chapter 9

Kerrick

Chapter 10

Kerrick

Chapter 11

Kerrick

Chapter 12

Kerrick

Chapter 13

Kerrick

Chapter 14

Kerrick

Chapter 15

Kerrick

Chapter 16

Kerrick

Chapter 17

Kerrick

Chapter 18

Kerrick

Chapter 19

Kerrick

Chapter 20

Kerrick

Chapter 21

Kerrick

Chapter 22

Kerrick

Chapter 23

Kerrick

Chapter 24

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER 1

Cold air caressed my back. I rolled over, muttering at Kerrick for hogging the blanket, but stopped. Something felt...odd, wrong, missing. Opening my eyes, I confirmed the emptiness next to me. Kerrick was gone.

For a moment, I stared at the dent in the pillow. Had yesterday been a dream? Had I imagined Wynn’s betrayal, Tohon trapped in a magical stasis, Kerrick’s miraculous arrival, and the rest of the insanity?

No. The events replayed in my head with vivid details. The blood, the overpowering reek of dead ufas, and Wynn’s poisoned knife striking Kerrick’s arm. Poisoned with Death Lily toxin. I’d thought I’d sucked all the deadly poison from Kerrick’s wound...but what if I hadn’t?

Icy fingers of fear wrapped around my heart. I shot to my feet and dressed in record time. Kerrick’s shirt, boots, and sword lay in a heap by the dying fire. Not good.

Out in the large main cavern, the rest of the infirmary staff stirred. I scanned the patients’ cots on the off chance Kerrick had collapsed into one. He hadn’t.

Loren added wood to the cooking hearth, poking it into a bright blaze.

I rushed over to him. “Have you seen Kerrick?”

“Nope, and we figured we wouldn’t see either of you until...” His smirk faded. “Maybe he went outside for some fresh air.” This in a hopeful tone.

“Without his shirt?”

“Well, when nature calls...”

“Or his sword?”

Loren jumped up. “Let’s not panic, Avry.”

Too late.

“Have you searched the other caverns?” he asked.

“Not yet.”

“Okay, then you look for him inside, and I’ll go outside. If he’s not nearby, I’ll ask the guards if they saw him last night. All right?”

I nodded, but dread clawed up my throat. Kerrick wouldn’t be in another cavern unless he’d been too sick to find his way back to me. Gulping down the tight knot, I grabbed a lantern and checked all the other sleeping areas.

A few people grumbled after I swept the light over them, but I didn’t care.

Odd squinted in the brightness, but sat up as if he’d been awake. “What’s wrong?”

I explained.

He cursed. “Not only did Wynn stab us in the back, she’s twisted the blade, too.”

“While I’d love to plot revenge with you—”

“Yeah, go. I’ll be right out.”

The other caverns yielded the same results. Even the one reserved for the privy. A detached part of my mind noted the buckets needed to be dumped. However my heart kept its frantic rhythm. That was the last place inside. Perhaps...

Running back to the main cavern, I spotted Loren and Odd talking to a soldier.

“...sometime after midnight,” the man said. “Don’t recall if he came back or not.”

Loren rounded on him. “Don’t recall! You’re supposed to be guarding us. What if the enemy grabbed him? If someone goes into the woods and doesn’t come back, that’s a big red flag, you idiot!”

Odd touched Loren’s shoulder and tilted his head toward me. “Not helping right now.”

“He was outside?” I asked.

The guard had seen him leave. I dashed out into the cold morning air. The fresh scent of moist earth reminded me of Kerrick. Without hesitating, I embraced the closest bit of foliage, seeking the vibrations of Kerrick’s forest magic.

Nothing. I drew a shaky breath. Don’t jump to conclusions. He could be unconscious. Odd and Loren had followed me out. Six inches shorter than Odd, Loren ran a hand over his buzzed black hair. More silver sprinkled his hair despite only being thirty-five. Odd on the other hand had let his hair grow since Tohon’s surprise attack. Although saying it had grown was being generous. His dark brown locks remained close to his scalp in a fine fuzz.

“We need to search the area. Wake the others,” I ordered.

They hastened inside and soon Flea, Quain, and most of the soldiers had assembled by the cave’s entrance. Using one of Ryne’s military maps, Loren divided the surrounding area into quadrants. The infirmary cave was located in Pomyt Realm, northeast of Zabin and east of the ruins of the Healer’s Guild.

Quain growled at everyone, but he appeared healthy despite being frozen in Sepp’s magical stasis only yesterday. But Flea’s face remained pale and he seemed unsteady on his feet. The discovery of his ability to break Sepp’s stasis had taken a toll on him.

I moved closer to him. “Flea, stay here, you’re in no condition—”

“No. I’m going.” Despite being sixteen, he sounded much older. And his firm gaze meant I’d have an easier time convincing fire not to burn.

Before assigning quadrants to the teams, Loren pulled me aside. “Hate to bring this up, but if he’s... If we find...”

“A dead body?” Not like I hadn’t thought of it a million times since I’d woken up.

“Yeah.”

“Tell them to find me as fast as possible. I have the Lily map—we’ll head to the closest Peace Lily and hope for the best.” I glanced at Flea. A Peace Lily had saved his life and mine; it might save Kerrick’s.

The strain on Loren’s face eased just a bit. “Right.” He shouted orders and the teams of four headed into the woods, fanning out to their assigned areas.

No surprise that Loren, Quain, and Flea joined me. I trailed my fingers along the greenery, hoping to detect Kerrick’s magic. At this point, I’d pray to Estrid’s creator if I thought it would help.

As a group, we moved in silent mode. Despite Tohon’s current condition—frozen in stasis, because if he weren’t, he’d die from the deep stab wound in his chest, a little gift from me—his army still advanced from the south. Cellina had taken over command. Just as ruthless as he was, at least she couldn’t create more dead soldiers. And we’d discovered how to stop the ones in existence. So it was only a matter of time until we neutralized them all.

What if we didn’t find Kerrick in time? The Peace Lilys were picky. From the little I’d learned, the person in question either needed to be a magician or have the potential to be one, and the body had to be fresh. Flea’d been dead a few hours and I had died inside the Lily.

Well, actually, the Lily hadn’t brought us back to life. It’d preserved our bodies until another person touched us. I’d awoken Flea and Kerrick had saved me.

Kerrick, why didn’t you wake me? Why didn’t you tell me you felt sick?

What if the Peace Lily rejected him? Like it refused Ursan and Noelle? Although Ursan had been a magic sniffer, he’d been dead too long, and my sister, Noelle, hadn’t been gifted with magic. I was the only one in my family who’d developed powers. Healing powers, not that it helped with either of them. Or Kerrick. I couldn’t cure those poisoned by Death Lily toxin or infected with the plague.

The plague had killed two-thirds of the population of the Fifteen Realms. At least there hadn’t been a new case in almost three years. But during its prime, over six million people had died.

Gee, not like I wasn’t depressed enough. I focused my energies on the search. How far could one sick man go anyway?

The day dragged on. We made sweeping arcs through our area, but only managed to scare a few rabbits, which Loren shot with his bow. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the trees, heating the air to a comfortable level—summer’s last gasp. Fall started in eleven days.

Memories of last fall came unbidden. Around midseason Kerrick and the guys had rescued me from the guillotine. Because of his forest magic, his eyes had matched the color of the forest with warm browns, gold, and amber flecks. I huffed. His personality hadn’t coordinated at all. He’d been cold, mean, and only cared about healing Prince Ryne, which had been why he’d freed me from jail.

Loren raised his hand in a stopping motion. We froze, listening. Hope surged, but died just as quick. The noise of the other searchers’ passage had carried. They weren’t as skilled in moving through the forest. Instead of their movements blending in with the forest’s song, it stood out like an out-of-tune violin in a string quartet.

My emotions had been on an endless seesaw over the past month. First Tohon’s vast army had surrounded Estrid’s and he’d demanded unconditional surrender. Cellina had acted as his liaison and Kerrick’s sword had hung from her belt. She’d claimed Kerrick had been torn apart by her pack of dead ufas. He hadn’t. But then Ryne had sent Kerrick north to fight the invading tribes and a messenger had reported he’d died in the attempt. He hadn’t.

So this was just another false alarm. Right? Kerrick was like a cat with nine lives. Three down, five left. I clung to that thin thread of hope because... Well, if I didn’t, I’d shatter.

We searched all day.

When the sun hovered over the horizon, Loren called it off. “We can resume in the morning.”

“You can go back,” I said, “but I’m staying.”

“We need to regroup and see if anyone has seen anything.”

“I agree, but you don’t need me for that.”

Loren exchanged a glance with Quain. Close to my age of twenty-one, Quain had teamed up with Loren before joining Kerrick. Their antics had earned them the nickname the monkeys. I’d once quipped Quain was the bald monkey since no hair grew on his head.

“Avry, you haven’t eaten all day,” Quain said.

“Really, Quain? Is that all you got? Do you think I have an appetite right now?” I regretted my harsh sarcasm immediately. It wasn’t Quain’s fault.

He stepped closer to me. His voice dipped low. “You’re not the only one hurting here.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

Quain paused at that, blinking at me as if no one had ever apologized to him before. “Do you think you’ll be able to help Kerrick if you’re passed out from exhaustion?”

“I know my limits, Quain.”

“And how effective can one person be stumbling around in the dark?”

I drew breath to blast him again, but Flea said, “I’ll stay with Avry.”

Flea’s face had paled to bone white. The only color was the dark smudges underneath his eyes. He swayed on his feet. Talk about passing out... If I stayed, Flea would insist on staying, as well.

Sighing, I said, “You’re right. I’d be useless.”

Quain showed an amazing amount of restraint in not gloating over my comment. Loren raised his eyebrows, but kept quiet.

As we headed back, I walked next to Flea and took his hand. He squeezed my fingers in silent support. However, I had another purpose for linking hands. I sent him a subtle flow of magical energy. Since I’d awoken him, we had a bond. He sensed when I was in trouble, and we could share strength.

Once we found Kerrick, we’d have to figure out the extent of Flea’s new magic. Was he now a death magician or a hybrid magician who didn’t fit in one of the eleven categories of magic? The fact that he could break Sepp’s stasis made for another weapon in our growing arsenal against Cellina’s army. Funny to think of the thousands of soldiers as Cellina’s now.

I slowed as Flea grew stronger.

“Hey! Stop that.” He let go, shaking me off.

“Stop what?” I acted confused.

“Don’t pull that on me. I didn’t ask for help.”

“Yes, you did. You just didn’t know it.” And before Flea could protest, I added, “Healer. Remember? It’s what I do.”

“But what if we find Kerrick?”

What if? Those two words had haunted me all day. And just like with Flea, Kerrick and I shared a bond. I reached for the bushes, touching the leaves. Still no ripple of magic. Yet a tightness deep down inside me wouldn’t let me despair. It clung to the notion I’d been wrong about his death before. In fact, it reasoned that until I had proof to the contrary, I should assume he was alive.

“When we find Kerrick, I’ll have plenty of energy,” I said.

Back at the cave entrance, the other teams milled about, talking in low voices. From their universal serious expressions, I guessed they’d been unsuccessful.

“I’m sorry, Avry, but there’s been no sign of him,” Odd said, joining us. “A few of the teams covered their entire areas. Are you sure he’s sick? I hate to be gross...but we didn’t find any vomit. And it’s hard to imagine him traveling farther if he wasn’t feeling good.”

“Kerrick can be stubborn,” I said, hoping that annoying trait had saved him.

“He had to be sick. Why else would he be out without his shirt or sword?” Loren asked.

“All right. So he goes outside thinking he’s going to throw up...then what?” Odd asked.

We’d all assumed he collapsed, but... What if he’d realized he was dying? I imagined his thoughts and feelings at that moment, putting myself in his place. He’d promised me he wouldn’t die. But it was inevitable. Yet Kerrick didn’t give up easily.

I gasped. “He headed to a Peace Lily!”

CHAPTER 2

“Of course,” Flea said. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

And I wished I’d figured it out sooner. Sick and dying, Kerrick must have done the only thing he could—head to a Peace Lily. He’d been there when the Lily had saved my life and he’d recently learned about Flea’s survival. A surge of energy coursed through me.

“Could he find a Lily at night?” Odd asked.

“Yeah, he’s a forest mage,” Flea said.

“Loren, where’s the map you used for the search areas?” I pulled out my Lily map, but the sunlight was all but gone.

“I left it with the captain of the watch in case anyone returned and needed to find us,” Loren said.

“Go get it and ask the search teams how much of their areas were covered today. Oh, and see if they encountered any Lilys and where.”

“Got it.” Loren dashed off.

Quain, Flea, and Odd followed me inside the infirmary cave. I knelt next to the fire and spread my map out. The locations of the clusters of Lilys had been marked on it.

Handy, except the markings didn’t indicate if they were Death or Peace Lilys. For once it didn’t matter, because Kerrick also couldn’t tell the difference. He’d head for the closest cluster since the odds were in his favor. A hundred Peace Lilys grew for every Death Lily. However, I still needed to know if the teams had found any Lilys. Since I’d been using the map, I’d discovered it wasn’t 100 percent accurate.

I paused, letting the irony sink in. Death Lily toxin killed my sister and might take Kerrick, but it stopped Tohon’s dead soldiers, and had given me my healing magic. Ironic or warped? Or twisted? How about plain old sad?

Loren arrived with the information I’d requested. We consulted and pinpointed the closest Lily cluster. Half a day southwest. I remembered that group of six Lilys. One had been a Death Lily, and I’d harvested its toxin sacks. More important, five were Peace Lilys.

Standing, I said, “Let’s go.”

Quain exchanged a look with Loren, doing their silent monkey communication that Belen liked to tease them about. Belen. I bit my lip. No. I wasn’t going to think about him right now. If I did, I’d dissolve into a little puddle of goo. And time was too critical right now.

Pushing past Quain, I fetched my knapsack from my sleeping cavern. Kerrick’s clothes remained where I’d tossed them last night. I shoved them into my pack along with his boots. He’d need them; the air turned cold at nights. I wrapped my cloak around my shoulders.

When I returned, Loren and Quain waited for me with their packs. Flea sat by the fire. Two bright red patches spread on his cheeks, and his lips were pressed into a hard line. Odd stood behind him with his arms crossed. Their body language said it all.

“Here.” Loren handed me a few sticks of beef jerky. “You can eat it on the way.”

“Thanks.” I bit into one as we left the cave. A half-moon lit the sky, giving off just enough light for us to see the trail, but not enough to see well. We traveled slower than normal to avoid tripping. Plus we kept searching for Kerrick. He might have collapsed on his way to the Lilys. I touched the greenery from time to time, seeking his magic. My heart, though, wanted action and it raced regardless of our pace.

“I’d rather you had a hot meal before we left, but I rarely get my way,” Loren said.

“You stopped Flea from coming along.”

“Only because Odd threatened to sit on him. Flea said he wasn’t going to speak to me ever again.” Loren shook his head. “I’ve been waiting for Quain to say that for years.”

“Hey!”

I cut in before they could launch into a verbal battle. “You did the right thing, Loren. He needs to rest after yesterday.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t like to miss out. And I’m with him on this one. I wouldn’t want to be left behind, either.”

“Why is he so tired?” Quain asked in concern. “Is it because of...me?”

“I don’t remember him saving anyone else’s life yesterday,” Loren said.

“I know I owe him one. But what did he do to break the spell? I wasn’t dead. I was just...” Quain glanced at me. “What was I? I didn’t feel anything.”

“You were paused. Neither living nor dead, just suspended. Sepp once explained it as a fake death.”

“And now Tohon’s trapped in this fake death?” Quain asked.

“Yes. And according to Sepp, Belen is, as well. He used that information to try to stop Kerrick from killing him,” I said. Tohon had told me he’d turned Belen into one of his dead soldiers. I didn’t know who to believe, but I knew who I desperately wanted to believe. Either way, Belen had been missing for over a month.

“Estrid and her top staff are also frozen,” Loren added.

“Yeah, but it didn’t matter. No offense, Quain, but Tohon had to be stopped,” I said. “By taking out Sepp, no one would have been able to awaken him, or so we thought at the time. Cellina can’t create more dead soldiers. In the end, by killing Sepp we’d have saved thousands of lives.”

Except Wynn had hit Kerrick with her knife before he could finish Sepp off. Eventually Sepp, Wynn, and Cellina had escaped and Flea had awoken Quain.

“If it makes you feel any better, it was a very painful decision,” I said.

Loren put his hand on his stomach. “Like a bad bout of indigestion.”

“Thanks, I feel all warm inside.” He bumped Loren with his shoulder. “So now that Sepp’s still alive, what does that mean?”

Loren met my gaze. What indeed?

“It depends on Cellina,” I said. “If she likes being in charge, she’ll leave Tohon frozen. If she truly loves him...”

“She’ll come after Avry,” Loren said. “She’s the only one who can heal Tohon.”

Not exactly. Danny’s healing magic had awoken during his adventure with Kerrick in the north. But not many people knew about him. Yet another worry flared. Had Tohon told Cellina about his experiments with the Death Lily toxin? The people who survived being poisoned with the toxin all developed healing powers. Tohon had been injecting it into children, hoping to make healers. Danny and Zila had lived through it, but I’d rescued them. If Tohon had kept it secret, all should be well.

If not... I considered. Danny remained with the northern tribes and Zila stayed with Kerrick’s brother, Izak. Both were in Alga Realm, safe on the other side of the Nine Mountains for now.

“But Avry won’t heal Tohon,” Quain said. “Right? You agreed with Kerrick’s decision to kill Sepp.”

“Right. I won’t.”

“And we all know you can’t be threatened, bullied, coerced, or bribed to heal someone you don’t want to.” Loren smiled.

Quain rubbed his neck. “Yeah, we learned that lesson the hard way.”

“I’d say Kerrick had the most learning to do. Fun times.”

I wouldn’t go so far as to call them fun. However, those days when we’d been all together had been...nice, despite the danger. And now... Grief and sadness filled me. Would I lose everyone I loved before this war ended?

We lapsed into silence. The farther we moved away from the infirmary cave, the greater the chance of encountering an enemy patrol. The night insects buzzed and chirped.