Spy's Mask Read online

  Spy’s Mask

  Book Five of The Aermian Feuds

  Frost Kay

  Contents

  Audiobooks

  Also by Frost Kay

  Kingdoms of Aermia

  Prologue

  1. The Warlord

  2. Sage

  3. Dor

  4. Dor

  5. Sage

  6. Jasmine

  7. Dor

  8. Sam

  9. Dor

  10. The Warlord

  11. Dor

  12. Tehl

  13. Sam

  14. Dor

  15. Sam

  16. Jasmine

  17. Sam

  18. Mira

  19. Jasmine

  20. Dor

  21. Sage

  22. Dor

  23. Tehl

  24. Sage

  25. Dor

  26. Sam

  27. Sam

  28. Jasmine

  29. Jasmine

  30. Dor

  31. Sam

  32. Jasmine

  33. Jasmine

  34. Sage

  35. Sam

  36. Jasmine

  37. The Warlord

  38. Sage

  39. Tehl

  40. Lilja

  41. Sage

  42. Sage

  Let’s Chat!

  FREE BOOK

  Spy’s Mask

  Copyright © 2019 Renegade Publishing, LLC

  First Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any format or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  For information on reproducing sections of this book or sales of this book go to www.frostkay.net

  Cover by Amy Queau

  Formatting by Renegade Publishing

  Copy Editing by Madeline Dyer

  Proofreading by Holmes Edits & Kate Anderson

  Created with Vellum

  Audiobooks

  Are you an audiobook addict? I’m happy to announce that all books in the Aermian Feuds are available now in audio! Listen now!

  REBEL’S BLADE

  CROWN’S SHIELD

  ENEMY’S QUEEN

  KING’S WARRIOR

  Also by Frost Kay

  THE AERMIAN FEUDS

  Rebel’s Blade

  Crown’s Shield

  Siren’s Lure

  Enemy’s Queen

  King’s Warrior

  Warlord’s Shadow

  Spy’s Mask

  DOMINION OF ASH

  The Stain

  The Tainted

  MIXOLOGISTS & PIRATES

  Amber Vial

  Emerald Bane

  Scarlet Venom

  Cyan Toxin

  Onyx Elixir

  When I started writing this series over three years ago, Spy’s Mask was supposed to be Sam’s book. But my characters have a way of changing what I planned, and doing whatever they want.

  Spy’s Mask demanded more of my heart and soul than any other book I’ve written. It’s not for the faint of heart. Get ready for intrigues, war, and love in every shape and form.

  This is NOT the last book in the series.

  There will be one more - Court’s Fool, which I’ve already stated writing. *woot*

  I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey as much as I have.

  Hugs,

  Frost

  Kingdoms of Aermia

  Prologue

  Monsters.

  Hell.

  The myths and legends she’d once been told in the dead of night as a prank by friends weren’t supposed to be real. It was all fun and games, a thrill. But what those innocents didn’t understand was there were things in life, real things that rivaled any scary story. Hell and demons of their own making.

  Sage wished what had befallen those around her was just a story, a fable to dismiss from her mind. But life was a cruel, fickle, and beautiful being that had no rhyme or reason. One never knew when whims would bless or curse you. Just the smallest detail could tip the scale.

  From the beginning, life seemed to rage against Sage, a constant force that wore her down to her very bones. There were many paths for the rebel princess to travel, and they all led to one outcome:

  Blood.

  War.

  One

  The Warlord

  Zane smiled as he watched the Aermian army scurry about like ants as they built their camps. They had thought they were so clever. But they were just children really, playing at being warriors. They had no idea what the future held.

  Ignorant.

  They were ignorant of his spies. Ignorant that their greatest enemy walked among them. A leren among babes.

  He stilled and glanced over his shoulder as awareness tingled over his skin. His sixth sense. She was near. He narrowed his eyes at the approaching royal party. The crown prince led the group, but Zane didn’t care. He only had eyes for one person: the goddess in armor and war paint.

  “Sage,” he whispered, his tone thick with covetousness. His consort stole his breath away, her beauty so bright it felt like it burned him where he stood. A spark of pride lit inside his chest at the Tia paint that adorned her face in savage strokes that he couldn’t help but find lovely. He never imagined he’d see her in his people’s war paint. Possession and something darker wriggled in his chest.

  Ours, the voices in his head whispered.

  Fierce. Bold. Deadly. A dark queen he couldn’t wait to get his hands on.

  Zane kept his head bowed as the group passed him. His fingers brushed her cloak for one second before he receded into the bustling camp, just another Aermian soldier following his orders. He could steal her away now, but that would be too easy.

  His consort had challenged him, and Zane loved a good fight. No, he wouldn’t take her this day. He’d wait for her to surrender, and it would be all the sweeter.

  Zane adjusted his cloak and grinned.

  Soon enough, she’d bow to him. All he needed was a little patience. His consort would grace him with her presence soon enough.

  Then, he’d destroy her world.

  Two

  Sage

  Her legs wavered as she approached Ezra. Her mind was screaming at her to stop, to turn back, but no matter how much she struggled, Sage found herself standing before the Sirenidae, the warlord’s heat at her back as a thousand pairs of bloodthirsty eyes watched them. The large sword swayed slightly as she hefted it up, the tip hovering against the pale skin of the healer’s neck.

  Ezra smiled at her, his mouth twisting in a way that seemed like he was laughing at her, before he began to weep at her feet.

  “I’m sorry,” she choked out, hating that her fingers wouldn’t release the blade. “This is not how it’s supposed to be.”

  His cries cut off as he looked up, his eyes changing from magenta to black. “Murderer,” he hissed.

  Sage jerked as if he’d slapped her. “I don’t want to do this. I can’t do this,” she pleaded.

  “You have to,” the warlord whispered in her ear, his warm breath tickling her neck.

  The hair on her arms rose, and her stomach rolled as she cringed away from the body leaning over her from behind. “Leave me alone!”

  “If I can’t escape you, how is it fair that you escape me?”

  She stumbled a step closer to Ezra, her blade slicing dangerously close to his neck. Tears burned the back of her eyes, but she wouldn’t let them fall. How c
ould she cry for herself when she was the one committing the crime?

  “It’s okay, Sage,” Ezra whispered, his voice strangely hollow. He leaned closer to the blade, the sword biting into the delicate skin, just below his hammering pulse. “I knew what you were when I saw you.”

  She cried out as he impaled himself on her sword. “No, no, no, no,” she screamed, releasing the sword and falling to her knees. Ezra’s mouth pursed as his blood pooled and spilled over his lips.

  “He’s not the only monster,” Ezra whispered as he fell to the ground, his white hair turning red as it splayed around him.

  Sage held up her shaking hands and stared at the blood that coated her palms. She was a killer.

  A hand cupped her chin and forced her to stare at the warlord.

  He smiled, flashing sharp fangs as he brushed a bloodstained finger along her bottom lip. “You’re perfect for me.”

  “I’m nothing to you.”

  He tsked and knelt so they were at the same eye level. “On the contrary. Like calls to like.” He jerked his chin to the right. “Look at the ruin you’ve caused.”

  Sage turned and screamed as bodies upon bodies lay in heaps around her.

  She jerked awake and sat up, her heart racing. Her nightgown clung to her body, soaked with sweat. Her own breaths were heavy in her ears as she tried to orientate herself. A lantern hung from the ceiling of her sprawling tent, giving off just enough light for her to see Tehl’s still form next to her.

  Sage placed a hand over her pounding heart and tried to calm it down. You’re not there. You’re safe. It had been two weeks since she’d arrived at the camp, and each night, her nightmares had escalated.

  Throwing back the blankets, she rolled out of the makeshift bed, quickly donned her leather breeches and boots, and tucked her nightgown into her pants.

  “Are you all right?” Tehl asked, his voice rough with sleep.

  Sage peered over her shoulder at her husband who stared at her with concern. “I’m fine.”

  “You were talking in your sleep. I don’t think you’re fine at all. Plus, Sam says when women use the word ‘fine,’ it means the exact opposite.”

  She turned fully and crawled across their pallets to peck him on the lips. “Well, your brother doesn’t usually give the best advice,” she joked. She cursed internally at how, even to her own ears, her tone was off.

  Tehl cupped her left cheek with his right hand and smoothed his thumb along her cheekbone. “I’m worried for you, love.”

  “I’ll be all right.” She had to be. There wasn’t another choice.

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Hold me when I get back?”

  He stretched and kissed her softly. “I’ll be waiting.”

  Sage reached up and squeezed his hand before crawling out of the bed and moving through the tent in the direction of the door. She retrieved her discarded cloak from the simple wooden chair in the corner and threw it on to ward off the night’s chill.

  Tehl’s voice caused her to pause as she lifted the tent flap.

  “Be safe.”

  “Always.”

  Guilt assaulted her as she stepped into the crisp night air. Puffs of white steam escaped from her mouth. Damn. It was getting colder every night, and the weather in the plains was more frigid than anything she’d ever experienced in her life.

  Sage stomped her feet a few times and lifted the cloak’s hood to protect her neck from the chilly air, nodding at the two guards stationed outside their tent. Garreth whispered something softly to the other guard and stepped away from them, moving to Sage’s side—her silent sentinel.

  Without one word, they began their walk through the camp, and her protection detail melted from the shadows and fanned out to circle her. Fires burned low, softly crackling—the only sound except for the occasional snore and the rustle of her cloak in the breeze.

  “Rough night?” Garreth asked, his voice no louder than a whisper.

  Sage nodded, her chest tight. She couldn’t get Ezra’s hate-filled face out of her mind. Reaching the edge of the camp, she acknowledged the guards on the perimeter patrol with a tip of her chin and continued her walk. By now, the men were used to her unusual nightly routine.

  They paced around the enormous camp until they reached their destination. A huge rock sat at the forefront of the camp, an old relic of the Mort Wall that was never used. She clambered up the side and plopped down. Garreth followed suit, only pausing to make some sort of signal to her protection detail.

  At one time, she would have begrudged the extra men, but now she appreciated their protection and Garreth’s discretion. She understood their necessity. Sometimes one had to give up a little freedom to stay safe. Plus, she rarely spotted the men that trailed her everywhere she went.

  Seemingly satisfied, he sat beside her and loosely clasped his fingers between his legs.

  A black shadow solidified below the rock and blinked reflective golden eyes. Sage smiled at Nali. The leren had made friends with the men easily. At first, they’d been wary of her, but after they’d been introduced to the fiilee, the maneater was considered the lesser of evils.

  Nali chuffed and then slunk into the meadow, disappearing like a ghost.

  “Still unnerves me,” her guard muttered.

  “Mistress of the night,” Sage said.

  “What I wouldn’t give to have stalking skills like that.”

  A smile touched her lips. The man already did. “Your skills are nothing to snub your nose at. If I didn’t know any better, I would say you’re akin to Nali.”

  Garreth snorted. “What gave it away? Our temperament?”

  She laughed, the sound surprising her, but, almost immediately, she sobered as she stared at the far-away lights of the Scythian camp. The fires burned brightly just beyond the Mort Wall, casting ghoulish shadows into the night.

  He was there.

  A shiver worked down her spine. He’d be watching her as surely as she was watching him.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  No, she didn’t, but when she opened her mouth to say just that, something else came out instead. “I murdered someone.”

  The silence hung between them. She continued to stare blankly at the Scythian camp, waiting for Garreth’s judgement.

  “War is a nasty thing. We’re all capable of things we never thought possible.”

  True, but not applicable to her situation. “He was my friend.” Her whispered confession tore her heart.

  “May I speak plainly?”

  “Always,” she answered.

  “I have known you for some time now and spent numerous hours in your company. I’d like to say I know a bit about you. From my time spent with you, I know two facts: you love as hard as you fight, and you have more honor than a thousand men. I’m sure you blame yourself for your friend’s death, but that doesn’t make it true.” A pause. “Nightmares aren’t truth. They are all of our fears and insecurities twisted into something no one should suffer.”

  Sage blinked. “Astute.” He wasn’t wrong. “They’re getting worse.”

  “Why do you think that is?”

  “Because he’s haunting me.”

  “There’s no such thing. It’s in the mind.”

  “Mine is broken,” she blurted.

  “Whose isn’t?” Garreth shrugged. “We all have regrets and demons that won’t leave us alone. It’s what we do to get past them that shows what kind of person we are.”

  “Again, very wise. How did you get so smart?”

  His face creased into an expression of despair and regret. “Trial and error.” He inhaled deeply, then pulled his sword from his scabbard and held it out to her. Sage’s brows knitted in confusion.

  “What’s this?” she asked, not taking the blade.

  “I must atone for my sins.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not a confessor.”

  Garreth shifted onto his knees and lay the blade across both his palms, holding it
out to her once again, his gaze glued to the rock beneath his knees. “I’ve done something horrible, and I can’t continue on.” He lifted his eyes and met her stare. “The guilt is crushing me. Every day I see you fight and struggle, I blame myself.”

  Sage whistled softly and stood, looking down upon Garreth. Nali launched herself onto the boulder and crouched near her side, looking for the threat.

  “What have you done?” Sage asked.

  “I betrayed you.”

  She pulled her gaze from her guard and scanned the area around them. They were on the edge of the camp, and warriors surrounded them. She wasn’t alone, so it couldn’t necessarily be an ambush. “Speak your piece before I set Nali on you, Garreth. You’re scaring me, and she doesn’t like it.”

  Nali snarled in agreement.

  “Did you know I had a daughter?”

  “I did not.”

  Garreth hung his head, the picture of dejection. “I was married young, and my wife became pregnant almost immediately. We hadn’t been married a year when my wee one was born. But as my daughter took her first breath, my wife breathed her last.”