The Traitor A. Lombardo (best thriller novels to read TXT) 📖

past cloud my loyalty. You once saved my life, but I will not help you break the law. Friends or not, I must do the right thing. You must accept Diu’s judgment. You have lied too many times, Kai.”

More snow fell, soaking Kai’s head and collecting on his shoulders. “Even if I am innocent?” he implored his friend. “If I go back with you, they will hang me without searching for Iver’s body, or the person who was in the room that night with me and Nola. Please, I need time! Give me at least two days,” he pleaded, hearing voices clamoring around the front of the house.

They both knew it was now or never. Kai wanted to believe his friend would help him, give him the benefit of the doubt, but the trust was no longer there. Even as the words escaped his friend’s mouth, Kai knew he had wasted too much time.

“Do not run, Kai—you must not run,” Drew begged, looking back for the oncoming guards and then back at Kai. “Running proves you are guilty.”

Robert and Drew were his last hope in Diu. Sadness sank into Kai’s chest as he stepped backward, pressing his back into the tall cypress hedge. “I am not running. I am searching for the truth, and right now, I am the only one who cares about the truth.” Power seeped into Kai’s core, and renewed strength permeated his body. “Have faith in me, Drew. I did not kill Iver, and I will of my own free will return to Diu. Two days from now, meet me on the bridge over Stone River, the long bridge below the rock dam around Baden Lake’s south rim. I promised Dresnor I would turn myself in. Roark is sailing with his soldiers to Diu. Bring your men, and I will be there, with or without Iver. Remember, in two days.”

Then he threw himself backward and crashed through the hedge into another part of the garden. Drew gave chase. But as they both knew, Kai was quicker. Kai slipped through the estate gate and dashed into an open field. The change in the weather covered the countryside in fresh snow. Lost in the blizzard, he would be impossible to track without help.

With exceptional speed, Kai put distance between himself and the town of Henley. When he reached the forest, he gleaned the manor. Drew had returned to the estate. Hunters were gathering—men in Robert’s employ, men who once saw him as their Prince, trackers capable of finding him in any weather.

The air filled with the sounds of dogs barking. The estate’s hounds surely already had Kai’s scent. Drew would be relentless. If Kai hoped to confuse the hunters, he would need to make for rockier ground. When the time was right, he could become his dragon and take to the skies beyond Drew’s reach.

Chapter 16

Redemption

Kai’s dragon’s shadow soared over a blanket of white storm clouds. Up above the world, he was free. A small part of him wanted to fly away and never stop flying. Yet he was tethered to this world and the people he loved; he could not abandon them.

The tree-covered apex of Thade Mountain came into view. He circled toward Eagle’s Peak and sank beneath the clouds. His feet landed with barely a sound as he transformed moments before his claws scrapped the stony ground. Here the snow fluttered like tiny specs unwilling to land.

Sabastian’s abandoned tree stood as a testament that he was all alone. There was no one left to help him; no one left to believe in him. He did not heed Sabastian’s warning, and now he would pay the price. Would Rayna even stand with him now? He wallowed in his solitude, feeling hopeless.

The sounds of eagles lifted Kai’s eyes to the clouds. Two larger-than-average birds soared out of the storm. Even without the golden tips, Kai knew who they were. His heart skipped a beat. Were they friends or foes? Would Sabastian be any different than Dresnor or Drew? While Sabastian held no love for Diu, he was an honest man.

Sabastian landed first. Next came a white-bellied eagle with dark wings—Kendra transformed in midflight and dropped a few feet in front of Kai. Her eyes welled with tears as she pulled Kai into her arms. Kai felt her pounding heart against his and he melted into the mother’s love he always felt from her. No words passed between them, but the truth of her faith in him poured through her arms, giving him the hope he desperately needed.

When he finally stepped back, he saw her wet cheeks. “You’re alive!” she cried, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly once more.

He held her and nodded. Tears of his own rolled down his face. She did not accuse or question him, only offered support. “Thank you.”

“How did you escape the dungeons?”

Kai noticed Kendra could not help the stray tear that slipped through her regained composure. “Keegan,” Kai admitted.

“I knew Seth did not help you, no more than he helped me. Nola put Seth in prison for the thought he betrayed her.”

Her words struck Kai; another person was paying for his choices. “Poor Seth,” he mumbled under his breath. “Please do not lecture me.” Kai felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. “I know I made mistakes, but I only did what I thought was best. Right now, I need to find Rayna, explain what happened, why I left her with Benmar. Then I will find Iver’s body and return to answer for my crimes. Kendra, I am innocent. I did not kill Iver, but without his body or the person who took him, I cannot prove anything.”

“I know everyone else has abandoned you, Kai.” Kendra glanced at Sabastian, then back