Ghost in the Inferno (Ghost Exile #5) Page 34

  So for the last several months, Kalgri had used the shadow-cloak to follow Caina and Kylon unseen around Istarinmul. Both of them expected Kalgri to return at some point in a blaze of blood and murder. Neither of them expected Kalgri to simply watch and wait.

  So Kalgri watched and waited.

  Sometimes she left Caina little gifts, the curved knives she had purchased from a fisherman in the Cyrican Quarter before killing him and dumping his body in the harbor. Caina’s reaction had been everything Kalgri might have wished. For all her genius and boldness, Caina was just one young woman with no arcane abilities. Trapped in a locked room with Kalgri, she would not last more than a few seconds. Granted, she had a gift for securing the friendship of capable allies, which was why Kalgri had failed to kill her at Silent Ash Temple. But alone, without the support of her friends and allies, Caina was far less dangerous.

  Which was why Kalgri would lure her alone, and then kill her.

  It had almost worked once.

  When Caina and Nasser’s mercenaries had encamped in the Desert of Candles, Caina had been alone in her tent. Had Caina been in Kylon’s tent, as she obviously wanted, Kalgri would not have approached. But Caina had been alone, and had the Ghost not awakened at the last moment, she would be dead.

  The Voice hissed and spat its hatred of the Balarigar, and Kalgri smiled in the darkness.

  She only had to be patient and keep leaving little gifts for Caina to find. The Ghost’s fear would grow, and she would start to isolate herself to keep her friends and allies safe. Then Kalgri would kill her, and the Voice would feast upon her death.

  How pleasant that would be!

  A pity there was no practical way to kill Caina in front of Kylon. Kalgri had already killed a woman Kylon loved in front of him once, and doing it again would have been delightful. She wanted Caina dead more, though. She wanted Caina dead as she had rarely wanted anything, wanted to gorge herself for hours upon the Ghost’s dying torment.

  Patience, she reminded herself. Patience, patience. The feast would be all the sweeter for the waiting.

  So Kalgri waited and listened…and therefore learned one of the most dangerous secrets in the world.

  The Voice went wild when Annarah announced that the Staff and Seal of Iramis were hidden within the Tomb of Kharnaces. The nagataaru demanded that she go to Callatas at once, to tell him where the lost relics were hidden. Then Callatas could claim them and work the Apotheosis, and Kalgri could gorge herself upon the death of an entire world.

  With some effort, she ignored the Voice’s demands.

  She did not care about Callatas or his Apotheosis. Callatas had created her, true. She had been one of his first experiments, using the knowledge and lore he had discovered in the Tomb of Kharnaces. The experiment had succeeded beyond Callatas’s expectations. Kalgri could not harm Callatas, but neither could he force her to obey him. She was too strong for that. Of course, the nagataaru within her feared the nagataaru within the Grand Master, so she wound up usually doing Callatas’s bidding sooner or later.

  A part of her, a very large part, considered telling the Grand Master what she had learned. Callatas would work his Apotheosis, continuing his insipid quest to undo whatever wrong had sent him upon his path, and countless millions would die. The Voice wanted to do that at once, and Kalgri almost agreed.

  Almost.

  She would tell the Grand Master about the relics eventually…but first she would use them to kill Caina Amalas.

  And a lot of other people.

  Here was another tactic she could steal. Caina recruited capable allies.

  And Kalgri knew just where to find willing help.

  ###

  Cassander Nilas strode into his study with a scowl. He had a headache.

  More precisely, he had headaches.

  The Provosts of the Umbarian Order had sent him to Istarinmul to secure the aid of the Padishah against the Empire, and after a year he had failed to budge Erghulan Amirasku and Callatas from their neutrality. The High Provost herself was becoming restless with Cassander’s lack of progress, which was not a safe position. Callatas had promised to aid the Order if Cassander killed Caina Amalas, but so far Cassander had failed. His first attempt had failed rather spectacularly, and his spies and summoned servants had been unable to find the damnable woman since.

  He took a step into his study and froze.

  His study occupied the top floor of the Umbarian Order’s embassy, with a balcony overlooking the courtyard below. The balcony doors stood open, moonlight spilling across the floor. Cassander raised his right hand, drawing upon his power. An armored gauntlet of black metal covered his right hand, the back adorned with a single crimson bloodcrystal. The enspelled gauntlet let him use pyromantic sorcery without the homicidal insanity that usually accompanied fire sorcery.

  If any assassins had entered his study, they were going to die screaming.

  A shadow moved in the corner.

  Cassander pointed at the shadow, summoning power. It was a woman in a Ghost shadow-cloak, and for a ludicrous instant he wondered if Caina Amalas had arrived in person to assassinate him. The woman drew back her cowl and threw back the cloak, revealing a slim figure in black clothing and leather armor the color of blood, a pale, pretty face, a ragged mop of blond hair, and blue eyes that burned with madness.

  No. Not madness.

  Cassander rebuked himself. He dared not underestimate this woman. By any conventional measure, Kalgri was insane, her mind twisted out of all recognition…but she was not irrational. She followed her own internal logic, and what her internal logic wanted was to feast on the pain and death of her victims.

  If she decided that Cassander was an enemy, she would come after him without hesitation, and he was not entirely sure he could stop her.

  Best not to find out, then.

  “My lady Huntress,” said Cassander with his most charming smile. “A Ghost shadow-cloak? I daresay it suits you.”

  “Bah,” said Kalgri, shaking the cloak. She stepped towards his desk, running a gloved hand over the papers there. “I’m too pale now. Black washes me out. I look positively sallow.” She giggled. Cassander had seen many terrible things and defeated many foes, but Kalgri’s giggle was still one of the more disturbing things he had heard. “One must look one’s best when killing one’s foes. Mustn’t one?”

  “Is that why your nagataaru rebuilt you with the features of Caina Amalas and Claudia Aberon Dorius?” said Cassander. When he had first met the Red Huntress, when he had hired her to kill Kylon of House Kardamnos, she had looked Istarish. Now she had the blond hair of Claudia Dorius and the blue eyes and facial features of Caina Amalas. Kalgri looked like she could have been Caina’s sister.

  Kalgri’s blue eyes snapped to him, and for a moment Cassander wondered if he had made a mistake.

  Then she giggled again. “A reminder, my lord Cassander. But I’m not here to talk about that. You have so many problems, don’t you?” She ran a finger over the papers on his desk.

  Cassander scowled. “You read my letters, I presume?”

  “Of course,” said Kalgri. “I had to do something to pass the time while I waited. The High Provost is annoyed with you. Callatas and that windbag Erghulan are irritated with you.” Her eyes locked on him again. “What if I could help you with both?”

  “What do you mean?” said Cassander.

  “Answer a question,” said Kalgri, “and I’ll help you. Lie to me, and I’ll kill you right now.”

  “All right,” said Cassander, puzzled. “Proceed.”

  “You first came to Istarinmul years ago,” said Kalgri. “Before the Umbarians declared themselves openly, before the day of the golden dead. Why?”

  “I was looking for relics of ancient Iramis,” said Cassander. There seemed no harm in telling her. “Specifically the ancient Regalia of the Princes. According to the histories, the relics had the power to command and summon spirits of the netherworld. You can see how I might find that useful.”


  “The Staff and Seal of Iramis,” murmured Kalgri.

  “Yes,” said Cassander, surprised. “I suppose you would have been alive when Iramis burned.”

  “I was there when Iramis burned,” breathed Kalgri. She turned towards him, the blue eyes glittering with malicious excitement.

  “Why have you come here?” said Cassander.

  “Caina Amalas,” said Kalgri. “The Staff of Iramis. The Seal of Iramis. Would you like to know where you can find all three?”

  THE END

  Thank you for reading GHOST IN THE INFERNO. Look for Caina's next adventure, GHOST IN THE SEAL, to appear in summer 2015. If you liked the book, please consider leaving a review at your ebook site of choice. To receive immediate notification of new releases, sign up for my newsletter, or watch for news on my Facebook page.

  Other books by the author

  The Demonsouled Saga

  MAZAEL CRAVENLOCK is a wandering knight, fearless in battle and masterful with a sword.

  Yet he has a dark secret. He is Demonsouled, the son of the ancient and cruel Old Demon, and his tainted blood grants him superhuman strength and speed. Yet with the power comes terrible, inhuman rage, and Mazael must struggle to keep the fury from devouring him.

  But he dare not turn aside from the strength of his blood, for he will need it to face terrible foes.

  The priests of the San-keth plot and scheme in the shadows, pulling lords and kingdoms upon their strings. The serpent priests desire to overthrow the realms of men and enslave humanity. Unless Mazael stops them, they shall force all nations to bow before the serpent god.

  The Malrag hordes are coming, vast armies of terrible, inhuman beasts, filled with a lust for cruelty and torment. The Malrags care nothing for conquest or treasure, only slaughter. And the human realms are ripe for the harvest. Only a warrior of Mazael’s power can hope to defeat them.

  The Dominiar Order and the Justiciar Order were once noble and respected, dedicated to fighting the powers of dark magic. Now they are corrupt and cynical, and scheme only for power and glory. They will kill anyone who stands in their way.

  To defeat these foes, Mazael will need all the strength of his Demonsouled blood.

  Yet he faces a far more terrible foe.

  For centuries the Old Demon has manipulated kings and lords. Now he shall seize the power of the Demonsouled for himself, and become the a god of torment and tyranny.

  Unless Mazael can stop him.

  Read Demonsouled for free. Mazael's adventures continue in Soul of Tyrants, Soul of Serpents, Soul of Dragons, Soul of Sorcery, Soul of Skulls, and Soul of Swords, along with the short stories The Wandering Knight, The Tournament Knight, and The Dragon's Shadow. Get the first three books bundled together in Demonsouled Omnibus One.

  The Ghosts Series

  Once CAINA AMALAS was the shy daughter of a minor nobleman, content to spend her days in her father’s library.

  Then sorcery and murder and her mother’s treachery tore her life apart.

  Now she is a nightfighter of the Ghosts, an elite agent of the spies and assassins of the Emperor of Nighmar. She is a master of disguise and infiltration, of stealth and the shadows.

  And she will need all those skills to defend the Empire and stay alive.

  Corrupt lords scheme and plot in the shadows, desiring to pull down the Emperor and rule the Empire for their own profit and glory. Slave traders lurk on the fringes of the Empire, ready to seize unwary commoners and sell them into servitude in distant lands. Yet both slave traders and cruel lords must beware the Ghosts.

  The Magisterium, the Imperial brotherhood of sorcerers, believe themselves the rightful masters of the Empire. With their arcane sciences, they plan to overthrow the Empire and enslave the commoners, ruling all of mankind for their own benefit. Only the Ghosts stand in the path of their sinister plans.

  And the Moroaica, the ancient sorceress of legend and terror, waits in the shadows, preparing to launch a war upon the gods themselves. She will make the gods pay for the suffering of mankind...even if she must destroy the world to do it.

  Caina Amalas of the Ghosts opposes these mighty enemies, but the cost might be more than she can bear.

  Read Child of the Ghosts for free. Caina's adventures continue in Ghost in the Flames, Ghost in the Blood, Ghost in the Storm, Ghost in the Stone, Ghost in the Forge, Ghost in the Ashes, Ghost in the Mask, and Ghost in the Surge, along with the short stories Ghost Aria, Ghost Claws, Ghost Omens, The Fall of Kyrace, Ghost Thorns, Ghost Undying, Ghost Light, and Ghost Dagger. Get the first three books bundled together in The Ghosts Omnibus One, and get the first four short stories bundled together in a World of the Ghosts Volume One.

  The Ghost Exile Series

  Caina Amalas was a nightfighter of the Ghosts, the spies and assassins of the Emperor of Nighmar, and through her boldness and cunning saved the Empire and the world from sorcerous annihilation.

  But the victory cost her everything.

  Now she is exiled and alone in the city of Istarinmul, far from her home and friends. Yet a centuries-old darkness now stirs in Istarinmul, eager to devour the city and the world itself.

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  The Third Soul

  RACHAELIS MORULAN is an Initiate of the Conclave, the powerful order of mighty mages. But to become a full Adept of the Conclave, she must first survive the Testing. Those who survive the Testing never speak of the trials they endured.

  Those who fail the Testing are never seen again.

  And now the Magisters of the Conclave have come to take Rachaelis to undertake the Testing. And there she shall face perils to both her body and her sanity.

  And creatures that yearn to devour her soul.

  If Rachaelis survives the Testing, she will face even more dangerous foes. The demons of the astral world watch the world of mortal men, desiring to rule it for themselves.

  And some Adepts of the Conclave are eager to help them.

  Read The Testing for free. Rachelis's trials continue in The Assassins, The Blood Shaman, The High Demon, The Burning Child, The Outlaw Adept, The Black Paladin, and The Tomb of Baligant. Read the entire series in The Third Soul Omnibus One and The Third Soul Omnibus Two.

  The Frostborn Series

  A thousand years ago, the last grandson of Arthur Pendragon led the survivors of Britain through a magical gate to a new world, a world of magic and high elves, of orcs and kobolds and stranger, darker creatures. Now the descendants of the exiles rule a mighty kingdom, peaceful and prosperous under the rule of the High King.

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  CALLIANDE awakens in the darkness, her memories gone, and creatures of terrible power hunting her.

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  Read Frostborn: The First Quest, followed by Frostborn: The Gray Knight, Frostborn: The Eightfold Knife, Frostborn: The Undying Wizard, Frostborn: The Master Thief, Frostborn: The Iron Tower, Frostborn: The Dark Warden, and Frostborn: The Gorgon Spirit, along with the short stories The Orc's Tale, The Mage's Tale, The Thief's Tale, The Assassin's Tale, and The Paladins's Tale. Read the first three books combined in Frostborn Omnibus One.

  Mask of the Demonsouled Trilogy

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  SIGALDRA is the last holdmistress of the Jutai nation, the final defender of her people. Now the darkness comes to devour the final remnant of Sigaldra's home and family. Even Sigaldra's courage may not be enough to turn aside the darkness.

  Read Mask of Swords along with the short story The Ransom Knight.

  The Tower of Endless Worlds

  THOMAS WYCLIFFE just wants to finish his dissertation in peace and quiet. So when a man in a black robe appears in his closet, claiming to be the last of the Warlocks, Wycliffe figures it is a bad joke.

  But he soon realizes the last of the Warlocks can give him power beyond imagining.

  And all it will cost is his soul.

  SIMON WESTER needs a job. Badly. So when a rich and powerful Senator offers him employment, he jumps at the chance. Sure, Simon expects to find some corruption, some shady deals.

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  LIAM MASTERE is a Knight of the Sacred Blade, defender of the mortal races. But can swords stand against guns? As bullets and bombs destroy his kingdom, Liam must risk everything to save his homeland's one chance of salvation.

  By daring the horrors of the Tower of Endless Worlds…

  Read The Tower of Endless Worlds for free. The saga of the Tower continues in A Knight of the Sacred Blade, A Wizard of the White Council, and The Destroyer of Worlds.

  About the Author

  Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair of a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.

  He has written the DEMONSOULED series of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write THE GHOSTS sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the COMPUTER BEGINNER'S GUIDE series of computer books, and numerous other works.