Avarice Read online

  Avarice

  Kandi Vale

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Attention! Attention! Attention!

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  Author Note:

  Other books by Kandi Vale:

  Rarity

  About the Author

  To all my non-believers out there. May this story let you get lost in the ideas of soulmates and magic.

  Prologue

  Gods and Goddesses were slobs. Circe’s nose scrunched as she cleared the bedding, taking note of the rose petals covering the silken sheets. Unusually romantic gesture for Poseidon, she thought, tossing the bedding and moving on to the bathroom. Cleaning didn’t particularly bother her. In fact, Circe found comfort in the menial tasks most days. As a young Goddess, she had been designated as the handmaiden for the God of the sea, to watch and learn from him until she became of age. While other girls played with toys or went to school, Circe scrubbed floors and tried to be as quiet as possible.

  It was a lonely life.

  She opened the bathroom door, startling as she realized it wasn’t empty.

  A beautiful blonde woman stood before the mirror, brushing the tangles from her long curls. She smiled at Circe, seemingly unashamed at her nudity.

  “Oh! Hello there,” the woman said, turning to face Circe fully.

  “Pardon me, M’lady. I didn’t realize these chambers were occupied,” Circe whispered, averting her gaze. Perhaps she wouldn’t feel so strange around naked women once she flowered? One could only hope, she thought bitterly. Although she was well past adolescence, her body remained underdeveloped and slender. One more oddity to add to her already overflowing bucket of insecurities...

  The woman smiled brightly and waved a hand in dismissal. “No harm done. I’m Scylla.” Her voice had a musical lilt to it that made Circe wonder what it would sound like when she sang. Scylla suddenly stepped forward, hugging an embarrassed Circe.

  Circe patted her shoulder awkwardly before moving back out of reach. “I’m Circe. It’s nice to meet you, Scylla.”

  “Oh, please call me Sill. Are you a friend of Poseidon’s, then? Or a daughter?”

  Circe nearly snorted at that. “I am his pupil.”

  “Oh! You’re a little...young to be a Goddess, aren’t you?”

  Circe flinched at Scylla’s words, even though they were spoken softly. Circe was different than most Gods or Goddesses. Usually one had to earn the title through worship or some heroic feat. To be born into Godhood was nearly unheard of. Circe did not know her parents, so she couldn’t be sure why she was different. No one seemed to be able to answer that for her either. She supposed that was why they were so keen to ship her off to the middle of the sea. Easier to deal with that way. Looking down at her adolescent body, she felt the familiar bitterness swell.

  “Circe? Are you well?” Sylla asked, pulling Circe out of the self-loathing tailspin she frequently found herself in.

  Circe nodded, watching as the lithe woman hopped up onto the bathroom counter’s ledge. Her movements were quick and graceful, and not quite human.

  Tilting her head, Circe asked, “What are you?”

  Instead of being offended, Scylla’s smile broadened. “I’m an Affinity. A Finch Affinity, to be exact.”

  “An Affinity?”

  Scylla leaned forward as if telling a great secret. “Haven’t heard of us, hmm? Well, that’s not all that surprising. We’re a species of shifter’s, I suppose. Blessed by Artemis herself.”

  Circe’s eyes widened. “I thought shifters were cursed?”

  Laughing, Scylla shook her head. “Hardly. Well, I suppose Were-shifters are. Affinities are different. We can control our inner spirit, it doesn’t control us. Think of it as being one with an animal. You have their abilities, their quirks, but you can choose when to use your true form and when to use the human one.”

  “Oh. So you can choose not to shift?”

  Scylla blinked. “I suppose, yes. But why would I do that? It’s the most beautiful thing in the world, being one’s true self. Feeling the wind beneath my wings. Letting the nuances of humanity slip away for a little while. It’s glorious.” A dreamy look came upon her face as she stretched her arms wide, her mind seeming to go elsewhere.

  “Sill?” Circe asked a moment later.

  Scylla shook her head, giggling. “My apologies, little one. I can be a bit... bird brained sometimes.” Her twinkling laugh echoed in the bathroom, the pun making even Circe giggle a little.

  “WHERE IS SHE?” a voice boomed outside the bathing chambers.

  Scylla gasped, jumping from the ledge. She looked about, but there was nowhere to go. They were under the sea, after all.

  Circe cowered against the side of the room near the showers, terror flooding through her.

  The queen was home.

  Suddenly, the door slammed open. Queen Amphitrite stormed into the bathing area, the rage on her face scarier than any storm.

  Scylla squeaked in fear and then transformed. Golden sparks engulfed her, beautiful shimmers cascading through the air until all that was left was a tiny bird the size of Circe’s fist. She fluttered through the room, frantically searching for an exit.

  “You dare come into my home and sleep with MY husband?” Amphitrite roared, swatting at the bird.

  Poseidon wasn’t exactly faithful. Everyone knew it. Why the queen continued to get so irate was a mystery to Circe. This was the first time Circe had seen any of the mistresses get caught, however.

  Realizing her efforts were futile, the queen stopped. She held out her hands, closing her eyes, and murmured an incantation.

  The finch’s chirps increased in pitch, until Circe was on her knees, covering her ears in desperation. That noise...That noise was tearing into her very soul.

  Then the chirping stopped.

  Looking up, Circe was surprised to see Sill lying on the floor, sweat covering her flesh.

  Scylla looked up at the queen with something akin to horror. “What did you do?”

  The queen grinned, crouching down beside the broken woman. “Whores don’t deserve wings.”

  A curse is a delicate thing. Circe watched as the icy blue fabrics of magic encompassed the young Affinity, weaving in and out of her spirit, tangling with the golden animal within her aura. The magic wrapped around it, strangling it with its power. It was beautiful and terrible, this magic. The queen wielded it effortlessly, using something that should have been pure but tainting it with her anger instead.

  “You Affinities are nothing but animals,” Queen Amphitrite intoned. “You think only of your wants and desires. But instant gratification always has a price. I think it’s time you knew what it was to desire something above all else yet always have it just out of reach.” Circe could hear the pain in the queen’s voice, the sharpness of that pain strengthening the curse.

  Another layer of magic weaved more threads into the first as Amphitrite continued, “To feel your true nature gnawing at you. To so desperately crave freedom, only to find none.”

  Circe felt tears streaming down her face as she watched the two women, her gaze switching back and forth between the pained expression on Sill’s face and to the magic encompassing them
both.

  “No longer will you be able to escape the consequences of your actions.” The queen’s voice crept lower, the rage there almost boiling. “No longer will your animal be there to comfort and muffle your pain. If you want to be human, so be it.”

  Circe watched as Queen Amphitrite lashed out the final layer of magic, imprisoning the Affinity’s soul within.

  Scylla screamed.

  Without thought, Circe reached out with her own magic. Gripping the end of one of the queen’s threads, she pulled it towards her. She gasped, feeling the bitterness in it and nearly gagged on the taste of Queen Amphitrite’s power. Wincing, Circe held on tight, wrapping that one thread into a tiny sphere and tucking it beside her heart.

  The cruel Goddess sneered down at the Finch, gloating at the curse she had weaved, not realizing that her magic had a loose thread.

  All it would take was for someone to pull it.

  Circe clung to that thread with everything she had, vowing to find someone worthy of unravelling the Affinities’ curse. To some day hand over the key that would free them all.

  Chapter One

  Ava

  Age 16

  “Come on, Ava!” Lobah tugged on Ava’s wrist, the heels of her boots digging into the cobblestone. “We’re going to miss it!”

  Ava rolled her eyes before finally giving in, allowing herself to be pulled towards the docks. “This is stupid. We’re getting too old for fairytales, Lo.”

  Scoffing, Lobah picked up her pace, the afternoon sunlight reflecting across the array of piercings decorating her flesh. “Never. Besides, you owe me.”

  Ava’s shoulders rolled forward, and she made an effort in keeping her grumbling to a bare minimum. After all, she really did owe her.

  Lobah had found Ava pickpocketing a sailor over a year ago in her territory. By all rights, Lobah could have taken a hand for the slight. Instead, the colorful teenage pirate had taken Ava under her wing, helping her hone her skills and even giving her a warm meal or two.

  She was the closest thing Ava had ever known to a sister.

  Listening to the tales of old was a small price to pay for such friendship.

  Scrambling up the dock, Ava’s eyes flicked back and forth between crew members walking past.

  First rule of being a pirate: never be caught off guard. Ava held onto that rule like a lifeline, weaving it with the cons her mother had once taught her. She might have been an orphaned street rat, but she was a survivor above all else. Sure, she might’ve been a bit hungry and cold—Navis Bay was nothing if not harsh—but she was alive. Which was more than she could say for her mother, who had been one hell of a woman.

  Beautiful, with golden locks and curves that could’ve lured any man to his downfall, as a Wyvern Affinity, her mother had been rare. Her golden eyes told everyone who met her that she was one to be admired, even if they knew not what she was.

  Rare Affinities hid whenever possible. This world was one of cruelty, and packs of predators ruled the flock. While powerful, Rarities didn’t stand a chance against the sheer number of the Pack predators and Common Affinities. Hunted to near extinction, Ava had never met another Wyvern. Sometimes, in lonely sad moments, she feared she was the last.

  Shaking herself from such thoughts, Ava hopped onto the deck of the Papagolas, Lobah’s uncle’s ship. Small children sat in a group on the wooden deck, gathered around an empty chair.

  “Oh good. She hasn’t started yet.” Lobah walked toward the back of the gathering and plopped down, her legs crossed in eager anticipation.

  Ava rolled her eyes but joined her friend, watching as the little old woman came out of the cabin of the ship.

  “Witch…”

  “Gypsy…”

  “Mama says she’s evil…”

  The whispers scattered across the children until Lobah silenced them with a hiss.

  The old woman hunched over a knobbed cane, her many layers of clothing rustling in the soft breeze as she made her way to the chair. The cane’s thump echoed on the wood deck. Sitting down with a grunt, she smiled down at them with golden teeth.

  Ava felt a familiar tug at the sight. She flexed her fingers, the urge to snatch the gold right from the crone’s mouth made her toes curl. As a Wyvern, there were few things in this world Ava craved more than gold.

  “Good evening, little pirates,” the old woman cooed, her white dreadlocks stiff, even as she tried shoving them away from her wrinkled face.

  Ava flicked a glance at Lobah, wondering if seeing the disheveled hair made her question her own choice of hairstyles. Lobah’s bright green dreadlocks fell shiny and smooth down her back, so much neater than the crone’s. It highlighted the wildness that shone in her, demonstrating that she was so much more than the Mouse Affinity she had been born.

  As if feeling her gaze, Lobah’s brown eyes pinched in irritation. “Pay attention,” she whispered.

  “She’s not even talking yet,” Ava grumbled but turned to focus on the story.

  The old crone leaned forward, her eyes sparkling as she stared out at the crowd. “I am Madame Cyclone. I hear you all wish to hear a tale?”

  Cheers rose up among them as the young children clapped their hands in excitement.

  “Very well. Once upon a time, a Goddess roamed these lands. Artemis, Queen and protector of all the wildlife under her eye. One day, she stumbled upon a gold Finch with a broken wing. Healing the Finch, Artemis demanded to know what had happened to the poor bird. The Finch told her that the villagers had taken to hunting the animals nearby. Not for food or fur, but for sport. Enraged, Artemis made her way across the lands and sea, selecting a male and female from every species and giving them the ability to become human; to defend themselves against their enemies, as well as communicate amongst one another. And so she created Affinities.”

  Ava sat back on her hands. The sparkle of the sea pulled in her gaze, distracting her from the tales she knew so well. What hidden treasures awaited her out there just beyond her reach?

  “The Finch became her messenger, delivering messages from the clans, Artemis trusting her beyond all others. One day, Artemis requested a favor of the Finch, asking her to deliver a secret message to Poseidon, God of the sea.”

  As if the sea could hear the tale, it clashed against the boat, splashing the group of them and making the children giggle as the ship swayed. Cyclone grinned.

  “Poseidon had no knowledge of what Artemis had done, having been away from land for too long. He was fascinated by the Finch. Her golden beauty intrigued him as no other, and after their first meeting, the two fell deeply in love.”

  Ava rolled her eyes as the boys next to her gagged in feigned disgust.

  “Poseidon’s was not an easy love to have. This god was king and married to another, an evil queen known for her jealousy and spite. She was clever, and discovered the forbidden love not long after it had begun. In a fit of rage, the evil queen cursed the beautiful Finch Affinity. She took the bird of her soul and trapped it in a cage, locked within for all eternity.”

  Gasps from the youth made Ava grin.

  Mistress Cyclone held up a crooked finger. “However, there was something the evil queen did not know. A young Goddess was hidden nearby, and she stuck her hands into the belly of the curse and plucked out a golden key before the spell was settled. There was a way for the woman’s bird to be free.”

  “How, Mistress?” a young boy asked, leaning forward on his knees.

  “The young Goddess placed the golden key here,” she patted her chest, “right beside her heart. True love would be the cure. Only true love could break the wicked queen’s curse and grant the bird its freedom.”

  A few of the young girls sighed, the boys wrinkling their noses in disgust. Ava snorted.

  “Is that why we can’t shift, Mistress Cyclone?” a little blonde girl asked, pulling on her pigtail. “Mama says we could shift. Once upon a time.”

  “That’s rubbish,” an older boy shouted. “There ain’t been no shif
ters before. We would’ve seen one. You tellin me ain’t nobody been in love before?”

  Mistress Cyclone snapped her fingers, effectively silencing the teen.

  “Magic is a...tricky beast, my darlings. It requires not only belief, but for certain doorways to be unlocked.” She twisted her hand in the air, and a small finch appeared in her palm. All of the children oohed and ahhed, giggling in excitement.

  “Time has a way of unravelling curses. Who knows. Perhaps tomorrow we shall see true Affinites once more.”

  Ava shook her head, glancing over to Lobah to discuss this foolishness, only to pause before she could speak.

  Lobah looked… determined. A fire flickered in her as she stared across the ship and locked eyes with the witchy woman.

  A shudder ran through Ava, goosebumps rising on her flesh. She wasn’t sure what Lobah’s fascination was with the old wives tales, but who was she to steal the magic from her friend?

  Ava knew there was no such thing as mystical curses and true love. This world was what you were given. Or rather, what you took from it.

  Attention! Attention! Attention!

  Bounty Alert

  Target: Lobah Pontiki

  Age: 22

  Wanted for: Crimes against the Council of Affinities and Affluence, Four counts of Grade 5 Piracy, Two counts of Misdemeanor Intoxication, One count of Felony Mischief, and the Unlicensed Use of A Sottises Monkey

  Last known Location: Navis Bay