“Yes.”
“Be quick.”
“I know.”
“On three. One. Two. Three.”
Phelan yanked. Valek jerked awake, gasping in pain. Fisk thrust the glass super messenger into Valek’s hands while Phelan staunched the wound.
It was a gamble. A long shot. If Valek wasn’t conscious enough to tap into the magic stored inside... I hovered nearby, completely useless.
Fisk pressed Valek’s hands to the glass. Valek’s head dropped back onto the mattress. His eyes drifted shut.
23
VALEK
A hot poker of pain speared him with unbelievable agony. His eyes watered, and sweet oblivion beckoned as his body shut down to protect against the onslaught.
“No, you don’t!” Yelena yelled. Her voice was distant, but the panic and fear were clear. “Come on, Valek. Use your magic.”
Magic? He’d tried. Before. It worked. For a while. But...not strong enough.
“Come on, you bastard.”
The bastard was the guy who’d stabbed him in the back. Except he couldn’t remember which of the five did the deed.
“Heal yourself. Use the super messenger.”
Messenger? His hands tingled and pulsed with magic. But he couldn’t see his injury. It hurt to think. It hurt to breathe. It hurt.
As if reading his mind, Yelena said, “Reach inside. Like when you reach out with your magic, but this time, reach inside instead.”
Black-and-white spots swirled as energy drained from his limbs.
“Do it now. That’s an order!”
Conditioned to following orders, Valek gathered the magic and concentrated on the pulsing fury of pain in his chest, projecting his awareness into his body, sensing the injury. His heart struggled to beat as blood spurted from an inch-long tear. Fear gripped him. The injury was too severe to repair.
“Valek, do it for your child.”
The memory of the baby’s movements caressed his mind as gently as the baby inside her had caressed his fingers. Using the magic in the messenger to strengthen him, Valek pulled a thread of power and stitched the tear in his heart.
Lightheaded with the effort, he drew in a deep breath. He wasn’t done. Blood had pooled in his chest. Too much. He guided it back through the cut arteries in his back before working on repairing the muscles and tissues, looping tiny, neat stitches. He rested for a moment. Yelena’s voice roused him again, goading him into action.
Feeling a bit stronger, he drew more power from the blanket, since a part of him knew to avoid draining the messenger. By the time he finished knitting the skin together, he shook with fatigue. The temptation to pull in more power throbbed.
Resisting the lure of unlimited energy, Valek let go. He hoped he’d done enough to quiet that insistent voice, so he could rest in peace.
* * *
He woke in snatches. Faces came and went. Fisk. Phelan. Yelena. Valek reached for his wife, but she wouldn’t touch his skin. Liquids burned down his throat, and he shivered under a thousand pounds of blankets until fire raced over his skin and he flung them off. Pulling in a breath became a struggle. Oblivion was far easier.
But the voice returned. “You missed something. Look again,” it ordered. He tried ignoring that voice. It demanded too much. However, it refused to give up and it sawed into his mind, cleaving its way into his core. “Fight or die,” it challenged him.
And that voice saved him. Again. He’d never backed down from a fight. Valek connected to the blanket of power and sought the injury with his awareness, seeking what he’d missed. A sliver of metal was lodged in his rib. Red inflammation and green pus hovered around it. A hole in his right lung leaked air. Sewing the hole was second nature. Once completed, his breathing returned to normal.
The shard, however, would have to be removed. He needed help and another pair of hands. When he built up enough strength, he asked for a volunteer who wouldn’t faint at the sight of blood. And who would allow Valek to invade his or her mind.
Fisk volunteered. Yelena’s strained face softened with surprise. Valek wondered why, until he encountered the damage in Fisk’s thoughts. Another had invaded, and she had a heavy touch. Like a bully, she had taken what she wanted and left a mess behind.
Valek kept a light connection with Fisk, being a mindful guest. He showed the young man what Valek needed him to do.
Fisk cursed. “I’ve gotten some strange requests from clients before, but this one beats them all.” He glanced at Yelena. “He wants me to cut into his back.”
“Why?”
“Metal shard left behind.”
“Oh. No need, Valek. Push it from your body. It will cut through muscles and skin, but you can repair the tears as it travels. That will cause much less damage.” She frowned at him. “Why didn’t you just ask me?”
He gave her an apologetic smile. “Baby brain.”
She relaxed. “No. I’m sorry. I’m just not used to you being...” Yelena drew in a breath. “Let me do the thinking for you until you’re recovered. Okay?”
“Yes, love.” He rolled onto his stomach and worked on evicting the unwelcome visitor. Pain once again sliced through his back, but he managed to wiggle it out. Blood and pus poured from the new wound. He let the pus drain before stitching up the cut. Yelena wiped the fluids up with a towel, being careful not to touch his skin with her own.
Too exhausted to move, Valek closed his eyes, but he vowed to get better just so he could hold his wife again.
* * *
The days passed in blurs of activity. Waking, eating, talking and sleeping. He explained to Yelena and Fisk how he’d drawn the bulk of the guards away from the gate. A smile at the memory. Janco would be proud of the taunt he’d used to goad them into action. Valek had led them on a merry chase throughout the Citadel and well away from the distraction at the Council Hall.
Then the smile faded. They’d been harder to shake than expected. A magician had accompanied them, and she’d tracked him with her magic. By the time he looped back to the gate, the soldiers had recovered from their surprise. And behind him, the Council Hall guards had arrived, charging toward the exit, trapping him between the two.
He’d faced ten. Nothing left to do but surrender. Fear was a pale shadow compared to the regret that pulsed in his heart for failing to rejoin Yelena. Except Onora had appeared from nowhere. She ambushed a couple guards, and Valek couldn’t let her have all the fun.
He ignored Yelena’s squawk of protest and continued the story. It hadn’t taken long to realize five armed opponents exceeded his fighting skills. “A blow to my ego.”
When the knife had sliced into his back, he’d yanked power, flinging his magic away from him in a blind panic and flattening the guards to the ground.
“A mini flameout?” Yelena asked him.
“No idea, love. By the time I came to my senses, Onora was gone. I clutched magic to my chest and ran until I couldn’t.” He reached for her. And since he no longer relied on his magic to heal, she laced her fingers through his. “Then the nagging started.”
She huffed and tried to yank her hand from his grip.
He tightened his hold. “It saved my life. Thank you.” Valek kissed her knuckles.
Fisk laughed. “Power nagging. I love it.” He paused. “Don’t tell my mother.”
“Where’s Onora?” Valek asked. “I need to thank her, too.”
Both Yelena and Fisk sobered. He braced for bad news, but Fisk’s report wasn’t all doom.
“She’s quite capable of avoiding capture,” Valek said.
“What if she tries to assassinate Bruns?” Yelena asked.
“She’ll probably succeed. Why are you upset? It would derail the Cartel’s plans.”
Yelena sat on the edge of his bed. “I’m worr
ied about her soul.” She looked down at their clasped hands. “Killing another changes a person.”
He squeezed her fingers. “I know. Onora will have to decide what to do. If she kills Bruns and manages to escape, then it’s a good thing most of her friends understand exactly what she sacrificed in order to save others.”
Yelena’s expression grew thoughtful. He wondered what she mulled over. Before he could ask, she released his hand and stood.
“You need to rest.” Yelena pulled the blankets up to his chest. “You have to regain your strength.”
“I sleep better when you’re with me, love.” He patted the bed beside him.
“And that’s my signal to go.” Fisk paused in the threshold. “My kids are bored and want to help. What should I tell them?”
Valek exchanged a glance with Yelena. She nodded.
“Send them to the three northern garrisons. When the Theobroma starts to wear off, they’ll be in position to help spread the word,” Valek said.
“Spread the word about what?”
“To listen to the Master Magicians and follow their orders.”
“What will be their orders?”
Valek tried to shrug, but it still hurt too much. “I don’t know. We haven’t figured that out yet. Let me know if you have any ideas.”
Fisk just muttered as he left.
“Can you contact the Masters?” Yelena asked.
He touched the super messenger. It sat on the bedside table, just in case he needed it. Magic hummed inside, but how much was left? “I hope so.” Valek considered. “Bruns told Zitora that all these had been destroyed, but we know he’s been using them—and he has Quinn, who can recharge them.”
“You want to steal one?”
“Or two or three or—”
“I get it.” She perched on the edge of the bed and pulled off her boots. “We can see if there are any in the Greenblade garrison when we free the Councilors.”
That reminded him. “How long have I been out of it?”
She stripped down to her underclothes. “It’s close to the middle of the heating season. We’ve been here for ten days.”
Shocked, he sat up. “Ten...” But his head spun, and his muscles shook.
Yelena tsked and pushed him back down. “You almost died. Even with using magic, you can’t recover that fast.” Sliding into bed with him, she snuggled close.
“We need to leave soon.” There wasn’t much time left.
“When you’re healthy.” Her tone implied it was not up for discussion.
He lay there, staring at the ceiling. A few dusty cobwebs hung in the corners. Depending on how well-guarded they were, it could take days or weeks to plan and then execute the Councilors’ rescue. Then they would need at least a week for the Councilors to recover their free will.
“Stop fretting,” Yelena said. “Rest.”
When he didn’t relax, she took his hand and placed it on her slightly bulging belly. Even through her undershirt, he felt the baby’s movements. Amazing.
“A little over halfway,” she said.
That scared him. So much to do before they were safe. He tensed again.
“What do you think? Boy or girl?” she asked.
Ah. A classic distraction technique, but he played along. “Girl.”
“Why?”
“Because she already takes after you, love.”
“How’s that?”
“From the very beginning, she’s been in the middle of the action, causing trouble.”
“Ha. I think it’s a boy, because of all your brothers. Your parents had six boys and one girl. The odds are good for a boy.”
“And for twins,” he said.
She pushed up on her elbow, looking a bit panicked. “No. Teegan said ‘two healthy heartbeats.’”
“Are you sure he wasn’t referring to two babies?”
“I...” Yelena swallowed. “I thought he meant me and the baby. Can you see?”
“I can try.”
She lay back down, and Valek slid his hand under her shirt, resting it on her warm stomach. Reaching with his magic, he sought the baby...or babies. But his power was taken from him before he could sense anything. The more he tried, the greater the drain. He stopped. “Sorry, love. Guess we’ll have to find out the old-fashioned way.”
“Easy for you to say,” she muttered.
“If it helps, the baby has grown in strength as well as size. You’re even more protected from—” Struck by an idea, he mulled it over.
“Magic?”
He chased the logic. Excited, he turned to her. “Do you think you could wake those under Bruns’s influence with a touch? The Cartel uses magic to manipulate their loyalties, so if you drain that magic away, wouldn’t they wake up?”
Yelena gaped at him. “I’m... But Loris was able to control me.”
“That was three months ago. And even then, you said you were able to shake off his magic after a few hours.”
“What about Cahil?”
“What about him? Did you touch him skin to skin? Or his crew?”
“No.” Her face lit up. “It might work.”
And if it did, that might just be the break they needed. Valek snaked his hand up her stomach. “This calls for a celebration.” Desire purred in his voice.
She grabbed his wrist and plucked his hand from her body. “No. You are to rest, recuperate and recover.”
Right. “If I follow your orders, will I get a reward?”
“Yes.”
The future had just brightened even more.
* * *
Five days later, Valek was finally declared healthy enough for travel. He received his reward the night before they left.
Breathless, and with their heartbeats in sync, they lay together. Valek wondered aloud if their bedroom exertions endangered the baby.
“No. Medic Mommy said we can have relations—those are her words, by the way, not mine—up until the last couple of weeks. However, I’ll be huge by then and probably resemble a turnip with legs. I doubt that you’d even want to have relations.”
He cupped her cheek. “You are more beautiful to me today than yesterday. Each day, when I think I can’t possibly love you any more than I already do, you prove me wrong. So I’m very confident that even if you turn into a turnip with legs, I will love and desire you.”
She turned and kissed him on the palm. “I love you, too.”
He nuzzled her neck, then nibbled on her ear. “Besides, turnips are my favorite vegetable.”
“Am I supposed to melt in your arms after that comment?”
He pretended to be confused. “Turnips don’t melt.” Which earned him a hard smack on his arm. “Ow.” He rubbed his bicep.
“Any other comments?”
“You’re even beautiful when you’re annoyed.”
“Nice save.”
“The truth is easy, love.” He pulled her closer and breathed in her scent. Contentment filled him as he drifted to sleep.
Morning came too soon, but Valek refrained from complaining as Yelena studied his face for signs of fatigue. They said goodbye to Fisk. He’d reluctantly declared the farmhouse his new headquarters until the Cartel was gone.
“It’s too quiet. It smells weird. And it’s dead boring,” Fisk said. “How do people survive out here?”
“Some people like dead boring,” Yelena said, smiling at him.
“Well, I don’t. Better hurry up and evict those bastards.”
“Glad you’re feeling better,” she said.
He grinned back at her. “Me, too.”
Carrying their bags to the stable, Valek and Yelena saddled their horses. When Valek mounted Onyx, the big black horse pranced underneath him, energetic
and ready to go.
Fisk followed them. Before they left, he asked, “How will I know if you rescue the Councilors?”
“When we knock on your door,” Yelena said.
“Oh.”
“If we’re not back by the beginning of the hot season, we failed.”
“And you’re in charge of taking down the Cartel,” Valek added.
“Lovely.”
“You’re the best man for the job,” Valek said.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m the only man for the job. Better not get caught, or I’m gonna be stuck here and might have to...gasp...farm.”
“Well, if that’s not incentive to survive, I don’t know what is,” Valek teased. “Thanks for the pep talk.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Fisk headed back to the house.
As soon as Valek tapped his heels, Onyx exploded into motion. Kiki ran right beside him. Even with a few detours to avoid patrols and using extra caution when entering Longleaf, they arrived near the Greenblade garrison in three days.
The town was mid-size and had a number of inns. Ari and Janco had a safe house nearby, but Bruns had probably plucked that location from Fisk. Valek doubted the Cartel would be actively searching for them here, but he ensured they wore disguises when then rented a room at the Thermal Blue Inn for one night. Since they couldn’t plan a rescue in a public establishment, Valek would find another dwelling tomorrow while Yelena chatted with the locals. The horses remained in the forest surrounding the town.
They ate a late supper in their room, but they joined the other guests for breakfast the next day. The common room was about half-full. Conversation buzzed and the smell of bacon filled the air. Yelena dug into a huge pile of steaming eggs, but he picked at his, pushing the yellow clumps around his plate. The trip had worn him out more than he’d expected. He’d thought getting pushed from a window by Owen twice was the closest he’d ever come to death. That crystal-clear moment when gravity tugged was forever etched into his mind. The first time, Ari’s strong hands had snatched him from that fate, and the second, an unknown rescuer provided handholds. Escaping death a third time had been much harder. He doubted he’d survive a fourth.
A man and his son entered the common room. They strode over to their table. Valek reached for his dagger, but then he recognized the man’s swagger.