Large shadows broke from the walls and rushed me. I reached for my switchblade, but it was knocked from my hand before I could trigger the blade. Fear shot through me, increasing my pulse to triple time. A sword flashed just as my arms were pinned. I braced for the thrust, but the tip hovered mere inches from my neck. This explained why I’d lost my tail so easily, but not why I’d had one in the first place.
“Search her,” a female voice ordered.
The four goons closed in, hands searching and removing most of my weapons.
“She’s clean,” one goon said.
“Put her in the chair,” the lady said.
I was shoved into the old armchair. Dust puffed up in a cloud. The goons moved, making a tight semicircle around me, revealing Selene Moon, Owen’s wife. Her long blond hair shone almost white in the sunlight. Normally as pale as Valek, she appeared as if she’d been spending time in the sun. Worry for Ari and Janco flared to life. Had she captured them while they tried to sneak into the compound and learned our location from them? If so, all was lost.
“I see prison’s been good to you,” I said.
“I wouldn’t think you’d be so smug, considering you walked right into our trap.” She gestured to the corner. My bags of food were slumped against the wall. “You thought you were safe once you’d ditched the tail.” Selene tsked. She had me there. I refrained from commenting. Instead, I dropped my gaze as if dejected, but I scanned the floor for my switchblade and spotted it near her left boot.
One of Selene’s goons came down the stairs, increasing the total to five. “Nobody is up there, but there’s evidence of at least three others living here,” he said.
Selene turned her silver-eyed gaze on me. “Who are they?”
I considered giving her the silent treatment, but I needed to stall for time. Once they dragged me into the garrison—if they didn’t just kill me here—it’d be harder to escape. “My Ixian friends. The people who helped stop you and Owen from getting the Ice Moon.” Ah, the good old days. Reminding her of the past had the desired effect.
A flush of red painted her cheeks. “Where are they now?”
“Gone on a mission.”
“What mission?”
I smiled. “To hunt you down, of course. We know what you’ve been up to, Selene,” I bluffed.
“Is that so?” Her icy tone promised pain.
I ignored it. “Yup.”
“Are you having fun?”
Not at all. I gripped the armrests to keep my distress from showing on my face. “Yup.”
“Not for long. You have no powers, Yelena. You’re not even wearing a null shield. There is nothing to stop me from taking the information from your mind.”
Except the baby. But I wasn’t going to tell her that. “So why bother with all these questions?”
“I thought I’d give you the option to cooperate.”
“How nice, but would you believe anything I told you?” I paused long enough to see her doubtful expression. “No. So why go through all this? Unless...”
Selene arched a nearly invisible eyebrow.
When she failed to take the bait, I continued. “Unless you’re still terrified of me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re no longer the Soulfinder.”
Had she done something to ensure my fate? We’d thought it was the baby blocking my magic, but it was just a theory. I could have been targeted around the time of conception. Swallowing my alarm, I bluffed, “How do you know my powers haven’t returned?”
“In my experience, once they’re gone, they are gone.” She smiled, showing a row of straight white teeth. “But just in case, I’ll make sure you’re never the Soulfinder again.”
I lunged, grabbing her wrist. “Too late.”
Her goons rushed to her aid, and multiple hands seized me. When I spotted the terror in her eyes, I knew she’d tried to use her magic against me and failed. They broke my grip and shoved me down into the chair.
She rubbed her wrist and stepped back, but then stopped. A cold calculation slid into her gaze. Oh, no.
“That was...interesting. But if you truly had your powers, you wouldn’t need to touch me.” Selene dropped her hands. “Something else is going on. Care to tell me?”
“No.”
“That’s okay. We’ll find out soon enough. Let’s go.” She gestured to the goons bookending me.
They seized my upper arms and hauled me to my feet. I struggled and managed to break free for a second before goon number three stepped in. Pinned between all three of them, I gasped for breath from my exertions.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Yelena. That baby in your belly won’t prevent me from hurting you.”
“That’s because I will prevent you,” Valek said from behind her as his knife appeared at her throat.
Everyone jerked with surprise. I silently cheered. My delay tactics had worked.
“Tell your thugs to unhand my wife,” Valek ordered.
“Do it,” Selene hissed as blood welled under the blade’s sharp edge.
They released me. I smoothed my garments, making a show of it as I scanned the room for Teegan. No sign of him. Good.
“Now tell them to return to the garrison.”
An odd command. The goons looked at each other in confusion. I met Valek’s gaze. He winked at me. Ah.
“Go.” Selene waved them off. “Bring reinforcements.”
“Please do,” Valek said.
Now I was confused, but I trusted my husband.
After the goons left, Valek pushed Selene away. “Let’s talk.”
She touched the cut on her neck, then glanced at her hand. Blood coated her fingertips. “Big mistake.”
“Oh?”
“Owen isn’t the only one who knows how to build a null shield.”
Valek froze with his hands and knife pressed to his side, acting as if trapped. Not sure of my role in this, I dove for my switchblade. Sweeping it up from the floor, I triggered the weapon. The blade shot out with a distinctive snick. Selene faced me.
“I can squeeze the life from him,” she said.
“Not before I stab you.” I advanced.
Fury and frustration creased her beautiful face. She bolted for the door. I moved to give chase, but Valek caught my arm.
“No. Let her go.”
“Why?”
“Because if she and her men went missing, there would be a manhunt.”
“But there’s still going to be a manhunt once they all return to the garrison and report they’ve seen us.”
“Yes, but the Cartel won’t think we’ve gotten information from Selene and change their plans.”
Oh. That was a good point. “It still would have been nice to discover what she knows.”
“Who said we didn’t?” Teegan asked. He stepped from the back room with a huge grin on his face.
“What if she sensed you in her mind?” I asked in alarm.
“Uncle Valek had her quite distracted. Besides, I’m smooth.” He swiped his hand through the air.
Teegan has been spending too much time in Janco’s company. Before I could move, Valek wrapped me in his arms. “Thanks,” I said into his neck. He smelled of the forest.
“Anytime.” He released me and we shared a smile.
“Enough with the kissy face,” Teegan said. “They’ll be back soon.”
Right. “Okay, Mr. Smooth, time to pack up.”
We rushed around and grabbed our belongings and the food. Dashing through the streets of Longleaf, we made quite the sight. Eyewitnesses would report that we’d fled town and disappeared into the forest, heading northwest. In reality, we looped around to the south side of the garrison, but far enough away from the reach of their magicians. We hoped.
; “What about Ari and Janco?” I asked as we set up camp. “Were they captured at the complex?”
“No,” Teegan said.
“How did Selene find me, then?”
“She received a tip from one of the merchants.”
So much for my disguise. “We need to warn Ari and Janco not to return to town.”
“We’re pretty close to their return route. The horses will alert us when they’re close,” Valek said.
“Are we still going to rescue the Councilors?” Teegan asked.
“Yes. In fact, tonight would be ideal. The garrison commander will send extra patrols into town to search for us, which means not as many guards in the garrison.”
“Yeah, but there will be more chance of us running into all those extra patrols,” Teegan said.
“And they might find Ari and Janco instead.” I paced.
“Don’t worry, love. Those two know how to avoid patrols. But you’re right. As Janco would say, ‘There are too many rabbits in the stew.’ We’ll hang tight until everything settles down.”
Valek spread his bedroll, even though it wasn’t full dark yet. Although he tried to hide it, I recognized his fatigue. Normally so graceful and fluid, his movements jerked, as if every action required a great effort.
I sat next to him, and he draped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer. “What did you learn at your magic lesson today?” I asked him.
“That he can make an awesome null shield,” Teegan answered, pumping a fist in the air.
“And how to recognize them.” He smiled. “Selene was so pleased with herself, thinking she’d trapped me.”
Which reminded me. “And what did you learn from Selene?”
Teegan’s humor faded. “She confirmed that the Cartel plans to target all the magicians during the Firestorm—her words, not mine.”
“Firestorm?” Valek stared off into the distance. “Which matches our guess that the Commander plans to attack around the time of the fire festival.”
“It does. But I don’t think they intend to kill the magicians. She took great pleasure in the fact that we were going to be hit with some kind of substance.”
“Do you know what the substance does?” I asked, hoping we’d finally learn what exactly the Cartel was planning.
“No, sorry. I only had time for a brief glance into her rotten thoughts. But—” Teegan glanced at the forest.
Both Valek and I reached for weapons.
Teegan shook his head. “It’s Ari and Janco. Kiki’s leading them here.”
Sure enough, two men and four horses appeared from the forest. Dirt and mud splattered their clothing, and their stiff dismounts indicated they’d spent too much time in the saddle.
Janco pulled a leaf from his hair. “I was really looking forward to sleeping in a bed tonight.”
“Look on the bright side—if we’d stayed in the tailor shop, you’d be sleeping in the garrison tonight,” I said.
He grunted. “So I gathered.”
We filled them in on Selene’s visit. Ari and Janco exchanged a glance.
“What did you discover?” Valek asked.
“That substance she mentioned is called Harman sap. And it can block a magician’s magic.”
We all stared at Janco in shock.
“Are you sure?” Valek asked.
“Unfortunately.”
“Is there a cure?” My voice was barely a whisper. Perhaps that was what had happened to me. If that was the case, at least it hadn’t affected the baby. It was no longer a theory that he or she had some form of magic.
“No one knows,” Janco said.
“You haven’t been hit with it, Yelena,” Ari said.
I clamped down on my emotions. “How do you know?”
“Selene didn’t discover the correct concentration until a season ago.”
A rush of relief swept through me. I grabbed Valek’s arm to steady my wobbly legs. However, the good feelings died when I considered that the Cartel could still target me with the sap, and perhaps block the baby’s powers, as well. And the rest of our herd was at risk, too.
“Does it wear off?” Teegan stood as if rooted to the ground.
“They don’t know.” Janco explained what had happened to the volunteers.
Valek was the first to recover. “It doesn’t change anything. We assumed the Cartel planned to target the magicians. This is...kinder, and they can still blame the Commander.”
“No wonder the Commander invited Owen in with open arms,” Ari said. “He’d jump at the chance to get rid of all the magicians.”
Janco was the only one not horrified by the prospect. “Maybe we can snag a few vials and use it on Selene, Owen and their sycophants.”
We all stared at him.
“What? If they use it on us, then we’ll be able to level the playing field. No magicians on either side.” He shrugged. “Seems fair to me.”
“Fair?” Teegan choked, truly appalled by the prospect of losing his magic forever. “It’s—”
“An issue to be discussed later,” Valek said, ending the discussion.
* * *
Two nights later, we prepared to rescue the Councilors. As the strongest of us, Ari volunteered to throw the storm orb at the wall, but Teegan thought he’d still be too close and might be killed.
“I’ve watched the Stormdancers. Those things are packed with energy,” Teegan said. “I can use my magic to deliver the orb.”
Janco shook his head. “According to Heli, it’s gotta hit with some force or the glass won’t break.”
We rigged a slingshot instead, with Valek aiming and Teegan on hand to nudge the orb in case it went off course. Not like we could practice.
I crouched with Ari and Janco about two hundred yards away from Valek. Teegan promised he’d be able to protect the two of them from flying debris, and there was no reason for the rest of us to be with them.
The faint twang of the slingshot reached me a few seconds before a roar of sound dominated all my senses. Wind and pressure flattened me to the ground. Leaves, dirt, branches and a fine white powder blasted over me. My skin felt rubbed raw. The cacophony ended as suddenly as it began. Unless I’d gone deaf.
Janco pushed up to his knees. “Holy snow cats!” His voice sounded very far away.
Glad my hearing still worked, I turned to see what he gaped at. The storm’s energy had cleared a path in the forest. And in the distance, a huge hole replaced the garrison’s wall. Then it hit me. There was no sign of Valek or Teegan. Panicked, I jumped to my feet. Ari was right behind me as we waded through the debris, calling their names.
A small hand poked up from a pile of leaves. Ari and I cleared the branches and bits of the wall from the mound. Underneath, Valek covered Teegan’s body. His shirt was streaked with bloody rips, but he rolled off the boy with a groan.
Teegan sat up. “Wow. That was...incredible!”
“What happened to protecting the both of you with your magic?” I asked Teegan. My voice was sharper than I’d intended.
He jerked as if slapped. “Didn’t expect...so much...power.”
I touched his shoulder. “Sorry.”
“Not his fault,” Valek said. He struggled to stand.
Ari pulled him to his feet as if he weighed nothing. “Let’s go before they regroup.”
We trudged through the rubble and climbed over the broken edge of the wall. Soldiers milled about in shock, some of them sporting bloody cuts and gashes. A few helped others who lay on the ground. Cutting through the chaos, Teegan led us to the nearby barracks. Chunks of the wall were embedded in the sides of the building, and the glass had shattered in all the facing windows. People streamed from the building, gaping at the damage. A number of them milled about, unable to act, while
others looked as if they were waiting for orders.
I pointed to a group of people. “There’s Councilor Cowan.”
Teegan nodded, then called the Councilors to him with his magic. They shuffled toward us as if sleepwalking.
Ari, Janco, Valek and I guided them to the wall and encouraged them to climb over. All the while, we assured them they would be safe as long as they kept moving away before the rest of the garrison collapsed. When we entered the forest, Councilor Tama Moon resisted.
I clasped her hand and murmured comfort and reassurance in her ear. After a minute, she met my gaze.
Confusion swirled in her eyes, but also recognition. “Yelena, you’re here.”
“Yes, I am.”
“For us?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
I hoped that was a sign that the baby had drained the magic brainwashing her, but I didn’t know for certain. When she steadied, I moved on to Councilor Bloodgood. I made sure to touch them all during the long trek through the forest. It lasted until dawn, when it became obvious we all needed a break.
“Do you think we’re far enough away?” Janco asked. He gulped a mouthful of water before handing the skin to Ari.
“Teegan?” Valek asked.
Valek’s injuries looked worse in the daylight. But he wouldn’t let me tend to them or use his magic to heal them, claiming they were minor.
“We have a good lead on them. Plus those tracks Janco made earlier have led half of them in the opposite direction,” Teegan said.
“Good.” Valek studied our traveling companions.
The Councilors huddled in pairs. Their expressions still remained a bit stunned. But none complained or demanded to be returned to the garrison. They thanked Ari as he shared a water skin and strips of jerky. However, I suspected the questions would soon start.
“We need to split up,” Valek said.
No one appeared to be happy about this—quite the opposite. And while I trusted Valek had our best interests in mind, the Councilors still believed he worked for the Commander.
“Why?” I asked him.
“We’re too big a group. It will slow us down and attract unwanted attention.”