Page 55 of The Sundered Blade

He moved suddenly—a swift step forward together with a grab for her wrist—but Karreya was no longer there. And as she merged with the shadows and fled into the night, she slipped one hand into the secret pocket of her skirt and wrapped her fingers around the cold, hard surface of the spell gem.

It warmed beneath her skin, and as it did so, she thought of Niell. Willed him to hear her. Begged him to know that she was not only thinking of him—she needed him.

And she hoped, as she had never hoped before.

That he could find her—find Leisa—before it was too late.

CHAPTER15

They were in the air less than an hour later, arrowing south above the clouds on a chill northerly wind. Kyrion’s worry and fear were a palpable force that drove him to incredible speeds, each powerful wingbeat a wordless cry of urgency that echoed with his desperate need to get to Leisa.

It was a race against time and the cruelty of whomever had captured her, and the further they went, the darker Vaniell’s imagination grew.

But he had to believe that she was alive. Had to believe Karreya was with her and the two of them were safe somewhere…

A moment later, he let out a choked cry as a fire erupted in his chest—a burning, clutching sensation that seared through his mind and left him with a glowing ember of pain between his temples.

Pain that pointed south…

“What is it?” Kyrion growled, the wind whipping his words so that Vaniell could barely make them out.

And for a moment he could not answer—not only because he was fighting the ache in his head and struggling not to fall off, but because he did not know how to tell Kyrion what he’d done.

“It’s Karreya,” he gasped out finally. “She’s in trouble.”

The wyvern’s wingbeats slowed momentarily, and he banked to fly lower, out of the worst of the wind. “How do you know?”

Vaniell closed his eyes and focused on the pulling sensation. He tried to feel more than a simple sense of direction and succeeded only in making his headache worse. “I gave her an enchantment,” he admitted. He hadn’t even been sure she would find it, let alone use it. But now that she had, he was torn between the competing emotions of fear and hope.

“I didn’t have a chance to test it, but I believed it would allow her to summon me if they were in need. Act as a beacon so that we could find them.”

“And you told no one? Why?” Kyrion’s voice had gone deeper, and he sounded almost angry.

“Because I wasn’t sure if it would work.” Vaniell didn’t know if there was any way to make the night elf understand—not when he was still caught in this maelstrom of worry and fear for the woman he loved. “That’s the way of enchantments. I try new things, and sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. I had no time, so I had to improvise with one of my available spell gems, and I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up if it all came to nothing.”

The wyvern flew on in silence for a few moments. “Was it similar to the gem you gave Leisa?” he asked finally, in a voice gone flat and seemingly empty of emotion.

“Yes and no,” Vaniell replied, pressing his fingers to his temples and breathing deeply as the pain began to ease. “They had different goals, but both were a risk. Both were a desperate attempt to do what I wasn’t surecouldbe done, but felt I had to try anyway. The one I gave to Karreya was meant only to alert me to her need, while the one I gave to Leisa was intended to provide a way for you to speak to someone. To give her an ally, and you a potential way of escape that would not jeopardize the lives being held over my head.”

Kyrion dove lower to avoid a dense cloud bank, then leveled out before speaking again. “And did you know it would create a permanent link between us?”

Horror drained all other thoughts from Vaniell’s mind. Apermanent link? Unthinkable. To chain two living beings together against their will…

“No!” Vaniell’s eyes shut against a surge of pain and guilt at the thought of what he had done. “That was never meant to happen. Whatever you may think of me, I would never have done such a thing knowingly. It is an abomination and a gross misuse of magic.”

But he’d misused his magic terribly in other ways, so how could he expect anything other than mistrust?

“Did I…” How could he even ask this? “Is your relationship… is it my fault? Did I leave the two of you no choice?”

He’d believed Kyrion and Leisa to be deeply in love, but what if it was only his magic that bound them?

“I am not angry, Vaniell of Garimore,” the wyvern rumbled. “Cease your babbling apologies. If it eases your guilt, know that my love for Leisa has nothing to do with your magic. We are bound by far more than enchantment, and if it were not for your bumbling attempts to aid us, both of us might well be dead by now.”

“That does not make my carelessness any less reprehensible.”

The wyvern snorted. “You cannot fool me any longer, Princeling, so cease trying. You are no more careless than I am. I only wished to warn you that your enchantment may have unintended consequences for both you and Karreya.”

But the warning might well be too late. The beacon had been activated, and a connection had been made. What if he had somehow done the same thing to Karreya that he had done to Kyrion and Leisa? What if the enchantment he intended for good had linked their minds inextricably?

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