Page 26 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

He shoved her back against the trunk of a tree and pressed her arms against her chest to hold her there. He glared at her, furious, his fingers digging into her arms. Crow stared back at him, trying to reason herself out of her terror. If he tried to kill her, he’d probably touch her, and then she’d be able to take control of him before he could finish the deed.

What in the world had made her do something as stupid as trying to ally with a night elf? Why had she ever thought that he wouldn’t hurt her? It was what they did.

“You are not going to do any of that,” he said. “You will not go back there. You will never speak of me again. You will forget we ever met.” His gaze searched her. His expression had changed—grown less intense somehow, as if he’d suddenly remembered how exhausted he was. “Swear to me that you won’t go back.”

She studied him, cautious. She hadn’t expected that.Swear to me, because I don’t want to be forced to kill you,is what he meant.

“All right,” she said quietly. “I swear it.”

His lips twitched with disdain, but he let go of her, then turned and started into the woods.

As he turned his back on her, Crow reached into her pocket. Her hand closed around the smooth circle of metal. She walked after him.

He turned when he heard her following, ready to snarl at her. Crow’s hand darted out to grasp his wrist and close the circlet of metal around it. It snapped shut. She stepped out of reach again as he frowned down at the metal.

“What…?” He looked for a way to take the thing off. The runes glowed, and then it sank into his skin and disappeared, like a stone tossed into a river. The sight of it made Crow feel ill.

Vaara stared at his wrist. “What was that?” he demanded.

Maybe she should have taken Toreg, after all. She wouldn’t have felt so awful about using the thing on him.

He marched toward her. “Whatwasthat?”

“Do you know what a soulbinder is?”

“A what?”

She was going to have to explain the evil she’d just done to him. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “It’s ancient Auren-Li magic. Very powerful. Very rare. No one is quite sure how it works.”

“Whatisit?” he growled, coming to stand directly in front of her.

“What does it sound like?” she sneered. “It means your soul is bound to mine now. It means you will serve me until the binding is removed. If you refuse to help me of your own free will, then I have no choice but to force you.”

“I will never serve anyone.”

“You will when the magic makes you.”

“There is no such magic.”

“Oh? Then if I tell you you’re going to turn around and go back to the road, you’ll be able to tell me to piss off, won’t you?”

He said nothing. There was unease in his gaze now.

“Go on.” She pointed. “Back to the road. We’re going.”

A heavy, cold fist clutched her heart as she watched him start to feel it. There would be a pull from the binding, which was now an immovable part of his being, urging him to obey the command. Compelling him. He could not fight it. No one could.

For a few seconds—longer than she’d thought he would last—he did not move. He struggled against the urge, but she could see in his expression that he now knew she had told him the truth.

Slowly, he took a step. And then he was walking. He trudged toward the road, carving a path in the snow. Crow followed him.

When he reached the side of the road, he stopped.

She was surprised when he whirled around and his hands went to her throat. She flinched, but his fingers didn’t tighten. His hold was light, barely touching. Through the touch, she felt the full force of his panic, his outrage, his horror. He grimaced as he tried to hurt her and found he could not.

“The binding won’t allow you to kill me,” she said. “But I suppose you’d be stupid not to try, wouldn’t you?”

He let go of her and looked down at his hands. He grasped the wrist the bracelet had sunk into, as if searching for a way to bring it back out.

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