Page 80 of Pawns of Fate
“I’m not spending any time with you!”
Lysander jerked a thumb toward Nicholas’s unconscious body. “Fine. Kagon, bite him again.”
A wild panic flooded her body as she realized she and Nicholas were entirely at Lysander’s mercy.
“No!” she screamed. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! What do you want?”
Lysander ignored her and began to dig around in his jacket pockets. He produced three scrolls. When Rose got a good look at the markings on them, she realized they were teleportation scrolls.
“Did you steal those from Lyla?” The thought made her indignant.
Lysander laughed. It was a high-pitched, hysterical sound, more like a hyena than a man.
“Why would I steal from my sister? I’m perfectly capable of teleportation magic withoutherhelp.”
“What? Yoursister?” Rose’s mind reeled. She stared at Lysander and saw the physical similarities—the hair, the eyes,even the way he carried himself—that the two shared.
Had Lyla known her brother was behind all of this? Had she purposefully kept it from Rose?The thought was a dagger to her heart.
“Twin sister, to be exact.” Lysander unfurled one of the scrolls and tossed it to Kagon, who had thrown Nicholas’s unconscious body over his shoulder. “We haven’t spoken in years, though. I’m not surprised she failed to mention it.”
Lysander’s words still left a lot of questions. “But you can travel through shadow? Lyla has an affinity for metaphysical magic.” Rose had heard of siblings with varied magical traits. It happened when each parent had a strong affinity to unique elements. It was possible, even for twins. But rare. Lysander’s words indicated that he could perform teleportation spells as well as the high-level shadow magic she’d already seen him use. Rose had never heard of a mage with such capabilities.
Lysander unfurled another scroll. “I have dual affinities,” he stated as if that were a simple, common thing, but Rose felt a lump grow in her throat. How could she and Nicholas escape a mage with two magical elements at his disposal and a shapeshifting companion?
“That’s not possible,” she replied.
Lysander scoffed. “Most people think like you, but it’s very possible. Closed minds like yours have caused me and Kagon a sea of troubles.”
Rose glanced over to Kagon. In all official history books, the druids had died of a mysterious illness several generations ago. But outside of the Imperial City, where the empress’s influencewas strongest, people knew the truth. Genocide. She could only imagine the horrors Kagon must have lived through.
“But, I’ve found that the traits people are persecuted for are, in reality, their strength. The harassment, the ill-treatment, all of it is designed to make things like dual affinities or the ability to shapeshift seem like a weakness. It’s a lie, of course.” Lysander continued his speech as he unfurled the final scroll and gave it to his shadows. A tendril held it against Rose’s arm. She could feel it hum to life, filling with mana.
“And it’s why I need you, Rose. Because you’re going to make my abilitieseven stronger.”
The spell actuated, the world around Rose turned to brightness, heat, and an overwhelming feeling of wrongness, far worse than she’d felt when Lyla had transported her and Ava.
Then everything went black.
NICHOLAS
Nicholas rarely gavein to the siren call of drunkenness. He’d only suffered one crippling hangover in his life. But the protests his body unleashed against him now put the pain of that morning to shame.
His head… Was it still attached to his body? It felt like his mind was swimming in poison.
“Nicholas?” A soft, feminine voice called out to him from somewhere. Was it Rose? “Nicholas, please wake up.” The voice was pleading now.
Rose. It had to be Rose. He opened his eyes.
Blessedly, their surroundings were relatively dark. No bright, mountain sun greeted him. Instead, indigo rocks and the faint glow of star crystals filled his vision.
“Nicholas,” Rose said from beside him. Her voice was full of relief.
His arms and torso were bound, so Nicholas craned his neck, looking for his wife. Rose was tied to a slab of rock, thick as a tree trunk and taller than a man. With great effort, he wriggled his limbs and deduced from the smooth, cool surface against his back that he was tied to something similar.
“What happened?” His voice was hoarse; his throat felt like shards of glass.
“A shadow mage named Lysander kidnapped us.”
