Page 58 of Stormvein
A traitor among our own ranks. Someone close enough to know our strategies, our movements. The thought sends a chill through me that has nothing to do with my physical condition.
We’re in danger if we stay here. And I’m broken, but breathing. More liability than asset to those who risked their lives, those whodied, to save me.
“Options?” My voice sounds wrong to my ears. Shadows surge to my throat, strengthening it enough to be heard.
“You’re in no condition to move.” Ellie’s hand tightens on mine, the silver pulsing in counterpoint to the shadows moving through me. “You nearlydied. More than once.”
“Authority …” I pause, trying to gather what little strength I have. “We die.”
Varam nods, understanding what I’m trying to say. He doesn’t argue, doesn’t try to deny what I’m saying. He simply acknowledges the truth of it. The expression in his eyes shows he’s already calculated our odds and found them wanting.
“Where? Stonehaven is closest, but?—”
“Dangerous.” From the limited information he’s given me, there could be someone waiting to betray us there, and I’m not in a position to defend anyone. Not yet.
“Southernrock.”
Varam considers my suggestion. “That’s at least two days from here. It will be a difficult journey, especially with Authority patrols in the area.”
“Three days.” I’m not sure how I know this with such certainty, but the shadows working hard beneath my skin pulse with confirmation. “Defensible.”
“You can’t travel,” Ellie objects. “The damage you’ve suffered is going to take more than a couple of hours to heal. You can barely stay conscious.”
Movement at the edge of my vision captures my attention. Something large shifts in the shadows of the cave. A creature is standing there, watching us. For a moment, I think my fever has returned, bringing hallucinations with it. Itlookslike a mist stalker, but that’s impossible. They never leave the Veil Mists.
Yet there it stands, watching me. When our eyes meet, it steps forward, coming closer, then lowers itself beside me.
“What is?—”
“It’s with me.” Ellie touches the top of its head with one hand. “When your familiar touched me … everything changed.”
The pieces connect slowly in my pain-fogged mind, images joining to form a picture still not quite complete. I sent my familiar away before I was captured. One last desperate command to find her. Had doing so caused something that made this creature form?
Questions will have to wait. Survival comes first.
“Leave tonight. Under darkness.”
“With all respect, Lord Torran …Sacha.” Concern is etched into the lines around Varam’s eyes. He gestures subtly toward my damaged body, towards bandages still coated in fresh blood.
“We’ll die here.” The effort is costing me strength that the shadows rush to try and replenish. “Better to try.”
Through my damaged vision, Ellie’s skin shimmers with a silver light that seems agitated by my words. It pulses faster, stronger, mirroring the distress in her eyes. She doesn’t want to move me, doesn’t want to risk what little healing I’ve managed. But we have no choice. The Authority is closing in, and I refuse to let those who rescued me die for their efforts.
Varam’s gaze moves between us, his expression shifting from doubt to something close to hope … a willingness to believe in the impossible. After all, I’m alive when I should be dead. Perhaps the impossible has become merely improbable.
“Tonight.” He rises to his feet. “I’ll tell the others.”
Ellie’s hand tightens around mine, her light feeding strength to the shadows still working through my body.
The girl who arrived in this world through my summoning has been transformed. By the power. By me. By what happened when my familiar found her at River Crossing. The realization carries a weight of responsibility I’m not sure I can bear in my current state.
“You’re going to need more than luck to survive this journey.” Concern fills her eyes.
I try to smile, but I’ve exhausted every bit of energy I have.
“Don’t need luck.” My fingers twitch against hers, shadows briefly wrapping around our hands. “You.”
I meet her eyes, feeling the power that’s flowing between us. My shadows respond, reaching toward her.
