Page 53 of Emerald Flame
He placed his hand back on her knee. The warmth of his touch, even through her jeans, made her heart quiver. “What if this is more about Glissane like Ralph said? Maybe Glissane is after you. You’re more powerful than you know.”
At that, a cold chill went through her. She leaned back, her lips parting. Her gaze flickered back and forth as though searching for a place to land. She thought back and tried to recall a place where her path might have crossed Glissane’s, but she’d never met the wizard before. “Honestly, I’d be surprised if he even knew I existed.”
Warren shifted farther in her direction. “That’s where I think you’re wrong. He’s a wizard of enormous power who has come to Savage for no doubt a host of bad reasons. With that power, why wouldn’t he know about you? That’s the real question. If he’s able to use Julio as a host to subdue dozens of wolves all at the same time, maybe you’re not as invisible as you think.”
She pressed two fingers to her lips and wrapped her other arm around her stomach. She hadn’t given the wizard much thought at all. But Warren was right. Glissane was one of those men who didn’t seek the limelight, though by the power of his personality and his wizard abilities he could have easily owned the stage.
His reputation was simple: He was a true villain of darkness. The crimes rumored to belong to him were more often done in secret than in the open. He would prefer to remain invisible rather than risk exposure and possible retribution or imprisonment.
She knew Veyda had worked with a wizard, but she’d never known which one. She found she could hardly breathe as she travelled back to being tortured by the dark witch.
The smell of the poisoned paste returned to her with its acrid stench. She forced herself to move past the immediate, difficult memories in order to better examine the environs.
Part of the way she’d survived was by staring up at the ceiling, marveling at its beauty while the poison ate away at her skin and muscles and lit each nerve ending on fire. She’d pretend she was floating up there. Even as she screamed in pain, part of her was suspended in the air looking down at the brutal, medieval scene.
She went there now and searched her memories from a position near the ceiling. She mentally traveled the perimeter of the room.
She saw something she hadn’t noticed before. The air wavered in the south corner and she could now see how often Veyda turned in that direction and smiled. She even nodded more than once.
Then she understood. “Glissane was there. He was testing me. All that time.”
Warren’s voice brought her out of her reverie. “When was this?”
“During my incarceration in Veyda’s compound. When she used the poisoned paste on me, he was there. Glissane.”
“Are you remembering more?”
“Forcing myself to, yes. But I can sense him now, in the torture room, though I can’t see him. I’m convinced Veyda could. She was very powerful.” She frowned as a new question surfaced. “But if he was there, why didn’t he intervene when Braden and his wolves attacked the compound and rescued me? If he possesses this kind of wave power, why didn’t he use it then?”
Fergus spoke up. “He might not have been able to. He might have needed a host, the way he uses Julio.”
Dread rode her hard. Until this moment, she’d thought Julio was the problem. Now she knew he was little more than a pawn of Glissane’s in some larger game. Men or women of power often wanted more, then much more.
Fergus asked. “But why Savage? Why not take over Elegance?”
Kiara thought she understood. “He would risk being exposed among our kind. We would be able to detect him more easily than the wolves in your territory could. Here in Savage, he has a powerful advantage.”
~ ~ ~
Warren sipped the last of his beer then fell into a deep well of thought. Like Kiara, he’d labored under the belief Julio was the problem. But as a wolf, Julio had limitations. He couldn’t employ a spell to make himself invisible or to create a wave of power to incapacitate an entire pack of wolves.
Warren mused aloud, “These packs Julio took over, they were the two smallest in our territory.”
“Yes,” Fergus responded. “But he’s combined them and now he’s the alpha of a pack almost as large as yours.”
“True. But only after he’d subdued each pack separately. I’m wondering if Glissane can do the same with a single, but larger pack.”
“Maybe he can’t,” Kiara offered. “Maybe it’s the reason why he hasn’t attacked Caldion even though you’re absent. Surely, all he’d have to do is march over there with Julio and together, they’d do their thing. So, I’m guessing Caldion won’t be as simple as either of the two he blended.”
Warren tapped his fingers on the table. “Here’s what I think. Glissane needs the alpha out of the way. So long as the alpha lives and can function, the pack remains loyal. Julio wouldn’t be able to bond himself to my pack or any other if the alpha was alive.”
“There’s something else,” Ralph said.
Warren shifted his gaze to him. “What’s that?”
“It’s rumored Julio keeps the wolves in line with emerald flame.”
“Oh, no,” Kiara murmured. “But it makes sense. Most of the wolves I know would never want to be pack-bound with that bastard.”
