Page 45 of The Elven Spymaster's Thief

“Surely it isn’t strong enough to stop a shadow elf if it can feel like a brownie spell.” I moved my hair aside so it wouldn’t tangle in the necklace. The pendant settled against my skin, cool and slightly tingling. As my skin warmed the metal, the tingling disappeared. Instead, I became very aware of Illeron’s hands resting against the back of my neck as he lingered behind me.

“It has multiple purposes.” He stepped back away from me. “The trigger word is my name spoken in a low tone.”

“Illeron?”

A blinding light flared to life. I closed my eyes in an effort not to lose my sight, but I was a hair too late. Splotches danced behind my closed eyelids. A pressure pulsed out from my chest, cocooning me.

The air in the room shifted.

“You summoned?” Casimir’s calm voice announced his arrival.

“Can you penetrate it?” Illeron asked.

A heavy silence followed for a moment. “What is it?”

“A spell of my own devising.”

“I see the summoning element.”

“Linked to me.”

Casimir’s soft snort came from behind me. A second later, his voice spoke from my left. “You should link it to me as well. We both know you won’t reach her in time, but I might.”

“Adding you would be tricky. As it is, everything in the spell is delicately balanced.”

“The light, the summoning?” Casimir’s voice faded to quiet as though he were focusing. “?a personal protection spell against weapons?” His surprise made me want to open my eyes, but I suspected I would be blinded. The shadow elf was so rarely surprised. “It is easily bypassed.”

“Humor me.”

A grunt and something passed before my face, momentarily blocking the light. Then Casimir’s hands settled around my throat, loose and non-threatening but startling all the same. Reflexes kicked in. I bent and twisted, freeing myself from his grip. Blindly, I punched up into where a human’s abdomen would be. He evaded it with ease, grabbing my wrist and twisting it up behind my back. I slipped free, but I could tell Casimir wasn’t really trying. There was no real strength in his grasp. He didn’t attempt to grab me again.

“How do I stop the spell?” I demanded.

“Repeat the trigger word.”

I whispered his name, and suddenly the light disappeared. I gratefully opened my eyes only to frown at the sight of the brothers glaring at each other.

“It is basically useless,” Casimir pointed out. “The anti-blade limits the attacker, but a shadow elf will have no problem subduing or killing her with just their hands. Also, it blinds her. The light is hardly limiting when the assailant has already appeared.”

Illeron grimaced. “I will remove the light.”

“And add me to the summons?”

“Yes.”

Casimir turned to assess me. “She is feisty. I am not sure her assailant will expect that, but he might move so fast she never has a chance. All we can do is hope that he needs something from her and thus won’t kill her outright.”

My stomach twisted. Not exactly the news I wanted to hear.

“Then it is a good thing this is only a tiny part of my plan. We will make it so that he doesn’t have the opportunity to touch her.” Illeron’s eyes darkened ominously. “We know he isn’t working alone, whoever he is. Someone has hired him, and we have a lead on whom.”

“I also have some possible leads regarding his identity,” Casimir added.

“When will they be available for questioning?”

Casimir eyed his brother. “Two will be in your study this afternoon. The third, and most likely one, will be arriving tomorrow morning.”

“And none of them suspect.”

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