“Can I be part of this conversation, too?” Ryland groaned from beside me, his weight shifting as he moved to stand. “I’m Ilyan’s second. Doesn’t that count for something?”
“Stop being a baby,” I growled, not even paying him attention as I closed my eyes, focusing my magic on what I assumed was Sain running through the streets and moving out from there. I scoured everything as I looked for any other trace of magic, for anything that would tip me off to what he was planning.
“I hate that you guys do that.” I wasn’t certain if Ryland was laughing or growling. His voice was too distorted from where my mind was focused on the city and any tips as to what was about to happen. There was nothing. I moved through every street in the city, every building, but it was empty except for the Vil?s that lay in hiding.
“There’s nothing.” My voice was dead, the shock still rumbling through me uncomfortably.
I wasn’t certain how that was possible. Why would he come back if not for a trap?
Nothing anywhere?
I didn’t blame Ilyan for questioning.
“No, I can’t find anything. That doesn’t mean he isn’t up to something, though. It’s up to you if we want to go in blind or not.”
I looked to Ryland then, who was now so irate at being left out of the conversation I half expected steam to start issuing from his ears.
“Care to fill me in?” he snarled from behind clenched teeth, obviously trying his hardest to stay cool and fit for the role he currently held.
“Sain is in the city,” I said, surprised he hadn’t caught on to at least that much. “He’s alone.”
Even Ryland didn’t seem to believe that little bit of information judging by the way his eyes narrowed.
“Why would he come back?”
“Exactly,” I said, a finger wagging at him as he stepped back in obvious discomfort. “I say we go and leave the team on ready in case we need them.”
Ryland looked at me with even more confusion than before, clearly trying to follow along. “Go where?”
I guessed I probably should have mentioned that last part wasn’t for him.
Sounds good. I’ll meet you in the dark.
Ilyan’s voice faded, the directions clear, as I turned toward Ryland, his eyes now so wide, his temper so high I had a feeling trying to explain anything was going to be a fool’s errand.
Ask questions and seek apologies later, I supposed.
“I’m really sorry for what’s about to happen,” I whispered, my hand gripping tightly around his waist as my magic plunged into him, the energy flaring as I pulled him into the stutter with me, his scream loud in my ears.
“Never do that again!” Ryland’s voice echoed around us the moment we reemerged on a dingy street in Old Town, his body collapsing against the wall that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
Crinkling my nose against the smell of a million dying fish, I shot Ryland a look. The poor boy heaved as he clung to the wall beside him. Obviously stutters did not agree with him. It’s not like I was much better after my first, but then, Ilyan had knocked himself unconscious for several days, so at least I had that going for me. I wasn’t even sure why I had thought I could drag him through in the first place. I was beginning to wonder exactly how much power I had regained from Sain’s control. My magic kept surprising me, the power I felt daunting at times.
“Try to keep it down,” I hissed as I glared through the dark, my magic aching in fearful anticipation of what was coming.
“You say that like you didn’t try to kill me.”
I rolled my eyes at him before I walked away, the sounds of his gasping lessening with each step I took.
My magic moved in a rush as I pushed it through the streets, attempting to find where Sain had gone, but there was nothing: no trace of his magic, no image of a cloaked figure running through the dark. It was no more than a dark world, ribbons of deep red seeping through the gaps in the buildings as the sun set, a deep pitch plunging the shadowed world into a nonexistent realm.
Ilyan? I called to him, my breathing picking up alongside my anxiety. Where are you?
A few streets over. The reply came automatically, and my magic pulled right to him. I wished knowing where he was helped calm my anxiety. I could feel Ilyan there, Ryland behind me, but other than that …
Nothing, Ilyan clarified, his magic pulling together with mine as I searched.
It’s too quiet. My voice was clipped, the tense agitation matching the heavy weight that collapsed against my chest, the heavy beat of my heart loud in my ears.
I took another step closer to the end of the street, the wide intersection seeming too perfect for the situation we were up against. My heart throbbed in my chest, almost expecting to find someone hidden around the corner, waiting to attack.
Closing my eyes, I pressed my back against the bricks of the building, trying to regulate my breathing into something more manageable before letting my magic pull away from me again.
With a slow exhale, my mind’s eye opened to the streets that surrounded us, pulling through the empty ruins as I searched, knowing he should be close.