Trial by Fire (Worldwalker 1)

Juliet hurried through the market. She was sure now that the young man with the dark hair and light eyes was following her. He had the muscular, lean frame of a fighter, and the enormous willstone at the base of his throat was crawling with the bright filaments of power. He was definitely a witch’s mechanic—a powerful mechanic to a powerful witch.

She turned down a quiet alley and glanced around the corner anxiously, waiting for him to pass her by, but when she looked again, she couldn’t find him anywhere.

“Juliet,” said a deep voice behind her. A familiar voice, she realized, even as she jumped. Juliet spun around, and her pursuer dropped his face glamour. Juliet relaxed when she saw that it was Rowan. “I need your help,” he said desperately.

He looked awful. His eyes were sunken in shadow, his clothes were rumpled, and he hadn’t shaved or combed his hair.

“What happened?” Juliet breathed.

“They’ve taken Lily. Please. I can’t hear her.” He was nearly frantic. “I think they’ve taken her willstones away.”

Juliet’s skin crawled at the thought. “What can I do?”

“She could hear you even without willstones. You’re sisters,” Rowan said. He took Juliet’s hands in his, begging her. “I know your loyalty is still with Lillian…”

“I’ll help,” Juliet said, cutting him off. It hurt her to even think of it, but she didn’t know who she was loyal to anymore. “What do you need me to do?”

Rowan’s eyes closed briefly with relief. “Thank you, Juliet,” he whispered. “Come with me.”

Juliet followed Rowan, knowing full well that every step she took with him brought her farther away from Lillian.

* * *

Lily? Where are you?

Lily heard Juliet’s voice in her head, waking her. She opened her eyes. It was so dark she may as well have kept them closed. Her head pounded and she felt dizzy. She tried to reach out to Rowan, Tristan, and Caleb but all she felt was an intense, stabbing pain when she tried to mindspeak with them. A seasick feeling gripped her, as if she were pitching around in the bottom of a ship. The pain had lessened somewhat, but it was still all she could do to keep from throwing up.

“Are you awake, girl?” a man’s voice asked.

“Where are you taking me?” Lily rasped. Her stomach heaved but nothing came out. She was completely empty inside.

“We’re not going anywhere, girl. Nowheres at all, at least not on this earth,” the man said. His voice rumbled with a mix of sympathy and amusement. “It’s the vertigo of being separated from your willstones that makes you feel like you’re being tossed about on the ocean.”

Lily put her hand under her and felt straw, and under that, rough stone. “Well, since there’s never been a boat made out of rocks, I’ll believe you,” she said, even though she could feel herself rising and falling on giant swells.

“Careful, girl. Logical thought like that could get you hanged,” the old man said, chuckling.

Lily sat up and tried to steady herself with her hands. If she could just fix her eyes on something, it might help. “Is there any light?”

“The only light they allow down here is magelight so as not to give you energy. This is a witch’s prison. An old, forgotten one.”

“And are you a witch?” Lily asked, swallowing down the bile burning her throat.

The old man laughed. “Not a lot of male witches running around, and most of them that are witches don’t rightly know it,” he replied, amused by something that Lily didn’t understand. She’d never even heard of a male witch before. “No, girl, I’m something they got no prison for, even if she did stick me in here.”

Lily lay back down, her eyes closing. She fought her mounting confusion and asked the most relevant question. “And what are you?”

“I’m a shaman, Lily,” he said. All traces of humor left his voice. He sounded serious and steady. “I’m going to teach you how to spirit walk.”

“So this is where you’ve been,” Lily mumbled as sickness overwhelmed her. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Sorry I’m late,” he said with genuine regret. “I was detained.”

She knew she should care that she’d finally found the shaman, but all Lily could feel was spinning blackness pulling her down and all she could think of was her sister. If she listened very hard, she could almost hear Juliet’s voice in her head.

Lily? Where are you? I’m trying to feel where you are, but there’s too much granite blocking the way.

Help me, Juliet. I’m in the dark.