Valek didn’t bother to correct him.
“You can’t be as strong or as skilled as I am.” Tyen spun the knives in the air until their tips aimed at Valek’s throat.
“If you stop now, I’ll let you live,” Valek said.
“I’m a dead man regardless. You know that. Least I can do is take you with me.” The blades shot toward Valek.
Desperate, Valek yanked a big chunk of magic. With no time to knit a null shield, he shaped it into a spear and drove it into Tyen’s mental barrier with all his strength. It punched a hole right though, flooding Tyen’s mind with Valek’s magic.
Stop! Valek commanded. Sleep!
The man and knives dropped to the ground. Valek peeled away from the wall. The dungeon reeled under his feet as his muscles turned to goo. Collapsing to his knees, Valek scraped his remaining energy together to fumble underneath the jumpsuit. He clawed the flesh-colored putty away from a set of lock picks. He managed to toss them to Adrik before the world spun around him, sending him into a whirlwind of blackness.
* * *
Valek woke up in the infirmary. His wrists were cuffed to the metal bars of the bed’s headboard, and his ankles were cuffed to the footboard. He would have laughed at how utterly ridiculous it was to secure him, but he didn’t have the strength to even produce a sound. At least he wasn’t in the dungeon. Small mercies. The next time he woke, Medic Mommy tsked over him. Every single muscle in his body ached, and just the thought of moving sent him back into oblivion.
The third time he roused, he wondered if this was how a newborn felt—unable to do anything but suck liquids. He stopped counting after that. His moments of wakefulness blurred together. Maren’s visit eased his worries for her. She reported that both Tyen and Owen were dead. He wished to know how Tyen had died, but that required too much effort.
Instead, he asked, “Rika?” in a whisper.
Maren frowned. “You need to rest. As near as the medic can tell, you’re suffering from a complete, full-body exhaustion.” She stood to leave. “Was all that about the null shield just a ruse this entire time? If so, it was a pretty damn good one.”
So why did she act so unhappy? Was she upset to be left behind when everyone else had gone to Sitia?
Summoning the strength to talk, he said, “No.”
She huffed as if she didn’t believe him, then strode from the room without answering his question about Rika. Maren didn’t return, and over the next few days, Valek regained some of his vigor. Enough so that he longed to sit up and move around, but Medic Mommy also dodged his questions about why he’d been secured.
When he woke next, the Commander stood at the foot of his bed.
“Interesting scar,” he said, pointing to Valek’s bare chest.
The blanket only covered the bottom half of him. He would worry, but the altered scar was the least of his problems at the moment.
“A wedding present for Yelena,” Valek said.
“Ah, yes. I heard about that. And you’ve a baby on the way, too. Congratulations.”
Nice words, but the tone was flat and...dangerous. “Thank you.”
The Commander pulled a chair over to the bed and sat down. “I should thank you for killing that bastard, Owen.”
“Are you—”
“Yes. I’m in full control.” Fury blazed in his gaze for a moment. “Just when I start thinking that magicians aren’t all corrupt and power-hungry, along comes proof that I’m right not to trust them.”
“You agreed to work with Owen,” Valek said. “If you’d executed—”
“I made a mistake,” the Commander snapped. “And I paid for it.” He smoothed an invisible wrinkle from his pant leg. “You saved me yet again. I should thank you for that, as well.”
Should didn’t mean he would. Valek rattled the cuffs. “Not the best way to express your gratitude.”
“You’re a traitor, Valek. You’re helping Sitia, and you were a magician.” He spat the word as if it tasted vile in his mouth.
But it wasn’t the m-word that snagged Valek’s attention. Were. He reached for the power blanket. Nothing. Exhaustion or Harman sap? Did it matter?
Yes, it did. The answer surprised him.
“How long did you hide it from me?” the Commander asked.
“I didn’t hide it. It happened on my return trip from the coast.” He explained what had occurred by Vincent’s grave. “All those who said my immunity to magic was a form of magic were right. No one was more astonished than I.”
The Commander showed no emotion. “You still should have reported back to me.”
“You were under Owen’s influence, and I’m well aware of your views. It would have been a death sentence.” The conversation had drained his energy. Valek wouldn’t last much longer. “My corps?”
“Pardoned.”
That was a relief. “Am I still first in line to be barbequed?”
A faint smile. “Hanged.”
“Much better.” And he meant it.
“The invasion of Sitia will continue as scheduled.”
Valek closed his eyes as a wave of crushing dismay swept through him. Even though he’d killed Owen, he’d failed to stop the war.
“Magicians need to be neutralized,” the Commander said. “The Sitian Council has proven to be ineffective at keeping them in check. It won’t be a bloodbath, Valek. You know that’s not my style. The Sitian people will be well taken care of, just like the Ixian people.”
He wished it was that easy. Valek opened his eyes and met the Commander’s gaze. “It’ll be impossible to target all the magicians.”
“A few will slip through the cracks,” he agreed. “But what I find very telling is that you didn’t ask me how we planned to neutralize the magicians.”
If he’d had more energy, Valek would have cursed.
“The Sitians know we have the Harman sap,” the Commander said, more to himself than Valek. “That’ll complicate things, but I’m co
nfident once we target enough magicians, it will be easier to get them all. At least Owen delivered on his promise to produce an effective substance. He never fully trusted me, so he kept the details secret until recently. I suspect he’d just managed to get it to work.” His cold smile failed to soften his expression. “Excellent timing for me.”
Valek ignored the jab. “What about Rika?”
“She’s been in Sitia, helping the Cartel.”
Ah, that explained those illusion cloaks.
“Don’t worry. She’s on my list to be neutralized by the Harman sap,” the Commander added. “You were the first, by the way.”
“I’m honored.”
A flash of amusement crossed his face before the Commander turned somber. “I’ve missed our conversations.” He stood to leave. “I’m going to need a new assassin and security chief. Do you have any recommendations?”
“Onora.”
Valek had managed to shock the Commander. He gaped at Valek, speechless. First. Time. Ever.
“I forced her to work for the resistance,” Valek said. “She’s not a traitor.”
“I see.”
And the Commander did—he was smart that way. A pang of grief rolled through Valek. Too bad he would have to assassinate the Commander.
27
LEIF
Leif opened his senses and waited for Master Magician Irys Jewelrose to contact him. His team hid in the woods near the back wall of the Featherstone garrison. He reached for Mara’s hand and squeezed, reassuring her. The weak moonlight lit her face with a soft white glow. Strain etched lines of worry in her forehead, but if he’d suggested she remain at the inn, where it was safe, Mara would have growled at him.
The growling was new. And while he longed for the sweet woman he married, Valek’s comments repeated in his mind. Trust. And perhaps with time, some of the sweetness would return.