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Valek sank into a chair. No need to worry about the Commander ordering his execution. Opal would kill him first.
Ari studied his expression. “Something up?”
Valek glanced around the nearly empty room. Lowering his voice, he said, “Yes. All the orders I gave earlier are void. We will ignore Owen and not do any investigating.”
Janco laughed. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious. The Commander made it quite clear that disobeying his orders will be considered treason, punishable by death.”
“Owen must be pulling the Commander’s strings,” Janco said. “Everything about this situation stinks.”
“It’s dangerous, and you two will obey his orders.” Valek’s tone was firm.
“Come on, Valek. It’s us,” Ari said. “We won’t let you do it all on your own.”
They knew him too well. “I can’t ask—”
“You’re not. We’re volunteering.”
“Yeah,” Janco said. “We’ll play the good little soldiers. No one will suspect a thing.”
“You’ve never been the good little soldier,” Ari said. “If you start now, everyone will know something’s up.”
“Yeah, well, you know what I meant.”
“Who else is in on this?” Ari asked. “Maren? Yelena?”
Valek touched his chest. “Yelena, but not Maren. Not until I know where her loyalties lie.”
“Yeah, that whole business with the Curare factory and Owen. She’s holding something back.” Janco rubbed the scar on his right ear. “It’s wonky.”
“Wonky? Are you three years old? What kind of word is wonky?” Ari asked.
“The fact that you don’t know what it means shows your limited vocabulary skills,” Janco countered.
“I’ll assign you regular, Commander-approved tasks,” Valek said before they launched into an argument. “Any extracurricular activities must be done on your own time. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” they both said.
Valek then explained about the Commander’s directive regarding Yelena.
“Harsh,” Ari said. “But she’s not going to stay as his adviser.”
“She can’t go back to Sitia,” Janco said in alarm. “Not with that Bumblebee assassin after her.”
Valek didn’t bother to correct Janco. “She’ll come with me to the coast when I investigate those thieves. The Commander doesn’t need to know.”
“Risky. Very risky,” Ari said.
He agreed, but there was nothing else he could do.
* * *
Exhausted from the long emotional day and lack of sleep, Valek considered bypassing his office and going to bed. Then he remembered he’d asked Maren to stop by tonight. He changed course.
Valek slowed when he turned down the corridor to his office. Flames glowed from two lanterns. The rest remained dark. An oversight or blown out? A pool of darkness covered the area in front of his door. Uneasy, he yanked his knife from its sheath and pulled a Curare-laced dart from his belt with his other hand, pinching it between his thumb and finger. He paused, sniffing. No strange cologne or perfume tainted the air. Magic didn’t stick to his skin.
He approached the door. Nothing happened. Stopping in front, he waited, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. He strained to hear anything that might indicate a person lurking in the shadows. Nothing. The three locks appeared to be untouched. Valek put the dart between his teeth and reached for his key.
An invisible force slammed into him from the blackness, knocking him down. He rolled onto his back as the force tightened around his body, dragging him away from his office and deeper into the darkness. He slid to a stop, but was pinned to the floor. Then it contracted again. He lost his grip on his knife. Breathing turned into an alarming effort.
A black form advanced. Then the shadows shifted and Owen emerged. Rika and Tyen stood behind him. The magician had trapped him in a null shield. A helpless rage built inside Valek as he sipped in tiny amounts of air. Not enough. Light-headed, spots swirled in front of his eyes. Death by hug. He would have laughed if he had the breath.
Owen knelt next to him and the pressure on his chest eased a fraction. “You’re not going to obey the Commander’s orders despite all your yes, sirs and no, sirs. And I can’t have that. So you’re going to have an accident. Poor Valek fell while scaling the castle walls near the guest quarters. The next time you wake, you’ll be flying through the air. Enjoy the ride.”
The null shield compressed around his chest, squeezing the breath from his lungs. A vision of Yelena flashed. With the last of his strength, he spit the dart at Owen. The magician jerked back, cursing. The force lessened. Valek gasped and tried to move, but he remained immobilized.
“You missed,” Owen said, increasing the pressure.
Regret pulsed as Valek fought for consciousness. Sorry, love.
Boots clacked on the stone floor as Maren strode down the hallway. Owen, Rika and Tyen froze. Once again, Owen’s hold on Valek slipped just enough to allow air to revive him, but not enough for him to warn Maren.
Maren muttered something about lazy servants as she used one of the lit lanterns to light another one closer to Valek’s office.
“Rika,” Owen whispered.
The woman closed her eyes. “Done.”
Valek assumed she’d used her magic to create an illusion to hide them. Since the null shield around him blocked magic, he didn’t feel its sticky touch.
Maren knocked on the door, waited and knocked again. Sighing, she leaned against the wall. Valek’s three captors glanced at each other. Then Owen stared at Maren.
She yawned. Her eyelids drifted shut. With a grunt, she shook her head and straightened. But it didn’t take long for her to slide down the wall into a sitting position. Relieved that they didn’t plan to kill her as well, Valek watched as she rested her forehead on her bent knees.
“Okay, I’m here,” Janco called from the other end of the hallway. “Although I don’t know why you need me.” He drew closer. “Valek trusts your judg... Are you sleeping?”
“Mmm?” Maren raised her head as if it weighed a hundred pounds.
“What— Ow.” Janco pressed his hand to his right ear.
Don’t look. Don’t look, Valek chanted in his mind, fearing for Janco’s and Maren’s lives.
But Janco turned and peered into the darkness. He fingered the hilt of his sword while rubbing his scar with his other hand.
No. Don’t. Look away.
Janco turned his attention to Maren. “Guess the servants decided to take off early tonight.” He pulled Maren to her feet. “Come on. Valek probably went to bed.”
“No.” Maren resisted. “He said to meet him.”
“Yeah, well, he didn’t get any sleep last night. We can talk to him in the morning. Besides, dark hallways give me the creeps.”
He guided her back down the hallway and out of sight. Thank fate.
“Let’s go, before someone else comes along,” Owen said. “Tyen, pick him up. Don’t use your magic. Rika will keep us hidden.”
“He’s conscious,” Tyen said.
“But he can’t move. Hurry up.”
The big man hoisted Valek up over his shoulder. As they traveled though the castle, Valek contemplated his very short future. Was being awake when they pushed him from the window better or worse than waking up in midair?
Worse, because now he had time to think about how easily Owen had captured him. How stupid he’d been to think Owen would wait. How Yelena would react to his death—badly. How he’d promised her forever and he didn’t last a day. How he always assumed he’d die fighting and not trapped and utterly helpless, slung over a brute’s shoulder like a rag doll, unable to curse or rage at Owen. Or at the Sandseed Clan, for teaching the magicians how to form those blasted null shields in the first place.
A whirlwind of emotions spun, making him dizzy. Or was that the lack of air?
The trip to the guest wing took much longer than necessary. Owen an
d company made a few wrong turns and wasted time arguing about the right way. Their lack of knowledge reminded Valek of Janco’s comment about having the home-court advantage. Too bad it really didn’t make a difference for his current situation.
When they finally reached the guest wing, Owen opened the door and they hustled inside. Rika closed and locked it behind them.
“The window,” Owen ordered. He unlatched the shutters. They banged on the stone walls, letting in a gust of coldness.
Tyen propped Valek on the window’s sill. A four-story drop loomed below. Valek’s heart squeezed in triple time, pumping liquid fear through his immobilized body.
The tightness around his chest eased as Owen put his hands on Valek’s shoulders. Valek braced for the shove, but instead, Owen asked, “Any last words?”
Oh, yes. About a million. And all for Yelena, but this might be his only chance to strike a blow. “I’ll...tell Ben...hello.” Valek panted, trying to fill his lungs.
Owen’s grip turned painful. “Did you murder my brother?” Anguish and anger creased his face.
So much for the theory that Owen ordered their deaths. “Not me...another...assassin.”
“What about Loris and Cilly?” Rika asked.
“Them...too.”
“He’s lying. He killed them all. They were a threat to Yelena,” Rika said. “Finish him.”
“If I’d assassinated Ben...I’d be bragging about it...especially now.”
Owen shook his head. “He’s just delaying the inevitable. It’ll be easy to learn if he’s telling the truth. Goodbye, Valek. Oh, and here’s something to think about during the few seconds you’ve left to live. Yelena’s next.”
12
JANCO
