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Loris moaned. Valek found his knife and slashed the man’s throat, ending his ability to bark orders and his life. Then he pulled Yelena to him and held her tight, needing to breathe in her scent and just take a moment before he released her.
Valek scanned the cave, assessing damage. Everyone appeared to be okay, despite their collection of cuts, bruises and bloodstains.
“Pack up,” he said. “We need to move to another location. This one’s been compromised.”
A shout from outside the cave drew his attention. More enemy soldiers already?
He, Ari and Janco raced to the entrance with their weapons in hand, preparing for a fight. The bright sunshine seemed incongruous to the carnage inside. A small group of people huddled over a prone figure. And then Valek remembered.
Leif.
His brother-in-law had been shot with a crossbow bolt. The wooden shaft jutted from Leif’s chest an inch from center. Blood pooled underneath him. Unable to stand, Valek knelt beside him, feeling for a pulse. Weak. He sank back on his heels. Ah, hell.
Yelena’s and Mara’s cries of alarm roused Leif. His eyes fluttered open, focused on Mara. She crouched next to him and grabbed his hand in both of hers. Tears streamed down her face.
“I...tried to...warn...” Leif gasped. “...sorry.”
“No,” Yelena said with anguish, falling to her knees next to her brother. “You’re not leaving.”
“Don’t think...I...have...a choice. Mara...I...love you.” Leif passed out.
Yelena growled in frustration. “I’d give anything to have my magic back.”
Magic! “Get Zethan, Zohav, Teegan and Heli,” Valek ordered Janco, who hovered nearby.
Janco raced to the cave and returned with the twins, Heli and Teegan right behind him. Valek asked them if they could heal.
“No, sorry,” Zethan said.
Heli shook her head sadly. “It’s not part of a Stormdancer’s power.”
Teegan creased his brow, looking queasy. “I tried to heal a squirrel, but I killed the poor thing instead.”
Silence followed the bad news.
“We can’t,” Zethan said. “But maybe you can.”
“I...”
“Valek? What are you talking about?” Yelena demanded of Zethan.
Wordless, the poor boy stared at her.
The idea seemed ridiculous. He might flame out or end up injuring someone. Plus he’d never used magic before and had no clue how to wield it. But he was intimate with someone who did. He had to try, or he’d never forgive himself.
“Everyone except Yelena go inside the cave,” Valek ordered. When they hesitated, he said, “Go now!”
They hurried to obey. Valek stripped off his shirt to remove the null shield Leif had attached, tossing it far away.
“Valek...?” Yelena began, but then she pressed her lips together. “Tell me what you need.”
“I need you to imagine you have magic and you’re going to heal Leif. Think of each step and how you’d use the magic to repair the damage. I’ll follow your instructions. Be very specific.”
She drew in a deep breath. “Imagine in my mind, right?”
“Yes. Visualize as much as possible.” He reached for her hand, but she pulled away.
“Touching me will block your magic. Tell me when you’re ready.”
Valek grabbed the bolt in both his hands. “When I yank this free, start.”
“Okay. Make sure you press your hand to the wound.”
“Got it. One, two, three.” Valek tugged the shaft from Leif’s chest. Blood welled, pouring out. He covered the hole with his hand and dropped his mental barrier.
Yelena’s instructions flooded his mind. He reached for the blanket of power. A bolt of energy pulsed, and power flowed inside him. The temptation to grab it all consumed him. Bruns and the Commander’s plans to take over Sitia would be easy to stop. Nothing could match his power. Nothing could harm him or Yelena or the baby.
“Focus on Leif.”
Yelena’s voice sliced through the greed. With effort, he extracted a small thread and sent it into Leif’s wound. He matched the images in Yelena’s mind of stitching skin and bone together with that glowing fiber of magic. One thing Valek did know how to do—sew. The other assassins hadn’t called him the King Knitter for nothing. As he worked, pulling thread after thread to repair the damage, the images in Yelena’s mind faded. Valek needed to reinforce the connection over and over. It was as if another magician sucked at the magic he used. Odd—but then again, it might be normal. He had nothing to compare it to.
“You got it. Keep going,” she encouraged him.
Healing a wound involved more than he’d ever imagined. Broken bones needed to be fused together. Muscles woven back in place. Tissue smoothed. Veins repaired and reconnected.
Exhaustion flirted with him, but he shoved it aside.
“Blood,” Yelena said. “He’s lost too much. You need to generate more.”
“How?”
“Inside the bones.” She showed him a mental image.
He seized additional magic from the blanket to keep their link, then drew extra strands to induce Leif’s bones to produce blood. And when his own body fatigued, he tugged a few more to energize him.
“The color is returning to Leif’s face,” Yelena said. “His pulse is stronger.”
Valek removed his hand. A livid red scar surrounded with black, purple and green bruises marked Leif’s chest.
Relief, joy and pride pulsed through Valek. He’d saved Leif’s life. With magic! The power still rushed through his veins, as if he’d drunk too much whiskey. Valek worked on his own injuries. The cracked ribs gone. The bump on his head erased. The bruised muscles and all the cuts, sewn together. He hadn’t felt this good in a long, long time.
“Valek, stop!”
Valek focused on Yelena. Worry and love and gratitude and jealousy swirled in her mind. And that...tug. It sucked his magic, as if he’d sprung a leak. Good thing an unlimited power supply was so easy to reach.
The magic filled him, and he wrapped it around his body, layer after layer after layer, protecting him. Valek ignored Yelena’s sharp tone. Her fear grated on him, so he broke their connection. Now he wouldn’t lose any power to that leak. He’d keep it safe. And keep it from everyone. Owen and Ben Moon and all those who used it to harm others wouldn’t be able to hurt another. No. Valek controlled the magic now, and he wasn’t going to share. With anyone.
33
YELENA
Valek gathered too much power. He was going to flame out and kill himself and anyone nearby. I had to stop him, but wasn’t sure how. Panic threatened to jumble my thoughts, but I wasn’t going to lose him now. I yelled for Ari and Janco. They rushed from the cave.
Pointing at Leif, who stirred, I said, “Take him inside. Tell the twins, Teegan and Heli to come out here now!”
They didn’t hesitate. An eternity later, the magicians arrived.
“Oh, no,” Zethan said. “He’s out of control.”
Zohav backed away. “We need to take cover. It’s not safe.”
“Can you bleed off the magic?” I asked them.
Heli raised her arms and a gust cooled my sweaty forehead. “Some, but he’s just drawing more.”
I glanced at the twins. “How about you?”
“Are you crazy? You’re going to get us all killed,” Zohav said.
“Yeah, we can. Zo, that’s our brother.”
“But you heard Heli, it won’t stop him, just delay the inevitable.”
“Since I’m still learning control, I’ve been augmenting Zo’s and Zee’s powers,” Teegan said. “We can bleed off more magic that way.”
“Good. Use as much as you can. I’ll do the rest.” Grabbing Valek’s shirt from where he’d tossed it, I put it on and held the material close.
Valek scowled at me as I approached him. The null shield in the fabric must seem like a hole in his cocoon of power. The air grew thick and viscous, and I struggled to get closer. Valek’s
gaze darted to the magicians, then back to me. He crouched as if preparing to fight, and no glint of recognition appeared in his gaze.
Nothing left to do, I yanked off the null shield. Magic slammed into me. I braced against it as if it were a gale. I concentrated on our love. On the matching heart-shaped scars on our chests. On all our times together. On our baby growing inside me.
He staggered. “I can’t...stop.”
“Send it back to the sky.” I took another step.
“I...can’t.”
I searched my mind for an image Valek could use. “The magic is an ugly gray stone. Carve it. Shape it into a butterfly and let it fly to the sky.”
His black hair clung to his sweaty face. He swiped it from his eyes. His muscles shook with the effort.
“Do it, or we will all die.”
That seemed to rouse him. His gaze focused on a distant point. I twisted the fabric of his shirt in my hands. If this failed, I might have to use the null shield to sever his connection to the power blanket. But the magic he’d gathered would be released like a flameout, killing us. Unless he managed to return enough of it.
“It’s working,” Zethan said. “Keep going, bro!”
Valek sank to the ground. He fisted his hands and his brows creased with pain. I moved to within touching distance.
He met my gaze. Exhaustion and misery etched on his face. “Can’t...do...more.”
I glanced at Zethan.
The teen shook his head. “Still too much. But he disconnected.”
“Go inside the cave,” I ordered. And when they hesitated, I added, “Now.”
Zohav grabbed her brother’s hand and pulled him along. Heli frowned, but she left with Teegan.
When they were safe, I tossed the shirt aside and knelt next to my husband. Perhaps what drained Loris’s magic from me would work for Valek. Reading my intentions, he shook his head and tried to scoot away.
“Risky,” he rasped.
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Go.”
“No.”
“Yelena, wait!” Zethan ran toward us. “Leif says I can share my strength with Valek. You and Leif have done it in the past.”
True. “But we could both control our magic. Valek—”
“Lasted longer than he should.”
“No,” Valek said.
