Page 33 of The Thief's Mark

Cal struggled desperately to free himself, confused how his opponent had managed that. Then he spotted the rope coiled around his ankles, glowing with the faint azure sheen of runeflame.A construct!An object imbued with magic in order to animate it.

His mind instantly flashed back to five years ago, and he sucked in a ragged breath, squinting up at his attacker.

“Kelsith?”

A light chuckle came from above him. “Took you long enough, Faces. I was beginning to worry you’d forgotten all about your dear old mentor.”

The figure atop Cal released him and stood. Now that Cal got a good look at him, he recognized his mentor’s wiry frame and signature patchwork cloak. Kelsith wore a gray mask, which he tugged off now to reveal his grinning face. The lines there were a bit more numerous than the last time Cal had seen it, but it was otherwise the same.

Emotion squeezed his chest as he watched Kelsith extend an arm. Obeying his silent command, the animated rope unwound itself from Cal’s legs and rose like an undulating serpent to slither and coil around Kelsith’s arm.

Kelsith didn’t possess any magic of his own, but he’d had the rope for as long as Cal knew him. He’d told Cal once that he’d stolen it right out of a mage’s study. Cal had seen him use it for everything from binding enemies to making a quick escape by scaling a wall.

Staring up at the grinning face of his former mentor, an avalanche of emotions threatened to bury Cal, elation and relief tempered by confusion and anger. Resisting the powerful urge to hurl himself up and embrace the man he’d once thought of as a father, Cal narrowed his eyes.

“Where the Void have you been all these years?”

Kelsith’s grin fell. He lowered the hand he’d extended to help Cal stand, averting his eyes. “I thought it best if I stayed away after everything that happened.”

“Everything that happened?” Memories assaulted Cal then of a job left incomplete—of an estate crawling with protectors. He shoved himself to his feet, glaring at Kelsith. “You abandoned me in the middle of a heist! I was almost caught!”

Kelsith scratched at the back of his head, then gave Cal a sheepish look. “I’ll admit, not my finest moment. But with your power, I trusted you to get away. And I was right, wasn’t I?”

Cal grimaced, then reluctantly nodded. “I got away, sure. But when I returned to our hideout, I couldn’t find you. I thought for sure the protectors had you. I spent weeks trying to figure out how to break you out of Rockshore prison before I realized they didn’t, then months more looking for you. But you were just…gone.”

Kelsith hung his head. “I truly am sorry for that, Faces. When I realized the deal had gone bad, I had no choice but to go into hiding. And after everything I’d done, putting you in danger like that…well, I thought maybe you’d be better off on your own.”

Hurt squeezed Cal’s throat. “So you abandoned me, just like that? Was I really so easy to discard?”

Kelsith’s eyes widened. He took a halting step toward Cal. “Of course not! You know how much I valued your talent. I may have kept my distance since then, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t keep an eye on you over the years.” A proud smile appeared over Kelsith’s face as he regarded Cal. “You’ve made quite the name for yourself in my absence…Blackjack.”

Despite his anger, Cal couldn’t help the warmth that seeped through him. His mentor had never been an easy man to please. He swallowed and shook his head, hating the pleading note in his voice. “But why? Why wait so long to approach me. I…I needed you.”

Kelsith’s hand jerked up as if to reach for Cal. When Cal shuffled a step back, Kelsith’s face fell. He lowered his hand, his expression pained.

“I was scared,” he said, his voice soft and low. More vulnerable than Cal could remember ever hearing it. “Of how you’d react. I was the one responsible for planning that botched mission. I failed you, Faces. Both by almost getting you killed, then againby being too much of a coward to face you afterward, knowing how much you must hate me.”

“I don’t hate you,” Cal said, even as a part of him wondered if he should. After all, what Kelsith said was true—hehadfelt furious at his mentor’s betrayal, crushed over being left on his own. It was almost like he’d lost his family all over again

But hate? Not once had he hated the man who had picked him out of the gutter and taught him to strive for more. Kelsith had been a strict master, demanding in his expectations and set in his ways. Yet without him, there would be no Blackjack—no Cal. He owed the man for that, if nothing else.

This time, when Kelsith hesitantly reached for him, he didn’t shy away. Kelsith rested a hand on his shoulder, offering a brief squeeze. Cal bowed his head, struggling to keep his emotions under control. For Kelsith, even this much was a dramatic admission of affection.

Kelsith dropped his hand, and Cal looked up at him, meeting his eyes. “Why now?” he asked. “Why track me down now after all these years?”

There was a subtle shift in Kelsith’s demeanor. Cal wouldn’t have noticed it had he not spent the better part of his childhood idolizing the man, memorizing every subtle indicator of his moods so he could better predict and manage them. It was the look Kelsith got when he was ready to get down to business.

“I saw you with that inspector earlier,” Kelsith said. “The one who cracked the recent blackmailing case. What are you doing with someone like that, Faces? You know he’ll lock you up the first chance he gets.”

Cal had been thinking much the same only minutes earlier. But hearing his own doubts parroted by someone else, even someone he’d once trusted with his life, raised his hackles. It made him want to defend Griff.

“We have an arrangement.”

Kelsith’s brow rose. “What kind of arrangement?”

“I help him with his current case, and he lets me go.”

Kelsith snorted. He made a point of turning around to peer about the dim alley. “Am I missing something? It looks to me like you’re here and that inspector isn’t. What’s to stop you from lettingyourselfgo right now?”