Page 91 of The Seeker

Plus, I hadn’t had time to swallow the belladonna that morning, meaning my powers should be surfacing soon, a factor he’d overlooked during my capture.

He stepped aside but didn’t leave the doorframe. “You’re going to tie yourself to me with that rope.” He pointed to the coil of thick rope on one of the chairs.

The rope looked strong, but I knew I’d be able to take a knife to it no problem, so I picked it up, carrying it over to him.

Before I could hand it off, the sound of metal on metal reached my ears—like a sword being drawn.

I didn’t have time to shout before there was a squelching sound and a pool of blood spread across the floorboards.

This time, I couldn’t stop the bile and I turned and retched, fighting to keep my mind on the present and not the last time I’d seen the grisly sight of a man stabbed clear through.

“Sorry about that.”

I couldn’t believe my ears, and a smile spread across my face as my gaze found none other than Askel standing in the doorway, wiping his bloodied sword on the dead man’s shirt.

“Askel!” I shouted as he stepped over the body and pulled me into a hug.

“Runa. I’m so glad you’re okay.”

My body caught up with my mind then, and I frowned, peering over Askel’s shoulder, but there was no one there. “How are you here?”

He sighed, motioning to the door. “I promised him I wouldn’t tell.”

I huffed, careful not to glance down as I stepped over the body in the doorway and back into the fresh air. Using my hand to shield my eyes I scoured the horizon, taking notice of a shadowed figure seated on a horse a ways off.

Otho.

Or Prince Otho, whatever I was supposed to call him now. Still, the title tasted sour on my tongue.

“He figured you wouldn’t want to see him,” Askel said from behind me.

“He’s right.” As much as part of me was aching to see him, I was still too angry to forgive.

We stood in silence as I struggled to find something to say. But I didn’t know how much Askel knew, and I wasn’t ready to talk about how betrayed I felt . . . with anyone.

“Well, I’ll be going then.” He turned to glance one more time at the body. “Think I should bury him?”

I shrugged. “Probably.” I didn’t wait to see if Askel did so, instead wandering back to my pack and Nala. I couldn’t bear to look at the body again. Even though he’d tried to kidnap me, that didn’t mean I loved seeing his blood and guts on the floor.

And I didn’t know what to make of Askel coming to my rescue.

Or how to explain that I couldn’t go with him because I didn’t want to talk to him.

Instead, I focused on the tangible things I could control. I set the saddle on Nala’s back. I repacked the few things that had fallen from my pack. And I tucked my only weapon, the knife gifted to me, into my belt loop, careful to avoid glancing in the direction of the dark eyes that followed my every movement.

The rest of the ride to Malheim was uneventful, though I still couldn’t shake the unease that threaded through me, a feeling that only grew the closer I drew to Malheim.

A man I didn’t know had been willing to drag me to his home, just so he could have magic.

While I would never know if he would have gone further than kidnapping, it still made me nauseous to know the lengths people were willing to go through for magic that wasn’t guaranteed to be that powerful. All I could think about was the anger and beating I’d experienced when I’d read Adis the empathy gift. The citizens of Heimland didn’t understand the range and variability of the magic in the books.

And I didn’t know how to explain it to them, nor how to spread the information quickly and safely enough that I wouldn’t be the victim of a similar kidnapping over and over again.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, a headache blooming behind my eyes. I was starting to think that maybe Otho was right not to want magic around at all.

Although the creators of the Seid books had meant for magic to be an equalizer, human greed was too strong.

But that still didn’t explain what had become of the books he’d had in Shianp, though.