Page 69 of Storm of Ink and Blood

Yasen gave her and Vikas a grim look. “Even if people were willing to come, how many do you think you could free before they’re finished? Once they start up ink production again…”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I haven’t been able to practice since Vikas and his friends, and that took me days. Maybe I’ll become faster with time, but I also can’t risk rushing anything. If we could recruit a few extra people, then more, but even when we free them, and they have a sixth anchor, they also have to learn the process.”

“I’ve had a thought,” Vikas said.

“Hmm?” she asked, taking a sip while its warmth helped to loosen some of the stress in her bones.

“Do you think the Jadugara know a more effective way to break the collars? Maybe a different method for using the sixth anchor?”

Zarya wrinkled her nose. “I’d considered that, but how would we ever find that out?”

“Maybe they keep it written down somewhere?”

She cocked her head. “Maybe, but I have a feeling this kind of information would either be closely guarded or passed orally for fear of discovery.”

“So we get someone to talk,” Vikas said.

“How on earth could we do that without raising their suspicions?”

“Kidnapping and torture,” Yasen said very matter-of-factly, and Zarya gave him an incredulous look.

“What? You don’t feel bad for these liars?”

“No, but…”

“Just say the word,” Yasen answered, and she huffed.

“I wonder if Suvanna or Apsara could do something,” Vikas said.

“What about the rest of the Chiranjivi? Would they come?” Yasen asked.

“That would be nice,” Zarya said. “We could use all the help we can get right now.”

“What if you asked Row?”

This, too, she’d considered so many times. She hadn’t told him everything about her magic yet, but of all the people around her, Row was one person she knew she could trust. She’d also planned to ask him about the strange incident in the forest a few weeks ago, but she’d been too scared to commit those words to writing.

“Don’t you think he’d want to know?” Yasen continued.

She remembered a story Apsara had told during Zarya’s first days in Dharati. Row claimed he could feel a wall if he tried to reach for the darkness with his magic. What if he could access it, too, and only some people were cut off? Ajay and Rania had never mentioned it before.

“I’ll send him another letter,” she said as a jagged streak of lightning flashed across the sky.

“This is a hell of a storm,” Yasen said, and she nodded, rubbing the back of her neck. Something charged crackled in the air, sending the hairs on her arms standing up.

Wait for me. I’m coming.

Yasen sat down to eat, and they all fell into silence as they chewed, listening to the sounds of the rain. She pulled the paramadhar handbook out of her bag and flipped it open on the counter. Another chapter discussed using the mind plane to form a temporary bridge as a safer way to communicate without fully entering it. With the right practice, she could summon him into the space between worlds and dreams, but he couldn’t do the same. It was another unbalanced aspect of the pairing.

She did as the book suggested, closing her eyes and searching for the spot where the link lived in her brain. She felt a bit guilty about even trying this, but she was also too curious not to explore the possibilities.

She would never do anything he didn’t want. She’d already made that vow to herself. No matter how angry she still was with him, that didn’t give her the right to control him in any way.

She tried to relax as she attempted to sense the connection. It was like stumbling through the dark blindfolded. She really had no idea what she was looking for, though she was sure she would know when she found it.

For several long minutes, she probed the caverns of her mind, delving into its layers—her memories and thoughts—the things warring in her head. All she saw was black, though—just the insides of her eyelids, and she was feeling ridiculous. This couldn’t be right. How could someone see their own mind?

“What are you doing?” came Yasen’s voice, and her eyes snapped open. “You’re making the weirdest face, like you’re struggling to go to the bathroom.”