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Izban finally took her hand and gave it a firm shake. About time, too. Her arm felt like it was about to drop off.
“Amber is a nice name,” she said to distract him. It worked and he loosened his grip, allowing her to end the handshake.
“It is,” he grumbled. “She’s a nice girl. Sparring partner, I mean. One of the best. That’s why I need her back.”
Macey had a hard time not commenting on that. It was clear that he was head over heels in love with Lightning. But it was probably best not to tell him that; he didn’t seem to like people telling him the truth. She hoped Amber was going to be more open. True, it had taken her some time to accept the prophecy, and even now she was still not a hundred pe
rcent convinced, but logically it all made sense. And logic was one thing she trusted in.
“What do we do now?” Izban asked.
“Now, you explain what kind of spell you were trying to cast,” Cam said calmly, continuing to be the voice of reason. Macey wanted to hug him for being so sensible.
Izban shrugged. “A location spell to help me find her. It only lasts for about a day so I have to recast it regularly. I’m getting closer though, I thought this was the last time. But something blocked the spell and it became a little… hot.”
Macey smirked, having a hard time to keep from blurting out that he’d just admitted that he’d been in trouble. So her water burst had helped him after all. Why couldn’t he just admit that?
“So you think she’s close?” Jared asked and Izabn nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes, she can’t be far, maybe a day’s ride from here. I just don’t know in which direction.”
“Ride? Do you have a horse?” Macey asked, imagining him as the knight in shining armour riding away to save his princess. He was so un-princelike that it was hard not to laugh.
“What century do you think we live in? It’s a motorbike.”
“Sharara didn’t mention a bike,” Macey whispered to Cam, cursing herself for using the cù sìth’s name a moment later. Hopefully, cat-man wasn’t listening in.
“I didn’t think you could take one into the Staran either,” Cam whispered back before turning back to Izban who was looking at them curiously. She hoped his hearing was as bad as that of any human. He may be a mage, but his body was human.
“How did you travel to the place where you met the dog-woman?” Cam asked, carefully phrasing his question. It was clear he didn’t want to give too much away.
“A spell I tried, but it didn’t work as planned,” Izban explained. “It brought me to this strange foggy place, then I got attacked and fled, and suddenly I was back where I had started.” He shuddered. “I never want to go there again.”
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but you may have to,” Macey said. It earned her a hard stare from the punk. “I don’t like it much either,” she added and his expression softened a tiny bit. “But it’s the way we travel from A to B, so you better get used to it.”
“Who says I’m going to travel with you? I’ve not decided yet.”
Macey sighed. “Didn’t we go through all of this already? We can help you find Amber. You said yourself that your location spell isn’t working anymore. Maybe we can find a solution together? As much as it pains me to say this, but if the prophecy is true, we’re going to need you. You’re one of us, just like Amber is.”
He frowned. “If we manage to get Amber away from him, I don’t want to commit to anything. It’s her decision, too. If she doesn’t want to stay, we can leave.”
It wasn’t a question. Damn that stubborn man. She was glad he was not one of her guys. Hers were much nicer. Luckily the prophecy didn’t mean that she had to be with all of them. Although... how was she supposed to get his mark without... Eurgh. No, she was not going to sleep with him. He already had a girlfriend... kind of.
“That’s only fair,” she sighed grudgingly. Hopefully Amber was going to be nicer. She was going to have to use all her charm to get Lightning on her side. They were going to need her. It wouldn’t work without all seven of them. Whatever ‘it’ was that they had to do to heal the Staran and stop the worlds from separating.
“Good, so what do we do now?” Izban asked, but before she could answer, a blinding pain shot through her skull.
The Voice was back.
She felt her body drop to the floor, but it was like an echo from far away amidst the pain that was racking her mind. It was so much worse than the times before. It felt as if he was closer, stronger, more brutal.
She clung to her mental barriers, begging them to stay up, but the onslaught was too much for them. There were cracks already, quickly becoming bigger as the Voice was trying to enter her mind.
He threw pain at her and all she could do was endure.
He was almost through.
With her last conscious thought, the pictured her three men. Cam. Flint. Jared. Hopefully, they would do as she’d asked and flee. Be safe. Live a life without her. Maybe still fulfil their quest somehow. And forget her.
