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I reached out and grabbed his hand, sending him a grateful look. “Thank you.”
His eyes moved over my face, then lowered to my mouth. A zip of electricity shot through me and my breathing quickened. Vas’ eyes darkened, something needful in their blue depths. I was about to speak, to ask him why he was staring at me like that, when he tore his gaze away. “Come. There’ll be no food left by the time we get there.”
Letting out a shaky sigh, unsure what exactly had just transpired between us, I followed him to the stalls.
After we’d gotten some water from the fountain and food to eat, we all went to the cave to discuss our escape plan. The only way it would work was if Red Armand was dead, because no matter where they went, the trackers he’d implanted in Vas and Sven would lead him straight to them.
“The Star Festival is in three days,” Vas said, “that gives us enough time for me to practice teleporting you all out of here.”
“You can really get us out?” Maya asked. She seemed doubtful.
“I’ll try my best,” he replied.
Ren, who sat next to me, listened intently to everything being said while I quietly translated for him. We’d only been in Oreylia for two days but he was already picking up little bits of the language. Speaking of which…
“I have an idea for how you can test out your magic,” I said and Vas glanced my way, his expression curious but wary. There was always a hint of wariness when he looked at me now, and I knew it was down to me being undercover in the prison. Vas was determined not to be fooled by me a third time. The sad joke was I had nothing up my sleeve this time around, nothing to hide.
I cleared my throat. “You could teach Ren Oreylian. Use the same spell you cast when you came to my dimension to learn English.”
Vas arched an eyebrow, then glanced at Ren, switching over to English, “Would you like to be able to speak our tongue, boy?”
Ren nodded eagerly. “Yes. I’m sure Darya’s tired of translating everything for me.”
“Very well then,” Vas said, motioning Ren closer. Ren crawled across the cave floor and sat down in front of Vas. The rest of us watched as the buzz of his magic filled the cave. My gaze traced the deep line between Vas’ eyebrows when he concentrated. I was so entranced by his magic that I had an odd instinct to reach out and caress the air around him.
Ren looked a small bit nervous when Vas started the incantation. Unlike Roman’s spell, Vas didn’t place his hand to Ren’s forehead. Instead he closed his eyes and made a sweeping motion with his hands about Ren’s head. There was a flash of light and I startled, worried someone outside the cave might’ve seen it. When no one came I relaxed.
Vas completed the spell by pressing his thumb to the spot between Ren’s brows. My friend’s eyes snapped open.
“Wow,” he breathed. “I think it worked.”
“You’re still speaking in English. Try some Oreylian,” Vas instructed.
Ren swallowed, a concentrated look on his face, then asked, “Is it normal to feel dizzy? Because my head is spinning right now.”
I smiled. He’d just spoken perfect Oreylian. My eyes met Vas’, who looked pleased that his magic had worked. “Now try teleporting. Just somewhere nearby,” I said.
“Perhaps he shouldn’t tax himself,” Sven interjected.
“No, it’s fine. I’m feeling up to it,” Vas said, walking to the far end of the cave. He fell silent for a long moment and we all watched with rapt attention. He exhaled a heavy breath, and I worried it wasn’t going to happen for him, but then his body disappeared, reappearing a second later by the cave entrance.
Maya and Demi both gasped. It was evident how rare warlocks and magic were in this realm because I could tell by their faces that they’d never seen anything like that before.
“Good job,” Ren praised. “I wish I could teleport.”
Vas cast him a speculative glance. “Perhaps I’ll teach you.”
Ren seemed surprised by the offer, as was I. Vas had been monosyllabic towards Ren thus far. I didn’t expect him to teleport again, but then he disappeared once more. A second later he was next to me. It all happened so fast I had to take a moment to catch my breath. “Maybe take a breather now. Like Sven said, you don’t want to tax yourself.”
Vas continued to stare at me in a way that made my blood heat. It reminded me of how he looked at me earlier and I could tell he was feeling cocky now that his magic was regenerating.
I turned away but I could still feel his keen attention on my profile. “We should go over the plan again.”
