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She tossed her head to get her damp hair out of her eyes and looked around her at all the people whose lives depended on her. “Do you hear me, Collector? You aren’t going to take a single one of them!”
Lio, I know your mind can always reach mine. You can hear me. We are not going to lose anyone tonight.
BATTLEGROUND
Lio was not surprisedto find his ritual tapestry in shreds in the entry hall or the library covered in the ashes of his scrolls. He could not read the words on his windows through the soot.
None of the embassy had ever been in here. Through whose eyes could the mage of dreams have beheld this place? Lio could only conclude the enemy thelemancer had not brought him here. He had brought himself.
Lio smiled. He was not a helpless bystander in the other mind mage’s world. They were building and destroying it together. This waking dream was not merely their battleground—it was the battle.
“Is this where you bring her?” the mage of dreams asked. “The lair you tempt her into, where she imagines she is free? I know you will kill to possess her.”
“I didn’t kill the heart hunters. You did.”
“I could not allow you to make my acquaintance until the appointed time. I had to wait until the right opportunity to make you regret interfering with my work in the pass. You did not chase down one stray mortal in the snow out of Hesperine altruism. You wanted her. Tonight you were ready to destroy my Gift Collector for her sake.”
“YourGift Collector?”
“My Overseer.”
The words sent a chill down Lio’s spine, but his reason saw him through. The mage was fearsomely powerful, but he was a mere mortal. Wasn’t he? “Do you fancy yourself a god of death in your petty kingdom?”
“Mortals have worshiped me for ages, but those are not the rules of the game in this era. This tournament is all about subtlety.Thisismyelement. This is my epoch. You never know I am there, but you all meet me. The Unseen Hand. The All-Seeing Eyes. The Voice behind your voice. I am the Collector, Deukalion. I collect people. Once someone is in my collection, they remain there. Thieves face punishment.”
“I don’t have to steal to win people over, Collector. I don’t lay claim to anyone’s Will. I strive to earn their loyalty and their trust, to inspire them to choose my side. When they do, they remain there, because there is no magic that binds people together more powerfully than choice.”
“You are a thief. You tried to steal Cassia from me. I will punish you.”
“Do your worst, and know that I will do my worst to keep her free.”
“Lio,” she called.
“Cassia!” He turned all around, searching for the source of her voice.
“Lio, can your mind magery reach across his game?”
“Your worst?” The Collector spoke over her. “What do you think your worst is to me? I, who have watched greater mages than you live and die?”
“I am not just another mage.” Lio shook his fist. “You have yet to see the worst Cassia and I can do together.”
“Where is she now, she you marked for your mate? Does it enrage you to imagine what I am doing to her while you are trapped here?”
“If you can hear me, I want you to know.” Her beloved voice was everywhere, whispering in with the scents of the garden, creeping through the windows with a hint of moonlight, thundering down from the top of the tower. “We are not going to lose tonight.”
“I can hear you!” Lio raced for the stairwell and began to climb.
“Flee from me,” the Collector said. “Run as far as you can. You cannot escape me.”
He didn’t know Lio was not running away, but toward Cassia. He didn’t realize she was here. The Collector couldn’t hear her or what Lio said to her.
“Lio, I know your mind can always reach mine.”
Lio spiraled upward and upward toward their Sanctuary. The joy of recognition burst upon his heart, too great for the necromancer’s world to hold. “This is Grace Union! This is what it feels like.”
“You can hear me. We are not going to lose anyone tonight.”
“No we aren’t, my love.”
