AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why not?”
“The barrier remains.” He held out his hand, as if he could touch the unseen wall that separated him from Peri. “I can’t get through.”
Tia hissed in outrage. “You’ve trapped me here?”
Valen turned back, his icy power lashing against the mage until she took a step back. He might have matured past the age that he felt the urge to intimidate everyone who challenged his authority, but this woman had held Peri captive, and then placed a curse on her. She was lucky he hadn’t followed through on his threat to rip out her throat.
“Unless your servant can summon us?”
Tia wisely lowered her gaze, belatedly realizing that she’d pushed her luck far enough.
“That’s not funny.”
Valen ignored the muttered chastisement. He was far more interested in the thought that had struck him when he’d mentioned being summoned. What they needed was a tangible connection to pull them through the barrier.
“Perhaps there’s a way.”
“How?”
“Peri.”
Tia frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Valen folded his arms over his chest. “You marked her, didn’t you?”
The woman looked confused. Then her brows arched in surprise. “Are you talking about the tracking spell?”
“And curse,” he added in icy tones.
Tia’s frown deepened, as if she was mulling over his words. Then, with a sharp nod, she met his gaze.
“You’re right,” she announced. “I should be able to tap into my spell and use her to lead me out of here.”
Valen closed the distance between them with blinding speed, his fingers curling around her upper arm to yank her tight against his side.
“Leadusout of here.”
Chapter 27
Peri felt the miasma probe the shield she’d built around herself. It wasn’t painful—not yet anyway—but it sent chills of horror skittering down her spine. She’d called her mother evil. After all, you had to be wicked to kill your own daughter, right? But as Destiny slowly circled her, sending out small blasts of magic, Peri understood that there were various levels of evil.
The creature that stalked her now was without conscience or morals. It had no thoughts or feelings. Nothing beyond a ravaging hunger for more power.
Destiny came to a halt in front of her, the crimson eyes flaring as if preparing to launch a full-out attack on Peri’s defenses. Peri widened her stance, her muscles clenched and her mouth dry with fear. She had no idea what to expect, but she was assuming it was going to be bad.
And painful.
The expected blow, however, was never delivered. Even as Destiny’s eyes glowed with power, Peri felt a strange tug on the back of her hand. Bewildered, she glanced down, her heart missing a beat as she realized that the mark made by Tia’s curse was suddenly shimmering. Was it reacting to the miasma?
No. That couldn’t be right. It would have started shimmering when Destiny had first appeared. And there wouldn’t have been a smell of cloves in the air.
Dangerously distracted, Peri lifted her head and struggled to concentrate on Destiny. Tia’s curse was at the bottom of her list of things to worry about. But even as she focused on the eyes that glowed with unnerving crimson flames, there was a flicker of movement just over Destiny’s shoulder.
At first she thought the stress was messing with her mind. Even obscured by the reddish mist she would have sworn she recognized the broad shoulders and arrogant tilt of the head.
It had to be Valen. But how could he have gotten through the magical barrier that surrounded them? The question was answered when he stepped out of the mist accompanied by a woman with silver-gray hair and smoldering black eyes.
Tia must have had some sort of magic to get them through the mist.
