“Oh. Uh...I did send a message, and now the entire Ixian army is camped outside this compound.”

“You’re a lousy liar.”

“My one flaw,” she joked.

“One?” Janco choked. “I know at least a dozen. You’re terrible at avoiding capture, following orders—”

“I can say the same for you. What part of ‘wait for me before you go inside’ didn’t you understand?”

Owen interrupted them. He approached my stall as Loris stood in front of Janco’s and Cilly took up position outside Onora’s. Unease swirled. I backed away, until I hit the wall.

“Now,” Owen ordered.

I opened my mouth, but a hot knifing pain pierced my head, stripping away my resistance and willpower. It felt as if my soul was being ripped into a thousand pieces. Horror at losing myself welled and built until I could no longer stand the pressure. I screamed.

33

VALEK

Yelena’s scream stabbed right through Valek’s heart. He moved without thought. Devlen grabbed his arm, stopping him.

“Wait for it,” Devlen said.

They crouched in the woods just outside the fence. Town watchmen surrounded the complex. Captain Fleming had gone above and beyond, recruiting as many soldiers from the local towns that he could in mere hours.

When Yelena screamed again, Valek growled. “What is she waiting for?”

“The right opportunity.”

Valek had put a great deal of trust into Onora. When the assassin had volunteered to be captured, Valek initially resisted the idea. But then he agreed she had the best chance. However, now he questioned his decision.

Many agonizing minutes passed.

“There,” Devlen said. “Smoke.”

Valek whistled and the signal repeated on both sides. He waited just long enough for the message to reach all the soldiers. Then he and Devlen and the watchmen all climbed over the fence. Magic clung to the metal links. Hell.

“They know we’re coming,” he shouted to both sides.

“How?” Devlen asked as he joined him.

“Magic woven through the fence.”

“Then we better hurry.”

They raced toward the building leaking smoke. It had been a stable. Men poured out, coughing with tears running down their cheeks. The watchmen engaged them, but Valek bypassed them, slipping inside. He crouched low, staying under the cloud. Glass shards from Onora’s smoke bombs crunched under his boots.

Through the gray haze, he spotted Onora and Janco fighting a trio of guards.

“Where’s Yelena?” Valek asked.

“Owen has her,” Janco shouted. “They disappeared. That way.” He pointed right as he ducked under an opponent’s sword.

“Owen?”

“Ben’s not-so-dead brother.”

He’d think about Owen’s rise from the dead later. Yelena first. Valek followed Janco’s directions. At the end of the row of stalls was a corridor. The smoke thinned as he ghosted down the hall and into a training ring.

Owen pulled a hatch open in the center. Yelena lay nearby. She pressed her hands to her head and moaned in pain.

Valek drew his knives and ran toward them. Owen spotted the movement and Valek slammed into an invisible wall. The impact dazed him for a second. A null shield blocked him. Magic couldn’t pierce it, but objects could. He flipped his weapons, grabbing the blades, and aimed at Owen. The shield tightened and knocked into his hands just as he threw the weapons. They missed. One struck the soft dirt near Yelena and the other sailed past. The shield pressed around him, trapping his arms.

“Wow,” Owen said. “It’s true. The infamous Valek can be stopped by a simple null shield. That information was worth every gold coin I spent for it.” He glanced at Yelena. “I planned to use her as a hostage, but she’ll only slow me down.” Owen knelt next to her. “I’ll just finish what I started.” Touching her forehead with two fingers, he closed his eyes.

Yelena jerked. In a panic, Valek struggled against the invisible force wrapped around him, but it didn’t budge. Without her magic, she wouldn’t survive. That word, survive, sparked a memory. She’d survived before back when she didn’t know she had power.

Valek yelled, “Fight him. Come on, Yelena. You don’t need magic. You survived Mogkan and Reyad. Come on. Fight. Survive!”

34

YELENA

I’d been torn apart. Pieces of me littered the ground. I felt like a stuffed toy whose stuffing had been ripped out. Owen dug for more. The sharp pain gouged and it hurt to form a thought. Mindless, I burrowed deeper into the tiny bit left, but it crumbled and soon nothing of me would remain.

Valek’s strident voice cut through my haze of pain. I didn’t understand all the words, but his emotions flowed into me like pure energy. And one word burned brighter. Survive. I could do that. I’d done it many times before.

Concentrating on the image of me as an empty toy, I gathered the clumps and crammed them into my mind, body and soul. Owen worked to drag them away, but I collected them just as fast. Survive. All I needed to do was survive. He’d get tired eventually, while Valek’s encouragement strengthened my efforts.

The attack increased in intensity, but I persisted, harvesting the pieces of me. My skull ached, and pain seared my skin and burned my muscles. Memories of the agony I suffered when I’d crossed into the fire world surfaced. I’d survived that without the help of my magic. Other recollections of survival rose unbidden. I’d endured Mogkan’s torture and lived through Reyad’s assault.