She studied him. “Why? What have you discovered?”
“Worse than what we already knew?”
“I don’t know,” she said uneasily. “Is it?”
“Much.” He heaved himself to his feet, then held down his hand for her. “I need to walk.”
She would have suggested a quick run to somewhere safe, but she wasn’t sure such a place existed. She walked with him through what served as a path around his mother’s house until she at least no longer felt chilled to the bone. Acair finally stopped and looked at her. She had seen him look bored, angry, dismissive, and impossibly arrogant. She wasn’t sure she had ever seen him look that unnerved.
“Too late to run?” she asked.
“For me? Aye. For you?” He looked at her seriously. “It is never too late, Léirsinn, for you to remain in a safe haven.”
“I cannot,” she said lightly. “I breathe fire, you know. Your mother said as much. For all you know, you might require that sort of thing at some point in the future.”
“I might,” he agreed quietly, “though I’m not sure I can describe the lengths I will go to before I ask you to put yourself in harm’s way for me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, attempting to sound brisk andbusinesslike. “You’re a ruthless, evil mage with a terrible reputation who I’m certain never worries about the state of his companions. That, and you hid behind me in Angesandandthe library without a second thought which tells us both all we need to know about your true feelings.”
He smiled wearily. “I can only hope to avoid that sort of thing in the future.”
She would have happily continued to poke at him, but the expression on his face stopped her. “What did you find that was worse, Acair?” she asked, not at all interested in the answer but knowing she had no choice but to have it.
He paused, then sighed. “My mother thinks a truly vile little black mage who lived eons ago has slithered forth again and is making trouble. Stealing souls and that sort of rot.”
She blinked. “What?”
He held up his hands in surrender. “I didn’t suggest it to her, she suggested it to me. Utter rubbish, of course.”
That wasn’t the word she would have chosen. She wasn’t sure what to call what she’d just heard, but she thoughtterrifyingmight be close to the mark.
“Does she think he’s making those spots of shadow?”
“I believe so, but I also think she may have been overcome by her recent matchmaking success, resulting in her making assumptions she shouldn’t. I’m sure she’s mistaken.”
She suspected he wasn’t sure at all. She continued on with him for a bit longer, waiting for him to spew out what she was certain he hadn’t yet told her.
“About those spots,” he said slowly.
She stopped and looked at him. “What?”
“My mother believes that in order to fight their maker, I must go round to scenes of past triumphs and collect pieces of myselfI left there.” He glanced at her. “So I’ll have as much of my black soul as possible available for the final fight.”
She retrieved her jaw from where it was hanging halfway to her chest. “That’s completely daft.”
“Thank you,” he said with feeling. “I agree.”
She supposed the time to point out to him that a pool of shadow had ripped off a piece of his soul—his words, not hers—back in Sàraichte was not the present moment. It was likely the last place he wanted to return to. She watched him watch the forest for a bit, then cleared her throat.
“So,” she began, “what now?”
He sighed deeply and looked at her. “I believe we should visit the scene of my first triumph, namely the cottage of the mage whose spell I stole right off his mantel.”
She found she had absolutely nothing to say to that. The thought of Acair potentially knowing who seemed to be setting snares designed to steal souls was terrible enough. Having to scurry around to places where he hadn’t been on his best behavior was likely going to be dangerous, if not fatal.
Believing that souls could be lost, collected, or used against another in a battle of magic was almost more than she, even with her newfound acceptance of a reality that had never been hers, could begin to believe.
“If the house still exists,” he said carefully, “I suppose it would be as good a place as any to start.”
