Boots shifted in the moist dirt, accompanied by the soft clink of metal. “They cannot hear her, let alone find her through my spell,” the mage replied. “I have veiled her existence in the mortal world. They will never find her.”
The spell.Her mind tried to tell her. Her bond wasn’t broken. The spell had separated her from Cassiel. He must be alive, but her entire being violently thrashed as she screamed from the loss of him.
“You better be certain, Baden,” Tarn said coolly. “Cease her incessant wailing.”
Someone rolled Dyna onto her back, and Von’s worried face came into view. “What is it, lass? What’s wrong?”
As if he cared.
She wanted to hit him, to curse him and spit in his face for what he had done to Zev. But losing the bond was killing her. Her eyes rolled closed as her throat clamped shut.
She couldn’t breathe.
“The Maiden is going into shock,” another voice said. The elf.
“She isn’t wounded, Elon. What caused this?”
“The cause is irrelevant, Commander. If we do not calm her, she will die.”
Dyna couldn’t take in any air. She couldn’t remember why she was here, why she was traveling across Urn. She could hardly recall her name through the torment. Dyna clawed at her chest, tearing at her skin. Anything to ease the shattering of her soul.
“Put the Maiden to sleep,” Von said.
A glowing red crystal waved over her face, and a mist seeped in her mind, blackening her vision. All else faded with the last thought of Cassiel.
* * *
Dyna awoke wrapped in layers of black silk. She was lying on a plush, warm surface. An ache throbbed in her chest and head. Where was she?
It was dark.
Gasping, she jerked up straight. Dyna’s hand flew to the heavy brace around her neck, and her breath came in heavy. A candle on the small bedside table provided enough light to distinguish the bed she was in. There were runes burned on the tent walls. From the ceiling hung hundreds of wards, crystals, and paper charms, filling the air with a low hum of power that prickled against her skin.
She met a pair of ice-blue eyes in the dark. Her heart leaped in her throat and a yelp escaped her. Tarn’s black clothing blended him well within the shadows. He sat in a chair with his hands loosely linked. As he tilted his head, one corner of his mouth tweaked. The movement was so subtle she hardly noticed it. He was a lot younger than she had first thought.
Every instinct told her to run, but she couldn’t move. She had spent weeks evading this man. Now that he was in front of her, every limb locked in place. A draft drew her attention to the tent flaps a few feet away. Thirty paces between her and freedom. She had no magic or weapons. Even if she did, Dyna knew it would be useless against this man. He may harm her for running, she had to take the chance.
Tarn rose to his feet, and Dyna launched for the exit. But with the speed of a snake, he snatched her arm and swung her around. She slammed into his chest. He looked at her with inhumanly vibrant eyes, so pale they were the color of ice. Her heart pounded behind her ribcage, pulse thundering in her ears. The candlelight shone through the edges of his white-blond hair. It covered half his face, the other half draped in darkness.
“Sit.”
At the harsh command, she scurried away from him. Her legs hit the edge of the bed, and she dropped on it. Tarn took a seat on the end. Dyna scooted away, pressing herself against the headboard, wishing she could go through it. Her ragged breaths hung in the dead air between them.
“It’s strange,” Tarn mused, his cool tone faintly tinged with the Azure accent of the north. He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “I have waited years for you, foretold Maiden of my future. Now that you’re here, I find myself intrigued.”
The candlelight shone over the sharp angles of his face and the pale lashes framing irises touched by winter. He had a harsh beauty meant to lull, but the man terrified her. His existence was cold and imposing, hovering with a power she knew could kill her in an instant.
“You waited for me,” Dyna repeated, sensing he wanted to talk. She stole glances at her surroundings, searching for something she could use to defend herself. “Yet I knew nothing of you until recently. How do you know that it’s I who the Seer foretold would come?”
A muscle in Tarn’s jaw flexed as it tightened. He hadn’t known Von told her about the Seer.
“Many clues were given, and they brought many Maidens before me,” he said. “All of who proved false. But when I laid eyes on you, I knew there was no mistaking who you are.”
There was a sharp cartography divider on the desk behind him. And a fire poker in the brazier near the bed. Both were an equal distance away.
“Are you paying attention, Dynalya?” Tarn’s cool hand snatched her ankle in a tight grasp. “Or are you searching for a weapon?”
He yanked her toward him, and a shriek tore from her mouth. He rose on the bed, caging her beneath him. His hands flattened by her head and his knees around her hips. Her heart rammed in her chest as a scream lodged in her throat. But he didn’t look at her with desire or need. He studied at her like the phoenix on Draven’s ship. Curious. Inquisitive. As though she was something he didn’t quite understand, but was moments away from gutting her with his talons if she so much as blinked.
