Look at him hard.
His expression as he meets my gaze is just as haughty as the one he turned on Evram, like I am his enemy.
And if I believed he could betray me like that, he would be wise to consider me such.
Not looking away from Nariel, I raise my voice and ask Evram, “You brought her here to exchange. For what?”
“I waited until I was sure I’d have your full attention,” Evram begins calmly. “You’ve demonstrated that you refuse to see reason and have wasted no time attacking mages of High Earth without provocation, so I will no longer try to save you from yourself—“
“Forwhat, Evram.”
A pause. “For the demon, Sierra.”
I can’t read Nariel’s expression. I’ve never seen the shadows in his eyes so still.
That, in its way, is enough.
Evram adds, with his remarkable ability to twist a knife and sound like he’s making an observation about the weather, “For you to have left this girl at such risk to begin with, I know you will not abandon the anchor, of course.”
I turn to him slowly, breaking my staring match with Nariel.
Evram is right about that much.
I didn’t truly believe Brook was in any danger. But I also didn’t want to. Couldn’t afford to.
What if I’d asked Nariel to protect her instead? I wouldn’t have had him at my side, then.
Which of course is what Evram is trying to do: separate us, so he can eliminate me more easily.
I look at Brook’s wide eyes—not just afraid; she’s taking in everything around her. Trapped by High Earth, still constantly searching for options. She looks so much like me, sheisso much like me in so many ways—but not magically.
The real shit of it is that what Evram’s proposing is a reasonable plan.
Nariel can hold his own. Evram has binding magic at his disposal, but I’m not sure Nariel can even be caught by that.
I’m notnotsure though, either.
But Evram is right, too, that I am not willing to bereasonableabout this.
“You kidnapped my sister,” I say in a low voice, “and you expect me to trade another person to you?”
“Really, Sierra. As you can see, your sister is perfectly well, if woefully unprepared for this experience.” Another twist. “There’s no need to make this personal. The transaction is a simple one. Your sister for the demon.”
“Not personal,” I echo.
The clouds around us press in. If there are still birds singing, I can’t hear them.
But Evram hears something in my voice. “Sierra—“
I explode.
This is barely even a spell; it’s aflex. I’m not conserving power now. With the power of the Cloud Forest rushing into me, around me, I gather that power to me and push it all back out in a sphere electrified with my power.
The effect is like I have just body-slammed everyone around us with enough magic at once that their shields are, to a person, completely overwhelmed.
Like trees falling, every single remaining guard falls down together, knocked out cold.
Leaving just Brook, somehow, and Evram, whose eyes have gone wide.
