“The bond?” he asked.
Iyana rubbed her chest. “The bond is telling me it’s unhappy, yes, but…” Altair ran a comforting hand down her arm, resting it on her hip and giving a light squeeze. She took a deep breath. “But he should be here, regardless of the bond. Regardless even of the arguments we’ve had. He’s as much a part of this little family as I am, and he shouldn’t be left alone.”
She twisted in the saddle to look Altair in the eye. “We need to turn around,” she said.
Altair’s brow raised. “There’s a storm coming in. We should stop and ride it out.”
Iyana shook her head. “No, we need to go now. If you and the others want to continue towards the Dead Lands, you can, and I’ll go back on my own.”
“There’s no way in the nine hells I’m letting you go back by yourself.”
“Then let’s go see what the others want to do.”
Altair groaned, scrubbing down his face with a hand. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re incredibly stubborn?”
Iyana beamed at him. “Only all the time.”
The star chuckled and nudged Pryn into a trot. Once they caught up, Kaz twisted around in front of Talon to address them. “So we’re headed back?” she asked. She must have seen Iyana’s shocked expression, because she grinned and pointed to her ears. “I’m a cat, remember? My hearing is better than yours.”
“I’m going to keep that in mind…” Iyana said, glancing back at Altair.
“Oh, don’t quiet down on my account,” Kaz said happily. “In fact, please raise the volume so I can hear even better.” Iyana only shook her head,laughing at the shifter.
“But, yes,” Iyana said, regaining her serious composure, “I want to head back. Altair said he’d come with me, but you three can continue on if you want and we’ll catch up.”
“Don’t be absurd,” Zane said. “Where you go, we all go.” Iyana smiled at the prince. He really was winning her over. Zane tipped his head back to study the sky, wavy black hair falling onto his shoulders. Iyana didn’t miss the way Talon stared at the prince’s neck. “We should get going now, though. There’s a storm coming in.”
The three horses did an about face, and they cantered back towards the library.
Emmeric
He was so preoccupied with readying Ciri, shoving the tome into the saddlebag hanging off his shoulder and going over all the information he’d just found, that Emmeric didn’t hear the boots crunching in the snow until they were right behind him.
They came back.He turned, his heart pounding in his chest at the prospect of Iyana returning to him.
But then a large hand holding a cloth covered his face. The cloying smell of ether filled his nose. Emmeric held his breath, attempting to fight off his attacker. But the ether worked rapidly and soon his movements were lagging—arms swinging in slow motion like he was trying to punch underwater. He dropped to his knees; the darkness consumed him.
Chapter 41
Iyana
They rode through the night, stopping occasionally to rest the horses and themselves. But a sense of urgency continued to rise in Iyana. Altair told her it was all fine and reminded her they had only left the library the day before, and Emmeric could care for himself. She told him he was right, and in her mind she realized all of that, but something inside her saidgo, go, go. The stretching of the bond decreased the closer they got to the library, but just after dawn, it fell completely silent.
Iyana frowned. It had never been quiet in this manner before. She’d felt it calm when she and Emmeric were in close proximity, and not arguing with each other. But this was different. The sense of urgency spiked. Her heart raced.
“We have to go faster,” she mumbled.
“What?” Altair asked.
“We need to gofaster.”
“My star, the horses are tired. As are you. Why don’t you rest? We’ll be back in a few hours.” Putting her trust in Altair to get them back safely, she leaned back against him and wrapped her cloak tight. Iyana thought for sure she wouldn’t be able to sleep until she saw Emmeric was alright with her own eyes.
Pain.Iyana woke with a gasp. It was everywhere. The pain. Her head, her face, her ribs. She curled into herself, bringing her hands to her head to make it stop. Altair was grasping her, asking what was wrong, but she couldn’t focus. The pain was all-encompassing.
“Emmeric,” she finally gritted out. The horse sped up to a gallop.
“Your magic, astalle. Create a barrier. Erect a wall between yourself and Emmeric.”
