Torn: Bound Trilogy Book Two (35 page)

“Which way?” Kel asked.

“Toward the river.”

The buildings around us changed as we moved on. Wooden buildings several stories high rose over us, looming, watching our passage with dark, empty eyes. Light was scarce, save for a few lamps lit on corners, and those dimmed by fog.

We followed signs pointing toward “GENERAL COMPOUND—COURTS, HOLDINGS, BATTERY.” The journey seemed to take forever, but the sky was still dark and the city quiet when we reached a sheltered walking path beside the river. We followed it upstream until we stood directly opposite a set of water doors in the walled compound. From this lower angle, the structure loomed higher and more imposing than I remembered. The water split into the two man-made canals that flowed around the building. Not a long swim, if we had to do it, but the water would be frigid.

“Not promising, is it?” Nox observed, as though she’d been reading my thoughts. “This whole town gives me chills. Ugly, too.” We followed Kel and Cassia into the shadows of the giant trees at the edge of the river. Nox shivered as she looked at the water, then again at the compound. “I don’t see how we get in. Could you make the guards think that we’re supposed to be there?”

“Yes. But I’d have to get close enough to them, and it’s nearly impossible to manipulate a mind if I don’t have a person’s attention. I can’t influence them through the door and make them open it. Once they see us, they’ll raise some alarm. We’d have to get in and incapacitate them, or they’d have to come out.”

“But you would do it?”

“They’re no different from the guard at the gate.” I silently cursed Phelun, the mer elders, even my grandfather—everyone who had helped create the niggling doubts at the back of my mind that dumped cold water on my desire to do my work. “It’s just a question of getting in. The front gate will be the most heavily-guarded. That leaves the water doors.”

Kel cleared his throat. “You might have friends who could help with that.”

A wide grin spread across Cassia’s face. “Aren’t you glad you brought us?”

“No,” Nox said. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

“It’ll be fine,” Kel said, and took her hand. “All we need to do is get the door open for you.”

“And get rid of the guards first, not knowing what’s waiting in there.” Nox shot me an angry glare, then looked back at Kel. “I need to talk to you. Alone.” She stood and pulled him away.

“I didn’t try to stop you going into a dragon’s cave,” he muttered, but followed.

“Should have seen that coming,” Cassia said.

“Do you think she’ll try to hold him back?”

She shrugged. “She likes him. A lot. Obviously she doesn’t want to let him risk his life for someone she’s never met. You’re willing to let Kel and me go into this because you know what’s at stake. She has no reason to care what happens to Rowan, and a lot of reasons to be concerned for Kel.”

My intent seemed so selfish when she said it that way.

“I’m willing to let you go because it’s your decision,” I said, “and because you both seem confident that you can do this. I hope you know that I’d never trade your lives for anyone else’s, or expect you to do this for any reason other than wanting to help Rowan. This isn’t what you agreed to help me with when we met in Cressia. I’m more thankful than I can say that you care enough to be here. Rowan will be, too.”

Cassia turned away to study the lamplight reflecting in the river. The breeze lifted her hair, gently brushing it back from her face. “What if we’re not doing this for Rowan? What if it’s for you?”

I reached for her hand, and she turned back to me. Her hesitant smile brightened the shadows of the park. “Don’t get me wrong, I adore Rowan. She’s a lovely person, and I consider her a friend. I mean, for her I’ve given you your space on this journey instead of inviting you into my bedroll at night to keep me warm. But you and I go way back, and we’ve got a lot of good memories. You’ve been a great friend to me and a better one to Kel, excepting a span of seven years or so. And I...” She swallowed hard.

“What?”

“You know that we don’t have romantic attachments like you do, my stupid brother notwithstanding. But what you and I have is different from what I have with anyone else. You’re a friend in a way that’s deeper than I’m accustomed to. I don’t love you, but I do.” She shook her head. “That makes no sense, I know. I just want you to know why we’re doing this. Your mission to remove Severn from power is important to our people, but it’s more than that. Kel and I just don’t want to lose you.”

I swallowed back the lump in my throat. I’d never considered the idea that friendship could be as deep as any other kind of love. It was true, though. I cared more for Kel and Cassia than I did my own family.

“I don’t know what to say.”

She smiled and squeezed my hand. “There’s nothing to be said. Nothing changes.”

“I couldn’t have wished for better friends. I hope I’ll be able to repay this some day.”

She gave my fingers another squeeze, released them, and reached back to twist her thick hair into a knot at the back of her neck. “I’ll tell you that unless your sister is far more persuasive than I think she is, Kel and I will be going into the river and opening that gate for you. And for Nox, if she’s going to join us.”

“I am,” Nox said as they appeared from the deep shadows. “Kel thinks that he needs to do this.” She still held his hand tightly.

“But you don’t have to,” I told her. “As you’ve pointed out, Rowan’s capture isn’t your problem.”

“And as I’ve also pointed out, I think you have a better chance of succeeding at anything if I’m along. It worked in the dragon cave, and if it means that Kel is more likely to get out alive, then I’m coming.”

“Thank you. All of you. Kel, Cass, what’s next?”

“Now you wait here,” Kel said, “and Cass and I go do what we do best. We swim, we wait for that door to open, and we go in. When we open it again, you follow.”

“We swim?” Nox asked.

“Is that a problem?” Kel unlaced his pants and let them fall to the ground.

Nox looked away. “No, I can swim.” Her voice sounded strained. “But I don’t enjoy it.”

“A perfect match,” I muttered under my breath. Cassia was the only one who heard, and she tried not to smile.

I joined Nox in looking away when Cassia pulled her shirt over her head, but caught a good glimpse of smooth skin and the curve of a breast as the fabric whispered over her head.

Good memories, indeed
. I was glad to have them, but all I wanted now was to have Rowan back in my arms. Cassia left her clothing, but took her bag and slipped Kel’s hunting knife into it, along with her own things. She tightened the strap over one shoulder and under the other arm to hold the bag tight against her ribs.

Kel and Cassia took advantage of the shadows as they approached the water, then slid into one of the few sections of the river that wasn’t dimly illuminated by the park’s lamps. All Nox and I could do then was wait.

E
very noise
in the park seemed to announce our presence. A cat ran out from the bushes and between Nox’s feet, and she clapped her hands over her mouth to hold back a gasp. She took several deep, shaky breaths. “I think I’m going crazy.”

The leaf-covered ground soaked my socks and sent up the musty scent of decay. I crouched, trying to keep warm but unwilling to sit in case we had to move quickly. It was cold enough next to the river that I could barely feel my toes.

Should’ve made the gate guard give me his boots.

“I’d keep an eye on Kel for you,” I told Nox, keeping my voice low. I still wasn’t comfortable with her going in there.

She shrugged one shoulder. “Pathetic as it sounds, you’re the only family I have, and those two are my only friends. I can’t let you all wander off to your deaths without joining in, can I?”

“At least you won’t be lonely.”

“Yeah. Well, your girl had better be pretty amazing if I’m going to risk my life to get her out of there.”

“She is.”

As the minutes crept by, my doubts crowded close.

We must be too late. This is all for nothing. They’ve had her a week. This is suicide. Why should more people die just because I can’t live without her?

I forced my mind to be still. My focus needed to be on the present, on being aware of danger and doing what I could to keep my friends and my sister safe.

It’s insanity. Leave now.

The flickering light across the water picked out the outline of a small boat containing a single cloaked figure, rowing with strong, steady strokes, cutting through the water toward the door directly opposite us. The whisper of the oars moving through the water and the lamplight reflecting off the low waves would have been a peaceful sight at another time. Now every rock of the vessel set me more on edge.

Nox’s nails dug into my arm through the fabric of my shirt. The doors opened outward, slowly, pushing against the current of the river. Light shone out and the boat passed through. The doors closed behind it as slowly as they’d opened.

“Where are Kel and Cass?” Nox whispered.

“Inside, I hope.” They should have gone in under the boat when the doors opened.

Minutes passed before a crack appeared between the doors, a thread of light on the dark wood. It stopped, then opened a little more.

“Come on,” I said to Nox, and tucked my knife into my belt. “I don’t think we’re going to have much time.”

I slipped feet-first into the water, holding my breath to keep in a gasp. The water was so cold that my skin burned from it. Nox removed her boots and jacket and lowered herself into the water beside me. Air hissed between her teeth.

“I can’t do this.” Her teeth chattered. “We’ll never make it.”

“Yes, we will. Keep moving.” I pushed off from the edge and moved toward the middle of the river, angling upstream to compensate for the pull of the current. My hands and feet had gone numb before we were half-way across, and when I looked for Nox, she had fallen behind. She kept her face above water, but barely. A ripple on the surface covered her nose, and she sputtered, splashing. I reached for her and forced my fingers to clamp onto her wrist.

“Keep moving,” I repeated.

Magic warmed my body. The cold still bit painfully into my skin, but I felt warmth deep in my muscles, keeping them from seizing up. I tried to hold it back, to save the magic for later, but couldn’t. This was survival, and beyond my control. I took advantage of it and pulled Nox closer, dragging her along with me. She kept kicking, kept fighting her way through the water. I couldn’t imagine what a struggle it was for her.

I felt the drain on my magic again. I’d never had to measure it before, and had no way of knowing what I had left. I only hoped that, like physical strength, I would find that I had more than I thought when a crisis arose.

I pushed harder through the water. The sooner we were out of the freezing river, the sooner my magic would stop trying to save me from it.

The doors were halfway open when we reached the wall, and we passed between them, our heads just above the water. If there were enemies waiting, their spotting us wouldn’t be any worse than staying outside to drown. Twin walkways lined the indoor canal, and torches burned at regular intervals along the walls, giving off both a stink of oil and a promise of warmth.

The doors closed behind us, with the sound of trickling water tapering off as they sealed. I pulled Nox toward the walkway to our left and grabbed the slippery stone edge. She gasped as Kel pulled her out of the water. His hands grasped my wrists. I wrapped my hands around his forearms, and he hauled me up.

The air inside the wall was significantly warmer than the river, but I still shivered.

Kel stood with his back to the wall, looking down the short entry passage. At the end of this space, the canal appeared to continue to the right, following the inside of the wall. The boats would come in the door, then have to make the sharp turn to whatever lay beyond. I looked back toward the door. Here, in the outer edge of the wall, narrow slits in the stone offered a limited view of the water and the shoreline beyond.

Kel rubbed his arms under the blanket he had draped over his shoulders. He wore another wrapped around his waist, taken from the pile beside a wooden wheel that opened the doors via a system of pulleys. Another, identical wheel sat on the walkway on the opposite side of the canal.

Two men were tied together next to it, dripping wet, with rags stuffed in their mouths. They glared at us, and one began struggling when he saw us looking, lurching side to side and straining against his bonds.

“Enough,” Kel said to him. “They’re not going to hurt you, as long as you cooperate.” He picked up the pile of blankets, then draped several over Nox’s shoulders and handed the rest to me. “Are you two all right? I’m glad you came when you did. The water makes the doors heavy. I think opening them’s supposed to be a two man job, but Cass isn’t back yet.”

“Is she all right?” I asked, though he didn’t sound concerned.

“She was a few minutes ago.”

I shook open a blanket and used it to absorb what water I could from my clothes and my hair. The magic that continued to heat the blood in my veins wasn’t nearly enough to dry the clothes that stuck to my clammy skin. I walked in a circle, moving my arms until my body warmed itself and I felt the magic was no longer helping. My socks squelched beneath my feet, and I stopped to take them off.

“Is Cassia coming back?” Nox asked. “Should we look for her?”

“She went after the guy in the boat to make sure he wasn’t coming back. These two were easy enough. I don’t think they expected to see a naked woman pulling herself out of the water after that boat passed. Put them off their guard a bit.”

I snorted. “Just a little?”

The men on the other ledge continued to glare.

Cassia rounded the corner and walked toward us. “You people are so predictable.”

With her hair tied behind her neck, every toned curve of her body was visible. I couldn’t blame the guards for being distracted. She stepped around a coiled rope and accepted the blanket I held out for her, wrapped it around herself, and tucked a corner into the top to hold it in.

“I got him after he grabbed me. I hit him pretty hard and tied him up, but I think he’s going to be okay.”

Nox shivered, and Kel sat down and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into him. “Those guys don’t look too happy. What’s next?”

“Getting you out of those wet clothes,” Kel said.

Nox grinned in spite of her chattering teeth. “Nice try. Really, though. What are we going to wear? We can’t go walking around in blankets, even in the middle of the night. Someone’s going to notice.”

We all looked at the bound men, and I noticed for the first time that they weren’t dressed as soldiers or guards. They wore plain civilian clothes in two different color palettes. Workers, not soldiers. I reached out to their minds to see who they were—it never took much digging to learn the basics of a person’s identity. They didn’t even seem to feel me looking. One was a blacksmith, longing to be home in bed before an early morning in his shop. The other was a baker, afraid for his life.

A baker, for the gods’ sake.

The blacksmith shook his head hard and drew his legs tight to his chest.

Cassia frowned. “That would have been too easy. I never thought I’d have trouble getting a man out of his clothes.”

“This is up to you, Aren,” Kel said, barely speaking above a whisper. “Are you going to convince them to do this quietly, or are we going to have to fight them for it?”

This far and no further
, I had told myself when I used my talents against the guard at the gate.
Enemy soldiers only.
But these men weren’t. Rowan had almost left me once when she found out I was manipulating people like these. Emalda had forbade me to use my powers against this sort of person, and though I’d resented her rules, I’d begun to understand her objections, and Albion’s, and Rowan’s. My gift was a powerful tool, and a terrible one.

The younger-looking one, the baker, pushed the rag from his mouth and gagged as it dropped into the river. “Please. I have a wife and kids. Don’t hurt me.”

“Calm down,” I told him. “If we intended to kill you, we’d have done it by now. That’s not to say we won’t, but if you help us, things will go easier for you.”

A tear trickled down the man’s face. “I help you, I hang. Kill me if you have to. At least that way my family will get—” He sobbed as the larger fellow jerked around to deliver an elbow to his ribs.

“Shut up,” I told him, keeping my voice low.

His sobs turned to wails. Nox shifted her weight nervously, and Kel glanced down the short corridor.

“Shut up!” I ordered again, then lowered my voice as he complied. “Do they always have city folk manning the doors here? Are they so desperately in need of bodies?”

Neither answered, but their thoughts were there, ready to be taken. To be manipulated. To be changed.

Darkest magic
, brother Phelun’s voice whispered in my mind.

For Rowan
, I answered.
Time’s wasting.

And with that thought, I understood. Black and white bled together in my thoughts. Dark magic and light, right and wrong, heroic intentions and villainous all melded, and I decided that it didn’t matter. I would see this through. I’d sacrifice my soul to the tortures of every imaginable Hell and break every person who stood against me if it meant getting her back. If that made me a monster, so be it. I would use my dark gifts wisely, but I would embrace who I was, goodness be damned. A sense of balance I’d been missing for far too long returned to me.

I dug deep to sense the baker’s answer to my question. He flinched.

Doors usually manned by trained guards. They’re short-staffed tonight thanks to the illness in the city, and all the guards on duty have been called to an execution on short notice.

My heart stilled. “Who are they killing?”

His body struggled, but he couldn’t defend his mind.
Sorceress. Damned if I know who, or care.

“How do I cross?” I asked. Kel took a board off of the wall and lowered it to span the waterway. I stood and left the blanket behind, and crossed toward the men.

I focused on the baker first. He glared defiantly at me. There was no way to make this easy or subtle, to simply change his thoughts. He was already fighting, struggling to close his mind against further invasion. I forced my way in, snapping his attention away from his surroundings, leaving him dazed.

The smith turned away and squeezed his eyes shut, as though that would protect him from whatever I had done to the baker. His thoughts swirled in a dozen directions, every word and image stained by fear and anger. It was a more difficult connection to make, but soon his mind calmed and became as blank on the surface as the other man’s.

I motioned for Cassia to join me, and she undid the ropes that bound them. They sat there blinking at us, helpless and docile.

“That’s really...I’m going to go.” Cassia’s voice shook. She hurried to cross the water to get away from me. It would have hurt if I’d let it. Instead, I focused on slipping back into the guards’ thoughts, making them remove their own clothes and hand over everything we needed, puppets in my control. They kept their underclothes, if not their dignity.

Perhaps I should have given them a few bruises and the memory of having fought valiantly, but there was no time and not enough magic to waste on such things. I took the clothing back to the other side and handed the baker’s things to Nox while Cassia went back and tied up the now-compliant men.

“They’ll be all right?” she asked.

“They’ll be fine,” I said. I hoped it was true. Though Phelun’s voice had been silenced, his words and my grandfather’s still resonated in my mind. I’d done what I had to, but I felt shame rising in me.

Life was so much simpler before I cared.

Kel offered me the smith’s larger clothes, and I refused. “You and Cass are somewhat more conspicuous in what you’re wearing,” I said. “I’m just a little damp.” That was a lie. My clothes were still dripping, but there was nothing else to be done. I’d simply have to keep moving.

Kel said nothing as he dressed. He and Cassia didn’t look at me, or at the guards. I told myself their fear didn’t matter, but felt the sting of their silence. Nox laid a hand on my arm and squeezed. When I turned to her, she offered a reassuring smile that betrayed no disgust, no horror. A hint of pride, perhaps, and understanding. I didn’t look closer lest I slip into her mind again, but I nodded my thanks.

Saving Rowan was the right thing to do, but that didn’t make me feel better when I looked across the water and saw the pair of men staring at the walls with blank minds and empty eyes.

I did the same to the third guard, who sat just around the corner, and was relieved to find his mind easier to access, requiring less magic. I wasn’t getting any back. This fortress was a dead space.

Judging by how quickly my power was depleting, I decided I couldn’t afford much more manipulation of anyone who was going to resist me. Certainly not a transformation.