Page 130 of Tears of the Wolf
Selene’s mouth pinched. “You want answers. I understand. I will happily provide them, but just right now, we are being pursued by some twenty armed men.”
Brynn’s chest jolted. Was her mother lying? Or had she sensed the riders as Brynn had?
The seafaring sorceress sucked her teeth. “When we get out to sea, I expect answers. And if your answers don’t suit me, the deal is off.”
Selene’s nostrils flared, but she demurred. “Of course.”
Neirin splashed up to the vessel and climbed over onto the deck. He settled at Brynn’s side, taking her other arm once again.
Esa remained on the riverbank hidden behind the trees, tied and helpless. Brynn was trying to help. Had she doomed the girl?
The seafarer set to calling the oarsmen, giving orders for the ship to be pushed back out the way they had come. The water grew deeper the farther they went, moving fast—too fast.
The collar around Brynn’s neck twitched again. She was close to something. So close.
“Brynn.” Her mother came into her vision, standing in front of her with eyes wide. “You need to stop.”
Brynn met her mother’s gaze. She kept drawing inka.
The world was alive. So alive. So full of power.
The collar rattled faintly, shaking against her collarbone. It warmed against her skin.
“Lady Brynn.” Anselma stepped forward, then stopped, hands wringing in front of her. “Lady Brynn, no.”
Selene spun on the girl. “How is she doing that?”
Anselma blanched. “I don’t—”
Selene didn’t wait for a response. She whirled on the seafarer. “Get us out of here!”
“What is happening?” the seafaring sorceress demanded.
Selene ignored her and spun back to Brynn. “Brynn, stop!”
Brynn didn’t stop. She reached and dragged and released power even as her head became lighter and her thoughts muddied.
Selene spun to Anselma. “Do you have more of the sedative?”
“I—”
“Quickly, girl!”
If they drugged Brynn again, they might undo whatever she’d managed to do. They might find a way to permanently bind her.
The ship sailed swiftly, carried by the current. It rounded a bend in the river and the ocean came into view. Brynn fought, straining to gather more power as the ship glided ever closer to the open sea.
Anselma fumbled with her bags as they swept toward the sea. The ship jostled and she dropped her pack.
Neirin forced Brynn onto her knees, clutching her hands behind her back. “Stop!” he hissed in her ear. “Stop!”
Brynn had no intention of stopping. The ship swept by the last of the pines and the quiet forest. Past…
There were living things in the trees. Things larger than squirrels or deer. Brynn might have missed them if she hadn’t been reaching forkaso desperately.
There were men in the trees. Too many to be an idle hunting party or a harmless group of fishermen.
Selene shook her head, crouching in front of Brynn. “Brynn, if you keep fighting, you risk—”
