Page 76 of The Study of Magic
CHAPTER12
Valek didn’t hesitate. He stepped closer to the cloud of light and warped his arms around it. He pulled Yelena to his chest. “Anything, love,” he whispered and allowed the force, allowed Yelena, to hide inside his heart.
The pressure of magic dug into his skin, twisting, and pushing to get to Yelena. He imagined his immunity. Imagined it resembling an impenetrable wall around them, protecting them from the onslaught. He poured every bit of strength into the imaginary stones and endured the attack all the while holding his love close.
Time blurred. The room spun. The attacker was in the Magician’s Keep with Yelena. They were determined and strong. Valek proved stronger, and the assault eventually stopped. Relief, love, and gratitude pulsed in his heart before Yelena faded away. Suddenly bereft, he stumbled. His legs melted underneath him, and he collapsed to the floor.
* * *
He woke hours later. His office was pitch dark. Groaning, Valek sat up. Every muscle ached as if he’d fought an entire squad and lost every match. He staggered to his feet and fumbled to light a lantern. Once lit, he rubbed his hands over his face and smelled lavender.
Yelena! Somehow, she’d appeared in his office. Had needed his help. She was in trouble! He grabbed the lantern and raced through the castle, encountering no one. The corridors had the abandoned air of late night or very early morning. The guards at the entrance to his and the Commander’s apartments blinked sleepily at him.
“What time is it?” he asked.
“About four hours into our shift, sir,” Dagon answered. “Replacements should be coming soon.”
The Commander wouldn’t be up for another two hours. Valek debated waking him. Instead, he entered his suite and packed a bag. If he rode Onyx all the way to the Sitian Citadel, he could be there in two and a half days. He grabbed his Sitian clothing, his kit of disguises, a couple extra daggers, and two sets of lock picks.
His surge of energy sputtered and died. Valek staggered to the couch. Sunrise was in an hour; he’d just rest until then.
The bright sunlight woke him. It hung high in the sky. Valek cursed. When he stood, a wave of dizziness swelled. He couldn’t remember the last time he ate or drank anything. Shouldering his pack, he stopped at the kitchen for a meal and to load up on travel rations. Then he headed to the Commander’s office.
“Come in,” the Commander said. “Ah, Valek. Where were you last night?” He eyed the pack.
“Yelena’s in trouble, I’m going to the Citadel, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” The words rushed out in one breath.
“Hold on. How do you know she’s in trouble or even at the Citadel?”
“She…visited me. Or her magic reached me from the Magician’s Keep.”
“But magic doesn’t?—”
“Apparently hersdoes.”
“All right. What happened when you connected?”
“There was an attack.” He explained it as best that he could. “Must have been a very powerful magician.”
“Could it have been an exercise? Yelena is learning how to use her magic.”
Could it? Valek considered. “No. Yelena was frightened and asked for help.”
“All right. What about when the attack stopped? Was Yelena still scared?”
No. She’d been relieved and grateful. He sagged onto a chair. “I may have overreacted.”
“May?” The Commander smiled. “Let’s look at this logically. She’s in the Magician’s Keep and they’re training her. They’d want her to be successful and they would protect her. Perhaps it was an exercise done during stressful, realistic, conditions, like some of our military exercises. I’m assuming by your reaction that she wasn’t scared after you helped her. If she needed to be rescued, I’d think she would have let you know.”
All valid points. Yet the desire to see her again—to know for sure that she was okay—thrummed in his veins.
“Plus, if she reached you once, she could do so again,” the Commander continued.
True. All true. Suddenly exhausted, Valek wilted.
“I’d let you go if Star wasn’t plotting something. You know she’ll take advantage of your absence. Send a message to your agents in the Citadel to check on Yelena, for our peace of mind.”
“Our?”
