Smoke and Memories (The Dark Sorcerer #3) - D.K. Holmberg Page 0,25

often as she caught sight of more movement, but it was more than just that. The strange, powerful feeling of energy in the air continued.

“Enchantments,” Jayna whispered.

Eva glanced over to her, and Jayna nodded. “I can feel it. I don’t know—”

Something struck her, like a fist to the back. It was quiet and she’d heard nothing. The strike sent her staggering forward. Jayna spun, rolling over, and held out the dragon stone ring, already beginning to draw power through it.

She got to her feet and Eva stood next to her, hands clenched at her side, smoke starting to whirl around her. It was times like these when Jayna appreciated that Eva had not been drinking too much wine. Not that she had ever seen Eva unable to get up for a fight.

“That’s an interesting enchantment,” Jayna muttered.

It had been violent, but not terribly so. It hurt, but wouldn’t kill. There was a role for enchantments like that. Immediately, she began to think of various possibilities.

Whatever the thieves were up to, they wanted to hide from notice. And they didn’t care whom they targeted.

Given what she’d seen earlier, she didn’t want to be caught unawares.

Holding them off required more than sorcery, but she could start with a familiar spell. She created a pattern of the magic ball around her, and pushed the energy of the dragon stone ring through it, crafting a practically solid barrier that shimmered up from the ground.

Jayna moved forward carefully.

“What do you care about this?” Eva whispered.

Jayna glanced over to her, and noticed a faint streamer of smoke trailing from her. It curled around her hands, and she suspected Eva had used the spikes in her palms to pierce the skin and activate her smoke magic.

“Curiosity.”

She grabbed Eva, and they headed down a nearby alley, though Jayna maintained her hold over the protection she had placed around herself. She added a little bit around Eva as well, though she didn’t know if that was necessary. Eva had her own way of protecting herself.

“Why here?”

Jayna motioned all around her. Something struck again, this time from behind, but with her barrier in place, she was protected. She glanced over to Eva, who stared into the darkness, the smoke drifting gradually around her, but with increasing speed.

“There’s something familiar here,” Eva said, not looking back to her.

Something familiar might mean that smoke they’d seen in the forest. Or the dark sorcerer who had been stirring up trouble in the city. Or even someone Jayna had angered before. Master Raollet, the shop owner whose shop Jayna had wrecked not too long ago, hadn’t sent anyone after her in a while, but she wouldn’t put it past him to keep taps on her.

She needed to know who or what this was.

Tracing a quick pattern designed to help track magic, Jayna sent a swirl of energy into the distance. She could feel it flowing away from her, drifting, and as she pushed power out, the effect granted her understanding of the power that had blasted them. A force enchantment. Dular magic, nothing more, which she had suspected—and the kind she’d seen used in the city before.

“I can block this kind of enchantment,” she said.

She strode forward, sending a glowing orb of light ahead of her. It streaked forward, floating, illuminating the alleyway.

Three faces cowered in the shadows. But there was a fourth that didn’t. One that looked defiant.

“Matthew?”

“Who’s asking?”

She froze for a moment. She had seen him, her brother’s former best friend, around the city since he had helped her before, but then she had used the memory bowl to erase his memories of that time. If it had worked the way she intended, he wouldn’t even be aware that she was in the city, nor would he have any recollection of what had gone on or his role in it.

“It’s Jayna Aguelon.”

He stepped forward. He was dressed in a black jacket and pants, the color blending into the shadows. He carried something in his hand, a heavy item that glowed softly and seemed to be filled with a sort of energy.

That was the force enchantment she’d felt.

“What are you doing here, Jayna? It’s not safe. Especially not for you. There’s something going on in the city with the sorcerers.”

She glanced behind him, looking toward the faces she had seen, but they had disappeared.

“You should get going,” Matthew said, stepping toward her and lowering his voice. “I don’t want anything to happen to you, and I don’t know that I can protect you