The Whitefire Crossing - By Courtney Schafer Page 0,145

but the flash was blinding. The guardsman howled as burning powder spattered his clothes and face. He dropped the hackbut and clawed frantically at his eyes.

I raced forward and kicked him hard as I could in the groin. A strangled, high-pitched sound escaped him, and he doubled over. I brought my knee up into his face as he did, and heard the crunch of bone. He crashed to the ground, his face a ruined mess of blood and burns. I kicked him twice more, first in the throat and then the head.

His body jerked limply with the impacts. Yeah, he’d not get up anytime soon.

The find-me’s power had faded during the wait for nightfall, but I figured I’d find Kiran at the source of the magelight. I bolted across the meadow to the cliff band, glancing at the woods. No sign of Simon. Five more fireworks remained in the forest. I could only pray they’d keep him busy long enough.

I rounded a boulder and skidded to a stop. Silver-green magelight flooded from a wide-mouthed hollow at the base of the cliff. Brightly glowing lines spiraled inward on the hollow’s floor to surround Kiran, spreadeagled on his back in the center, his wrists and ankles bound with silver manacles sunk in the stone. More silver marked his forearms, in the twisted pattern of some type of charm. His shirt had been cut open, exposing his chest and stomach. His chest moved in rapid breaths, but his eyes were closed. I couldn’t tell if he was conscious.

“Suliyya, mother of maidens,” I breathed. This must be what Kiran had meant by channeled magic. Fear twisted my stomach, but I couldn’t afford to delay. I stepped gingerly over the first line. No magefire struck me down. I took a deep breath and kept going.

“Kiran?” My voice came out a little higher pitched than usual.

His eyes flew open, and his jaw dropped.

“You!” The shock on his face turned to fury. If he could have killed with a look, I would’ve collapsed dead on the stone. He strained against the manacles and spat out, “You work for Simon, too? I should have known.”

I yanked a piton hammer and pick from my pack. “For Khalmet’s sake, shut up and save the yelling for after I’ve rescued you.”

I tapped a manacle with the hammer, and grimaced as the silver flashed blue. They were warded. Well, I’d come prepared.

Kiran had that pole-axed look on his face again. “Rescue?”

I broke the seal on a stoppered glass vial and poured a trickle of dark liquid in a circle about the base of the manacle attachment. The liquid foamed and smoked on the rock, leaving a pitted crack. I jammed my pick into the crack and whacked it with the hammer. The rock split wider, partially freeing the manacle.

“Rock’s not as hard as most people think,” I told Kiran, and reset the pick on the manacle’s other side. Another solid whack, and the manacle came free.

Kiran bent his arm to stare at his wrist, the manacle still locked tight around it. Stunned disbelief glazed his eyes. I hurried to his ankles, throwing a quick glance out at the meadow. All I saw was a dark void. Thanks to all the damn magelight, I’d lost my night vision.

The skin between my shoulder blades crawled as I hacked away at stone. “Can you tell where Simon is?”

“No—he’s blocked my magic...” Kiran’s breath quickened as I got his right leg free. His stunned look had changed to one of wariness, his dark brows lowered in a distrustful frown.

“Dev...why?”

I wasn’t sure if he was asking why I’d come back, or why I’d sold him out in the first place. Unable to meet his gaze, I shrugged and focused on his left ankle. Metal shivered under my hand as I struck repeated blows. Khalmet’s hand, this manacle was taking way too long—

“Dev—!” The sheer panic in Kiran’s voice jerked me to my feet. His eyes were white-rimmed, focused behind me.

Shit! I tried to run, but an invisible force locked my muscles.

A hand clamped my shoulder. If my throat hadn’t been frozen like everything else, I’d likely have embarrassed myself by screaming. I half expected to feel skeletal bones, but the hand was human.

“What foolishness is this?” The hand on my shoulder turned me around. Though Simon’s voice held only smooth inquiry, fury lurked in his eyes. Dread washed through me.

Simon took the pick and hammer from my hands and tossed them aside. He studied me, his head