being your blind token. I want answers, or I’ll let Pello tell every last man in this convoy you started that avalanche.”
Memory came crashing back: the oncoming wall of snow, the burning rush of power, the shock of impact. Realization drove the air from Kiran’s lungs. Ruslan was coming. “Oh, no. No, no, no...” He fought free of the blanket with a wild flail of his arms.
Dev backed a pace, his body tensed and his hands spread. Rune-marked silver glittered in one palm. “Don’t like that idea, do you? You did cast a spell, then. Don’t fucking try to deny it, because I’ve seen your amulet. Nobody but a mage could spark a charm powerful as that.”
Kiran mastered the panicked impulse to ignore Dev and run. The runes on Dev’s charm identified it as a crude but effective pain inducer. If Dev used it against him, the effort to block even so minor a charm might send him unconscious again in his weakened state. He’d lost enough precious time already.
“Yes, all right? I used magic, but not to start the avalanche! You don’t understand, I—”
Dev’s mouth twisted. “I understand Harken is dead, without a scratch on him. So are six others. Want to explain that to me?”
Horror chilled Kiran to the core. That inrush of power, so deliriously sweet...his gorge rose. Generous, amiable Harken gone forever, and Kiran hadn’t even realized whose life he’d stolen. “I never meant for anyone to die,” he said, his voice ragged. “The avalanche, it would have killed everyone...I tried to divert it without harming anyone, but I had to work so fast!”
Dev’s eyes turned hard as agate. “Never meant for anyone to die, huh? Except Pello, and anybody else near him when the avalanche hit. Forget about them, did you?”
“What?” Kiran felt as if he’d missed a step on a tower stair. He twisted to look at the intact stacks of supply crates. “What do you mean, when the avalanche hit?”
“Don’t play dumb with me,” Dev snapped. “At Ice Lake, Pello marked you for a mage, right? You wanted him gone, and you found a way. Maybe you started the slide, maybe you only jumped on the opportunity...either way, you made sure it destroyed his end of the line. But you couldn’t even get that right, you incompetent asshole—Pello survived, and you killed all those men for nothing!”
“I didn’t try to kill Pello!” Kiran faltered on Pello’s name. One slip in focus as he’d channeled the power against the avalanche, and darker desires might well have contaminated his intent. He thrust the thought away. “I acted to save this convoy! And to do it, I threw away my only hope, my only protection—” He choked, his panic rising.
Dev’s eyes narrowed to green slits. “Why in Suliyya’s name should I believe you? You’ve done nothing but lie to me from the start.”
Kiran fought to regain control. He had no illusions that he’d be able to cross the mountains on his own. He needed Dev’s knowledge and expertise, or running would merely delay his capture. “You’re right, I’ve lied to you, and I’m sorry. I’ll tell you the truth now, if you’ll only listen!”
Dev crossed his arms, his eyes still cold and unyielding. “Go on, then.”
Kiran sucked in a steadying breath. “I didn’t lie about wanting to reach Alathia unnoticed, but I’m not worried about banking houses. I was hoping to hide from another mage.”
“Oh, that part I figured out all on my own.” Dev’s voice held an edge sharp as obsidian. “Now you’ll say this other mage started the avalanche in hopes of killing you. And you think when he figures out you’re alive, he’ll try again.”
“No, you don’t understand! Ruslan doesn’t want to kill me. He wants to find me. My amulet, the one you saw—it hides me from his magic. But the amulet can only conceal me if I don’t use magic myself. When I blocked the avalanche, for Ruslan it was like...like a signal blaze in the Aiyalen Tower. Now he knows exactly where I am, and he’ll be coming, as soon as he can prepare and cast a translocation spell.” Kiran couldn’t keep his breath from coming faster. “You have to get me away from here. The amulet can still protect us, if we hide in the mountains. He won’t be able to find or strike at me directly with magic—or you, so long as you stay near me. But the amulet won’t help if he can see us in the