end. Not to mention all this “us” and “we” business...“How many kids does Ruslan keep?”
Kiran opened his eyes, looking surprised. “None, now. Mikail and I were his only apprentices. None of the akheli ever take more than two,” he said, as if it were self-evident.
“Why not?” I’d have thought a blood mage would want plenty of lackeys to lord it over.
“Complex spells require two mages working as one, and the skills aren’t simple to master. Easier for two apprentices to learn and practice together, as Mikail and I did. But the talent is rare, and a master akheli like Ruslan does not share power lightly.” Bitterness filled his voice.
I leaned against the cave wall. Ruslan did sound like Red Dal, who also thought of his kids as being his property. But if a Taint thief died on a job or ran away, Red Dal could always buy or steal another Tainted kid to replace them. Every kid born in Ninavel’s got some trace of the Taint, though for most it’s hardly noticeable—maybe one in a hundred is Tainted enough to be useful. But a mage-born kid with enough talent to attract the interest of a blood mage must be a hell of a lot harder to find. Plus, a month or two of training was all a Tainter needed, while it sounded like Ruslan had spent years training Kiran. Made sense he’d be both furious and determined to find his wayward apprentice. I could even—grudgingly—get why Kiran was so desperate to escape.
Assuming Kiran wasn’t lying through his teeth. Again. He knew I’d been Tainted. The leap to my childhood profession wasn’t a long one. Maybe he’d come up with this little tale hoping to gain my sympathy. Even if his story was true, it didn’t excuse the deaths he’d caused, or the way he’d left those at the convoy to face a furious blood mage without so much as a warning. I eyed him, coldly.
“You wanted to run, fine—you should’ve had the guts to do it solo. A score of men are dead, thanks to you. How many more will Ruslan kill?”
“I didn’t know what else to do!” Kiran gave me a desperate, pleading look. “The akhelashva ritual bound me to Ruslan, in a way I cannot break. He can control my magic as his own, rip down my defenses with a single thought, find me no matter how far I run...the amulet blocks the bond, but it won’t stop him for long. The Alathian wards are my only hope of real protection, but I didn’t know how to cross the border undetected, let alone the mountains! I needed a guide. You.”
Me, the Khalmet-touched fool now stuck in this cave while his friends faced a mage who specialized in agonizing death. A spike of renewed fury pierced me. “You should’ve told me the truth,” I snapped. “I’d never have taken you with the convoy if I’d known—!”
“You wouldn’t have helped me at all,” Kiran said, with bleak certainty.
Damn right I wouldn’t have. If I’d known even half of this back in Ninavel, I’d have thrown Bren’s offer in his face. Triple pay plus charm-grade gems, my ass. What fucking good was money to a dead man? Even if I survived Ruslan, that still left the Alathians. They didn’t fuck around when it came to blood magic. If they caught me helping a blood mage, they’d burn me alive on the spot.
Watching me, Kiran paled further. “Dev, don’t—don’t do anything rash. Everything I told you at the convoy was true, I swear it on my blood and ikilhia.” His fingers clenched on the blanket. “If you abandon me, Ruslan will find you, and you’ll die at his hands. Even if you give me up to him, he won’t spare you. Not after you helped me run from the convoy. You don’t know his skill at flaying flesh and soul, prolonging torment beyond all bearing—” He choked, and pressed his hands to his eyes. His chest heaved in a juddering gasp.
Fuck. I recognized the sight of someone fighting off a dreadful memory. Kiran might be lying about his own motives, but I doubted he was lying about Ruslan being a vindictive, sadistic bastard who’d slaughter by inches anyone dumb enough to cross him. That part matched right up with every tale of blood mages I’d ever heard.
I whirled and paced the length of the cave, struggling to shove anger aside and think. I couldn’t cut and run with Ruslan on the prowl,