no matter how badly I wanted to. Not yet, anyway. But if we reached the border...easy enough for me to ditch Kiran and cross alone to safety. Forget the money, forget this entire godsforsaken mess...
Forget Melly, who’d pay a terrible price for my cowardice. Fail Sethan, who’d saved not only my life, but my very soul, and never once counted the cost.
Kiran had recovered himself enough to square his shoulders and meet my eyes, though his breath still rasped in his throat. “If you need more coin, or anything else...once we’re safe in Kost, I’ll get it for you.”
I snorted, still pacing. “Yeah, right. How, without your magic? You think I don’t know you’d say anything to get yourself across that border?” Didn’t keep him from being right about my lack of options, damn him. If Sethan was watching from Suliyya’s gardens like the southerners claimed, I sure hoped he appreciated the shit I was crawling through for Melly’s sake.
“I’d find a way.” The dark determination on his face checked me mid-stride. He’d played it so mild in the face of my accusations, I kept forgetting how dangerous he truly was. His fear of Ruslan might keep him from using the full strength of his magic, but he’d proved with Cara that he was far from helpless, even so. What might he do, if he believed I meant to abandon him?
Gods all damn it, I’d cast myself straight into a viper-infested cesspit this time. If only I hadn’t needed Bren’s money so badly—
Bren. I rounded on Kiran, as a nagging tendril of a thought burst into full bloom. “When you bought passage from Bren, did he know you were a blood mage?” Khalmet’s bloodsoaked hand, I’d rip out Bren’s sly, oil-soaked tongue if he had.
Kiran shook his head, with a wary frown. “I told him I was a mage, but not what type. Why?”
“Good to know which of you was the worse viper,” I muttered. Kiran might believe Bren ignorant, but I had my doubts. I’d thought Bren’s instructions meant he and Gerran had made a side deal with Kiran’s enemy, but after hearing the whole story on Ruslan, that no longer fit so well. I thought it far more likely they intended to sell Kiran out to the Alathians through a safely anonymous intermediary. Handing a blood mage over to the Council would earn them a nice bonus, and also ensure their own safety, in case Kiran later decided to cover his tracks. If they gave Kiran up to Alathian justice...well. Maybe that’d be Shaikar’s judgment on him, for what he’d done to Harken and the others.
I blew out a long breath, and straightened.
“You’ve made a decision,” Kiran said quietly, eyes still locked on my face. The cramped curl of his body near hummed with tension. “What do you intend?”
“Let’s get something straight.” I crouched in front of him, just beyond his reach. “If I didn’t need Bren’s Shaikar-cursed money, I’d leave you to rot, and cheer when Ruslan showed up to kick your lying ass.”
Kiran’s eyes narrowed. One hand twitched, his fingers flexing. I mastered the urge to scramble backward. Showing fear would only invite a more direct threat.
He said, “But...?”
I scowled at him. “I do need that money. So. I’ll still guide you to the border, and gods willing, get you through. But the instant we cross, we’re done, hear me? You’re on your own.” No matter what unpleasant surprise Gerran had in store.
Pure relief washed over his face. He slumped against the cave wall. “I never expected anything different.”
“Good.” I stood. The magefire had warmed the cave enough to halt Kiran’s shivering, but he still looked badly chilled. We were losing heat out the entrance, aided by the occasional icy blast of wind that spat swirls of snow through the crevice. I’d need to fix a tarp to try and block the gap. “This storm could last days. We’ll need to conserve energy and food. If I were you, I’d sleep as much as possible. We’ll have a hard climb to the notch once the storm clears.”
Kiran sighed and tilted his head back against the rock. The firelight softened his pallor, making him look very young as well as unhappy. I turned away from the sight. No need to like him, or even believe him. I just had to get him across the border. That’d be hard enough.
***
(Kiran)
Kiran shifted closer to the magefire as Dev pounded pitons into the rock near the cave entrance. The wild