Unguilded (36 page)

“It makes sense,” Reo said. “They left him on Old Rillidi, and his house on Mage Guild Island is intact. Does he have any living relatives?”

“None that he’s talked about,” she said.

“Good,” Reo said. “No one to suddenly appear.”

It took them just over half an hour to search the house, then Reo led the way to the workroom.

“We’ll stay here until it’s dark,” he said.

The room had two doors, one that led to the kitchen and a second that probably led outside. Daylight filtered in through a window set high up in the same wall as the second door.

“Get some sleep,” Reo said. He gently tugged a cloth off a bench and wrapped it up, dusty side in. He set the bundle down in a corner and gestured to Kara.

“You too,” she said. She huddled into her cloak and sat on the floor near the cloth. She stifled a sneeze as the dust settled.

“Later,” Reo said. “Once I’m sure we haven’t been followed.”

She stared at him for a moment before she lay down and closed her eyes, content to let Reo watch over her. She pulled the hood of her cloak tight around her face, blocking out the light. She shouldn’t trust him, not after he’d taken her to her mother, the person who had tried to hire him to kill her. But everything he’d done since then, every look he’d given her, everything he’d said, even the way he held himself, all told her that he hated himself for what he’d done and that he would do everything within his power to get her out safely.

The arrogant Assassin who had manipulated her into his bed and then been furious when she’d refused to co-operate was gone. And this new Reo, this apologetic, considerate Reo, she trusted. But now she worried that he was almost too calm. Had he already decided that she was the only one that would come out of this alive?

ARABELLA SAT MOTIONLESS
, trying not to let her fatigue overwhelm her. She wasn’t positive, but it felt as though the weariness she was experiencing now was natural—a result of the mostly sleepless night spent creating spells to find the girl and the Assassin—and not because Valerio was stealing her energy.

“This one should do it,” Valerio said. His eyes were dull and his movements slow—proof that he too was suffering from overextending his power.

“So you said the last time.” Arabella was too tired to keep the reproach out of her voice, and the Secundus winced.

“Yes. There is no reason why that spell failed, and yet it did.”

No reason
. Arabella hadn’t told him about her own futile attempts to use magic against the girl—or about the girl’s claim that she could see and manipulate spells—she’d said that her own exhaustion had made her spells too weak. He’d seemed uneasy at her words. She wondered if he felt any guilt over using—
stealing
—her power. He should.

“I have no idea why, but I’ve been unable to find your daughter.”

This time it was Arabella’s turn to wince—she hated that she’d given birth to the girl, and he knew that.

“This spell targets the Assassin. There can only be a few dozen Warriors on the island—I don’t care if they all die today, as long as the Assassin dies.”

“Warrior Guild will not be happy,” Arabella commented. She didn’t care about a few Warriors either, but she was interested in how he thought he could manage their guild.

“
I’m
not happy,” Valerio said. “A Warrior Guildsman is helping a Mage Guild runaway escape capture. Even Warrior Guild cannot deny our right—our obligation—to uphold Guild Law. When they learn of this, losing a few Guildsmen will seem a small price to pay. Come. Rorik will be awake by now. I need an update from the guards he sent out.”

Silently, Arabella followed Valerio out of his workroom and into the hall of his home. She was beginning to see the pattern in how Valerio managed his affairs. He never seemed to care, and he was always able to find a way to minimize his own responsibilities by attacking how poorly others had managed theirs. In this case—it would work.

“KARA.”

A hand grasped her shoulder and shook it gently.

“Time to go.”

She pulled her hood off her head and blinked open her eyes. Reo crouched in front of her.

“Did you sleep?” she asked.

“Some,” he replied and moved away from her.

“Good.” Kara stretched her left arm over her head. It tingled a little as the circulation returned. “We both need to be rested if we’re going to get out of this.”

She stood up, smoothing out her skirt.

“Now what?” she asked.

“The door leads to a small laneway,” Reo said. “I checked while you were asleep. Once we’re outside, we’ll make our way south.”

“To the far side of the island,” Kara said.

“To the far side,” Reo agreed. “Ready?”

“Yes.”

Reo opened the door, and a breeze wafted through it. She smelled flowers and damp earth and grass. She took a deep breath before she followed Reo out into the night. He gently pushed the door shut behind them, grabbed her hand, and tugged her after him down a short alley.

They made their way through alleys and streets that were bright with mage mist. At times Kara pulled Reo to a stop to let clouds of magic sweep past them. Sometimes it was her mother’s purple mist, but most of it was the familiar dark grey-black of Valerio Valendi.

Had Reo known who the Mage was who’d wanted to hire him? Had he known that she counted the Mage Guild Secundus as an ally? Perhaps. But he hadn’t known that Arabella wanted him to assassinate her own daughter, and so he might have underestimated her resolve. And for that, Kara had to shoulder some of the responsibility. Reo hadn’t told her someone wanted her dead, but neither had she told him that her mother was a powerful Mage. They’d both made mistakes, and now they were both in danger.

Reo found a fountain in a small park, and Kara knelt and scooped water up with cupped hands. Too soon, Reo pulled her to her feet, and they set off again, keeping to the narrow, twisting alleys as much as they could.

Reo stopped and bent towards her. “We should start looking for a place to hide for the day,” he said, the first words he’d spoken to her all night.

Startled, she glanced around. The mage mist was so thick and glowed so brightly that she’d lost all track of time.

“Everything’s covered with mage mist,” she said. “It’s coating all the buildings and streets. Even the trees and flowers.”

Reo nodded. “Let me know when you see a place, any place, that has a little less magic.” He set off down another alley way, heading south, always south.

They’d gone a few more blocks when she tugged on Reo’s hand and pointed towards a small roof that barely poked above a rough, wooden fence.

“No magic,” she said. “Just a little on the fence.”

Reo nodded, and they stopped beside the fence.

“Stay here,” he said. “In the shadow.” He took off his cloak and bundled it into her arms. “I’ll be back soon.”

Reo grabbed the top of the fence and slowly pulled himself up high enough to look over it. A few moments later, he dragged himself up and over.

Kara slid down to a crouch, leaning against the fence. Reo had told her that she was in shadow, but she felt exposed. Light from mage mist swirled around the alley and flowed along the side of the building across from her. A few wisps of yellow and green mist trailed along the bottom of the fence, and idly she poked her finger into it, watching as the mist curled away from her. She didn’t even have to concentrate—mage mist simply passed by her. When her mother had attacked them, all she had done was redirect the magic as it recoiled from her.

So much hate from a woman who, by all rights, should love her more than anyone else in the world. Gyda, she was tired of being alone. Maybe when she and Reo got off this island, she’d head back into the mountains—she could build a cabin near Mika and Allon. The few weeks that she’d spent there had been the most serene of her life. She’d have to visit Santos and Vook and the others before she left. Could she take them with her? Would they want to leave Rillidi? She’d only known them for a few months, and already they were more important to her than her own flesh and blood.

She rubbed her eyes. What had Arabella said about Noula and Osten? That the child had been sent somewhere. She remembered the smiles and bright laughs when he was young, before he was old enough to follow Noula’s lead and treat Kara with disdain. She hoped he . . . what? What did she hope for him? That he survived and lived a horrible life filled with pain and misery or that he sickened and died quickly? That he lived, she decided. As long as Osten lived there was hope—hope for a better life, hope for some small joys. Hope. That’s what she was clinging to as well.

“Kara, throw me both cloaks,” Reo’s whisper drifted over the wall.

She tossed Reo his bundled cloak and quickly pulled off her own. The cool night breeze lifted the edge of her skirt. She wadded up her cloak and threw it over the fence.

Reo tossed them down on the other side of the fence and reached for her. She stretched her arms up, and he gripped her left forearm. She copied him, feeling his warm flesh beneath her hand, their wrists fitting together like a puzzle. He heaved her up, and she grabbed the top of the fence and swung her legs over it. Reo dropped into shadows and caught her as she slid over the fence.

“Thanks,” Kara said. “Sorry I’m not better at this.” She steadied herself against his warm chest.

“Not to worry,” Reo whispered into her ear. “You have other talents that make up for it.”

For a moment she wondered if he was referring to the night they’d bedded, but no, he would be thinking about her ability to see and avoid magic. That’s what he’d wanted from her all along.

Reo guided her to a small hut.

“Anything?” he asked.

She shook her head. There was not a trace of mage mist around this small building. The door was half off its hinges, and the wood was worn and splintered. Other than Santos’ house, this was the only structure she’d seen in all of Mage Guild Island that was devoid of magic.

Reo pushed open the door, and she stepped past him. It was dark inside. She shuffled her feet along the floor, stubbing her boot into something solid. Her hand went out, and she felt what seemed to be a stack of wooden planks. There was a scuffling sound in front of her, and she froze.

“It’s just mice,” Reo whispered.

“Mice?” Kara sighed with relief. “That means no one comes here.”

“My thought as well,” Reo agreed. “There’s a spot where we can put the cloaks down and get some rest.” His arm brushed hers as he passed.

She rubbed her arm where he’d touched her. In the dark, only hearing and feeling him, she was more aware of Reo than before. Even now she could hear him breathe, smell his musky scent, feel his movements as he spread both cloaks on the floor.

“You first,” he whispered. “I need to be closest to the door, in case.”

Kara shuffled towards him, and she felt him move aside. She knelt and crawled across the cloaks. She didn’t need to be
told in case of what
. Reo had piled the cloaks against the wood of the wall, so she stretched out on her side, her back against the cushion of the cloaks. Reo shifted in alongside her. His back bumped into her, and he mumbled an apology. For a long time she simply stared at him, at where she knew he was, could feel where he was, but couldn’t see. She didn’t think he was asleep.

“Reo,” she whispered. “We should talk.”

He sighed, but didn’t turn around. “Later,” he said. “When you’re safe. Then we can talk.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“You should.” Even in a whisper his voice was harsh with self-recrimination. “Get some sleep.”

She sighed and closed her eyes. At least she’d told him the truth. She
didn’t
blame him. She was actually lucky that he was the Assassin who’d been contacted by her mother because otherwise she’d be dead. Reo’s only mistake was in taking her to see the woman who wanted her dead, rather than asking her about it. As if he was the only one with enemies. She was the one who hadn’t told him about Arabella Fonti. It was
her
mother who wanted them dead,
her
mother who had recruited other Mages to help. None of that was Reo’s doing. And if they didn’t make it off Mage Guild Island alive, that wouldn’t be Reo’s fault either.

SHE TIGHTENED HER
arm and snuggled into the warmth, trying to counter the chill at her back. She shifted slightly, and then the warmth withdrew, and her arm dropped to the ground. Kara opened her eyes to see Reo sitting up, his back to her. She pulled her arm against her chest. She knew by the coolness she felt along the front of her body that she’d been sleeping huddled up against Reo, her arm slung across him. She’d slept soundly, as he must have for him to allow that closeness, even in sleep.

Reo walked over to a stack of planks and sat down. Kara thought he was deliberately not looking at her. She rolled over and stretched, trying to work the kinks out of her right shoulder. Daylight filtered in through small cracks and gaps in the wooden walls.