The Return of Nightfall by Mickey Zucker Reichert Read Free Book Online

dismissed its guard, needing to confront the victim one more time.
    Byroth seemed stronger to Nightfall this time, a testament to children’s ability to bounce back from the worst of trauma. He handled nearly getting mauled to death better than either of his parents. “I knew you’d come back,” he said.
    Brandon sat on the edge of the bed. “Byroth, we’re trying to help you, and your family, too.”
    “My father’s gone insane,” Byroth pronounced with the forthrightness only a child would dare.
    “Not insane,” Gatiwan corrected. “Just very distraught. We believe it will pass.”
    It was essential truth. Uncertain if shock, loss, or magic had unhinged the man, they could only guess whether time would cure him. The natal talents spanned such a gamut, Nightfall could only wonder if such a spell would last for days, weeks, or forever. If the sorcerer had such a power, he had not used it against Byroth. Further consideration brought an answer for that. Driven from his rational mind, Byroth might not react properly to inflicted pain; and the sorcerer might lose his soul. Nightfall shook off the thought, not yet convinced a sorcerer had attacked Byroth.
    “But to help them and you,” Brandon continued, “I need the answer to a question I already asked. Don’t be frightened. We’re here to help you and others like you, to keep you safe.”
    Byroth looked from man to man. He looked longest at Nightfall. “You want to know if I have a birth gift.”
    Brandon nodded. “Because, if you do, you’ll need our protection. Perhaps forever.”
    Nightfall wondered just how many people Brandon warded and how he managed to keep them all safe.
    Byroth said nothing, gaze still straying between them. Finally, he pursed his lips and nodded. “I . . . can tell . . .” He seemed to be measuring their responses as he spoke each word. “. . . if someone else . . . has . . . a birth gift.”
    Brandon and Gatiwan exchanged looks. “You can?” Brandon pressed, laboring not to strangle on his words.
    Even Nightfall, the master of role-playing, could not stop his nostrils from flaring. To a sorcerer, it might prove the ultimate talent, the one he would risk everything to get.
    “Like,” Byroth continued. “I know you have a talent.” He met Brandon’s gaze. “But he doesn’t.” He gestured at Gatiwan, then turned his attention to Nightfall. “And you’ve got one, too.”
    Exposed, Nightfall kept his features a blank mask, ignoring the triumphant smile spreading across Gatiwan’s lips.
    “Do you,” Brandon started, then paused to swallow hard. “Do you know what those talents are?”
    “No. It just tells me you have them.”
    Now, Nightfall would not have given up the mission for anything. He had little choice but to commit himself fully to Byroth’s safety. If a sorcerer got hold of that power, the talented, including himself, had no place to hide. One by one, the spell would expose them, and the sorcerer would feast upon them.
    “Thank you,” Brandon said. “I know that was hard, and I’m going to tell you something extremely important, then we will never mention this again. Do not, under any circumstances, ever tell anyone else that you, or anyone you sense, have a birth gift. Yours is a powerful talent, and there’s not a sorcerer in any part of the world who wouldn’t give his own . . . favorite body part to have it.”
    “Oh,” Byroth said, dark eyes growing round as coins. Nightfall could feel his gaze on all of them as they exited. And, though he knew the boy was as much a victim of his natal talent as the rest of them, he could not help feeling like prey.
     
    For the first shift, the Magebane assigned Nightfall to stay with the boy, Gatiwan to sleep, while he patrolled the outside. That suited Nightfall well enough. He could not have slept yet, not with Byroth’s revelation hanging over him. The sentry position seemed better suited to him, given his background; but he had no intention of