Vengeance of Dragons (Secret Texts) by Holly Lisle Read Free Book Online

to solve the problem—her answer led him to believe she would find his proposal acceptable if her parents did.
    She turned away—and in that instant she felt a delicate touch in her mind, and eyes looked out through hers, seeing the devastation before her. Ry Sabir. Her heart raced; she felt his elation, his relief . . . and his nearness.
    She snapped a magical shield around herself—one of the few bits of magic Hasmal had been completely successful in teaching her so far—and the sensation of being watched, even
inhabited,
vanished. She turned to face Ian and said, “Trouble’s coming.”
    He laughed bitterly. “We’re stranded on the far side of the world, probably the only humans on the continent, down to four survivors and”—he nodded back toward the ruin—“perhaps soon to be three. We have no food stores, we had to burn our ground, winter won’t be over for months, and will surely get harsher before it gets better.” Ian leaned against a tree and rubbed at his eyes with his knuckles. Kait realized how exhausted he looked. “I’d say trouble is already here.”
    “A ship will reach us soon.”
    Ian stared at her, his immediate disbelief clear on his face. She met his eyes, and saw that disbelief become hope. “A ship. Bad news? Please tell me you have more bad news.”
    “This ship doesn’t intend to rescue us. My Family’s enemy followed me across the ocean, using a . . . a link that the two of us share. Something related to the fact that we are both Karnee, I think. This enemy intends to take me prisoner. But you and Hasmal and Jayti . . .” She frowned. “I expect he and his men will try to kill the three of you. You aren’t the reason that he’s coming here, and if you aren’t his friends, you’re unknown, and unknown is often the same as enemy.”
    Ian turned away from her and stared at the blackened ridge before him. “Perhaps we can negotiate with them. Perhaps we can work our passage. Perhaps we can do something to help you, and in helping you, help ourselves.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “So which of your Family’s enemies are we talking about? Dokteerak? Masschanka?”
    “Sabir,” Kait said.
    Ian winced. “Ah. Sabir. That’s bad, or at least it
could
be bad. I have an unfortunate history with the Sabirs. Clever as I might be at offering my services as a navigator, or helmsman, or whatever the ship might need, if I’m recognized the Sabirs aren’t likely to want my help.” He sighed and looked back at the burned ground. “I wish we’d known earlier that Sabirs were coming. We could have been preparing. We could have had ramparts in place, made some sort of weapons . . .” He frowned and shrugged. “Well, that can’t be helped.” He licked his lips. “You don’t know exactly which Sabirs are following you, do you?” he asked. He put the question to her casually enough, but Kait heard the tension hidden below the surface.
    “I only know of one for sure. Ry Sabir. There may be others, but he’s the only one who’s”—every bit of color had drained from Ian’s face as she spoke—“linked to me. Ian? What’s the matter?”
    “Ry?” he whispered. “Ry Sabir?”
    Kait nodded. “You know him?”
    For a long time he said nothing. Then he glanced at her, and he was a changed man. Cold. Deadly. Full of hate. “I know him,” he said. “We have things to do. We’re going to have to get his ship, and we’re going to have to beat
him
to do it.”
    “Three of us against a ship’s crew? We can’t take the ship by force.”
    Ian rested both hands on Kait’s shoulders and stared into her eyes. “If Ry and I meet, one of us is going to die. I know my chances of killing him aren’t good. But if I have to die, I’ll die fighting.”
    He stalked away from her, heading for the bay.
    She looked after him and considered the trouble that was to come, and what she might do to prevent it. She ran through her head all the histories she could recall