War of Shadows by Gail Z. Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

according to Quintrel. If Blaine can’t figure out a way to create a broader anchor, it’sgoing to kill him—and he’ll take the magic with him. Quintrel wants to own the anchor and control the magic. And he won’t rest until he takes Blaine prisoner and has the power for himself.”
    Several candlemarks had passed since the mages’ disastrous experiment and the wall’s collapse, long enough for Niklas and Piran to get free of their duties and join Blaine and the others in one of Quillarth Castle’s parlors. Blaine paced near the fireplace. Kestel leaned against the wall where she had a good view of the doors. Dagur and Zaryae had joined them, along with Ordel, Niklas’s battle healer.
    “What makes Quintrel think he found a way to anchor the magic without it going through Blaine?” Niklas asked, with an expression that made it clear his trust of anything Lowrey had to say was highly conditional.
    “If Quintrel figured it out, why hasn’t he already done it?” Piran added.
    Lowrey dropped into a chair, looking miserable. “Because Vigus isn’t himself these days,” he said, running a hand back through his wild, graying hair. “He was angry when Blaine left—and livid when he found out you’d stolen the thirteen disks,” he said, leveling an accusing gaze at Kestel.
    “Oops?” she said with false coquettishness. “How did those get in my bags?”
    Lowrey gave her a narrowed glance. “I’m not saying you weren’t wise to steal them, but it put Quintrel into a fury. I think he knew before Blaine even arrived that using just one Lord of the Blood to anchor the power would create a deadly bond. He probably figured that he could keep Blaine and therest of you from leaving, or at least control you long enough to find a way to transfer the binding. But you left.”
    “Damn right,” Piran said. “What exactly were we going to do, locked up in Valshoa? Take up stargazing?”
    “Quintrel didn’t expect the Wraith Lord to force Dolan to help you leave,” Lowrey replied. “He thought he could count on the Knights to keep you prisoner. When you left, it meant that the key to magic slipped out of Vigus’s control. And he is a very competitive man.”
    “All well and good,” Ordel said impatiently. “But what about the impact on Blaine?”
    Lowrey paused, and Blaine reined in the impulse to shake the truth out of the eccentric mage. Lowrey was clearly relishing his moment on center stage. “He wants to get Blaine to ally with him, and in exchange, he’ll share what he’s discovered.”
    “You mean, hold Blaine hostage under threat that he support Quintrel or die?” Piran rose from his seat with outrage. Niklas waved him down.
    “And you’re saying the rumors are true that Quintrel has an alliance with Rostivan?” Niklas asked.
    “Yes,” Lowrey said. “Quintrel needed an army, and Rostivan needed mages.”
    Kestel exchanged a glance with Blaine that let him know she questioned Lowrey’s truthfulness.
I wouldn’t put it past him to have made up the whole story just to get us to take him in
, Blaine thought.
Except that the part about the magic draining me strikes a little too true to be a complete invention.
    “I’m concerned about the effect that anchoring the magic is having on Blaine,” Ordel said. “I’ve healed him on more than one occasion, and his energy has… shifted. It feels ‘older’ than it should for someone of his age and health.”
    Zaryae nodded. “Three times I’ve dreamt of Blaine as an old man on his deathbed. At first, I took it as a good sign, that he was destined to live through these troubling times, with many decades ahead of him. The second time, I wondered if his future self had a message for us. The third time, I took it as a warning.”
    “It is consistent with some of the aftereffects we’ve seen of the ‘new’ magic,” Dagur added. He gave an apologetic shrug. “We’re still figuring out how magic works since the restoration. It’s not reliable,