Dark Heart of Magic (Black Blade #2)(80)

A low moan sounded.

I froze, wondering if I had imagined the sound. But the moan came again, and then again. Someone was out here, and they were hurt, from the sound of things. Normally, I would have rushed forward to help the injured person, but so many bad things had happened over the past few days that I decided to be extra cautious. So I drew my sword and slowly approached. Besides, just because those moans sounded human, didn’t mean that they actually were. Many a monster had suckered in an unwary tourist or guard that way.

I crept deeper and deeper into the woods, searching for the source of the sound. Even though the shadows grew darker by the minute, I was still able to see everything around me clearly, thanks to my sight magic.

Including the body.

A crumpled form was sprawled in the middle of the trail up ahead, and the red shirt and golden ponytail told me exactly who it was—Deah.

I quickened my pace, scanning the woods around her, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Just trees, trees, and more trees.

I reached her a few seconds later. Deah was lying on the ground, bleeding from an ugly gash in her forehead. Her sword was clutched in her hand, as though she’d tried to defend herself against whoever or whatever had attacked her. Worry shot through me. Deah was an excellent fighter, something she’d proved during the tournament. If something could get the drop on her, that meant it could do the same to me—or worse.

My head whipped left and right, but I still didn’t see or hear anything moving in the trees around us. I’d have to take the chance that I could get her out of here before whatever—or whoever—had done this came back.

I dropped to my knees beside her, the gold cup tumbling from my hand and rolling away. “Deah! Deah! What happened? Are you okay? Who did this to you?”

She looked at me, her eyes hazy and unfocused, but she managed to croak out a single word. “Run. . . .”

She moaned, and her head lolled to the side.

“Deah! Deah!”

I shook her, but she was out cold. More worry filled me. I didn’t have any strength magic, and she was too heavy for me to carry back to the picnic area. I’d have to call Devon and tell him what was happening. I reached for the phone in my pocket—

A branch cracked behind me.

“I did it to her,” a familiar voice called out.

I froze, then got to my feet and slowly turned around.

Katia Volkov stood behind me, her arms crossed over her chest. A bit of sunlight streaming down through the trees highlighted the wolf stamped into the cuff on her wrist. Seleste’s voice whispered in my mind.

We have to warn the girls about the wolf.... The wolf wants to devour them both, gobble them up until there’s nothing left but bones and blades. . . . No blood, just bones and blades . . . bones and blades . . . bones and blades....

I’d been so focused on bones and blades that I’d forgotten about the first part of Seleste’s warning. Suddenly, I knew that the wolf was Katia, although I had no idea why she would want to hurt Deah or me.

Katia strolled toward me, and my hand tightened around the hilt of my sword. She wasn’t going to take me by surprise like she had Deah.

But Katia walked right on past as if she didn’t care about me at all, instead leaning down to pick up the gold winner’s cup I’d dropped. Katia held up the cup in a fading patch of sunlight, admiring her reflection in it. Somehow, the glint of the gold made her green eyes seem even bigger and brighter than ever before.

I frowned. Wait a second. Why were her eyes green? They were hazel . . . weren’t they?

I thought back to all the times I’d seen Katia over the past few days. Her eyes had been hazel the very first time I’d met her in the Midway. I was sure of that. And they’d been hazel some of the other times I’d seen her around the tournament too. But they’d also been green at times, just like they were right now. Why would her eyes change color so often?

But even weirder than that, there was something so . . . familiar about the bright, emerald-green glaze to her eyes. I’d seen that exact same color somewhere before, sometime recently, and I knew it was desperately important for me to remember, just as I knew how important it was to keep myself between Katia and Deah.

Katia admired the gold cup a moment longer, then set it down on the forest floor and faced me again.

“What are you doing?” I asked. “Why did you hurt Deah?”

She shrugged. “Because I wanted to. I’ve been wanting to blindside her for days now. I tried to knock her out in the first round of the tournament when I cut the rope ladder, but she got on the platform before the ropes came loose. I was so disappointed. But when I saw her run into the woods, I knew it was too good an opportunity to pass up—that I could finally finish things with her.”

I sucked in a breath at her casual confession. I’d been right when I thought that someone had been trying to knock people out of the tournament by cutting the ropes. But I’d blamed Vance, when Katia had been targeting Deah the whole time. I’d just been collateral damage that day—and I might be again tonight, if I didn’t figure out a way to stop her.

Katia glared at Deah’s still form, then looked at me again. “Did you know that she’s the other girl Felix has been seeing?”

“How did you find that out?” I asked, trying to keep her talking, even as I slid my hand into my shorts pocket again, reaching for my phone.