Death Marked (Death Sworn #2)(74)

This place ruins everything it touches.

It was her last chance to hesitate, but she didn’t. She walked straight over to the center of the plateau, past Evin to Karyn, the wooden dog hovering in front of her.

“I think,” she said, her voice shaking only the tiniest bit, “that this is what you want from me.”





CHAPTER

26

The plateau was completely silent but for the rush of wind around them and the cry of an eagle somewhere overhead. The sky stretched vastly blue over the harsh gray plateau and the soaring twin pillars of the Judgment Spires.

Karyn reached for the wooden dog, and so did Ileni. Ileni’s hand closed around the small toy first, and she pulled it back.

The wind whistled around them, then went still. The residue of Evin’s spell hovered overhead, faint glittering sparkles of color.

“Ileni?” Evin said.

“It’s a way through the assassins’ wards.” Ileni kept her focus on Karyn, whose hand was still out, fingers curved. “A way into the caves. This was your plan for defeating them, wasn’t it? For me to turn traitor and let you in.”

Karyn curled her fingers slowly into a fist and drew her hand back. Evin murmured under his breath, and the remnants of color above them vanished, leaving the air clear and featureless.

“That’s why you have a map of the caves in your room.” Ileni tightened her grip on the dog. “You don’t need a map unless you’re thinking about getting inside. That’s what this is about. It’s what it’s always been about. You let me stay, you let Evin rescue me, because you thought I had a way into the Assassins’ Caves.”

“That’s all we need,” Karyn said. “A way in. And we can put an end to their murders forever.”

“Well,” Ileni said. Her fingers shook only slightly. “Here’s your way in. I just spoke to Sorin. That portal is still open, and it goes right through the caves’ wards. I’m sure you can find a way to send people through it.”

“Oh, yes,” Karyn said, and her eyes were alight in a way that reminded Ileni of Sorin. “Yes, I can.”

And then what? The caves were a warren of passageways, of narrow stairways and sharp turns, and—most importantly—of vicious trained killers. The imperial soldiers would be slaughtered.

But Karyn had been in the caves. She had even mapped them. She knew that.

She must have another plan.

Karyn slid one foot forward and reached for the wooden dog. Ileni waited until the last moment before pulling it close, curving her arm around it.

“You can have it,” Ileni said. “But I want something from you first.”

Karyn’s arm twitched. “What’s that?”

Promise not to kill him. But she wasn’t that stupid. Sorin was the leader of the assassins. Karyn would never make that promise, and if she did, she wouldn’t keep it.

Besides, Sorin could take care of himself.

“I want you to leave Girad alone,” Ileni said.

Evin made a sound she couldn’t decipher, not without looking at him. She felt his eyes on her, but kept her gaze locked on Karyn’s face.

“We wouldn’t harvest his power.” Karyn sounded genuinely shocked. Whether she truly was, Ileni couldn’t tell. “We’ll do our best to help him recover.”

“I meant if he recovers. Don’t force him into the Academy.”

“We need Girad,” Karyn said. But she said it slowly.

“As much as you need the assassins weakened?”

A moment of silence.

“Besides,” Ileni said, “if you don’t do this, you’ll lose Girad anyhow. To the next assassin, or the one after that.”

Not a sound from Evin. She had to force herself not to glance at him.

Karyn said, “All right.”

Evin drew in a breath. Still, Ileni didn’t break her focus.

“Is that all you want?” Karyn asked, with exaggerated patience.

“Hardly,” Ileni said, and a sharp pain went through her. She, who was supposed to have the power to change the world, could now barely extract one tiny concession, for the fate of a single child. “But that’s all I’m going to ask for right now.”

She placed the wooden toy in Karyn’s waiting hands.

Light flared in Karyn’s dark eyes, fierce and hungry, and doubt shivered through Ileni. Karyn caressed the dog with one hand and murmured a brief spell—too brief; the bulk of it must have been prepared before. Ileni’s stomach twisted. Karyn had been ready for this—

But it was too late for second thoughts to make a difference. Magic poured into the wooden dog and leaked into the air around it.

“Now,” Karyn said. Her eyes were alight, almost madly so. “Let’s take care of our little assassin problem.”

“Now?” Ileni gaped. “You think—you’re just going to go through? Right now? Into the caves? You’ll be dead before you can take a step.”

“Oh, no.” Karyn leaned forward. “The caves are a death trap. You know that, and I know it. That’s why no one is going there. He’s coming here.” Her teeth flashed white. She reared back and threw the dog—not just with her arm, but with her power. It arced across the bright blue sky, tumbling over and over like a falling bird, and settled lightly atop one of the Judgment Spires.