Spellslinger (Spellslinger #1)(68)

I turned, and saw that she was drenched from the rain and not dressed for it. Her hair clung to her face and she looked absolutely terrified. I wanted so badly in that moment to hold her, to reassure her, but I just wasn’t sure I could trust her. ‘What are you doing here, Nephenia?’ I asked.

She looked down at Reichis. ‘Is that …? Is that the one we …?’

‘Tortured?’ he growled. ‘Used filthy Jan’Tep magic on?’

‘He looks different,’ she said. ‘Not like the monsters we were told about at all.’

I wasn’t sure what to say to that, given he looked pretty much the same as when she’d tortured him, so I settled for, ‘His name is Reichis.’

For some reason that set tears streaming down her cheeks. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she cried. ‘I don’t know why we … I wanted so badly to prove myself to the others. I wanted to show I could do the high magics.’ She turned to look at me, all the composure drained out of her face, replaced with misery. ‘Will you tell him I’m sorry?’

‘He can hear you,’ I replied.

She turned and, with what I thought was remarkable bravery, knelt down in front of Reichis. The hackle of his fur rose as he bared his teeth at her and growled something I couldn’t make out. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I know there’s no excuse for what I did.’

When Reichis didn’t respond, Nephenia looked up to me. ‘Does he understand? He’s not—’

‘Tell the bitch I’m going to sneak into her house one night very soon. I’m going to climb up onto her face and rip off her ears and then I’m going to eat her eyeballs right in front of her.’

There was so much rage radiating from him it practically made the rain dripping through the roof steam off his fur. I guess I couldn’t really blame him. ‘She thought you were a monster, Reichis. She didn’t understand.’

‘If I could take it back, I swear I would,’ Nephenia said, practically begging him now. It made for an odd sight.

He bristled. ‘Fine,’ he growled. ‘Tell her to pick her favourite eye. She can keep one.’ He looked up at me and snarled. ‘The other one, I’m eating.’

‘What did he say?’ Nephenia asked.

‘He said …’ I locked eyes with Reichis and did my best not to flinch. ‘He said he understands. He says we all do stupid things sometimes. He says he forgives you.’

Reichis was not impressed. ‘Oh, that’s it. Now I’m going for your eyeballs too, you lousy—’

He was cut off by the other squirrel cat, who nipped his ear. Reichis growled back at her. ‘Being around you is like having thorns in all four paws, you know that?’

Nephenia rose to her feet. ‘We have to get you out of here, Kellen. Tennat and his brothers are looking for you. They’re using tracking spells.’

‘Like you did,’ I said.

She nodded. ‘I found you first. The spell is stronger when there’s an emotional … I just found you first, that’s all.’ She shook her head. ‘Everyone’s gone mad, Kellen. Tennat’s been strutting around like his father’s already the clan prince. The council says they’re going to hold the election tonight, even though it wasn’t supposed to happen for weeks yet.’

‘I don’t understand. I thought they wanted to use the initiates’ trials as a way to see which house has the best bloodlines?’

‘That’s just it – they’re putting the initiates through the trials tonight, one after another. Everybody is scrambling, trying to make sure they have a secret to sell for the fourth test. Panahsi won’t even talk to me. He just keeps practising spells inside his family’s sanctum.’

The other squirrel cat sniffed the air and chittered something. Reichis translated. ‘More headed this way.’ He looked up at me. ‘Four of them, all mages from the stink.’

Nephenia closed her eyes for a moment. ‘It’s Tennat. He’s using the same spell I am … there’s a kind of tension between the two.’ She opened her eyes. ‘Kellen, you’ve got to get out of here. Now.’

‘How? They’ll just keep tracking me.’

‘I sparked the band for silk magic yesterday. There’s something I can try that will confuse them, make them follow me instead of you. I’ll use distortion spells to keep them off my trail, and if they do find me, they’ll just think Tennat messed up his spell.’

‘And what if he doesn’t? What if he figures out—’

‘He won’t. Tennat thinks I’m just a silly girl who plays at being a mage.’

‘Time’s running out,’ Reichis chittered. ‘I can hear them fumbling around inside one of the houses on the other side of the street.’

Nephenia took my hands. ‘Kellen, I’ve heard people talking, saying that the Mahdek are the ones who took your sister. They say that Daroman woman, Ferius Parfax, was looking for her and then she got taken, too.’

Reichis shuffled up to the door. ‘Make up your mind, kid. Either way, I’m out of here.’

I caught Nephenia’s eyes. ‘Are you sure you can do this?’

She nodded. ‘Find your sister, Kellen. If she goes to the mage trials tonight, there’s still a chance that your father will be elected instead of Ra’meth.’ When I hesitated she said, ‘Let me do this, Kellen. Let me do the brave thing for once in my life.’