Death Sworn(70)

“I am helping you.”

“Are you? Remind me to thank you later.” She started toward the door.

“Ileni—”

“Don’t follow me,” she said fiercely, without turning back, and told herself she wasn’t disappointed when he obeyed.



The next morning, after class, Ileni gathered her courage and approached Bazel. She had been avoiding him until then, trying not to address him unless she had to. Every time she accidentally met his eyes, she sensed a banked hatred in them, a sullen viciousness more disconcerting than Irun’s openly threatening glare. But that didn’t matter anymore. If Sorin wasn’t going to help her, she needed somebody who would.

She felt Sorin’s eyes on her as she walked over to Bazel’s mat. But she didn’t falter, and Sorin filed out of class along with the others.

“We should,” she said, “resume your lessons.”

Bazel looked at her across his mat, and she realized her mistake: she should have summoned him to her, demanded obedience, rather than going to him like a supplicant. His hatred was no longer banked. He looked at her like she was a worm that had slimed its way up his leg.

Luckily, the training cavern had emptied. She forced her shoulders straight. “You blame me for what happened, don’t you?”

His mouth formed a straight, ugly line before he turned his back on her. “Can you think of someone else I should blame?”

“What if you could see Karyn again?”

Bazel whirled, with a controlled grace that made her tense for an attack. But he merely shook his head. “You expect me to help you draw her back? So you can capture and torture her?”

“I don’t care about her,” Ileni said. “I just want to find out why Absalm brought imperial spies into these caves.”

Bazel adjusted his stance, wary. “You assume he knew what they were.”

“He must have guessed, eventually.” Because anyone would have. “And she is more than a spy.”

Bazel’s fingers twitched.

“But you know that, don’t you? You knew Karyn was a sorceress. You lied to Sorin about who created that rope, and you did it to protect her.”

A flash of fear. “Did you tell him—”

“No,” Ileni lied, ignoring a twinge of guilt. “It doesn’t matter to me. Whatever she and Absalm were up to, it got him killed. Karyn might be able to tell me why he died. That’s all I care about.”

Bazel let out a breath. “You want to use my stone to try summoning her.”

“Yes.”

“You expect me to hand it over to you?”

“No.” That would have been absolutely useless to her. Even with the aid of those stones, communication spells required huge amounts of power. She tried to sound desperate, which wasn’t difficult. “You can be there. You can even work the spell—I’ll show you how—and contact her yourself.”

Bazel’s face was carefully blank. “I’m not stupid, you know.”

Her heart thumped in her chest with sudden, paralyzing terror.

“I know she doesn’t care about me.” Bazel scuffed the edge of his mat with his foot. “I know I’m just a tool to her.”

Ileni’s relief was so vast she spoke without thinking. “Nobody in these caves is anything but a tool.”

Bazel blinked twice, and then—to her astonishment—he grinned. “Right. It’s nice to be a useful tool instead of a despised one.”

Ileni thought about smiling back, but it seemed too risky. Instead she nodded. “I can see that.”

Bazel’s smile twisted, but it didn’t vanish. Before she could say anything else, the students for her next class began filing in, and he made his way into the training area.



“What are you up to?” Sorin demanded as soon as they reached her room after the midday meal.

Ileni, who was already halfway across the room, turned and crossed her arms over her chest. She was the one who had chosen to head to her room instead of the knife-training cavern, and she was surprised that Sorin had followed her. To hide her gratification, she scowled at him.

Sorin leaned against the doorpost, scowling back. “Don’t underestimate Bazel. Even the least of us is dangerous. Whatever you’re planning, I should be with you. To protect you.”

And to wonder why she wasn’t working the spell on her own? Ileni sat on her bed and lifted her chin. “To stop me, you mean? No, thank you. I believe we’ve already had this discussion.”