Borrowed Magic (14 page)

She had to protect herself. She had to
survive. Her shoulder started to burn like fire and then…then it
dulled to a comfortable warmth that spread down her arm and across
her chest and back. And then the pain was gone. Completely
gone.

It was as if she could truly breathe for the
first time in years, and she took a moment to relish the fact
before focusing back on Kern, who had stopped talking. Instead, his
gaze circled the clearing, searching for something – or someone.
His brows were drawn and his mouth set in a firm, angry line.

What had just happened? Her shoulder hurt in
a different way than it ever had before, then it didn’t, really
didn’t. And now Kern was acting strange. It had to be related.

She stole another glance at Kern. He’d risen
to his feet and was deliberately shifting his focus between the
other people scattered around the clearing. His body was tense, as
if he was expecting someone to attack.

Which made no sense at all. He was a
powerful mage. The only force that could challenge him would be
another mage. And there weren’t any of them here.

But Kern was…not afraid. That was too
strong. Anxious. As if he’d sensed— The world around her
stilled.

Magic. He’d sensed the use
of magic. But how? Nothing she’d ever learned or studied during the
siege said mages could sense magic. It was why they were so
suspicious of each other, why they set up wards of protection
around themselves. What was different now? Her brows drew together.
And then it clicked. He’d sensed the use of
his own
magic. Magic she had inside
her. Magic she’d— Magic she’d used somehow.

She knew it. Deep down and with a surety
that surprised her. She’d used Kern’s magic, the magic trapped in
her body. She didn’t know how. She didn’t know why or what had
triggered it, or if she’d ever be able to do it again.

“My Lord?”

Kern’s eyes flicked back to her. “I’m sorry,
I thought I felt…never mind.” He let out a long breath and gave her
a persuasive smile. “Just one question?”

One question. She wasn’t in pain. In fact,
she had a strange level of confidence. She might even learn
something that might help somehow, especially now that she had a
clear mind. “All right. One question.”

Kern thought for a minute. “I can tell that
Philip truly loved his mother. What I don’t know is what his
relationship with his…father was like.”

She hadn’t missed his pause. What she didn’t
know was whether Kern was feeling envy, or hatred. “His
relationship with his father was complicated. Lord Nicholas didn’t
always understand that Philip was just being a boy. I think, in
retrospect, he was worried he’d—”

Kern’s eyes narrowed. “He’d what?”

“He’d turn out like Kern.” She didn’t
believed she dared say it, but when he only stared calmly back at
her, she continued. “I think they came to a better understanding as
Philip got older. And no matter what reservations Lord Nicholas
might have had, they loved each other. Nicholas was truly his
father.”

The muscles in Kern’s jaw tensed.

She should have stopped there, but something
pushed her forward. “Nicholas did grow to recognize that Philip
wasn’t Kern. When Philip left, he was heartbroken. He felt like it
was his fault, that he hadn’t had enough faith in Philip.”

It took Kern a minute to speak. “Well that
does explain a lot. But how any father couldn’t have faith in his
own son is…” The darkest look she’d ever seen flitted across his
face and she shivered.

The next minute it was gone and he stood.
“Should we join the others?” She took his offered hand, and he
pulled her up. Any relief from the pain came rushing back, and she
let go and backed away, tripping over an exposed root. Her hands
shot out, trying to catch her fall, but it was too late. She moaned
and started to get back up, but her stomach knotted. Philip’s ring
had somehow twisted around during the fall. The black stone gleamed
up at her. She quickly spun it back into place just as Kern reached
for her arm.

“Lady Maren, are you all right?”

“Yes. I just tripped.”

His smile was back, plastered across his
face like always. Pushing back the pain, she placed her hand on his
arm and allowed him to lead her towards the rest of the party.

Fourteen

A half moon lit the night sky, lighting her way. And if the
shadows cast by the eerie glow made her jump more than once, it was
worth it.

The path began to widen and she picked up
her pace, anxious and excited at the same time. It was just ahead.
And Philip was already there. His back was to her and the moonlight
glowed off his dark hair. Relief washed over her.

She stepped out of the shadows.
“Philip?”

He spun around and her eyes widened in fear.
And then she ran. Or tried too. Kern grabbed her wrist in a
steel-like grip, and no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t
pull away.

“Sorry to disappoint you, Maren. Philip’s
already left. He waited for over an hour, but when you didn’t
come…” She must have looked as confused as she felt. “I’m afraid
the clock in your room might be a bit slow.”

Magic. Her heart thudded in her chest as a
wicked grin pierced his lips. He yanked her arm out in front of her
and pulled the ring from her fingers. “I wondered what had happened
to my ring when I didn’t see it on Philip’s finger. Thank you for
returning it.”

She stared into the face of Lord Teige:
young, handsome, and with a smile that betrayed none of the evil
behind it. But his eyes were the same. She didn’t know how she’d
missed it before. He could change his features, could even alter
his voice, but the truth was in his eyes – if you knew what to look
for.

For one moment she was frozen in fear and
then instinct took over. She managed to wrench her arm from his
now-loosened grip, but before she even took a step, invisible bonds
wrapped themselves around her ankles and bound her arms to her
side, holding her in place. A scream died in her throat as more
bonds wound their way around her vocal chords, choking her. Not
enough to cut off all her air, but enough to give the sensation of
suffocating.

“I’m not exactly sure when
you first suspected I wasn’t what I seemed, but it didn’t take long
before I realized there was something wrong, why you didn’t take to
me like everyone else had. After all, I’d gone to great lengths
to
convince
everyone how worthy I was.” A wicked gleam shone in his eyes.
“And then I realized who you were, the girl who had protected the
crown prince, the girl I thought I’d killed.”

She struggled to get free but it was no use.
His magic was too strong. All she accomplished was giving him the
satisfaction of watching her efforts before he continued.

“Then I began to notice you seemed in pain
when I was around and I wondered why. Were you injured that night?
Did the injury leave a mark? Did my magic make it worse? All
possibilities I wanted the answers to.” He began to pace back and
forth in front of her. “The more I was around you, the more I
became convinced you suspected something, but also that I had some
kind of hold over you. And then yesterday I saw this.” He held his
hand out and let the moonlight catch on the black stone. “I knew
you could see me for who I truly was. I’m not sure how since the
ring only works for my family, but…”

He slipped the ring in his pocket and took a
step towards her. “You did a good job of hiding it, you know. I was
impressed and began to see possibilities.”

A chill went down her spine.

“Let’s go back to the night I gave you
this.” He reached up and pulled the shoulder of her dress down over
her arm. The magical tendrils on her skin pulsed brighter, as if
they recognized the source of their magic. For a minute he only
stared. Then he traced his finger along the glowing blue streaks,
and she forced back a scream.

“I came to the castle that
night with two goals.” He sounded as if he were talking to himself,
reliving the events of a night that still haunted her. “Kill your
father, and kill the heir. You simply got in the way. Although if
I’d known you were your father’s daughter...” A wicked smile curled
the edges of his mouth. “It doesn’t matter. It’s worked out better
than I’d hoped. Now I get revenge on the man who trapped me in that
tomb
and
revenge
on the man who conspired with my wife to hide my son.”

Her vision blurred in anger.

“I made your father’s only child suffer with
the loss of almost everyone she loved. And now I have a way to make
you suffer even more. It’s poetic justice really – for what he did
to me.”

He came to stand almost toe-to-toe with her
and she flinched.

“Just being near me gives you pain.” He
reached out and placed his hand against her cheek.

She squeezed her eyes closed.

“Touching you is even worse.” He pulled his
hand away but she didn’t open her eyes, didn’t want to see
anymore.

“So if you’re in pain without me even
trying, what would happen if I do?”

Her eyes flew open with a newfound fear, but
he only regarded her with curiosity. “This may hurt.”

The next second, she fell
to her knees as threads of magic worked
their way over her body, crawling along every inch of skin
until there wasn’t a part of her that didn’t feel like it was on
fire. She wanted to scream, to release even the tiniest bit of the
pain, but she couldn’t, instead lying helpless on the ground while
he watched, his smile growing with satisfaction. She gasped for
what little breath she could manage and felt tears streaming down
her cheeks. And then it stopped.

He walked over and pushed her onto her back
with his boot. “That was even better than I’d hoped. Should we try
some more?”

She wanted to beg him not to, to plead,
anything to make him stop. It was useless. Before she could even
prepare for it, the searing pain was back. Only this time it was
moving more slowly, deliberately. And it wasn’t just on the
surface. It dug its way into her, like roots searching for
nourishment. The magic crept its way deeper, into her muscles and
bones one at a time, each new conquest bringing the pain all over
again. And unlike before, it wasn’t like fire. It was deep,
penetrating, and intense, robbing her of every thought except pain.
Her body shook, and a terrible sound emanated from deep inside her
chest.

Once the magic had taken
over her entire body, when there was nothing left to attack, it sat
there like a victor after a battle, gloating. Kern kept her like
that, hovering on the brink of consciousness until she was so weak
that even the shaking stopped. And just when she couldn’t bear it
any
longer, when she knew, and even wished
for, death, Kern pulled the magic back. She lay helpless, the
memory of the pain fresh in her mind, as silent sobs racked her
body.

Kern laughed. “Don’t worry, it won’t be that
bad every time. I don’t need to go that far to get the results I
want.” He crouched down beside her and brushed her hair back from
her face. The trembling started again. “I don’t want you dead, and
much more of that and I think I’d kill you. It probably will
eventually, slowly. For now, I’d rather just make you wish you were
dead. I think you’re going to be very useful. But it does leave me
with a dilemma.” He went back to his pacing.

“I’m not ready to put my plan into place
quite yet, and I can’t have you telling anyone the truth. So how do
I keep you quiet? I can’t threaten to kill you. I want you alive,
and I think you might choose death anyway. I can, however, threaten
the lives of the people you care most about. Daric is going to die.
But how would you feel if I killed the queen?”

Maren tried to shut out the image of Adare
dead.

“Philip would probably be an even better
threat, since you obviously love him, but I can’t harm my own son,
especially since I’m going to mold him into the greatest mage-king
the world has ever seen. With a kingdom so powerful no one dares
oppose it.”

She opened her mouth but nothing came
out.

“Did you want to say something?”

The bonds around her throat loosened, but
she was too weak and her vocal chords too dry. Only after a few
tries did she manage a whisper. “Philip doesn’t have magic.”

Kern’s eyes lit with amusement. “Of course
he does. He’s my son. And he knows he has it. Why do you think he
never talks about how he “defeated” me? It’s because he used magic.
Very undeveloped, but there still the same. It just needs the
guiding hand of a master to help him reach his full potential.”

She felt sick, but it did explain Philip’s
reluctance to talk about what had happened. He never wanted to be
like Kern. If he had magic, it was just one more thing they had in
common.

“You’d do all of this for petty revenge?”
she whispered.

Kern’s brows drew together. “Revenge is
never petty.”

“Philip won’t do it. He won’t stand by while
you kill Daric. He won’t become you.”

“I admire your spirit, my
dear,” he sneered, “but you’re wrong.
I
became me, even though I was once
very much like Philip. Trusting. Caring. Noble. It got me nothing
but heartache. When Philip is betrayed, ignored, by the one he
loves, do you really think he won’t change too? That he won’t be
angry and bitter when your attentions turn to me? Because they
will.” He laughed. “I always knew I’d find a way to win you over,
Maren. I just didn’t realize how easy it would be. I’m the only one
who can take away your pain. Whether you like it or not, you’ll
need me. Even seek me out. Just imagine how that will look to
everyone else.”