Ensnared (Sorcery and Science Book 5) (17 page)

“Stop,” rasped Jason, his cracked lips parting only slightly as he spoke.

In an instant, her eyes settled down to their usual sapphire. Following his lead, she helped him to sit up.

“Jason, you—”

“I’m fine,” he said, standing on his own.

She rose. “But your wounds—”

“Nearly healed. There was no need for concern. I am a Phantom after all.” He placed a hand on each of her shoulders and met her eyes. “It’s not your fault.”

“But had I—”

“Enough,” he cut her off harshly. “There’s no time for guilt. We need to get going.”

Jason retrieved his knives from the ground and continued down the trail. From the quick pace he set, Cameron knew he was trying to put as much distance between them and the Elition children as he could. In Cameron’s book, that was a pretty enormous reason for concern. Or all-out panic, for that matter. The Elite Phantom did not just simply run away from a fight, nor did he end one incapacitated on the ground.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

~
The Frozen Forest ~

526AX August 22, The Frozen Forest

HARD RAIN FELL upon the Frozen Forest, washing away the last remnants of the icy dew. It had been over two hours since their run-in with the band of Elition children, and Jason’s wounds had finally closed. Usually, he healed nearly instantly, but the fifty-six lacerations had taxed his body, the healing process burning through all his energy reserves and then some. After eating through half of their food to little effect, Jason had drunk the Enhancing Serum Lana had packed for him. The stimulants had corroded some of his usual self-restraint, but he hoped the risk of losing his temper was outweighed by the need to be in top fighting condition. Who knew what else lay before them.

After meeting those children, he couldn’t help but think back to Vib’s menagerie—and, more recently, the corrupted Temple of the Veil, where Avan scientists had been conducting vile experiments on Elition children. There had to be some connection there, between the three incidents, but he didn’t have time to chase down that path. All that mattered right now was Terra. He had to save her before she fell victim to a far more sinister scheme. A few stimulants were nothing compared to what the Selpes or Avans would do to her if they ever got their hands on her.

They would torture her until her fragile Prophet mind cracked, then once she was broken, they would drive her further into madness by forcing her to foresee all manner of bloodstained events. Over and over, they would push her into the future, and when they’d at long last scraped all usefulness from the foresight, they would catapult her into the next. They would use her gift to plan their wars, battle after bloody battle. Jason would not allow it, not as long as he drew breath.

Beside him, Isis walked, a glum air hanging over her. Her eyes scanned the trees, ostensibly to seek out threats. Jason was not fooled. Ever since the incident with the children, she’d been avoiding eye contact with him. She seemed neither angry nor frightened of him. In fact, in his weakest moment, as he lay semi-conscious on the ground, he vaguely recalled how she’d burst through the children’s line and run to him. He also remembered her fierce snarl as she shielded him with her body. Her reaction was almost primal—beyond thought and reason—in her drive to protect him.

Very different from her aloofness now. She’d even positioned herself so that Cameron was walking between them. Before her incarceration by the Selpes, she’d always been warm toward Jason, even flirtatious at times. From the moment of her return, however, she had teetered uncontrollably from hot to cold. It was as if her emotional core had been kicked off balance. Jason had been worrying about Terra going mad; perhaps he should have been worrying about Isis too.

He didn’t want to torment her further—he knew she had more than enough of that from the Selpes—but he had to be sure she wouldn’t lose it out there. Their mission, as well as their lives, depended on her not succumbing to madness.

So he asked, “Are you all right?”

Her hooded face remained forward, raindrop rivers slipping down the sides. For a moment, he thought she wouldn’t answer. But she did.

“Yes,” her voice creaked.

As she turned to look past Cameron at him, Jason saw tears had fallen down her cheeks, mixing with the rain. Slowing his pace until Cameron was ahead of them, he adjusted his walk so that he was nearly shoulder-to-shoulder with her. They walked side-by-side for several minutes, until she finally broke the silence.

“You could have died.”

“Unlikely. I am tough to kill.” He turned his head to look at her. “And from your protective growl, I have a feeling you weren’t going to let anyone do me harm.”

Not so long ago, she would have blushed. This time, she paled.

“Even so, it was fortunate that they decided to leave,” he added.

“I’ve been wondering about that,” she said slowly, as though she had to force every word from her lips. “They had us cornered. Why would they just leave? And who were they?”

Jason was considering whether to share his experience at the Temple of the Veil when the resonance of twelve minds ripped through his body. The Crescent Order. They’d just emerged from the portal into the Frozen Forest. That portal was an hour’s hike away, fifteen or twenty minutes at a fast jog, which was likely the assassins’ pace of choice. Jason’s usual range for sensing people’s resonances was less than half of that. The Enhancing Serum was really working its magic.

“What is it?” Isis asked.

His pace had not slowed, so she must have seen something on his face. He prided himself on masking his expressions, but she’d always been able to read him well. Too well.

“The Crescent Order is near. We need to pick up the pace if we’re to make it to the portal before they find us,” he declared, loudly enough to draw Cameron’s attention.

Cameron snapped out of whatever daydream he’d been lost in to moan, “Any faster and we’d be running.”

“Then we’ll run,” said Jason, setting the new pace.

It was a brisk run, nearly a full-out sprint, but it didn’t tax Jason. He took that as a sign that he had, in fact, fully healed. For over an hour they ran between trees. Tiny droplets dripped off a needle-woven canopy to patter against their hoods. The path began to trend upward, and just as the mostly-cloaked sun reached its zenith, they came to a small clearing of patchy trees. The muddy hill before them was steep and peppered with trickling stones. Jason didn’t lose a step as he ascended the slope. He heard the light tap of Isis’s footsteps, and she pushed even with him. They made it halfway up the hill, and still her pace did not slow. Jason nodded in approval. It seemed he had worried for nothing. Clearly, Isis was tougher than she looked. She wouldn’t be falling into madness any time soon.

He’d no sooner had the thought when Isis lost her footing on a mossy rock and fell backward. Jason caught her hand, but her momentum was too great. They slid and tumbled all the way down the muddy slope, landing in a puddle. Jason had shifted his weight to soften her landing. That meant his back hit the ground, while she landed on his chest, protected by the cage of his arms.

“Why did you do that?” she demanded, moving to stand. She grunted in frustration a few times, then a voice said in his ear, “Let me go, Jason.”

He realized his arms were still around her, holding her against his body. She’d been struggling futilely against his hold, not gaining a millimeter. The thought satisfied the Phantom in him. He held on for one more second, briefly giving into the drive to show her that he could—then he released her.

Isis scrambled to her feet, cringing as she looked down on him. “I’m sorry.”

He stood in one fluid motion. “For what?”

“For the slip. For taking you down with me.”

“I rather enjoyed it,” he told her.

“But you’re completely covered in cold sludge,” she said, mud smacking the ground as she wiped her hand across his chest.

Her fingers slipped over a cut in his suit, and he felt a biting jolt that had nothing to do with the cold. He slid his hand over her arm, displacing sludge.

“As are you.”

“I’m sorry for the slip,” she apologized again.

“It’s unlike you to fall.”

“My mind has been turbulent since…” Her eyes looked away as her words drifted off.

“Don’t think about it.”

“Jason, I…”

“Don’t think about it.”

Jason set his finger under her chin, pushing it up until she met his gaze. He traced his hand across her cheek, brushing the wet hair from her face.

“What should I think about then?” she asked, her lips trembling.

“You need to push the unpleasant memories from your head by focusing on something else. Something more immediate.”

“Like how wet and muddy we are right now?” she laughed lightly, leaning forward.

“For instance.” He could feel his eyes phasing, growing darker. “See? It’s working.”

“Hey, are you two all right?” Cameron’s voice called down.

Jason paused a breath’s distance from Isis’s lips. Her eyes still on his, searing him with their heat, she stepped back and turned toward the hill.

“We’re fine,” she told Cameron as he jogged down to them. “Just a bit muddy. Perhaps now would be a good time to take a short snack break over a fire to cool...uh, warm up.”

Jason didn’t fail to catch the slip, but he only said, “A quick break only. We cannot afford to have the Crescent Order catch up with us.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

~
The Queen of Phantoms ~

526AX August 22, Everlast

A GUST OF wind swirled across the frozen plain, kicking up spirals of dancing snow. They turned and twirled in time to the whistling beat, funneling into white columns that sparkled like millions of tiny diamonds.

Cameron could hardly appreciate the show, just as he could hardly feel his fingers. Even his two layers of gloves were no match for the cold kingdom of Everlast. His coldsuit, despite the paper-thin fabric, was doing an adequate job of warding off frostbite. Cameron wished the Helleans had thought of making gloves from the same material.

Though Jason’s suit had been compromised by slashes from several dozen knives, his face betrayed no hint that the cold affected him at all. Isis had patched the slits in the fabric as best she could before the portal jump, but that couldn’t have provided any more insulation than Cameron’s inadequate gloves. Maybe Jason had built up a resistance to the cold by running laps barefoot through the snow. Cameron snorted. He wouldn’t put it past him. Jason took his training very seriously.

“Is something funny?” Isis’s muffled voice asked through the thick scarf wrapped over her nose and mouth.

“You mean besides my frozen fingers? No, not really.”

The scarf was the color of cream and really accented her eyes as they twinkled at him. Cameron was happy Jason was too far away to join in on their exchange. His response would have included phrases like ‘hardship makes the body stronger’ and ‘pain is the path to excellence’. Thankfully, Isis hadn’t used Cameron’s complaint as an opportunity to yet again tell him he should just return to Eclipse. In fact, she hadn’t mentioned it in a long time. She was probably too distracted. Maybe her body didn’t like the cold any more than his did.

“What’s that?” Cameron asked, pointing toward what looked like a group of people standing under a rare cluster of scrawny trees.

Isis cupped her hand over her eyes and looked out. “Trouble.”

“The Crescent Order?” he asked, his pulse quickening. Well, at least that pumped some blood into his hands.

She shook her head. “No. Everlast Elitions. They’re somewhat…temperamental. They aren’t always welcoming to outsiders, even other Elitions.”

“So why are we heading straight for them?”

“I don’t know. They aren’t really in our path. The wisest course of action would be to go around the castle.”

Cameron was about to ask which castle she meant, when the snowy winds subsided enough for him to make out ivory stone walls just beyond the trees. They were thick and high, imposing enough to make even a blizzard think twice before attacking the city-sized castle.

Isis pulled her scarf more tightly around her face and pushed forward. They fought against the wind, stopping only when they reached Jason. He stood a few paces from the Everlast Elitions, locked in some kind of staring contest with them. Isis waited for him to acknowledge them, and when he didn’t, she voiced her suggestion to go around the castle.

“No, look at the sky. A snowstorm is brewing.”

Cameron and Isis followed his hand, looking across the plain. The pale grey sky was indeed growing whiter by the minute, and the wind had picked up significantly even in the half hour since they’d jumped over to Everlast.

“It will be upon us by nightfall, and it will take us far longer than that to reach the temple,” Jason continued. “It would be foolish to sleep outside in the storm.”

“Surely, you’re not suggesting that we stay here?” Isis said in shock. “Haven’t you heard the stories about the Elitions of Everlast?”

“Heard and lived it. I visited them once.”

The slight edge in Jason’s voice suggested it hadn’t been a pleasant experience.

“What happened?” Cameron asked curiously.

His eyes remained locked in a staring contest with the front man. “They attacked me. I won.”

Isis reached behind her back. “And you aren’t afraid they’re still bitter about that?”

“No, they respect strength and power.” Without turning, Jason caught her hand before it closed on the hilt of her sword. “I wouldn’t do that unless you plan on challenging a band of Phantoms.”

Isis dropped her hand. “They’re
all
Phantoms?”

The man seemed to have given up on outstaring Jason, but he was motioning for the other guards to surround him, Cameron, and Isis. Cameron struggled not to turn at the soft crunch of footsteps on snow behind him.

“No, but many are, including most of the queen’s guard. Last time we met, I left on good terms with them, but try not to provoke them into a game of dominance, Isis.” Jason spun his finger, indicating for Cameron and Isis to turn until they were all pressed back-to-back. “They’re Phantoms, after all.”