Chapter 14 #2
“You’re going to need more strength than that,” he taunted, and I realized he must have worked a shield of his own at some point, the power of it strong enough to beat back whatever power Zak had sent at him.
Zak didn’t respond, merely plunging his hand back into his jacket and emerging with two more parchments. The Shrouded Mage also lunged for another composition, but Zak was faster. Our attacker’s hands froze, an untorn parchment clasped uselessly between his fingers.
His eyes rolled wildly in his head, but they seemed to be the only part of him he could move. I gave a gasping sob of a breath, and Zak turned instantly to look down at me where I still sat on the cobblestones beside him.
“Are you hurt?” He pulled me up, examining me from head to foot. His frown landed on the scraped and bloodied skin on the back of my hands.
“You protected me,” he murmured softly, so much love in his voice that it hurt.
He pulled me toward him, and I sank against his chest, my whole body trembling with the aftereffects of our desperate struggle.
“You saved us,” he murmured into my hair. “I was so afraid for you, but you were magnificent.”
I laughed shakily. “They were your compositions.”
“But I was helpless to make use of them without you.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “We make a good team.”
I drew a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry I used all your shields. I didn’t have time to read them and pick the right ones, plus I didn’t know how strong they were.”
“You did the right thing,” he said immediately. “I can replenish shields.” He pulled back to look at me. “But how did you know that I would even have shields or where to find them?”
I explained my reasoning, and he shook his head. “Your mind never ceases to amaze me.”
I glanced uneasily at the Shrouded Mage, unable to relax while he stood so close to us, even if he was bound. “How long will your binding power last?”
“Long enough,” Zak said grimly. “My first one burned out against his shield, but it burned most of the power of the shield in the process. So I worked two more. He’ll be held that way for hours unless someone releases him.”
A deadly smile flashed over his face. “I don’t think he expected me to have more than one binding composition. But I was an Academy trainee only months ago. I’m fresh from endless mock battles in the arena.”
“I don’t want to wait around here for hours,” I said. “Even if it is safe.”
“Definitely not.” Zak’s fingers already reached for another composition.
He took longer making his choice this time, finally selecting two.
He ripped them both without offering an explanation, pulling me back into his arms and holding me tight, as if to reassure himself I really was still in one piece.
I accepted his embrace without comment, needing the reassurance myself.
Barely two minutes had passed, however, when pounding feet sounded and two guards burst into the alley. Zak stepped calmly away from me.
“Thank you for coming so quickly.” He nodded at the men.
“We followed your composition,” one of the two commonborns said, admiration in his eyes. “A neat working, that one.”
Zak smiled. “Thank you. It’s my own design.”
“What’s going on here?” the second guard asked, having stepped into the alley far enough to see the man frozen in place behind us. The guard’s eyes widened as he took in the material wrapped around the man’s head and his voluminous cloak.
He exchanged a look with his companion. “Don’t tell me this is…”
“I think your mages will find it is, indeed, the Shrouded Killer,” Zak said.
“He just attacked me, but thankfully Aria and I were able to overcome him. I’ve sent a second composition to the closest law enforcement hub to request backup for you, and I’ve instructed them to come with at least two mages. ”
“That’s all right, then,” the second guard said. “The mages will sort it out.” He looked relieved that he wasn’t going to be asked to take charge of the infamous serial killer himself.
“It doesn’t fit the profile.” A hint of skepticism sounded in the first guard’s voice, despite his respectful tone. “You’re not a commonborn. And this isn’t the lower city.”
I cleared my throat, willing my voice not to shake as I took a half step forward. “I think I might be able to explain that.”
All three men looked at me curiously.
“When he first arrived, he said that he’d heard Zak has been looking for him.”
“Looking for him?” The first guard’s brows rose almost to his hairline. “And what reason would you have to do that, My Lord? You’ve a black robe not a red one.”
Zak shifted uncomfortably.
“He thought the mages should have been doing more to find him,” I said, not sharing his discomfort. We were talking to commonborns, and I suspected the commonborn law enforcement guards had been feeling even more frustration with their superiors than Zak had been.
The two men exchanged a look but neither of them protested.
“He wasn’t actually looking for him, not actively.” I bit my lip. “I think it was my fault.”
Zak frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“The last day we spoke in the lower city, I thought I saw someone nearby, close enough to hear us. I was just embarrassed, of course I never dreamed…” I winced.
“But I guess after all those times wandering around back alleys, we finally did stumble on the Shrouded Mage. And I was talking in an exaggerated way, telling you to stop hunting the Shrouded Killer.”
Zak’s eyes widened. “And you made me promise to stay out of the lower city after that.”
“Thank goodness I did!” I shuddered to think what would have happened if the killer had caught Zak alone.
“We mentioned starting at the University as well,” Zak said. “And this is the first day of classes. He must have been lurking outside the University waiting for me to appear.”
“You’re fortunate to have escaped,” one of the guards said with a low whistle.
“It was all because of Aria.” Zak smiled at me proudly.
“He underestimated me,” I said quietly. “I’m a commonborn, so he just dismissed me. I don’t think it even occurred to him that I might be a threat.”
The tramp of more hurrying feet sounded, along with a shout, calling for the traffic on the street to make way. We all turned toward the alley mouth in time to be greeted by a wave of red.
Zak stepped up to the mage in charge of the squad, engaging him in hurried conversation.
The man exclaimed, clapping Zak on the shoulder, and the prisoner was soon taken in hand by the red-robed mages.
They worked a number of compositions I couldn’t see or feel before dismantling Zak’s binding and marching the man away.
He tried to growl at us as he passed, but one of the mages yanked him viciously forward.
“Don’t worry,” the other mage said to us. “He won’t be bothering you again.”
They took the rest of the guards with them, including the first two, and the crowd that had started to gather streamed up the street in their wake. Finally only Zak and I remained. He took my hand, trying to gently tug me toward the street.
“I’m going to walk you home,” he said firmly, clearly unwilling to accept any arguments on the matter.
I stood my ground, however, tugging back until he stopped. He looked inquiringly at me, and I took a deep breath.
“Did you mean everything you said?” I asked him.
“About you saving us?” He stepped to my side. “Of course.”
“No, earlier. This morning.”
Hope blazed in his eyes. “Every word.”
I took another deep breath. “Then I’m willing to try. I’ll fight at your side for a future where we can be together.”
He didn’t ask any questions, merely sweeping me into his arms and kissing me until we were both so breathless we fell apart.
Smiling down at me, he finally asked. “What made you change your mind? Was it the heroics I displayed by lying on the ground like a motionless board while a maniac tried to kill us?”
I laughed but quickly sobered. “I’ll admit that my fear for you made a few things clear to me. If I’m willing to die for you, why would I walk away without even fighting for us?”
His arms tightened, and he looked like he was going to kiss me again, but I held him off. “But it was also the Shrouded Mage himself.”
“Do I make a dashing comparison? I’m glad to know I rate at least a little higher than a serial killer.”
I whacked him lightly. “I’m being serious.
Did you see the way he looked at me? I’m not surprised he’s been killing people in the lower city.
He’s not like other mages. They think they’re above commonborn, but they still see them as human.
But the Shrouded Mage…” I shuddered. “I don’t think he sees commonborns as people at all. ”
Zak frowned, his arms once again tightening around me.
“It made me realize that he’s not the only one who sees commonborns differently from most mages,” I continued. “You don’t see us the same way other mages do either. You see us as equals. And it’s not just me. You were like that before you ever met me.”
“You’re right, I do,” he said. “And I hope that one day more mages will think the same way. It may take decades—even generations—but I believe things will change.”
“And that,” I said with a smile, “is one of the many reasons I love you.”
This time I didn’t push him away when he leaned down to kiss me again.