Chapter 10 #2
“How do you know my father?” she asked, unable to contain the questions any longer. It was as good a time as any to chance some information from Kane. What had her father done to put her in this man’s path?
Kane waved his hand with a flourish. “What pirate doesn’t know of Yarrow ships?”
Erinna glowered. That was not an answer, and he knew it. “You know what I mean.”
“Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to divulge such information. Not even to his family.” His words were careful but lacked sympathy. He didn’t care about Erinna’s misfortune; it seemed he simply wanted to avoid an argument.
Fine. Erinna would accept temporary defeat. She would get the answers from her father herself.
“How frequently do you not-smuggle through these old veins?” asked Kane with genuine interest.
The words tumbled out before Erinna could stop them. “I don’t. Not for a while. My father is the one who uses them.”
“I see,” was Kane’s only response.
Erinna glanced at him from the corner of her eye. She could see a few fresh cuts beneath his square jaw and the healing yellow of a bruise just beneath his collar. Apart from those minor wounds, he looked relatively unharmed. Certainly not like a person who’d spent a few months in prison.
“Was getting captured part of your plan?” Erinna knew better than to think Kane had been held against his will. At least, not after the stunt he pulled earlier on the gallows.
Kane let out a deep, rumbling laugh. “You don’t mince words, do you?”
“I don’t see the point in it.”
His gaze lingered on her a beat longer. Like he was trying to solve some sort of puzzle. “Yes, it was part of my plan.”
“Was it really your best option?” Erinna continued to pry, hoping to get under his skin, the way he kept crawling under hers.
“Yes.”
Erinna held her tongue, waiting for him to elaborate.
He didn’t.
Erinna bristled. All she seemed to do was amuse him. “What are you after, Atwater?”
He turned to her with a shit-eating grin. “I’m a pirate, Yarrow. What do you think I’m after?”
“Please don’t say—”
“Buried treasure.” The flame grew high and crackled with a flourish to emphasize how truly irritating he could be.
“Why did I even ask?” Erinna rubbed circles into her temples to ward against a growing headache.
The most priceless jewels and finery would be in the palace treasury, but the palace would be under complete lockdown. The most powerful and rarest items would be locked away in Fort Solitude.
In Iprix’s magically protected, personal library.
If Erinna were in Kane’s shoes, this would be the perfect time to access the mage’s hoard.
Whatever the old man was able to collect would surely be much more useful to a pirate like him than gold.
And although she was loath to admit it, Kane was no fool.
He would be traveling to Fort Solitude. She would bet money on it.
“Thinking about me?” he asked, seeming to grow weary of the silence himself.
She glared into the darkness. “I’m thinking about how to get rid of you.”
He chuckled, and Erinna couldn’t stop herself from stealing another look his way.
The dim light sharpened his features; high cheekbones and a strong jaw darkened with stubble, black hair disheveled in a way that looked good even when it wasn’t supposed to.
His amber eyes caught the firelight like whiskey held to a flame—equal parts warm and cunning.
He had the height and build of someone accustomed to physical work. Muscled shoulders, capable hands, but there was something refined in the lines of his face that spoke of a different life entirely. It suited him, but Erinna would never let him know that.
She glanced at the flame in his hand. “So, a flame-conjuring pirate?”
Kane gave an arrogant huff. “I don’t have that kind of magic. Yes, I can produce flame, no I do not ascribe to your academy’s silly ideas about arcanum.”
Erinna balked at the condescension in his voice. The academy and its understanding of magic was a source not only of Tarthan pride, but worldwide prestige.
“It is not a silly notion of magic. Those are some of the most powerful mages on the four continents,” she said, and was met with another disapproving grunt.
“Really? You know a mage from the Great North?”
“I’m sure someone from the north has enrolled.” Erinna was less confident in her statement. In fact, she didn’t believe it herself. But she didn’t want to give Kane the satisfaction of being right.
“You defend them too quickly,” Kane sneered.
Must have touched a nerve, she thought. Erinna couldn’t blame him. The academy did not deserve a place in her heart. They would rip her apart for persecution or mere academic intrigue if given the chance. She was no more welcome than he was.
She shivered and wondered what the fate of Nama and Ivan’s daughter would have been. Or what would happen to them if they were caught.
Not every mage was bad. She thought of Damien, and her hand went to the bracelet around her wrist. She hoped he was managing well, all things considered.
Erinna let the silence fall again. She didn’t need to know anything more about the pirate. The faster they went through the mines, the faster she would be rid of his companionship.
After a few more turns, Erinna finally found her mark. Two small lines etched into the stone. Both a warning and a reminder that she was close. Erinna slowed her pace.
Kane leaned in close, noticing her shift in gait. “What’s wrong?”
“We’ll have to put that fire out soon. An arcanum line was cracked some time ago, and the shaft was never cleared, just abandoned. You’ll light us up like human torches.”
“So, the rest of the way will be in darkness?”
“Only a few paces. Just until we make it to the next passage.”
Kane tapped on the wall in thought. His eyes narrowed, like he was inspecting the rock and didn’t like what he found.
“How close are we to the passageway?” For the first time, Kane sounded like a captain. His tone left no room for discussion.
“Close, perhaps a hundred yards away.”
There was a groan in the distance that had Erinna’s hair standing on end.
Kane sucked in air through his teeth. “When was the last time the wards were checked?”
It was standard for witchstone mines to be warded. The raw stone could store arcanum for decades…and release it too. In ways not even academy professors completely understood. Yet abandoned mines were rarely the top of the academy’s priority.
Erinna froze.
Her breath caught in her throat as Kane’s carefree facade finally faltered. The way his eyes hardened and jaw set—it was concern.
The air hummed with static. A flare was on its way. The leather cord around her wrist warmed at the oncoming arcanum. Damien was right; it would warn her when a magical attack was headed in her direction.
Kane held Inez tighter and extinguished his flame. It was then that she heard the scraping of stone on stone. Something was headed their way.
Kane pressed his hand to the small of Erinna’s back and pushed. “Run.”