Page 142 of Stormvein

I reach out to my familiar, my mind joining it as it circles overhead at a distance that makes it look like nothing more than another bird in the sky. Through its eyes, I see the mounted patrol. At least twenty soldiers in Authority crimson, their horses picking their way along the path we’ve abandoned.

“Close enough, but their horses are struggling.”

“There.” One of the scouts calls out softly, pointing ahead. The small clearing where we left the horses comes into view, the animals stamping nervously at our approach.

“Mount up.” I hold Ellie’s horse steady while she swings herself up into the saddle.

My shadows lift Lisandra onto her horse, wrapping around her waist and securing her in place like rope. One of the scouts takes the reins. She won’t fall, and she won’t be able to escape.

The moment everyone is mounted, we set off at a gallop. Canyon walls close around us as we ride, pushing the horses hard. At Varam’s order, three scouts veer off to create false paths to confuse any pursuit.

We don’t stop until we reach a sheltered hollow where an old streambed has carved out space beneath overhanging stone. It’s defensible, hidden, and has multiple escape routes, if we need them.

“Set up guards,” Varam instructs, as he dismounts. “Four-hour watches. No fires.”

My shadows lower Lisandra to the ground near the canyon wall with deliberate roughness. She lands hard on her knees, then struggles to her feet, testing the bonds at her wrists with small, desperate twists. They tighten as soon as she moves.

“Don’t bother.” I don’t look at her while I tend to my horse, removing the saddle and checking to make sure it hasn’t been injured. “I will know the second you try to escape. And you won’t like my response.”

She freezes in place.

Once I have the horse secured and watered, I turn to face her. Around us, the camp grows quiet. Even the horses seem to sense the tension, their ears flicking nervously as they crop at the sparse grass.

“Three times.”

The words fall into the silence. Lisandra’s eyes snap to mine, wide and desperate, before skittering away like a cornered animal seeking escape. But there is none. Not from this. Not fromme.

“Three separate betrayals that I know of. I want to know why.”

The Voidcraft keeping her silent dissolves.

“I can explain?—”

“Explain?” The word comes out as a snarl. “Explain what? How you’ve spent years feeding information to the Authority while people who trusted you died because of it?”

She flinches as if I’d struck her, pressing herself against the canyon wall.

“First, you told Sereven I was going to Ashenvale.” My voice stays level, controlled.

Around me, the rest of the camp has gone completely still. Even Varam has stopped what he’s doing to watch, his handresting on his sword hilt with the casual readiness of someone prepared for violence.

“The second time, you told him about Glassfall Gap, and the ambush there cost two of our men their lives. They had families, Lisandra.Childrenwho will never see their fathers again.”

Tears track down her cheeks.

“And today, you put a knife in my back while I was fighting for my life.”

“I was trying to?—”

“Trying towhat?” The shadows around my feet begin to writhe like living things, responding to my escalating fury. “Are you going to claim you were protecting the Veinwardens?Me? Or were you protecting him?”

Her silence is answer enough. But I need to hear her say it. Need the others to hear it.

“You were protecting Sereven. Admit it.”

Still nothing. But I can see the answer in her eyes, in the way her shoulders hunch defensively, in the way she won’t look me in the face.

“How long?” My voice echoes around the secluded hollow. “How long have you really been feeding information to the Authority? How long have you been betraying everyone you claimed to care about?” I step closer, darkness swirling around me. “Answer me.”