Song of Blood and Reign

Chapter 58

Chapter 58

It was just an hour or so after Lyv, Thia, and Allel left that Jai once again found Gideon, who had been on his way to help with the next evacuation group and getting everything together. Worry was the gnawing at Jai's gut, a feeling he knew Lyv was sensing from him, too, even though she hadn't said anything even before they left.

Gideon immediately saw the look on his face and furrowed his brow. "What's wrong?"

Jai let out a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest as he dug the toe of his boot into the dirt. "About what Allel said this morning when she came to me and Lyv..."

His best friend sighed, immediately understanding what he was getting at. "You want to help them find Mik and get him back."

"I made a promise to Allel months ago I don't intend to break. This morning, it was just so sudden that I didn't have time to think about what it would mean if we didn't go after him tonight when Corliss finally transferred the conduit magic to Guinevere. If we don't get to him in time and Lyv can't transfer his own magic back into him..."

Gideon threw up a hand, stopping him. "What the hell does that mean?"

He would have thought he'd know from Lyv. "The stone Allel had in Blackloch...though she didn't know what it was, it contains Mik's magic. Not the conduit's, Mik's. Lyv's been keeping it in her locket."

"You can't be serious."

"Oh, I am."

Raking his fingers through his hair, Gideon shook his head. "If we've had this all along...why haven't we gone after Mik before?"

"Don't be saying that around Allel."

"Why? Because she's thinking the same thing? She might start liking me more than you?"

"Of course."

"Well, what you're stating sounds like a complete double standard. You went after Lyv when she was taken, I would drop everything and take on anyone or anything that got in my way to get Thia back, but you're not going to help Allel get Mik?"

Why hadn't Jai been asking himself that question a whole hell of a lot sooner?

"We are now, just as soon as they get back and tell them the plan. Allel said they were close. She could use the bond to try and find where they're at..."

"And we'll need the dragons for maximum protection and effect."

"Exactly. Let's find Kalla, Camilla, and Soren. They need to..."

Jai cut his own self off as a searing pain shot through him, coming from the one connection he constantly kept a close eye on. Something slammed down so violently that it had him stumbling forward, even though it was a mental shock rather than physical.

It was the ward Lyv put between them, cutting him off from her, that made Jai come undone. She'd done it before, yes. Blocked him out and not allowing him to see what was going on in that head of hers. This was different, though. Because he could feel the dark magic she used to create it, could hear it laughing at him as he pounded mental fists against its barrier and yelled at her to let him in.

She wasn't going to listen.

And that very next moment, Jai knew exactly what she was planning on doing.

Gods, why had he waited to help them get Mik back sooner? There was no way in hell he was going to trust the male anytime soon, not with all he'd done – everything the conduit made him do over the last hundred years, playing a major part in Destan's death, and almost killing Lyv on the beaches of Ayveri. There was no forgiving and forgetting anytime soon, even if Lyv and Allel tried to convince him of it.