Jakes stood next to me, dressed in his T-shirt now stained with blood from the injury to his arm. He refused to stay outside the circle. I felt a certain reassurance having him with me, even if he probably couldn’t do much to help.
“Are you certain this is wise?” he asked.
“Not really,” I said.
Typically, I’d have some smart-ass remark about never really being all that wise, but I wasn’t in the mood tonight. We’d lost Taylor. Brand had nearly stolen the compass and Agony—that bothered me more than it should—and a hunter had wandered free in Conlin. I was lucky to be alive.
We didn’t have to wait long. Power surged as the doorway started to open.
It came like a veil parting, peeling back to reveal darkness on the other side of the Threshold. The doorway opened and the Trelking stepped through.
His hard eyes glanced past me to Devan and the shifters around her and then to me and Jakes. “This seems a little bit much, don’t you think?”
I shook my head. “Not after what you tried to pull.”
He tipped his head. “And just what do you think I ‘tried to pull’?”
I pulled the sword from behind my back and held it out toward him. The Trelking reached for it, but I shook my head and withdrew it from him. Now that I’d seen what the sword could do, I wasn’t about to let the Trelking have it.
“Don’t think so.”
He smiled at me, giving me the expression I’d seen him give before sentencing someone to die. “Oliver. You were the one to summon me. I presume that means you have found the shardstone box that I require?”
I shook my head. “No box. Not for you.” He wasn’t going to have that kind of power, not if I could stop him.
“That…is unfortunate. Then I will require De’avan to return so that she can fulfill the bargain that was struck.”
“Nope.”
“Are you certain that is the path you wish to take?” the Trelking asked.
I wasn’t certain of anything anymore, only that he wasn’t taking Devan back across the Threshold, especially now that I knew what he was willing to do. And by doing this, I would never find out what the Trelking knew about my father, if anything. That was the price I would have to pay. “You know, you could have left us alone. You could have given me the chance to learn what we needed to face the Druist Mage. That might have been enough. But you couldn’t, could you, not when he was involved?”
“The Druist Mage presents a unique challenge to the Protariat,” the Trelking started.
“Not the Protariat. And not the Druist. This was personal for you. You didn’t want Brand gaining any more influence, did you? You knew that he had learned to use painter power to augment his own, and that threatened you. I’m not sure why, but it must have, otherwise you would have left him alone. Instead, you sent the hunter after him. And only him, otherwise I would have been attacked sooner.”
“You did this?” Jakes asked.
I glanced over and saw a mixture of emotions flicker across his normally stoic face. He would struggle with what the Trelking had done. Allowing a crossing was one thing, allowing a hunter to cross was quite another.
From the lack of emotion on the Trelking’s face, I knew that I was right.
The Trelking ignored Jakes completely, as if he didn’t matter. “Where is he?”
I sniffed. “You really think that you get to question me now? You let your war creep across the Threshold. And then you tried to draw me into it, using me to find this shardstone box that I’m not completely certain you were meant to have. That’s why my father hid it here, behind the protection of the compass. And you sent a hunter to kill your own son.”
The Trelking smiled. “You almost sound like your father, Oliver, only he had the weight of the Protariat behind him. You? You have chosen your path. In time, you will fulfill the responsibility I set before you.”
“I don’t think so. I’m done with your bidding. So is Devan. Conlin is my home, and it’s because of you that it was attacked. Again. You let your shit cross over and put others in danger. Innocents who have no idea about what happens on the other side of the Threshold.” I turned to Jakes. “Are you still willing for me to serve?”
I looked past him and Devan nodded. If we were going to make a stand against her father and the Druist Mage, it might as well be somewhere difficult for them to reach, a place where others able to help surrounded us. A place where the compass might shield us from her father and the Druist Mage.
“The offer stands,” Jakes said.
I turned back to the Trelking. He studied me with an unreadable expression. That wasn’t anything new, but what was new from him was the tension at the corners of his eyes. Had he not foreseen this?
“So now, Conlin will have the protection of a painter. I might not have the same skill as my father—yet—but I have something he did not.”
“And what is that, Oliver?” the Trelking asked.
“Why, I’ve got the heir to the Trelking to help.”
The Trelking flicked his gaze past me and fixed on Devan. “What of my son?”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the little Brand figurine and tossed it over to the Trelking. “You can have him. Careful though. He’s fragile.”
The Trelking took the figurine and slipped him into the pocket of his cloak. “You really think you can provide the balance the Protariat requires?”
I shrugged. “Don’t know. I’m sure as hell going to try.”
He hesitated a moment, and then he smiled. The bastard actually smiled. “Good.”
With that, he turned and stepped across the Threshold through the still-open doorway. When through, he released it, and the veil shifted closed, leaving us standing in silence for a moment.
I released the barrier that I’d been holding. Devan ran across, and I pulled her into a tight embrace. Jakes glanced at us and then made his way to the other shifters, giving us privacy. “What if I just made a horrible mistake?” I whispered to Devan.
“Why would you think that?”
I looked over at Jakes to see him watching me. His normally hard eyes were softened with something almost like relief. “I mean, us protecting Conlin? We don’t know anything about what my father used to do to keep it safe. Hell, we don’t even know why he had to keep it safe. What if—”
Devan shut me up by giving me a soft kiss on the lips. “You’re an idiot, Ollie, you know that?” When I frowned at her, she explained. “You were always meant to make this decision.”
“Yeah,” I said, looking toward where her father had disappeared. The Trelking had seemed pleased that I’d agreed to serve. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
* * *
Book 5 of the Painter Mage is coming early 2016. Sign up here to be notified!
About the Author
DK Holmberg currently lives in rural Minnesota where the winter cold and the summer mosquitoes keep him inside and writing.
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Also by D.K. Holmberg
The Painter Mage
Shifted Agony
Arcane Mark
Painter For Hire
Stolen Compass
The Cloud Warrior Saga
Chased by Fire
Bound by Fire
Changed by Fire
Fortress of Fire
Forged in Fire
Serpent of Fire
Servant of Fire
Others in the Cloud Warrior Series
Chasing the Wind
Drowned by Water
Deceived by Water
Salvaged by Water
The Dark Ability
The Dark A
bility
The Heartstone Blade (February 2016)
The Tower of Venass (March 2016)
In the world of The Dark Ability
The Painted Girl
The Durven (The Forgotten Part 1)
A Poisoned Deceit (The Forgotten Part 2)
A Forgotten Return (The Forgotten Part 3)
The Lost Garden Trilogy
Keeper of the Forest
The Desolate Bond
Keeper of Light
Stolen Compass (The Painter Mage Book 4) Page 18
