A City in Ruin (The Dark Sorcerer Book 2) Read online

  She focused on the Toral ring, and summoned uncontrolled power. She forced it on the creature, smacking at it with her hand that wore the ring.

  The shisii screamed at her, baring its fangs.

  “Eva!”

  Eva couldn’t get to her in time.

  The shisii tried to bite down on her.

  Jayna embraced all of the power in the ring. When she did, she could feel the cold creeping up through her, almost uncontrollably. She knew the danger of doing this, but she was not about to allow the shisii to bite down on her and start to feed on her blood.

  The power of the Toral ring exploded out from her.

  It was more than Jayna had expected. Far more.

  The shisii hissed, which turned into a scream as it shot upward and hit the branch before it started crashing back down.

  As it hit the ground, Jayna immediately looped the snake spell around it, then activated that with the Toral magic. The creature exploded under the surge of power.

  As soon as it was done, she relaxed.

  Pain had reached her shoulder and had started to work into her chest. It was cold and biting. She had glimpsed the edges of darkness, but had released that power before it had an opportunity to clamp down on her. Her fear was the temptation to use more and more power. It was what Ceran had warned her against, but it was more than that. After having used as much power as she had while facing Gabranth, she had destroyed him.

  She had started down the path toward darkness and saw its complicated benefits. What was dark magic but one that fed on pain and violence?

  And the Toral ring was an easy way to access that.

  It had advantages. It granted her power that she wouldn’t be able to use any other way. And when she used sorcery in conjunction with the ring, she had far more control over it than she did most of the time—certainly more than she did when she released it, like she had to with the shisii.

  But there was always the promise of something more.

  “Is that it?” Eva asked dryly.

  Jayna shook herself, suppressing the fear that had worked through her at needing to summon as much power as she had. All for one dark creature. What would have happened had there been more? “You could have helped.”

  Eva looked around the forest. “I’m quite certain I did help.” She motioned to the branches overhead, and Jayna followed the direction of her gaze.

  Some of them were singed, and it looked like Eva had put out fires Jayna had nearly started.

  “Thanks,” Jayna said.

  She focused on the ring, half expecting to feel another pulse coming from it that would signify more dark creatures, but it never came.

  “We can go back.”

  “Just like that?” Eva asked.

  “Well, considering that I’ve now drawn a fair amount of power through the ring, I have to hope Ceran will pay attention to it.” Plus, she had to get away from here. She wanted to be anywhere but in the dark depths of the forest where these creatures were drawn to.

  “If he hasn’t paid attention to it so far, it’s unlikely he’ll suddenly do so now.”

  “I know,” Jayna said.

  She started to turn when she saw movement on the forest floor.

  She focused on the blade of light spell. Sorcery could handle this.

  She blasted the banewig, incinerating it, and glanced over to Eva, shrugging.

  The other woman sent a swirl of smoke streaming around the banewig, and when the haze of smoke cleared, the creature and the fire that had been there were both gone.

  “I don’t know about you, but I could use a drink,” Eva said.

  Jayna could use a glass of wine or ale. Maybe two.

  “The Able Angler?” Jayna asked, as they made their way through the forest. They hadn’t gone nearly as far as she had thought, as the edge of the city soon came into view.

  “I was actually thinking the Wicked Pint. We should probably check on Topher.”

  That surprised Jayna, but she wasn’t going to say anything to Eva. If Eva wanted to worry about someone else, even Topher, then who was Jayna to argue? But it had been quite a while since Eva had been to the Able Angler. It left Jayna wondering if she had some reason to avoid it, but Jayna may have been simply overthinking things.

  By the time they had reached the tavern, darkness had begun to fall. It wasn’t completely dark, not yet, but it certainly was late enough that Jayna didn’t feel bad sitting down and having a glass of ale. The tavern owner—a tall, older man by the name of Robert—sat behind the bar cleaning glasses, and nodded when they came in.

  Eva reached the counter, visiting with Robert for a few moments, before returning with a couple of glasses of wine.

  “You and Robert?” Jayna asked.

  “Are you kidding me? He’s half there. I just wanted to know if he would start the fire.”

  Jayna glanced over to the darkened hearth. “You do realize it’s still quite warm.”

  “A wet warmth. I want a dry warmth.” Eva wiped her hand along the surface of the table, smearing the moisture. “And he agreed.”

  Jayna chuckled. “Of course he agreed. There aren’t too many men who refuse you.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  Jayna grinned as she took a drink of her ale. “It just means you have a way with men.”

  “I have a way of talking to people,” Eva said.

  Jayna smiled behind her glass.

  “Speaking of which, you could use a little companionship. Why don’t you run over to the outpost and find that friend of yours? I’m sure he’d be more than willing to accommodate a toss in the sheets,” Eva commented.

  Jayna snorted, covering her mouth with her hand and setting the mug down. “I am quite sure Char has no interest in any toss in the sheets with me. Especially now.”

  “The Society hasn’t come to our door yet.”

  “They haven’t,” Jayna stated.

  “Which means he hasn’t brought them to you. Or he’s shielding you from them.”

  “Or he’s shielding them from me.” Char believed Jayna had dark magic. She couldn’t deny it, not anymore, but it was how she used the dark magic that mattered. Maybe Char thought to protect her from the Society. “Besides, I’ve been too busy for that sort of thing.”

  “Too busy to find a pretty man and spend a few moments with him?” Eva asked.

  The door opened, and was almost as if Eva had summoned a pretty man. The dark-haired man who entered the tavern was well-dressed and had a strong chin, but it was his eyes Jayna noticed most—bright blue, with a hint of playfulness.

  “Fine,” Jayna said, glancing over to Eva. “I’m going to find a pretty man to busy myself with.”

  Eva downed her drink, looked over to the door, and chuckled. “He wouldn’t be my choice, but it’s about time.”

  Jayna ignored her, getting to her feet, and joined the man at the bar.

  2

  Jayna focused on the dark-haired man lying on her bed.

  The inside of Jayna’s room was dark. It had a vaguely off-putting odor, a mixture of sweat, heat, and the incense Eva had demanded she burn. Jayna let out a soft sigh, trying to ignore the smell.

  Rosal hadn’t moved for the better part of an hour, ever since he’d staggered back to her room and collapsed on her bed.

  From her position in a chair next to the bed, Jayna found herself watching, studying him, waiting for him to come around. If nothing else, she wanted him to explain himself. They had shared a few drinks in the tavern the night before, a few kisses, and they had come back to her home to have a little more conversation when he’d passed out.

  What kind of man did that?

  The kind of man who was willing to follow a woman back to her home in the middle of the night, that’s who. She didn’t know anything about him other than his name. Rosal had shown up in the Wicked Pint tavern, a place she generally wouldn’t have spent much time in, but for nearly having a shisii bite her.

  Maybe it had.
That might explain why she’d brought him back with her.

  She shouldn’t blame a dark creature on something she had done.

  That was all me.

  The man stirred a little, rolling off to his side.

  He was an attractive man, which she appreciated as sobriety claimed her. After having a few pints of ale, everything had gotten a little bit hazy, not only her common sense, but her ability to judge a man as well. She remembered him being interesting, though she didn’t remember why. She also remembered thinking he was pretty, and he had full lips, and . . .

  Jayna pushed those thoughts away, watching him.

  She was ready for him to wake up and leave. She was of half a mind to simply kick him out of her bed, maybe drag him out to the living room where Eva would deal with him—probably more harshly than he deserved—but it was her fault he was here in the first place. Had she not been so willing an accomplice, he wouldn’t have ended up in her room. He wouldn’t have ended up in her home. He wouldn’t have ended up here at all.

  But sitting here gave her a chance to think.

  There were times when it felt like that was all she did these days. Jayna twisted the dragon stone ring on her finger. The milky-white surface of it was smooth and warm, the way it often was—which was surprising given how it left her hand burning cold when she used it. The device opened her to some greater energy, and it was because of the dragon stone ring that she had become a Toral, a hunter of dark magics.

  All because of her family. All to find her brother.

  That was what she told herself.

  Jonathan might be part of the reason, but he wasn’t the entirety of it. She had gone looking for dark magic once she’d learned what happened to her parents; she had wanted to know who was responsible and how such magic was even possible. She had been unable to find those answers at the Academy, and so had chased them in a different way—one that would bring her into contact with different, darker, and more intense powers.

  It was those powers that had nearly killed her in the city already.

  Jayna shivered. That was odd. She was never cold in Nelar.

  Something was different.

  She sat up, adjusting herself on the seat.

  Maybe it was just her imagination. She’d been sitting and thinking about the Celebrants of Asymorn, and thoughts like that happened to bring her into darker places. She couldn’t ignore how her mind tended to drift, wandering toward that darkness, struggling with what it meant and where it would bring her. It was the one thing she feared about the way she’d defeated the Celebrants of Asymorn. She had tapped into some other energy, some part of the dragon stone ring that had changed things for her. Regardless of what she might want to believe about herself, she had felt the energy it had permitted her—its darkness and its power.

  Jayna sat in place, twisting the ring again, thinking about that energy. It was there, if she were to close her eyes, feeling for it at the edge of her vision. She could practically hear it calling to her, and there were times when it truly did so.

  She tore her focus away and released the power of the ring.

  Instead of the dragon stone, she would use sorcery from now on. That was easier. Cleaner. And didn’t hurt the way the Toral magic did. She might run the risk of sorcerers paying attention to her, something she had intended to hide from ever since leaving the Academy, but perhaps she had to stop fearing the Sorcerers’ Society and acknowledge she belonged in that world and she belonged with her magic. She had already drawn the attention of the Society more than she preferred. Hopefully, Char would keep them from focusing on her, but there was the possibility that they would discover her presence in the city. Even Jayna, who had incomplete training in sorcery, could tell when others used sorcery around her. A full-blown sorcerer would have no difficulty with that.

  And if they discovered her presence, and if they feared her involvement in dark magic, she could easily imagine what they would do to her.

  Especially now that she had faced the Celebrants of Asymorn and defeated one of the most powerful sorcerers—without Ceran helping.

  Her mind raced, but she needed sleep. Now she couldn’t sleep, not with the strange man lying in her bed. She could go back out to the hearth room, but if she were to do that, then she had to deal with Eva—and at this point in the evening, Jayna wanted nothing more than to ignore Eva until she was sober.

  The man stirred again.

  She watched him, cursing to herself. What was she thinking bring a man like this back here? Maybe she had done so because she hadn’t spent much time with any men since reaching Nelar. The only one she’d spent any time around had been Char, and he didn’t want anything to do with her—certainly not in that way. Now that he believed she was complicit in the use of dark magic, there would be nothing more than the casual friendship they’d had ever since the Academy.

  The air was cooler.

  Jayna sat up.

  She was certain of it now.

  She ducked out of the room, hurrying down the hall. The effect of the ale she’d drunk lingered within her, and she staggered, nearly stumbling as she hurried toward the main room. It was a wonder Eva managed to drink so much and never struggled. The blasted woman could drink most of the night and function almost normally, not at all like Jayna. Even two mugs of ale would throw her off.

  The main room was relatively quiet. Eva sat slumped in her chair, an empty wine glass resting in front of her, though Jayna didn’t see the wine bottle.

  Her black hair had a hint of red in it, not like Jayna’s dark red hair, though Eva’s might only be reflecting the crackling flames coming off of the overly hot hearth. For whatever reason, Eva liked to keep the fires crackling wildly, and they burned through a significant number of logs.

  Topher rested in the chair opposite Eva, his head rolled toward the fire, snoring softly. He had on a deep-green jacket and pants, and a book rested on his lap. Had he been reading to Eva?

  Jayna shook her head. Ever since she’d rescued him from the Celebrants of Asymorn—which had actually happened twice—Topher had crashed with them. Most nights, he ended up sleeping in the chair, or curled up in front of the fire as if he were some lapdog who hadn’t a place to stay, but sometimes he ventured back and slept in Eva’s bed, since she rarely used her room.

  The temperature change wasn’t noticeable here.

  She hurried back to her room, pausing a moment. As soon as she stepped through the threshold, she felt the shifting energy in the air.

  She hadn’t imagined it.

  Worse, she could feel the changing coolness, the pressure building, and recognized something was going to happen soon. She didn’t know if it was dark magic, though her dragon stone ring didn’t constrict the way it would if that were, indeed, the case. She twisted it around her finger, testing for anything that might be there, but detected nothing.

  She made a quick pass around the inside of the room, and worked a hurried spell. In doing so, she pushed out a bit of power. It was a barrier type of spell, a protective coating that she placed around the room. As soon as she solidified magic through it, the temperature in the air began to increase again.

  Definitely not her imagination, then.

  Whoever was out there, and whatever they intended, had significant power.

  And it was targeting her.

  Gabranth’s followers?

  That was her first thought.

  They still wanted vengeance for what she had done. She believed she had stopped all of them, but Gabranth was powerful, and she wouldn’t put it past him to have revealed her name, and her presence in the city, to others with him. It was part of the reason she had been on edge ever since stopping the festival.

  Raollet and his thugs? He preferred dangerous enchantments.

  It might be him.

  Or something new.

  That would be worse.

  She sent a quick summons through the ring to Ceran the way she often did when there was a significant magical presence,
but she doubted he’d respond quickly. He’d made it clear that he had another important task, though Jayna didn’t know what to make of that.

  She had spent the last few weeks placing various patterns around the home, different spells she could solidify if it came down to it, but there was only so much spell work effective against a dark sorcerer. The only thing she really had that would offer her protection was the dragon stone ring, and the knowledge she possessed as a Toral. Without that . . .

  The temperature started to drop again.

  Her breath plumed in front of her, and she stopped in the middle of the room.

  Rosal shifted, rolling so that he lay on his back.

  She needed to wake him up.

  If the Celebrants attacked her now, she didn’t want him stuck in the middle of it.

  She kicked the bed.

  He moaned, stirring for just a moment, then tipped his head off to the side, falling asleep again.

  Great. How much ale had he drunk?

  It had to have been more than what she’d seen. Maybe he’d been at another tavern before he’d come to the Wicked Pint.

  The temperature continued to drop, the air shifting, getting colder and colder.

  She twisted the dragon stone ring.

  The only other way for her to know what was going to take place was to summon power through the ring, something she hesitated doing, especially since the last attack. She wanted to ensure her safety, but she also didn’t want to be drawn into the dark magic that threatened to overwhelm her. She worried what would happen if she were compelled to follow that power—what it would mean for her and whether she would start to succumb to the darkness.

  If she did nothing . . .

  That wasn’t an option. Not against dark sorcerers.

  Jayna pulled upon the energy of the Toral ring.

  Cold began to bloom up her hand. It was the same sensation she felt every time she touched the connection the Toral ring granted her and Ceran, tying her to his magic. It started in her finger, a bloom of painful cold, and quickly worked its way up her arm.

  At first, it was a matter of connecting to that power. There was a superficial layer of power there, and it was available to her easily, but it didn’t take long before she found herself pressing deeper into that connection, recognizing that superficial layer led her toward something else. It happened quickly, almost without her intention.