The Stone Wolf (The Chain Breaker Book 4) by D.K. Holmberg (digital book reader TXT) 📕

In a place like Yoran—where magic had been exiled and where the constables had long had enchantments that enabled them to find magic—he would’ve expected that they would have sniffed out something like this. The constables wouldn’t have tolerated any sort of magic like this in the city.

“Have you found the warehouse?” Wrenlow whispered.

“I think so, but it’s strange.”

“Because it’s stone?” Wrenlow asked.

Gavin looked over to the door. There was just a hint of moonlight glittering through the clouds tonight, enough that he could make out Wrenlow standing in his dark jacket and pants, only a trace of the moonlight streaming down on him.

“Not stone,” Gavin whispered. “It has more to do with the enchantments within the stone.”

He headed toward Wrenlow. The time they’d been working together had given Wrenlow more of a muscular build, and the enchantments he carried granted him more fluid movement than he would have otherwise. Still, there was a jittery nervousness to him. This was a test, but nothing more, and Wrenlow was not supposed to have gotten involved in anything too dangerous yet.

Not like the magic Gavin detected out here.

He traced his hand along the wall, feeling for the enchantments.

Gavin hurried to the door and skimmed the rest of the building. There were no windows. The roofline was completely flat, low enough he thought he could jump and grab the lip of it and race across the top. Everything about the building itself screamed of a time before people had filled Yoran.

“It’s an impressive structure,” he said.

“You think all of it is magically enchanted?” Wrenlow asked.

Gavin tore his hand away from the building, and he turned to the doorway. “I think most of it is.” That was unusual in Yoran. There were plenty of enchantments in the city, but he’d not seen many buildings that were themselves enchanted. If only he had enough control over his own magic to determine what those enchantments did. “Did you find anything when you looked inside?”

“Just the darkness. I figured I should wait for you.”

“Now you decide to wait for me?”

“Maybe I should’ve waited for you before.” Wrenlow grinned at him.

“We can go in together,” Gavin said.

He slipped his hand into his pocket and reached for one of his own enchantments—a ring. The only other enchantment he used with any frequency was the one that allowed him to communicate with Wrenlow and Gaspar.

As soon as he slipped the ring on, his eyesight became enhanced and everything illuminated. Gavin appreciated this enchantment because he hated being trapped in the dark, even though Tristan had long trained him to operate and fight in it.

“So you didn’t see anything?” Gavin asked, glancing over to Wrenlow.

Wrenlow had his own enchantment, which had come from the same source—the same enchanter. Though Gavin didn’t like to rely on it, which was part of the reason he’d been willing to sneak through the city without the enchantment, there were times when he knew the enchantment offered him a benefit he couldn’t have otherwise. By using this ring, he didn’t have to be limited by darkness and could navigate through the warehouse far more effectively.

“It’s empty, other than that door back there,” Wrenlow said. “But for the most part, there’s nothing.”

Gavin took a step forward and could feel something shifting. It took a moment to realize what it was, but as soon as he did, he felt the power working around him.

He held his hand up. “More magic,” he whispered.

He was thankful for the enchantment, thankful he didn’t need to speak loudly, thankful that Wrenlow had the sense to stay close to him.

“Where?” Wrenlow asked.

Gavin shook his head. “I don’t know. Everywhere.”

It was different from when he’d gone looking for enchantments with Gaspar.

This was real power.

He immediately began to focus on the energy buried within him—his core reserves, a power he could reach for when needed. But it was a power Gavin hesitated to draw on often. While he could summon that energy and use it, weakness washed over him if he used it too much. He’d learned he needed to be careful.

Power filled Gavin. For a moment, the El’aras dagger flared brighter, but he tamped down his connection to the power and the blade stopped glowing as much.

“What do you want to do?” Wrenlow asked.

With as much magic as Gavin felt around him, he didn’t want Wrenlow to stay here. Or even in this city.

He also didn’t think they could leave.

This was what he had promised Davel Chan. Gavin was going to stay and protect Yoran. Ensure that magic used against the city would not succeed. He was the reason that some of the powers had come here. He wasn’t going to be the reason the city fell beneath the thumb of magic again.

“We need to keep moving,” he whispered. “Be ready to fight.”

“Do you really think it’s going to be necessary?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m just—”

Gavin glanced over to Wrenlow and held one hand up. “I know. You’ve been training. You can do this.”

Wrenlow held his gaze with an unreadable expression in his eyes, but then he nodded.

Gavin needed to be careful. Maybe he should send Wrenlow back. Once he did, then he could investigate this warehouse. There was no doubt there was something here he needed to find, but what was it? And why did he detect it so significantly?

They reached the center of the warehouse, and Gavin paused for a long moment. He swept his gaze around him. He could feel the energy here, even if he couldn’t see anything.

“I still don’t like this,” Gavin said.

“You don’t like it because you don’t know what it is?”

He frowned. “Because I fear I know exactly what it is.”

He held on to the power within him; the deep-seated energy he could feel buried inside. As he focused on the power from his core reserves, Gavin began to realize something.

There was pressure against him.

“Somebody knows I’m using El’aras magic here,” he whispered. He still didn’t see anybody, though.

For the kind of power he felt, Gavin