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

the rest of their team. Tristan viewed relying on others as a weakness, something he wouldn’t have wanted Gavin to do. In Gavin’s mind, that was a flaw on Tristan’s part.

There was something else that Gavin needed to do, another resource he had—one more thing Gaspar had been right about. Not that Gavin would ever tell Gaspar he was right about anything, but in this case, Gaspar had proven himself to have some sage advice.

Protect the egg.

Protect the city.

There was something he could do while his attention was divided. Tristan might not even expect it. Anything to distract would be useful.

He snuck through the streets, staying in the shadows, but his mind raced as he tried to go at a reasonable pace. He needed to get to Zella and the other enchanters to see what useful enchantments they might have.

Near one intersection, Gavin caught sight of three constables on patrol. He ducked back against the building, watching them as they marched along the street. They moved steadily, whispering to each other and generally unmindful of any danger. Then again, he wasn’t any danger to them now. When he had first come to Yoran, Gavin had been more concerned about coming across the constables. Now that he had an agreement with Davel Chan, running into the constables was merely an inconvenience, not anything that left him worried the way it once had.

In some ways, that was almost disappointing to him. It was nice having that feeling of working alone. But now that he had essentially allied himself with the entire city, he didn’t have to fear maneuvering in Yoran at all. And anything he did would be on behalf of the city.

Perhaps I have more of a team than I gave credit to before.

That could be why Tristan was trying to force him out of the city. It was something to consider, anyway. In order to bring down Tristan—or at least to capture him and try to figure out what he was after—Gavin was going to have to take advantage of his resources. All of his resources.

Gavin turned a corner. In the distance, the building he still referred to as the Captain’s fortress rose ahead. It was separated from the nearby homes by a large lawn and a massive wall that secured it. The enchanters had moved into the fortress and claimed it as their own. It was here that he would find Zella. This time, Gavin would come directly to her. There was no point in sneaking.

He headed toward the door of the outer gate and felt something. It was a tingling that washed across his skin, letting him know there was magic nearby. He quickly pulled his El’aras sword from the sheath, but the blade was not glowing at all.

Nontraditional magic.

Then again, in the recent time he’d spent in the city, there had been plenty of nontraditional types of magic and more than a few different attacks that he’d come to worry about. Gavin pressed up against one of the buildings and focused on watching for any shadows that might be slipping along the road.

It seemed too much of a coincidence that somebody would find him here, which suggested that he had been followed.

Zella should be relatively safe in the fortress. With everything else that Gavin had been through, there was no reason for her to be in any danger here. No reason other than the fact that she had pitted herself against the sorcerers, along with the Fates, who still wanted to control the city.

Gavin waited for a few more moments, and when he was convinced there was nothing happening in the street, he started forward again.

And then he froze.

This time, he knew he wasn’t imagining the magic he felt. He reached for the sword, and a flurry of shadowy movement darted toward him, coming from all around.

Gavin wasn’t sure what it was, only that he could feel some sense of energy that started to circle him, as if trying to loop around him in a pattern. It reminded him of the attack in the tunnels beneath the sorcerer’s lair, so he guessed it was something similar.

He unsheathed the sword and whipped it around, using it to try to carve through any sense of magic he detected. He turned in place, holding on to the power within him, and readied for the attack.

The gate to the compound opened, and a young face that he recognized poked out. Mekel looked to be fifteen, with hollowed eyes and a bit of growth on his chin, though Gavin knew them to be about the same age.

“Get back!” Gavin shouted.

Mekel frowned and eyed the sword, then pulled the door closed.

Balls.

Now that the enchanters had revealed their presence, he was going to have to act quickly. He needed to protect them to ensure that this attacker wouldn’t pose any danger to them. Either that, or give the enchanters time to prepare their own defenses.

The pressure continued to squeeze him, reminding him of how the Mistress of Vines had trapped him and used her magic to hold him in place. Gavin could feel the pressure constricting around him.

He knew he could force his way out from it. But not yet. He needed to draw the attacker in, mostly so that he could see what she was doing and what she was planning.

He didn’t have to wait that long.

As that power continued to constrict around him, he found his arms forced down to his sides so that he couldn’t even bring the sword up. The energy flowing through him, though, gave him hope. Gavin maintained that connection, holding on to his core reserves and trapping that energy within him.

Gavin felt someone move near him and turned his head, but he found that he could only turn it a little bit without attempting to break free of whatever this power was that was holding him. Until he knew what was going on, Gavin wanted to draw them in even more, to see if there was anything