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

been so focused on getting Gaspar help, that he’d not paid any mind to any danger that might be there.

“I know the term,” the sorcerer said, though he did so cautiously, watching Gavin.

He had the distinct cold wash of magic feel coming off the sorcerer, and Gavin wondered what power he might be readying to use against him. Little would work. Gavin had rested long enough that his core reserves had recovered.

“I’m curious as to why you do,” the sorcerer said.

Gavin shrugged. “Because we faced one. I don’t know why, only that there are friends of mine who were abducted, and that’s why we’re here. Does that make you feel better?”

The sorcerer regarded him, pressing his lips together into a tight frown. “Somewhat,” he said, nodding. “Is that why you were injured?”

“I wasn’t injured,” Gavin said.

“You weren’t, but he was.” The sorcerer gestured to the door while tugging on his robe. “I haven’t seen anything quite like it before.”

“What happened?”

“He had a hole through his chest.” The sorcerer waved his hand as Gavin opened his mouth to say something. “Before you start to question me, I don’t know anything more, other than that it was perfectly round, as if a projectile had gone through his chest. I didn’t have to remove anything, not that you seem to care about that.”

“I care,” Gavin said.

And he did. Seeing Gaspar near death had been harder than he’d expected on him.

He’d been forced to tamp those feelings down, but hearing the sorcerer talk about what had happened to Gaspar brought that emotion back to him.

All because he’d come with Gavin to find Wrenlow.

“Do you?” the sorcerer asked.

Gavin narrowed his eyes, regarding him. “Will he fully recover?”

“He’s awake, isn’t he?”

“He is.”

“Then he should recover,” the man said. “The alternative was that he would have perished by now, but seeing as how he has already come awake, I suspect he will continue to make improvements. It’s not always a guarantee, as you likely know.”

“I didn’t.”

“Well, it’s not.”

Gavin frowned, then nodded. “What do you know about the Toral?”

“Nothing,” the sorcerer said.

Gavin watched him for his reaction. He could recognize when someone hid emotions from him, and this man was suppressing his surprise. It was in the way his eyes had widened slightly, his held breath, and the imperceptible step backward, as if to move away from Gavin.

He was hiding something.

“You can deny it, but I can tell you recognize that term. And I know she’s from Nelar,” Gavin said.

His eyes twitched. This was a man not accustomed to keeping secrets.

“As I told you, I have only heard the term.”

“You’ve more than just heard it.”

Gavin didn’t have Gaspar’s skill with questioning. He didn’t even have Wrenlow’s way of getting information—a charming sort of friendship that disarmed a person. Nothing at all like how Gavin had to negotiate for intel. Normally, when Gavin wanted answers, he just forced them out of somebody. And in this case, he didn’t know what it was going to take for him to find out what he wanted.

“I’m just trying to help my friends. That’s all,” Gavin said. “So if there’s anything you know, anything you might be able to tell me, I would appreciate you sharing.”

“Not a threat this time?” The sorcerer smiled tightly. “I’ve been threatened by others before. I recognize that you meant it.”

“I did,” Gavin said.

“And I’ve been around those who know violence. Like you.”

Gavin shrugged. “I do.”

“Why?”

“That’s my training.”

“Do you enjoy it?” the man asked. It was a strange question from a sorcerer, stranger still from a healer.

“What’s there to enjoy? I take jobs. I fulfill those jobs. Then they’re completed.”

“Like the man in there.”

Gavin tipped his head toward the door. “He’s a thief. He’s nothing like me.”

“You aren’t a thief.”

Gavin shook his head.

“I see. Then you are a killer.” Disdain lingered in the last part of what the sorcerer said.

“Under certain circumstances. Now, since you’ve questioned me, I would like more information about the Toral. At least, more about what you know.”

“I know they have power.”

“You’re going to have to share more than that,” Gavin said.

“I know some can perform sorcery.”

“Again, you’re going to need to do more than that.” Gavin watched him, the way he was trying to keep something from him. “You know this particular Toral.” He had been trying to figure out what it was and what it meant, but as he looked at this sorcerer, he realized that was the case. “You can admit it.”

His shoulders sagged a little. He’d break. Gavin could see that now.

It would take little more than a push.

Would he be willing to push him?

The sorcerer had helped Gaspar—but Gavin still had Wrenlow to help.

The sorcerer kept him from making that choice. “Perhaps I know her.”

“Then you can admit your connection to them as well.”

The sorcerer frowned. “Not if you intend to do harm to her.”

There it was.

That’s why the sorcerer had been so evasive. Not just because she came from the city, though that had to be a part of it. “You don’t just know her,” Gavin said, smiling, “you care about her.”

The man straightened, and it seemed that a debate warred behind his eyes. “She’s a friend.”

Gavin grunted. He was amused by the idea that the Toral would have a friend like this, and he also believed that having a connection like this meant that he should be able to figure out who this person was.

“I need to speak with her. She came after… something. The two of us need to have a conversation.” Mostly because he wasn’t sure if they’d had a miscommunication so far—or not.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to help with that,” the sorcerer said.

“Then I’m afraid the two of us are going to have a very different conversation.”

“You intend to threaten me again?”

Gavin narrowed his gaze. “I thought I was doing that now.”

“I see.”

“I’m sorry, but I need to speak with her. It’s a matter of life or death. And if I don’t find my friend…”

He’d let the healer fill in whose death