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

Now he could tell that she recognized that term. Of course she would. He believed that she was a sorceress, so they were likely aware of each other. Most sorcerers came through the society, but not all.

Gavin would never have believed it before, but learning that Cyran had developed magic outside of the society suggested that perhaps there were others. Still, the Fates would be known by anyone trying to use sorcery.

“That is not of my concern,” she said.

“No? You are a sorceress, are you not?” Gavin was taking a gamble now. “Don’t you have any affiliation with the Sorcerers’ Society? Don’t you feel as if you need to ensure you’re keeping the society from doing what they should not?”

She laughed lightly, and she slid back in the chair. Jayna glanced over to Eva, who continued to swirl smoke around her. It was a strange use of power, but Gavin started to think that it was some sort of defensive mechanism, as though she was using that smoke to protect both of them if they were concerned about what Gavin might do.

He wouldn’t be surprised if they were. They had fought each other, and they knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses—at least, as much as anybody could know his strengths and weaknesses. Gavin had faced her three times now, which was more than he had ever faced anybody else before without ending a fight.

“I have little use for the Society,” she said.

“You have separated from them. Interesting. I didn’t realize any sorcerers left it. I thought doing so meant you were banished from them.”

“Only if I chose to embrace the Society in the first place.”

Gavin glanced over, and he saw Gaspar watching her. Maybe there was something in all of this that Gaspar might be able to understand, but right now Gavin didn’t know anything.

“Something happened,” Gavin said. “And whatever you were dealing with is similar to what we’re dealing with here. There’s danger from magic in the city, the kind I’m trying to protect the city against. Maybe it wasn’t coming from the Society, but it was definitely dangerous. This city has known what it’s like to be under the rule of sorcery, and they do not want to go back to that time.”

“It has nothing to do with what I’m here for,” she said.

“Then what you’re here for is the same thing that my mentor was after. You’re here for the ring, and I suspect he is as well. That has to be why he sent you after me.”

“And I told you that he didn’t send me after you.”

“Maybe not directly, but he sent you in my direction.”

Gavin shook his head. The distinction was minor, and even as he said it, he wasn’t sure whether or not it was entirely accurate.

It still didn’t strike him as completely right.

Knowing Tristan, that wasn’t the kind of thing that he would typically do. Tristan tended to act directly, which was the reason all this bothered Gavin.

Ever since the first attack, ever since the testing had begun, Gavin had been troubled about it. None of this fit with what he knew of Tristan, other than the tests. Tristan would bring one of his own people to fight Gavin, and Tristan himself would too, as if he had been completely unconcerned about Gavin’s abilities that had developed in the time since he had left him.

Of course Tristan wouldn’t worry about Gavin. He had no reason to fear his abilities because Gavin had never been able to defeat him before. It was the kind of arrogance he expected out of Tristan.

Gavin sat back, crossing his arms, and he frowned to himself.

What if I’m wrong about this?

“What is it?” Gaspar asked him.

Gavin shut his eyes, his mind racing, trying to come up with what it was that bothered him. “Just a minute.”

All along, he had believed that this was about Tristan, that the test had come from him. But there had been part of him that felt like this was not quite right. He needed to uncover what that was and why it would bother him so much.

He glanced over to Gaspar and shook his head. “I am not sure I had this right.”

“What part of it aren’t you sure about?” Gaspar asked.

“That we’re dealing with Tristan.”

A different thought came to him. What if it was Cyran?

He would never have thought that was the case, especially given that he’d believed Cyran was still being held by the El’aras. But he’d escaped. And the timing could work.

“Do you remember who sent you looking for me when you reached Yoran?” he asked Jayna.

“I followed the trail to the city, but once I was here, there was a strange-looking man who offered his help,” she said.

“Strange looking how?” he asked.

“He had a thin face, narrow-set eyes, and—”

“A rat face,” Gavin said with a sigh. “It’s the same damn person.” He looked over at Gaspar and Imogen. “Did you figure anything out about where he ended up, then?”

“No. I followed him, but I lost him,” Imogen said.

Gavin glanced at Gaspar. “This is Hamish all over again.”

“You think this guy that sat at the table with us was Cyran?”

Gavin couldn’t put it past him, and he couldn’t shake the idea that it was. And if it was, then he knew what he needed to do. Get to Cyran.

He leaned forward. “We’re going to have to work together,” he said to Jayna. “I know you have no interest in working with me, and to be honest, I really have no interest in working with you. But I think we need to.”

“I am not after this Cyran,” she said.

“No, but I suspect you are after the same thing that he is.”

“Why would you suggest that?”

“Because he sent messages all tied to something that happened a long time ago.”

Now that Gavin thought about it, he realized something and laughed to himself. “I think I was supposed to take your ring.”

“You would not have been able