go back to Mehen and Tam instead of coming after Farideh and Brin. Havilar could make an owlbear plenty angry, but Farideh wouldn’t place odds on who would prevail between the two.
“That’s odd,” Brin said. “What do you suppose it is?”
Farideh looked where he was pointing. A tall, silvery-barked oak tree stood in a sparse patch of the forest, away from the firs and birches. The trunk of the tree had been burned with three triangles, their points nearly touching. The outline of a larger triangle surrounded them, as did a nine-sided shape.
“It’s branded on,” she said. Her head was getting muzzy. “Do you think it’s a message? A sort of warning?”
“No,” Brin said. “I mean, they aren’t runes of any sort. Not any sort I know.” He tilted his head. “Why would someone burn it into a tree? Way out here too.”
Farideh didn’t know. But something about it
She also wanted to run, fast and far.
No matter where you run, her thoughts whispered, it will be here. It will remember you.
“Farideh?” Brin’s voice sounded thin and distant. “Farideh?”
Why would it remember? she thought. It’s only a picture burned on a tree.
“Farideh!”
She reached out a hand toward it, noting-not surprised, merely noting-that the symbol had somehow grown.
No.
The portal cracked as it opened. Brin cried out as strong hands seized Farideh from behind, wrenched her away from the tree, and broke the spell. Lorcan spun her around, lifting her off her feet. He all but threw her down and she tumbled to the ground, Lorcan standing between her and the strange tree.
“What in the Hells are you doing?” he roared. Embers swirled and popped around him.
Farideh opened her mouth, but the words wouldn’t come. It was as if her mind were spinning-the thoughts wouldn’t come together. Her scar screamed with pain, and she stood unevenly.
“You little fool!” Lorcan snarled. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her backward. “You’ll get yourself killed!”
Brin’s sword scraped against his scabbard.
Farideh found her voice. “Brin, don’t!” Brin bellowed as he threw himself at Lorcan. The cambion turned on Brin.
A gust of fire cast Brin backward into the deadfall, scorching his clothes. He threw up his hands to ward off the devil’s attack. Flames built in Lorcan’s hands to cast again.
“Stop it!” Farideh stepped between them, the burning smoke burgeoning in her own palms. Lorcan’s eyes widened, and for a moment, he looked surprised. Then rage came down over his features again.
“Get out of the way.”
“And then what? Let you burn him alive and leave me to take the blame?”
“Get out of the way or I’ll burn you both!”
“No you won’t!” Farideh snapped. Her arms were shaking, her whole frame was shaking, but of that much she was certain; he wouldn’t dare.
Lorcan bared his teeth in a cruel smile. “I can hurt you without killing you, my darling. I’ll kill him and bring you-”
“No,” she said, “you won’t.” She took a step toward him. “You kill him? I’ll break the pact.”
Lorcan went very still. “And how do you plan on doing that?”
She wet her lips. She thought of naming Tam-surely the priest could do it if she asked. But Lorcan might only swoop in and kill Tam then. Her heart rattled. He could. He probably would. He wasn’t afraid of the priest-
“Sairche,” she blurted.
Lorcan started. “Don’t.”
“I’ll find her.” Farideh felt her cheeks burning, but she dared not back down now. “I’ll find a way. I think your sister might be willing to help me. That’s why you lied, isn’t it? So she wouldn’t know I was your warlock?” The words spilled out, much as she meant to stop them. “It was nothing about … about …”
“Hush,” Lorcan said.
Farideh stepped back, watching for his inevitable temper. It didn’t come. Something she’d said had eased his rage. Lorcan stood, glaring at Brin for a long moment.
“Get up,” he spat. He tried to take Farideh by the hand, but she pulled away. What had taken him down so quickly? she wondered. She had been ready for a fight, and Lorcan’s sudden calm frightened her more.
Lorcan scowled, but beckoned to them both to follow. He led them through the briars and back to the edge of the meadow where they’d lost the hart.
“There,” he said. “That’s your way back. Get back on the road and far from here.”
“Thank you,” Farideh said. She looked back the way they’d come, toward the strange tree. “Lorcan? Those triangles? I didn’t know-”
“Listen to me, darling.” His eyes burned as he looked down at Farideh. “That symbol is dangerous. More dangerous than you have ever … You can’t imagine it. That symbol is your village the day we met a hundred times over, and a hundred times over again, all right?”
Farideh nodded. He spoke quickly. Sternly. But underneath it … his voice shook like a leaf. Whatever it was, he was terrified of the three triangles.
“You see that symbol-on a person, on a tree, on a bloody side of bacon-you run. You can’t run, you hide. You don’t call me. You don’t call on my powers.” He pursed his lips a moment. “Be careful. You’re right. I don’t want you hurt.”
Farideh flushed again, annoyed. “So you suddenly care about me?”
The fear and the rage fled Lorcan’s features and they settled into his familiar smirk. “I take care of all my belongings. I brought you something. Timely, it seems.” As if from nowhere, he withdrew a rod as long as her forearm. Etched all over with the same swirls that made up her scar and tipped with a cloudy gray piece of quartz. As he placed it in her hands, it was as if the connection that brought her spells into being cleared and straightened, the power flowing more easily from its source.
Her scar prickled.
“What is it?”
“A little gift,” Lorcan said. “To keep you safe.”
“Unless the three triangles are around,” she said.
“Unless that.”
She turned the rod over in her hands. “Thank you.”
“I’m sure you’ll return the favor soon enough,” he said. “You’re still heading to Luskan, aren’t you?”
“That direction.”
“Promise me this, Farideh,” he said, tipping her chin up. She stiffened at his touch. “Don’t stop along the way. The cities aren’t safe.”
With that, he vanished.
Brin cleared his throat, and Farideh was surprised to realize she’d forgotten he was there. She flushed to her temples.
“It isn’t what you think.”
“Oh?” Brin said. “Tell me what I think again?”
“Please,” she said, a lump in her throat, “just please, listen. It’s not … I’m not evil. I’m not a devil. I’m not anything like this looks.”
“It looks like you have a pact with a fiend. It looks like you’re not so much a sorcerer as … as a warlock.”
Farideh bit her lip. “Yes, all right, that’s true.”
“So that’s the truth, then?” Brin said. “Why you were cast out of your village?”
“It’s the rest of the truth,” she said. “Taking the pact made the house explode.”
