A Passionate Magic (31 page)

“Wade!” Blake exclaimed. “What are you doing
here? I thought you had left Penruan for good.”

“Did you, now?“ Wade leaned forward in the
saddle to chat with Blake. “Whyever would you think such a thing,
when I’ve lived at Penruan for more than thirty years?”

“All of your things were gone,” Blake said,
taking a step nearer to the wiry, gray-haired man, who smiled at
him as if smiling hurt his usually sour face.

”Blake,” Emma cautioned, noting the ice
behind Wade’s friendliness, and the sword and long knife at his
belt, “come here to me.”

”When I left, I was bound for a long ride,”
Wade explained to Blake, “and I didn’t want anyone to steal my
belongings while I was gone, so I took them with me. Here, lad,
I’ve brought back a present for you.” He reached out a closed fist,
as if he was offering something he was afraid he’d drop if he
wasn’t careful.

”What is it?” Blake took another step toward
where Wade sat on his horse. “It must be small if you can hold it
in your hand that way. Is it a gold coin?”

“Come and see,” Wade coaxed.

”Blake, no!” Emma cried. “Stay away from
him!”

Her second warning was too late. Blake had
moved a little closer to the promised gift, just close enough for
Wade to seize the boy by his tunic and hoist him upward until Blake
was flung facedown across the horse.

“Let him go this instant!” Emma
commanded.

“Not a chance,” Wade said. “Not until you do
what I want.”

“And what is that?” Emma asked, though she
wasn’t really interested in his response. She was gathering her
magic, preparing to use her power to immobilize Wade and free
Blake, when it occurred to her that she could learn more from Wade
by pretending to be afraid of him and of what he might do to Blake.
There was bound to be some dire reason why Wade had returned to
Penruan after escaping Dain’s justice, and Emma wanted to know what
the reason was. Most likely, Lady Richenda was involved.

“Blake,” Emma cried, managing to sound
terrified, “are you hurt?”

“No,” Blake responded, “but I’ll be sick if I
stay this way much longer.”

“All the more reason for you to obey me
without any further argument, my lady,” Wade said with a nasty
grin. “Start walking.”

“Where should I walk?” Emma asked.

“To Rough Tor.” Wade jerked his head in the
direction of the high rock formation. He spoke his next words with
a sneer. “Start moving now, my lady.”

“It will be a long walk,” Emma said. “Why
don’t I mount my horse and we can ride together?”

“Do you think I’m fool enough to allow you on
a horse?” Wade demanded. “You walk; I ride.”

“It will take until after dark to reach Rough
Tor on foot,” Emma said.

“Don’t imagine I care if your dainty feet are
blistered by the time we get there,” Wade said. “You won’t be
spending the night on your feet, anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll be spending the night sprawled on
your back,” Wade told her with a horrible, mirthless grin, “unless
they prefer to have you facedown. That’s their concern, not
mine.”

”You’re planning to give me to the bandits.”
She was so choked with rage and disgust that she could barely get
the words out.

“They’ll be glad to have you,” Wade said,
“considering all Dain has done to spoil their livelihood.”

“Surely Lady Richenda never ordered you to do
such a dreadful thing!”

“She told me to get rid of you by any means I
chose,” Wade said. “She left it to me. The witch Vivienne is next,
after you’re taken care of. Now there’s a killing that should have
been done years ago.”

“No!” Blake yelled, kicking and struggling to
push himself upright. “You can’t kill women! It’s dishonorable. I
won’t allow it!”

“If you want to live long enough to find out
whether I’ll do it or not, stay where you are,” Wade told him,
drawing his knife from his belt as he spoke. “Otherwise, I’ll put
my blade between your ribs.”

“If you kill Blake, you’ve lost your hold on
me,” Emma said.

”If I kill him and the bandits have you,
who’s left to warn Dain or the witch?” Wade asked, calmly
reasonable.

”What does Lady Richenda want?”

“You and the witch permanently gone, and her
former place back.” Wade answered so promptly that Emma knew he was
speaking the truth as he had heard it from Lady Richenda’s own
lips.

“She’s mad if she imagines Dain will ever let
her return.”

“Do you think he’ll let
you
return
after every brigand on the moor has had you?”

Emma had heard enough. Blake was retching as
if he’d be sick at any moment, and she didn’t want him frightened
any longer. Nor did she think she’d get anything more out of Wade.
She was sure he had told her all he knew of Lady Richenda’s
plan.

Emma summoned her magic and cast a spell on
Wade, holding him in place where he was. He was so difficult to
restrain that she began to wonder if he possessed some degree of
magical ability. Surely if it was so, she’d have sensed it while he
was living at Penruan. Nor did she think Lady Richenda would keep a
magician for a servant, when she loathed the very idea of
magic.

“Blake,” Emma said, “get off the horse. You
can do it. Wade cannot harm you. I won’t allow it.”

“I can feel the point of his knife in my
side,” Blake cried.

“He cannot use it. Trust me, Blake. I have
immobilized him. Slide under Wade’s arm and off the horse
now
. ”

“I’ll try.” Blake moved with nerve-tearing
slowness until, finally, he stood on the ground. He gazed up at
Wade, who sat as if carved from stone, though the man’s eyes blazed
with impotent fury.

“You did it!” Blake cried, starting toward
Emma. “You used magic to save me! Thank you.”

“Don’t touch me,” Emma cautioned. “Wade is
surprisingly strong and I want no distractions to my spell. Blake,
I want you to mount your horse and ride back to Penruan.”

“And leave you alone with this villain?”
Blake cried. “I won’t do it. I’ll dishonor myself if I leave a
woman alone and undefended.”

“As you can see,” Emma said, “I am perfectly
capable of defending myself. I’m sure the sentries at Penruan have
noticed how we’ve been accosted here, and have ordered men-at-arms
to ride to our aid. But just in case they haven’t seen what’s
happening, I want you to alert Sloan and have him send men to
escort Wade to the castle. I will hold him here until they come.”
She didn’t add that she wanted Blake out of the way so Wade
couldn’t use him as a hostage for a second time. She couldn’t be
sure Wade wouldn’t distract her long enough to kill Blake.

“Yes, I understand,” Blake said, rushing to
his horse. “You need me to summon help, to rescue you. I’ll be as
fast as I can.”

“Be careful,” Emma warned. “Mind the path and
the bogs.”

She couldn’t watch Blake leave because she
was having to use more and more magical energy to maintain her
control over Wade. The hatred in the man’s eyes was terrifying. She
waited in tense silence, keeping her attention fixed on him.

Suddenly, from some distance behind her, she
heard Blake shout. Fearing he’d been thrown from his horse in his
haste to reach the castle, she allowed herself to be distracted for
an instant.

It was long enough for Wade to take action.
He wrenched himself free of the spell, leaving Emma gasping with
pain that seared through her mind and her chest. Wade pulled a
silver chain from beneath his tunic. From it dangled a rough,
pitted black stone, half a finger in length. Emma recognized the
remnant of a burned-out shooting star that had fallen to earth and
broken into pieces, and she understood why keeping Wade within her
spell had been so difficult.

“Here’s a talisman that Lady Richenda gave me
to use against your magic,” Wade told her, letting the stone swing
on its chain. “Iron that falls from the sky will destroy any
spell.”

“It didn’t work very well against mine,” Emma
said. “Blake is free of you.”

“No, he’s not. I’ll catch him before he can
reach the castle and give the alarm. As for you, my lady, the
bandits will take care of you.”

With a last, cold glance and a shrug of his
shoulders that left Emma totally perplexed, Wade kicked his horse’s
sides and headed for the cliff road.

Only then did Emma look around, searching for
Blake. She quickly saw that he hadn’t been thrown. He was riding as
fast as he could, but not in the direction of the castle. Blake was
galloping for the cliffs, where Hermit had just appeared at the top
of the path, and where both of them, man and boy alike, were
certain to encounter the murderous Wade.

“Oh, no! Blake! Hermit! Run to the
castle!”

She wasn’t sure they could hear her warning,
and she feared she wasn’t strong enough to capture Wade again by
magic, when he was protected by his talisman. She could think of
only one way to stop Wade. She’d have to chase him toward Penruan
and trust Sloan to act quickly.

As she leapt onto her horse, Emma noticed a
movement near Rough Tor. A moment later she was able to make out
the shapes of a mounted band of men who were galloping toward her,
and knew them for the outlaws to whom Wade had planned to consign
her.

“That’s why he left me so easily,” she
muttered. “He knew they were on the way. Well, they’ll have to
catch me first.”

Then, to her despair, she recognized Dain and
Vivienne riding along the road from Trevanan to Penruan with just a
few men-at-arms for escort. She didn’t think Wade had noticed them
yet. He was still following Blake.

With the brigands almost at her heels, Emma
set out after Wade, heading for the spot on the cliffs where Dain
and all the others were bound to meet and where, she knew, bloody
violence was sure to occur.

As she raced toward the cliffs, Emma spared a
hasty glance for Penruan Castle, off to her left. She was greatly
relieved to see the main gate wide open and the glint of sunlight
on armor and drawn swords as mounted men poured out of the entrance
and across the drawbridge.

“Bless you, Sloan! Please, intercept the
bandits before they catch up to me. Dain and his men and I will
stop Wade and protect Vivienne.”

Almost as if he could hear her murmured plea,
Sloan led his men-at-arms directly toward the horsemen who were
closing in on Emma. She needed only one look over her shoulder to
know her pursuers were being neatly cut off, leaving her free to
ride on unhindered.

She paid no heed to the sounds of battle
rising behind her as the force from Penruan met the bandits. Her
task was to stop Wade before he discovered his other intended
victim, Vivienne, was on the road leading straight to him and
drawing nearer with every moment that passed. Dain would fight to
protect his sister, but Emma knew he wasn’t wearing his chain-mail
armor, and Wade was sure to be an unchivalrous opponent. Therefore
Wade must be stopped at once.

Ahead of her, Emma saw Blake pulling up his
horse beside Hermit, and saw the boy waving his arm toward the
pursuing Wade, who had almost reached the cliff road.

“Faster! Faster!” Emma urged her horse,
though the steed was already flying over the dangerous moorland
with Emma bent low at its neck.

Wade must have heard her coming, for he
pulled his horse around to face her just as Emma also reached the
road. She tumbled down from her mount, intending to use magic on
her opponent, no matter the cost to herself. She planted both feet
firmly on the solid earth and began to gather her forces.

Before Emma could work her spell, Hermit was
there, too, reaching up to grab Wade by one arm and yank him out of
the saddle. Wade’s reaction was rapid. He landed on his feet, sword
in hand, and spun around to slash at Hermit, who leapt back just in
time to avoid the killing stroke.

Emma sought deep inside herself, calling up
reserves of magical strength, knowing Wade was going to use his
talisman to oppose her magic. She had caught him by surprise once
that day; he would not be surprised a second time. The pitted black
stone swung back and forth on its silver chain, bumping against
Wade’s chest each time he moved.

Snaring him hurt. Pain ripped through Emma,
but she was determined to defend those she loved. She told herself
she only had to hold Wade for a little while. The men-at-arms who
were riding with Dain would arrive soon, and they would be strong
enough to stop Wade by sheer force of arms before he could harm
Blake or Hermit and, she hoped, before Dain became embroiled in the
fight. And Vivienne would sense that Emma was relying on magic and
be warned in time to protect herself by the same means. Emma
exerted all her strength to bring Wade under her control.

She should have known Dain wouldn’t send his
men-at-arms ahead of him to see what was happening. He rode up
leading his troops and took immediate command of the strange little
skirmish that was going on in the middle of the cliff road. He
wedged his horse between Emma and Wade, the combined interference
of human and horseflesh making it even more difficult for Emma to
hold Wade fast.

“In heaven’s name, stand back,” Dain ordered
his wife. “I’ll see to this villain. He’s thoroughly
outnumbered.”

The sound of Dain’s voice broke the last
strands of Emma’s magical connection with Wade. Freed from her
control, Wade lifted his sword and slashed at Dain’s horse. An
instant before the blade made contact, Hermit seized Wade’s sword
arm.

“Halt!” Hermit ordered, and it wasn’t clear
until he spoke again just who it was he meant to stop. “Dain, this
is my battle to fight. Blake tells me this villain has threatened
both Emma and Vivienne.”

“If he has threatened my wife and my sister,”
Dain responded, “then it is my fight.”