35

Chapter Thirty-Five: Tiranog

They left the cabin the next morning, and North prepared herself to face another contingent of Pytor’s people. They reached the edge of the ward, which Eamon and Orin quickly stripped. There was a faint shimmer in the air, and she could tell a difference, as though the barometric pressure had dropped. A moment later, the van crossed the invisible threshold, and she sensed they were vulnerable once again.

A bright flash made her cry out, and she clenched her hands around Ryland and Eli’s thighs, since she sat between the two of them in the backseat of the van. A group appeared before them, and she didn’t recognize them, but they weren’t wearing magical camouflage. “Who are they?”

Eli patted her thigh. “They look like Council guards.”

“I sent a call to Caius last night and asked him to send a rift to the edge of the ward, so we could avoid the danger of traveling.” Marek offered that information without looking away from the guards.

North frowned. “If they c