Akari followed the Darklights through the empty clinic. The halls stretched endlessly before them with their gleaming floors and harsh fluorescent lights.

  Kalden leaned heavily on her shoulder, and his hand squeezed hers as they walked. Four days since the battle, and he still shuffled around like an old man. Even this procedure would just slow down the foreign mana in his body. He might not make a full recovery until he advanced. Whenever that was.

  Arturo’s uncle led the way up ahead, stopping when they reached a door labeled “Procedure Room 3.” A team of healers waited inside, and Irina guided Kalden to a padded gurney. A massive machine dominated the center of the room, all chrome and glass with dozens of tubes hanging from its core.

  Akari’s chest tightened. “How long will this take?”

  “Several hours,” Irina’s Second Brain spun around her as she checked the equipment.

  Kalden said through their bond. ‘’

  The bond wasn’t the same, but the room was already cramped enough, and Akari would just get in the way. So she stepped back and followed Elend and Kazalla back into the main corridor. The lobby waited at the end of another identical hallway. Elend split off to patrol the perimeter while Kazalla led her to a cluster of cushioned chairs near the entrance.

  Akari dropped into a chair and immediately regretted it. The cushions were too soft, making her sink down when she had to stay alert. She stood again, pacing to the window. Outside, Silverdale’s skyline glowed with evening lights. She’d visited this town once before, during the school war games, when her team was still whole.

  She spent the next few minutes pacing around the floor like a caged raptor. Eventually, she settled back down in a cushioned chair opposite the door. She wanted to move, but her body disagreed. Everything still ached, from her muscles to her channels. It would take more than sleep and healing potions to repay that debt.

  “I train to . . .” She whispered the words to herself, struggling to grasp her revelation. As always, the answer danced just beyond reach, like trying to remember a dream.

  What was the point? She’d been spinning wheels on this problem for months. Now, her mind raced with thoughts of Kalden, and her parents, and all the people who chased her team.

  “I I could train,” she told her soul. “Just need some peace and quiet first.”

  Surprisingly, her soul reacted to that statement. It wasn’t a dramatic burst of power. Just a quiet surge of energy, like a pot starting to boil.

  “What?” Akari furrowed her brow and glanced down at her chest. “Seriously? I train for peace and quiet?” That didn’t sound like her at all.

  Her soul settled down as if conceding the point. Still, something lingered from that warmth. What if all this drama was just a distraction from what really mattered to her? What if . . .

  The door swung open from the back, and Akari cycled her new Cloak technique on instinct. Spacetime mana wrapped around her like a second skin, ready to escape at the first sign of danger.

  It was just Kazalla. The older man crossed the lobby in five quick strides and opened another door that led out to the rest of the building. Someone else stepped in the room just as he left—a middle-aged woman with long dark hair that fell freely down her shoulders.

  “Alana?” Kazalla’s voice carried from the hallway, tinged with surprise. “What happened to lying low?”

  “I changed my mind.” Her tone was light, almost playful. “Thought you and Elend could use my help.”

  Kazalla must have accepted this answer because his footsteps faded down the corridor, leaving them alone.

  Akari glanced up at the woman as she stepped inside the room.“?”

  “Akari.” She gave a polite nod, closing the door behind her. The soft click of the latch seemed too loud in the quiet space.

  “What are you doing here?” Akari kept her voice calm, but her muscles coiled tighter. Something was wrong. Irina had gone over every detail of the plan, forcing them to memorize all the potential hiding spots and escape routes. Now her old teachers were just strolling in through the front door? How had she overlooked something this big?

  “My parents own this clinic.” Nightfang moved closer with unhurried steps. “I closed it down as a favor to Elend.”

  “Must have slipped his mind,” Akari muttered. Then again, the Darklights had been tight-lipped about a lot of things lately. Apparently, they were both part of some secret club called the Web of Masters, and this group was helping them sneak around the continent. But they refused to say more beyond that. Probably more soul oath bullshit, as usual.

  “I heard about your fight,” Nightfang said, “It’s always hard to face stronger opponents.”

  How much did she know?

  “I don’t really want to talk about it,” Akari said. Any other day, she might be happy to talk shop with her favorite teacher. But not now. Not with so much going on. Besides, even if Nightfang had heard about some vague fight, she might not know that Akari and Kalden were the Soul Reapers. Or that they’d killed one of Moonfire’s Honor Guards.

  , as the saying went.

  “Of course.” Nightfang’s expression softened. “Sorry. You look exhausted right now—I should have noticed it before.” She settled into the closest chair, looking completely at ease. If she did know the full story, then she was taking it surprisingly well.

  “Been a long few days.” Akari shifted in her chair, fighting the urge to put more distance between them. Every instinct screamed danger, but she couldn’t pinpoint why. Yes, Nightfang had gotten a mark, but that didn’t make her an enemy. And Kazalla had trusted her, right?

  The older woman raised her right hand in a casual gesture—adjusting an earring, maybe, or brushing hair from her face. The movement flowed too smoothly, like oil on water. Like a butcher reaching for a hidden knife.

  Then a pulse of silver mana flowed out from Nightfang’s palm, closing the distance faster than thought. Akari tried to react, but her body had already gone numb. The mana froze in her channels, and even her thoughts refused to move.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “I’m sorry.” Nightfang took her hands, securing them with cuffs of impedium.

  The world tilted sideways as Akari slumped in the chair, and darkness rushed up to claim her.

  ~~~

  Kalden kept his breathing steady as the healers swarmed around him. Irina stood at his side, her Second Brain spinning in complex patterns. Golden light played across her face, reflecting in her dark eyes.

  A young alchemist stepped forward to administer the sedative. She wore a white lab coat like the rest of the crew, and her brown hair hung in a tight ponytail behind her head. The woman also seemed calm, despite the circumstances.

  How had Kazalla and the Darklights found a team like this on such short notice? They must belong to someone’s private household. Like Kalden’s mother always said: it was better to keep some things inside the family.

  The alchemist raised the vial of clear liquid toward him, and Kalden reached for it . . .

  Darkness. Sharp and sudden as a slammed door.

  His soulbond with Akari vanished between one heartbeat and the next. And this wasn’t the gentle wave he normally felt when she blocked him out. This felt more like a power outage.

  Battle mana surged through his channels as he dragged her recent memories to the surface. She’d been in the lobby, working on her revelation. Anxious about his procedure, about their situation, about everything. Then someone had joined her out there. A middle-aged woman with dark hair.

  His aspect urged him to dig deeper. Akari had been anxious about this talk, and for good reason. Elend and Nightfang were friends, but he’d never trusted her enough with their long-term plans. Why would he trust her with this?

  “Clear the room.” The words came out harder than he’d intended. When Irina glanced over, he forced his voice to sound more calm. “I need to talk to you. Alone.”

  Irina studied him for a moment, then nodded to the others. “Give us a moment.”

  The medical team filed out without a single question or complaint. Definitely private staff.

  “Wait,” Kalden said before the last two healers could step out. He turned back to Irina. “Someone should check the lobby.” Irina repeated the order, and the door clicked shut.

  “My bond with Akari went dark,” he told her. “Just after Alana Nightfang showed up.”

  “Alana Nightfang is here?” Missiles flew from Irina’s head to her Second Brain in a frenzy of golden light. “That’s . . .” She trailed off, and her face took on a blank expression as she stretched out with her senses. “I can’t sense anyone in the lobby. Akari’s not even in the building.”

  “Damnit.” Kalden tried to re-establish the bond with all his mental might, but it felt like shouting into the void. “What’s going on?”

  Footsteps thundered through the corridor outside. The door opened with a creak, and Elend stepped in.

  Irina rounded on him before he could speak. “Did Kazalla betray us? ”

  Elend shook his head. “He didn’t know about Dain.”

  “Dain?” Kalden asked. What did the Honor Guard have to do with any of this?”

  “There’s space mana residue in the lobby,” Elend said. “A stepstone.”

  Stepstones let non-space artists make portals from one point to another. The devices had astronomical mana costs, and they normally had less than a two-mile radius. However, a Master like Nightfang could chain multiple stepstones together and reach the edge of the city. Especially if she had help.

  “Check the roads going south,” Irina told Elend. “I’ll work with Kalden on his bond.”

  Elend hurried out the door, and Irina spun back to face Kalden. “Your connection is blocked by her unconscious state. But the bond still there, correct?”

  Kalden nodded. “That sounds right to me.”

  “Then we force her awake,” Irina said. “Cycle your mana into her body. Take control if you have to. That bond is our only hope of tracking her.”

  ~~~

  Akari’s eyes snapped open, and her soul ached with a sudden pain. She tried to move, but cold metal bit into her wrists and ankles. An icy numbness lingered in her channels. That must have come from Nightfang’s technique—whatever the hell that was. Her old teacher had never made her aspect public.

  A distortion hood shrouded her vision, scratching her face with each shallow breath. She couldn’t tell up from down. The air felt like a humid jungle, with insects and frogs singing in the distance. It also felt like she’d been asleep for several hours.

  Distortion hoods used dream mana, and dream mana could be countered. Half the work was spotting the trick in the first place. After that, you just had to question everything.

  Was she really in a jungle? . The nearest jungle was more than a thousand miles away. The air should be cold right now, not warm.

  Unless . . . had it really been several hours? Once again, that seemed unlikely. Her mouth wasn’t try, and her lips weren’t cracked. She also had no hunger or pressure on her bladder.

  Was her name really Akari Zeller, or was that a fake identity her captors had put in her mind? That last part was probably overkill, but that was the basic idea. Take nothing for granted.

  Slowly, the haze of dream mana faded from her senses, and reality came back.

  Something sharp dug into her stomach—Nightfang’s shoulder, maybe? The world swayed and bounced with each step, but her body hung like a sack of grain.

  Kalden’s voice echoed in her head.

  ‘Yeah.’ She sent him as much sensory information as she could, hoping he could process it better. The air smelled like smoke and snow-covered asphalt, mixed with the floral scent of Nightfang’s perfume. But at least their soulbond still worked; that meant she hadn’t left the city yet.

  ’,’ Kalden said.

  ‘.’ Akari didn’t care why her old teacher had betrayed her. She also didn’t care who Nightfang was working with, or where they planned to take her. She just wanted to escape.

  Nightfang's footsteps slowed, then stopped. The world tilted as she leaned forward, and Akari felt herself being lowered toward the ground. Her legs met damp snow, and her head came to rest against rough brick. Nightfang's touch was surprisingly gentle.

  For a moment, Akari dared to hope this was some elaborate test that she and Elend concocted. It would make sense. How else would Nightfang sneak past Elend into the clinic? Then again, Nightfang had literally written the book on evading Master-level senses.

  The hood came off in one swift motion, and harsh light stabbed Akari's eyes. They were in a narrow parking lot between two brick buildings. Steam rose from heating vents, mixing with falling snow against the night sky. A black van waited in the mouth of the alley with its back doors wide open. Chief Trask stood beside it with two more officers—both Artisans by the look of them.

  This wasn’t a test.

  “Zeller,” the older Trask spoke her name like a curse, but his face was even colder than his son’s. Akari tried to speak, but Nightfang’s technique held her jaw shut. She could only watch as Trask drew back his leg.

  "This is for my son."

  The kick caught her in the stomach, driving the air from her lungs. The man hadn’t used his full strength—that would have killed her—but pain still exploded through her core like a grenade. Her body tried to double over, but the technique held her rigid

  “We’re wasting time,” Nightfang snapped at him. “The Darklights will be right behind us.” She moved to help Akari sit up again, easing the technique that held her in place

  Kalden’s voice noted.

  Akari used her new freedom to smile up at the chief. “Your son begged for mercy.” Her voice came out raspier than she’d planned, but she pushed through. “Did he tell you that?”

  Trask's face darkened, and he took a threatening step forward.

  “Figures,” she continued. “Always the weak ones who beat up old ladies. Gotta feel tough somehow, right?”

  Nightfang intercepted the chief, pressing a hand to his chest. “For Angels’ sake, Malcolm. Don’t let a teenage girl get the better of you. Then she turned toward the Artisans. “Put her in the van. Now.”

  The Artisans moved forward, but Trask held up a hand that stopped them cold. "I'll do it myself."

  Ribbons of ice mana flowed out from the Master’s fingertips, wrapping around Akari’s waist, cold enough to burn through her clothes. Then he flicked his wrist, and her body flew into the open van. Her back slammed against the metal wall, and tendrils of ice mana bound her in place. She still couldn’t move most of her muscles, but her teeth chattered.

  She’d never felt this cold before, not even in Vordica. It seeped into her bones and crawled toward her heart. Worst of all, Trask’s mana slowed her thoughts, just like his son’s technique.

  Nightfang and Trask sat down opposite her, ready to intervene if she escaped. The van doors slammed shut. The engine roared to life, and tires squealed against the asphalt as they fled.

  Web of Secrets Book 1 is now available for ebook, paperback, and Kindle Unlimited:

  https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0D7XSBKH2?maas=&ref=

  Book 2 (Web of Dreams) is also available in ebook / KU:

  https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0DX13PV7V

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