The Invisible Ring

female, was always its heart.
    He sank to his knees and traced the last symbol carved into the post, the Blood’s most revered symbol—the symbol for the Darkness.
    The Blood honored the Darkness because it meant endings and beginnings; it was the fertile dark of land and womb that nurtured the seeds of life; it was the psychic river the Blood came from and returned to; it was the abyss the Self descended into to reach its own strength; it was the vastness that contained the spiderweb-shaped psychic roadways called the Winds. It was all those things, and more.
    As the last line filled with witchlight, Jared felt the jolt of power funneling into the stone posts. The witchlight in the symbols became so bright he had to squint. It flashed once and then faded, the little bit of power he’d used to create it already expended.
    In that moment after the flash, Jared saw a pale triangle form between the three symbols before it, too, faded.
    The protection spells quieted. The psychic storm quickly dissipated. Rekeyed, the illusion spell turned a wood pole strung with vines into thick, unpassable undergrowth.
    Jared stayed on his knees, too tired and shaken to stand up. He sank back on his heels, his head bent, his hands resting loosely on his thighs. This exhaustion wasn’t caused by draining too much of his power. He used more than that for everyday living. It wasn’t even caused by the sharp fear he’d felt.
    For a few moments when the wild stranger had filled him, he had felt so alive and whole. Now he felt empty and hollowed out again, and it cut at him. But he wasn’t sure he was ready to fully embrace that part of himself, to bind himself to that kind of responsibility, and until he was . . .
    Strong hands gripped his arms and pulled him up. Blaed smiled solemnly. Brock looked respectful.
    “Let’s get you inside,” Brock said.
    “The horses.” Jared’s voice sounded thick.
    “I’ll help Thayne and Randolf with the horses.”
    “I can—”
    “You’ve done enough,” Brock said sharply.
    “You’ve done enough,” Blaed agreed quietly.
    Jared gave in, needing their support more than he wanted to admit.
    As they walked toward the one-story stone building, Garth hurried up to them, stopping just short of barreling into Jared. The big man studied Jared’s face for a moment, then made a sound like a grunt of satisfaction, and hurried away.
    Thayne smiled shyly and raised his hand in a casual salute.
    Randolf stood by the corral, watching Garth, his expression unreadable.
    Jared was too tired for Randolfs moods, but he couldn’t quite dismiss the man’s animosity for the broken Warlord.
    “We should pay more attention to Garth,” Jared said quietly as they neared the building.
    Brock made an exasperated sound. “Garth’s not that bad. It could’ve happened to any of us.”
    “He knew about those protection spells before the rest of us did.”
    A brittle silence followed Jared’s words.
    “He was the last one,” Jared insisted. “Nothing started to happen while he was still on the path, so I’d guess there’s something built into those spells to make sure all the rogues have time to get into the clearing. It’s the last person in who has to rekey the illusion spell in order to stop the defensive spells from triggering. If I’d paid attention to his distress, we would have had more time to figure out the key before the storm came down on us.”
    “You don’t know that,” Blaed protested, keeping his voice low.
    “All I’m saying is Garth seems to understand some things. Maybe it’s a holdover from his training. Hell’s fire, I don’t know. But we’d be fools not to pay more attention to what sets him off.”
    “All right,” Brock said. “I’ll—”
    The door opened.
    Brock and Blaed released their supportive hold on Jared’s arms.
    Jared walked toward the Gray Lady, alone.
    In the light coming through the open door, her gray eyes looked almost black from exhaustion. Her voice quavered when she quietly asked him if he was all right. She looked frail, and he suspected her pride was the only thing keeping her on her feet.
    Her frailty made him want to push her until she struck out and proved she was still strong and powerful.
    “Thank you, Warlord,” she said solemnly.
    “I live to serve, Lady,” he replied, his voice lightly laced with bitterness to hide another emotion he didn’t want to acknowledge.
    Tears filled her eyes. She turned and retreated into the room as quickly as she could manage with her injured knee.
    Jared rocked back as