Free Dark Flight (The Shadow Slayers) by Cassi Carver Page B

set the crystal pen to its parchment-like surface. “It was almost like a Y, but I don’t know which direction to turn it.”
    Gavin breathed deeply. “Two prongs that end in one location, or one location—the fawn—that could possibly take us in two different directions…”
    “Well…crap. Any ideas? You are a thousand years old—forty times older than me, I believe you pointed out. You have to have seen something like this before, right?”
    “I’m familiar with maps of the Shadowland as much as anyone can be. But kingdoms made of will can change in an instant, so a well-made map, like the one Mazeki loaned you, has to be able to change with them. The Land of Desolation won’t show up at all.”
    And that left her…where? Staring at nothing but an incomplete collection of lines and squiggles. “Okay, so what if we take the design and keep it in the exact same position as what was on the rock, just to see what happens?”
    “Try it. You can always re-plot and start again.”
    Kara tried to visualize the exact angle of the Y, then she held the map up and traced the shape over the paper with the crystal stylus. When the tip of the stylus hit the paper, it burned a brown line into the fibers like a soldering iron.
    “Okay. There. If I stay with the exact same scale and alignment, with one path from the fawn that ends in two locations, this is what we get.” She held the map out to him. “Do those locations look familiar to you at all?”
    Gavin stared at the map with his eyes scrunched in thought. “I think so. Here—” his thick finger stabbed the prong to the left, “—is a rather small region of the Shadowland controlled by Nefren. What he lacks in power, he makes up for in hard living. And the path to the right, I believe would land us on the outskirts of one of the largest mountain ranges in this realm.”
    “Okay. So where should we start first?”
    “My instincts say you might be safer in the mountains than venturing with me onto Nefren’s land.”
    “Is he an enemy of yours?”
    “No. I’ve helped him a time or two when he had sensitive business on the surface. He should allow us safe passage. Still, you are an unknown female, and that is exceptionally rare here. It’s not in your best interest to ‘mingle’ with the natives.”
    Kara pushed to her feet. “I can handle it. Let’s go.” Facing Nefren had to beat slowing down and being trapped with her thoughts.
    “You’ve barely rested five minutes. I’m not taking you back this soon.”
    “I feel fine, and time isn’t something we have on our side right now. We need to keep moving.” I need to keep moving. “I will tell you if I start feeling weird. I mean, I’d know before I was gonna get sucked into the Abyss for staying too long, right?”
    Gavin laughed. “Yes. You would know.”
    “Fine, then. We’re all set.”
    “What if you were weakening and I wasn’t in a position to transport you to the surface?”
    Kara thought for a moment. Her first instinct had been to say she’d summon Julian, but that was doubly stupid, because number one, he couldn’t leave the Shadowland, and number two, he was done with her. Next, she’d almost said she’d call for Mazeki, but then Gavin wouldn’t take her for sure, thinking she’d owe the black-wing a debt if she called on him. “Jaxon. I’ll call Jaxon in an emergency.”
    Gavin’s gaze scoured Kara’s neck, and he seemed pleased when he confirmed that she had her friend’s charm there. “Fine. Of course, if you get him killed, Abbey may never forgive you.”
    She approached him, put her hands at his trim waist and met his eyes. “I’m not too worried about needing to resort to that. I’ve got myself a pretty top-notch escort.”

Chapter Seven
     
    Still using the map to pinpoint the general location where they should be searching, Gavin flew Kara deeper in from where her drawing intersected Nefren’s kingdom.
    Though the land beyond Nefren’s border was bright and