“It won’t do you any good to know it, Matthias. Leave it alone.”
“Tell me.”
I was on my hands and knees. Pain burned through me like the blade of a razor, ripping along every part of me. When I looked at the lines of the spell holding me captive, its structure was unchanged.
I hadn’t broken it.
My voice had stopped. Had I finished the blood spell? Were the Wendyns all dead? I lifted my head and looked up. Magic flashed, and I stare at the ceiling. Lines of the spell I had just cast crisscrossed the room above me, taut, interwoven links humming and thrumming with energy.
Horror and sickness burned through me—and a deep, unending anger. I felt as helpless as the day Gavin died. A sucking tide of fury waited to pull me under, and I knew once I was in it, I wouldn’t emerge the same person. If I emerged at all.
“Well,” Kurke said. “That was stupid, Avery. Blood spells tie to your blood, you fool. Try to find your way out of them, and it’s like pulling yourself apart. You won't get out of that spell, I can assure you.”
I had to calm myself, or I’d do something I’d regret, as I did that day in Bramford.
But I didn't regret what I did in Bramford. It brought me here—with Ivan and Master Wendyn.
I was a fifth level underwizard. I was calm. I was in control.
Having completed Kurke’s orders, my body was my own again—at least for the moment. I looked toward the bed. Was Oscar—was he dead? I was almost afraid to look, coward that I was.
He was still sitting up, eyes open, face contorted in a frown. “Very well, Matthias. You’re sure you want to know the truth?”
“There’s just one more step to complete this spell, old man. Tell me about my mother and sister, and maybe it’ll change what I do with you.”
A pause. Then Oscar spoke. “It was your mother, Felina,” he said. “Nox had been schooling her in the practice of magic. He must have told her what to do if Council members ever came asking questions. She was prepared to hurt them. She—”
“Don’t you dare lie about my mother!” Kurke lunged, but Oscar ducked and swung. He connected with Kurke’s jaw. More pushing and shoving and swinging, and I couldn’t tell who had the upper hand. Kurke swore, and Oscar grunted with a landed blow. I lunged to my feet. Kurke had Oscar by the throat above the trammel, rattling him back and forth.
I couldn’t freeze him, not while he was choking Oscar. So I did the only other thing I could think of—I rushed at Kurke.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
I landed a few blows, pounding on Kurke’s back and wrenching at his arms. Then he batted me away like a pesky fly, and I stumbled backward, tripping over the rug in front of the fireplace and landing on my backside.
“It was...your mother’s...actions...that killed...Cynthia,” Oscar choked out. Crimson stained his abdomen, caused by the furrow I left in his arm. Kurke must have loosed his fingers then, because Oscar’s words came easier. “Your mother was wielding magic...that she didn’t understand. When the Council members tried to stop her, she sent a curse so powerful, so ugly...its effects harmed everyone within its reach. Your mother died first, the next day. Cynthia the day after that. Three grown men, wizards, standing within reach of the spell, died the day after that.”
“I don’t believe you.” But there was no conviction to his voice. Kurke dropped his hands and backed away.
This was my chance. I pushed to my feet and sent two spells in quick succession at Oscar, unknotting the rope around his hands and feet. He swung his legs over the side of the bed. Kurke didn’t even react, apparently too affected by Oscar’s revelation. He stumbled back another step, and his thighs hit the table in the corner.
“I tried my best to protect you from it. I’ve done everything I could to make your life whole, Matthias.” Oscar reached a hand toward Kurke, his tone filled with as much earnestness as I’d ever heard coming from him before.
A pause stretched long. Kurke ran fingers over his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. At last he shook his head. “No. No no no. Don’t pretend you’re some kind of humanitarian.” He leaned down, and the dagger flew into his hand. He held it out toward Oscar. “Anything you did for me was to make yourself feel better.”
Oscar came to his feet. “I hid the truth so you wouldn’t follow in your father’s footsteps. Perhaps it was wrong of me, but I didn’t want this happening.”
“Get over here, Avery.” Kurke jerked a finger at me. The compelling spell still had a hold on me, and my feet moved toward him of their own accord.
There must be some way to defeat him. Yes, he was a stronger wizard than I, but I learned in fist-fighting that when one’s opponent was bigger, the only way to defeat him was to out-think him.
I won’t help you, I wanted to say but couldn’t. My feet dragged me closer to him.
“Leave her alone,” Oscar said from somewhere behind me. “Your quarrel is with me, remember?” There was a click of noise and, after a moment, cool air. He’d opened the balcony door.
Kurke sneered and shot a spell in Oscar’s direction. I heard the door slam shut. I wished I could turn and look, but Kurke’s order to get over here must be obeyed. All I could hear was Oscar’s wheezy breathing behind me.
“I warned you about defying me, Avery.” Kurke twitched a finger, and agonizing pain shot up my leg. I cried out, my leg buckling, but Kurke grabbed me by the shoulders before I could fall. His face was inches from mine. “I’ve just broken your ankle. Defy me again, and I won’t hesitate to break every bone in your body.”
I breathed past the pain, past the nausea moving up my middle, breaths short and shallow. “Why me?” I asked. “What do you need me for? Why don’t you—” blink, breathe, blink, “—perform this spell yourself?”
He frowned. “Belanokian innovation.”
Understanding came. “You can’t do it. You can’t perform this spell. That’s why you need me.”
“Of course it is.” Irritation threaded his tone. “Why else would I have tied myself to a lowly underwizard? This spell has to be performed by a woman to work.”
My mouth opened in astonishment. “But why...why a woman?”
He frowned. “This is what the trade ban with Belanok has brought about, Oscar. It’s an information ban, more than anything.”
“You know there are reasons far beyond information that trade and travel was banned with Belanok.” Oscar’s voice was muffled, probably from hiding behind the bed.
“What are you talking about?” Perhaps the pain was dulling my brain, but his words made little sense.
“Belanok,” Kurke said. “They’re the reason women can’t do magic in the three kingdoms. In Belanok, only women perform magic.”
“What? But how—why—”
“The Belanokian witches will tell you all about it when this is over. That’s where we’re going, to Belanok. You can practice whatever magic you want there, in the open. You won’t have to hide anymore.”
“And what about you?”
“Oh, I won’t be staying. I’ll transact a little business and be on my way.”
Something about his tone gave me pause. “Transact business having to do with me? What are you doing, selling me to them?”
He frowned. “It’s more like a trade. Don’t worry. They want to examine you. And maybe perform a few experiments. They’re interested in the females of the three kingdoms, especially those with an inclination for magic.”
Terror flooded me. Knowing what I knew of Belanok, this felt like a fate worse than death. “I won’t—” I gulped as my ankle twinged, “—be going with you. I’d rather die here with Oscar.”
He snorted. “Hear that, Oscar? She wants to die here with you. How appropriate.”
There was no reply.
Kurke’s eyes went past me, and then he swore and released my shoulders. I squeaked and tried putting weight on my ankle—and collapsed on the floor. My ankle gave a wrench that almost made me pass out.
Healing spells. I knew some from M
aster Hapthwaite’s library. There was one for bruises—no, stupid, Avery. That was no good here. One for cuts. One for fevers and congestion and aching. One for pain.
Why, oh why, didn’t I know a spell for broken bones?
A pain spell, that was the ticket. I whispered the incantation, and the throbbing from the area of my foot dulled. I crawled nearer the fireplace.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small form dart out the bedroom door. Was that—Ivan? But that was impossible. He couldn’t have been hiding in here the whole time. There was nowhere for him to hide. I turned, and there, just now shimmering out of existence in the middle of the room, was the wizard door. I looked past it and found Master Wendyn standing at the corner of the desk.
Impossible.
“Bloody hell, back so soon?” Kurke’s growling voice came from the alcove. Magic zinged across the room, and he fell back several steps.
The trammel was gone from the master’s neck. But no one could remove trammels without the key. Only Ladarius the Heroic.
Another cursory look around the room revealed the next astonishing fact. Oscar was gone. Thank the heavens.
“Turns out Ivan’s not a bad hand at unknotting spells,” Master Wendyn said, nodding at me. “Someone’s been teaching him.”
I blinked in surprise.
Whatever spell Kurke sent in return, it whooshed across the room like a powerful flame and tumbled Master Wendyn back into the wall. Kurke swiveled and skirted the bed, heading in my direction.
Bones, what now? I scrambled away, but on a broken ankle, I made little headway.
Kurke crouched next to me, shoving the dagger into my hand. “You will plunge this knife into Oscar Wendyn’s heart. And then you will say these words.” He repeated the incantation for me, Belanokian words that feel heavy and black.
He bent closer so his eyes were all I could see, his breath hot on my face.
“Enjoy this, Avery. Take pleasure in killing Oscar for me, as I can’t.” He yanked me to my feet.
I felt the order take hold of me. The bed was the last place I saw him, and my body pulled me to it. I limped closer, the pain in my ankle dulled but still terrible. But I had my orders. I limped around the alcove behind the bed, but it was empty, with no sign of where Oscar might have gone.
Master Wendyn struggled back to his feet and erected another shield spell.
“A fine dagger, Mullins.” He straightened the sleeves of his shirt. “I suggest you put it down before you hurt someone.”
I tried to open my mouth to say anything in response to that, but here was what happened instead: “Where’s Oscar?” I asked, gripping the dagger tighter.
Master Wendyn’s eyes narrowed. “I see you’re bleeding. And what have you done to your ankle?” He flicked a finger at me, and bones ground and clicked and righted themselves. It was not a pleasant sensation—at least not until it was over.
“You should have stayed where I put you, Garrick.” Kurke pointed at a pile of books and sent them careening toward the master.
Master Wendyn’s spell held, at least until the last book broke through and bashed him on the side of the head. He stumbled backward a few steps and then sent a spell back at Kurke. The sparkling trail of magic burst through Kurke’s shield spell. I waited for something to happen, and I wasn’t disappointed when it did. The spell exploded within the shield, all sizzling magic and sparking rays of light. Kurke staggered backward, blood streaking the side of his face.
“We’re not...doing this again, Garrick,” he got out, lurching on the fireplace rug to regain his balance.
“It looks to me like we are.”
Kurke touched the side of his face and winced. “You’ll be sorry for that. Anyway, you’re too late. Avery’s already performed most of the bloodlines spell. As soon as she says the last incantation, we’ll be free of you Wendyns forever.”
Master Wendyn didn’t even look at me. “Well, then. I’ll make sure she doesn’t finish it, that’s all.” He hit Kurke with another spell, one that ripped the sleeve of his robe and left a bloody gash along his arm.
“Come, Avery.” Kurke’s voice was a wheeze.
Four limping steps. My ankle bones had knitted, but it didn’t leave the joint unaffected. Then I was standing in front of Kurke on the rug, almost before I realized what I was doing.
“There you are. Good girl.” Kurke turned me around, hands on my shoulders, so that I was a human shield standing in front of him. Master Wendyn couldn’t send a spell at Kurke now without hitting me.
Hoarse panting in my ear. Warm breath against my cheek. "I’m tired of this, Gare," Kurke said. "Your interruptions are, frankly, stupid and tedious."
“Master Kurke?” The voice came from the doorway, Edie’s voice.
“Leave, Edie,” Master Wendyn barked. “It’s not safe.”
She didn’t pay him any mind. “I thought you should know, Matt—I caught the fool here trying to go through a wizard door.” She pushed Ivan into the room. He was looking mutinous but unharmed.
I stared at Edie. What was going on here? Why was she helping Kurke? She needed to get out of here, to go find Edwin.
“Oh, Edie,” Master Wendyn said heavily. “You let him turn your head, did you?”
Her face flushed. “Turn my head?” she repeated. “Matt loves me. He told me so himself.”
I tried to make sense of the words. Matt? Could she mean the madman standing behind me? But what about Edwin?
“And do you know what I like best about him?” she asked, turning toward me. “He never once tried to pretend to be something he’s not. Like a girl pretending to be a boy. Making other girls fall in love with her.”
Once again I tried to open my mouth to say anything, but I couldn’t. Kurke gave a soft chuckle. “Yes, you heard Edie. I love her deeply.”
Even I could hear the false note in his voice. Why couldn’t Edie?
“Now, here’s your job, sweetling. Make certain the fool doesn’t run off again.” He jerked a finger at the second dagger on the desk, and it flew at her, handle-first. She caught it and shoved Ivan against the wall nearest the door.
“So, you were trying to go through a wizard door.” Kurke put a hand to his mouth and surveyed Ivan. “Can you do magic, little fool?”
Ivan stared at him with a blank expression.
“No matter. I’ll deal with you once the Wendyns are dead.”
I wished I could get my mouth to move. If I could, I’d tell Master Wendyn to kill me before I have a chance to finish Kurke’s spell.
“You’re let go, Edie,” the master said. “When this is all over, I suggest you get your things and get out.”
“When this is over, you’ll be dead.” Kurke tossed a chair from the table at Master Wendyn. It bounced off the shield spell and clattered to the floor, but the master still stumbled backward and had to rebuild his shield spell.
“I want you to look, Avery.” Kurke pressed his head against mine so he was speaking into my ear in an intimate manner that made my skin crawl, though I was still unable to move away. “Can you see the magic woven throughout this room?”
I blinked and let my eyes adjust. The spell woven around myself and Kurke, Master Wendyn’s shield spell, the first part of the bloodlines spell, which had a canopy of magic arching over our heads. And there, in the alcove, a large spell woven around an unidentifiable shape.
What was that?
I heard the smile in Kurke’s voice when he noted the direction I was staring. “An illusion spell,” he said against my ear. “Oscar is hidden in plain sight.”
He called out a revealing spell, and the illusion falls. Oscar was standing on the far side of his bed, at least until Kurke’s next spell crashed into him. His knees buckled, and he fell in a heap.
“Go,” Kurke said. “Complete the spell. Then I’ll take you to Belanok, where you’ll be free to do whatever magic you want.”
There was nothing comforting about those words, nothing at all. And yet my feet dragged
me toward Oscar, intent on completing my mission.
***
“Fight it, Mullins!” Master Wendyn was closer to me than Kurke now. He stepped closer and reached for my arm. My body reacted all on its own, swiping at him with the dagger and cutting a furrow along his arm. He swore and stepped back.
He was wrong. I’d looked at the lines of the magic. There was no weakness.
Behind me, I heard a volley of magic, back and forth. Master Wendyn and Kurke shouted various spells, their voices gasping and hoarse. Undeterred. Just like me.
In the alcove, Oscar was on his back, laid out by Kurke’s spell. There was a break in his right leg. It was twisted at the knee, turned in a direction knees shouldn’t turn. Blood trailed the side of his head, and he was moaning, only half coherent. I moved toward him.
“Overcome it, Mullins! Avery! You can do this!” Master Wendyn shouted at me.
What did he think I was doing? My footsteps came slow, every muscle in me burning as I tried to hold myself back from getting closer to Oscar. I was fighting so hard my muscles shivered and shook with the effort to hold myself back. But even with all that, I still reached Oscar’s side and knelt, oh-so-slowly, dagger outstretched. I raised it, the dagger held tight and high in two hands.
I must not do this.
My hands and arms shook like leaves on a windy day, the blade jerking up and down.
Ready to plunge the knife into Oscar’s chest.
Can’t lower the knife. Don’t lower it.
Arms circle around me, trying to hold me back.
For a moment, it seemed like the arms were strong enough to hold me back, but then my traitorous body ruined it by grabbing a hand and giving a yank. Ivan tumbled across Oscar’s knees.
But—how—I thought Edie was guarding Ivan.
Stop, he gestured. Not you. Stop now.
“Avery!” Kurke yelled in a commanding voice.
I managed a look over my shoulder, compelled by Kurke’s voice. He was locked in a conflict with Master Wendyn. Blood dripped down the side of the master’s face, and red slicked down Kurke’s fingers. Beyond them, Edie sat motionless by the wall, dagger still gripped in her hand. Frozen.
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