“You ready to try again?” he asked as he tossed me the book. I caught it in one hand and flipped to the page. When I gave him a nod, he continued. “Good. Now, the reason this one needs practice is because it can go very wrong if you don’t get it right. You’re essentially moving your body from one shadow—” He pointed to the corner where the light didn’t hit. “To another.” He moved his finger to the opposite corner. “But you can get lost, and you can leave a part of yourself behind.”
“Neither one of those sound ideal,” I said. “But Laura and Anastasia are still stuck on that rebel base, and I’m done sitting around doing nothing. We need to find them.”
He gave me a wry smile. “On the plus side, this appears to be a pretty standard spell for shadow mages. Once you understand how it works, it should come like second nature. Your powers seem to understand how to operate pretty well without practice, but we just want to be on the safe side before you try to—”
Dorian’s voice cut off when I stepped into the corner, closed my eyes, and forced the shadows to move before me. An instant later, I was across the room.
“I think we’re good,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “Ready to go back home and find our friends?”
Chapter 18
When Dorian’s familiar apartment shimmered into view before us, his sparse furniture and sagging ceiling wasn’t the only thing we saw. Magister Salvatore stood before us with two council members and three Enforcers clustered around him in a protective circle. And all five of their daggers were pointed straight at our hearts.
Dorian shifted in front of me, blocking me from view. “Magister Salvatore. I’m certainly surprised to see you here.”
“I expect you didn’t think I’d be able to break through your wards,” the Magister said with a strange smile.
“With all due respect, Magister, that’s true. You’re powerful, but—”
“Not that powerful?” Magister Salvatore raised his eyebrows. “That’s true. I had some help.”
“I assume you heard about what happened,” Dorian said quietly. “There’s no need to point your daggers at us. We’re happy to cooperate in any way you deem necessary.”
I couldn’t help but notice the vague meaning behind Dorian’s words. What happened could mean any number of things, though I was pretty sure we all knew exactly why the coven had waited here for us to arrive. Still, if they didn’t know the full details, no need to fill them in and make the situation even worse.
The Magister stared at Dorian for a full tense moment before he motioned for his men to lower their daggers. Stepping through them, he walked across the room until he stood only inches from us. His eyes flicked over Dorian’s shoulder, landing on me. Those eyes were cold and hard and much more unsettling than they’d been in the past. The two of us had never truly gotten along, but there’d been a shift in the past few weeks that had taken it much further than that. The guy despised me now.
“Zoe, I see that you’ve found yourself neck-deep in shit once again,” he said in an icy tone. “Any time there’s trouble, you always seem to be there. One might think there was a reason for that. They might even go so far as to say you go looking for it.”
Narrowing my eyes, I lifted my chin. Sure, he might be right about half of that, but he was more than wrong about the rest. “Of course I don’t go looking for it. And I can’t believe you’re blaming me for this.”
“Are you suggesting that you teamed up with rebels by accident?” He raised his eyebrows.
With a frustrated sigh, I stepped out from behind Dorian’s shadow. “Didn’t the Blood Coven tell you what happened? The rebels launched an attack on my bar, and they stole it with their weird travel spell. We were taken prisoner. Hell, they held a knife to Laura’s throat.”
The Magister frowned at that. Even though Laura was technically a blood mage, he’d taken a liking to my best friend. “When I spoke to Thorne on the phone, he said that his Enforcers had been attacked and thrown out onto the streets. They assumed you were involved since you then later snuck into their castle. Was that part of your rebel prison sentence, too?”
“No. Wait, kind of yes,” I said but then stopped. This was going all wrong. While I’d expected him to be angry about what had happened, I’d thought we’d have a better chance to explain ourselves. Instead, we’d started one step back, and it was impossible to catch up.
Magister Salvatore crossed his arms over his chest and glanced from me to Dorian. “Well, which is it? No? Or yes?”
I blew out a hot breath. “The rebels had a task they wanted us to do for them. Break into the Blood Coven headquarters and find a rune from their grimoires. They said that if we didn’t comply, they wouldn’t let Laura and Anastasia go.”
“Anastasia?” His eyes widened as he barked out a laugh. “That vampire girl is involved in this, too?” Shaking his head, he turned his attention to my partner. “Dorian, of all people, I never expected you to betray us like this. You’re one of our best Enforcers, and you’ve always kept a level head. How could you have put the alliance at so much risk?”
“Sir, Zoe’s story is true. The rebels insisted that we get the rune or they would keep Laura held prisoner.”
“You all know I’m fond of Laura,” the Magister said. “She’s joined our coven and showed her allegiance to us even though she has another mark. But there were other ways to handle this, ones that didn’t involve damaging the alliance we’ve all worked so hard to protect.”
“The alliance with the Blood Coven, you mean,” I said, ignoring Dorian’s look of warning. “And by working so hard, you mean by trapping an entire innocent coven’s worth of mages behind a barrier until they all starve. All to create an army of your own Nosferatu.”
Magister Salvatore levelled his gaze at me. “And now we’ve come to the real reason you broke into the castle to get that rune. You weren’t coerced, were you? You jumped feet first right into the shit pile because you wanted to demonstrate some misinformed allegiance to some mages you’ve never met instead of an allegiance to the coven where you actually belong.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I said. “The rebels flat-out said they were going to hurt Laura, and yes, I do have an allegiance to her. She’s been by my side for as long as I can remember, which has been a hell of a lot longer than you.”
“You would have gone even if they hadn’t said that. Tell me I’m wrong, Zoe Bennett.”
I struggled under the weight of his gaze. Because he was right. Even if the rebels hadn’t threatened to keep Laura and Anastasia as prisoners, I would have wanted to go after that rune. “Forget allegiances. Forget covens. It’s wrong to do what they’re doing. If they don’t take down that siege wall, innocent people could die.”
“There it is,” the Magister said with a smile. “The real Zoe Bennett making a return to the surface. You know, I did worry about your character when we first agreed to take you on, but I decided to give you the benefit of a doubt. It turns out, I was right to be suspicious of you because you’ve done nothing but cause me trouble ever since I took charge of the coven. Unfortunately for you, this time you’ve gone too far.”
Chapter 19
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. “You going to lock me up and make me face a trial because I want to free some innocent mages?”
“The Blood Coven will be looking for us to imprison you,” he said. “Thorne has already expressed his desire for you to return to his dungeons.”
“They were the ones who killed Ben. Not me,” I said. “If you want to blame someone, turn your eyes on them.”
The Magister’s eyes flashed for a moment before he glanced at Dorian. “What is she talking about? I didn’t think Ben was with you.”
Oh man. This wasn’t good. The Blood Coven hadn’t told the Magister about what had happened to Ben. And if they hadn’t told him, did that mean they were hiding their part in the entire matter? Did they not want Magister Salvatore to know?
Dorian cleare
d his throat, glancing at me with unease. “Sir, Ben accompanied us to the castle. After Zoe and I were taken down into the dungeon prison, he took it upon himself to sneak the keys and help us escape. Unfortunately, some Enforcers caught up to us before we were able to make a clear break for it, and they lobbed a fatal spell at his head. He died almost instantly.”
The Magister squeezed his hands into tight fists and jerked away from us to stare out of Dorian’s tiny, barred window. His lips were pressed into a thin line, and a harsh glint flickered to life in his dark eyes. “Magister Thorne left that little detail out of his report. I was under the impression that Ben was still a prisoner of the rebels, along with Laura and Anastasia.”
“That’s definitely not the case,” I said. “We’d still be stuck in those dungeons if Ben hadn’t done what he did. He was just trying to help us.”
“Foolhardily,” he muttered, shaking his head and closing his eyes. “Ben was a lot like you, Zoe. Tried to do the right thing regardless of the consequences. Sometimes, this dedication to what he perceived as truth and justice was a good thing. Other times…well, in the end, it’s gotten him killed.” He shifted his eyes to meet mine. “Perhaps something to keep in mind next time you think it’s a good idea to run errands for rebels.”
I swallowed hard, cheeks blazing. “So, you’re blaming his death on me.”
Should have been expected. It wouldn’t be the first time the Bone Coven decided I should be zeroed in as culprit numero uno.
“No, I place the blame squarely on the Blood Coven. As misdirected as your actions were, they should have held their fire against a council member. They didn’t really handle themselves as our ally.”
“With all due respect, sir,” I began to say, “I think this alliance is pretty shitty, and maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if we were to call things off. The Blood Coven…well, I’m sure you know even better than I do what they’re capable of. And they’ve coerced you into holding innocent sun mages captive. For what reason? To force them to create vampires? It’s insanity.”
“It’s much more complicated than that, Zoe, my dear. It’s always more complicated than that.” He sighed and gestured at the Enforcers who had accompanied him on his trip to the apartment. “Go stand outside. We need a moment, and then we’ll be just behind you.”
I raised my eyebrows as the Enforcer bodyguards inched into the hallway and shut Dorian’s apartment door behind them. The Magister waited for a few moments, listening to the creak of the floorboards as the men moved toward the front door of the building. Once he was satisfied we were alone, he motioned for Dorian to shut the blinds.
“What’s going on?” I couldn’t help but ask. The Magister was not only acting really weird, but he clearly wanted to keep this information hidden from his bodyguards. Enforcers who had been working for him much longer than I had, especially since I wasn’t even fully cleared for Enforcer activity.
“The Blood Coven has been talking about sharing our Enforcers between us, as well as our council resources,” he began. “So, we would have access to theirs, and they would have access to ours. In the past, I’ve felt confident discussing confidential information in front of the team, but things are changing. I can no longer be sure what will be fed back to the Magister.”
“Sharing Enforcers and council resources?” Dorian frowned. “But that would essentially mean—”
Magister Salvatore gave a nod. “They’re talking about operating as one cohesive unit. As one coven instead of two.”
My mouth dropped open. In all the years the covens had been in existence, no one—that I knew of—had proposed anything like this. Each and every mage felt a connection with their coven, and that part of our existence was rooted firmly in who and what we were, down to the very magic we were able to practice. A mage got a mark. One mark. Not four.
“The magic is different,” I said. “The runes. The grimoires. It would be like playing basketball and baseball on a single field.”
“And yet, we are all mages. Some might argue that we would be stronger as one unit rather than as four, although I’m not inclined to involve the shadows if our world changes to something such as this.” The Magister spread his hands. “However, for Magister Thorne, it isn’t about harmony. It’s about control. He wants us under his thumb just as much as he wants the sun mages to fight the demons when he makes that command.”
Surprise flickered through me. “You’re not happy with the alliance.”
“Not in the least,” the Magister said. “Do you think I want to help them create their own version of Nosferatu?”
“Then, I don’t understand,” Dorian said. “Why don’t you break things off? Why go along with the siege?”
“Because as I said before, it’s more complicated than that,” the Magister said with a sigh. “We have all seen what the demons are capable of, and I think we’re all very much aware that this is going to get far worse than it’s going to get better. Do I approve of what they’re doing? No, of course not. But can I fight them on this? No to that as well. There may come a time when I can and will fight them on something, but this one isn’t it. We need the sun mages to agree to fight.”
“There must be a better way, Magister Salvatore,” Dorian said. “The siege doesn’t just affect council members and Enforcers. It’s hurting their entire coven, including their children.”
The Magister let out a harsh laugh. “That’s more their fault than ours. We’ve given them a half of dozen chances to let their children go in a temporary withdrawal of the siege wall. They’ve refused every time.”
“Still, you can’t just force people to fight for you,” I said. “You can’t force them to cast spells they don’t agree with.”
“It’s not about the fighting, and it certainly isn’t about creating any vampires,” the Magister said. “At least, that’s not what it’s about for us, the Bone Coven. The sun mages have something very important to the impending war, and I’ve assured them that we’ll drop the blockade if they hand it over. Once again, they refuse to do so. We’ll give them one more chance, but we’ll be forced to go in with our combined Enforcer team if they continue to refuse.”
“What would they have to help with the war?” Dorian asked.
“The Witch’s Blade,” the Magister said.
“Wait. The Witch’s Blade?” I asked, remembering Dorian mentioning it when Ryker and the rebels found that blank sheet of paper in my bag. It was the weapon that the Sun Coven kept locked up tight, the one whose glow was the only light in the world where certain ink could be read.
What the hell would that have to do with this?
The Magister nodded. “So, you’ve heard of it. With that weapon in our grasp, we could win any war against the demons, with or without our allies. It was a blade forged for the sole purpose of taking out hundreds of demons at once.”
Chapter 20
Dorian and I decided to return to headquarters with Magister Salvatore to discuss the situation and potential next steps. He was finally letting me get involved again, which surprised me. I’d been certain he’d be so pissed off by my actions that he’d throw me straight behind bars. When we stepped outside on the quiet city streets to join the Enforcers, my blood ran cold at the sight of a half a dozen vampires blocking the sidewalk.
“Where’s Anastasia?” Christian Dogaru asked, stepping out from the cluster of Daywalkers surrounding him. His eyes zeroed in on me as he sent me an icy smile, his teeth pointed into sharp jagged points. Christian Dogaru and I had been through several rounds of heated discussions, negotiations, and threats. His entire body always came across as if he were brimming with rage and violence, as if one single word could send him shooting off into a terrifying direction.
As a shadow witch, he’d always treated me a little differently than other members of the coven. Not better, necessarily, but he seemed more inclined to listen to what I had to say, to give me a chance to show him that I wasn’t out to harm his family.
Because
family always came first to the Boston Daywalker Clan, which was exactly why Christian had shown up here now. He wanted his daughter back.
“Some rebels took her,” I said.
“Rebels?” Arching a thick eyebrow, Dogaru let out a deep-throated laugh that sounded anything but amused. “There is no way in hell that Anastasia would let one of those insects get a jump on her. What’s really happened to her? Tell me the truth, Zoe. I know when you’re lying.”
“Then, you’ll know that this is the truth,” I said. “She was at Blue Moon Tavern, and some rebels got the jump on us. I had a feeling she had the itch to plow through them, but they made it clear they’d retaliate against Laura if she showed even the slightest hint of her teeth.”
“Got the jump on you.” Dogaru narrowed his eyes. “If that’s the case, then how are you here now?” He waved his hand toward Dorian. “Along with your partner here.”
Sighing, I shook my head. “It’s a long-ass story, Christian. Trust me, she’s fine.”
“And you’re currently doing everything you can to get her back, I presume.” His icy gaze turned toward our Magister. “That would be why Salvatore is with you.”
“Of course we’ll do everything we can to find them—” I began, but the Magister cut me off with a wave of his hand.
“Not in the least,” Magister Salvatore replied. “Our priority certainly isn’t a vampire. Why would it be? Your breaking of our treaty saw to that. There’s no obligation for us to expend the time or the resources to find your captured daughter.”
A low growl emitted from Dogaru’s throat, and I took an instinctive step in front of the Magister. I’d never really seen the older warlock in action much before, and it was pretty freaking insane of him to poke the head of the Clan like this. Not to mention, he had to be lying. There was no way in hell we would leave Laura and Anastasia to fend for themselves at the rebel base.
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