by Lan Chan
Patricia’s wings flared as she landed beside me. She settled into a gallop after they dematerialised. “You have no idea how happy I am to see the two of you together,” Patricia said. She speed walked along on my left. “The MirrorNet is simply abuzz.”
What really set me off was that I knew she irritated the hell out of Kai. He was only doing this to get my back up. Patricia’s eyes flicked to my hand. Still no ring. Her lips pursed.
“Really, Alessia. The community can’t be patient for much longer. We were willing to accept you as mistress of House Pendragon after that nasty business at the Unity Games, but we need to see a sign of commitment.”
As it turned out, not all Nephilim were born to guard. The worst part was that it was the half-mortal Nephilim who made up most of the non-militant community. And they carried on their mortal legacy like it was a badge of honour. The amount of banal gossip that spouted from Patricia’s lips was the stuff of legends. She made Basil look like an amateur.
“I really don’t have time for this today,” I told her. Beside me, Kai’s cheek puckered like he was biting the inside of it to stop from grinning. If I could have reached, I would have punched him in the face.
“Oh that’s all right, dear, I’m happy to just tag along. Don’t mind me. I’ll be as silent as a cursed wraith.”
That got Kai’s attention. “We’re going into the archives.” It wasn’t so much what he said but the way he said it.
“Oh.”
Typical. I could throw out as many get lost hints as I wanted but a single word from Kai and they were falling over themselves to comply.
After a second to regroup, Patricia brightened. She glanced up at the sky. “Well, it’s almost time for class, isn’t it, so you shouldn’t be in there long. Perhaps I’ll just wait outside.”
Kai blinked. Ha! Even he hadn’t expected that response. I couldn’t help the smug smile as he opened the door of the library and ushered me through.
“See what I mean?” The hiss came out too loudly in the reserved quiet of the Seraphim library. “Make them back off.”
He gave me a look like I was deranged. “Did it seem like I have any power over them?”
I regarded him warily. “You know the easiest way to get them to back off. Rescind the damn bond.”
“Why don’t you?”
My hand touched down on a dusty book sitting on the information desk. I was about to pick it up and throw it at him when Christopher popped up behind the desk. “Malachi!”
If ever there was a person whose appearance perfectly matched their vocation, it was Christopher. Even though he was balding around the top of his head, he wore one of those visors that did nothing to protect from the sun. His shirts were always eye-blinding white beneath a sedate brown vest. There was no way of telling exactly how old he was, but he moved with an unhurried gait that said everything could wait. If the world ended, I suspected he would simply shush it and ask it to wait its turn.
He glanced at me quizzically, smile faltering when he noticed the book I had drawn back over my shoulder. “Alessia.”
I dropped the book back on the table, noting Kai’s smirk and filing it away for later. “What brings you both here?”
Christopher was subtler than Patricia but the emphasis on the word both couldn’t be interpreted any other way. I suppressed a groan. “I’d like to retrieve the codex from the archive,” Kai told him.
Christopher tapped a crooked finger against his nose. “Are you sure?” For some reason, his gaze slid over to me. “I was given to understand that –”
“As soon as possible, please.”
The librarian nodded without missing a step. “As you wish, sir.”
He disappeared into thin air. I gawped. I knew he was Nephilim, but it never gelled because he was always so sedate. Now that he was gone, I gritted my teeth. “You’re telling me that amongst all these books, there isn’t a single one that sheds some light into how to kill a seraph?”
Kai ran his finger over the spine of the book I had been meaning to use as a projectile. The motion made goosebumps prickle along my arms. “If you had a weakness,” he said, “would you document it for the world to read?”
He had me there. “I suppose not but –”
His jaw clamped hard. “There’s nothing here, Blue. Trust me.” The sudden steel in his voice had me swallowing the rest of my response. His eyes flashed a dangerous dark green. Frustration filtered through to me from the bond. Frustration and...helplessness.
“You’ve searched before?”
He turned to me, his eyes hooded. “Did you think I didn’t try to find a way after the Hell dimension spewed demons into Seraphina to murder my family? Who do you think Buchanan was taking orders from?”
I swallowed my own stupidity. Of course he had tried to turn the world upside down to figure out a way to kill Lucifer. My laser focus had turned blinkered. I slumped against the desk, hope shrivelling. If Kai couldn’t find anything with his considerable resources, what hope did I have?
Christopher reappeared while I was moping. He held a maroon leather bound tome in his arms. It was at least as thick as the Book of Beasts. With great ceremony, he placed it in front of me. I glanced at Kai. “What’s this?”
“The Nephilim Codex,” Kai said. “It’s been in my family for generations.”
“What am I meant to do with it?”
Christopher cocked his head to the side. “Why, it contains the most complete account of how the Nephilim came into being. All our history is in here. Our most sacred bloodlines and most notable members.”
“Your weaknesses?”
With a solemn nod, Christopher pushed the codex closer to me. “Such as they are.”
“You want me to read this?” I asked Kai, wondering why I would bother when he’d no doubt taken the book apart word by word.
“Maybe you can find something I missed.”
It seemed unlikely but Christopher was giving me such an encouraging look that I reached out to take the tome. My hand touched the leather. A tingle brushed against my palm like the way the MirrorNet scanned me when I went to make a call. Only this sensation didn’t ebb in a matter of seconds. It was as though my hand was suddenly magnetised to the cover. When I laid my palm flat, the Ley sight dragged me into the dimension of light, and I saw the rich green surrounding the book mingle with a pulse of blue. Dragging myself back into reality, I glared at Kai. “What was that?”
He reached out and pulled the codex right up against my chest. “It needed to be configured to your essence so you can read it. It’s warded against theft.”
He was so full of it. “What did you just do?”
Christopher was suddenly busy putting books back on the shelves. “Do you want the book or not?” Kai asked.
I glanced at the beautifully decorated cover that might contain the knowledge to allow me to break out of the hold of the prophecy. “Fine.”
It was not fine.
Not if the vicious look I received from Chanelle when we exited the library was anything to go by. I’d heard that she’d taken up a position with her mother organising Seraphina’s functions. Her floor-length turquoise gown sure fit the bill. She wasn’t the only one gathered outside the foyer of the library. A small gaggle of Patricia’s henchwomen had congregated to get a peek at Kai and me together on a social visit for the first time since the Unity Games ended.
“You’ve got to me kidding me,” Chanelle snapped at Kai. “Your father’s codex?”
That set Patricia off into a flurry for some reason. She whipped out a handheld mirror and spoke furiously into it.
“Kai?” I asked, feeling conspicuous.
He blocked my view of the masses with his shoulder and teleported us back to the Academy. We landed just outside the front doors.
“This was your father’s?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you giving this to me?”
“Who said I was giving it to you?”
On a hunch, I
flipped open the cover. Monogrammed into the top right of the inside cover was the name: Alessia Hastings-Pendragon.
I dropped the book. He caught it on the way down. “You’re insane.”
Turning my back on him, I wrenched the front door open and marched inside. The nerve of him! Sophie intercepted me as I stomped up the staircase.
“Hey! Where did you go this morning? I thought you were banned from the Grov –what?”
I made a frustrated-shrieking sound. When I told her, the whites of her eyes could not have popped out more. But she was focusing on the wrong thing. “You mean there’s a book that might reveal a way to hurt seraphim?”
“You’re missing the point.”
She took the steps down two at a time. “Sophie!” I caught up to her just outside the door. Kai was sitting on the brick ledge of the water fountain. He held the codex out. Sophie shoved me in the back. I dug my heels in.
“We need it,” she said.
“If he couldn’t find anything, what make you think we can?”
“What other choice do we have?”
I hated that she was right. This was our best chance so far. My feet could not possibly have been heavier as I took the ten steps towards Kai. He dropped the codex into my outstretched arms. “At least I hyphenated,” he said, with a self-satisfied grin.
I bit my lips together and stomped back into the dorm because I was in danger of beating him to death with the codex.
19
Word of my new acquisition spread like angelfire throughout the supernatural community. According to Nanna, the cold calls from vendors doubled. Luckily, I was inside the Academy boundaries. That didn’t stop them from trying to reach me through their student contacts. Now I was being propositioned in class by students who had never spoken to me before. It was a relief when the weekend rolled around and I could escape to Ravenhall.
“Do not say a word or the deal is off,” I snapped at Andrei when he met me in the gardens surrounding the Great Hall.
“My lips are sealed,” he said. “Much like the codex had been until Captain Nephilim somehow got you to break it without you even noticing. Honestly, squirt, is there any point refusing the bond like this? Why don’t you just jump him and get it over with. Put us all out of our misery.”
Eugenia clapped. “Here, here!”
“Will you both shut up? I really don’t need this right now.”
“I can tell you what you need, squirt,” Andrei muttered none-too-quietly. “But you’re not going to like it.”
Ignoring his lascivious smile, I petitioned Eugenia for a spell or potion to break the bond. She pouted at me. “Did you come back from the dead without half your brain, witchling? He’s wealthy, gorgeous, wealthy, wants you despite you not being able to procreate, and did I forget to mention exceedingly wealthy? But you want to get rid of the bond anyway?”
“Yes.”
She inspected me as though she was sure I was lying. “It’ll cost you.”
“How much?”
She tapped her chin. “It might not be monetary.”
“What does that mean?” Sorceresses were so mercenary! No wonder Max didn’t want anything to do with them!
“How badly do you want it?”
Andrei tsked. “I’d swim away from this sea witch if I were you, little fishy.”
Eugenia swatted him away. “The spell you’re looking for is powerful. Much more powerful than a love spell.”
Sophie had said as much. I’d asked her originally. Even if she weren’t mortally opposed to the idea, she’d said she couldn’t get away with that kind of spell without getting into a lot of trouble. “And you’d have to be the one to take it. He’s too strong a healer to be affected by a potion like that.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “Again, what’s your price?”
She sniffed. “I don’t mess with that sort of thing. Sticking your nose into people’s feelings is a recipe for death. But I might know someone who would do it.”
“I’ll pay whatever it costs.”
“It would be easier if you just refute the bond.”
My teeth grit hard. “If I could do that, don’t you think I would have?”
“Your messed-up fairytale breaks my heart, witchling.” She lifted a finger to my face. “If anyone asks, I had nothing to do with this. The last thing I need is Malachi Pendragon’s wrath.”
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of him.”
She gave me the cold shoulder. “You get a different side of him to the rest of us, my love.”
Disturbed, I subtly changed the subject. “Did you get a family possession?” I asked Andrei.
His humour turned to chagrin. “The old bat is playing hardball.”
“I gave you one thing to do!”
He shrugged. “How was I supposed to know you’d need something of theirs?”
“What kind of psycho burns down all of his family’s things?” Red bled into his eyes. I kicked him in the shin. “Don’t give me that.”
Andrei snapped his pointed teeth at me. I wanted to rip the light amulet from his neck and watch him yelping but I sensed it wouldn’t help. Truth be told, I had anticipated that he would come up short. That was why Eugenia was tagging along. It would have been better if I could dredge up a necromancer, but I was persona non grata with the Nightblood students at the moment. In hindsight, Sophie would have been a better choice than Eugenia, but she had a Council function to attend and Emily was going to be there, so I had to steer clear.
“You two are more entertaining than the MirrorNet,” Eugenia said. “Do you know that there’s a small part of the community that ships you now?”
Andrei burst out laughing like it was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard. He almost choked. Eugenia had to smack him on the back a couple of times. Though the idea sickened me, I was insulted by his reaction.
“No offense, squirt,” he chuckled. “You’re a little bit...small and human.” I walked ahead. “And prickly –”
“Rude as well,” Eugenia added. “Moody...”
“Physically weak.”
“Insubordinate.”
“Devil marked.” They both cackled at that one.
“Remind me again why I’m doing this to help you?” I huffed at Andrei.
“Because you promised,” he grinned, the amusement stripped from his face. “And like Captain Nephilim, you’re secretly a goody goody and promises actually mean something to you.” He snapped his fingers. “So get to it.”
If I had a fraction of high magic, I would turn him into a slug.
Despite wearing a fitted red dress that skimmed her ankles, Eugenia knelt down in the damp grass and started setting up the circle. I balked at the human skull she pulled out of her bag. “Ummm...please tell me that isn’t real.”
“You said we needed to strengthen the summoning somehow,” she said. “They murdered a bunch of innocents. The skull will draw on those ties.”
“Whose skull is it?”
Eugenia shrugged. “Some poor sap.”
The lack of details concerned me greatly. “No, really,” I insisted. “Whose skull is it?”
She stopped pouring herb-infused salt onto the grass. “I don’t check the credentials of every ingredient I use in my spells. The bone merchant assures me it was from a murdered specimen.”
She went back to pouring like that was a good enough explanation. I sat down heavily at her blasé attitude. What in the world had I gotten myself into?
“Isn’t there a chance that we could summon the spirit of the murder victim?” I asked.
“Probably.” She set black candles around the circle and then...oh great, more bones. These were your lesser frightening, though equally disturbing, leg and arm bones. She placed the skull at the very centre of the circle over the intersecting lines of a five-pointed star. The other bones she set in crossing patterns all around the circle. “But it’s not likely. You don’t know the victim so there’s not that much chance just any person will trespass thr
ough the veil.”
I regretted making this promise. At the time, it had been the only thing that would get through to Andrei. But I couldn’t help feeling guilty about disturbing some poor soul’s eternal rest. Never mind what Azrael might think of it.
At least free will was good for one thing. It was little comfort as Eugenia lit the candles and poured a drop of her own blood into the crucible she laid in front of me. I sat outside the line of the circle at one of the five tips of the star she had drawn with salt. It just so happened to be in the direct line of sight of the skull. Just great. Eugenia positioned herself on the opposite side of the circle facing me. Andrei dawdled far enough away where he thought a blast zone might not affect him.
Using a clean boning knife I had brought with me, I nicked the pointer finger of my left hand and put pressure on the cut to draw out blood. Once a few drops had trickled into the crucible, I dipped my other hand into it and drew a tennis-ball-sized circle in front of me. When the blood circle was complete, the salt circle illuminated in blue laced through with bits of red and black.
I hadn’t managed to stay in my elective class at Nightblood for very long, but over the summer, I’d read enough books on summoning to be able to bridge the gap. Sort of. That and Eugenia had invited a sketchy old necromancer to dinner who gave me a crash course that had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.
Over on her side of the circle, Eugenia’s lips moved in a silent chant. The summoning spell was easy enough to remember. It was the summoning words that were going to be tricky. Like most dead languages, I wasn’t very good at pronouncing them. Long hours of practice had etched them into my mind. How they came out when I spoke them was another matter.
As I sat there running the words in my head, the circle pulsed with the blood-red flare of Eugenia’s magic. It turned the blue of my circle into a murky purple. That was my cue.