“We don’t want to see any mage on this earth suffer,” the Magister said with a smile. “Except perhaps those members of the Shadow Coven, of which Zoe here is not a member of. In fact, I think she’s an excellent example of how we can all work together, expand our trust and loyalties past the coven identified to us by our marks.”
“Forcing us to join your battle isn’t going to happen, Salvatore,” Elder Arthur said. “We choose when we fight, and we decide what methods we’ll use. Before we agree to anything, we want to make that much clear.”
The Magister’s lips quirked, but he smiled. “Very well. If you prefer not to fight, then by all means, don’t fight. But just remember that the fate of the world stands on all our shoulders, and if you sit on the sidelines, that’s just as bad as joining the opposite team.”
“Zoe, I thought you said this man was a reasonable warlock,” Elder Sarah said. “I thought the agreement involved no more forced servitude.”
“And it does,” I said quickly, staring at the Magister. “Right, Magister Salvatore? They agree to give over the blade, and you agree to end the siege, which includes no longer trying to force them to become the newest members of your army.”
“Of course,” the Magister said with an icy smile. “We just wanted to make one last plea. We are all mages, are we not? Mages who don’t want to see the demons win.”
“And we have our own way of dealing with that.” The Elder nodded to the man by his side, who produced a replica of the witch’s blade. “This weapon can be used to fight against the demons, as you’re aware. You’ll also be aware that the weapon can only be used by a mage with shadow blood running through her veins. We’ll agree to hand this over as a display of our newfound peace. On one condition.”
The Magister clucked his tongue and turned his narrowed eyes my way. “I thought you said they were going to confirm the agreement. No more terms and conditions. It’s hand the blade over and end this war. Or keep the damn thing.”
“We will take the fighting and the siege and the threats if that’s what you’d prefer, Magister Salvatore,” the Elder said. “Because I’d rather die than give you unlimited power over this weapon. I swore an oath to protect this blade until the day I die. If today is that day, then so be it.”
Silence crashed around us as the two leaders met eyes. Tension flashed between them, but neither was the first to raise their hand. After several moments, I cleared my throat, realizing that they could stand here like this for days if someone didn’t do something to move things along.
“Elder Arthur, why don’t you share your condition,” I said, raising a hand when the Magister opened his mouth to argue. “Just hear him out.”
“We will lend you this weapon to destroy Wagner’s demons, but when it’s done, the blade must be returned back to us.” The Elder flicked his eyes at me. “And it must remain in Zoe’s possession during the entire duration of this mission. It cannot be stored within your headquarters. It cannot be tossed around between your Enforcers. And it certainly can’t be handed off to some other shadow mage that we haven’t been able to vouch. We will release it to Zoe, and then it must come back to us.”
The Magister frowned. “Why all the gymnastics? You can’t use it any more than we can, so what makes you think it belongs in your possession?”
“Because we have the blade room, where it’s kept protected from those who might use it for terrible things,” the Elder said, but he stopped short of sharing the rest of the information with the Magister. And I understood why. If Salvatore didn’t already know that the blade could be used to cut holes in the veil, Elder Arthur didn’t want to tell him about it. While I knew that was the last thing in the world he wanted, I understood that Elder Arthur couldn’t possibly have that much trust in his motives. The council had trapped him and threatened him. For all he knew, Magister Salvatore might just want demons to enter the world.
“Normally, I wouldn’t agree to demands from the party who is at a clear disadvantage in the conversation, but luckily, in this case, we both want the same things.” The Magister smiled. “Give us the blade, with only Zoe as the wielder of the weapon, and we will end this siege today.”
Chapter 29
While the Elders discussed the decision amongst themselves, I pulled Dorian to the side to whisper into his ear. “That didn’t go exactly as I envisioned. It felt like they were going to break out into battle at any moment.”
“The Elders aren’t happy with the Bone Coven, and the Magister isn’t happy with the Sun Coven. It’s a recipe for tension, but like Magister Salvatore said, they really do both want the same things. At this point, it’s a matter of putting aside their pride to get there.”
“Well, I have a feeling that our leader isn’t all that great with putting aside his pride,” I mumbled.
“You’ve done great by the way,” Dorian said as a smile crept across his face. “I’m proud of you. Zoe Bennett, defender of the downtrodden, forsaker of coven chains. If it weren’t for you, then this conversation wouldn’t even be happening.”
I smiled back, feeling a little bit of hope that everything might turn out okay after all. “It’s not all on me. You can’t forget Dorian Kostas, the vampire with the mortal soul who kicks some serious ass.”
For a moment, the world fell away as I stared up at my partner. Memories flashed through my mind from the night before, images of his rippling body over mine. I’d never felt more full than in that moment, and I knew without a doubt it was only the first of many nights I would spend in his arms. Despite it all, we’d somehow found each other. And no matter what happened, no matter our differences, I never wanted to let go.
“We’ve come to our decision,” Elder Arthur said, breaking through the moment and yanking me back to the reality of the situation. He stepped up to the barrier, coming eye to eye with Magister Salvatore. For a moment, I thought he was going to turn the truce down, argue against the Magister’s motives. But instead, he gave a nod. “We’ll agree to give you the weapon in exchange for our freedom.”
The Magister’s chest heaved as he took in a deep, satisfied breath, his lips turning up into a smug smile. Something about his expression sent a shock of warning through me, but I brushed it aside. Of course he was going to look like the cat that just ate the canary. Despite the fact we were calling it a truce, he’d won. He’d forced the sun mages to do what he wanted, and he’d ended up with access to a weapon that would undeniably beat the demons.
“This was the right decision,” Magister Salvatore said with a smile. “I’m glad we were able to come to an understanding. Now, all we need is for you to hand over the weapon, and we’ll get this pesky little wall out of your way.”
“The blade is stored—and protected—inside a magically-sealed room,” Elder Sarah began. “We can lead you there, just as soon as you lower the wall.”
Magister Salvatore twisted to say something to the Enforcers just behind him, words that were spoken too softly for me to hear, before turning back to the Elders. “To demonstrate your commitment to this new partnership, why not fetch it and bring it to me? That way, we can each uphold our end of the bargain simultaneously.”
“That just isn’t possible,” the Elder said, his voice going tight even though is face remained as cool and as composed as always. “All Elders must be present in order to unlock the door, and I would struggle to carry it myself all the way from the building down to here. It’s at least a mile, and the weapon does not like being handled by anyone who isn’t a shadow mage.”
“This is becoming tedious,” Magister Salvatore said. “Do you mean to tell me that the Witch’s Blade is stuck in that room unless all of you are there?”
“It’s our fail-safe way of ensuring that the weapon doesn’t fall into the wrong hands,” he said. “This way, we can pass the blade along to Zoe directly. At no point will we have to worry that you’ll keep it for yourself.”
The Magister’s face broke into a scowl, and the hair on the back of my neck
stood on end. Things were starting to go wrong here. Very wrong, if the Intuition slithering through me was any indication. The Elders words had pissed off the Magister, and it had brought to light an issue with the truce. From the look on his face, the Magister didn’t want the blade handed directly to me. He wanted it for himself, which meant that he might not be planning to uphold his end of the deal after all.
But that was crazy. This entire deal had been his idea in the first place…or had it? I tried to think back to our conversation. I’d convinced him Dorian and I could negotiate some kind of truce. He’d been the one who had mentioned the Witch’s Blade and his willingness to give up the siege if they handed it over.
So, he’d gotten what he’d wanted. There’d be no reason for him to turn his back on his word now.
That said, even though it was logical, the back of my neck still prickled with alarm. Something wasn’t right here. I turned toward the Elders. They’d been confrontational during this entire exchange. They’d been pretty much forced into this situation, and they were certainly doing their best to stall the transfer. Maybe they didn’t plan on giving me the weapon. All of this could just be some way to trick the Magister into lowering the wall.
“Are you going to give me the blade now?” I asked. “Because earlier you said you couldn’t open the blade room without all of the Elders present.”
“That’s right. We can’t.” A few of the Elders exchanged looks. “The fail-safe requires that we’re all present anytime we need to unlock the door.”
The Magister flicked his fingers, and the shimmering wall separating us from them immediately vanished into a bright puff of orange smoke. He stepped through to the Sun Coven side and cocked his head as he scanned the Elders standing before him.
“And yet, if I’m counting correctly, not all of you are present here now.” Magister ticked off his fingers. “I know you make it your business to know what’s happening in my coven? Well, I do the same to you. There are seven Elders. Not five. So, where are the other two?”
“They’ll be returning to us any day now,” Elder Arthur said without meeting the Magister’s eyes.
Tension crackled through the air as the Bone Coven leader tipped back his head and laughed. “Any day now? You must think this is all a big joke if you believe you can agree to a truce without handing anything over for an unspecified number of days.”
Shifting on my feet, I glanced at Dorian. His face was as stony as my heart felt. This was going terribly wrong. The Sun Coven had not only insulted the Magister, but they had possibly set us all up. Now, the siege wall was down, and the Bone Coven had nothing in return. I had a feeling our Magister wouldn’t take this sitting down.
“We have given you our word which is far more valuable than your own. When we make promises, we keep them,” the Elder said with a dangerous glint in his eye. “We will give Zoe the blade when our Elders return. Until then—”
“If there are two more Elders in the first place,” Magister Salvatore cut in. At the widening of Elder Arthur’s eyes, the Magister merely smile. “It would be a good trick. Make us think there are more of you, tell us you need seven when you only need five. It would keep us hanging on indefinitely when you could have accessed the room the entire time.”
The Magister stepped in close and pressed his blade against Elder Arthur’s neck. A shout got lodged in my throat as I rushed toward the confrontation. The Bone Coven Enforcers shuffled to their left, blocking me before I could do a thing. Their bodies were practically brick walls, and all I could see were the tops of the leaders’ heads.
“You will take me to the blade room. Now.” His voice was as hard as steel, and his eyes were as dark as the night sky. “And you will open that door so that I can take the weapon myself.”
“Take the weapon yourself? But what about—”
“Hush,” he said with a hiss as he turned his devilish gaze onto me. “This elaborate scheme was probably your idea because if that blade room ever did get unlocked, the weapon would go straight to you. Nice try, Zoe Bennett, but you’re not the first shadow mage I’ve tangoed with, and I know how you think. Cuff her,” he said in a shout to his Enforcers. “The Unbound, too.”
“What do you want us to do with the Elders?” his Enforcer asked as they twisted my hands around my back. With a grunt, I tried to stomp down on his foot, but he jogged out of the way as if we were in the middle of a well-rehearsed dance. And we were. I’d trained with this guy, as well as the other five Enforcers with the Magister, practicing their moves several hundred times. They knew the routine even better than I did, and nothing they’d taught me could catch them off guard.
The Magister’s gaze lingered on the cluster of older mages. “As long as they’re alive, that room will remain locked. Kill them. And then burn the bodies.”
Chapter 30
My jail cell was one of the Sun Coven’s underground bunkers, though a single sunlight overhead filtered through the bright beams of the midday sun. When we were first captured, I’d heard the Magister discuss the idea of throwing me into darkness, but then he agreed that it might not be best to give me access to shadows. And he’d be right. As long as the siege wall was down, I could travel the hell out of here anytime I wanted.
Just as soon as I found some darkness.
The Magister hovered just on the other side of the door. I could hear his wheezy breaths as he stood motionless, listening and waiting, as if he expected me to do something other than sit here bored out of my mind.
“You going to say something?” I called out, my voice echoing in the empty steel space. “Or are you just going to stand there being creepy as fuck?”
“We didn’t want it to come to this, Zoe,” he finally said. “If you’d stayed out of things and cooperated, we wouldn’t have been forced to put you in this position.”
“But eventually, I would have ended up just like this, am I right?” I raised my eyebrows, even though he couldn’t see my expression through the door. “You always planned to use me as the mage behind the blade.”
“I have to admit, I’d been hoping you would have been a tad more agreeable about the entire situation,” he said with a heavy sigh. “Though I realize now how naive that was of me. You’ve never done things the easy way, Zoe. Why would you start now?”
“What you mean to say is that I don’t blindly follow whatever it is you say,” I said, leaning against the door and crossing my arms. “Questioning your motives and your tactics, not a trait you find very attractive in your soldiers.”
“Most leaders want their soldiers to follow orders,” he said. “That’s part of the job.”
“Well, then I guess I’m going to have to find another job, aren’t I?”
A soft laugh filtered through the thick door, a sound that sent a storm of goosebumps across my skin. “You won’t be finding another job, Zoe. You’ll be sticking around for as long as we need you. And there’s no telling how long that might be. More than just a few days. Months, maybe. Hell, this war could end up taking years.”
“Years?” I narrowed my eyes. “Why the hell would it end up taking years?”
“You tell me, Zoe Bennett.” His voice drifted away as his footsteps echoed on the steel floor. “Enjoy your solitary confinement. I hope it gives you a newfound perspective on things. See you…in awhile.”
Down the hallway, the Magister shut the door behind him, a sound that echoed in the quiet space. Suddenly, I was very much alone with nothing but the bright sunlight streaming through the overhead window. All around me, the place was lit up like a star. Bright fluorescent bulbs were glued to each ceiling and wall. While the sun mages had no doubt used this as a source of power, it was like hell for a mage like me. Without a shadow or a blade, I had zero access to my magic.
Days passed without any relief. I spent my time with my ear to the wall, listening for any sign of Dorian or the Elders. I had no idea if they’d captured them as well. And if they had, there was no guarantee they’d be in the same bui
lding. The only sign of life was the drop-off of a food tray every morning and every night. A plate of bread, cheese, and milk. Nothing more and nothing less.
After four days of this, I was ready to hurl the milk at the wall.
I didn’t have a lot of patience for this bullshit. They couldn’t just keep me locked up in here until the day they decided they wanted me to stab a demon.
On the fifth day, the Magister returned to my cell, accompanied by his two bodyguard Enforcers. He slid inside the room and settled down into the metal chair. He motioned for me to sit, so I perched on the edge of the cot, my body tense and ready to fight at a moment’s notice.
“Before we begin, I must tell you that there’s no use in trying to fight,” the Magister said in a smooth as silk voice. “If you manage to take out both me and my bodyguards, you’ll make it as far as the next door down the hall. It’s locked and monitored by a video system. No one will let you out, and no one will come in. They’re under strict orders.”
“They would come in if they thought their Magister was in trouble,” I said, lifting my chin. A veiled threat, one that didn’t go unnoticed by any of the men standing before me.
“I made sure to put some real soldiers outside those doors. They aren’t like you. These good mages do as they’re told.”
“Good for them,” I said with an icy smile. “Perhaps you should just try building yourself some robots next time you want to add some Enforcers to the team. You’d probably appreciate a heap of iron and wires far more than you’d appreciate an actual living person with independent thoughts and emotions.”
“Instead of going to all that trouble, I could just use a control spell, yes?” He tapped his chin and leaned forward onto his knees, his beady little eyes boring holes into my skin. “Then, I could have all the obedient Enforcers that I need, including you.”
“Nice try,” I said. “As ignorant of the supernatural world as you think I am, I do know which spells are illegal.”
The Bone Coven Chronicles: The Complete Series Page 58