My stomach lurched, and I was glad I hadn’t had time to eat anything before the meeting. The spell was a design not unlike the bands the shifters had been wearing, minus the stones. Before I could reel my own magic in, I found my hands inching towards it, and Lord Sutherland smiled slightly as he pushed the band onto the table. My hands twitched, my magic tracing the spell’s edges.
A binding spell. It’d attach itself to any witch who used magic, locking down their power. Who’d made this? One of the same witches he was kicking out?
“This is absurd,” said Drake. “What next, tagging all the nonhuman species? Because one of your ancestors tried that and it didn't end well for him.”
Lord Sutherland scowled, his cheeks reddening a little as a murmur swept down the row of mages. The mages tried to cover up their histories of cruelty towards the other supernaturals, sweeping them under the rug of the faerie invasion, but Drake had apparently been poking into Lord Sutherland’s background. It figured that he’d come from a long line of dickheads.
“What Drake means to say is that our council will not be following your example,” Vance said. “As it goes against the principles of our council and the Twelve.”
“Naturally, the decision is up to each individual council,” said Lord Sutherland. “As for the Council of Twelve, I think the days of cooperation are drawing to an end.”
Crap. I’d hoped my suspicions were wrong. Just for once.
“We cooperated in the war with the Sidhe,” said Lady Montgomery. “More lives would have been lost if we had not. We would have been driven to extinction.”
“I seem to remember the council was designed to prevent a war with the Sidhe,” Lord Sutherland said, with a sniff. “Plainly, they were not successful in doing so.”
“We were blindsided,” said a dark-skinned mage further down the table. “If not for our cooperation, we would never have survived. Divide and we won't stand a chance in the next war.”
“Precisely,” Vance said, and voices rose among the mages—arguments and objections clashing. The other supernaturals seemed too appalled to say anything—and it struck me that more than the shifters and witches were absent. The Summer Gatekeeper was, too, and Ilsa’s sister. Had something urgent in Faerie come up, or had the mages tried to discourage the others from attending the meeting? Or just plain not told them about it?
“I think it's clear that something needs to be done about the abundance of dark magic in this city,” said Lord Sutherland, when there was a lull in the debate. “If an agreement cannot be reached, then we will proceed with our plan without the need to consult the Council of Twelve. The witch covens have agreed to cooperate. That leaves us with a clear line of action.”
“In acting against the city’s supernaturals, you're alienating your allies and allowing the true enemy to walk free within the city, unchallenged,” Vance said. “If a mage with mind-controlling abilities used them against you, Lord Sutherland, would you require all the mages in the city who refused to submit to have their powers bound?”
“No witch has objected to my decision,” the Mage Lord said. “Every coven leader I have spoken to has agreed to have their members sign the register. The shifters have not responded, but I will send them a reminder. The guild of necromancers will receive similar forms, and any rogues will be asked to join a coalition or surrender themselves to us.”
The vampires. Keir hadn’t mentioned if they’d elected a new king or not, but there was no way in hell they’d consent to join the necromancers’ guild. For someone under a curse as Keir was, one slip might be fatal.
“Has every mage on your council agreed to do this, Lord Sutherland?” I asked. “Or have you pushed the decision through without consultation?”
“In a state of emergency such as this one, I can do exactly that,” he said. “Which register will you be signing, Jas Lyons? Are you a witch?”
“Both witch and necromancer.” I took in a deep breath, my heart hammering. “You’ll have a job and a half policing people with backgrounds like mine. I’m from a family that’s part witch, part mage and part necromancer. I never met most of my living relatives. And what about orphans of the invasion? There are tens of thousands of them in this city alone. Besides, it’s possible for humans to develop magical talent without—”
“The human school system already offers magical testing,” Lord Sutherland said. “We’ll simply formalise it. The cases of someone demonstrating magical capabilities at an older age than the average are negligible.”
Bugger. I couldn’t give up necromancy, and Evelyn would never allow herself to be bound again. I'd have to leave the guild, leave the city, relocate somewhere the rules wouldn't follow me. I had the money I'd inherited from Lady Harper. That would keep me going for a while… but what kind of future would I have, living as a fugitive?
Think, Jas. Lord Sutherland seemed to have entirely forgotten about the stones, and had his personal team of witches put together binding spells instead of looking for the enemy. How had his team of witches made those intricate spells so damn fast? He'd been planning this for longer than he let on. There was no other explanation.
Seeing me looking, Lord Sutherland picked up the wristband. “It’s painless, of course,” he said. “From now on, any witch who uses magic without a licence in this city will be cuffed and brought to trial depending on the severity of their transgression.”
Using magic was a crime now? I couldn't believe the rest of the council was falling for this crap, but he was the one calling the shots. Nobody had licence to challenge him. The others were outsiders, he’d rejected the Council of Twelve, and I… was nothing but a novice necromancer.
I’d lost. If I didn't figure a way out of this, I'd be cuffed the instant I used my magic. To add insult to injury, the reanimated body was somewhere in this building if it hadn’t been destroyed, and the Mage Lord probably had his team taking it to pieces behind the scenes. Maybe they’d start using runes to make their own zombie slaves next. I wouldn’t put anything past them.
I waylaid Drake on the way out, since he seemed most likely to pay attention. “Drake, are you still staying here after what he said?”
“God, no,” he said. “I'm going to find Wanda and we're getting the hell out. I'd rather find a hotel than stay in the same building as him.”
“I don’t blame you.” I heaved out a breath. “About the stones—”
“They break the wards? I know. Vance knows, we all know. And as far as I'm concerned, the enemy is more than welcome to use them to stride in here and see if Lord Sutherland wants our help then.”
“He knows,” I said. “He—he’s been planning this for ages, I’m sure. The binding spells, at least. Please tell me Vance has a plan.”
He jerked his head towards the half-open meeting room door. Vance and the Mage Lord stood in heated conversation. The latter’s shoulders were tense and he seemed to be talking as firmly as possible without raising his voice. I admired his self-control. Ivy stood at his side, glaring daggers at Lord Sutherland like she wished she could run him through with her blade.
“Worth a shot, at least.” Drake shrugged. “Want to help me and Wanda move out? Vance will be occupied arguing with that dick for a while, and we’ll need a witch to set up wards.”
I glanced around, seeing Lady Montgomery had gone outside. Worry twisting in my gut, I nodded. “Sure. I’ll help you find a safe hotel, set up wards…”
And then… what? Hand myself in? Run for the hills? The register would be on Lady Montgomery’s desk the instant she got back from the meeting. I could beg for Keir’s help, but he’d have to enact an exit strategy of his own soon, too. All the vampires would.
Drake led the way upstairs. Curved bannisters ran either side of us, carved with dragons and other mythical beasts. This place was even fancier than Vance’s house, if it was possible. The upper corridor was as ornate as the ground floor, and thick carpets cloaked the stairs, red and patterned in swirls.
As we reached
the upper floor, I whispered, “Drake, do you know what he did with the stones? We have to figure out how to destroy them. They’re the crux of this.”
“No clue,” he said. “If my fire can’t do it—what exactly are they, do you know?”
“I think they’re related to the weapon the Soul Collector carried in some way, or a similar type, but shifter-specific. I don’t know if Lord Sutherland is totally clued in.”
Drake halted mid-step. “You’re shitting me.”
“Nope. I assume Lord Sutherland and the council at least made the connection, but who knows what he’s thinking?”
“He’s thinking he’s gonna be replaced,” said Drake. “He’s scared shitless of it. He’ll say and do anything to retain credibility. Bloody mages.”
“Er, you are one.”
“Well observed,” he said. “I'm the son of a disgraced count and Lord Sutherland has been trying to get me kicked off the council since the start.”
“I didn't know that.” Drake, like a lot of mages, rarely talked about the family he’d lost before the invasion.
He shrugged. “Not just me. He wants rid of everyone who doesn’t fit. First the shifters, then the witches, then the rest of us riffraff. Frankly, I expected the necromancers to go first.”
“Lady Montgomery won't go for it. Guess that's the end of our partnership with the mages.” Her hands were tied, too. Her sole responsibility was the guild. She didn’t make the rules.
Drake pushed open a door on the right. “Hey, Wanda—”
Nobody was in the room. The place was ransacked, bedcovers pulled off, boxes overturned. Lady Harper’s boxes.
“Wanda?” He looked around. “She wouldn't have gone off alone.”
“Maybe she was eavesdropping on the meeting,” I said, my heart sinking unpleasantly.
The wards weren't fool-proof. And nobody had listened to my warnings.
We backed out of the room, searching the corridor. “She can’t have gone that way,” Drake said, jerking his head at another staircase. “Out of bounds.”
“Not in the spirit realm.” I stopped walking. “I can search the whole building. Give me a minute.”
Grey fog filtered in. I sensed Drake’s presence glowing beside me, and more mages downstairs… and Keir. He must have been watching the building from outside.
“Jas?” Keir looked up at me. “What is it, another shifter ghost?”
“Wanda’s missing,” I said. “She's supposed to be staying with the mages, but she's disappeared from their headquarters. Have you seen anyone leave the building?”
“Aside from now? No. I’ve been watching all the exits.”
“Shit.” I turned off my spirit sight. “Drake, when did you last see her?”
“Before the meeting. A few hours ago… I left her sleeping in.”
Before Keir showed up here. My blood chilled. “I… Keir didn’t see her leave during the meeting. He was watching all the exits.”
Drake’s scarred face paled. “What? She’d never have left on her own, knowing those bastards are targeting mages.” Like Vance, he doted on her—as the baby of the mages, she was like a younger sibling to the older ones.
“Let me check back with Keir,” I said quickly, turning my spirit sight on again.
Keir appeared beside me in the spirit realm. “I know what she looks like. I can probably track her.”
“Me too, but someone captured her from the mages’ guild. They might—”
“Still be here?” a voice whispered, and an arm locked around my neck, yanking me out of Death.
17
I twisted on the spot, breaking free of the ghost’s grip. The first shifter—the one who’d killed Lord Forrest—bared his teeth at me. His hands were sheathed in grey scales, and I was damned lucky it was his scales that’d cut my neck and not his claws.
He never left. He was still here all along.
“This is all your fault,” he snarled.
“I’m not a mage,” I said. “I’m not the one you should be blaming for this.”
The shifter let out a chilling howl. Then he turned on his heel, sprinting out of sight. As the last of the spirit realm faded away, the mages’ corridor came back into view.
Drake’s body lay crumpled and bleeding at my feet.
Shit. Deep claw wounds lacerated his chest, and blood soaked into the thick carpet. I scrambled for a spell, and Evelyn snarled in my ear, “That's not strong enough, you fool. He’s bleeding out.”
“Don’t stand there bitching, then.” I activated the healing spell, then I held my palms over Drake’s crumpled body. Hemlock magic flowed from my hands, mingling with the healing spell. Amplifying it, enhancing it, swirling into glyph-like patterns. Drake twitched as the spell engulfed him in shimmering grey-green lines.
Footsteps came from the stairs. Damn. I had to get him out of here.
The light faded, and Drake groaned and sat up, no longer bleeding. “The fuck? What stabbed me?”
“A shifter ghost. They survived Death, thanks to those stones. Drake—someone’s coming upstairs.”
The footsteps grew louder. Drake looked down at the blood covering his torn clothes and scowled. “I’ll handle them. They’ll take this seriously.”
A moment later, two mages ran into the corridor. “What is going on?” one of them demanded, taking in the blood-soaked carpet and Drake’s shredded clothes.
“We were attacked by a ghost,” Drake said. “And someone kidnapped Wanda. They got in here this morning. Seen anyone around here who shouldn’t be?”
“Kidnapped?” he echoed. “Nobody has been up here.”
“Clearly they have,” Drake said, indicating the blood staining his clothes. “Go and warn your Mage Lord there’s been a break-in. Go on.”
To my surprise, the mages turned their backs and headed downstairs. Guess Drake carried some clout after all, for all the good it did. Wanda was still gone, and the shifters’ ghosts… maybe I should just let them finish Lord Sutherland off. Heaven knew it’d make things easier for the rest of us.
“Let me check the spirit realm,” I said. “I really want to question one of those ghosts. I bet they know where Wanda is.”
“You can do that from here?” Drake let out a low whistle.
“Not according to the mages, but fuck them.” I turned on my spirit sight.
Greyness filtered in, but there were no signs of any shifter ghosts. And no Wanda. Hopefully Keir was having better luck.
“I’ll break it to Vance,” Drake said, when I returned to my body. “Maybe she’s not the only person they took.”
“But why take her to begin with?”
He shook his head. “Maybe because she's Lady Harper’s granddaughter? Or because she was alone? Haven't a clue.”
“Shit, you’re right.” What if they'd stolen some of Lady Harper’s things? Though what they want with a lot of old junk, I couldn't even imagine. But she'd made no secret of her disdain for the other mages…
Keir spoke in my ear. “She’s out of my range.”
“What, out of the city?” I said aloud.
Drake twisted to stare at me. “Are you talking to another ghost?”
“Nah, my vampire friend. He's looking for Wanda and he says she's out of reach. That means…”
She must be outside this realm. Please say she isn’t on the spirit line where the hellhounds were.
Drake’s jaw dropped. “How are we supposed to track her?”
“I probably can,” I admitted. “But I’ll need the mages not to be watching when I do.”
“I can divert their attention,” Drake said. “As long as you find her. I don’t want to lose you, too.”
“Wanda isn’t lost,” I said. “I’ll get her back.”
Drake and I made for the stairs once more. The other mages had cleared out of the entrance hall, though Lady Montgomery waited expectantly outside the building. She hadn’t gone into the spirit realm to find me this time, then. Steeling myself, I ran to meet her.<
br />
“Jas Lyons, what have you done this time?”
“Wanda was kidnapped,” I said. “My friend—one of the mages. And a shifter ghost attacked my other friend, just now. Stabbed him.”
Her brows shot up. “Stabbed him?”
Oops. I hadn’t told her the ghost had stabbed me yesterday. “The affected shifter ghosts can attack people even in death. I know Lord Sutherland doesn’t trust me, but I’m not kidding. The shifters’ ghosts seem to be able to walk in and out of buildings however they like, too. There’s one right here somewhere, the first shifter who died.”
“If that’s the case…” She swept to the gate, past the mages guarding it, and beckoned to Ilsa and River. She must have asked them to wait outside. “Ilsa, River, Jas tells me there are shifter ghosts on the loose somewhere close by. You’re to bring in a team and surround the place.”
Ilsa paled. “But the Mage Lord said—”
“This is for his own safety,” said Lady Montgomery. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate the effort.”
Yeah, right. I held my tongue, spotting Keir a few feet away. He caught my eye and nodded.
“Is Ivy around?” I asked Ilsa.
“Nope. I think she’s still with the mages.”
I swore under my breath. To find Wanda, I’d need to leave my body and risk discovery, and since I didn’t know for sure that Wanda was inside a liminal space, I’d do her more harm than good if I got caught. I needed help.
Keir walked over to me. “Jas, I can’t find your friend. We’re going to have to move away from this place.” His tone implied away from eavesdroppers.
I glanced at Lady Montgomery. “I’d help, but my friend is in danger. Can I—”
“Right, go ahead.” She waved a hand, her phone in her other hand. “I’m alerting the guild—you are not to put your life in any more danger than necessary, Jas Lyons.”
Pretty sure I have no choice.
Ilsa caught my arm. “Jas, before you go—if you want to find a specific ghost, you can summon it directly. If that helps.”
Witch's Spirit (The Hemlock Chronicles Book 3) Page 17