34. Vex
34
VEX
After Matilda disappears into her room with her new pet demon, my runes won’t stop burning. That same energy signature from earlier is getting stronger, especially with her unbound now.
“Are they safe in there together?” Draven asks. “Matilda has just had her powers unbound, as it were, and that Araxi…” He glowers at the door. “… I don’t trust that little cunt.”
Snorting, I shake my head. “Well, we have to give them both the benefit of the doubt and take this opportunity to do more research. That way, when we go back to Tilly, we are proving useful and not just three idiots thinking with their dicks, yeah?”
“You’re such an ass,” Luc drawls.
“So are you. Been practising the shield you were meant to for your homework?”
His gaze shoots to mine, darker than before. “Pulling the TA card, are we?”
I shrug. “Do it or don’t. I don’t give a fuck. But something tells me we’re going to need to all be at our best to face whatever the fuck is down there.” I jab at the floor. That shuts him up, so I turn back to Draven. “The book. We need to look at it properly.”
He nods and leads the way.
Back in Draven’s room, I grab the ancient text from where we’d left it. My runes burn brighter as I touch the worn leather binding.
I flip through the pages, scanning the ancient script. “The Syndicate has recordings of similar energy signatures, but never this powerful. Never this concentrated.”
“The Syndicate?” Draven asks, slumping onto the bed. “What’s that?”
“The organisation I… used to work for.” I meet his gaze, and he raises an eyebrow.
“What are they?”
“Spies,” Luc comments, staring out of the window.
“Assassins,” I correct him, and that gets his attention. “They use the dark web to accept hits on evil arseholes.”
“So what has that got to do with this? Why would they be tracking energy signatures?”
“Knowledge is power.”
“Okay, fair enough.”
“And who were you to them?”
“That is need to know.”
“Pretty sure we need to know,” Luc says, turning back to stare out of the window.
“Pretty sure you don’t. The point is, Draven is right. This book was trying to tell us or show us something.”
“The hidden passages?”
“Yeah.” I shove the book at him. “It’s not showing me shit.”
Draven takes it and stares at the page.
“Well?” Luc asks.
“I can see it, but fucked if I know what it means.”
“Can you draw it?” I ask.
“Yeah, hang on.”
We wait while he gets a pen and paper, leans over the desk and starts sketching.
“So the library,” I say, pointing at his drawing, “and whatever is underneath? Is that what we’re going with?”
“Pretty much,” Draven muses. “But I don’t think that’s all of it. There are passages, chambers, and the devil only knows what else.”
I snort at this choice of words, and he shoots me a cold stare. “Okay, so we need to go down there. All of us.”
“Not Matilda,” Luc says, suddenly rejoining the conversation and striding over. “She has been through enough.”
“It’s her power,” I point out. “She needs to be there as much as anyone. More so. We are extras in this little shitshow.”
Luc’s eyes flash dangerously. “She’s not going down there. It’s too dangerous.”
“That’s not your call to make,” I snap back. “Matilda’s stronger than you give her credit for. And with her new familiar, she’ll be even more protected.”
Draven stands, his presence radiating cold fury. “As much as I hate to agree with Luc, he’s right. We can’t risk Matilda down there. Not until we know more.”
I throw up my hands in exasperation. “And how exactly do you propose we learn more without her? Her power is literally connected to whatever’s down there.”
“We go first,” Draven says firmly. “Scout it out, assess the risks. Then we can decide if it’s safe enough to bring her in.”
“You two are unbelievable,” I mutter. “Treating her like some fragile doll instead of the powerful witch she is.”
Luc steps closer, his heat clashing with Draven’s chill. “We’re trying to protect her.”
“And in doing so, you’re undermining her,” I argue. “She deserves to make this choice for herself.”
A tense silence falls over the room. I can see the conflict in both their eyes; the desire to keep Matilda safe warring with the knowledge that I’m right.
“Fine. We all go, but we prepare first.”
Luc huffs. “How? We have no idea what we are walking into?”
“Scared?” I ask with a wicked smile.
“Fuck you. I’ve walked through Hell itself. Nothing scares me.”
“Except Araxi.”
He growls while Draven snickers. “Well, he has you there, arsehole.”
“Says you, asshat. You’re just as scared as I am.”
“Yeah, because I know what they can do.”
“I don’t like this,” Luc states. “Having that monster near Matilda is dangerous.”
“That monster has chosen to be her familiar,” I remind them.
“Yeah, but what the fuck? Those creatures are not witch adjacent.”
“Are any familiars?” I ask, my look revealing how idiotic he sounds right now.
He doesn’t appreciate it and throws an orb of pure Hellfire in my direction.
Luckily, I was expecting it. I’ve been expecting it since we started this, whatever the fuck it is. My runes throw up a shield before I can, and it protects me.
Just.
“You fucker,” I growl.
“Whoa,” he says, eyes wide. “That should’ve killed you. Who are you again?”
“A dark warlock with more power than you can fathom, so try to kill me again, and we are going to have a serious fucking problem.”
“You can’t die,” Draven points out.
“What?” Luc snaps. “Of course he can.”
“Nope,” he says, shaking his head. “He is using forbidden runes to protect himself.”
Luc’s gaze shoots to mine and I give him a smug smile.
“Forbidden runes? That makes you impervious to death?”
I nod.
He lets out a loud laugh and slaps Draven on the shoulder. “Oh, that must be killing you. Sorry, no pun intended. What a slap in the face.”
Draven snarls something in a language I have never heard before, which leads me to believe it is something Demonic. That is confirmed when three, erm, zombies appear at his side, ready to eat Luc’s brains out.
“Fucking hell!” I snap. “Get rid of the undead, you idiot. We do not need to add to whatever is lurking under this fucking academy.”
“Try these,” he says, indicating them. “They weren’t hard to find.”
“Who are they?” I mutter as one of them lurches towards me. I throw my hand up, and dark magick slams into it, decimating it. “This is getting to the point where the wards are going to kick our arses in a second. Get rid of the zombies, ” I hiss.
Draven scowls but waves his hand, causing the remaining zombies to crumble into dust.
“Happy now?” he growls.
“Ecstatic,” I drawl. “Can we focus on the actual problem at hand instead of your petty squabbles?”
Luc snorts. “Says the warlock who just obliterated a zombie.”
I ignore him, turning back to the book and Draven’s sketch. “We need to figure out how to access these hidden passages. Any ideas?”
Draven frowns, studying his drawing. “There might be a trigger mechanism in the library. A hidden switch or lever.”
“Great,” Luc mutters. “So we just need to feel up every bookshelf and statue until something clicks?”
“What a fucking fantastic idea,” Draven snaps, sarcasm dripping from every word.
Luc holds up his hands. “Hey, I’m all ears if anyone else wants to contribute.”
“Oh, for the love of all things unholy. Use the brains your mother gave you, will you? The Praxian power is connected to Matilda somehow. She should be able to lead us right where we want to go, hence another reason why she cannot be left out of this investigation.”
“No, it’s too dangerous,” Luc states.
“Look,” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose, “you two can play protective arseholes all you want, but Matilda’s power is literally singing to whatever’s down there.”
Luc and Draven exchange a look, clearly conflicted. I can see the moment they grudgingly accept the truth of my words.
“Fine,” Draven growls. “But as I said before, we go prepared. Weapons, protective spells, the works.”
“I’ve got it covered,” I give them a smile as I think of all the ancient weapons I have stashed in my room, and spells are natural for me. It’s in my blood.
“Agreed,” Luc nods. “And at the first sign of danger, we get her out of there.”
“Hard no. She gets to decide.”
“Don’t you care about her well-being at all?” Luc argues.
I hold my finger up and try not to jab him in the eye with it. “Don’t you dare. She is everything, but I know what she is capable of. I’ve felt her power. She is connected to me.”
“Because you are a warlock?” Draven asks, less bitterly, more interestedly.
“It’s part of it, yes. We are of the same species; the same magick runs through both of us, but it’s more than that. She has a darkness that speaks to mine. It’s raw and unfettered.”
“Fate?” he asks bluntly.
“Maybe.”
“She is our fate,” Luc says, but he isn’t arguing with me for fucking once. “All of ours.”
“Seems that way.”
We all take that on board and come to a taciturn agreement, dropping the power levels which were reaching a dangerous point. Three too-powerful creatures in the same room is probably the worst idea ever. But here we are.