Chapter 26
The midday sun glares down on the three of us and I sweat in the heat.
Lucas has us hiding in an alley, his arm outstretched to hold me against the mossy brick.
My nose wrinkles. The putrid scent of warming trash rolls my stomach.
I try my best to take short breaths through my mouth, but I can still taste it.
Valen stands unaffected at my side, his hands in his pockets and feet apart as usual.
He refuses to touch the brick and I can hardly blame him.
Lucas’ rings ripple. Spider-silk thin threads feed into the cobblestones to wind along the earth, allowing him to track a pack of bounty hunters.
His brown eyes are tense, his jaw clenched.
The situation is serious; the bounty hunters are a group of magicians known for their brutality and hunting prowess.
And yet, I’m utterly and completely distracted by the deep purple bruise on Lucas’ neck.
The memory of biting him there during my earth-shattering orgasm beneath both men’s hands brings a flush to my cheeks.
I’d fan myself and blame the sun if Lucas’ arm across my sternum wasn’t so restricting.
My eyes dart to Valen to see if he’s as distracted as I am. Of course, he’s not; his sole focus is on the mouth of the alley. I drop my gaze.
We haven’t talked about last night. I thought about bringing it up after breakfast, but I hesitated.
What bloomed last night is a young, delicate thing that I don’t want to crush by stumbling over the wrong words.
Especially with the men, who seem to be pretending that last night didn’t happen.
They have a lot of hostility still rippling in the undercurrent of their interactions and I can’t quite figure out why that is.
So much is riding on both of them coming to terms with their feelings, let alone navigating a relationship with me. But those are a lot of complications that we don’t need while trying to keep me alive. Which is why they’re focusing, like I should be, instead of lustfully daydreaming.
I sigh and gag violently. Ugh, the alley is a special layer of hell. “Can we—”
Lucas hisses, “Shh!”
My face contorts in outrage. “You did not shush me.”
He glares angrily at me and I roll my eyes.
Valen murmurs, “We can still go back to your friend’s and save the grimoire for another day. I can suppress your threads.”
I whip around to him, forgetting myself in my rising outrage. “Are you out of your fucking mind? I’d lose my magic!”
Lucas scowls. “Will both of you shut up—”
The world explodes. Valen senses it coming and his irises flare iridescent blue.
A shield wraps around us. The bricks crumble away, the trash dissolves, the stone shivers.
Lucas throws himself on me, wrapping his arms tightly around my shoulders to keep me safe from anything that could penetrate Valen’s shield.
Dust rains down, coating the shield in a layer of gray. Valen smirks. “Congratulations. You gave away our position.”
Lucas whips around with a snarl. “ME? Go fuck yourself!”
Valen’s smile widens. “Get ready to run.”
Lucas barely has time to untangle from me before Valen’s shield drops.
Our attackers are not the bounty hunters I expect.
Before us are full-fledged Order members who’ve shed their ceremonial robes to blend in with Havenport’s civilians with their suits and hats.
A wind kicks up as Valen steps forward. Ice explodes forth with a hissing crackle.
The weavers raise their shields in time, but perfectly round spheres of ice encase them in shivering coldness. Valen snaps, “Run!”
Lucas grabs my hand. We sprint as fast as we can through the shop-lined streets, uneven cobblestones threatening to break our ankles. Chaos erupts, bystanders screaming and scattering as windows shatter and glass rains down. Lucas pants, “They must be fucking desperate.”
Valen is close behind. “Of course. Did you not see Alasdair?”
Lucas shudders. “Good point.” Threads explode forth as we encounter the three bounty hunters Lucas was tracking.
A magic staff spins in the leader’s hands, electricity crackling along the gnarled head, but Lucas is too fast and willing to kill.
He skewers the bounty hunter through the heart with a perfectly timed attack.
The man crumples and his companions are forced back by the wall of ice that crackles into existence before them.
Lucas jumps over the dead body, forcing me to do the same.
I gather my magic, ready to engage with any of our pursuers, but Valen snaps, “Don’t you fucking dare!
” and it douses. I’m cold, my hand shaking.
There’s an empty, broken pain in my chest. I cover it with my hand and rub while running.
It’s different from my usual split soul and Dual Threads discomforts.
The strangeness sets me on edge, but I have no time to think on it further.
My world spins, my legs weak, and my feet tangle. I go down, hitting my knee hard, but Lucas doesn’t let go, and Valen grabs my other arm. They yank me back up. I get my feet righted and force myself to push past it.
I need to get back to the shop, to get back to Jinx. With my familiar around my shoulders, I’ll be able to face the world. Or at the very least, face the basement with the amulet. Valen is going to prove his worth with that one.
It will all be okay once I get back home, where we’ll be safe.
Lucas’ hand tightens around mine and he drags me around a corner, cutting through an alleyway.
We’re so close, and yet so far, Lucas leading us via a longer route.
The frustration almost makes me scream, but I submit to Lucas’ expertise.
He’s mastered evading trouble his entire life.
If he thinks going longer is the way to go, then so be it.
Valen pants, leaning heavily on the brick when we pause briefly. Lucas smirks. “Winded? All the fancy magic and no stamina?”
Valen flips him off and tries to catch his breath. I can’t blame him. I grip the stitch in my side, my palm sweaty in Lucas’. I’m not made for all this running. Hell, before this I hadn’t left my shop in six months. My seclusion didn’t instill a regular exercise routine.
I try to listen to what Lucas is saying, but all I can hear are bystanders screaming. I huff, “All of this is going to bring out the Magistrate!”
Valen snorts inelegantly. “And what can they do? Slap us with a warning?”
“Speak for yourself! Not all of us get a luxurious free pass with the Order and Daddy’s name.”
He mumbles, “You could if you’d stop being difficult.”
I choose to ignore him. “Let’s go.”
Lucas throws me back when I try to burst by him. “Wait. There are too many out there.”
My lips thin, my mind rapidly sorting through my options. Then it clicks. I grab a fistful of Lucas’ hair and he hisses, “What the fuck?”
I ignore him and take the strand of hair I ripped out. I run my fingers through my hair until I shed a long strand. I reach to rip out one of Valen’s, but he’s already holding it out to me.
I smile and take it. My magic quickly braids it.
The incantation is on the tip of my tongue, but I hesitate.
It’s a powerful illusion that could drain me if it runs for too long.
Expending this much power, especially Creation power, could cause the Entropy to devour me more quickly. Then this will all be for nothing.
With great pain, I turn to Valen. “How well did you pay attention to Viola’s little tricks?”
His brow rises. “A good amount. You two were always up to mischief.”
Bile rises, grief weighing heavily on me. “Yes, well, this is one of those. Do you remember when we played hide and seek, but you couldn’t find me because I had multiple replicas of myself running around?”
“It was extremely irritating as a nine-year-old, but I remember.”
“Well, this time, it’s the three of us. The illusion is Creation blended with Transformation, but I think you’ll be able to bend the spell so you’re not using Transformation, but Preservation.
” I smile weakly. “You were a candidate for Heir, after all. Being able to bend the rules to your needs is what Heirs do.”
Valen’s face is smooth, unfeeling, but his eyes shift, warming, glistening with such sincere emotion that I drop my gaze. His warm fingers close around mine briefly before sliding up and taking the tiny braid with him. “What’s the spell?”
I speak the incantation in the ancient tongue, slowly. Valen repeats it back perfectly before he pours his magic into the words, his voice deepening, the hair on the back of my neck lifting with static.
Instead of the braided hairs burning as they transform into temporary flesh and blood, they glow with the light of Creation.
The braids disentangle to float in midair and become three cores to three perfect illusions in the bright sun.
A shadow slanted over the illusionary Astoria reveals a hint of the hair core within, but it will do.
Valen’s breath shivers, the only sign he permits that the spell took a toll, and he commands in a deep drawl, “Run.”
The three doppelgangers bolt into the street, making no sound as they move, but it’s not needed.
They’re seen. Magic immediately roars after them, the crackling power leaving behind a thick scent of ozone, and weavers give chase.
More bounty hunters appear and soon there’s a battle for the right to chase them, slowing the pursuers.
Heart in my throat, I wait for them to disappear down the street. Lucas smirks. “Neat trick.”
I sigh. “Thanks. Glad it worked.”
Valen’s eyes roll back while he controls the doppelgangers, the whites visible with an eerie halo from where his irises glow within the sockets. Sweat glistens on his forehead but finally he blinks, eyes back to normal. “Let’s go.”
The remaining sprint to the shop is delightfully uneventful. With the streets clear of people and the magic users running after their fakes, we make a straight line through the city. The glinting gold of Peripeteia’s hanging sign fills me with joy.
I pant, exhilaration helping me pick up speed. “The pentagram needs to be fed!” I can sense its faint whisper from here. “It must’ve been damaged during the sphinx battle.” I laugh. “It all makes sense. No wonder I feel odd.”
I ignore Valen’s unconvinced look and nearly collide with the front door. I rip my hand out of Lucas’ and press both hands firmly on the wood. The locks click, vibrating excitedly at my return. I smile wildly, pressing my cheek against it. Home.
The door swings open and I stumble in.
I throw my arms wide, breathing the books’ familiar scent deep into my aching lungs. Some of the rotten trash smell still lingers on me, but I don’t let it ruin the moment. I release my breath with a loud “AH!”
I bound up the three steps to the main landing. “Fucking finally! Home.” My cheeks hurt from the wideness of my smile. “Jinx! JINX! I have a surprise for you! He’s hot, dark-haired, and your second-least-favorite Bauer.” I laugh, tossing Valen a playful grin. “No offense.”
The door clicks closed behind Valen, Lucas already stomping up the stairs, but Jinx doesn’t appear. I cup my mouth, too weak to try to talk through our bond. “JINX! Where are you?”
The books shiver and my heart thuds loudly. I scan the stacks, my fingers numb. Whispers are reaching me, too many, too frantic to understand. I taste the tang of the magic, the surging of the warning. The shudder of fear.
The curtains of my back room brush aside.
I still like a deer before a predator. A man with meticulously groomed brown hair steps through, his wyvern-leather boots making no noise.
His wide shoulders on a too-large body slant sideways to fit through the narrow door.
Yellow eyes meet mine, the same yellow eyes as his second form, a form so powerful that it emanates magic in sickening waves from the pendant burned into his sternum to fuse with his bones.
Dimitar, leader of the Amur Magicians’ Guild and ruler of Delornia’s underworld, smiles widely.
His teeth glint bright white in his neatly groomed beard, his canines too large to be natural.
Horror shivers down my body, leaving me cold and stepping back.
His deep, rumbling voice says, “Welcome home, my sweet Aster—or should I say, Astoria?”