Chapter 15 #4
“Impossible,” the Sleeper replied. “I can still see it plain as day. The Source’s essence resides within you. Perhaps you have overexerted yourself, but the embers of that fire are not extinguished. You need merely to allow them to rekindle.”
I pressed my palm into my chest, waiting to feel a spark of that warmth from before.
Nothing.
“Give it time,” the Sleeper continued. “Till it sees fit to choose another vessel, it will remain.”
“How do you know so much about this?” Azrael asked.
“That is a story for another time and place,” the Sleeper replied. “I beg your pardons all, but I must excuse myself to attend to a most pressing matter. You are free to continue recovering here. Facilities can be found through those doors there, and I’ll ask Reina to have tea prepared.”
“You trust three complete strangers alone in your office?” Bastien questioned.
“I’ve never met a stranger,” the Sleeper replied, opening his arms wide in a gesture of good faith.
“And if one’s need is great enough that they should see fit to steal from me, then so be it.
I will return in a few hours to check on you, Cirian.
If you are well enough, then I will have Reina escort you back to a location of your choice.
In the meantime, please make yourselves comfortable. ”
With a bow, the man turned to leave, two of the bookshelves swinging open on hinges as he approached them, then closing after he left.
“Does anyone else still feel like we’re being watched?” I asked after a moment of silence.
Azrael snorted a laugh, and even Bastien grinned for a split second. He set down the compendium on the desk beside me, leveling his golden stare at me.
“Are you really alright? I don’t trust that man’s magic for an instant.”
“Physically, yes. I think so. Just bloody exhausted. What of you two?”
“Your patch job earlier is still holding,” Azrael said, hoisting himself up on the desk beside me while Bastien set to work retrieving the papers scattered across the floor.
“And you, Bastien?”
He looked up from his work, raising an eyebrow. “My mind is a viper pit of contradicting thoughts, but otherwise I’m well.”
“Ah, so it’s just a normal day for you.”
Azrael laughed again, and it was as if the room lightened around me.
“You know, I thought you were exaggerating when you told me about that chap,” Azrael said, pointing toward the doors the Sleeper exited through. “I thought, ‘how could anyone be so strange?’ And gods, does he live up to the expectation.”
“What do you make of him?” I asked, holding back my own assessment.
“He’s off his rocker,” Azrael answered. “But there’s an air of power around him that is no joking matter. I don’t think even the Umbral would have been able to stand in his way if he wanted something.”
“He did want something,” Bastien added. “Didn’t you hear him? He waited for the Cradle to be destroyed so he could go in and take what he wanted. A carrion bird waiting for the battlefield to settle.”
“So, was it merely a pleasant coincidence that the Umbral showed up when it did, or are you thinking that he had something to do with it?”
Bastien shook his head. “I can’t be certain, but let’s look at the facts.
Malachi was how the Umbral was able to get close to Sancha.
He was in direct contact with the Sleeper just a few days before I showed up.
Then we take him there again, and he gets whisked away to be ‘cured’ of his mysterious affliction, and the next morning tries to kill the Cardinal before becoming a smear on the wall. ”
“Are you saying this Malachi was already possessed with the Umbral beforehand?” Azrael asked.
“Not necessarily. I saw the Umbral make its connection to this plane through the Ether. It had roots in Malachi, but it wasn’t the same as when it was inside my head. It was like it was waiting for him to die so that it could cross over.”
A chill shot through me as the warmth of the Source flickered in my chest. Was it reacting to our conversation, or was I being paranoid?
“It’s clear that the Sleeper wanted what was in the vaults. But would he go to such lengths to gain access to them?” Bastien pondered, his gaze growing distant.
“If there’s even a remote chance that it’s true, then we must be on guard. Even if he chose to help us, that is only because we somehow aligned with his ambitions. Should that change, we may be standing between him and what he wants next.”
“What was he pointing out to you in that book?” Azrael asked Bastien. “He said something about a list of ingredients.”
Bastien nodded, pulling out the small leather book from his back pocket.
“The first time we met the Sleeper, he gave me a list of ingredients to alchemize a spell for Tobias and Lynette. But one of the ingredients of the spell was a poison that I was unfamiliar with. Apparently, it was a concoction created by the original Alchemist, Annora. Her knowledge has been lost to the Reviled since the schism.”
Azrael frowned, staring down at the massive tome. “I didn’t want to mention it while the Sleeper was around, but Wilhelm asked me to retrieve that abacus from the vaults. She seemed desperate for it when we spoke.”
“Wilhelm is an ambitious woman,” Bastien replied. “She wants to see the Reviled reputation restored, and that artifact may very well provide leverage that she desperately wants. She must be seeking ways to help the Reviled carve themselves from obscurity.”
“She’ll have my full cooperation,” I interjected. “Now that I am to take Sancha’s mantle, I find myself in a position to bring about real change. I hope I’ve made it clear where I stand in this asinine feud. I would be glad to see it buried in my lifetime.”
“Your people will not join you in that notion,” Bastien countered.
“Some will not,” I agreed. “But most will follow when they see that it is the will of the Source. Most would rather die than turn their back on their faith.”
“Do you think it will work?” Azrael asked Bastien. “This spell given by the Sleeper?”
Bastien scratched his chin. “I find it far more convincing with Annora’s compendium to back it up. To be quite honest, I’ve exhausted all other fronts. If this Sleeper is who he claims to be, then I would be a fool to doubt his knowledge.”
“But what if he isn’t?” Azrael questioned.
“Then this poison may work as originally intended.”
The statement hung over us like a miasma, thick and heavy.
“I trust you, Bast,” I said, tracing my fingers down his arm. “If you deem this is the best chance we have, then I say we go for it. Besides, there’s nothing stopping us from trying it on Lenny first, right?”
He grinned at that, shaking his head. “That’s sick, even for you. But you’re right. It could be her penance for the damage she wrought.”
Azrael did not share in our morbid humors.
“And if she does not wake?”
For once, Bastien did not have an answer.
His jaw clenched tight, the heat of his gaze falling to the scar on my chest. He reached for it then, gently tracing a cool finger across the heated flesh.
A shiver rippled down my spine. Despite the deep exhaustion that permeated my bones, the flames of desire still stirred within me, stoked by his touch.
I took his hand in mine, leading it slowly up to my face where I planted a soft kiss on the palm of his hand, then pressed it to my cheek.
His golden eyes watched me then, a hunger building beneath the cautious composure as the tether between us sprang into existence, drawing him closer.
His breath stuttered as he slotted into the space between my legs, my thighs quickly pressing against either side of him to keep him ensnared as long as I could.
“You need to recover,” he said, though he didn’t sound so convinced himself.
“My body is healed,” I replied, nuzzling my cheek against his palm once more. “And this is doing wonders for my spirit.”
Azrael shifted in his spot beside me, and I glanced over, finding him watching with wide, violet eyes. Pulling away from Bastien’s touch, I leaned closer to Azrael, pausing just before our noses collided.
“If you’re conflicted, Bastien, you could always watch.”
Bastien froze in place, his lingering stare dragging over the two of us.
He didn’t protest, so I ran my fingers through the hair on the back of Azrael’s head before pulling him into my kiss.
I felt the sharp twinge of a fang as his lips parted, hot breath mingling with my own.
Even after battle and bloodshed, he smelled of pine and earth.
A hand wrapped around my hip, the other resting firmly on my knee.
I broke away after a moment, breathless in the heat of the moment, to find Bastien in a chair, facing the desk. His arms were folded across his chest, legs spread wide. When we made eye contact, he gave me a short nod, and I knew exactly what he was asking.
“Azrael,” I said, turning back to the man seated beside me on the desk. The lightest rumble coming from his chest made it sound like he was purring. “Would you like to put on a little show?”
Recognition clicked behind his violet eyes, and he nodded, his grip on me tightening.
“Right then. Curtains up.”