Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
Pierce
The fortress is swarming with enforcement. The second we step into the entrance hall and they catch sight of me, it all goes to shit.
“Necromancer!”
“I need backup over here!”
“Pierce is not a—” my grandfather begins, but I grab his sleeve and yank him aside.
A glowing magical net crackles against the stones exactly where we were just standing. Gold sparks fly everywhere as the spell woven into it activates.
“Enforcement has no grounds to be here!” Benny yells. “And no warrant!”
Another net almost takes him out, but North blasts it out of the way with a fireball.
“They’re not here to talk!” I growl, dragging my grandfather down the hall.
Benny lets out a shaky breath, clutching his chest. “That may be, but we are not here to fight them, either. Defensive spells only. Promise me. Both of you.”
“What?” North stares at him like he’s finally lost his marbles, and for once, I agree.
My teeth grind together. “They’re attacking us.”
“And you’ll confirm all of their suspicions the second you fight back.” His calm is restored as he wordlessly casts a pearlescent shield across the hall behind us, preventing them from following. “They cannot get their hands on you, and you cannot hurt them.”
Because if they see my grimoire, they’ll execute me. And if I’ve attacked an enforcement officer, they’ll never stop chasing us.
Tension strums through me as I nod. “Fine. But we need to find the traitor.”
The green ribbon of magic is still leading up. More worryingly, the sounds coming from above us are violent, shaking the stones of the castle.
If I had to guess, Dakari is up there, doing what he does best.
“This way. There’s another way up.” North takes the lead, heading down a smaller corridor that must once have been meant for servants.
There’s a narrow stair tower in the corner of the hall, with uneven stone steps and an old piece of rope for a handrail.
Benny pauses as we reach the bottom, casting an illusion behind us.
It probably won’t hold up for long, but at first glance, anyone pursuing us will think they’ve come to a dead end.
Around us, the fortress shakes again, knocking my balance so badly that I have to grip the rope or risk falling.
“You have no right to be here,” Jasper snarls, half pained, half angry.
“I have every right to root out necromancy wherever it may be.” My mother’s voice slices into me like a scalpel, and Benny stops dead on the stairs. “Now, where is the Librarian?”
I drop the tracking spell. If my mother has Jasper, then our priorities just changed. Untucking a scrap from my grimoire, I use it to cast an invisibility spell over the three of us, ignoring the burn as it flakes away between my fingers.
“You’ve got the wrong people,” Eddy protests with a groan, and I reach past my grandfather to grab North’s sleeve, halting him when he would’ve charged in to save her. “We aren’t—”
Her voice cuts off as another blast shakes the walls, followed by a boom. Eddy’s sharp gasp follows a second later.
“The Librarian,” Isidora prompts. “And don’t bother telling me you don’t know. Mathias told me all about your little bond.”
Jasper grunts. “Fuck. You.”
“Ingaesh.”
Jasper’s shout of pain makes me wince. Yeah. She never holds back with that spell.
At the reminder, I search for my bond to Kyrith, blinking in shock when I realise…. She’s not here. They’ve moved her.
Thank magic.
They should’ve sent Jasper away at the same time. He’s just as much of a target.
“Rector Carlton…” an enforcer broaches. “I think he’s passed out.”
I grab North’s shoulder when he tenses like he’s about to do something stupid and tiptoe past him to peek around the corner.
We’ll get his sister, but not by rushing in without a plan.
“Their grimoires are clean.” A slender female officer pipes up from where she’s kneeling in front of both books, barely two feet away from us. “No evidence of necromancy.”
The two tomes fly away from her, piling themselves neatly beside the unconscious duo on the floor in the middle of the landing.
Eddy and Jasper are crushed into the floor, eyes closed, as they lie trapped beneath crackling nets. Their skin is burnt where it makes contact with the magic, but they’re alive. My mother stands over the two of them, using the pointed toe of her Louboutin to lift Jasper’s head as she tuts.
There are over two dozen officers around her. Too many for us to sneak past or take on directly. Five are leaned up against the wall, receiving medical care.
If I get the net off Jasper, will we stand better odds? My grandfather might be able to heal and rouse him.
“Leave the Ackland girl,” my mother orders as her grimoire flutters in the air beside her. “She’s too weak to be of any use. I’m bringing Jasper McKinley back to my office for questioning.”
“Is that wise, ma’am? He’s an heir, and his grimoire says he’s innocent.”
Isidora pins the woman who was stupid enough to protest with a cold glare. “They won’t miss him for a little while. He’s only a liminal, and if necromancers were here, he would know.”
I step forward, but before I can do anything, Jasper and his grimoire are gone.
No! Magic damnit.
A younger enforcer rushes up the steps, panting. “Ma’am, still no sign of Anthea. Your son was spotted in the entrance hall, but he escaped—”
My mother fixes the man clinging to the banister with a glare. “Escaped? How?”
“Parriarch Emeritus Benjamin was with him. They may still be in the fortress.”
“Then search for them! My children have to be here somewhere. If they were innocent, they’d have no reason to hide.” Another boom echoes from upstairs, and she visibly seethes. “Must I do everything myself?! Dakari Talcott is just one man.”
“He’s a parriarch,” someone protests. “And he’s pissed.”
Isidora makes a noise of frustration deep in the back of her throat as she takes the stairs two at a time. Most of the enforcers peel off to follow her, their grimoires ready even as their faces betray their reluctance.
Not for the first time, I experience a bolt of envy. Dakari might be an outcast, but there’s a special kind of power in being so legendary that enforcers are hesitant to cross you.
Let’s just hope Fort McKinley is still standing by the time he’s done.
Only the injured and the two officers treating them are left behind.
My grandfather slips out from behind me, his hand on his grimoire as he strides into the open space, murmuring spells under his breath.
The enforcers slump. One of the uninjured ones actually notices what’s happening and reaches for her grimoire, but Benny’s magic is too powerful. She topples to the floor with a snore before she can open it.
North wastes no time in dropping to his knees beside his sister, hissing when he reaches for the chains over her and they burn him.
“Here.” I flip through my grimoire, finding the right spell. “You have to deactivate the magic first. Dosmos sinitei.”
The net retreats into a small metal sphere as soon as I say it, leaving an injured Eddy for North and my grandfather to fuss over. I stand guard while they heal her. Benny being here is good. She probably won’t even scar.
“Dakari will need our help,” he announces, keeping his voice soft as Eddy starts to stir. “He’s the Librarian’s last line of defence.”
“Kyrith isn’t here. They’ve gotten her out.”
His shoulders drop a fraction of an inch. “Excellent.”
He crosses the room, stopping by one of the injured enforcers.
Yes, that man’s arm is hanging off, but does he really need to heal the enemy? I grind my teeth together.
“We don’t have time.”
His eyes meet mine. “There is always time for mercy, Pierce.”
My eye roll isn’t even subtle as I turn towards the stairs. “Come on. I don’t hear anything.”
After the stone-shattering noise of before, the absence of the walls shaking is making my gut turn.
I make it up two steps only to freeze as Dakari slams into the wall at the top. He catches sight of the three of us, eyes widening as the air sparks with electricity.
“Run!” he yells, diving towards me.
A bolt of lightning arcs, striking the spot where he just was, followed by three more of those damned nets.
Dakari waves a hand behind him, and the staircase collapses in a pile of rubble. “Where’s Jasper?”
“Taken,” I grunt, sweeping my gaze up and down his body. “Kyrith?”
Blood soaks his shirt, but I don’t think it’s his. Other than a slight limp, he doesn’t have any visible injuries.
He looks around carefully before he murmurs, “Rathlin Island.”
That old place? I thought it was abandoned.
The stairs begin to reform behind him, frantic voices chanting from above. I grimace, taking a step back. “We should transport there—”
“Leaving so soon?”
A chill skates down my spine. No part of me wants to look over my shoulder, but my head is dragged around regardless.
Mathias steps forward on the far side of the landing, holding a familiar dagger, with his eyes fixed on the four of us.
The ruby in the pommel glimmers, and the moment he notices the direction of my gaze, his expression hardens.
The clack, clack, clack of her heels echoes from behind me, a sound as familiar as my own voice.
Great. Liches on both sides of us. Enforcement probably not far behind.
“Anyone got a plan?” North asks, hefting Eddy into his arms.
“Get out of here by any means necessary,” I reply.
Soldiers are already rushing to surround us, grimoires up and hands glowing with power.
We’re outnumbered, and we were outmatched from the moment Mathias arrived. Staying is suicide. We can reconvene and find a way to rescue Jasper later.
Dakari shakes his head, but he’s edging closer to the rest of us. “The McKinleys…”
“They don’t care about them,” I dismiss, hand landing on the page with a transport spell. I open my mouth to cast, but Mathias merely chuckles.
“Oh, you won’t be doing that.” He raises the dagger.
My grimoire slams shut, trapping my palm painfully within the pages.
“What the fuck?” North grunts.
Why can’t I move? What is this?
“Hands up!” One of the enforcers yells. “Grimoires on the floor. Now!”
“Cooperate,” my grandfather murmurs.
He can’t mean that. “Grandfather—”
“Do it.”
He wouldn’t be saying that unless he didn’t think we had a way out of this. Unfortunately, I’m paralysed.
My palm presses harder into the page as my mind races.
“Still think it was a clever idea to encourage your grandson to build a magical bond to the Arcanaeum, Benny?” Mathias gloats. “I suppose such a move probably seemed safe when the heart was out of my reach, but now…”
His eyes gleam as he twists the blade in mid-air. Something takes hold of my spine and yanks. Stars dance across my vision, my hand spasming as the magic stops flowing, and I lose my hold on the spell keeping my grimoire hovering beside me.
It thuds to the ground, along with Dakari’s and North’s.
“An interesting corollary,” my grandfather admits, stepping forward until he’s directly between me and the lich. “But a limited one. I expect exerting that kind of control takes more effort than you’d care to admit.”
My grimoire is right there, but that iron hand has my bones in a death grip. I can’t move.
Shit. We assumed he could only control Kyrith. We should’ve realised—
“‘The bond was nothing,’” my mother quotes mockingly, as her heels click closer and closer.
Her fingers catch my chin, wrenching my face around to stare at her.
“‘The Librarian severed it the moment she figured out how. She doesn’t trust me.’” Her eyes narrow, the mocking tone evaporating, replaced by pure disgust as she releases me.
“She would’ve been right not to. You treacherous little snake. ”
My lips press together in a mulish line. I’ve always been loyal, just never to her.
My eyes dart away, seeking my grandfather, but I can’t see him while she has my chin in her grip. I want to tell him to run. If he can get away, we still have a chance. He has contacts. Connections. And he’s been fighting them since before I was born.
“Where is Anthea?” Mother demands, dropping my face. “Is she here too?”
Even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell her. Not that it matters. I suspect she’ll find out for herself soon enough.
Fixing my gaze on my grandfather, I scream at him with my eyes to run. To transport out. Eddy is too weak to be of interest, but they’ve been going after parriarchs, killing them. The rest of us are stuck here, but he doesn’t have to be.
“Forget your useless children,” Mathias snaps. “Where is Kyrith? If I’m forced to track her down a second time, they can both join her on that altar.”
Benny shakes his head. “I will be dead before I let you lay a finger on my grandchildren.”
Mathias shakes his head, but it’s Isidora who snorts. “If only you’d put as much effort into protecting your own daughter.”
A flash of dismay passes over my grandfather’s face.
Then he’s gone.
No. Not gone. Directly beside Mathias, wrestling the dagger away from him. But the lich isn’t letting go, and—
A blast of magic clips my side, but it hits my mother harder, sending her flying into the wall of enforcers. Dakari’s doing, no doubt.
I dive for my grimoire, magic rising to my fingertips, ready to defend my grandfather.
He’s staring at a spot behind me. “Go! I’ll be right behind you!”
A hand clasps my shoulder.
My gut twists with a horrible combination of betrayal and transport magic.
The castle disappears.