Chapter 50
Fifty
Kyrith
Jasper is by Pierce’s side in an instant, tearing at the bloodstained fabric to reveal…nothing.
“What the…?” He trails off when Pierce drags the cuff from his wrist.
It clatters onto the tiled floor.
“Fucking hell, Carlton.” North’s horrified exclamation draws the attention of everyone currently trying to help Leo and Lambert up.
Pierce’s silver scars are blatantly obvious without the illusion. They cover every inch of his chest exposed by his open shirt.
The others just stare. Their dumbfounded silence is almost painful.
“Stop gawking and get on with it,” Pierce growls, jolting Jasper into action, forcing him to the floor to poke at the wound in his shoulder. “The last piece of the dagger is in there somewhere.”
“Last piece!?” Leo scowls, glancing up from his examination of Lambert’s burnt arm. “What the feck happened in that cottage?”
“Turns out, Mathias can track his soul regardless of how many wards there are between them. I barely got started before he sent a whole bunch of revenants to attack me. Including my grandfather, my father, and my mother, so excuse me if things went sideways.” The curtness in Pierce’s tone is painful.
Stars. My heart hurts for him.
“My beloved baby brother disappointed everyone again.” Anthea rolls her eyes as she drops her invisibility spell. “Why am I not surprised?”
“What’s she doing here?” Pierce grates, glaring at her. “Agh!”
Jasper has shoved two fingers into the wound, apparently without numbing it first.
“She came to help,” I explain, rifling through my own grimoire for the spell.
At the same time, Anthea says, “I came for revenge.” Everyone except Dakari and I tense, and she groans. “Against Mathias, obviously.”
“That wasn’t exactly how you phrased it earlier,” Dakari points out. “You apologised.”
Apologised and permitted me to cast a truth spell on her when I doubted her intentions. She really is here to fight Mathias.
That’s the only reason I told her the bare bones of our plan and allowed her to remain.
Pierce is staring at his sister with disbelief, but the expression is swiftly replaced with agony as Jasper pulls his fingers free, along with a shard of golden metal.
That tiny fragment is all that’s keeping them from being bound to the Library. It’s probably slowing the draw on our magic, turning it from a rush to a steady stream.
I can’t let it break. Not until the phylactery is dealt with.
Jasper drops it into my palm, then gets to work on healing Pierce as I flip it over in my hand.
The tip. An inch long triangle of metal is all that remains.
If it had broken, they would’ve all been drained immediately.
If Mathias had thought to cast the spell used at my sacrifice, then Pierce would most likely already be the next Librarian.
Worse, if the lich had obtained it, he would’ve regained the ability to subjugate all of us.
The key to everything is now a piece of metal no larger than my thumb.
I daren’t even use it to re-banish the lich and give us time to recover, for fear of damaging it.
“Fuck.” Jasper’s curse turns the air blue. “I cannae heal him. I dinnae have enough magic.”
Dakari winces. “I barely had enough to shut the door.”
Eddy pushes Jasper aside and starts pressing on the wound with both hands. “Someone get me a bandage.”
She must’ve come straight here rather than helping Blanche get the others to safety.
Behind them, Lambert’s skin shimmers metallic grey, then returns to normal.
North manages to conjure a bandage for his twin, which gives me hope, until I realise it’s the lowest level spell they’ve attempted.
My stomach sinks. No. This is far worse than I feared. None of us has enough magic to do more than light a candle. Pierce almost certainly doesn’t have enough to cast a master level spell, even if he wasn’t bleeding out on the floor.
It also means I can’t risk touching them. If I do, and our bond solidifies and starts to pull from them like it did in Scotland, it’s likely that the drain will speed up and they’ll be even worse off.
The dread only grows as the building erupts in a wailing shriek.
Mathias’s disappointed voice fills the building, echoing from everywhere all at once.
“You’ve left the Arcanaeum in ruins, Kyrith. And for what? To give the liminals a few more weeks of playing at being arcanists?”
Shit. He’s here. Inside the Library.
He’s not in the Rotunda, but stars only know where the door that admitted him is. He could be anywhere.
Somehow the ruse of us being powerless against him has become reality.
Think, Kyrith, think.
No magic. Well, nothing beyond the most basic foundation level spells. But foundation schools are underestimated. I can use that.
…And there is one other person here who knows how to perform necromancy.
My gaze lifts to Anthea, then back to Pierce, then back to her.
“Absolutely not,” he says. “She’s not powerful enough.”
Maybe she isn’t, but right now, neither is he.
“Speak for yourself.” Anthea scowls. “I might not be a freak like you, but I’m still powerful enough to use master level magic. I came here to get revenge. This isn’t quite the fireball to his smug face that I wanted, but I’ll settle for destroying his soul.”
“Lambert, Eddy, North, get to the alchemy laboratory that Professor Jackson set up on the first floor of the Restoration Tower. Stay hidden. Lambert, I want you to make every single bomb you learned about last term and bring them to the balcony overlooking Botanical Hall. Pierce, Anthea needs the phylactery.”
“On it, boss.” Lambert salutes, and the three of them take off jogging.
They should be safe enough. The alchemy lab was set up in a room that can only be accessed by the tower stairs, and those are easily collapsed if they need to keep anyone out.
Pierce, on the other hand, is paling. His pupils are massive, and his voice is thin as he says, “She can’t be trusted. Besides, the dagger is broken.”
“Dinnae argue,” Jasper cautions, dragging one of Pierce’s arms over his shoulders.
The blond man’s hand flutters towards his pocket, the trembling in his limbs noticeable as he withdraws Mathias’s soul vessel.
The red gem is covered with spiderweb cracks, but still in one piece.
Pierce is right. Anthea might not have enough energy to break that on her own, but he’s already significantly weakened it.
Better still, the papers containing my original copies of the runeforms are sticking out of Pierce’s grimoire, abandoned on the floor a few feet away.
I tug them free, praying that this is the right choice.
It galls, giving her the spell to funnel power into the Arcanaeum. If she ever tries to use it against us…
No. The others’ safety is more important. I won’t let them get trapped here. We can deal with the consequences later, if we must.
Anthea folds her arms over her chest. “We haven’t discussed what I’m getting out of this.”
“Really?” Leo demands. “You’re bargaining right now? The lich is—”
She grabs me, the move so sudden I can’t dodge. Her lips are right at my ear, her whisper quiet and meant for me alone.
“Tell enforcement that I died taking out Mathias.”
Her demand is brief. Simple in its enormity. It’s exactly the kind of thing I should’ve expected from her.
If she’s presumed dead, she’s free to start over. Enforcement won’t even search for her.
If I agree, I could be unleashing a necromancer back on the world, but I could also be giving her a fresh start. In many ways, it’s exactly what Benny wanted for her when he destroyed her old grimoire.
I want to refuse, but I feel like I owe it to him to give her the chance.
We don’t have time for me to second guess the decision.
Swallowing back my objections, I shove the runeform, the dagger tip, and the gem into her hand. “Fine. Done. Find somewhere to hide and destroy that thing. Fast.”
“Mathias can track it,” Leo reminds her as she turns on one heel, already heading away. “He’ll be hunting you.”
“No. He’ll be hunting me.” I watch Anthea disappear down the hall and then turn to Jasper. “Take Pierce to Fort McKinley—”
“No. Someone’s got to keep an eye on my sister.” Pierce’s eyes narrow as his chest rises and falls on a jerky breath. “She can’t be trusted. Just conjure me some more bandages or something. I’ll be fine.”
Stubborn man. Then again, given the number of family members he’s lost recently…perhaps part of him is a little concerned, even if he won’t admit it. After all, we’ve just learned that Mathias can track that gem wherever it goes.
But despite his assertions, and Eddy’s first aid, he needs help. He needed help five minutes ago.
“You’re going to die unless someone looks at that,” I tell him bluntly. “Arguing with me is a waste of time we do not have. The only thing you can do right now is stay alive.”
I give Jasper a silent look, and he winks at me, crossing the space between us and the nearest door in two strides, knocking. “Fort McKinley main hall.”
The door swings open on creaking hinges, revealing the last stragglers from breakfast. Heads turn as they notice us, but Jasper and Dakari are already dragging Pierce through.
“Oi!” Jasper shouts, though it’s really unnecessary. “Someone keep this asshole alive, or the Librarian will have all our heads.”
That threat motivates them. Even after living with me for a few weeks, my reputation lingers. Hands reach out, dragging Pierce the rest of the way through, healing spells already being uttered.
I expect Jasper to go after him, but he lets the door swing closed.
“I’ll follow the wicked witch of the south and keep her arse alive long enough to get it done.” He swoops in and kisses me, wincing as the drain burns hotter even at that brief contact, then takes off at a run. “Stay safe, lass.”
I can’t make that promise, but he shouldn’t go alone. “Dakari, Leo—”
“Not leaving you, baby girl,” the former says, before I can order them away. “Not now. Not ever.”
Leo nods. “Agreed.”
“We’re not fighting him,” I remind them. “There’s no point until Anthea is done with the phylactery. We have to keep him busy.”