Chapter eighteen
It took two days of research and then another day for Amaya to formulate her plan.
With a bit of finessing and promising Bronx that she would be on her best behavior, the two of them had made a few stops after work.
She was finally ready to go to King Levi with her plan.
Excited, she rushed into the mansion, hoping to catch him before he left for the evening.
It had taken her a little longer than she’d planned to finish everything.
The first person she ran into was Sebastian as she slid her shoes off at the foyer. “Is the king available?”
Sebastian nodded and tilted his head for her to follow him.
Amaya clutched the small box against her chest. She’d gotten permission from Ms. Sophia to take some of the shielding sand from the sacred garden for the ‘hypothetical’ stone in King Levi’s possession.
Her boss had quickly agreed, happy that some part of their conversation was being dealt with.
Raven was coming out of the dining room when she spotted them.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m going to try and convince the king to allow me to shield the Akachi,” she answered, distracted.
Her mind was on the steps she would have to take to actually shield the stone.
She had a feeling that her plan would work, but there was always the possibility that it wouldn’t.
The border mages had come to the Archive a couple of weeks ago for their yearly sabbatical to the sacred garden.
It had given her an idea that would hopefully work for the meteorite piece Levi had.
Sebastian’s steps stalled and he stopped walking, focusing his attention on Amaya. “You’ve spoken to Levi about it?”
She nodded. “The other day. He agreed if I could still give him access to its power.”
“And you think you could to that?”
“I can absolutely shield it and take away its ill effects on the king. The other part is a little trickier, but I’m fairly certain it will work.”
Sebastian studied her before sharing a look with his mate. Amaya knew that he and Raven were probably talking telepathically. She waited them out.
Raven turned her gaze to her. “I’ll come with you.”
Amaya nodded because it wouldn’t make any difference with what she had to do.
Instead of the throne room, Sebastian led them to a door down the hallway from it.
When the door opened, Amaya realized it was Levi’s office.
It was different than his throne room; there was nothing ostentatious about this space.
She’d expected it all to be dark and intimidating, but his office was warm.
The walls were dark gray, somewhere close to blue, where it felt both cool but welcoming.
Behind his oak desk was a bookshelf that went to the ceiling, but none of the books were in any discernible order.
They looked well-read and loved on, the spines varying in thickness and color.
There was a section of obvious serious tomes, but the others looked like journals and fiction books.
It surprised her. His desk was clean, holding a small lamp, his desktop computer, and a couple of notebooks.
There was a plush carpet under the desk that softened the marble floors in the room.
A tv on the wall behind them was on, the low hum of the news running.
Levi watched the three of them as they entered his office. “What’s up?”
Raven and Amaya sat in the chairs in front of his desk.
Looking around his office, she was impressed.
To the left of her in its own alcove was a softly lit area that held a gold service set covered with glass decanters of various liquors.
The dark rich burgundy of the liquids told her that it wasn’t just wines or cognacs.
“Baby doll,” Levi prompted, drawing her attention.
Amaya set the box in her arms down on his desk. “Remember what we talked about the other day?”
He nodded.
“Well, I found a way I think will allow you to access the power of the Akachi and keep your mind shielded.”
Levi leaned back in his chair, his eyes betraying his surprise. Amaya opened the box on his desk, passing the lid to Raven. She moved aside the bag of sand, pulling out a smaller box before standing to hand it over to the king. Levi opened the box and his eyes softened.
“You bought me a pocket watch, baby doll?”
Her cheeks heated under his intense scrutiny.
“It wasn’t that much. I got it from this…” She tapered off her words. “Yes, I did.”
He didn’t need to know where she’d gotten the watch. It was clear for anyone to see that the piece of jewelry wasn’t expensive. She’d had the shopkeeper clean it so that the antique gold shined brightly.
His eyes warmed as he fingered the chain, stopping at the opaque stone she’d attached to it. “What’s the stone for?”
“It’s called a heartstone. Mages use it to carry the power of the Akachi with them. It amplifies their power without the side effects of the meteorite.”
“And you can tune his piece to do the same?” Sebastian asked from his position from behind Levi. Bright interest lit his eyes.
Levi smiled at her and Amaya’s stomach fluttered in pleasure.
It pleased her to please him. That was scary, but she was resigned to her fate at this point.
No, she couldn’t mate with Levi, but that didn’t stop her from enjoying his company and this push and pull between them.
The king stood and turned to his bookshelf.
Hidden behind Sebastian, she couldn’t tell what he was doing, but a few moments later, a small snick sounded and the shelf behind him opened.
Raven gasped. “A secret room.”
Both women leaned forward, scrambling from their chairs when Levi motioned for them to join him.
Amaya grabbed the bag of sand, anxious to see what Levi hid.
They entered the room. Its cool temperature coupled with the magic thrumming in the room sent a small shiver down her spine.
Without setting eyes on it, Amaya knew he hid the Akachi somewhere in this room.
The cold touch of chaos magic skimmed her skin, calling to her own power.
How had her uncle found this room?
“He didn’t,” Levi told her. Always a ghost in her mind. “The Akachi was once in my throne room.”
Amaya glanced around the room. Lined along all three walls were lighted shelves.
Some held weapons…a lot held weapons, but some were walled off with glass, varying artifacts and antiques displayed behind the cases.
Power thrummed throughout the room and it took her breath away.
Levi stopped walking and stood to the side.
In the center of the floor was a waist-high cabinet and on it sat the Akachi stone.
It was on top of some kind of cloth. Amaya narrowed her eyes and studied the cloth, realizing it was supposed to serve as some type of dampener.
She shook her head and gave Levi a small smirk.
He returned her smile. “Blame it on my arrogance. Firefly warned me.”
Raven sighed behind her.
“Is this where you want to keep it?” Amaya asked, gripping the small bag of shielding sand.
At his nod, she upended the bag of sand in front of the meteorite. Immediately the stone flared and power pulsed out.
“Shit,” Bas cursed, stepping back. He pulled his mate back with him.
Blocking them out so that she could concentrate, Amaya spread the sand around the small stone until it was completely surrounded.
She infused the sand with her power, building the shield up until the power was walled inside.
Raven and Sebastian breathed easier behind her; even though the power still resonated throughout the room, it had gone from a roar to a whisper.
Next, she worked on the meteorite itself.
Probing its power, she saw the tendrils connecting Levi to the Akachi.
The ropes were thick and bright, the vampire’s power feeding the stone as much as it was feeding Levi.
She’d never seen anything like it. Her magic flared to dig deeper and Levi grunted. She sent him an apologetic grimace.
“The watch,” she requested, holding out her hand.
Levi placed it in her palm, stepping closer to her.
“I need you to touch the stone, please.”
He didn’t ask questions and for that, she was relieved. She didn’t think she could quite explain what needed to be done. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her mental walls to take advantage of the blood bond she had with the king. It made this next part easier.
Carefully, she worked to untie and separate the tendrils connecting Levi to the Akachi.
There was some resistance, places where their magic was so similar that the power was fused together.
Amaya lost track of time as she worked, but eventually, she was able to remove the traces of the Akachi from Levi’s mind.
His sigh of relief brushed her temple, but she kept working, moving on to the next part of her plan.
If she took even a moment’s breath, the Akachi piece could reach for him again, or worse, one of the others in the room.
Most likely her as she carried the same type of power within her.
Biting her lip in concentration, Amaya fed the Akachi’s magic into the heartstone.
It heated in her palm, glowing softly as it absorbed it.
The crystal was capable of taking a much bigger magical load, so the small stone in Levi’s possession wasn’t too hard.
Her breathing was labored as though she ran a mile flat out, but she pushed past the exhaustion and continued to feed the power.
When the crystal was saturated, Amaya tapered off her magic.
The once opaque heartstone was now blood red, the color swirling with gold.
Levi removed his hand from the stone, his shoulders slumped, sweat on his brow.
As hard as it was for her, she knew he’d also gone through it.
Rolling her shoulders, Amaya turned her attention to Levi, handing over the pocket watch. He was staring at her with awe on his face.