24 Imogen #4
For what? I bit down on my tongue before I could ask the question. Instead, I said, “I have all three.”
The air around the Mage Seer seemed to spark. That unnerving scratching, scuttling sound began to build through the room. “You? You’re no Mage—”
“But I am.” I straightened myself with new assurance.
“I have performed spells since I was a girl, and now I perform them as the Mage Seer to the kingdoms I rule. I have visions. I am the rightful queen of Anthemoessa and Seraf. I am the daughter of the Goddess that Eusia took. It’s not Eusia who possesses every facet of power that exists in our realm. It’s me.”
The rattling and scratching grew to a simmer.
The sound prickled my skin in sharp warning.
Theodore was at my back; his strong hand wrapped around my wrist like he was ready to bolt and take me with him.
But for once, I didn’t want to run. I wouldn’t leave this old tower without my severing draught, no matter how terrifying its Mage Seer and her threats.
“You are a passive collector, girl. Power has fallen down to you like rain. You are nothing compared to her.” That scuttling grew louder and louder. “Why have you come to me, daughter of Ligea? Answer me now.”
“I’ve come for a draught,” I said, trying to remain sure in the face of her words.
I could sense the moment she deciphered my plan. A winding laugh rose up from her wretched body. “Oh my. A mere draught will not be enough to break what Eusia has built.” The veneration in her garbled voice ran deep and true.
“I’m well aware,” I snapped. “Now, give me what I’ve paid for.”
The scurrying grew louder, fuller, until something on the shadowy wall beyond her caught my eye.
What I’d thought was rough stone had begun to sway and roll, and I realized that nearly every surface in the crowded tower room was covered in a thin, dusted layer of insects and all of them had begun to stir.
Moths and worms and beetles. Creeping creatures I had no names for began to move down the walls, over shelves and crates, around mounds of cloth and towers of books, toward Theodore and me.
“Imogen.” He gripped my arm, his deep voice pulled thin. But my determination was like forged metal. I felt vast and steady in the face of this withered Mage Seer.
I yanked myself from Theodore’s hold. In a blink, I’d summoned my power to rise in my stomach.
Sending my command forth was as effortless as breathing.
Power filled my chest, crested in my throat, and shot from me in a heated line.
I felt my silent lure snag through the Mage Seer, and a moment later the insects that hemmed us in on all sides froze.
The Mage Seer jerked. The fan of her rib cage went still.
“Bring me my severing draught,” I commanded, and a swarm of insects made their way toward one of the cobwebbed shelves.
Vials clinked, but I didn’t wait for them to be carried to me.
My boots crunched over the bugs as I made for the shelf.
I took a vial of severing draught, and then I took more.
Fistfuls of little glass bottles with small yellowed labels wrapped around them.
Theodore was at my side, taking the vials and tucking as many as he could into his pockets.
He eyed the Mage Seer, who had begun to twitch. “She’s dying.”
“I know.” I’d nearly cleared the shelf of its contents and moved to the next.
Theodore took my arm and forced my eyes to his. He tilted his head in a way that made me feel both understood and challenged at once. “How much do you really need?”
In my fit, I felt so unstoppable, so deeply furious, that I nearly said Everything. All of it. But his look made me pause. He’d let me guide him away from regret when he’d chosen to spare Eftan’s life. I could let him do the same for me now.
I set the vials I held back onto the shelf. “Let’s go.”
Theodore drew his arm around me, glancing back at the Mage Seer as he guided me toward the door. “Release your lure.”
But I’d already felt the cold, draining sensation that came when Eusia took my power under her control. My limbs felt bloodless. “I can’t,” I said with some shame. “You’ll have to strike me unconscious to break it.”
His eyes widened. He glanced to the Mage Seer, who was shaking terribly now, and then back at me. He declined with a firm shake of his head.
We both jumped when we heard the Mage Seer speak. Her words were roughened and small. “I give to the sand, I give to the water. Hear me, heed me, cleanse the sea.”
Theodore started to drag me toward the door as the entire room came alive, as every creature within began to creep toward the Mage Seer’s body. “How will she… that’s the prayer for an offering. She needs to be by the sea for Eusia to receive it…”
Theodore started down the stairs, towing me behind him. “Eusia will find a way to get her to the water, Imogen—likely bit by bit.”
When we reached the first landing, I heard a quick and shrill scream echo from up above.
Then only the clamorous scuttling and scraping of insects remained.