A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire #1)(95)

Agrippa stepped forward. He’d been so silent I’d nearly forgotten he was present. “If you do this,” he cried as the boys ran from the room, “the ward may snap. Korozoth could destroy us all.”

“I might as well add,” Mickelmas said, “that Palehook can easily ward the entire city. He’s chosen not to in order to provide his sacrificial slab with victims.” At this, Agrippa sank to his knees, all his power to persuade gone.

“Thank you,” I said to Agrippa as Mickelmas followed the boys out the door.

“For what?”

“I believed that sorcerers were England’s great hope against her enemies. I believed that you were better and kinder than other men.” There was no emotion in my voice. I was beyond feeling. “Thank you for teaching me not to believe in anything.”

I turned my back on him and went to rescue Rook.





We dropped out of the sky before the steps to St. Paul’s. The enormous entrance was, of course, locked.

“Damn,” Magnus said as the moon appeared from behind the clouds. Above us, dark shapes skimmed the dome, leaving bright yellow streaks.

“What are they doing?” Wolff said, turning in a circle as he watched them.

“The ward is thin, my young friends. They’re looking for a way in, but they won’t find one yet.” Mickelmas cleared his throat.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Agrippa had a point. You realize that if we save Rook, the ward will likely fall. If you do this, you could be executed for treason.” Murmurs passed among the boys. They hadn’t considered that.

“I don’t care,” I said.

“Of course not. You’re attached to the boy. For my part, I’m willing to do it as a way of atonement. But the young gentlemen must understand.” He turned to them. “This isn’t a game. Are you prepared for what you may unleash tonight?”



The boys looked at each other, wide-eyed. Even knowing what Agrippa had said, they’d not thought about this in their zeal to help Rook. Truth be told, I hadn’t really thought it through myself. The idea of all those creatures descending on the people asleep in their beds left me cold.

Blackwood broke the silence. “The outside’s lain vulnerable for years. People have been murdered.” He caught my eye and nodded. “No one innocent life is worth more than another. Ever.” We all murmured our agreement. Every one of us felt the weight of the moment on our backs.

Magnus blasted the wooden door, which opened with a splintering crack. We raced down the echoing nave toward the crypt. I slowed to run alongside a wheezing Mickelmas.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m not in the great condition I once was. Come to think of it, I was never in the great condition I once was.”

“Thank you for coming back for me.”

“I had to. It was the only way to find my cloak and chest.”

“Oh.”

“I suppose I didn’t want you to die, either. There’s something I still must tell you about—”

Blackwood hushed us as we entered the crypt and paced between the pillars. Voices rose and fell ahead of us. We found them by Christopher Wren’s tomb.

Four boys, all wearing their new sorcerers’ robes, stood guard outside the gate. Hemphill was among them. They had their staves out, prepared to defend what was going on within.



Inside the tomb, Palehook stood before Rook, who lay bound and gagged on the obsidian slab. He convulsed while Palehook murmured, “The moon rounds in her virgin glow, the blood is on the stone, both separate the body’s soul from body’s flesh and bone.” A white mist rose out of Rook and hovered in the air. He arched his back, caught in a torturous fit as the mist grew. Palehook leaned forward, a gleeful smile on his face.

“His life force,” Mickelmas whispered.

“Stop!” I ran forward.

Hemphill whistled softly as I entered the room, my friends at my back. “They’re here, Master. First visitors we’ve ever had.” The guards laughed.

Palehook snarled and leaned over Rook, like a perverted version of a mother protecting her child. “Keep them away. They have no idea what has to happen tonight.”

“Let Rook go.” I understood what I had seen. Palehook had used words in his magic. “You can perform magician’s work. You’re like me, aren’t you? A hybrid.”

Palehook’s face twisted in fury. “I’m nothing like you, girl,” he growled, every word soaked in self-loathing. “I’d only pollute myself with magician trickery to save this city. Do you want to sacrifice the whole of London to save your worthless little friend?”

“You mean the chosen parts of London,” I said.

“My wife and children live in those chosen parts. If you think I’ll let you open them up to slaughter, you’re mistaken. Stay back,” he said as I took a step forward. At Palehook’s command, the four guards readied themselves for an attack. “You’ve received commendation, haven’t you? You can’t kill a fellow sorcerer now, not unless you want to join him in death.”



Palehook was right. Behind me, the boys whispered to each other. They sounded concerned.

“I’m not commended,” I said, refusing to back away.