The Spell Realm (The Sorcery Code #2)(38)

“Brought it how?”

“I teleported it, of course.”

Blaise’s jaw fell open. He had never heard of anyone teleporting such a large object over this kind of distance. It was possible in theory, but not doable in practice. Unless one had a mind forged in the Spell Realm, he thought with awe, staring at the beautiful young woman sitting next to him.

“Do you like it?” she asked uncertainly, her blue gaze clouding over when he didn’t say anything, and Blaise shook off the remnants of his astonishment, reaching over to take her hand.

“Gala, I love it,” he told her sincerely, and watched her face brighten again.

“Do you want to go inside?” she asked excitedly. “Here, let’s land.”

Grinning, Blaise directed the chaise to the ground. As soon as they got down, he jumped off and headed into the house, his own excitement growing with every moment. His study was here. His archive room. All of his notes. Well, at least the ones that Augusta hadn’t destroyed, he thought with a trace of anger. Pushing the unpleasant memory of their confrontation—and of Ganir’s recent visit—out of his mind, he concentrated on Gala’s amazing offering.

Entering the house, he gazed around the familiar surroundings, struck by a feeling of nostalgia. All of his things—paintings, statues, even the green needle-sword that had traveled to the Spell Realm—they were all here, just as he remembered. Even though Blaise had been home not too long ago, so much had happened that it was strange to be here, where he had spent so much time since Louie’s death. The house had been his sanctuary from the outside world—and now he had it again, thanks to Gala’s incredible abilities.

“You could watch that Life Capture now,” Gala said, catching up with him. “The one that Ganir gave you.”

Blaise stopped dead in his tracks. Had Gala come up with a way to read his mind?

“I was there when you had your conversation,” she admitted, looking a bit sheepish.

“You were?” Blaise frowned in confusion.

Gala nodded, and began explaining how she had managed to turn herself invisible after he asked her to leave.

“You’re getting much better at controlling your magic,” Blaise said after she was done. He knew he should be upset that she hadn’t listened to him, but he was too amazed and proud of her achievements. She was already performing feats that he’d once thought impossible.

As they walked past the library, Gala paused, looking into the room filled with books. Seeing the longing on her face, Blaise smiled. “Would you like to read some more?” he asked, and grinned when she practically jumped in excitement.

“Yes, I would love that!” Her eyes were shining. “There are still many books that I haven’t read. Do you mind if I take a look at them?”

“No, go ahead,” Blaise told her. “I will check on the droplet Ganir gave me in the meantime.”

And leaving Gala to her reading, he walked toward his study.



*



As he approached his study, Blaise hesitated, his thoughts dwelling on the information Ganir had given him. He hadn’t realized that the droplets could be preserved—and now that he knew, he couldn’t stop thinking about one particular droplet that he’d been saving.

Turning, Blaise walked down to his storage area. Entering the room, he stared at the little jars and bottles containing memories of the past couple of years. Many were recordings of his work, but some were much more personal. Stopping in front of one particular jar—the jar that had a skull-and-bones sign on it—he reached for it, picking it up with a mingled sense of fear and reverence. As far as he knew, it was the only droplet of its kind.

It contained a recording of his brother’s death—from his brother’s point of view. It had been Louie’s last act of defiance, capturing his own execution via the tool he’d shared with the commoners. It was also his last grand experiment. During the weeks leading up to his beheading, Louie had bribed a guard to bring him a Sphere. The blood splattering onto that Sphere during his execution was what allowed the recording loop to close, creating the droplet that Blaise had later retrieved.

Blaise had never dared to view it before. It was too precious to use up on a whim. Now, however, he knew he could preserve the droplet—but as he stared at it, he knew he still wasn’t brave enough to ever do it. It would be too devastating to feel his brother’s agony and know that Blaise had been unable to save him.

Drawing in a calming breath, Blaise picked up another droplet instead—the one that Ganir had just given him. As interesting as it would be to experience some memories from the past, Blaise needed to focus on the here and now—and to do that, he needed to learn if Ganir was telling the truth.





Chapter 22: Gala





The pile of books at Gala’s feet grew quickly. With each book she read, her speed seemed to increase, until she was swallowing a whole book in a matter of seconds.

Blaise had quite the collection when it came to subjects that interested Gala. She tackled verbal spell casting first, devouring texts both modern and ancient. It seemed that every sorcerer, every author, had his or her own approach to coding, yet there were patterns in common as well. When Gala couldn’t find any more books on this subject, she moved on to written spell casting.