Garden of Serpents (The Demon Queen Trials #3)(16)

One of my soldiers stood by the door, always protecting me—as if I needed protecting. With his pale skin and long, black hair, he looked like a spirit from the underworld. “Jasper,” I said, “I have a very important task I need you to undertake.”

Because I would do whatever I could to avoid feeling that agony of loss again.





10





ROWAN





Kas lived in a home on a crowded street, a house with a white Tudor-style front and crisscrossing wooden beams that overlooked the busy lane. Unlike Orion’s pristine apartment, this place was littered with trinkets and oddities: a desk strewn with books before a mullioned window, a telescope, an old globe.

Kas stood at an iron stove before the kitchen window, making us pancakes, and the scent of butter filled the air. It all seemed almost…human. Normal.

Shai and Legion sat across from me, sipping coffee at a table littered with handwritten notes, plates, and a little pile of cutlery. A window to my right overlooked a narrow city street and shops covered with climbing ivy.

Shai picked up one of the papers, frowning at it. “What’s this?”

“Oh, gods.” Standing above the frying pan, Kas glanced over his shoulder. “That’s my art. Don’t look.”

Of course we looked. I saw beautiful pencil drawings of the natural world—birds, trees, butterflies. A self-portrait lay among them, perfectly rendered. His skill was truly remarkable, almost photorealistic.

Legion sipped his coffee and picked up a sketch of two toadstools. “Are you ever going to do anything with your art?”

“More tattoos, maybe,” Kas grumbled. He carried a heaping platter of pancakes in one hand, and he forked two onto my plate. “But we’re not here to discuss my hobbies, are we?”

The corner of Shai’s mouth quirked. “Legion’s hobbies, then? Because he looks like a giant, tattooed badass, but he’s been painting little pewter figurines of soldiers.”

Legion pinned her with his gaze. “I wouldn’t expect someone from the mortal realm to understand the fine art of miniature battle recreation.”

“Just admit you’re a dork.” Kas dropped pancakes onto his plate.

My mouth watered, and I poured out a thin stream of maple syrup onto my pancakes. “What’s on today’s agenda?”

“We’re planning for your trial,” said Shai. “Have we decided what we’re doing yet?”

“We?” I bit into the pancakes—thin and buttery, just the way I liked them. “Well, I’ve decided. I’ll be announcing it later today. The trial requires summoning a witch from the underworld and stealing his magical talisman. In this case, a crown of blackthorn that enhances his magical powers.”

“Spellcraft,” said Shai. “Invocations in Demonic. You’ve never been to school for that.”

“Neither has Orion. I heard him use a Demonic spell once, in the underworld, but he never had any formal education.” I picked up my coffee cup, warming my hands. “In any case, all the trials involve demonic invocations. They’re supposed to test not only physical strength and strategy, but the ancient art of Demonic spellcraft, too. And tonight is my deadline to announce it.”

“How do you win?” asked Shai. “You just steal the crown?”

“The person who is successful at the summoning will have an advantage. I’d be linked to the witch, and that would make it easier to find him. But it doesn’t guarantee a win.”

“Summoning the dead requires extremely powerful magic,” said Legion. “Can you compete with Orion in how much power you have?”

Shai caught my eye. “She’s a Lightbringer, just like him. She has as much power as he does, and she has the advantage of not being insane.”

“True,” said Legion. “But none of us really know what Lightbringer power does. We’ve never seen it or experienced it.”

“Magic is new to me,” I admitted. “But there’s no way around it. All the trials involve some sort of invocations, magic summoning. And since this one doesn’t involve direct combat between Orion and me, it’s one of the least dangerous options.”

“Okay.” Kas watched me over his steaming coffee. “Summoning requires precision. How good is your pronunciation of Demonic spells?”

I winced. “Maybe the three of you could help me practice.”

“Who is this witch you’ll being bringing back from the dead?” asked Shai. “Is he dangerous?”

“He was a king sixteen hundred years ago, Alaric of the Visigoths. Powerful enough to sack Rome. So here’s how it works. First, Orion and I mark our foreheads with the blood of a dead witch. That will help break down the barrier to the dead people. Then we do the creepy demonic chanting. Whoever summons the dead witch first will have a bond with him, and the bond will help us locate him. So hopefully, I summon him, use the bond to find him, bind him up with magic, and snag the crown. And rule over a golden age, as your unmarried ginger queen.”

Legion stared at me over his coffee. “We maybe have to go over some of the magical terms.”

“Sure,” I said.

“Taking a crown from a mortal isn’t hard,” he added. “It’s the necromancy you’ll struggle with.”