Garden of Serpents (The Demon Queen Trials #3)(33)

I was, after all, ignoring him completely.





18





ROWAN





Five days until the trial.

After Orion helped me learn about my magic, I’d been rigidly controlled about avoiding him. Leaving the house at dawn before he woke, returning home when he was out. For the past three days, I’d managed to stay perfectly focused, envisioning a crown on my head and a peaceful demon city spread out before me.

With my teachers, I’d worked my way through one magical task after another.

At last, Legion allowed me to raise a monarch butterfly from the dead. Now it fluttered around my head, ignited with apricot light in the setting sun.

“Pretty zombie butterfly,” cooed Shai.

“Brilliant.” Kas beamed at me. “What do you think? Head home for the night, or do you want to go for gold and try summoning a witch?”

“I’m ready for the witch.”

“Let’s get the blood,” said Shai, looking perfectly witchy in a long black gown with lacy sleeves.

“I think she’s ready,” said Legion. “We have four days left. If there are problems with the witch summoning, we’ll need all that time to fine-tune it.”

“Oh, thank the gods.” Kas grinned. “I was getting incredibly bored.”

I inhaled deeply. “I’m going to need to recite the spell quickly, too. Belial University’s head witch will signal us to start, and then we’ll be racing to get to the end of the spell first.”

“Hmm.” Legion pulled a small crimson-filled vial from his pocket. He turned it over between his fingertips, then met my gaze. “So, you’re ready for this?”

I shrugged. “Might as well try it. But can you do me a favor and back up? Behind the trees, at least. In case I lose control of my magic.”

Legion arched a dark eyebrow. “You haven’t set anything on fire in days.”

“Right,” I said. “But none of us have much experience with Lightbringer power. Who knows what will happen?”

He shrugged. “Okay. Well, when you get to the summoning spell, let’s try with a witch we know. Someone gentle and forgiving. Someone who won’t mind being summoned from the dead.”

I took the blood from him and opened the vial. “Do you have anyone in mind?”

“Goody Pendleton,” said Legion. “Also known as Chemosh. I knew her long ago. She studied here in the eighteenth century.”

“Ah, good choice.” Kas’s deep voice seemed to hum off the tree trunks. He wore a dandelion behind his ears. The combination of a flower with his tattoos was very fetching on him. “Chemosh is lovely. She used to make me hot cross buns every Sunday. I think she had a thing for me.”

Legion sighed. “You say that about every woman.”

“Her Demonic name is Chemosh,” said Kas, ignoring him. “You’ll need to call her at the end of the spell.”

“Chemosh,” I repeated, with a sound like a hard H.

“You’ve got the pronunciation down.” Shai was flipping through one of the spell books. “Hang on, I’m finding the summoning spell.”

I pulled open the cork on the vial of blood. “Just so you know, once you begin the summoning spell, you could see a few visions of the dead.”

A little dread flickered in my chest. I’d seen enough visions of my dead mom to last a lifetime.

Legion took a deep breath and glanced at Shai. “I suppose we should hide.”

She handed the book to Kas, and he held it open to the right page.

I raised my eyebrows when he didn’t leave the grove. “You’re not staying, are you? What if I explode with fireball magic?”

“You don’t need to be worried about me. It’s the benefit of being a demon, isn’t it? Even if I burn to ash, I’ll recover—it’ll just take a few days. I only ask that you refrain from cutting out my heart, Sunshine, and I’ll be fine.”

I dipped my pinkie into the blood and carefully drew a five-pointed star on my forehead. The coppery scent of mortal blood filled my nostrils. As soon as the liquid was on my skin, I could feel my body reacting to it, my magic heating in my veins. I closed up the little vial and tucked it in my pocket, then wiped my fingers on my jeans and took the book from him.

Kas’s amber eyes glowed.

With the blood on my skin, the world seemed to grow brighter, even though twilight was upon us. Light beamed through the oak leaves, and little motes of dust floated in the rays. All around me, sunlight heated the air. I felt high.

Kas himself seemed to glow with light, beautiful as an angel. “How does it feel?” he asked.

I sighed, my breath shaking. “Euphoric.”

He let out a low chuckle. “Good. Connect to the earth, and see if you can intensify it.”

I blinked in the golden rays of sunlight. “What?”

He stepped around me, and now his lovely gravelly voice was coming from just behind my back. “Take off your shoes.”

Shai was right about his voice. It really was nice.

“Take them off,” he said, “and feel the earth beneath your feet. It can help to intensify the power.”

I slipped off my little brown flats and stood on the soil. An earthy forest breeze rushed over me, raising goosebumps. From the ground up, I started to call my magic, heat spreading through my body. “Okay. Here I go.”