Crowned (Beholder #4)(20)

The speech was meant to frighten me, but it didn’t work. I planned to transport from this spot well before the sun rose. Plus, this kind of threat was merely Kade being protective and overbearing. I understood that he only wanted to keep his family safe. It made sense to try to interrogate me before leaving.

He’d learn to live with disappointment.

“I understand,” I said.

“Good.” Kade slammed the door closed and stomped away. As he moved down the steps, I heard him call out orders to the nearby guards. Evidently, I was to have a record number of warriors protecting my tower.

Now, I needed to start casting and escape. With that realization, a hollow feeling moved through my bones. I’d gotten so used to having Rowan in my life. Being without his strength and love made me feel bare.

Nothing to be done about it. If I wanted Rowan back, I needed to find the Sword of Theodora. Once I had that weapon in my possession, Rowan’s memories would return. At this point, I didn’t know which I wanted more: to protect Rowan from Viktor’s armies, or to see him look upon me with love again.

Both were essential to my soul.





Chapter Nine




The moment Kade left the room, I set about casting a spell. There was no question in my mind that Kade intended to interrogate me, and it wouldn’t be pleasant. Even so, by the time Rowan’s brother returned, I’d be long gone.

Thank you, magick.

My plan was twofold. First, I would cast a finder spell in order to discover where Nan was hiding. Second, I’d transport there. Mlinzi and Walinzi had said something about the exiled.

To find the Sword, you must seek out the exiled Necromancers.

The exiled. I suspected that was more than a random name. If my guess was right, a group of Necromancers were living outside Petra’s control. The woman was out of her mind, after all. I had to imagine some of the Necromancers were clever enough to escape her insanity.

A grand escape—that sounds like exactly the kind of thing my Nan would enjoy.

My eyes stung with emotion. I never thought I’d see Nan again. She’d died back at the Midnight Cloister, thanks to the treachery of its Mother Superior. Was Nan’s death some kind of ruse? Had the Sire of Souls stepped in to help? I couldn’t wait to find out how she’d ended up alive. In the end, it didn’t matter so long as I could see her again. The familiar lines of Nan’s face flashed in my mind: ebony skin, intelligent brown eyes, and a white-toothed smile.

How I longed to see her once more.

My body hummed with a combination of excitement and worry. This was not the moment to contemplate reunions. Kade could return at any second.

I needed to cast and quickly.

Closing my eyes, I reached out with my mage senses. The surrounding area was rich in Necromancer magick. Layers of bones lay hidden in the arid ground—these made the perfect source for my kind of power. Using all my focus, I wrapped my thoughts around the power I wished to take and tried to pull that magick into my body.

I couldn’t. Foreign magick stopped me. Wards.

As Kade had warned, another force lay between me and the power I sought. A webwork of ancient wards encircled the tower. These spells allowed me to reach out with ease, but blocked any magick from entering back inside. Without power in my body, I couldn’t cast.

I probed the net of blocking spells about me. It wasn’t wise to break spells without understanding how they worked. My consciousness spun along the threads of the webwork, checking how each functioned. These wards had been cast by a senior-level mage, but they were far too old to stop someone like me. Like any long-standing spell, wards needed to be refreshed with energy from time to time. No one had been keeping these strong.

Good for me.

Keeping the magick firm in my mind, I sent my power tearing back through the wards around the tower. I then pulled fresh magick back into me. Energy careened through my limbs until every corner of my body felt charged. Using my Necromancer training, I sent that energy toward my hands. New magick prickled along my skin like the brush of a thousand needles. Soon, the bones in my hands and forearms glowed with blue light.

The time had come to cast my spell. There were various kinds of finders that I could choose from. One of the most powerful was a Blue Oracle, a floating skull covered in sapphires that would answer any questions. Blue Oracles could not only help pinpoint where someone was hiding, but they would also share all the key facts about to approach them. I opened my mouth, ready to speak the words to the spell.

No sound came from lips.

The words to the spell simply didn’t appear in my mind.

I racked my memory. There was no way I could forget this particular spell. My Mother Superior, Petra, had drilled me on it for months. In fact, Petra kept me awake for six consecutive days until I got the wording, tone, and intention just right. By the time my training on this spell was over, I was reciting it in my sleep, much to the sadness of the other elderly sisters who shared my same dormitory room.

How could I forget those words?

I shook my head. No matter. Today had certainly been a trying one. My true mate had just stared at me like I was a total stranger. That would enough to make anyone forget a few things. Besides, there were other finder spells I could cast. For example, the spell for Rune Bones would be just as helpful. In this casting, the bones wouldn’t actually speak like the Blue Oracle, but they would spell out words. I’d get the information I needed. It would simply take a bit longer. Nothing to worry about. I took in a deep breath, ready to say that incantation.