Chapter 18

18

I winced as a proven slammed Sven against the mats. Ouch. Demon training began this morning, and there was a determination in the battle magus after last night that told me they refused to go down without a fight.

I dragged a hand over my face.

“Get any sleep?” Delta asked, joining me.

“A few hours. You?”

“Slept like a baby. There’s something comforting about fear.”

There was? “Does that mean you usually don’t get a wink of sleep?”

“Yes. I feel like a new person after the last week.”

At least someone was getting shut-eye. “What’s your plan?” I jerked my head at the sparring magus.

“We broke down your fight against the demon, and Huxley has provided us with what attack and defense information he’s been able to gather on them thus far. I’ve worked with Wild’s sentries already to get an idea of how to structure the training, and now I’ll run the battle magus through it. We’ll have more strategies coming in from Sage, and Wild and I will train the sentries in them first, then the others here.”

The battle magus were in pairs, taking turns to rush the others at full speed. The other had to defend or evade. I recalled the leader of the demon army rushing me in such a way. “Good. I’ll join in where and when I can.”

Delta barked feedback at a pair across the center, then folded her arms. “I’m not worried. You have great instincts in battle. Not many of us would’ve made it through that fight. What made you realize that using your blood would help to penetrate the demon’s scales?”

I tried not to stiffen. I’d quickly realized that the demon’s own blood could penetrate her skin. Later, I’d realized that my blood worked in the same manner—and more effectively because I was stronger than her. “Just chance. Some landed on her. I rolled with it.”

“I suppose demon and magus are poisonous to one another. If we are hurt by darkness, then they will be hurt by light.”

I hadn’t considered that could be the case. I also didn’t feel that was what really happened. More like my demon daddy’s blood packed a serious punch. Delta’s musings did give me another idea. “We are opposite, aren’t we.”

“Idea?”

“Maybe.”

Leaving Delta, I followed my bond to Rooke in the apothecary learning center. She was inside the Greenhouse of Fun and alone. I eyed the bench surfaces within, opting not to touch them. There was room enough for a few books to sprawl out between the array of poisonous species and for an array of vials and tubes to be displayed, but very few places for a naked ass. I wouldn’t touch anything, just in case. “Anything new?” I asked.

“Not since we went to the gates after breakfast,” she murmured.

At breakfast, she’d told me demons were definitely sending something poisonous through the entrances. We’d gone up to the ravines after to test whether my four-affinity barrier slowed the poison down.

The rate did slow. Some.

We’d moved our sentries farther away to account for the torrent of poison still getting through, and per Ruby’s suggestion last night, our magus could practice the effectiveness of their four-affinity barriers on the open gates.

We had to figure out how to combat the poison. “I had an idea.”

“Hmm?”

“If demons are sending through decaying magic, perhaps we should counter with the opposite.”

My cousin nodded. “Yes. An antidote.” She squeezed a dropper of amber liquid into a glass test tube filled with black fluid. The concoction hissed, then faded from black to gray. “Higher dose.”

My brows rose. “I see that you’re on the job.”

Rooke spun on her seat. “I can neutralize some of what’s coming through the gates. The scale is the issue. I’ve done my best to replicate the poison, and I believe this antidote will work; however, we’ll need a huge amount of the ingredients to keep it up.”

“Give a list to Serene,” I said. “Give one to Barrow and Opal as well. They can ask other covens for them. If the alliance with the other supernaturals goes ahead, then we’ll do the same with them.”

Rooke glanced at the vial of gray fluid. “Even then, we should focus efforts on the gates closest to the coven. We have no idea how long we’ll need to keep this up for, and my version of the poison will differ from the actual demon poison coming through. My antidote may not be as effective.”

She’d figured out an antidote to the bad juju coming through in less than three hours. “Your apothecary affinity is incredible, you know that?”

I bet she hadn’t stopped to consider that she might’ve prevented us from looking like Varden in less than a week.

“It wasn’t difficult.”

“For you. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, and now everyone will know it.”

Rooke’s cheeks colored. “You think?”

“Absolutely.”

A small smile graced her face, and she wiped it away too soon. “How are things going otherwise?”

“Battle magus are training. Winona is meeting with the other affinity mentors soon to form a plan for the other affinities. Sentries are practicing four-affinity barriers at the gates over the top of mine. The night shift are sleeping.”

She nodded. “Busy. People want an outlet for their fear. And you need an outlet too. Corentin’s next circle is starting soon.”

Lunch was underway now, so I could make the next one. I felt more like pounding my fists into something, but I didn’t want to overextend myself when we could be under attack at any second. “Maybe I will. Let me know if you need anything.”

She lifted a hand in farewell, already back to work.

I walked through the main tunnels, mind whirling with the new details that arrived overnight. So many teams, and so many initiatives to track. After the centering circle, I needed to spend some time with my quipu to clear my head and see if other pathways were available to us—and to keep my sanity.

I walked into the divination room. Ty wasn’t around—probably in the meeting with Winona. Magus were trickling in from lunch, and I sat beside Corentin, who was already there.

When a circle had formed, he announced, “Let’s begin.”

Centering took me longer than it had all week as my mind tried to intrude on the process. Pushing out my worries and the demands on me seemed to take an eternity, but eventually I clawed in my four affinities and allowed them to find unity at my magical core before releasing them again.

My pressing thoughts returned immediately, but they didn’t occupy the same space in me. I could breathe somewhat.

Most of the magus were still here, and a second ring of the coven had formed around the first. I was glad that those who weren’t busy had opted to do something productive.

“Corentin?” someone asked from across the circle, breaking the peaceful quiet we’d been sitting in.

Most magus were finished centering and were enjoying the aftermath.

Corey replied in his dream-state voice, “Yes, Josie.”

“I haven’t noticed before now,” she said. “You used to have four affinities. Now you have three.”

Ah, shit.

The answer to that question led to my unique magical outlet, and seeing as rumors of my dark magic use circulated just yesterday, I wasn’t sure Corentin should give her the truth. Except I’d told him on a previous occasion that I didn’t care if he told the coven.

My gut churned as Positive Patrick answered, “The High Esteemed fixed me.”

I could see how someone like Josie may hear a little Stockholm Syndrome in his reply.

Focus of those who’d finished centering landed on me.

“What do you mean by fixed?” Josie demanded. “She took your magic?”

“High Esteemed,” I corrected her. “And no, I didn’t.”

Corey said, in a more coherent tone, “You all knew what I was before. I had four affinities but couldn’t center. I never understood why until Tempest took a look at my magic. She said it was a mess, and her magic knew how to unravel it.”

Damn, I was sounding more Mistress of Darkness by the second.

Shut up, Corey.

“In the process, you lost an affinity, and then she happened to gain one,” Josie said next.

There was a shocked intake of breath.

I was left blinking too. Of all the ways to put things together, that one had never occurred to me. Then again, I was well aware of what truly happened. “Josie, if you have questions, then Corentin and I are happy to answer them, but you’d do well to lose the accusatory tone in the process.”

“Just trying to make sense of things,” she said after a beat.

“Are you just,” I replied, holding her gaze until she dropped hers.

“Some of you know that our high esteemed’s magic has a special way of taking form,” Corey said, and I could tell he was back in the driver’s seat and well aware this conversation wasn’t turning out great. “Her magic knots and braids information together using thin rope to form something she calls a quipu.”

“I’ve done this since I was young,” I put in. “It’s how I analyze a lot of information at once.”

“I’ve seen the quipu,” Spyne said from a few magus to my left. “It’s incredible.”

I hadn’t realized he was there.

Ruby was in the second centering ring and off to my right. “It’s how our high esteemed was able to put Caves together so easily too.”

There was a subtle shift. Not one in my favor.

“You used the quipu to win Caves?” another magus asked. One from Fertim. Another regular at Frond’s tables.

I said drily, “You didn’tuse your magic to win Caves, Grove? Using magic isn’t cheating, if that’s what you’re implying.”

“We don’t have magic like that,” he said, bursts of color appearing on his cheeks.

I lifted a shoulder. “And I don’t possess your magic, or that of any other magus. In any case, Vero didn’t need to win Caves. The game ended when the relics chose me.”

“How did you gain a fourth affinity to end the game?” Josie called out.

The volume in the learning center had increased. This was getting out of hand.

“I gained a fourth affinity,” I replied calmly. “I didn’t seek it out; it sought me. As I can see you’d like to believe I had some kind of agenda with all of this, I’ll let you know that Corentin had already lost his divination affinity prior to that.”

“It’s true,” he quickly confirmed. “I tested my magic on the affinity vials earlier that night.”

Spyne asked him—genuinely asked, unlike Frond’s lapdogs, “You’re okay with losing an affinity?”

“Tempest told me in advance what the cost of fixing the mess of my magic would be. She didn’t want to do it, but I got the truth out of her. She thought I would blame her, even though she understood how much agony my soul was in—and has been in my entire life. I couldn’t live that way anymore. If there was no end to the pain, then my thoughts had become set on ending my pain in other ways.”

He took my hand in the subdued response to his words. “I could feel her working on me. It wasn’t painless, but I marveled the entire time at the way her magic weaved mine together. What she has is a gift—one that this coven and others can benefit from if one like me is born in the future. I have never felt lighter or more at one with myself. I don’t see myself as having lost anything because I gained my life.”

I swallowed real emotion at his words.

That seemed to do the trick for most of the others too. At least enough that Josie felt pushing further would work against her.

The mood had taken a dive, however, and many of the magus were deep in thought.

Great.

Corey squeezed my hand, muttering, “Sorry.”

I withheld a sigh. I’d hoped my secrets would come out, so I didn’t need to bear them. I just hadn’t considered what happened with Corey to be one of them, and I hadn’t expected the coven would make such nefarious connections between that healing, how I’d gained the relics, and how Caves ended. “It’s fine.”

Here I’d been celebrating the coven uniting after last night.

I left the circle, spotting a grim-faced Sven near the doorway. Uh-oh.

Ruby caught my arm. “Did I make that worse just now? I was trying to help. It’s unfair of Fertim to label you a cheater for using your magic.”

She was speaking more as a Vero team member than an advisor.

I answered with care. “Fertim took a big hit when the game ended. Caves finished, and they’ll always wonder if they might have claimed victory. Vero, on the other hand, can be almost certain they would have won. Considering the game was three centuries old, the ending was sudden and anticlimactic, and has left many without resolution. As well as upheaving the routine they’ve always known. I can understand how Fertim may grip onto my quipu magic to strengthen their argument that they might have won Caves.”

She regarded me. “I didn’t look at it that way.”

“There’s no harm done,” I reassured her. “And it turns out that your idea to study the demon’s magic was a great one. Thank you. Rooke is fine-tuning an antidote as we speak.”

Ruby smiled. “Happy to help, High Esteemed.”

“I know you are.” Odd to think that Ruby and I were a similar age. I felt disconnected from her worries and ambitions—ancient in a way.

I couldn’t avoid Sven. “Good afternoon.”

“No it’s not,” he snapped.

Eek. “Stub your toe?”

He glared. “I was drawn from the depths of sleep by what you created here. How did you make matters worse than yesterday? It’s like you want the coven to collapse.”

Whoa. I tilted my chin. “I understand you’re working around the clock to help matters, Sven. I get that you’re exhausted, and I’m grateful for all you’re doing. I’m also doing the best that I can. Coven members will think and make connections however they wish. I have no control over others, nor do I want control over others.”

“It shows,” he replied.

I pressed my lips together. “You’re out of line.”

With that said, I walked away. Sven was beyond exhausted. In that state, our conversation wasn’t going anywhere, even if I was super pissed. Doubly so because a show of support would’ve been nice after Josie’s public interrogation.

I wouldn’t tell Rooke this time, but if it happened again, the gloves were coming off.

Barrow the Postman hurried toward me.

I accepted the thick, sealed document from him. “This is?”

“Judging by the thickness, I’d say a contract,” he said, then stage whispered, “From the other supernaturals.”

“They moved fast.” Finally, some good news. “You got the warning off to them about the open gates?”

“I did. No reply yet.”

We could banish letters to the other supernaturals, but they had to reply by normal means. “We need a faster way to talk.”

“With the other covens, we use portals. But that requires magus magic on both ends.”

How to get around that? Portals wouldn’t work. Could we rig an alarm charm somehow?

I rolled my eyes. Of course. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it handled. I just remembered that phones exist.”

“Phones?”

“Human thing. I don’t love them, but sometimes they’re a necessary evil. I’ll summon some later. Could you send another message to the supernaturals asking for their phone contact details?”

Barrow nodded. “Of course. That’s spelled F-O-H-N?”

“P-H-O-N-E,” I replied, trying not to laugh. “Rooke got in touch with you about sourcing ingredients from other covens?”

“On the job, High Esteemed,” he answered.

I smiled. “Thank you, Barrow.”

He paused. “Thank you for all you’re doing. You’re the leader we needed.”

That made one supporter in the coven.

Maybe even two. Speaking of the second person, I had an idea to grab thirty minutes of cuddling time with him.

I managed to make it to my temporary guest chamber without further interruption. Wild was lying awake on the bed.

“Looks like you slept as well as me,” I murmured, snuggling into his side.

His arms wrapped around me, and he pulled me close.

“There’s a lot to fine-tune,” Wild said.

“There was always going to be after their next attack. At least this one was just doors opening.”

A real attack could have done us in.

“How’s everything else going?”

I filled him in on the various updates, then mentioned what happened at the centering circle.

“Frond has to be dealt with,” he said tightly. “His group is going too far.”

“I don’t place much importance on what the likes of Josie says, but there are genuine concerns and feelings from others. Fertim players are naturally going to feel robbed, and oppressing that isn’t fair.”

“Them accusing you of cheating isn’t fair.”

“No,” I agreed. “They know that deep down—and those who can’t admit that to themselves right now might be able to one day. Or maybe never. I don’t need everyone to like me. I just don’t want us to be divided and helping the demons. Except that’s all I’m doing.”

“You’re not doing any of that.”

“Who I am and what I’ve done are doing that.” Every aspect of my life was biting me in the ass. “Corey felt terrible.”

“Good,” Wild half snarled. “He should’ve known better than to say that at this time.”

“Josie caught him with his linens down. He’d just finished centering.”

“He’s always finishing centering these days.”

I didn’t want Wild angry at his friends. “You know he didn’t mean any harm. He apologized after. My quipu would have been common knowledge eventually—I’ve already told people. Probably better to have that out in the open and have the opportunity to answer questions. My quipu is the one thing I don’t feel I have to hide.”

Wild was simmering, and while the demons’ magic could be influencing him—as he’d been at the gates all night—I had a feeling our halted mating ritual was getting to him more each day. He hadn’t looked at me once since I arrived, and it wasn’t out of anger.

“Is my magic really bright?” I asked him.

“Blinding,” he admitted.

I sighed. Nothing was moving anywhere. The coven, me, and Wild were stuck taking one step forward and the same damn step back again. Something had to give or break or be loosened so we could get out of this rut.

I believed now that nearly every facet of my life was linked to this battle against the demons. My past and my present, my demon, and the mating ritual. My leadership and magus magic too. If something had to give for us to make progress, then I couldn’t see anywhere to achieve that except one place.

“We decided a divination journey was too risky,” I said in the quiet. “I think we need to reconsider.”

He shook his head. “It’s not the time. There’s too much that could go wrong.”

“You’re saying that from the viewpoint of my protector.”

Wild sat abruptly, turning from me to sit on the bed’s edge. “Of course that’s where it’s coming from. Someone’s got to protect you against all the fools in here.”

I sat in bed. Slower. “That can’t be the only viewpoint, though. We can’t go through this only thinking of defense.”

He surged to his feet and faced me, expression thunderous. “Right now, that’s all there is. There are any number of threats against you, Tempest—from the demons and the fucking coven. And I can’t protect you from any of it. No wonder the mating ritual has stopped, when I’m useless at the single job I have in our connection.”

Mother be. Where was this coming from?

“You were at the demon gates all night protecting me,” I said quietly. “Yesterday, you were ready to defend me against the coven by telling them about our mating ritual. Wild, protecting me is all you’re doing. You aren’t failing at anything.”

“I’m not doing enough.”

“You’re doing everything you can.”

“Then why has the mating ritual stopped?” he roared.

We’d already figured this out—or figured out a theory. Which Wild couldn’t access while in this state. I stood and started to circle the bed toward him. “Because my demon is gone.”

“She left because I’m not a strong enough mate.”

We’d never left this long between steps in the ritual. I was seeing what happened when the ritual wasn’t respected and nurtured. I’d felt the danger of disregarding what was between us several times. What we shared was powerful, but we could share it in darkness or in light—harmony or chaos.

Things had taken a turn with Wild.

There was a knock at the door.

Wild blurred to it, nearly ripping the iron and wood off the hinges.

Sven was on the other side. He glanced at Wild, who was clearly furious, then decided that wasn’t a big deal.

He said to me, “Tempest, I’m really sorry for earlier.”

Wild growled, “What. Happened?”

Sven blew out a breath. “I had a go at her for making things worse. It was a shitty thing to do. This isn’t?—”

Exactly what it wasn’t, I never got a chance to hear as Wild ripped Sven into the room and slammed him against the wall, a hand clawed about his friend’s throat.

“Wild,” I shouted, rushing forward to grip one of his arms.

Fuck. I was powerful, but something was possessing Wild right now. I couldn’t budge him. “Wild, stop!”

Sven’s eyes bugged out.

“This isn’t protecting me,” I said in a rush. “Sven is your best friend. He’s on our side.” What else could I say to break the hold over him? “If we’re to make it through this, then we need all the help we can get.”

He blinked once.

“We need Sven,” I whispered. “Let him go. Come on, loosen your hand.”

The fury left Wild in a rush. He was left staring at his friend in horror.

Sven edged out from between him and the wall, rubbing his throat. “What was that?”

The question was for me, but he didn’t take his eyes off Wild.

“A new development,” I answered, suddenly aware that we’d garnered attention through the open doorway. Just what I fucking needed. “Nothing to see,” I barked at the few magus there and slammed the door in their faces, checking that the silence charm always on the room was in place.

Wild remained facing the wall as Sven watched him warily. I circled my fingertips on my temples.

“We need to do a divination journey,” I said.

Sven said hoarsely, “Why?”

“Because my demon has gone, and without it, the mating ritual has ground to a halt. It’s getting to Wild, as you can see.”

Sven swore, then said, “You think a journey will help your demon return?”

“She’s always come to help me through chaos when I go back to the day my family was murdered. I can’t think of anything else to try. We already attempted to trigger the ritual by exploring our bond.”

Wild hadn’t turned from the wall yet, and I could feel his self-loathing. He did feel useless. He didn’t feel worthy. He believed my demon was right to stay away.

All of that was so… wrong,and I felt truly afraid for the first time since noticing the mating ritual wasn’t pushing at me. What if I couldn’t reach him through this mess?

How did I pull Wild back to me? And how long could I manage to hold him close until I was pulled to the same place?

Wild spoke for the first time. His voice was hollow. “Let’s do the journey.”

Attacking Sven had convinced him when I’d been unable to.

I said, “We shouldn’t delay. Sven, could you tell Rooke to prepare? I know she’s busy, but I don’t trust anyone else to guide us to the past.” Corey wasn’t an option any longer.

“I’ll go now.”

“I’m calling a meeting with the advisors to look over the contract with the Vissimo and Luthers, and then we’ll purify and meet her in the moss forest.”

Each time I’d gone to this moment in my past, I’d entered chaos. With Wild in his own version of it, this journey could solve a big problem or make an even bigger one.

If this did make things worse, then I had to ensure an alliance for the coven was in the works. And I could only hope to the full extent I was capable of that the coven would hold things together if I was out of commission for a time.

Wild had been right earlier. This really wasn’t the time to take such a risk.

It was just all the time we had.