Crowned (Beholder #4)(4)

Blue light flared once more from Echo’s totem ring. More possession spells. With unnatural speed, Echo turned to face the deadly gateway.

I gasped. “No!”

Without so much as a glance in my direction, Echo rushed toward the magickal arch at a supernatural pace. I quickly glanced upward. The Martyr’s Comet still hadn’t appeared. Echo was headed toward a gateway that remained fully warded and absolutely deadly. I simply had to stop her.

I raced toward the girl. “Wait!”

But Echo didn’t seem to hear my words. Just as Petra had predicted, there wasn’t time for me to cast a spell or catch up by running, especially considering Echo’s magickal burst of speed. I could only watch in horror as the young girl stepped under the arch. For a moment, Echo stood frozen in place. After that, her body took on a glass-like sheen, like she was made of porcelain instead of flesh and blood. Blue light illuminated her from within. Dark fissures formed along her skin and robes. My heart cracked as well.

The gateway’s magick was about to pull Echo apart.

With a great boom, Echo shattered into a thousand glowing shards of blue light that flew into the illuminated stones of the gateway. For a moment, the arch’s rocks flared with such a bright shade of blue, they almost looked white. A weight of sadness settled into my soul. There was no coming back when you were obliterated by a gateway.

Echo was dead.

Around me, everything reverted to its non-magickal state. The gateway’s stones returned to being non-illuminated blocks of gray. I stared down at my arms. Blue light still shone in my bones. There’s still so much power in my body, all of it ready to cast a counter-spell. Plus, if Rowan had been here, we could have brought hybrid magick into the mix as well. That was even more energy.

And yet, I couldn’t save that innocent girl.

Echo was gone, but her words—or I should say, Petra’s—reverberated through my soul: “When you disobey the gods, this is what happens to those you love.”

Petra kills them.

Meaning I should sacrifice myself or she’d take those I cared about.

Waves of rage tightened up my rib cage. Petra had moved on from sending threatening messengers to murdering mages before my eyes. My one-time Mother Superior had made her point: she would do anything to force my sacrifice, one way or another. And there was no question who she planned to go after next.

Those I love.

Rowan.

If Petra’s intention was to frighten me into submission, it didn’t work. With each passing moment, more of my will hardened into stony resolve. I would still spy on the gods and get some answers. Then I’d use that information to learn hybrid magick and fix the gateways.

And after all that, I’d make Petra pay for what she’d done to Echo.





Chapter Two




I scanned the barley fields while Gail kept talking about the faire. “And we have dozens of torches and lanterns,” she said. “The festivities can last all night long, if we like—”

“Hush,” warned Lizzie.

“Why?” asked Gail.

“Because she has her arm up.” Lizzie’s voice trembled as she pointed to my left hand.

Oops. I hadn’t even realized that I’d raised my arm in order to cast.

All the color drained from Gail’s face. “Is something wrong?”

I spoke in a low and calm voice. “Listen to me carefully. Climb into the back of the wagon and stay down.” There was no point in all three of us sitting exposed on the driver’s bench. My open osquitoes. “So many bugs this time of year.”

Now, it’s a strange fact of human nature that mortals will do almost anything to avoid the reality of magick in their lives. I swear, if there weren’t mages walking around, humans might not realize magick existed at all.

The Dunkel sisters paused for a long moment before slowly nodding.

“I think I did drift off,” said Gail. “And perhaps I had been bitten back at the farm.”

“Me too,” added Lizzie. “I’m certain of it.”

After that, the pair launched right back into a discussion of the weekend faire. I didn’t hear a word. All I could think about was Wren’s warning. A mage battle with Shujaa would be a welcome change of pace, but the news that Rowan might be sick? That couldn’t be true, could it?

Only one way to find out.

Tonight, I’d break my vow against magick once more. Sure, I’d sworn never to cast spells now that that I was a farmer again, but this was a special circumstance. I’d only speak a single incantation in order to spy on Rowan. Hopefully when I saw him, I could confirm that Wren was lying and Rowan was healthy as ever. It was a good plan, but it was also a worrisome one.

Because the thought of seeing Rowan in the flesh? It sent excitement and warmth spreading though my torso.

And that was far more dangerous than Shujaa or Wren.





Chapter Three




I wasn’t sure how long I stood staring at the darkened stones of the gateway. The image of Echo’s unlined face kept appearing in my mind’s eye. I was about her age when I first went to Petra for training.

Petra.

I’d never known my own parents; they’d died soon after I was born. Over my years of learning at the Cloister, Petra had become more than my Mother Superior. She was the closest thing I had to a living parent.