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The horror of his words slid down to my marrow.

CHAPTER 15

Kill the kids.

He looked like a weak old man, but there was no doubt that a monster lurked beneath that surface.

“How many witches shall we choose for the interrogation?” asked one of the soldiers.

“As many as you can find. But makesurethey have magic before you bring them to me.”

“Yes, Blessed Pater.”

“The stronger the better,” added the Pater.

The Magister bowed. “As you wish, Blessed Pater.”

The Pater shifted in his bed, lying down. “You’re dismissed. Let me rest. Leave two of your soldiers outside my door.”

The Magister Solaris gave one last glance around the room before leading the remaining men out. The sound of a closing door echoed in the room. As the Pater blew out the candle next to his bed, darkness filled the room.

Still, frail as he was, I wondered if another fatal blow would take him out of this world for good. How much of that stolen witches’ magic still lived in his bones?

I leaned back into Sion’s steely chest. We needed to wait for him to fall asleep before we could escape.

My bum was nestled in Sion’s lap, and both of his enormous arms were wrapped around me. It was so strange to be pressed up that closely against someone and not feel a heartbeat. No pulse, no sign of life at all, except the firmness of his body and the magic that rippled off him, caressing my skin.

I supposed I did feel safe with him, as long as we were on the same side. I’d seen what he could do to his enemies.

His chest rose and fell, and I wondered if he actually needed to breathe, or if it was just an old habit.

Sion’s chin brushed against the side of my face from behind me, and for one insane moment, I wondered what it would feel like to kiss him. I closed my eyes, willing my mind to go blank, filling it with the least sexy thoughts possible. I imagined the Pater bathing, and I shuddered.

When I heard the Pater snoring gently, we had our moment.

I turned my head to whisper to Sion, and I realized that my lips were almost brushing against his. “Did you hear all that?” I whispered.

“Of course I did,” he said. “My hearing is much better than yours.”

“Lyramor.”

“Yes, I heard.” His warm breath on my neck sent a hot shiver over my skin.

My mind was a whirlwind. “He’s weak now,” I whispered. “Maybe if I kill him, he won’t come back.”

“You might as well try.”

As I pushed against the wardrobe door, my heart beat loudly in my ears. Slowly, carefully, one inch at a time, I opened the door, taking care that the wardrobe didn’t creak. I held my breath as I stepped gingerly onto my tiptoes. Silently, I crept to the sleeping Pater. As he slept, the moonlight spilled onto his aged, gaunt face. He looked soharmless, but this man wanted tokill kids, and he ordered people to be carried, broken-limbed, to the stakes. Harmless, he was not.

I touched his forehead, and as I felt the life drain from his body, ecstasy rippled through my muscles.Glorious.

At my deathly touch, the Pater shook, and blue veins shot through his skin. I closed my eyes, breathing in. My mind danced with visions of bodies enveloped by the earth, then of the bluebells and mushrooms that grew from the soil. A dark euphoria coursed from my fingertips, up my arm, and into my chest. The Pater was dead, but I didn’t want to take my fingertips off, not when I felt this power rushing into me. I sighed. I could wrap the world in the soft caress of death.

Pater, I could follow you into that quiet abyss, see my father again…

I felt dizzy with exhilaration, as if I were standing on the edge of a great void and wondering how it would feel to jump in. Then the Pater’s body simply…disappeared.

A sharp tug at my elbow pulled me away from the thrill of my magic.