Page 59

Cali sighed and pushed off the bookshelf she’d been leaning against. She stopped a few feet from me, but a shadow version of herself stepped out of her body and kept going.

Everyone except me, Rynn, and Roth stiffened.

We were used to Cali’s abilities. The others had seen her shadow form before—she usually used it to communicate long distances and had even given Rynn a ring that allowed her to do the same—but there was still something about seeing the endless pit of darkness peel itself away from Cali that was unnerving.

It was so wraith-like that I often wondered if our human ancestors’ spell had been similar to the one used by the Seelie that resulted in them becoming wraiths.

The shadow version of Cali strode forward while the flesh-and-blood version stood there with an impassive expression. We all watched as a shadowy hand stretched out to touch the tip of the blade.

“Maybe this isn’t a good ide—” Alaric started, only to be cut off when Cali’s shadows exploded, covering sections of the room in darkness.

I fell from the table I’d been sitting on, my knees slamming to the floor and the dagger clattering a second later. My hands clamped around my ears as if that would help as Cali screamed.

Vaguely, I was aware of everyone else hitting the ground too. Pressure built in my head, and it felt like my mind was being shredded as Cali’s magic slammed into it.

“Cal,” I panted. “ Stop .”

My back arched in pain as every single nerve lit up.

A large white wolf leapt over a table and barreled into Cali—the real one. She hit the ground hard, and the screaming abruptly cut off, then the shadows that had been convulsing suddenly vanished.

The wolf very ungracefully flopped to her side next to Cali, and a second later, a trembling Rynn was there with a sheen of sweat over her skin.

In their animal form, Velesians weren’t as impacted by a Furie’s magic, but they weren’t entirely immune either.

I dropped my hands from my head and groaned as I got to my feet.

We were lucky Cali wasn’t at full strength and some part of her hadn’t wanted to hurt us.

Her magical assault had been painful, but at least she hadn’t driven us mad.

“Fuck,” I ground out and leaned against the table. “What the hells happened, Cali?”

Around me, everyone else was getting up.

Draven helped Kieran over to a chair while Roth and Alaric leaned on each other.

I glanced at Vail, half expecting him to have a weapon in his hand and looking at Cali like he was figuring out the best way to take her down; instead, I found him looking at me, his hands hanging by his sides—empty.

There was tension in his posture—he still viewed Cali as a threat—but he trusted me to handle my best friend. Silver eyes bored into mine, and I could almost see the question in them. You okay?

I gave him a small but genuine smile and pushed a wave of gratitude down our bond. I knew it worked when the tension running through him relaxed slightly and he nodded once.

A very naked Rynn sat up and glared at Cali, who was still lying on the ground, then she smacked the back of her hand against the Furie’s ribs. “I second Sam’s question. What in the actual fuck, Cal?”

“Give me a second,” Cali groaned as she flinched in response. “That was really unpleasant.”

“You don’t say,” Roth deadpanned.

Kieran snort-laughed and then quickly winced and rubbed his temples.

I pushed off the table and took a few wobbly steps before swiping the dagger up off the ground. “Are there more weapons with these glyphs?”

“Yes.” Draven gestured towards a neat pile of daggers on the table. “All of these.”

“There might be more in the other rooms,” Kieran added from where he was seated next to Draven. “We haven’t looked at them all that closely.”

“Okay, so we potentially have a weapon that can be wielded against the wraiths.” I looked at Cali, who had managed to sit up, but her skin, which usually had a healthy tan to it, looked pale and almost sickly.

Part of me was troubled by the fact that someone could use these daggers against her.

She’d only pricked her finger with the end of it; what would happen if she were stabbed with one?

And would the daggers work on her flesh as well as her shadows?

“Don’t worry about me.” Cali gave me a knowing look.

“Now that I know what those daggers do, I’ll make sure I don’t ever get stabbed with one.

And let’s be real, nobody in Lunaria is a match for me.

” A cocky grin stretched across her lips.

It would have been more believable if she didn’t look like a butterfly could knock her over.

“Can you summon your shadows now?” Alaric’s piercing gaze was locked on Cali. “Did it have any lingering effects on your magic?”

Cali concentrated, and then her eyes widened. “I can’t feel them.” Panic drenched her words. “My shadows . . .” She held up her hands and stared at them with golden eyes that started to glow.

A pressure started to build at the base of my spine. “Cali,” I warned.

The feeling disappeared, and she gave me an apologetic look.

“Sorry.” She dropped her hands. “I felt a flicker of them for a second. My shadow magic is still there; it’s just currently out of reach.

” She paused for a second, and the glow of her eyes brightened before fading.

“It doesn’t seem to have impacted my mental magic at all. ”

“We can’t be sure how well they’ll work against Erendriel.” I walked over to the table with the rest of the weapons and placed the dagger onto it. “I didn’t see a trace of shadows on him last night, so he might be fully back to his Seelie form now.”

“It’s possible,” Draven admitted reluctantly. “Although, if anyone could figure out how to retain a bit of shadow magic and also get back his original form, it would be that asshole.”

“He’ll be back to speak with me,” I said confidently. “I’ll try to suss out a little more of his magic then. In the meantime, Carmilla is just as much of a threat as Erendriel—maybe more so.”

Roth nodded. “War will break out in the Moroi realm. My House will never follow her, and it’s unlikely that Tepes or Salvatore will either. She’d likely been counting on quietly taking control, going House by House and using the crown to manipulate key players.”

I thought about Kieran’s parents and how she’d sent them back to House Corvinus to be her puppets. “Most likely,” I agreed. “We’re ruining that plan because we know the truth and can gather allies. The crown might be a powerful weapon, but it’s not making it easy for her.”

Because it wanted to sit on my head. It was odd, but some part of me wanted that too. Not for the crown’s abilities, but just because it felt . . . right. Some part of me was drawn to the crown—and wanted it back.

“Sooner or later, Carmilla is going to figure out where we are,” Vail spoke up.

“There could be a traitor amongst Salvatore, or one of the rangers loyal to her could have seen us on the way here. Even if they didn’t track us the whole way, there aren’t a lot of places in the badlands to seek refuge. ”

“True. I wouldn’t be surprised if she already knows where we are.” My gaze fell on Cali. “She’ll figure out a way to get you off the board if she can.”

“Let the bitch try.” Cali bared her teeth.

I shook my head. “We can’t afford to doubt Carmilla.

She’ll come at the problem from an angle we’re not seeing.

I don’t think we need to worry about her attacking while you’re here, but we can’t count on that.

This place might be secure against Erendriel and the wraiths, but we’ll be cornered if Carmilla sends a bunch of rangers in here. ”

“Rynn,” Kieran said slowly. “You said you blocked the Alpha Pack from following you into the secret room underneath their castle . . . how did you do that?”

“A glyph . . .” Rynn chewed her bottom lip as her brows furrowed in concentration. “It all happened so fast, but there were some markings on the wall beside the door. A barrier spell—one I’d never seen before.”

There definitely wasn’t one by the doorway here because I would have noticed last night during my chat with Erendriel. Odd that the room Rynn had found had one and not this place.

“A spell of that kind could be useful,” Draven mused.

An idea bloomed in my head. It was kind of crazy, and I’d need to figure out several key elements for it to work, but it could solve two of our biggest problems in one go.

“Rynn and I will go take a look at that glyph to see if we can replicate it here,” I said evenly. “Alaric and Roth, you can continue scouring the books to see if you find anything useful. Draven and Vail, go through the weapons and pull out any that can be used against the wraiths.”

“Is splitting up wise?” Alaric hedged.

“We’re literally just going to step through that mirror.

” Rynn pointed to where the Fae artifact stood in the corner.

“You all can peep your heads through if you want. The room is a lot smaller on the other side, so there’s not enough space for all of us.

You’d all just be standing around while Samara and I figure out how that glyph works.

Trust me.” She wrinkled her nose. “Nobody wants to avoid being caught by the Alpha Pack more than I.”

Cali grumbled something under her breath.

“You’re not killing them,” Rynn huffed at her. “Just because I hate their smug, arrogant faces doesn’t mean they’re not good for the Velesians in general. Two things can be true at once.”

“Whatever.” Cali flopped back onto the floor, stretching out her wings and whacking Rynn in the face with one. The Velesian growled down at her, but Cali just pouted up at the ceiling. “You lot never let me kill anything, and it’s getting tiresome.”

Draven chuckled and started going through a stack of daggers on the table. Alaric and Roth came over and kissed me on the cheek before pulling some books from shelves and settling into chairs.

“And what about me?” Kieran arched a brow.