Page 144 of Change

There was a red moon out that night, and the sky was clear. I could still taste the salty air as it whispered across my face. Waves beat against the sand, crashing over the boulder where we’d sat, while Shui—the private, silent assassin who hardly spoke to anyone—was complaining once again about Tu’s involvement in his personal affairs.

“He doesn’t even realize,” Shui said, tossing a rock into the dark water. “The flaw within his own practice. He’s too busy lecturing everyone else aboutethics.”

I hummed, gazing at the sky. It was too late, and I was too tired to have to run interference between Tu and Shui tonight.

Not that Tu ever really cared what Shui thought.

“What might that be?” I vaguely wondered.

After all, this wasn’t news to me.Everyone’smagic had weak points. It was easy for a witch to outsmart a fae, if a witch knew what to look for and the fae wasn’t so bright, and for a fae to win in a fight against a shifter, if they were agile enough.

I’d honestly be surprised if Tuhadn’tthought of his own weaknesses before. It was common sense.

No one was all powerful.

“Blood,” Shui replied, frowning at the moon. “They keep using blood in their rituals, completely ignoring the obvious.”

I didn’t even realize I’d sat forward until Shui touched my arm. “Mu?”

Itwasobvious.

But I hadn’t realized until Shui had pointed it out.

Necromancers were the charge of the newly deceased and ruled over blood. Their magic depended on the essence of a person, otherwise it’d be impossible to raise the dead or capture their memories. Physical touch would do, and so would objects held in high regard.

But what really worked for their magic was using the purest part of a person—their blood.

And witches used blood in their spellsall the time.

I laughed, wiping the back of my hand against my cheek. “Are you going to tell him?”

“Hell no.” Shui grunted, crossing his arms in front of him. His dark clothing almost blended into the night, and his mask was scrunched against his chin, making it difficult to capture his self-satisfied smirk. “I’m only telling you because I like you the most. Are you going to tell Jin that, technically, a fae can cajole a shifternotto change?”

“Hell no,” I repeated, then added in a whisper, “Only if he tells me his first.”

These were our safeguards, put in place to protect us from overzealous controllers. I trusted my quintet, but there were some things better to not keep an official record of. After all, without the threat of retribution to keep order, humans were quick to delve into chaos.

“So,” I asked, “are you going to tell me how it works?”

He glanced at me, and I grinned. “How does a necromancer defeat a witch?”

I really wanted to know.

“Bianca?” Gloria’s fingers brushed over my forehead. “What’s—” Her question ended in a gasp as I let go of her and rolled back to my side.

It felt as though I was moving through water, yet I still managed to push myself to my knees. But there was no longer pain, just slowness and silence. My skin felt thin, and my body no longer behaved like my own.

I did not recognize this feeling.

“Her eyes are blue.” Gloria was frowning at my face.

“Well, duh.” Maria’s voice reverberated through my head. “They’re hazel, the color will change depending on what she is wearing.” There was a short pause, and a defensive quip, “Don’t judge me. Titus is always going on about herhazel eyes.”

Gloria’s scowl deepened. “But Mu has always had green eyes.”

My exhaustion became distant, but still a very real thing. I could feel it hovering over the edge of my awareness, but temporarily forgotten.

I was sure it’d all catch back up with me later.