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Chapter Nine

R oderick:

T he dragon library was unlike anything I’d ever seen, and I’d visited many of the world’s greatest magical archives.

Housed well below the main castle floor, the massive chamber stretched outward in all directions.

Mage globes were affixed to the end of the bookshelves, and I could see most were full of the knowledge that stretched back to the beginning of recorded history.

The air smelled of ancient parchment, dust, and the faintest hint of cinnamon—Syrax’s personal touch we were told.

The dragon counselor had welcomed us eagerly, which wasn’t surprising considering the urgency of our task.

Leo’s bond with Gund didn’t hurt as he won over many of the most hardened dragon purists.

Gund’s siblings, along with Eldwin and Hro, met us in the library.

Leita greeted Avie like a lost sister, which made me happy.

Avie wasn’t close with any of our sisters, so it was good she’d found a close friend.

The king’s brother, Emyhr, stood with Jan and Conall and the laughter from the three seemed out of place, yet welcome given our mission.

Darius and Eldwin chatted and I noted the resemblance.

The brothers looked similar, but personality-wise, they couldn’t be more different.

Darius was studious and the second-best mage of his generation after his mother Katarina.

Eldwin had been a warrior mage—the perfect match for the dragon champion Hro.

After a few minutes, Leita broke away from Avie. “Syrax pulled numerous volumes that might be helpful in your search.” She gestured toward a row of tables stacked with books and scrolls. “He and his assistants have filled other tables around the library. Given our numbers, I suggest we split up.”

My brothers and their mates, along with Eldwin and Hro, left with Emyhr, leaving me with Avie, Darius, Ignatius, and Leita.

Elspeth looked a little left out, but before I could move to include her, my sister drew her into their orbit.

Avie never missed a thing, not even when someone was feeling alone.

I’d experienced that skill many times over the last forty years.

Avie gave me a knowing smile. She said something to the two she was with, and then joined me. “Elspeth and Leita will look through the historical accounts,” she said. “You and I will focus on the magical theory texts. If that’s okay with you.”

Growing up, I never noticed how Avie always took charge and organized events.

She was almost eleven when I was born, and I adored her growing up.

Unlike our other siblings, she and I bonded before she had to harden her image to be accepted in the male dominated mage world.

To me, she’d always be the big sister I adored growing up.

“Do I get a choice?” I asked in a light tone.

“No.” She turned on her heel and led me to a table near the end of the row. “I want to sit with you because you have the most insight into what we’re looking for.”

I noticed she left out Darius and Ignatius. They seemed mildly amused, but when she looked at them, she was unapologetic. “I wouldn’t presume to tell you two what to do.”

“What a refreshing attitude among this generation,” Ignatius said. “Did you hear that, Darius? I get to do what I like for once.”

“Yes, because this is the first time in twelve-hundred years you’re allowed to choose.” Darius had mastered the art of sarcasm. “Since we’re breaking new ground, you can tell me what I should study.”

If he took offense at his mate’s remark, Ignatius didn’t let on. “I think I’d like to tackle magical theory, so you can help with the historical accounts.”

Sitting in the surprisingly comfortable wooden chair, we began to sift through the pile of information in front of us.

The first scroll I unrolled pre-dated the Demon War.

Scanning the content, I realized I didn’t know what I was searching for.

The answer to Blackstone’s plan wasn’t going to jump off the page.

We’d need to piece it together from scraps of information found in various places.

Frustrated, I began at the top and concentrated on what I was reading.

Two hours later, I’d found very little I deemed helpful.

Avie and Ignatius hadn’t found much more.

Several times we’d find a passage we thought useful, but after a discussion we discarded it as not pertinent.

I sat back and saw Owen and Lysandor coming toward us through the stacks.

They held hands and exuded a deep contentment.

The knife-edge of envy sliced through me. My youngest brother had found his happiness, while I was denied mine with Cinaed.

“You’re scowling,” Avie whispered as the boys passed us. “Your time will come, and when it does, it will be perfect.”

She was right. Cinaed and I spoke of it often, and I believed it would happen. In moments like this, however, it still hurt. “I know.” I’d have smiled, but it would’ve looked fake. “But that doesn’t mean I can always keep the longing at bay.”

“No, it doesn’t.” She patted my hand before giving it a squeeze. “I was just reminding you not to lose hope.”

As long as Cinaed was alive, I’d never give up. We would be together, and now that this cycle was coming to an end, I was more hopeful than ever that our time was near. “I haven’t, but I can’t promise not to be impatient.”

We sat quietly for a few seconds, her hand still over mine. She understood being alone all too well. Once I had my affairs in order, I’d turn my attention to helping her find happiness too.

“You look like I feel,” Avie said, pushing away the leather-bound tome she’d been reading for a while. She stretched her arms above her head, and then stood. “Let’s take a proper break and go for a walk. I need to clear my mind.”

Grateful for her suggestion, I pushed back from the table. The others glanced up, perhaps hoping we’d invite them, but Avie wanted a break. I did too. With every dead end, my frustration grew. A short breather would allow me to reset my patience.

Avie led me up a narrow spiral staircase, and we eventually emerged in a small sitting room that overlooked a snow-covered courtyard.

Several chairs had been set on a thick, colorful rug and were arranged facing each other.

It was an ideal place for scholars to come discuss what they’d learned without disturbing anyone still working.

“Leita showed me this place last time I was here,” Avie said, settling into one of the chairs. “We’d been researching the klarion, and our discussion upset Syrax and the others who were still reading.”

I sank into the remaining chair, grateful for the private retreat. “It’s peaceful up here.”

“You seemed aggravated, so I figured this would help rejuvenate you.”

She wasn’t wrong. Negative energy wasn’t going to help find answers. “Does it feel like we’re going about this the wrong way?”

“How so?”

The fact she didn’t act like I was crazy made me feel a bit better.

“Blackstone isn’t crazy—I mean, maybe he is, but he’s been planning this for a very long time.

Destroying the Great Ward will allow mages to summon demons again.

Like 1200 years ago, all it takes is one person to raise a demon they can’t control for the world to be plunged into a new demon war.

How is that scenario worth the effort and risk Blackstone took to get this far? ”

“It isn’t,” Avie said. “So how does he prevent that outcome?”

I didn’t know, but I had a theory. “Remember when Blackstone raised the demon prince to try to kill Bart?”

Avie’s expression soured. “Are you going to remind me I insisted he was wrong about Declan trying to kill him?”

I should’ve realized she was still salty about her mistake. “Not unless you want me to. My point is, did anyone examine the glyph with anyone other than Declan in mind?”

“You know we didn’t,” she said. “And yes, we erased it before Bart recovered to prevent him from ignoring his doctor’s advice.”

The problem with being one of the smartest people in the room was that you didn’t always have room to hear contrasting opinions. “I did.” I let those two words settle.

“Why…. When did you do that?” she asked.

Maybe we should’ve had this discussion sooner, but I’d known it wouldn’t go down well.

“Before I visited Bart in the hospital, I visited the campus. As for why, once Cinaed and I realized we were mates, we knew that wouldn’t have happened unless it was connected to the Great Ward.

We spoke to the guardians, and they shared that the Ward was slowly losing its potency.

By the time Blackstone unleashed his plans to kill Bart, I was already on alert for something unusual. ”

Avie remained quiet and stared at a spot on the wall. “I assume you didn’t tell me about your visit to Utrecht given my attitude toward Bart’s belief it wasn’t Declan.”

I nodded, glad she hadn’t needed me to spell it out for her.

“I didn’t learn who created that glyph, but it wasn’t a simple summoning circle.

When he’d recovered, I showed Bart the images from the glyph.

It took him a year to guess what the symbols meant, but unless he wanted to test his theory, we wouldn’t know for sure. ”

“What does our genius brother think Blackstone meant to do with that glyph?”

Standing, I moved to the window. Nothing disturbed the snow in the courtyard below.

It was as calming an image as I could find.

“Mostly it was a summoning spell for a very powerful demon, but hidden in the greater spell were two others. One was designed to trap the demon, and the second was anchored to the sacrificial mage.” I went back to my chair.

“Had Bart never appeared or had the demon killed him, the demon prince would’ve been trapped in the circle.

Had it eaten the mage, as it tried to before Bart killed Declan, it would’ve been subjugated to the will of the person who created the glyph. ”

“Blackstone,” she said. “So that’s his endgame.”

“Was,” I said. “I’m not sure what his plan is now.”

“Don’t you?” Avie looked at me the way she did when we were kids and she wanted me to figure it out for myself. “He’ll try again.”

She saw the obvious, but she didn’t know what I did.

“The glyphs would’ve failed to bind the prince.

Or at least Bart doesn’t think it would’ve worked.

Based on the level of magic needed to contain and kill it, Blackstone wouldn’t have had enough power, which is why we believe he created all these attempts to kill the next generation of guardians.

The magic needed to recreate that summoning circle would be enormous.

There’s no way he could hide it now that we’re searching this intently. ”

“What if he used an existing circle?” She raised an eyebrow. “Like Stonehenge or the Ring of Brodgar?”

Those were too public and the magic long since depleted. “Those circles are broken. They won’t work with so many stones gone or toppled. If he tried to right them, we’d notice.”

“What if he created his own?” she asked. “He could hide his work.”

By everything we knew, it would need to be a large circle, especially if he wanted to hold a demon prince. “Anything big enough would be visible. Even he couldn’t hide the magic needed to create it and power it. Maybe one aspect, but not both. I don’t think he’d take the risk.”

“I’m not aware of any fully intact circles,” Avie said. “All the catalogued ones I know about are missing pieces. To be thorough, however, I’ll ask someone in our European Division.”

The nagging sensation crystallized into clarity. Our thinking was too narrow. “Earth magic exists everywhere, not just in Europe. We focused there because those are the best-known structures, but other cultures found ways to channel earth magic.”

Avie put her finger to her lip and nodded. “Go on.”

“Medicine wheels,” I said, the revelation washing over me. “There was a passage in one of those books that said medicine wheels were sacred circles built across North America. They’re similar to the European stone circles, but built according to different cultural traditions.”

“That makes perfect sense,” Avie said. “Earth magic runs through all beings. The information received is the same, but would be implemented differently.”

Blackstone being a scholar and a meticulous planner, almost surely figured this out.

Unfortunately, we didn’t know which medicine wheel he planned to use.

And we needed to find Ailpein. “Can you tell the others about our conversation? I’m going to contact Cinaed and see if they found any clues to where his grandfather is being held. ”

The excuse was flimsy, and Avie raised an eyebrow. “Of course. I’m sure they are withholding that information until someone asks.”

Avie squeezed my shoulder as she headed for the stairs. I withdrew my mage stone and focused my thoughts. “ Cinaed?”

“ Rod.” He answered almost immediately. “I was just thinking about you. How’s your search going.”

I filled him in on my discussion with Avie, hoping he could tie the stone circles to the medicine wheels.

“Sorry, love,” he said. “I was never the expert on those places. Elspeth might know more.”

I hadn’t expected he’d have information, but as my sister surmised, it was a good reason to contact him. “Avie’s speaking to her and the others now. How about your search? Anything useful.”

“No, and yes,” he said. “We haven’t found much in the library, but we have a working theory on how Blackstone intends to kill my grandfather. The bigger news is someone is using the demon cave.”

My fear grew as he explained their situation. As Cinaed suggested, it was a test of wills. They were going despite it being a trap, and the other side was daring them to test their skills. One side would be wrong. “What information do you expect to get that is worth the risk?”

“We don’t know, but your brothers think we might be able to use these mages to find Grandfather.”

I wanted to argue against him going, but I was as much or more in danger than he was. Cinaed could at least regenerate. “ Be careful.”

“Thank you, Rod.” Through our link I felt his relief. “I know you want me to stay behind, and I appreciate you not asking. I’ll be careful, and I want you to promise me the same.”

If he could read me so well this soon, life was going to be interesting when we completed our bond. “Always. I have plans for us to enjoy a long, happy life together.”