Heart of the Thief
Page 21
“You should know there are very few things I do by force,” Becket said, “I’m a practitioner of the subtle arts.”
“What makes you think I’m just going to give them to you?”
“You aren’t; we’re going to trade. This is a negotiation.”
“I didn’t come here to trade. The items in this bag aren’t up for sale.”
Becket leaned forward, folding his arms across his chest. “Oh, I think you’ll accept my terms.”
“Really? And why’s that?”
“Because all I want is to know what’s inside of that box. I’m not interested in the gold, or in money. I have plenty of that already. But not knowing the answer to that question has kept me up at night too many times. I would like to reclaim my right to a good night sleep.”
“You sure the things keeping you up aren’t all the demons you’ve got locked upstairs?”
“I can assure you, the demons in my closet are very much under control. At least, they are so long as no one tampers with my carefully crafted security systems.”
My cheeks would’ve burst into flames if they could. “Yeah, yeah. I get it.”
I looked over at Axel. I still wasn’t ready to talk to him, I couldn’t get the thoughts out of my head, but he had as much of a stake in the contents of the bag I was holding as I did. “What do you think?” I asked.
“You… really want my opinion?” he asked.
“I do.”
Axel glanced at Becket, then turned his eyes back on me. “You were going to try and open the box anyway, right?”
“Eventually…”
“Then, why not do it here… now?”
“Because there’s a protective ward around that box, and we don’t know what’ll come out of it if I open it.”
Axel paused. “All the more reason to do it in the presence of someone like him, right?”
“A fine point,” Becket said. “I can promise you, if anything dangerous spills out of that box, I’ll do my best to stop it from hurting anyone.”
“And if you fail?” I asked.
“Well, then you probably would’ve died when you opened it anyway, so…” he shrugged his shoulders. He seemed pretty comfortable with the idea of opening an ancient box belonging to an ancient, powerful mage queen, so I guess that worked in his favor. But I didn’t like the idea of opening it before I was ready.
Still, I didn’t think I really had a choice, here. I guess I was opening the box.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
I set the ornate little brown box on Becket’s table, and for a moment we all just… stared at it. None of us wanted to make the first move, none of us wanted to be the first to touch it—even though I’d already touched it before. But there was a difference between grabbing something in a hurry, and really touching something in order to appreciate it.
“Remarkable, isn’t it?” Becket asked. “If you look closely you can see water damage in the wood, but there are powerful spells at work to keep it from deteriorating too far. It’s as close to pristine as it’s going to get.”
“That’s not the only spell at work,” I said, “This thing will tear your fingers off if you try and tamper with the lock.”
“How can you possibly know that?”
“The ward is speaking to me. It’s telling me what it can do to you, to us. It’s also telling me what I need to do to unravel it.”
I suddenly found myself under the light of those red eyes. He was staring at me fondly, like I was a piece of art. I didn’t like it. “I take back what I just said… it’s you that’s remarkable.”
Axel’s jaw clenched. He maybe hadn’t wanted me to, but I’d noticed. “Can you unlock it?” he asked.
“I can.”
“Safely?”
“Yes, I can. But I can’t vouch for what’s gonna come shooting up at us from inside.”
“Hopefully nothing,” becket said, “But I’m ready to defend against whatever we find inside Pandora’s box.”
I took a deep breath in through the nose, then exhaled. “You really want me to do this, huh?” I asked.
“I do. I need to know. Don’t you?”
I guess I kind of did. I kind of also wanted to keep the face-eating monster very much locked away inside its prison—assuming that’s what the box was. I sighed. “Yeah, I do.”
“Then it’s settled. Open the box.”
I looked at him carefully. “On one condition.”
Becket narrowed his red eyes. “Name it.”
“Whatever we find inside, we agree that it belongs to none of us—and all of us. If the story about the drowned queen is true, then she had a vision of a place where mages shared all knowledge. I want that for all of us, too. No one person should have more power than another.”
“You’re talking about changing the status quo. It won’t be easy.”
“No, but I need your word that you won’t try and kill us and keep whatever’s in here.”
Becket extended his hand. “You have my word.”
I hesitated, but then I took it and shook. “Alright,” I said, “I’m gonna need a second.”
I examined the box, carefully running my fingertips around its wooden edges, tracing the symbols along its center. The box itself was so packed full of power, it was practically buzzing with magic. I almost didn’t want to touch it. I definitely didn’t want to open it—I only wanted to know what was inside, without the danger of instantly dying. But that wasn’t going to work, so, I got to work.
The ward itself was probably hundreds of years old, but it was no different than any other ward I’d ever come across in my life. Slowly, as I traced the combination along the body of the box, watching my fingertips leave a little trail of light as they moved, I felt the ward’s power starting to fade and diminish.
Normally I would’ve wanted to disable it for a while. That was easy to do. But in this case, I wanted to tear it down completely. I didn’t want it coming back up. Normally that would’ve alerted the mage who created the ward to the fact that it had just been destroyed, but considering how old this one was… well, if the mage was still alive to notice, then I was going to be in some deep shit.
If not, I’d never have to worry about opening the box again.
My fingers finished tracing the combination, and the protective spells surrounding the box fizzled away with a whisper and a puff of prismatic smoke. Gingerly, I touched the simple clasp keeping the box shut. When my fingers didn’t get ripped to shreds, I gripped the tiny lock and twisted it. The box unlocked, the clasp gave way… and I opened it with bated breath.
Demons and monsters didn’t right away come whooshing out of the box to tear my face off, but the box still hummed with power even though I’d shut down its outer wards. From inside the box came the distinct, briny scent of seawater. Though the interior was black, it was also covered in salt formations stretching like glittering tendrils throughout.
Inside, there was only one item. It was a perfectly preserved parchment scroll, with a wax seal bearing the same pentagram etched into the box itself. This was it. The scroll was the thing that was humming with power, not the box. Already I could feel the scroll’s protection reaching out to me, the ward singing to me like sirens from across the ocean.
My entire body shuddered as its song filled me, penetrated me, bounced off every little cell that made me… well, me.
“What is it?” Becket asked.
“It’s… her…” I said. “At least, I think it is.”
“The drowned queen?”
“Qyhena Ophine…” the words fell from my lips on the back of a sigh. I wasn’t sure if the spell was hers, but it sure felt like her. I didn’t know how to describe it to Axel and Becket. I couldn’t find the words to tell them that, what I was feeling, went beyond description; it went beyond sense.
All mages had the ability to perceive things that were hidden, things that should not be. Whatever this ward was, whoever had built it, was triggering that sense and sending it in
to overdrive. I almost wanted it to stop. I could feel my fingers reaching for the seal, and I knew, if I tried to open it—if I tried to break the ward—my heart would just… explode.
There’d be no mercy, no time for anyone to save me. I would be struck dead on the spot. It was like the ward itself was warning me not to try and tamper with it. It was almost like the thing was alive, or at the very least, conscious. I knew then, as I pulled my hand away from the scroll, that this thing went way beyond my capabilities.
I’d finally found a ward I couldn’t break.
“Are you alright, Izzy?” Axel asked.
His voice snapped me out of the daze. “I… think so,” I said. “Just, don’t touch it.”
“Don’t touch it?” Becket asked. “Surely, we have to open it.”
“No. You can’t. It’ll kill you if you try.”
“So, break the ward?”
“Look, no one’s opening that thing, alright? Not even me. I’m sorry, I just can’t.”
Becket’s eyes narrowed. “You know, the Wardbreakers I’ve heard of were people of legend. They were almost Godlike in their ability to ignore a mage’s defenses.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t even have a Guardian. I doubt I’ll be achieving legend status anytime soon.”
“You don’t?” Becket stood in front of me, his arms folded, and angled his head to the side. “Now, how is that possible?”
I shrugged. “It just is, okay? I don’t have one. I used to be able to hear it calling out to me, and then it just… stopped calling.”
“Or maybe you just stopped listening…” Axel said. He wasn’t directly looking at me when he spoke, but when I turned my eyes on him, he met my gaze.
I stared at him for a long moment without speaking. I was almost frowning at him. I hadn’t realized until I took a breath and allowed myself to relax. “Yeah, well, it’s a moot point because either way, I can’t hear it anymore. If I go into the Tempest looking for it now, I’m never getting back out.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Becket said, “Our Guardians act as beacons for us during our search for them in the Tempest, they have to. They hold the other half of our unfinished souls. They want us to find them, and merge with them. If you went looking, it would start calling again.”
Scoffing, I turned away from both men. “I don’t even know why we’re having this conversation.”
“Because you may not be powerful enough to break that seal now, but maybe if you had your Guardian… you might.”
I rounded on them. “And then what?” I asked. “Say you’re right, and I make the stupidest decision of my life. I dive into the Tempest, I find my Guardian, and it helps me crack the ward protecting that scroll. Then what?”
“Then we find out what’s inside,” Becket said. “That could be the last will and testament of the drowned queen of Ashelor… one of the wisest, and most powerful mages who ever lived. The only mage who ever truly tried to unite our kind in knowledge and kinship. Don’t you want to know what she had to say?”
“You know, I find it a little rich that an Infernal is preaching about kinship. You’re a recluse, and with good reason. People don’t trust mages who make pacts with demons.”
Becket cocked an eyebrow. “People don’t trust thieves, either. I suppose we have something in common.”
I shot Axel a hard look. He was nodding, impressed with Becket’s comeback. When he spotted the frustration on my face, he shrugged. “He’s got you there,” Axel said, “I’m the son of a crime boss. People don’t trust me, either.”
A knock at the door stopped our three-way stare in its tracks. The door opened, and I had to double-take. Becket had opened it, but Becket was also standing in front of me. There were two of him in the room.
The Becket at the door bowed politely, stepped back into the hall, and moved away. From behind him came Karim, Danvers, and RJ. As soon as they spotted the Becket standing in front of me, they all stopped and stared.
Karim pointed at him. “Wait a tick,” he said, “But you just…” he pointed at the hall. “Didn’t you just greet us at the… can somebody tell me what the bloody hell is going on?”
Becket frowned, walked over to Karim, and stared at the urn in the Necromancer’s hands. Looking up at Karim, he asked, “Why are you holding my great-uncle’s ashes?”
“I… found them…”
“Found them… where?”
“At the Magister’s place.”
“And why do you have them?”
Karim held the urn a little more tightly to his chest. “Because the poor bugger didn’t want to be there anymore. He was practically begging me to get him out, only now he’s gone all quiet.”
Becket nodded. “That’s not surprising. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to share an apartment with Elliott.”
“Elliott? Who’s Elliott?”
“Mister Becket, here, is the Magister’s brother,” I offered.
“Oh, good… because for a minute there I was afraid we were in trouble.”
“We are. I’m probably a fugitive, so’s Axel. None of you were seen, except maybe RJ, so you’re in the clear. If you want to turn around and leave, I wouldn’t blame you.”
Danvers peered across my shoulder. “Is that the box I’ve been hearing so much about?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“What’s inside?”
I glanced at the box. “Probably nothing. Maybe everything… I think I wanna find out.”
“I don’t know about you, but I didn’t come this far to turn back now. Besides, I don’t know about these guys, but I’m used to being on the wrong side of the law.”
I looked over at RJ. He shrugged. “Working for you beats working for the other asshole… no offence.”
Axel nodded. “None taken.”
“Karim?” I asked.
He rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why you bothered asking me. I’m already too far down the rabbit hole. Just… what is it exactly we’re doing?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said, “But I’m kind of hoping we can all figure it out along the way… together.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katerina Martinez is a widely known author who writes supernatural fiction with a creepy, thrilling, and romantic bent. A veteran of many years of writing, she is the author of Dark Siren, the first book in the breakout Half-Lich Trilogy which became an instant bestseller in 2016. She continues to expand her back-list with books such as Magick Reborn, The Dead Wolves, and Smoke and Shadows. Though she took a brief pause during 2018, she is now back with her brand new Magic Blood series, which she intends to expand into a huge universe of interconnected novels and characters.
Also by Katerina Martinez
**(NEW)** THE WARDBREAKER SERIES
Book 1: Heart of the Thief
Book 1: Soul of the Storm
THE OBSIDIAN ORDER SERIES
Book 1: Wings of Light
Book 2: Wings of Night
Book 3: Wings of Shadow
Magic Blood Series
The Warlock
Book 1: Demons and Deception
Book 2: Mages and Masquerades
Book 3: Scions and Sorcery
Book 4: Hellfire and Homicide
Book 5: Warlocks and Wickedness
Magic Blood Series
The Primal
Book 1: Hunter’s Calling
The Blood and Magick Series
Book 1: Magick Reborn
Book 2: Demon’s Kiss
Book 3: Witch’s Wrath
Th
e Half-Lich Series
THE HALF-LICH BOXED SET
Book 1: Dark Siren
Book 2: The Void Weaver
Book 3: Night and Chaos
The Amber Lee Series
THE AMBER LEE BOXED SET
Book 1: True Witch
Book 2: Dark Witch
Book 3: Shadow Witch
Book 4: Red Witch
Book 5: Devil’s Witch
The Cursed and Damned Series
Book 1: The Dead Wolves
The Order of Prometheus Series
Book 1: Smoke and Shadows
Book 2: Cloak and Daggers
HEART OF THE THIEF
The Wardbreaker
Book One
Copyright © 2019 by Katerina Martinez & LJ Sampere
Visit: www.katerinamartinez.com
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