Yeah, I wasn’t coping well with the aftermath of my late-night visitor.
After Eterran had left, I’d lain awake all night, turning the conversation over and over in my mind. Ezra would want to know what his demon had learned to do. Not telling him betrayed his trust and our friendship. He needed to know.
But Eterran was right that Ezra would tell Aaron, Kai, or Darius—and they might execute the demon mage before he became a danger to everyone around him.
Morning hadn’t brought me any answers, but it’d brought distractions. I’d had an early-morning appointment with Healer Austin to take my “just to be safe” shifter-infection test. I hated tests, but this one had been easy. She’d pricked my finger, added a smidge of my blood to a potion, said a little chant, and voilà. Negative result. Phew.
The healer had also officially discharged Sin, allowing her to wander between the academy and manor, though she had to return to the infirmary by nine p.m. Tomorrow night was the full moon and our unalterable deadline. By then, Sin would be either exorcised or doomed to become a mutant shifter.
As soon as Aaron, Kai, and Ezra arrived, we would set out to hunt the elusive black wolf. I was already dressed in combat gear: my leather pants, sturdy jacket, spell/alchemy belt, and steel-toed hiking boots. Any minute now, I’d have to face Ezra—and the demon inside him. I still didn’t know what the hell to do.
“Are you looking forward to the party tomorrow?” Sin asked, breaking into my panicked thoughts.
“Uh, yeah,” I muttered vaguely, though with Sin’s exorcism hanging over us, I wasn’t sure anyone would enjoy it. “Are you?”
“Well,” she replied dryly, “when I was picking out my dress, I wasn’t imagining these exact circumstances.”
“Your dress is gorgeous, so at least you’ve got that going for you.”
“Your dress is amazing.” She gave me an arch look. “I bet Ezra will take major notice.”
I snorted as though amused, but her words sent an extra shot of nerves through me. As if I didn’t have enough to worry about. “There’s nothing going on between me and Ezra.”
“Uh-huh.” Sin strolled away from the academy doors and onto the tree-dotted lawn beside it. “You’ve almost convinced yourself it’s just a bad case of lust, but deep down, you know.”
I bit my tongue. Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Don’t ask. “Know what?”
Sin smiled mysteriously and lengthened her stride. Gritting my teeth, I followed her. She stopped beside a tree with twisty branches and laid her hand on the craggy bark.
“Cherry,” she observed. “These trees will be so beautiful when they bloom in the spring. Though …” She rubbed the scarred bark, rent with jagged lines that exposed the pale wood beneath. “These have been damaged. Did students do this?” She shook her head as though scratching a tree were a despicable crime. “Hey, look. They’re here.”
Aaron, Kai, and Ezra had appeared at the top of the steps that rose up the hillside from the manor. At the sight of Ezra, my heart crawled into my throat and attempted to choke off my air. Sin peered at me worriedly.
As the three mages joined us, I assessed Ezra’s expression. He looked better than he had since we’d gotten here; his bronze complexion had regained its vivid warmth and the circles under his eyes weren’t as dark. Eterran must’ve allowed him to sleep through the night, as agreed.
“Tori? Before we start, can I talk to you?” Aaron asked.
“Huh?” I jerked my stare from Ezra to the pyromage, who was watching me with the grimmest expression I’d ever seen. Did he know about Eterran’s new trick? But how could he? “Sure, no problem.”
Aaron led me away from the other three. We walked alongside the academy building, Aaron’s jaw working as he sorted through whatever had him in knots.
“Tori,” he began, sounding outright tortured. “About yesterday. My head wasn’t in the right place and my behavior was completely—”
“Oh!” I exclaimed, cluing in. He looked grim because he was apologizing, not because he knew about Eterran. Relief flooded me. “Don’t worry about it, Aaron.”
He frowned. “But I was—"
“You were an ass,” I interrupted, “and you feel bad for being an ass. Apologies are awkward so we should skip that part.”
He walked silently, then mumbled, “I don’t deserve to be let off the hook.”
“I’m sparing myself as much as you.” Turning in mid-step, I walked backward so I could smile at him. “You can just owe me a favor. How’s that?”
His wariness was instant. “An open-ended favor for you sounds dangerous.”
“It’ll be fine,” I cooed innocently.
He wasn’t buying it.
Whirling around to walk normally, I checked that we were alone. “Before we go back, I need to ask about something else from yesterday. After Ezra toasted those werewolves, he said …”
“‘Eterran was feeling generous,’” Aaron quoted.
I shuddered at the demon’s name. “Does he normally talk about his demon like that?”
It wasn’t the most pressing question on my list, but I wasn’t ready to blurt out anything about last night.
“Occasionally.” Aaron rubbed a hand through his hair. “He and his demon have a strange relationship. They hate each other for obvious reasons, but Ezra needs Eterran’s cooperation to use demon magic, especially new attacks.”
I absorbed that in silence. Six weeks ago, Darius had told me to learn everything I could about Ezra’s demon magic, but by the time we’d returned to a normal routine, Ezra’s insomnia had set in and I’d barely seen him.
“So Eterran cooperates because he needs Ezra to survive,” I ventured. “If Ezra dies, so does Eterran.”
“Exactly.” Aaron sighed. “It’s messed up.”
Compounded by the fact Eterran was an evil bastard. “So Eterran and Ezra cooperate whenever he—they use demon magic in a fight? Doesn’t that blur the line of who’s in control?”
Aaron nodded. “For that reason, Ezra only uses it as a last resort.”
“How much influence does Eterran have over Ezra otherwise?”
He slowed to a stop and jammed his hands in his pockets. “We’re not sure. Ezra and the demon …”
He held his breath, then released it. Whatever he’d planned to say, he couldn’t get the words out.
“Can Ezra and Eterran communicate with each other?” I asked instead.
“I think so, but I’m not sure how much. Ezra doesn’t talk about it.” Aaron grimaced. “Why the sudden interest in his demon?”
Now was my chance to tell Aaron what had happened last night. He loved Ezra like a brother. He would help me figure out what to do—or he might tell Ezra. Or Kai. Or Darius.
My jaw clenched, my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth, and I knew I wouldn’t say a word. I couldn’t gamble Ezra’s life. Eterran had agreed to leave Ezra alone for a month. I had four weeks to come up with a plan before I told them. If there was a chance, however slim, I could save Ezra with the amulet, I had to explore the option.
“Just weirded out by Ezra’s comment yesterday,” I said, concealing my guilt. “Should we get Ezra and Kai? We have a shifter to hunt and only one day to—”
A shape moved in the trees to our right. We both turned as the shadow passed silently behind a thick-boughed spruce tree, then emerged from the woods.
The black wolf paced fifteen feet across the manicured lawn and fixed its milky eyes on us. Muscles rippled beneath its shaggy coat, its canine body too large for my brain to comprehend. Not quite dire-wolf-sized, but pretty damn close.
As adrenaline shivered through my muscles, Aaron swore under his breath.
“Who’s hunting who?” he muttered. “Be careful, Tori.”
He reached over his shoulder and drew Sharpie from its sheath with a steely slither. I scrabbled in my pouch, slid my brass knuckles on, and risked a glance over my shoulder. We’d walked well past the academy and I couldn’t see the others. The wind had pi
cked up, blowing against our backs—and it would carry our voices away if we shouted for help.
“Should we retreat?” I asked sharply.
Aaron angled his blade toward the shifter. “He’s here for a fight. If we don’t take him on, he’ll pick one with someone else.”
And “someone else” could be any student unlucky enough to wander outside.
I curled my hand into a fist, the hard edges of my brass knuckles digging into my palm. “What’s the plan?”
“I’m going in hot,” he said—an expression that was far more literal for a pyromage. “I’ll draw him back toward the others. If you have a chance to run for help—”
Tired of waiting, the wolf rushed us.
I backpedaled as Aaron lunged forward. Fire swept up his blade and he swung it at the wolf’s chest. The shifter ducked the flaming steel. As it darted past him, Aaron spun in a full circle and slammed the hilt into its shoulder.
The wolf tumbled across the grass, then came up on its feet, its lips pulled back in a ferocious canine grin.
I withdrew farther, getting clear as fire coated Aaron’s arms and shoulders. He took a slow step, then launched at the wolf. The shifter evaded with preternatural speed, faster than the mutated werewolves we’d fought.
Aaron and the wolf danced in a lethal circle, the shifter silent and deadly as it lunged repeatedly, seeking a way past the pyromage’s long blade. Holding my breath, I hovered on my tiptoes, ready to sprint for help but not daring to leave. Against a single wolf, Aaron should’ve already won, but the shifter’s every movement broadcast its strength and speed. Sharpie’s reach was Aaron’s only advantage.
The shifter spun past Aaron’s left side, then cut in behind him. As he pivoted, sword snapping around, the wolf slammed its shoulder into Aaron’s hip. The powerful impact threw Aaron off his feet. He landed hard on his back—and the wolf was on him.
Ignoring the fire licking across Aaron’s hand, the shifter bit down on Sharpie’s long, leather-wrapped hilt and tore the sword away. It flew ten feet and landed in the grass.
Aaron swung his fist into the shifter’s muzzle. The blow connected with a dull thud, and as the wolf reared back, Aaron launched up. Fire leaped off his arms, the flames turning blue and the surrounding air rippling with heat.
The shifter didn’t care about the fire. Jaws open and fangs bared, it circled him again—with lazy confidence instead of caution. Without his sword, Aaron had lost his best advantage.
I tracked the distance between me and Sharpie, then observed the wolf. When it pounced, I launched forward. Fire burst off Aaron as I sprinted for the sword. Slipping on the slick grass, I crouched and grabbed the hilt, my fingers biting into the leather grip.
“Tori!”
Beneath Aaron’s warning cry, I heard the thudding paws coming my way. Without looking, without knowing where I should aim, I wrenched the heavy weapon off the ground and swung it behind me in a wild arc.
The wolf skidded on all four paws, skirting the deadly steel edge—but I’d swung too hard. As the momentum pulled me around, the shifter surged toward my exposed side.
A fireball exploded against the wolf’s back and its snapping jaws missed my arm by an inch. I unceremoniously flung the sword in Aaron’s direction. As the wolf whirled toward me, I fell into the fighting stance I’d been practicing for weeks. Muscle memory took over.
I jabbed with my right fist. The wolf dodged, but my left fist was already flying. “Ori amplifico!”
The wolf was too fast for an inexperienced fighter like me, and the air rippled harmlessly as my punch sailed above its head. Planting my lead foot, I finished the combo with a furious side kick. The sole of my boot slammed into the wolf’s face, buying me an instant’s reprieve.
Then Aaron was there, Sharpie in his hands. He stepped in front of me, heat radiating off him.
“Queen of Spades!” he commanded as he raised Sharpie.
I leaped back, grabbing the card from my pocket. A wall of hot air buffeted me as Aaron pointed his sword at the pale sky, then let it fall sideways, the gleaming tip drawing a sparking circle in front of him.
The air smelled vaguely of burning metal—the scent of intense heat.
“Ori repercutio,” I cried, thrusting the card out.
Flames engulfed Aaron and his sword. They blasted toward me and hit the Queen’s rebound spell. The fire reversed direction and joined the inferno expanding in a ten-foot-tall barrier on either side of Aaron. The blazing walls swept across the grass, curving toward each other in an ensnaring circle that would trap the shifter in its center.
My vision filled with roaring flames fed by Aaron’s power and fury. The fiery trap closed, the towering walls slamming together in an explosion of heat and boiling smoke that reared skyward.
I shielded my face with my arms, exposed skin aching and my eyes stinging. Flames rippled over Aaron, dancing across his fireproof combat gear, and Sharpie’s blade glowed hotly.
He lowered his weapon and the flames shrank, leaving scattered embers on the burnt lawn. Where his lethal ring of flame had closed, the ground was bare, the earth blackened, drifting soot all that remained of the grass.
There was no shifter corpse in the demolished circle. The black wolf had escaped again.
Chapter Seventeen
My feet dragged with exhaustion as I followed Aaron, Kai, and Ezra across the driveway to the carriage porch, the glowing windows of the manor holding back the evening’s darkness. Climbing the half-dozen steps to the huge oak door was almost too much for my overworked legs.
After the black wolf’s audacious attack this morning, we’d spent the rest of the day combing the woods for any sign of it. Tobias had sent the alumni out to search too, but none of us had any luck. Whatever the shifter’s game was, it was winning.
Dominic waited for us in the vestibule, and Aaron dragged his baldric off before removing his coat. He passed both to the butler with a mumbled, “Thanks.”
Kai and Ezra handed over their jackets and weapons. I gave up my coat and belt, wishing glumly that I had a scary weapon too. Then again, I’d need to build up my strength before I could swing a sword around for more than thirty seconds.
A booming voice brought my head up as we walked into the living room. Tobias and Valerie stood beside Kelvin Compton, and the transmutation alchemist was beaming through his beard as Sin lowered an empty glass from her lips.
“Tori!” she burst out. “Kelvin did it!”
I gawked intelligently. “Huh?”
She flew past the guys and flung her arms around me. “He just finished a potion for me!”
My gaze shot to the looming mythic. “You sure?”
Kelvin nodded. “I haven’t identified all the alchemic components, but I pinpointed the transmutation framework. I tested eighteen possible counters before developing this one. It will more than sufficiently diminish the lupine spirit for an exorcism, regardless of the transmutation’s effects.”
My whole body lightened with relief and I squeezed Sin. “Yes! Did you just take it? Let’s call that druid lady back right now!”
“Ah, not so quick, my dear,” Kelvin cut in. “I’m administering the potion to Sin in three doses, as some ingredients are toxic in high quantities.” He indicated the sideboard, where a vial of pink liquid waited. “She can take the next one tomorrow morning, and I’ll have the final dose ready that night. The lupine spirit will be ready for removal by the time the druidess arrives.”
“I’m so relieved.” Sin backed out of our hug and dropped onto the sofa, her admiring eyes on the master alchemist. “Thank you, Kelvin.”
Valerie brought her hands together in a single sharp clap. “Let’s celebrate with a late dinner. Tori and the boys have been working hard too. Kelvin, will you and your apprentice join us?”
“We’d be happy to.”
As she bustled off, I sat beside Sin. After a cold, frustrating, exhausting day traipsing through the woods and accomplishing nothing, I felt buoyed by th
is victory. The black wolf might be playing games, but Sin would be okay. Not a complete victory, but I’d take it.
Kai and Ezra joined us, filling out the sofa. Sin asked how the hunt went and Kai answered. Half listening, I slumped back, daydreaming about my bed. So damn tired.
Ezra was beside me, our arms touching. The memory of his demon controlling him lingered in the back of my thoughts, but Ezra had been his usual self all day. It was surprisingly easy to ignore Eterran when I was happy to spend time with Ezra after so many weeks of distance.
He stifled a yawn—which triggered my jaw to pop open. Sin caught it next. Kai resisted for a long moment, then clapped his hand over his mouth.
“If seeing other people yawn doesn’t make you yawn,” I told him, “it means you’re a psychopath.”
He snorted, then paused as a quiet voice drifted over from the other end of the room.
“So you found no sign of the alpha wolf?” Tobias asked.
“We found plenty of signs,” Aaron answered. “Fur, scat, tracks everywhere. But locating a single shifter, especially one that’s taunting us, in over a thousand acres of forest is worse than finding a needle in a haystack.”
Tobias was quiet for a moment. “And do you feel your efforts today were the best you could contribute? Did you accomplish as much with only Kai and Ezra to help you as you could have leading a team of alumni—as I suggested this morning?”
Aaron lowered his voice but his words reached us anyway. “And as I told you this morning, I’m not a member of the Sinclair guild and I won’t lead them.”
“You may not be a guild member, but you’re still a Sinclair—”
“I already have a team,” Aaron interrupted. “And I work best with them. With the alumni, I would’ve spent my afternoon shutting down complaints instead of searching.”
The Alchemist and an Amaretto: The Guild Codex: Spellbound / Five Page 14
