Cursed (22 page)

Like my little scarab beetle.
My tiny friend was still missing, unfortunately. I feared that he had done his job in alerting Rowan and now, I'd never see him again. Such a shame. “Marlene brought me into her study yesterday and she's holding a Changed One there.”

Rowan's face paled. “And you think he had an insect familiar?”

“Yes, he had caterpillar arm that created bone crawlers. They're put under the skin of a Necromancer and…” I wasn't sure there was a way to put this gently. “They become the Tsar's mark.”

Rowan stared at me for a long moment. “Tell me what you learned. Everything.”

So I explained about Sophia and how she was killed by the mark's power and Marlene's cruelty. Rowan asked many questions, making me repeat details over and over until he got everything clear. He already knew that Viktor was gathering Necromancer power in order to control the Changed Ones. The bone crawlers explained why the young Necromancers had aged so quickly, and how Viktor had managed to gather power without anyone noticing. Eventually, Rowan's questions returned to the imprisoned Caster.

“Did you notice anything about the man?”

“He still wore a bit of a jacket. There was a large red swirl on the back.”

“Linden.”

“You know who that was?” How could Rowan could identify him so quickly? I hadn't seen much but a walking skeleton in a scrap of fabric.

Rowan ran his fingers down the line of swirls on his jacket. “All these symbols may look the same to you, but each one is unique to us. It's a secret code we share. I wear all of them because I'm from the Imperial family. First sons wear them large and on their backs. Only the Alfajiri clan has centipedes and bone crawlers for familiars. Linden was their first son.”

The symbols were something I didn't know, but I'd heard how the title of ‘first son' was like being a prince. The realization left me feeling hollow inside. Viktor took a leader and turned him into a slave.
Was there anything that man wouldn't stoop to?
“I know where they keep Linden. When we leave the Cloister, he'll come with us.”

“We'll get him if we can. If not, I'll return later.”

“What do you mean?”

“If we kill Viktor and there's time to rescue Linden, then fine. But once this is over, you're my first priority.” His gaze locked with mine. “I'm not risking your safety.”

I straightened my shoulders. “I can take care of myself.”

“I know. You're the strongest independent Necromancer left. But you aren't immortal. We lose you, Elea, we lose everything.”

Memories of Linden's vacant eyes haunted me. It wasn't right to leave him. “That man was the last of his kind, too. That tribe doesn't have any more Princes, you said so yourself.” Right now, Petra would tell me I'm working myself into an emotional state for nothing. In this case, Petra was wrong. “We'll figure out some way to get Linden out, and that's all there is to it.” Rowan's gaze turned so intense, it made me squirm. “What is it?”

“You. You're not at all what I expected.”

“What do you mean?”

“Necromancers are all about control.”

“Oh.” A blush crawled up my cheek.
He had me there.
“Yes, I'm what we call ‘zuchtlos'.”

“And that's?”

“Another way of saying I'm impulsive. It's one of my worst traits. My Mother Superior worked on it with me constantly. Controlling emotion is the key to Necromancy.”

“Why do they fill your head with such things? You're one of the best mages I've ever met. I'd say ‘zuchtlos' works fine for you.”

My mouth fell open. “That's not possible.”

His gaze turned searching. “Why, Elea?” The question had become larger in a way that I couldn't define. “Tell me.”

“I…” I needed a way to change the subject. Things were turning too deep between Rowan and me. The words fell from my lips on their own. “I'd rather you told me about Tristan.”

“Are you certain of this?”

In truth, I actually was. It was time to talk about what had happened. As of tomorrow, I might be spending an eternity with the man. If Rowan knew something useful, I'd better find out. “I'm positive.”

“Jakob found out about the other person, the one that the curse originally targeted.”

“You mean Quinn?”

“Yes, he was Tristan's brother.”

“I knew that. They were in the same Monastery.”

“No, he was his biological brother, too.”

“Oh.” I hugged my elbows. All of a sudden, Rowan's cooling spell made me feel downright cold. “I didn't know that.” Tristan never told me. I guess it made another item for the long list of things my supposed friend never said. “That does make more sense, though. Tristan wanted to protect his biological brother, and the curse went after whoever you loved the most. He got me to take it on instead.”

“I thought you'd want to know. Just in case.”

Right. Just in case I burn with the man forever.

My hands balled into fists. Even if it were an attempt to save his brother, how could Tristan do that to me? I'm locked into a curse now. I steeled my shoulders and pulled on my Necromancer training.

Emotion is the enemy. Focus on the mission.

Rowan kept watching me carefully. “I hope it wasn't the wrong decision to tell you.”

“No,” I said calmly. “I had a right to know.”

Our snow tigers paused and Radi let out a growl. This wasn't an angry noise, it was more to get Rowan's attention. My cat Lucy used to do it all the time when she was hungry.

Rowan patted the tiger's side. “What's wrong, Radi? You smell people?” The tiger growled again and Rowan slipped off his back. “We're getting closer to the Sanctuary Fair. We'll need to make the rest of the way on foot. It's best to keep a low profile and showing up on snow tigers won't help that.”

I dismounted from Umeme as well. “And you're certain Oni and Yuri will be here?” After the scarab appeared in the storehouse, these two mages seemed more real, but I still had my doubts.

“That's what they told Jakob.”

Umeme nuzzled into my hair.
So sweet.
I wrapped my arms around her neck. “See you soon.” She slunk off into the desert with Radi at her side. “Will they be all right?”

“Don't worry about those two. They can cast a little magick if they run into trouble.”

I pursed my lips, interested. “How much of your magick have you given to them?”

“Not too much. I've only been working on them for five years.” He rubbed his chin. “I think I want to make a phoenix next.”

“Phoenix? How many familiars does a Caster have?”

“Depends on the Caster. Some have one. Others have a whole zoo full of them. I'm more the zoo type, myself.”

I tried to picture Rowan with menagerie of animals. What had he created so far? “I'd like to see your zoo someday.”

“If we make it past this mission, I'll take you.”

I grinned. After all the doom and gloom of contemplating eternal fires, the thought of visiting a zoo of familiars was a welcome distraction.

Rowan and I finished hiking up a particularly high dune. At its crest, a long stretch of flatland opened up before us. Striped tents were everywhere, all of them in some combination of gray and black. A few curled low to the ground. Others soared with pennants flapping from their many peaks. A great crowd of Forgotten milled about the structures.

“It seems we've arrived.” Rowan turned to me. “Have you been to one of these before?”

“Never, but I've heard they aren't very safe.”

“True enough. Let's stay close.”

Rowan and I stepped into the crowd. The scent of charred meat filled the air. Bodies pressed in all around us. I thought the oasis was bad, but this place was far worse. I swear, sometimes the swell of the crowd was so tight, I could have lifted my feet off the ground and not fallen down. All the walking around didn't help the injury in my leg any, either.

Oh, well. It would heal on its own.

After an eternity of shoving our way forward, we entered one of the main passageways through the tents. “Where are Oni and Yuri supposed to meet us?”

“They said they'd find us. That was all.”

Well, that was quite mysterious of them.
It didn't bode well for this being anything other than a waste of time. We pushed our way through mob after mob. It was a good thing Rowan was a head taller than me. At least, we could see where we were going.

Hours ticked by and I started to lose my temper. Precious little time remained before I could kill the Tsar. Were Oni and Yuri some kind of prank? What kind of person poses as supernatural mages? I opened my mouth, ready to suggest that we discuss other options.

That's when I saw them in the crowd.

Oni and Yuri. The mages of legend. Although they both wore purple cloaks with the hoods drawn low, I could tell that Yuri was the taller of the two and had a masculine build with broad shoulders. Oni's golden belt highlighted her curvy form. Everywhere, the crowd bumped and jostled through the narrow walkways, but Oni and Yuri stood still as statues.

I glanced over to Rowan. “Do you see them?”

“I do.”

“You've come for our help.” Oni had a velvety smooth voice with an accent that I couldn't quite place.

“Yes,” I said.

“Go to the purple tent.” Yuri spoke this time, and his voice was deep and gravelly.

I frowned. There were only gray and black tents. What did they mean? All of a sudden, one of the tents shimmered as its color transformed from black to purple. Rowan and I headed toward the entrance flap.

Oni held up her hand. “Only Elea,” she said.

This wasn't a surprise, considering how the two had insisted that they speak directly to me. Rowan wasn't having any of it though. He strode up to the two mages and although Yuri looked well built, Rowan could have take on either of them.

“No,” said Rowan. “I'm going with her.”

I appreciated his concern, but I could take care of myself. “I'll be all right.”

“You can't cast.”

“And even if we both could, what good would it do us, if they are who they say?”

“She'll be safe,” said Yuri.

I took his hand in mine. That sweet jolt of connection rolled over my skin. I knew it was weak of me to rely on touch, but I considered this an extreme situation. “Trust me.”

Rowan rounded on Yuri. “I know she'll be safe. Because we're a team and we don't go into dangerous places without each other.” His thumb rubbed a soothing arc on the back of my hand. It surprised me how much strength I drew from that.

“No harm will come to her by our hands,” said Oni.

“I don't—” Rowan froze mid-sentence. The rest of the crowd poured around us, oblivious to anything but their own business. They'd placed a spell on Rowan. How powerful were these two?

“Into the tent,” said Yuri.

I started at Rowan for a long moment. His rugged features were fierce with protective rage. I didn't want to leave him like this. I didn't want to leave him, period. He was right. We were a team.

“The tent,” repeated Oni. Her words carried the power of magick. “You know what's at stake.”

“Right.”
My eternal life.
I slowly untwined my fingers from Rowan's. It hurt to lose the warmth and security of his touch, but there was no other way through this than to move forward. The Tsar arrived at the Midnight Cloister tomorrow. We couldn't defeat him without some kind of hybrid magick.

“You're doing right by your people and yourself,” said Oni in her smooth voice.

“I hope so.” I walked forward, took a deep breath, and slipped in through the open flap of the purple tent.

Chapter Twenty-One

Once inside, I became enveloped in total darkness. The sound of my own breathing turned deafeningly loud. Magick filled the air around me, the ethereal energy tickling my skin.

A pool of white light formed a few yards before me. Oni and Yuri stepped into the brightness. The hoods on their purple robes were still drawn low.

“You desire protection from the Tsar,” said Yuri.

“Yes, so I can murder him.” The pair flinched at the word ‘murder.'
How strange.
I couldn't imagine mages like these being squeamish when it came to destroying someone like Viktor. Perhaps they didn't expect me to be so blunt about my purpose. “Does that surprise you?”

“Somewhat,” said Oni in her silky voice.

I wasn't sure what kind of Necromancers they kept company with, but they'd better to get used to me. I wasn't going to sugar-coat my purpose here. “Can you help me?”

“We can,” they said together.

Those were two simple words, but they lifted a boulder-sized weight from my shoulders.
At last
. I may actually get the power to kill Viktor on Sunday, break my curse, and avoid an eternity of pain. “How will you do this?”

“It's called a leveling spell,” said Oni.

“I've never heard of such a thing.” And I knew every Necromancer spell that existed.

“That's because we created it for you,” said Yuri. “It will place you and your Caster on the same level of hybrid power as Viktor, but only for a short period of time.”

There was a dismissive tone in the way he said ‘your Caster.' It roused my protective side. “He has a name. Rowan. And what does he have to do with this?”

“We will empower you to cast beside him at the same level as Viktor,” said Yuri. “It serves a purpose. You will be better matched against him.”

Serves a purpose.
I didn't like how Oni and Yuri randomly pulled Rowan in and out of their plans.

“You wouldn't let Rowan into the tent, but you want to involve him?” I was surprised at the angry edge to my voice.
Get back in control, Necromancer
. I cleared my throat and organized my thoughts. “If you want Rowan to be part of this, then you should allow him in here. Now.”