“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 tocontain 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.”
Chapter Ten
Cinaed:
The wind rushed past my wings as I soared above the Romanian countryside. Dawn hadn’t fully broken, and the shadowy landscape below was a patchwork of dark forests and rocky terrain. The Demon Cave was just ahead, its entrance a black spot against the mountainside. Dark magic had corrupted this land for decades and traces of its taint remained. A perfect place for a trap.
Could it really be called a trap if I knew it for what it was? Everyone did. The only part that wasn’t settled was who would come out ahead.
My mental link with Roderick was quiet. He’d had a long day and was sleeping along with the rest of his team. I was grateful for the time differential. Had he been awake, I’d have had to shield part of my thoughts, which was as good as saying I was hiding something. As much as I didn’t like doing that, letting him know where I was going would’ve been worse.
Worse, as in Rod would be on the first plane he could commandeer to get to me. His showing up would defeat thepurpose of me going alone. Even asleep, I could feel him. Our connection had strengthened since our night together in my room. Grandfather’s spell still kept us from completing our bonding, but we were closer now than before.
