“My money’s on Percy,” Cael said. “This is his home. He knows best what to do with the place.”
Watching them discuss the issue summed up how I felt about the mission. Ambivalence. It had been a wasted effort. “Does it really matter? We learned nothing about Grandfather’s location.”
“Not yet, at least,” Bart said, exchanging a smile with Leo.
I didn’t understand how they could smile after everything—or nothing—that happened. “What do you mean?” If I sounded a bit annoyed, sue me. I was frustrated.
“During the fight, we placed microscopic magical tracers on Blackstone’s mages,” Bart said. “If the spell we used works?—”
“And it will,” Leo said quickly.
“— we should be able to track them to wherever James is holed up.”
Leo nodded, satisfaction written on his face. “With any luck, they’ll lead us straight to your grandfather.”
I didn’t share his optimism. Blackstone expected a lot of what happened. “I hope you’re right, but I’d be surprised if he doesn’t find the tracers. He had contingencies for almost everything.Although he didn’t expect you to sneak up on him. If he had, things wouldn’t have gone so well.”
“You said you found glyphs in the tunnels,” Anso asked. They’d finished their debate and had joined us. “What did you find?”
It took a few minutes to explain everything, and when I finished, I was more convinced than before that Blackstone expected what happened.
“I’m not sure that’s correct,” Leo said. “My guess is Blackstone prepared for two contingencies: you came alone or we came with you. Which I know is totally obvious. If you came alone, then the cage in the main chamber would’ve held you. If you came with us, he expected you’d feel the fake phoenix energy and investigate while we fought his mages. Once he had you ensnared, he’d collapse the mountain, hoping your capture would make us hesitate long enough to be crushed.”
I’d forgotten Leo was a trained inquisitor. “He seemed genuinely shocked when you six popped up.”
“In that, he was overconfident,” Otto said. “He’s spent so many years claiming Bart was overhyped that he bought into his own narrative. Bart bet he could get us in undetected, and he did.”
“Only because Cinaed did such a good job keeping James busy,” Bart said. “He might have caught us if he wasn’t so busy trying to lock Cinaed in his cage.”
I didn’t care why it worked, only that we might have a lead on where to find my grandfather. “How long until we know if the trackers work?”
“They’re already working,” Percy said. “It might take a day or two before we can determine if they lead us to King Ailpein.”
Two days sounded like a lot, but Grandfather could hold on that long. Blackstone would never have risked so much to capture me if he was close to breaking my grandfather.Having failed to capture me, however, he might try harder with Grandfather. “Let’s try to find him quicker.”
Chapter Thirteen
Roderick:
The wave of magic hit my shield with enough force to shake the ground. My diamond flared, wrapping my hand in its brilliant light. Around me, the air crackled with deadly energy as spells collided and exploded. If I’d been a second slower detecting them, we’d have all been dead.
“Don’t hold back!” I shouted, pivoting to reinforce my defenses as another volley of spells tore through the undergrowth. “They’re trying to kill us.”
Tree bark splintered and earth erupted as refracted magic carved furrows in the ground. The pristine medicine wheel site had transformed into a battlefield in seconds. The attackers had used the cover of the terrain to surround us completely.
My siblings responded instantly to my warning. I extended my consciousness through my mage stone, creating a link between us.“Jan and Ignatius, I need you on defense. Darius and Eldwin, take the elves and cover the north and east. Avie, Owen, and I will hit those from the south and west.”
Amid the acknowledgments, Owen’s exuberant “hell yeah!” gave me pause. If he wasn’t our strongest combat mage, I’d have given his assignment to Jan. His bond with Lysandor made him even more powerful, and we couldn’t afford to fight without him, but he still made me nervous.
Thinking of my brother and his mate reopened the wound in my soul where Cinaed’s presence should’ve been. I pushed my pain aside. I’d never mate with him if I died.
Across the clearing, Darius and Eldwin, supported by Ignatius and Hro, fought like the fearsome duo they’d been during the Demon War. Now, however, their mate bonds amplified their powers beyond anything our enemies could match. Flashes of pink and blue magic battered the fools trying to breach their defenses.
Several bursts of magic crashed against Ignatius and Jan’s shield in a coordinated attack. I watched in satisfaction as their emerald energy barely rippled under an assault that would have overwhelmed an ordinary mage’s defenses.
There was a lull as our foes surveyed the battlefield, and Avie used their confusion to order a counterattack.
Owen positioned himself near the edge of the wheel, his purple spinel flashing brilliantly as he engaged multiple attackers. His power was undeniable, but he fought with the reckless confidence of youth. It was as if he felt the need to prove he was the strongest combat mage in the fight.
