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Bram sends the wizard a counterfeit smile. “Gray. Glad you came. Odd hour.”
“Most likely not to be caught.”
“How do you plan to proceed with the book? Do you know what will happen if it’s unlocked?”
“Not precisely, though I have a good idea.”
“Until we’re sure, rushing may be unwise. I’m happy to guard your key,” Bram offers. “Without an invitation to enter, these grounds are a veritable fortress.”
Gray shakes his head emphatically. “We must open the book now. My plan was to use the key, uncurse Marrok, and return it before Mathias realizes it’s gone. Before he realizes I’ve crossed him again.”
“I’d rather not put my father in extra danger, and there’s no reason to drag out Marrok’s misery.” Olivia turns to me. “I know you would prefer to study and strategize and ponder and…whatever, but Richard risked his life to bring us his emblem and—”
“What about you? What do you want?”
Olivia falls silent, but she implores me for something with those haunting violet eyes.
“A happy future with a mate free of a curse you should never have been forced to endure, I’m sure. She’s suffered for too long, as have you.”
Gray’s blatant tug on Olivia’s heartstrings annoys me, even more than him paying lip service to my centuries of torment.
“We know not if I will live after this curse is broken.”
“Sabelle said that mating was the most powerful magic of all, so maybe that means…” Olivia’s expression falls. “Then again, maybe not.”
“We don’t know,” Gray admits. “It’s possible Marrok will continue on, though as a mortal. The curse preserved his body, and reversing the hex should begin a normal aging process. Well, normal for a witch’s mate.”
I trust Richard not…and I cannot leave Olivia without a defender. It matters not that I may never have another chance to break my curse. In fact, that notion does not distress me as it once did, and I cannot pretend I know not why.
Olivia.
Still, we have little choice but to play along until Gray shows his hand. “Bram, what say you?”
“A curse of this nature is beyond most magical knowledge. When riled, Morgana was capable of great, terrible feats we’ve not seen before or since.”
Olivia faces me. “Why are you hesitating? You deserve to live or die as you see fit, not as Morgana commanded.”
“Precisely. And with an open book we have far more sway over Mathias,” Gray insists.
“Meaning?” I care not about magickind. Well, I should not care. But the thought of harm coming not only to Olivia, but to the dedicated wizards I have trained these past days vexes me much.
“Isn’t it obvious? Once we open the book and learn to harness its power, we can banish Mathias forever. He will never target you or Olivia. If you don’t, he’ll hunt you. Neither of you will be safe. No one will be.”
Gray’s words turn in my head. I dissect them, but I can find no flaws in Richard’s logic, save one possibility. “If we open the book, we destroy his impediment to using it. Every magical megalomaniac will pursue us.”
“Not necessarily,” Olivia counters. “Since the diary is an object of feminine reverence, it may be more powerful in the hands of a woman. It’s possible a man might not be able to use it at all.”
“Very good,” Gray praises. “You may well be correct.”
“And as a Le Fay, Olivia—and perhaps only her—will have the ability to destroy the diary once she transitions,” Bram argues. “If it no longer exists, the book will cease to be the cause of murders and wars. Until that day, we will tell magickind the book is in cinders or some such and guard it with our lives.”
They make good points. I simply like them not. “We should wait until Olivia has the power to destroy the diary.”
Her father shakes his head. “It’s been over a millennium since we’ve had all the necessary components to open the diary together. We may never have this opportunity again.”
Outside, thunder claps. Inside, my gut roils. I glance at the little red book—so innocuous looking—then stare at Olivia.
She swallows. “Maybe…it’s better for us, for magickind. With an open book, we have power.”
