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Mathias peers at the Councilman’s brother, splaying his hand across the man’s chest with a feral grin.
Immediately, MacKinnett screams, blood oozing from his pores and seeping through his pale shirt. No matter how he kicks, he cannot dislodge Mathias. MacKinnett turns chalky, then gray, before his eyes roll into the back of his head. As he stills, Mathias releases the man, who crumples to the ground in a heap.
Dead.
With a wave, Zain removes the older man’s shirt. An angry red mark, once known far and wide as Mathias’s brand, spreads across his entire chest like a series of infected boils.
“You chose well,” Mathias praises Zain. “Now I will adjourn upstairs. The girl’s fear and fight will restore my power.”
“You understand what he intends?” Bram asks me, cutting into the vision.
“To rape the girl, then kill her as he did her uncle.”
“Rape? That’s a gentle description for what he’ll do to Auropha MacKinnett. She is barely fifteen, and he will spread her out, stake her down, siphon her energy through her terror as he shaves her and brands her, then violates—”
“Stop. He intends to restore himself with her agony. The more she suffers, the stronger he will become. I lived through Mathias’s first ascent. I saw the bodies.”
“And after he’s done, a death like her uncle’s would be a kindness. What Auropha will endure will take much longer and be far more hellish.”
I scan the berobed followers standing about. “Will no one help her?”
“Who? The Deprived of magickind are ‘punishing’ her for the great sin of being born Privileged. So after Mathias uses her to reenergize his magic and make an example of her, a new reign of terror will begin.”
Automatically, I reach for my sword. Though I emerged from the Dark Ages, I have never condoned the rape or torture of innocents. Mathias must be stopped. But when I try to surge into the vision, Bram pulls me back.
“You can’t help. This hasn’t happened yet. Watch. There’s more.”
“The MacKinnett girl is a spitfire,” Zain says to Mathias. “She will resist—and give you a great deal of energy.”
“Excellent. Once I’m done, send the dead to their family. It’s time for the Privileged to know their worst nightmare has returned. After we overtake magickind, we will seize the rest of the world.”
“I will see to it.”
“And the other matter?”
Zain frowns. “We’re still looking.”
“I must have Morgana Le Fay’s book. With it, my ability would be limitless.”
Never will I surrender it to anyone, most especially him.
“The Anarki will do whatever it takes,” Zain vows.
Finally, Bram waves his hand again. The vision turns black. My cottage comes into focus. Bram releases me.
I glare his way. “You say this has not yet come to pass?”
“Not yet, but soon.”
“How do you know it will?”
“I don’t have many visions. I can’t control them. But I’ve never been wrong in my life.”
Chapter Four
God’s blood. “Have you warned the MacKinnetts?”
“I’ve tried.” Bram shrugs. “They don’t believe me. Fools.”
