I crossed my arms over my chest. “Fine, Luce you do the talking.”
“Gladly.” She shook her head at me before turning her attention back to the Goddess. “How much of the shit show have you been watching from the sky?”
Astria inspected her nails. “Some.”
Luce blew out a breath as I bit my tongue to keep from snapping at her. “Well, let me fill you in. Luka bound his life to the witch Keziq, she has lived countless lives by linking her lives to those of others. He didn’t know it at the time, but he did it, and now his life is linked to hers. We need to know if killing her will kill him.”
“No, killing Keziq will not kill, Luka.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding. I felt like I’d been holding it since we found out Luka and Keziq were linked.
“But you cannot simply kill Keziq. If you kill her she still has more lives to live out. She will only be dead temporarily. She cannot truly be killed until the last of her lifelines are also dead.”
“How many lives does she still have to live? How many souls has she harvested?”
“That, I do not know. That kind of magic is not mine. My magic only allows me to see so much.”
Fuck. We wouldn’t get anywhere without figuring out how many lives she still had. And who they were.
“But she’s using Ichor magic, right?” I could see it on Luce’s face, she was working out something. Her brows were furrowed, her eyes drawn, face pinched.
Astria nodded.
“Astria might not be able to help us, but I know someone who might be able to.” Luce met my gaze. “Hecate.”
“Astria, what in the stars is this about?”
Hecate froze when she realized she was not alone with the Goddess. “What is the meaning of this?” She spun in a circle, taking us all in.
“They had a question I could not help them with. I summoned you here to answer it for them.”
“What makes you think I can answer a question you can’t?”
“It’s a question about Ichor magic.” Luce stepped into the light, closer to Hecate.
“What about it?” The original witch’s forehead creased.
“There is a witch who has been using Ichor magic to link her lives to others so she can live endlessly.”
Hecate’s mouth set in a firm line. “A spell as such was never meant to be used.”
“But you know of it?” I pressed.
“Yes, I know of it.”
“Luka’s life is tied to this witch,” Luce continued.
“And she’s the witch who’s assisting Adreona in eliminating vampires. She has Astria’s journals. If she is successful, vampires will cease to exist. So we need to kill her and sever any other links to other lives she has.”
“So you want to know how many lives she has left and who those lives are.”
“Yes.”
“I have to touch her, see into her mind to find the information.”
“But if you do, you can see how many lives she has connected to her, and who they are?” I tried my best to keep my hope down. Only a rare few things had gone our way lately, there was still a chance this would fail.
Hecate nodded.
