I didn’t know how much longer I could do it.
My body ached from the strain of the magic. The well inside me begged for a reprieve.
Not only that, but how many more times could I open my eyes to find Luka and Kara staring at me with hope and desperation in their eyes, only to see it crushed with the shake of my head?
I hadn’t slept well in weeks.
Only in small chunks when Nico forced me to put down the book or when my body broke down from expelling too much magic, did sleep claim me.
There was a constant hollow pit gnawing in my stomach I couldn’t ignore.
Lennox was gone, and I led the charge to get her back.
Luka wished it could be him. He wished he could do more, but he couldn’t. All he could do was sit and wait for me to find a location to send him to.
This is what led me here, sitting in my room, an ichor magic spellbook in my lap, reading about another locator spell.
One that used Ichor magic.
Regular magic wasn’t cutting it anymore.
I swallowed as I read the spell again. I now had everything I needed to complete the spell. It had taken me days to acquire everything.
Luka and Nico had visited the Stygin market in Cel Nox, gathering what I needed while I traveled back and forth from Arcadia getting what I could there.
Now that I had everything, I couldn’t put it off any longer.
It wasn’t the strain of the magic I avoided. Ichor magic didn’t intimidate me.
It was the potential disappointment I would cause if yet another spell failed.
I knew Luka and the rest of them waited in the hallway; I didn’t want them in here while I completed the spell.
At least that’s what I told myself.
Really it was because I didn’t want them to witness me failing once again.
Except maybe this would be the time I would not fail.
We would find Lennox.
I took one final steadying breath before rising from the couch, taking the book with me to the table where the ingredients were laid out.
One by one, I added the ingredients to my stone bowl, ending with a vial of Kara and Luka’s blood. Hoping their connection to Lennox would give the spell a better chance at success.
I poured the mixture over the map of Lethenia spread across the table, setting the bowl to the side once it was empty.
I sliced my blade across my palm, letting my blood drip onto the map. I could feel the dark twisted threads of Ichor magic writhing beneath my skin, waiting to be released.
I closed my eyes and began the spell.
3
LUKA
“Luka.” Lennox’s fingers danced across my chest as her lips dusted over my jaw.
“Hmmm.” I rolled her on top of me, resting my hands on her thighs, forcing her silk nightgown to bunch up around her waist.
