He pointed out the line. “I’ve not heard of it before, but maybe it’s a translation error on my part.”
“What’s the translation?”
“If my notes are correct, it means ‘breath of the divine.’ But that’s why it doesn’t make sense. The rest of the ingredients have all had literal translations. Herbs, dried insect husks, the barkof a cedar. This is the only one that appears to be some sort of coded language.”
“What if it is being literal?”
Bastien pondered that. “But how could that be?”
“What are the instructions for its application?”
Bastien returned to the tome, scanning the page. “It says to pour the breath of the divine over the amalgamation.”
I stepped up to the large stone bowl where Bastien had already combined the other ingredients, staring down into the acidic green sludge. A flicker in my chest reassured me that I was on the right track as I placed a hand on either side of the container and leaned in close.
“Careful! Even the fumes could be dangerous?—”
Commanding that heat to come forth in my chest, I tapped into the Source’s blessing. The heat quickly spread throughout my limbs, imbuing me with a surge of energy. Sucking in a deep breath, I focused just as I had down in the Communion beneath the Cradle, holding back as long as I could before releasing the cloud of cerulean-hued vapor from my lungs. The swirling cloud washed over the bowl, obscuring the concoction within it as the residual smoke poured over the edges and onto the counter.
My head swam as I straightened, the pull of the Source’s magic on my body far more depleting than I had imagined it would be. Bastien rushed to my side, but his attention was drawn to the bowl as the cloud of smoke had begun to clear.
“Gods be.”
The concoction glowed bright with power, casting a wraith-like glow upon Bastien’s face. He reached for an empty phial, carefully filling and securing it with a cork stopper.
He turned to me then, questions burning behind his golden eyes, but instead of voicing them, he said, “That’s the last of it. We’re ready to try to wake them.”
“I’ll make the call.”
“Getting her away from Amelia was worse than any battlefield I’ve ever seen.”
Kaine set Lynette onto the low, metal table. Her unbound curls of copper spilled over the sides, her pale face undisturbed by her transport here in the cover of night. Azrael blurred into existence beside the other Unseen, Tobias across his arms in a similar state as his sister.
“He’s not exaggerating. Bastien, I’m not sure what will be left of your flat when we return.”
Bastien didn’t seem concerned, his concentration entirely focused on the set of phials and glass beakers he’d been rearranging for the better part of an hour. There was no doubt he was nervous. Months of his life had been sacrificed for this very moment, and it was finally at hand. Either tonight would be the night we’d be reunited with Tobias, or it would be the night that we lost all hope of him returning.
I held out hope for the former.
“We’re ready,” Bastien announced, shoulders rising and falling in a deep sigh.
I slid off the stool I’d been perched upon for the last few hours, stretching arms over my head to work out the stiffness in my lower back. There wasn't to be much to do while Bastien worked the spell, but I would make myself available should anything arise.
Tobias was placed on a second low table, just a few feet away from his sister. I tried not to stare at him, but being in such close proximity was difficult.
“I’d better head back,” Kaine said to Azrael, motioning for the door. “The others and I will make sure that Adored waif doesn’t cause too much of a scene.”
“Be careful around her,” Azrael warned. “I’d hate for one of you to end up her next plaything.”
Kaine laughed, but it quickly faded when he realized Azrael didn’t join in.
“Right then. We’ll see you when we see you.”
Azrael pulled the shorter Unseen into an embrace. “Be safe.”
Kaine’s outline shimmered like a mirage, then he disappeared, his exit soundless.
“This will work.” Hands shaking, Bastien reached for the first phial in the arrangement. “This will work,” he repeated, turning towards us as if searching for reassurance.
