“It’s not my fault,” she hissed. “That abomination did something to my magic. Made it fuzzy for a moment.”
That was it. He’d struck out with a perfected banishment. If he had more time to focus his casting on Moire, he’d definitelydefeat her, but with Amara playing interference, that wouldn’t happen.
I knew what needed to be done.
“Don’t go,” Theodore whispered. “Let’s enjoy the show.”
I abandoned his mind and raced toward Moire.
“I’m going to get Katherine back. You two hold off Amara until I return.” I linked to Caleb and Tara momentarily.
“Mr. Frost?” Tara thought. “Are others on the way?”
“It’s just me for now,” I replied. “We’re going to have a hell of a fight, but I believe we can stop Amara together.”
With that, I dropped into Katherine’s mind, preventing Moire from assisting in the battle. I could only hope Caleb and Tara held their own until I returned.
The intrusion came with a strong pulse of telepathy. I might lack the strength to kick Moire out of Katherine’s head with ease, but I certainly put a stop to her puppeteering. Outside, Katherine’s body stood completely immobilized, and I wouldn’t allow it to move again until Katherine took control over her autonomy once more.
Inside her inner core, I realized why Katherine and Caleb got along so well. They had the same mindset, using a library to sort their thoughts and memories. Very analytic.
While Caleb’s library revolved around dates and magic types and profiles of all the witches he studied, Katherine’s focused more on the source of magic itself. Rows upon rows of books contained enchantment spells Katherine had learned over the years.
The library was divided into sections. Enchantment spells Katherine had learned from other witches, enchantment spells Katherine had created herself, magics that existed without anenchantment spell variation. Those would likely be the rare branches that held too many unique complexities to mimic, like Gladiatrix’s branch. Sure, Katherine could and had created enchantments to enhance her strength and speed, but it was unlikely that anyone could create a spell to match such unparalleled power.
I made my way through this massive library, searching for hints of Katherine’s consciousness and traces of lingering memories, but finding nothing except barren aisles.
There were two minds in here—three, including myself—but aside from the faintest of touches, I couldn’t locate either of them.
“That’s it,” I muttered. “Location spell.”
Outside the mind, I was just a telepath, but inside the mind, my magic could do quite literally whatever I willed it to do. If I wanted to cast divination, then suddenly my branch allowed for such things.
Conjuring a collection of twinkling lights, I ordered them to guide me to Katherine. They scrambled in every direction, searching between the shelves and far behind in the shadows of Katherine’s mind.
“Find her consciousness,” I clarified. “I want to see Katherine, not her thoughts or memories. Her being.”
The flurry of lights returned, circling around me again and again until they carried a small picture book.
Oh, fuck me.
I grabbed the book, read through it, and found it resembled a story about Katherine. She was the type who tucked her memories into stories. Well, she didn’t choose it. Most people had no idea how their inner core worked. It just functioned for them.
Flipping through the pages, I read about the stick figure version of Katherine who always smiled and cheered and prayed for the best of everyone around her.
“Seriously?” I flipped through the pages, waiting for an opportunity.
The twinkling lights blinked, and I knew now was my chance. I jumped into the picture book, falling further into Katherine’s mind, and navigating my way through a chamber of memories.
This book was one of many tales, each leading to the same minefield of memories. A collection of her past pushed together in a bizarre style. Her mind was difficult to navigate, but I found myself led to a recent memory.
The lights of my spell guided me to a moment between Katherine and her mother.
“This book is rather special to our family,” Katherine’s mother explained.
Her red hair was stringy, and her face was exceptionally pale. More so than I’d seen during parent-teacher conferences. Exhaustion weighed heavily on her eyes, and her lips were pulled into a tight, rigid smile.
“I want you to have this grimoire.” Her hands trembled a bit, nervously clutching the ancient grimoire Katherine received for her internship.
