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Vesara patted his spiky head. “Good to see you too, Hass. I see you’ve finally accepted your calling. Lurking in the archives like the undead.”
He jerked away from her touch and shoved up onto his feet. “In your time running around engaging in criminal activity, you seem to have forgotten that guarding the archives is an honor.”
“Is it an honor if you suck at it?” Vesara smirked.
Hass spun two small daggers out from under his cloak, revealing the gleam of a golden E pinned on his chest. “Shall we put that to the test?”
Ignoring the threat, Vesara examined her nails. “It’s really unfair how you’re treating me. You know I would never steal anything for the Boglands.”
“Enlighten me then, Sut’hik.” He pushed the words through clenched teeth. “What are you doing down here?”
“I don’t know. I’m not in charge. I’m just here to provide them with access to all of our secrets.”
Hass’s face turned tomato red. “You brought them down here, and you don’t even know why?”
Aeyis cleared his throat, drawing Hass’s furious gaze to him. “We’re looking forThe Tome of Ergh. Its pages may hold the answers to stopping another catastrophic magical war.”
Hass took in the rest of the crew. His eyes lingered on Tenah the longest, dipping to her blackened fingertips as he frowned. Tenah expected him to mention her Corruption. Instead, he turned back to Vesara, blades lowering. “So, what, you’re working with a team now?”
“Is that so hard to believe?” Vesara asked.
Hass snorted. “Considering you left me for dead when we were partners, yes.”
“What can I say? The Boglands have a way of transforming even the vilest of monsters.” She gave him a solemn smile then quickly hid it and cleared her throat. “Love to chat more, but we’re kind of in a hurry.”
With a heavy sigh, Hass sheathed his blades. “I shouldn’t be telling you this.The Tome of Erghwas stolen three weeks ago. Strange enough, another old employee came in search of it. That’s when we noticed it was missing. Shortly after, all hell broke loose in Vozar.”
Tenah perked up. “An old employee?”
“I didn’t know him personally, but the employee assigned to the archives that night said he had two mismatched daggers and black pits for eyes.”
Tenah’s heart plummeted. Her knees weakened under her sagging weight. Three weeks ago, Ames had claimed that her father had fallen ill. She’d assumed he’d remained locked up in his attic as he usually did until his wave of insanity passed. Instead, it sounded like he’d been busy traveling.
“Who was sent to retrieve it?” Vesara asked, an edge to her tone.
Hass blinked at her. “No one. The order never came.”
“How very curious,” Gireth joined in, stroking his chin. “This smells of foul play. An inside job, for sure.”
Vesara shot Gireth a furious look. “Can you be normal for one minute?”
“Normal is overrated, baby,” he replied with a wink and a sly grin.
Hass straightened. “It would be best for you all to leave before I notify someone of your intrusion. You have five minutes, Sut’hik. No wandering. I swear I have no more mercy when it comes to you.”
Vesara blew him a kiss, then the crew piled into the lift. Tucked into the back corner, Tenah closed her eyes. She envisioned her father’s war table, warmed by pillars of sunlight through the small attic windows, each little wooden pawn hand-carved with purpose.
Her head was swimming with questions. Everything her father did was calculated. So what kind of sick game was he playing now? What even remained of the shadow mind when Chaos took control? Was her father’s trip to the archives purely fueled by Chaos’s desire to wield a weapon such as the tome? Or was it a strategic move made by an intelligent, passionate, self-sacrificing lord determined to find a cure for his affliction before it ate him alive?
Chapter20
Tenah
Stress bubbles appeared on Tenah’s sweaty palms as she trekked back to the villa with the crew. That made two strikeouts for answers on controlling dark magic. She wasn’t foolish enough to make it three and waste more time tunneling down endless wormholes.
Her father’s grave was already dug. Shehadto accept that. But one against a horde of feingrot and their puppet master assassin didn’t bode well for her, especially when she’d lost against her father before.
She needed an army.
