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Wendel wrote fast, the pen scratching across the paper.Why did he let you go?
“I refused him.” I shuddered. “But I doubt he’s letting me walk away forever. He told me that fate does not favor those who reject their destiny.”
Wendel rubbed his hand over his eyes like he wanted to erase his memories.
“Stay here tonight,” Konstantin said.
“What if assassins track us down?” I asked.
He waved away my question. “I have measures in place to keep us safe. Just trust me.”
The knot of fear loosened in my chest. Konstantin was a powerful technomancer and an Archmage of Vienna. We were in the middle of Vienna itself, at the heart of their empire. If anyone could protect us, it was him.
Standing, Konstantin put down the book he had been reading. Gold letters glinted on the spine:The Art of Blood Magic.
“Blood magic?” I asked.
Konstantin glanced into my eyes. “It’s a forbidden art. One that only a few dare learn.”
“Why is it forbidden?”
“Because it requires sacrifice. Blood must be spilled to work the magic.”
I swallowed hard. “Like the silencing curse.”
“Indeed.”
Wendel wrote,Forbidden like necromancy?
Konstantin locked his fingers together and hesitated before responding. “Less so than necromancy. In the hierarchy of magic, death magic is considered the darkest, and necromancers an abomination.”
When Wendel put down his pen, it clicked on the table with finality. He leaned back on the couch and crossed his arms with a cold, arrogant sneer on his face. I could tell he wasn’t at all surprised by the archmage’s answer.
When we first met, even I believed necromancers to be an abomination. But Wendel had no choice. He had been born with necromancy. His magic ran bone deep. He couldn’t deny his power over death without denying a part of himself.
“Do the Archmages of Vienna still consider necromancy an abomination?” I asked.
Konstantin swallowed hard. “Admittedly, yes.”
“Even though you can’t do Project Lazarus without it?”
His blue eyes looked dark, like a storm gathering in the sky. “Sometimes, in order to defeat evil, we must embrace the forbidden.”
“Blood and death magic,” I said grimly.
But I couldn’t shake off the feeling that we were playing a dangerous game of chess, and we were running out of moves.
Konstantin slippedThe Art of Blood Magicback onto a bookshelf. He glanced at the clock. “It’s late. Nearly three o’clock.”
“Where should we sleep?” I asked.
“Would you prefer the couch or the floor? I have a bed roll. It was quite comfortable during my work on the Hex in the Dodecanese Islands.”
“The floor sounds good to me.”
Wendel touched my elbow before he shook his head.
“You’re hurt worse than me,” I said. “No need to be a gentleman.”
