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Reaching for the amulet, I hefted the familiar weight in my palm, feeling the surge of the curse within. Even without donning it, the tendrils of its power reached for my magick as if desperate for it. “This is why I have to figure out how to leech the corruption out of the talismans. This is the Bled witches’ legacy. A piece of our history that should be exalted, not feared.”
Alexei’s crimson and coffee eyes flickered, but eventually, he nodded in agreement. “What’s the plan then?”
Genevieve looked around the café before angling her head towards the back entrance. “Let’s go try something. If it’s as I’m hypothesizing, your magick while under the amulet’s hold could be enough to undo the damage.” She pulled a compass from her bag and handed it to me. “It’s not a Bled talisman, but let’s see if you can break the magick inside this.”
The teenage baristas spared us no glance as we quickly piled out the exit doors, leaving behind our half-empty mugs. The frigid cold slapped against my cheeks, and I pulled my beanie further down my ears, staring out at the empty field behind the small establishment.
Like in my practices with Liliane, I grasped onto the compass and let my power reach out to feel the dark magick within. Though not a Bled talisman, the compass possessed a stronger spell than any of the other trinkets in Genevieve’s apartment. Frustration built as I tried uselessly to find the source of the spell within the golden disk.
“Just ease into, Jade.”
The temptation to adorn the amulet stuffed into my pocket was strong, but Genevieve’s gentle coaching helped center me. My eyes drifted shut, to block Alexei’s intrigued pacing as he circled me in the small clearing, the first hint of snow fresh in the air.
Concentrate, I ordered myself.
Once more, I tried to latch onto the magick within. At the frayed edges of my mind, I searched for the entry point for the spell, where a witch had imbued her power into the compass, with help from Nyx.
There.
My breath stuttered out with victory as an owl hooted in the distance, keeping me rooted to the present. But how to break the magick holding it together? This proved even more difficult than finding the talisman’s source. For what felt like hours, I tried and failed to snap the magick holding the compass together until my knees wobbled with exhaustion.
“I think that’s enough for tonight,” Alexei urged quietly from my side, worry clear in his tone.
I shook my head and relented to my earlier urges, lifting the Amulet of Davorina around my neck and refocusing. “Let me try with the amulet.”
As I shut my eyes, it was all too easy to find the dark magick within. With no more than a tug on the coiled spell wrapping through the compass’s springs and metal bindings, I tethered the spell from it until it drooped uselessly in my palm.
“Whoa,” Genevieve breathed, snagging the compass and searching for any signs of magick. “It’s completely freed of magick. Not even a hint to be found.”
What should have been a victory felt a lot like disappointment as I sensed the amulet start turning inward, searching my tumultuous emotions for a move of attack. I took it off before it could find one.
Alexei’s arm stretching across my shoulders and pulling me into his embrace halted my darkening thoughts.
“You did it,” he whispered in my ear. “I’m so proud of you.”
Genevieve continued jotting down notes in her journal as Alexei’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He let out a sigh, not reaching for it, but then it started again not a moment later.
Pulling away, he lifted the phone and read the message, a relieved glint entering his gaze. “It’s Henry. He’s made it back from Hartford. We need to go,” he said, giving me a significant look.
Trystan. Somehow, I knew whatever Henry found in Hartford would lead us to a grim interaction with the vampire. With the fate of the Staff of Borislav hanging in the balance, we couldn’t stall our mission any longer.
Genevieve held out her palm with a bright smile. “You go with Alexei while I return Liliane’s car. Should I tell her to wait up for you?”
Alexei grinned, full of fangs, but it wasn’t lascivious. It looked downrightlethal. “Unfortunately, Jade and I have a long night ahead of us. Tell the High Priestess I’ll have her back before sunrise.”
Genevieve guffawed delightedly, but the smile never reached Alexei’s eyes.
Whatever awaited us at Henry’s cabin, I doubted it was the all-night sex bender the vampire had once promised. A pity.
22
As Jade reclined against the leather seats inside Henry’s sports car, I felt utterly undone. Her slinky black dress that hugged delicious curves and the flush of excitement along her gossamer cheeks couldn’t distract me from the raw edge of nervous energy flowing through her bloodstream.
“Let’s go over the plan again,” she said, licking her glossy lips. “Whydo I have to sneak in through the back and search his quarters alone?”
Henry’s grand reveal had been a party held at Trystan Dubois’s manor house tonight, with several other Vampire Court leaders in attendance before they flew to Slovenia for the Wild Hunt. Luca Castillo had proven amenable to a potential coup staged against Alistair, and had ensured I had the necessary information to search Trystan’s home.
Luckily, I kept a small stash of beautiful dresses I longed to see Jade wear, so our plans for the evening swiftly changed from a quiet night in Salem, to a dangerous forray into a viper’s den.
