I want to use him to throw the Legacy Quintet off our trail for a few more days, but not if it makes you uncomfortable,I tell him through our link.Morally speaking, I know it's a bit?—
He scoffs. "As if that's an issue either one of us has. Give me a moment. I'm just trying to recall the correct spell. I'm certain that I read it somewhere.”
Gibbons begins to scream and shout again, terrified of this new fate. The others glare down at him. Before I can decide how to end the problematic interim headmaster, Baelfire reaches down and snaps the mage's neck with an angry snarl.
It's so sudden and unexpected that even Crypt raises his brows. Silas jolts, gawking at the place above Gibbons' body. I've known enough necromancers to know he's staring at Gibbons' ghost.
The moment the body stops twitching, Baelfire grips his head, shaking it as if to clear it before he blinks in surprise at the dead interim headmaster.
"Whoa. Fuck, that's my bad."
"Are you seriously implying that was all your dragon just now?" Everett asks indignantly.
Bael glances at me, his golden gaze both apologetic and relieved, as if now he can think straight. "Honestly? My memory is a little spotty for the last few minutes. I mean, I rememberwanting to kill him for hurting Maven, but…I didn't mean to actuallydoit. Feel a lot better, though."
Crypt releases the dead body with a sharp hiss as his markings light up.
"Damn it all," he mutters, standing and glowering in a random direction.
His markings are lighting up far more often. Is his curse getting worse, somehow?
Then it clicks.
Fuck. Of course, it's getting worse. Since two members of the Immortal Quintet are now dead, the Divide is weakening, which creates more turbulence in Limbo, which he has to deal with alone.
What will happen to the Nightmare Prince when only one member of the Immortal Quintet is left?
Unease washes over me. I frown up at Crypt, but when he sees it, he just offers a tight smile. "I'll be swift, darling. Hopefully, by the time I return, we'll have a new puppet to play with if Crane doesn't muck it up."
Silas does not respond as he continues staring at something only necromancers can see.
Crypt shrugs and kisses the top of my head before vanishing.
I grumble like a petulant child about him leaving. Now, on top of carefully enacting the next steps of my plan, I also need to figure out a way to keep Limbo from turning into perpetual warfare, or he'll have to pay the price for my gambit.
Everett brushes soothing, gentle fingers over the skin of my newly healed stab wound as he looks at Silas. "Well? If we're going to dive feet-first into the dark arts, let's just get it over with."
Silas continues to stare pale-faced at the place above Gibbons with wide eyes like he just saw…well, a ghost. I frown. Surely he's not this terrified of a specter? That seems unlike him.
Baelfire sighs. "Great, he's lost it again. Si? Hello, earth to Silas?"
"I…believe I just saw the reaper goddess," the fae finally manages, his voice hoarse.
Everett startles. "You what now?"
"Syntyche. She just reaped Gibbons in front of me. I only caught a glimpse of the cloak and scythe, but…" Silas breathes out, shuddering and rubbing his face. "That was acutely horrifying."
Interesting.
"None of the necromancers in the Nether ever saw Syntyche because, for whatever reason, the spirits there aren't reaped," I muse aloud.
Everett frowns. "If they aren't reaped, what happens to the ghosts?"
"They wander the Nether, looking for a way to pass into the Beyond. When I was young, I used to stay up late at night listening to their whispers. They would gather outside my window to weep and beg for a final resting place. Some of them haunted me for a while."
In fact, they followed me around constantly. It annoyed the necromancers that I could see the spirits until Dagon finally placed a powerful hex on me so that I could no longer perceive ghosts. My ghostly groupies allegedly moved on once they realized I couldn't hear or help them.
My guys stare at me until Baelfire sighs heavily. "We need to get you into therapy, Boo."
