Maven ties her black hair up in a ponytail as she speaks, which tells me shit is about to go down.
“When it comes to death, battles, or misery, Amadeus can sense the future and change his tactics accordingly. It makes him incredibly difficult to outmaneuver. When I’m close to death, I can tap into that ability. I assume it’s a side effect of the heart he crafted for me.”
Hang on a fucking second.
“That spell was for you to grow close to death?” Silas grits, equally upset as he puts it together.
“Calm your tits. I'm fine, and this fight will last less than five minutes. Ready?” she checks, her dark eyes sparkling as she twirls her dagger skillfully.
I love that my mate enjoys combat, butfucking gods, this fearless woman is going to be the death of me.
Silas sighs but turns and whispers a spell, motioning with one hand.
It's like a door to nowhere opens up right in the middle of the cold Alaskan wilderness, and we all blink at the lush green field and massive maple trees in the distance. The sky is still dark from the polar night, but we may as well be looking at a scenic summer.
“Fuck,” I manage, peeking into the door.
But as soon as I do, I see them. Three figures in black clothing standing several yards away. They immediately send a flurry of spells hurtling toward us, and my hair stands on end as my inner dragon snarls in warning.
I'm no magic expert, but even I can sense that these three are powerful casters.
Maven lurches forward into the green area, lifting one ungloved hand. Dark tendrils erupt from her palm, shattering the incoming attack spells. Ominously dark, crackling energy buzzes around us as more magic flares to life around her bare hands.
The grass dies beneath her feet, blanching to an unnatural white.
Huh. I guess our keeper can draw from plant life in a pinch. Good to know.
One of the attackers starts to make another move, but Maven is already on him, snapping his neck and immediately sending a far stronger blast of dark magic towards the other two.
Each move they make, she clearly knows in advance. For a moment we all stand transfixed as she gracefully dodges a physical attack before taking down the caster with a few expert slashes of her dagger. The last one drops dead a moment later, his magic fizzling to nothing as his slit neck gurgles disturbingly.
Three powerful casters, and it was a fucking cakewalk for her to rip down their spells. She was right—that took less than five minutes.
When Maven turns back to face us, she's smiling. Gods, Iloveher smile. It’s still my official goal in life to see it more often. Seeing Maven smattered in blood, her eyes sparkling from fresh kills, looking like a dark fucking queen…
Gods, I’ll be her throne any day. She’s my fucking queen.
“Impressive,” an accented voice says.
We all glance over to see a middle-aged man with dark skin amble onto the field with a shining gold walking stick. He's dressed in brightly colored clothes that look like they were fashionable two hundred years ago, complete with a burgundy waistcoat tucked into weird pants, a cravat, and even a top hat.
I instinctively step in front of Maven to keep her out of sight, but his attention is all on Silas as he walks closer. The man notices the fae’s blackened fingertips and scoffs.
“To think my very brightest would turn to necromancy, of all things. As if your magic was not strong enough. If it were for more raw power, one might understand, but to sacrifice such an unparalleled gift for no apparent rea?—”
Maven steps out from behind me to get a look at the stranger, who cuts off as he looks her up and down. He glances down at the dead grass, looks questioning at the sky for some reason, and then barks out a laugh.
“I take it back—I certainly see why you made such a career change. Now, moving on. You ought to have written, you know,” he turns back to Silas. “You do know what I do to unannounced guests.”
“As if you haven't been melodramatically requesting that I pay you one final visit for months,” Silas says dryly before taking Maven's hand. “Ima sangfluir,this is my mentor, the Garnet Wizard. Evidently also known as The Scarab.”
Oh, shit.Thisis the Garnet Wizard?
My mom's always said that even though he can be useful and she agrees with him on some politics, he's also a dangerous eccentric who can't fully be trusted. The fucker’s too much of a mercenary at heart, according to her.
The Garnet Wizard throws his head back in a laugh. “Aha! I see you have finally learned of my hand in the black market. Quite a fitting moniker, is it not?”
Silas seems amused. “It is, sir.”
