Ronnie’s eyes meet mine, and the look he gives me is diabolical. “The destroyer,” he rasps.
“Don’t fucking give me that bullshit. Who took over for Stefan? Who is the grand master?”
The man’s face turns white, and his eyes roll back in his head. “You will die in blue fire at the hand of the destroyer,” he rasps, and then he passes out. I drop his sorry ass and move to Remus’s side. My brother is whimpering, and he hasn’t moved since the hammer crushed his arm. Blue veins branch around the point of impact. Fuck!
“It’s my drawing hand, Seb,” he says, his eyes wild.
“I’m getting you to Morwyn,” I promise.
But he raises his good hand. “The rings, Seb! Don’t forget the rings. Don’t let this be in vain.”
Right. I pull a thick black bag from the pocket of my pants and then use the tip of my blade to retrieve each of the rings and put them in the bag without touching any of them. It’s harder than I expect, and I have to get creative to get it done, but I manage. As quickly as possible, I tie the three rings to my belt.
Boom. Boom. Boom. A loud knock comes on the door. “Ronnie? You okay in there? I thought I heard a scream, and not the good kind.”
I hoist Remus into my arms, his face drawn from the pain. “Fuck, I’m cold, Seb.”
“You’re also heavy as hell.”
Another pound on the door and then I hear a key in the lock. I reposition Remus so I can grab my key, and then I step.
The Red Room melts away, and I arrive at Morwyn’s clinic with three Order rings on my hip and a broken dragon in my arms.
Chapter Twenty-One
ZOE
I hold the urn in my hand, tipping it this way and that, listening to the gold dust sift like sand back and forth in the metal canister. I want to ascend again. Every cell in my body is urging me to open the canister, draw a line, and take the goddess into my body.
Seb has been gone for hours. Although I’ve returned to my house—it’s still so weird to say that—I can’t sleep. Dressed in my coziest pink kitten pajamas, I’ve stationed myself in the comfy chair near the window, my legs curled under me. I watch for signs of life in the big house for hours, but no dice. Seb’s still not back, which means he and Remus are going after more of those cursed rings. He’s probably in a dangerous situation. Fuck, being anywhere near those rings is dangerous.
It shouldn’t bother me so much, but I’ve caught feelings for Seb. That kiss we shared today was a long time coming. I wanted it to keep going. I know our relationship isn’t conventional, but when I think of him, I can imagine a future so clearly. Imagine waking up next to him again and again until we’re both old and gray. I’m dreaming, of course, romanticizing an attraction born of lust-soaked chemistry and proximity. But I won’t deny my desire for him or my genuine worry for his well-being.
If you ascended, you could use your magic to open a portal to him. You could help him.
The whisper from the back of my brain is a darker version of my own voice. When I was going through rehab, I pictured that aspect of myself as a spider. A black widow with a swollen abdomen trying to lure me into her web with her lies.
All she does is lie, and I’ve learned to call her out. “Ascending to the Gold Room now will not help Seb,” I say to the empty room. “Seb is a competent warrior. Opening a portal to him could cause more harm than good by distracting him from his plan. It would also set back our goal of finding a way to neutralize the rings by at least three days because I’d have to recover from this use. And, because I haven’t waited long enough to use again, I’ll come down hard, alone, with no one to care for me or call for help if my heart stops. It’s a bad idea all around.”
I sigh and toss the urn back into the bag. Thankfully, the spider remains silent. This match called in my favor.
I rise from the cozy chair and head toward the bedroom and the book I’ve been reading, but I stop short when the phone rings. Shit. Could that be Seb? Heart in my throat, I jog back into the kitchen and snatch my cell off the counter. “Hello?”
“Zoe, I hope I didn’t wake you. I just heard the good news!” My mom’s voice fills my ear, and I glance through the window toward the big house. All its windows are still dark. I chase away the disappointment of not hearing from Seb and try to get excited that my mom has reached out. She so rarely calls.
“Hi, Mom! What good news is that?”
“What good news?” Her voice catches. “I ran into Jeremy at the Beltane planning meeting, and he said you told him you’d started your dream job and had to pause your sessions with him.”
I muster a laugh. “Well, yes. I’d planned to call you and tell you all about it, but I’ve just been so busy.” I rub the bridge of my nose. Stupid Jeremy and his blabbermouth. I haven’t had time to get my story straight about all this. I obviously can’t tell my mother the complete truth.
“So, is this the opportunity you mentioned with the dragon you met at that club?”
I am shocked she remembered. “Yes. Yes, it is. How did you guess?”
“He said you were hired by Full Throttle, and I remember you mentioned the dragon was from Full Throttle. I knew this would be a good opportunity for you. Very lucky.”
“It has been. I’m learning a lot and have an entire studio at my disposal.”
