Shock shoved his dull headache aside for a moment. “He’s sure?”
She nodded. “The card that sits below yours?—”
“The Devil card,” he said grimly.
“Indicates that there are unknown factors driving the current situation,” she finished.
That would make a sick sort of sense if Russ was an Auctori mage. This particular mage class was notorious for fucking with people’s heads, and their influence could span from minor influence to almost complete mind control, depending on where they sat on the power spectrum. That made Russ dangerous.
Cass turned back to the spread. “Hades can also symbolize other things, like entrapment, addictions, temptations, and transformations.”
“Transformations?”
“Think of breaking free of bad habits or influences.”
“So, which is it here?”
“I think in this case, it’s saying you’re being manipulated by others, and once you recognize what's happening, it’s going to flip some emotional triggers.”
Every muscle locked as his mind raced, putting the pieces together. He really didn’t like the picture it was forming. “You think Russ’s managed to get into my head and fuck with it.”
Old rage seethed and burned through the locks holding it deep in his psyche. Unable to contain the fallout, he shoved himself to his feet and started to pace the living room, needing an outlet that wouldn’t raze everything in its path.
Cass kept her seat on the floor but watched him. “I think he tried.”
Grayson dragged a hand through his hair and gripped the back of his neck. “Let’s find out.”
Grayson spun on his heel and stormed to his bedroom, hearing Cass call his name. He went to his closet and shoved aside a rack of jackets to reveal an in-wall safe. He undid the wards and then coded in the combination that would release the lock. Inside was his personal stash of charms, spells that he’d created to counter the shit he dealt with on the regular. He quickly found the one he wanted, grabbed it and returned to the living room.
Cass was now standing and had moved around the coffee table. She watched him stalk back in. “Grayson?—”
He cut her off with a sharp shake of his head. “I can’t—not until I know for sure, Cass.”
She studied him for a long moment, her head tilted as if listening to—or for—something. Then she gave in. “Okay, what can I do to help?”
He headed to the squat coffee table. “We need to put this off to the side.”
Together they moved it to the edge of the room, making sure not to disturb the cards on top. Then he had her help him shove his sofa back so that the area rug was clear. They rolled it back, revealing an intricately etched design.
“Here, hold this for me.” He handed Cass the charm bag.
She took it as she studied the markings. “You have a circle carved in your floor?”
“Unlike Miles, I’m not planning on getting my security deposit back.” He went to his kitchen and began putting together the items he needed. “Worth it, though, because sometimes I have to work on stuff at home. I didn’t want to have to redraw it every time I need the added protection or power.” Hands full, he came back to where she stood and set the chosen items on the coffee table next to the cards they hadn’t finished reading, before taking the charm from her. “Do me a favor—set up the four points for me?”
She nodded and picked up the salt, athame, unlit candle, and roughhewn crystal. He moved to the circle’s center and sat, crossing his legs lotus style. He waited as Cass finished positioning the items and stepped back.
Grayson loosened the leather cord holding the deep-indigo bag closed and spilled out the combination of bones, stones, and dried herbs into his palm. He closed his eyes and breathed, forcing his thoughts to slow and finally still. Only then did he reach for the magic that lived in his veins, pulling it up and wrapping it around him like a blanket. He let it grow until it lay thick and heavy around him.
When it was bucking at the reins, he opened his eyes and whispered, “Ignis eum.”
Power ran through him and spilled into the circle. With an ease born of years of practice, he wove his magic through the lines of the complex spell that would warn if someone was fucking with him. Reddish-gold threads of fire ripped through the runes on the floor then swept back to curl around him as if directed by an invisible hand, until he was wrapped inside a glowing cocoon. Power washed through him and lapped at the edges of the circle before sweeping back toward him. With each pass, the magic grew until the force of it tangled his hair and scoured his skin.
He was busy taking stock and only vaguely noted that Cass stood still and wide-eyed as he worked. It didn’t take him long to identify the markers Russ had left behind. Auctori mages were known for being sly and tricky, part and parcel of wielding a magic that relied on manipulating a person’s perception until it matched what the mage wanted their victim to believe. Their initial cast could easily go undetected, but once it found an anchor and went to work, a skilled Key could spot the differences.
Grayson pinpointed the small dark knots currently fucking with his head. Either Russ had been rushed, or he was a half-assed mage. Either way, the magical lines of influence scraped across Grayson’s nerve endings, and outrage at the blatant violation surged, turning the flickering red of his protection spell into a pulsating deep ruby. As a Key, this kind of thing shouldn’t happen to him, but there had been other things on his mind, so he hadn’t noticed the insidious tendrils setting up shop.
He shoved down his anger to deal with later and concentrated on unraveling the lures Russ had set. They weren’t deep and were barely holding on, which explained his headache and prickly attitude with Cass. He made quick work of unraveling the distorted knots before incinerating them to nothing. Only then did he go in and reinforce his personal protections, determined not to give the asshole another shot.
