He tutted.
Farris sniffed along the baseboard, moving around the room, snorting occasionally. I followed him with my eyes until my attention was snagged by a narrow bookshelf. Every spine had been aligned by color and size except one. A thick green volume jutted out beyond the others, looking odd among such careful order.
I slid off the bed and straightened the bedding until it didn’t look like anyone had sat on the surface, then moved to the bookcase, pulling the book free.
Something behind caught the low light.
Kneeling, I sent magic to my fingertip, enough to cast a soft glow, and squinted into the gap.
A clay effigy lurked in the shadows. The sight of it made my stomach lurch. Laphira’s face had been carved in careful detail, though her “body” was the complete opposite, just clay roughly formed into arms, legs, and with a normal-sized belly. Thin bones shaped into needles pierced her chest and head.
Whoever had created this wanted Laphira to suffer. The precision of the carving, the deliberate placement of each needle. This wasn't random malice. This was personal.
Lore came over to stoop down beside me.
That’s old magic,he said.Targeted.
Like a curse?
He nodded, his jaw clenched.
I studied the effigy.Do you think Naveer did this or someone else?In my mind, she was the prime suspect.
It could be the work of almost anyone inside the castle.
Damn magical fae. Although, I was one of them, a damn magical fae, myself.
Should we take it?I glanced his way.If it’s the reason Laphira’s acting so odd…
Removing it might help or hurt her. Let’s look into this further first, though we’ll tell Dorion.
I sat back on my heels, staring into the tiny gap.
I let my finger light fade and replaced the book, my hands trembling. The effigy's hollow eyes seemed to follow me as I stood.
We need to find that talisman and get out of here,I told Lore.Before whoever made that thing decides we've seen too much.
A soft footstep echoed from the corridor outside.
Chapter 23
Lore
We froze, our eyes meeting in alarm.
Wait here.A blink, and I stood at the corner on the far end of the hall, scanning both corridors and finding no one. I flitted back to Reyla.No one’s there.
But someone was.
Maybe.
A timely warning, however.
We searched some more with desperate urgency.
The mirror on the far wall hung slightly crooked, enough to register as wrong every time I’d passed it. I’d noticed the angle earlier but ignored it. Since the room was so meticulously arranged, the sight of it pulled at me.
When I straightened it, the reflection lagged behind reality. Not by much, but enough to make my skin crawl.
