“Maybe, but unless we get confirmation, we can’t just rush in.”
“We’ll find him and get her back,” a new voice said, making Quentin turn to see his father enter the room.“Are you all right?”
Quentin pressed a hand to his racing heart.“I’ll be better once we find Mom.”His mind raced through all the magic he knew or had heard of.I think I have a spell I can adapt.”
“I’ll help,” Lars said.
He ignored Jaks’s frustrated growl.He loved the man, but this was his mother.
The ritual took ten books,three and a half hours, and six arguments to finish.
“Do you know nothing about runes?You can’t put those two next to each other unless you want an explosion.”Quentin erased one rune and penciled in another on the piece of paper in his hand, which he then copied with chalk on the floor.
Lars tilted his head to the side.“Are you sure?I’m certain this was part of a Babylonian ceremony I saw a few centuries ago, and they linked these three runes together.”
Quentin held in a frustrated scream.“If you have that ritual written down, I’d be happy to look it over.Otherwise, let’s go with the ones we are certain work.Babylon fell in 539 BC, more than a millennium ago, and weren’t you the one who told me fae have terrible memories?”
“Hurtful, son, very hurtful.Throwing my weaknesses at me.”
He was almost positive that his father’s pout was fake—stupid fae and their ridiculous youth.Lars appeared only a decade or so older than Quentin, like a blonde-haired, purple-eyed mirror version.
“Wait, are you younger than when I last saw you?”It suddenly struck him that his ‘father’ looked as if he’d dropped decades of aging.
“I’m not physically younger, but my magic has been restored.Being a bone wolf drained me, so I appeared older when I first transformed back.Now I’m at my proper appearance.”
Quentin stared at him.“I’m going to have to stop introducing you to people as my father.”
Lars laughed.“Other fae will understand, but to humans, you might want to introduce me as your older brother.”
A pang went through him.He had always wished he had a sibling.Of course, with the long fae lifespan, he might still get one eventually.
He shoved those thoughts away to be examined later.Right now, he had to concentrate on finding his mother.Who knew what kind of danger she was dealing with?Quentin hadn’t gotten a ransom demand or any communication since she vanished.As of now, they still didn’t know why Braed had stolen her.Unless they were hoping to exchange Quentin for his mother and considered him the weak link to get to Jaks.That would be a mistake.
On their parts.
“Let’s focus on finding mother before we untangle your youth problem.”Quentin stepped back to examine the entire circle before giving a final nod.“I think it’s ready.”
Lars walked the line, crouching down now and then to compare a rune to the sheet in his hand where they had sketched their final decisions.“Looks right to me.”
“Does it pass your Babylonian standards?”Quentin teased.
Lars tilted his chin up and ignored the question.“Do you want to add your blood or mine?”
“Best add mine.It needs familial blood to work properly.”
Quentin grabbed the dagger from a bag he’d brought with him, along with the chalk and a large cloth for the final step.Without hesitation, he slit a line across his palm.Blood oozed out, gradually increasing from a drip to a smooth stream.A pinch of magic had the droplets dispersing equally across the runes, completely covering each one from top to bottom.Once he was certain there were no gaps, they were ready to begin.
“Hand!”his father demanded.
Quentin held out his injured palm.
Without a word, Lars healed the wound with a pulse of his magic, leaving no sign of the injury behind.Excellent.Now he didn’t have to explain to Jaks why he had cut himself after promising to keep his blood all for Jaks.Ritual work wouldn’t be a valid answer for his overprotective lover.
Quentin took a deep breath, then chanted the words needed to activate the ritual.His voice reverberated off the walls, each syllable echoing with his magic in an indecipherable rhythm.Electricity crackled in the air, and the runes on his hands glowed.
Lars sucked in a breath beside him.
“Show me,” Quentin commanded, pushing out his magic.
