“I like this. I like this a lot.” Cassius stands, bracing his arms against the armrest of the chaise. “I think our best chance is to trap him in the lake with a stellinguistic spell and drown him.”
“Won’t work.” Claudia strains to sit up and sip water. She flips through the grimoire to the very first spell. “He has Andromeda, Aquarius carved into his chest to keep from drowning.”
“To keep from drowning inwater,” Odette counters with a sly grin. “Starlake isn’t water.”
“What is it?”
“Essence of dreams,” Cassius says. “The same thing I gave you to stop you from hurting yourself in your sleep.”
“But how are we going to get him in there?” Angel asks. “How will we get him to Starlake at all?”
All of them look at Cassius. “You need to trick him into coming,” Odette says. “Persuade him with magic to come with his guard down and no external weapons. We’ll be lying in wait.”
He nods. “I can do that.”
“Who should strike first when they arrive?” Marcherie asks.
Cassius rounds the couch and gently touches Claudia’s shoulder. “I think it should be Claudia. He’ll be so shocked that you’re here and alive. Your presence alone will frighten him, andit’s important to show your strength quickly. He needs to know you’re tough enough to withstand his magic and that his poisoning spell didn’t work on you.”
“I agree,” Odette says. “He’ll never expect that.”
“He won’t be expecting you, either,” Marcherie adds.
“Fair point. But I think after Claudia strikes, Cassius should be next. Show him that you’re not on his side.”
Cassius rubs Claudia’s shoulder, circling his thumb in a soothing motion while he speaks. “He’ll start to find his footing after that.”
“Not if I stun him with a siren scream,” Marcherie suggests. “Oh! I could even use that to lure him into Starlake itself. Then your spell doesn’t have to get him into the lake. It just has to keep him there until he runs out of air.”
“Won’t your song stun all of us?” Angel asks.
Alistair leaps up, staring across the room at the entryway for the kitchen. “I bet I could make a potion that would make all of us immune from it. I can also make us some buffs to have on the battlefield. Strength potions, healing elixirs, and the like.”
“That’s perfect,” Odette says. “Marcherie will be our siren, and we”—she gestures to herself and Claudia—“will create a spell that drowns him.”
“What should we use?”
“What about Aquarius?”
“No. It’s too fickle, and it’s the water bearer. You said it yourself—we’re not working with water. Give me a minute to think.” Claudia visualizes every constellation she remembers seeing on Triche’s body. “I want to try to avoid using any combination that he has on him.”
“Why?”
“I just have a feeling that there’s a stronger reason he’s scarred himself with them. Immunity from their effects, maybe.”
“What makes you say that? What did you see?”
“I was just thinking that there had to be something in placethat protected him from all the celestial witches he’s killed. I can’t imagine how else he was able to defeat Lamour, unless he was somehow shielded from multiple celestial spells.”
“But we have no way of knowing every single spell on his body. You said you only saw glimpses. Plus, we’re using stellinguistic magic here. It’s different. He won’t expect it, won’t know how to fight against it. I say our best bet is to use the constellations that best fit our goal. I propose Cassiopeia, for punishment.”
Claudia ponders for a moment before nodding in agreement. “That’s smart. Her position is well-suited for this as well.”
“Why? Explain it to me. I want to understand how it works,” Cassius says.
“Because she’s upside down,” Odette says knowingly.
“Exactly,” Claudia responds. “Easy to drown someone if they’re head-side down in the lake, right?” Now, what to pair with it? Claudia flips through the grimoire and thumbs through all the papers scattered along the desk. Not Taurus, not Mensa, not Ophiuchus…
