“Then, the wards are gone, right?” he asked.
I told him what Noble had said and then asked him what he’d learned from the female mage.
“Are you sure you want to hear it right now?” Justice asked.
Glaring at him, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Somehow, I don’t think there’s going to be a better time than now.”
He gave me the rundown as we crossed the waters: blood mages were just as powerful as the high mages, except they were the masters of blood magic—akadarkmagic—which was why Dark Row was calledDarkRow.
Most of the blood mages had been killed during the war hundreds of years ago, but the High Mage Council had left a few females alive, Surlama and Kalama being two of them. When Kalama was caught hunting on Alpha Island, Declan, with help from at least one of the high mages, bound her magic and forced her into servitude, something my uncle wasapparentlyquite fond of doing.
Blood mages could boost their magic by consuming blood as well as using magical blood in their spells.
“So all that blood Surlama took … was she able to do all the stuff Nai can?” I swallowed. “I mean if Surlama drank her blood?”
The idea made my stomach churn.
“From what Liv said, no.” Justice took a deep breath. “She said Surlama could increase her own power by drinking Nai’s blood because Nai is so powerful. Or, the witch could use it for blood magic—like the healing elixir.”
“I’m not even sure what to do with that information right now.” I rubbed my temples as a dull ache spread through my head. “Speaking of healing elixir, I hope there’s some in the infirmary.”
Justice clapped me on the back and then throttled back the motor as we approached the island.
“Are we going to the library first?” he asked.
I nodded. “I have to try the door one more time.”
For the first time, I started to doubt. Would we get Nai back?
Chapter Seven
Unfortunately,Noble was right. No matter how much pushing or prying we did, the black onyx door remained closed. While I could now touch the smooth black stone without being electrocuted, I remained powerless to open it.
An hour later, as the afternoon pressed on, I stepped into Declan’s office and pulled to a stop. Behind me, Justice bumped into me with a grunt.
“What the—oh, my Mother Mage,” he muttered, echoing my awe.
The smell of fresh paint hung heavy in the air.
The walls were no longer yellow but a soft gray. The stone floor was covered with a thick, plush area rug with the same gray in a pattern with taupe and blues. All the furniture had been replaced. The desk was a sleek minimalist style made of gray wood, and the chair behind the desk was one of those expensive ergonomic chairs, in the same dusty ash color as the wood of the desk. Opposite the desk sat a long couch upholstered in charcoal velvet, and to the right of the couch were two chairs separated by a chest-style end table.
Modern masculine art in splashes of blues and grays decorated two of the walls, and as I moved into the room, I smiled at the personal touches: pictures of me and my brothers throughout the years as well as several with my mom. A picture from our parents’ wedding…
I stepped past a coffee table; the natural stain on the irregularly shaped wood added a warm, rustic touch to the ambiance.
“You didn’t give me enough time to finish,” Noble said with a huff, but one glance told me he was pleased.
“This is …perfect,” I said, grinning. Gone were the memories and remnants of my uncle’s ghost and the darkness from our childhood.
As I stepped around my desk, my gaze dropped to the pictures there, and the grin slid from my face.
There, in the right corner, was a picture of Nai dressed as Miss Blue. Her eyes were wide as she looked innocently at the camera. I had no idea who had taken this photo or how Noble got it, but … I loved it. With a sigh, I remembered the moment I’d kissed her and realized she was my fated mate.
There was another photo of Nai with Noble, both of them in the cafeteria, my mate wearing a hairnet over her white, platinum-blond hair. And then another one of the two of us standing in the middle of the field in Montana, me holding her tightly, right after the fight with Declan. I had my eyes closed and my chin resting on her head, her silvery hair billowing in the freezing wind.
I looked up at my brother with surprise. “Were you paparazzi-stalking me and Nai?”
Noble snickered, and Justice joined in.
