Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
“We can’t simply let her use your portal,” I say. “We don’t even know what she plans to do with it.”
Abriella sneers. “That realm is so broken and backward, she can blow up the whole Eloran Palace for all I care. I want my sister back.”
“My king.”
We all turn to see Tynan standing in the door to my meeting room, chest heaving as if he’s rushed here.
“What is it?” I ask.
“The guard from the dungeons called for backup.”
I give Brie my best told you so face. As if being right about some petty shit can make up for the fact that there’s a gaping hole in my chest. “What did she do?”
“Nothing,” Tynan says. “That’s just it. She was sitting in her cell one minute, and the next she was begging the guard to help her, she said they were coming for her.”
“That’s impossible. The whole dungeon is warded against magic and goblin travel. There’s no way out of that cell. It’s a trick.”
Tynan swallows. “Misha, it’s no trick. She’s gone.”
I set my jaw. “Search the castle and the grounds,” I tell Tynan. I wait until he’s gone before turning to Abriella. “Why Jas? Why use her to come back? What necromancer could be strong enough for true resurrection?”
Finn and Brie exchange a look that tells me they have a very good idea why but haven’t decided if they can share with me.
“Brie, if I’m going to help, I need to know.”
“We’ve been so focused on how one might resurrect Mordeus’s body that we never stopped to consider if his original body was ever part of the plan,” Finn says softly. “There are no necromancers who can fully restore a life with both body and spirit, so Mordeus found the next best thing.”
Abriella’s composure cracks, and she spins to Finn. “Oh, gods, Finn, if she really traded her immortality, we don’t have much time.”
Horror rocks through me. Felicity’s deceit cost us precious days. “Tell me now,” I say. “What aren’t you saying about Jasalyn?”
“I had Pretha look into my sister’s mind,” Brie blurts, shame tinging her cheeks. “Two years ago, when there were no signs of her magic manifesting, I was beginning to worry that Jas would be powerless against our enemies, so I asked Pretha to search her mind and see if she could find any sign of magic. I never told Jas about it because I thought she might be afraid of what Pretha found.”
I shake my head. “I don’t understand. What kind of power could allow Mordeus to use her to rise from the dead?”
“He doesn’t simply want to be alive again,” Finn says. “He wants revenge, and he wants power. With his blood magic in place and Jasalyn’s gift at his command, he could easily have both.”
“How?” I’m losing patience, but I need to understand.
“She’s a phoenix, Misha.” Brie’s expression is grim. “My sister can burn down to ash and rise again, reborn.”
My stomach sinks to the floor. “That’s an unspeakably rare gift.”
Brie nods. “I know. And if Mordeus truly bound their lives together with this blood magic, he could command the power of her phoenix to come back—his spirit in her body.”