Holy crap! This was so cool!
I looked down at my body to find that it was nearly ghost-like. I could see through my legs to the floor behind me. A wave of anxiety rushed through me at the thought of my soul leaving my body, and I wondered if it was possible to get stuck this way.
Horrible thought! Don’t do that, Nai!
After taking a few deep breaths to calm myself, I continued to marvel at the detail of the stained-glass murals until I heard someone say my name.
“Nai should’ve been exhausted by the time she saw you,” a familiar male mage’s voice grumbled.
Spinning on my heel, I caught a flash of blue disappearing down one of the rows.
Is that Kian?
It certainly sounded like him. Why was he talking about me?
More importantly, could I follow without them detecting me?
I had almost no experience in this ghostly form. This felt different from the time I’d gone into the Realm of the Dead to fetch Honor.
Grandpa Geoff was the high mage of spirit, but I had no idea if the other mages had spirit ability. Probably best to assume they did, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t at least try to follow. If I got caught, I’d just say I was taking my spirit test. So … 100.4% true.
I ran down the row to the left of where I’d seen the mage’s robe and, shortly thereafter, was rewarded with Kian’s continued beratement.
“What did you give her—a candle’s flame to blow out?” Kian snapped.
Okay, I knew it was rude to eavesdrop, but this was me they were discussing.
“Don’t act like the blame is mine,” Snade snarled. “You promised me a fledgling mage—but I gave her a wall of flame taller and wider than you could handle on your best day, Kian, let alone prior to your training, and she did fine with it. Master Karn assured me that her education was kept to a minimum at that bastard academy. Are you sure she hasn’t been secretly trained?”
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa!
Each one of those revelations sent my mind spinning, but I shoved away the information to process at another time. I was approaching the end of the row of shelves.
“Is she done yet?” Orion asked.
I recognized his voice from earlier today. The high mage of air had been almost personable before throwing me into the path of a tornado. Psycho.
“Did she pass?” he asked. Then I heard the sounds of chair legs scraping across the stone floor.
How many of them were here?
“Not yet, but she obviously will. Geoff won’t let her fail,” Kian snapped. “Clearly, the half-breed wasn’t stretched enough during her other trials for Snade to succeed.”
Hugging the shelf nearest them, I peeked out from the aisle and saw that three of the five high mages were here.
Tucked away at the end of the rows of several shelves was a small alcove. On the other side of the table was a large, stone, bay window overlooking rolling hills and the rippling waves of an aqua ocean, over which the sun kissed the horizon, reflecting a vivid expanse of color on the water. The bookshelves came within a couple of feet of the wall, leaving a long aisle perpendicular to the rows of books. This nook could’ve been one of many, but it didn’t escape me that none of the high mages’ doors were near the area—almost like this was neutral ground.
The high mage of air plopped back into his seat at the lone table occupying the space and fisted his hands in his hair. “Well, I did exactly as you said, Kian.”
Snade finally appeared to be losing his crap; his skin mottled with rage. “As did I.”
Four empty chairs were tucked close to the wooden furniture, and Kian and Snade each stood in the tight space, glaring at each other.
“So you say,” Kian grumbled, pulling out a chair.
“Are you accusing me of lying?” Snade grabbed Kian’s arm, but one look from the high mage of water, and the balding mage withdrew his hand. “The proof is in the recording—for all of you to see,” Snade hissed, taking his seat. “I pushed her limits!”
Holy. Mother. Mage.
They’d 110.9% tried to sabotage me!
“She’s much stronger than her mother,” Orion said, shaking his head. “I gave Nai an F5 tornado. Elia struggled with an F2.”
My heart thudded as indignation flooded me.
How dare they?
“Any idea what Geoff is having her do?” Snade asked, leaning forward in his chair, his eyes narrowing. “More importantly, could we send someone to oversee them?”
“He said they’d be at his castle, same as each of us,” Kian said.
Apparently, them isolating me at their castles cut both ways. While Rey wasn’t able to be in their territory, they wouldn’t be able to sabotage me in Grandpa’s.
Halle-freakin’-lujah.
Orion huffed and then muttered, “He’s probably teaching her how to raise the dead.”
Kian slid into his seat, still glaring at Snade. “You should’ve burned her! Even if it appeared intentional, at least, it would’ve sent her to the healing ward so she couldn’t complete her final test.”
Glaring at the water mage, Snade slammed his fist on the table. “And why didn’t you drown her, eh? Why is this on me?”
Kian smoothed his shirt. “Everyone knows I have it out for her. I had to go easy, lest it looked malicious.”
Stunned, I stood there, gaping while they discussed their failed assassination attempts. The sense of betrayal pressed against my soul, and I turned away from their discussion.
Note to self: these high mages were d-bags. Except for my grandfather—and maybe the high mage of earth, Heath.
Maybe that’s why Gramps sent me here. Lesson learned.
At this point, I’d fetch Grandpa’s book title and then get the heck out of here.
“It doesn’t matter,” Kian said, flatly.
I started to slink away—
“We’ll have time to deal with her later,” Kian said. “We need to discuss the new king of Shifter Island.”
—and then froze.
Shifter Island? They were talking about Rage.
Spinning back toward the evil asshats, I crept forward, dread sinking into my soul.
“He’s invited all of the other shifters back,” Snade said.
“He’s trying to unite them!” Orion growled.
Kian shook his head. “Worse, he’s training the lower mages to protect themselves!”
I had no idea what in the name of the Mother Mage they were talking about, but it seemed like my mate had been busy.
Silence fell, the air thick with tension.
“He can’t do that,” Snade growled, his eyes glowing with live flame.
“No, indeed he cannot. He’s rejected all of our traditions,” Kian stated. “I’m not sure if Declan failed to train the boy or if he’s truly just that ignorant, but we can’t have him ruin our society.”
“The half-breed is his mate,” Snade said. “And they share a shield bond.”
Kian nodded. “But my sources say they haven’t sealed their mate bond. We must make stopping their mate bond from sealing our top priority.”
“How can we do that? One of the blood mages maybe?” Orion asked.
Did he say blood mage? What the frick is that?
Fear coursed through me.
“If we fail…” Orion tapped the table.