Page 103 of The Rogue's Curse

“And I’m concerned that doing this has made the curse worse,” she blurted. “I can see it, and it’s so much worse than it was before. I’m so sorry.”

“So how are we supposed to move forward?” Paris asked. “I thought it would be easy. You’ve done it so many times now.”

Alistair’s head snapped up, eyes narrowed.

Shoshanna put up her hands and said, “I know, and this is different. But we’ll figure it out.”

“When?” Paris demanded. “He can’t stay like this.”

“I’m fine,” Misha protested.

“He’s not fine. Shoshanna, when—”

Alistair rose, squaring his shoulders. “Paris,” he said in a low, menacing tone.

The petite witch shook her head. “Allie, it’s fine.” Her warm eyes flitted to Misha, then back to Paris. “I’ll work on it as much as I can. But I can’t do magic for another day or two. If I push it too hard, it could take me weeks to recover. And we can’t afford that right now.”

Misha took Paris’s hand and said, “It’s okay. I’ll keep working on my end of the bargain. Taking down Shea’s barrier, and killing him once we’re in. You rest, and we’ll be ready when you are.”

Paris protested, “But—”

“But that’s it,” he said sharply. “Can we help you with anything?”

Shoshanna shook her head. “The best thing would be for you to rest as much as you can.”

He sighed, then glanced at Paris. “Then I guess it’s back to work.” He raised his eyebrows in a silent invitation, and Paris followed him out of Shoshanna’s workshop. As they trudged down the hall, he could swear he saw tendrils of slithering smoke along the walls. They flickered away as soon as he looked, and he tried to convince himself he was simply being paranoid.

Paris followed him into the workshop in Building Five, which was as neat and clean as he’d left it. Nervous energy twisted in his gut as Paris closed the door behind him. He was silent and graceful as he sauntered across the lab, perching on the high stool. “Are you okay? If you have to step down from doing the magic, I want you to,” Paris said. “We will figure out how to deal with Shea.”

Misha chuckled. “I didn’t come here to back away when it mattered.”

“You also didn’t come here to get cursed and lose control of your power,” Paris said hotly. “This could cause serious damage to you.”

“Like having my heart torn out?” Misha said archly.

“Mon dieux, is this what it’s like to talk to me?” he complained.

Misha laughed despite himself. “Yes. Absolutely,” he agreed. “I’ll get started on the pagos right away, and that will dampen my power. Sort of like grounding an electrical current.”

“Won’t that keep you from working?”

Misha shook his head. “Much like Shoshanna, a lot of what I do is chemistry and geometry. I can do a lot of my work without touching my power, and it’ll probably be easier to focus,” he said.

Concern lingered in Paris’s pretty blue eyes. “Are you telling the truth, or just what you think will soothe my worries?”

“The truth,” Misha said. “I’ve been direct and honest with you from the very beginning.”

Paris nodded. “What do you have for me besides a pretty blade? I know you’ve got your secrets, but I need to know tactically so I can use my people most effectively.”

The other man joined him at the bench, where Misha laid out a series of intricate diagrams for his cage wards.

“Wow,” Paris murmured, tracing the lines on one of the diagrams. “Am I allowed to see this?”

Misha raised an eyebrow. “Do you understand anything you’re looking at?”

His mate laughed and shook his head. “Not a bit.”

Putting his arm around Paris’s waist, Misha pointed to the sheaf of papers. “In addition to your pretty blade, I’m bringing three primary tools to the battle against Shea.” Tapping three sheets in turn, he explained, “With Georgina’s medallion, we can get through the barrier and break it from inside. That will take minimal effort compared to breaking it from the outside. Once inside, we can converge on Shea’s location, which I’m assuming will be either Underground Atlanta or the Constitution Building,” he said. “I’m building anchors for a powerful spell called a cage ward. It’s a bit technical, but you can think of it as a combination of an electrical circuit, a security fence, and a loudspeaker system. It will take about a dozen engraved stones infused with magic, which your teams will place around the perimeter. Once the stones are set, I’ll activate them. The spell will enclose the entire building in a cage of magic.”

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