Page 94 of When Storms Ruin

We needed to move against Donika soon, she was already escalating. Murdering innocents, experimenting on others, and turning them into monsters. Her control on this realm needed to cease, she had ruled with a dark and bloody hand for far too long.

“Do we have any other options?” I asked, only a small spark of hope still lit within my chest.

Liss shrugged, meeting my eyes. “I’m not sure. Where did you say you heard about this spell again?”

“Alastir, the seer. He told us the answers I was searching for would be with Phineas Wolfe. He had the spell from when he stole it from the grimoire, and the spell…well…it chose to come back with me. I found it in my jacket pocket after our meeting with Phineas.”

“Phineas…” Liss mused, searching the recesses of her mind. “The name sounds familiar to me.”

“You know him?” Tess asked.

“I’m not sure,” Liss admitted. “But I know Alastir, he is one of the last seers left in Istmere. He must have sent you down this path for a reason.”

“Maybe we can visit him again?” Tess offered hopefully.

“I’m not sure it’s wise to return to Prins until things die down. We safely moved our numbers and scattered them across the city, but when I left, Donika’s soldiers were still crawling all over the city.”

“Maybe there is something else in one of these books, we can keep digging,” I replied, my eyes traveling to the tomes stacked stories high. “Do we have any other family grimoires we could consult?”

“We don’t have mine, but I do believe Zion has his. Maybe there is something to be found there,” Liss replied.

I nodded. “We should spend the next several days studying it. I’ve pored over the Kotova grimoire for hours and hours, I don’t think there’s anything else in there to help us at this point.”

Tess and Liss nodded in agreement.

“I’ll go ask him for it,” Liss offered, pushing back her chair to stand.

“Will it let us read it?” I asked, turning towards her as she made her way towards the door. “The Kotova grimoire is a bit picky, what about Zion’s?”

“His book of shadows is not…sentient…as yours is,” Liss assured me with a smile before shouldering open the library door and disappearing down the hallway.

I slumped down into my chair, my mind utterly exhausted and defeated. It felt as if every time we took a step forwards, we took three steps back.

“What now?” Tess asked, drumming her fingers against the table.

“I guess we tell Nik and Puck the news. Do you know where they are?” I asked.

“They both retired for the night. Nik is doing much better, but the sparring session took a lot out of him,” she replied.

“I’ll loop Nik in, you’ll tell Puck?” I asked, winking at her as I pushed my chair out to stand.

“You want a moment alone with lover boy,” she teased, following me to the door.

“Or I’m simply being a good friend and giving you some time alone with yourboyfriend,” I pointed out.

“You are a good friend,” she replied, forcefully planting a kiss on my cheek and shaking my shoulders in her tight grip. “I wouldn’t trade you for anyone.”

“I certainly hope not.” I laughed, passing through the library door and into the hallway.

“Even if you did drag me into the middle of a decades old war against the dark queen who wants to see us dead,” Tess threw over her shoulder as she made her way down to Puck’s room.

“Yeah, because that’s my fault,” I called down to her, rolling my eyes.

She blew me a kiss, disappearing behind Puck’s door without knocking. They had been inseparable these past few weeks, and things were getting serious between them. I was happy Tess had found someone she liked this much, I had never seen her settle down with one guy before Puck.

I paused before Nik’s door.

As it had the other night, my panic rose within my throat, threatening to strangle me. My hand was poised to knock, but some buried piece of me couldn’t bring myself to do it.

---