Page 122 of House of Malice
“Start the chant,” Blaze ordered.
“Augenus diviite arachnasis,” Rogue read out loud, repeating it over and over.
Once Blaze got the hang of it, he also repeated the chant, focusing on the glass dome in front of them.
Soon, Blaze’s palm started burning. It was a pain he had never experienced before. He almost stopped the chant, but he managed to breathe through the pain and continue the stream of words.
The dome shimmered, the glass turning liquid. It swirled in place, changing colors. Then it vanished, and the burning in Blaze’s hand went away.
Blaze waved his hand in the air where the dome had been. It was truly gone. The chest was unprotected.
“Okay, let’s take this back to the carriage,” he said, suddenly breathless. The adrenaline coursing through his bloodstream made his whole body tremble.
The chest was too heavy for Blaze alone, so Rogue helped him carry it to the elevator and then into the carriage. With each step, Blaze expected his father to appear out of the dark shadows.
But once the door to the carriage closed and it whizzed through the air towards the Black Market, the fear went away.
He was almost there.
The moment the door to the carriage opened, Blaze was greeted with the two satyrs.
“Witchling, the Imp Queen is expecting you,” Black Horn said, eyeing Blaze with two stark ambers.
Blaze and Rogue unloaded the chest out of the carriage.
“Follow me,” Broken Horn said, and the two satyrs led the way inside the Black Market.
They arrived at the back of the warehouse, so they skipped the busy part of the market where all the action took place. The satyrs led them down long cold corridors that were eerily quiet at this time of the night.
Finally, they reached the stairs leading to Moren’s office.
Blaze fought the urge to rush, to run as quick as possible. He was eager to finalize this deal.
“Ah, Mister Leveau,” Moren said from behind her desk once they entered her office.
Blaze and Rogue carried the chest and placed it in the middle of the room. Moren’s eyes glittered, and that was the only indication that she was satisfied.
“Leave,” Moren said. “Everyone but you, Mister Leveau.”
“My queen,” Rogue said and bowed his head.
Then he and the satyrs left, closing the door on their way out.
“Please take a seat,” Moren said, waving a hand towards the chairs in front of her desk. Once Blaze sat down, she said, “You have proven yourself, Mister Leveau. I’m very pleased with your work.”
“My pleasure, my queen,” Blaze said, inclining his head. He wasn’t sure which was the safest way to address her. “I hope my father didn’t cause you too much trouble.”
Moren lit a cigarette. “Not more than usual. But I assume he will be less than pleased to find the chest missing.”
Blaze didn’t answer, his heart hammering in his chest.
“There will be Hel to pay for you,” Moren said, her eyes focused on Blaze. “And yet you did it still.”
“Maybe, or maybe not.”
Blaze lit a cigarette of his own before taking a deep drag of the smoke.
“You have fulfilled your end of the bargain,” Moren said after a moment of silence had passed between them. “I owe you a favor. Would you like to use it now, or shall we wait for a better time?”
