Page 95 of Death Warden
“I don’t know,” Tobias says. He blinks rapidly again, mouth turning down. “I just…I needed to be here with Adi when…”
When she dies.
“No!” Spectre is on his feet in an instant. “I won’t let that happen. I’ll keep her alive as long as it takes for her to get her revelation.”
“You don’t have enough power for that,” Tobias says. “At this stage I’m not sure that even a conduit can save her.”
“What?” My breath comes shorter. “What do you mean?”
“A conduit can only do so much,” Tobias says. “When a necromancer’s power dips, they find their conduit to stabilize them. Even if Adi finds hers now, being here would give them enough power to keep Adi alive, but with the Thorne and Crescent mages out of the picture, it won’t be enough to sustain the lock. Dralos will be free, and he’ll claim Adi’s life in place of the ancestor Loralie’s unpaid debt.” He picks up his cup. “All we can do now is pray for a miracle.” He gulps down his tea and stands, pushing his hair back and exhaling. “I’d like to see Adi now, please. I assume Finley is with her?”
“Finley left earlier,” Dax says.
A look of disconcertion darts across Tobias’s face, but he smooths it into a smile. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon. If any of you see him, please send him my way.”
The back of my brain itches in that tell-tale way that warns me of a hidden secret. It’s what makes me an excellent enforcer. It’s what has me pushing my seat back and pressing my fingers to the table to lean forward, gaze probing.
“What aren’t you telling us, Tobias.”
Spectre moves to stand behind the mage. “Answer him.”
They sense it too.
“It’s something to do with Finley, isn’t it?” Logan says. “Do you know that he can shift between male form and cat-sith now?”
Tobias sucks in a sharp breath. “No…”
Oh, hell yes, we’re on to something here. “Tell us.”
We close in on him, predators on prey, and hell if I won’t rip him apart to get the answers I need. Whatever it takes to save Adi.
“If Finley is able to shift, it means…it means that Dralos has found him. It means he senses him.”
“Which is bad because….” Dax probes.
Tobias licks his lips nervously. “Because Finley contains the power we stripped from Dralos. Finley is a part of him.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO
ADI
Ifelt ill, the kind of ill that was a mash-up between an epic hangover and the muscle aches from a twenty-four-hour dance party.
I rolled onto my side with a groan.
“Adi? Can you hear me?”
“Tobias?” My voice came out dry and raspy.
“Get her some water,” Spectre ordered someone.
A thick forearm slid under me, and I was lifted into a sitting position. “Curo?” I smiled up at him. “Hey…”
“Hey, kitten.” He smiled at me with sad eyes.
My gut clenched. I knew that look. It was the look that preceded bad news. Death, destruction, more death.
And then I saw him, leaning up against my dresser, takeout coffee cup in hand.
