Page 17 of Dark Reckoning
“With magic weapons, maybe...” Xavier tried to argue.
“Sage is right, Xavier. They are fast, strong, and I wouldn't even want to take one on,” Adrian said.
“More are being made even as we speak, right?” Jewel asked.
I nodded. “I'm pretty sure they can kill twenty-four hours a day, which makes the situation we're all in extremely dire.”
“And this shit with Salino. You have to save him now,” Xavier fussed.
“Keeping him alive saves us and everyone else as we're Council members now. The first line of defense,” Adrian said.
“And you're what? Some type of vampire now?” Xavier asked, his eyes studied Adrian as if he were looking for fangs to pop out.
Adrian sighed. “I guess. It's not as bad as it sounds, though.”
“How can you say that? You're not human anymore, Adrian,” Xavier said.
“So the fuck what,” I snapped. “Like being human is some damn reward.”
“It's better than being someone who feeds off people,” Xavier said as he gave me an angry glare.
I laughed, because he sounded like an idiot to me.
“As if humans don't do that,” Shi said. “There isn't anything noble about being human. Don't fool yourself.”
“What she said,” I added.
“Can we not argue?” Adrian interjected. “I'm what I am now. I'm not upset about it. Being this strong allows me to be able to help others. That's what matters, Xavier.”
“Well, there's your perspective,” I pointed out.
Xavier's jaw tightened, but he remained silent—for once.
“Fuck, so much happened. And can we trust the Council?” Nadia asked.
“For now, I'm going to look at that as a good thing if it makes us more powerful,” I said.
“So, can the Echelon Imperial block your magic?” Shi asked.
“Will they be able to control you?” Nadia asked.
“No... I mean, if they were being completely honest with us, they can't control our magic. Can't control us. But we are stronger as a group now and can tap into each other's magic and combine our powers. According to them, we were always destined to become members of the Echelon Imperial,” I said.
“Apparently, they are the elite and so are we,” Adrian said with a lot of mockery. “That's how they put it. They each have powerful grimoires like ours.”
“At least your sigils look cool,” Shi commented.
“Yeah, and from what they told us, they also attract jealousy from other mages,” Adrian said.
“We're powerful enough to handle them,” I said, because I wasn't worried about other mages. I never was.
“So, what do we do now?” Jewel asked.
I sighed. “For now, Adrian and I will go to Salino's home. Put up a barrier there to protect him. Then we need to contact the Council to ask about this spell that Salino wants us to work. It could save his life and in turn, save ours. We need to know if it's even possible and if so, what could be the consequences. Then we need to study our grimoire to see what kind of spells or objects we'll need to get rid of the Dark God, El-Kazir.”
“Speaking of the grimoire, I should go get it before we leave,” Adrian said and I nodded.
“What do you need from me?” Xavier asked. “I want to help.”
