Page 107 of Eternal Ruin
Warde roared in her mind.I’m coming.
No,June responded quickly.It’s fine.
Taj froze immediately and launched himself so far from her, he nearly collided with the shelves of beakers and tubes.
“I’m sorry.” Taj ran a hand through his twists again and again.
“It’s fine.” June’s voice had lost its weakness and she stood a little straighter. “I’m sorry. I’d just never seen a scar like that.”
Warde remained close, his bone chain clinking.
Taj’s hand stopped in his hair. “But you…”
June smiled at him, hoping it was pretty even though it was forced. “I read somewhere red scars can hold bacteria, giving them their discoloration. It means they can be severely contagious.”
Taj’s confusion lurked. “Contagious… June, that’s ridiculous.”
She chuckled, ducking her head a little as she did when embarrassed. Her heart kept slamming into her chest.
“I know. Probably shouldn’t believe everything I read.”
Taj caught her gaze drifting to his forehead again and his eyes hardened. He grabbed the discarded headband, turned away from her, and tied it firmly. An awkward silence extended between them. She couldn’t explain how she knew what those marks meant, could she?
Desta, no.
June froze.
The voice that spoke into her mind. It wasn’t Warde. But someone ancient. A voice she’d feared ever since she was five years old. A voice that told her she’d die when she turned twenty-one. Told her to make sure the Sage’s artifacts stayed hidden and to never, ever hold one.
You cannot expose yourself,he ordered, making her bones whimper.
Like clockwork, June’s lids began to fall, called to sleep, away from this world. “Are you okay?” Taj approached, concerned.
June nodded tightly, fighting to stay awake. “I get dizzy sometimes. Just give me a minute.”
Turning away, June reached for the small pot of hartshorn she always carried. Carefully, she cracked open the lid to inhale the sharp, painful salt. Her spine stiffened while her nostrils became inflamed. But June withstood it, swallowing the horrible taste down her throat because it always did what it was supposed to. It kept June awake. Away from the nightmares. Away fromhim.
Taj’s shadow remained, he was probably wondering what was wrong with her. With his vampiric abilities, he’d likely smelled the salt long before she opened it.
“I should go to the Philosophy Tower. The professor is waiting for us,” she said without turning back.
“Yes,” he said slowly, sounding confused. “Here. I noticed you’re always running late to things.”
June half turned, her curling braids thankfully covering the side of her face.
Taj’s gifted item sat on the stainless-steel table. It was a watch.
A breath of laughter left June’s lips. A question slid between Taj’s brows. No matter how much June tried to avoid the doom of the clock, it would always stare her down, ticking to Kidan’s and June’s inevitable end.
Time was running out.
And June had to either kill or be killed.
Lessons from the Last Sage
On Compulsion
The same way a Sage has dominion over all Mot Zebeyas, so does Varos over all dranaics.
