Page 54 of First Ritual

Sven chuckled. “There’s a but.”

“You already know one of them. I help you and keep your issue a secret, then you help me and keep my information completely to yourself also. The second… I may transfer to another coven, so I’ll help you and only expect your help until such time as I’m gone. The secrecy pact will be upheld on both sides ongoing.”

Corentin cut in. “There. Right there. Wild, don’t fight it back. What do you want to do?”

I glanced at Wild just in time to view him frozen and furious before he blurred forward and flattened me against the bed. His magic, battle affinity, pulsed from him, stealing my breath with its throbbing power. The tendrils curled around my throat. My wrists and ankles.

His voice was hypnotic, floating and low. “You’re not going anywhere, my queen.”

His eyes locked on me, and I began to drown. Fast. Cloying. My voice shook. “Please stop. You’re scaring me.”

Sven was up in an instant. Huxley on the other side. They both latched onto an arm, their power whipping out to work at Wild’s restraints on my body. They wrestled him back to his chair.

I rubbed my throat, trembling in a way that might have embarrassed me if that wasn’t terrifying.

Wild cradled his head in both hands, saying harshly, “Sorry, Tempest.”

He really was unhinged by all this. And if I’d played a part in doing this to him, I would’ve helped the guy without anything in return.

He didn’t have to know that.

I now had no qualms about Sven and Huxley joining in with the experiments, though Corentin hadn’t so much as budged from his corner to save me. “I suppose I can expect more of that treatment if I agree? That’s expecting a lot.”

Four glares.

Didn’t care. I’d come here for a reason, and that wouldn’t be compromised by anything.

“Your mystery,” Wild said heavily. “What is it?”

My stomach churned. My turn to be vulnerable? The idea nearly put me off the entire exchange.

Only one thing stopped me.

Nothing would compromise my reason for coming here. Not even myself. “Five weeks ago, something strange happened.”

14

I entered Birch’s quarters a step behind Huxley.

He stopped, and I slammed into his back. Ouch. Glasses man was all hard muscle.

“You mind?” he said coldly.

Did I?

I lifted a shoulder. “Not really.”

After an eye roll, Huxley joined Birch at the empty fireplace, and I walked past the array of comfortable armchairs bordering this level of the esteemed’s quarters to peruse the ancient weapons lining the largest wall. Some of the blades had more of an apothecary purpose. He probably had some of that affinity along with battle, with a particular attraction to weapons overall. Just like Rooke was attracted to the illicit uses of everything.

Birch’s rooms couldn’t be more different from Varden’s. Not a book in sight. I approved.

He thumped his wooden staff on the rock ground. “Let us begin.”

On Tuesdays, Fertim and Vero split into several teams to form “plans.” I’d stopped listening to Huxley after that part of the conversation, but I did recall that Birch was in charge of ploys. Whatever that meant.

Twenty magus had come to brainstorm these ploys. None of which I knew the name of, though a few faces were familiar by now.

“First, a warm welcome to Bronte who is shadowing us this week,” Birch said. The esteemed looked to be about the youngest council member after Wild, which meant he was over twice Wild’s age. “As a brief run down, in Caves, both teams split into focus groups who tackle different areas of the larger strategy. Our team handles what we call ploys in that we form a smokescreen of sorts that distracts the other team from our actual attack. We can only make one main move, so we want as much element of surprise as possible. Ploys comes under the umbrella of defense, but it’s indirect. In a nutshell, while the main move is the climatic event on Thursday, it’s our time until that happens.”

---