Page 134 of Last Gift: Supernatural Battle

“And nothing. I can’t detect any use for it as a weapon, with my magic anyway. But then it occurred to me… I have a sample from you from before she returned to you. I don’t have a current sample.”

“Of course,” I said, then held out my arm. “That makes total sense. Take one.”

Rooke summoned a vial, then set it to the prominent vein in the crook of my elbow. The vial filled with black blood.

Shit. My blood wasn’t red anymore.

We exchanged a quick grimace, and she banished the vial just as a group of young magus walked by, all of them gaping at my forehead.

Had they never seen a magus queen before?

After they’d moved past, Rooke said, “I can already feel something different in your blood now.”

“You think we can use it?”

“Yes. I need to see whether potency is affected over time. If we can store it easily enough, then we could make any number of weapons with it. I quite like the idea of stabbing a demon with needles filled with your blood.”

I was sure she did.

I glanced back at the magus who’d walked by. One of them was looking back, though he wouldn’t hear anything through our silence charm.

“Do me a favor?” I asked her.

“Poisoning Frond?”

I considered that. “No. Not yet. Thanks, though.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Do you still have the old samples of my blood?”

She nodded. “Under lock and key.”

I smirked. “Let’s not do that today. Leave the old sample out for any ol’ someone to find, would you?”

34

“Have you accepted your seat?” Ty asked as I sat on my purple beanbag across the low table from him.

“Getting there,” I replied honestly.

He dipped his head, and his deep voice was warm. “I am glad. We continue with the staves. What do you recall from our last session?”

I’d recalled very little, so I’d read a book on the subject before bed last night so as not to waste Ty’s time.

I rattled off a summary of the last staves we’d gone through, then went through the remainder of the twenty staves after, adding bits and pieces of questions and theories I’d formed along the way as to how they might interact.

Ty was smiling by the end. “You are opening to your divination magic, High Esteemed. This is nice to see.”

“Thank you, sir.” His smile had made me realize how few others were smiling in the divination center. “What’s up with everyone today?”

There was a tension I hadn’t noticed. Even the centering circle on the other side wasn’t a hum of peace and love like usual. Corey was looking my way.

Shit. Something was up.

Have you heard anything amiss today? I asked Wild.

His response was sluggish. No, my love.

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