Page 29 of Temple of Magic and Bone

Vanth paused by a room with a bunch of flowers carved into the door. Little flower. That's what Flynt called his mother. Vanth opened the door, and his mother's scent hit him. It was old, but it was still strong. He opened the door and turned on the lanterns.

"Holy shit," he murmured.

When she had said to look through her books, she had failed to mention she had a god's damned library in her room. It was more like a library crossed with an alchemy lab. Her bed was pushed back into a far corner. Everything else was books of arcana, grimoires, and magical artifice.

Vanth knew his mother was a brilliant mage. She had taught him more than the toffs in the mages' guild did, but he had no idea the depth and variety of her obsession.

How the fuck was he going to find the book he needed in there? Vanth took a breath and went to the overflowing desk. He picked up the books and studied the titles, but none of them were related to death magic. He left the desk and went over to the counters covered in long dried-out experiments. He was still there thirty minutes later when he felt someone watching him.

"If you want to be alone, just tell me," Elektra said, her gray eyes concerned.

What the hell had he done to deserve that kind of worry from her? He didn't know, and he didn't care. He was too selfish to question it.

"I don't want to be alone," he said and swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. Gods, he had been alone his whole fuckinglife and thought he enjoyed it. Right until the moment he met someone who actually understood him.

When Vanth looked at the gorgeous fae female in front of him, he was torn by thoughts of 'please be my best friend' and 'I want to fuck you until we both pass out.' He had never felt that way about anyone.

He realized he was staring and turned back to his book. "I mean, I can't do this alone. Look at all this stuff. I'll be here for the next year trying to figure it out," he quickly added, clearing his throat.

Elektra joined him at the counter and looked around her. "Did you find anything interesting so far?"

"Oh, plenty," he said, snapping the book he was holding shut and picking up another. "Just none of it is what we are looking for. If she weren't my mother, I would shake her for putting that fucking curse on herself."

Elektra ran a hand through her curls and stared around the room. "She must have been so scared. I can't even imagine."

"I know. I get it, but I'm still frustrated," he admitted. "Must make me the biggest prick ever."

"You're taking it all better than I would be. It's okay to be mad about being lied to. Doesn't matter if you understand the reasons behind it," Elektra replied. She held his gaze a second longer before quickly looking back to the mess around her. "Maybe we need to work smarter and not harder. We don't have time to sift through this the old-fashioned way."

"What do you propose, princess?" he asked.

"Magic, of course." Elektra's wine dark power filled the air, and Vanth's mouth watered. Yeah, he had it bad. "The spell would feel like the Veil. Let me see if I can tune into it."

Vanth watched her fingers dance as she walked about the room, scrying in a way he had never seen before.

Just think about all the magic she could teach you. That wasn't a helpful thought because he was distracted enough by how she looked in his beat-up clothes.

"Can you lift up this pile? There's something underneath it, and I can't drop the spell, or I'll have to start it again," Elektra said from the other side of the room. Vanth moved where she was standing and shifted the pile of clothes on the floor by the bed. Underneath them was a polished wooden box. He opened it, and inside was a pair of shining sickles.

"Oh, that must have been her weapons when she was with the temple," Elektra said, staring down at them with wide eyes.

Vanth picked up the sickles, and the soft leather hilts warmed in his hands. Death magic pulsed through them, and he could feel the layers of spells over them.

"They can cut specters and other incorporeal creatures?" Vanth asked, turning them over. He had never felt power infused into blades like it before.

"Amongst other things. It's how I could separate Heidi's shade from her body in the morgue," Elektra said. She must have seen the excitement in his face because she smiled. "Do you want me to show you how to use them?"

Ten minutes later, they had found the training room. It was well used, with big leather punching bags and wooden dummies that had bits taken out of them. Weapons of all kinds hung on the walls, and there were occasional scorch marks and other damage on the floors.

"Do you think he brings weapons in here to test out?" Elektra asked.

"He must. Look at the state of that dummy. It still has a mace in its chest," Vanth pointed out. He stared around him at his grandfather's work, and something twinged in him. "I don't know what to think of my grandfather being alive and a Weyland of all things. I thought they were a myth."

Elektra selected two daggers from the wall. "No offense, Vanth, but there's a lot about you that's mythic. Maybe just get used to having weird shit in your lineage and stop pouting about it."

"And you can talk, Miss Celestial Princess," he replied, taking the sickles out of their case again.

"I haven't been a part of that world in a long time. I don't even have their powers which pissed my father off to no end. He thought I was only going to be good for a marriage alliance, but luckily, a representative from the temple found me first," she said and looked at him playing about. "Do you have any weapons training at all?"

---