Page 20 of Hellfire

“Do you have to go?” Gable asked me as he moved to the TV and selected a DVD for her, some Pixar cartoon that seemed a little too young for a seventeen-year-old. Living in the Brotherhood probably set back her education and maturity.

“I’ve got an hour before I change.” I squinted at the writing on my damn phone screen, needing a larger one to review the data. “Got a laptop to read these files?” I asked Gable upon his return.

He finished activating the DVD player for his sister, then fished out an Alienware laptop from his TV display unit, bringing it over to me. “This should do the trick.”

Over the next forty minutes, we reviewed the files in numerical order, listening to the voice recordings from the burner phone, two dated days before the elemental invasion and Camus’ invasion. My body shuddered at the haughty voice in those calls. Just the man I had my eye on. Now I had to figure out a way to take him down without tipping off his snakey friends and eliminate them from the Academy so we were free of the dark influence clouding us.

CHAPTER 8 - BLAZE

The Guild of Shadows had known many dark, dire moments, but none compared to what I went through. My actions brought war from another realm to Earth’s door and killed a lot of Guild members. Karma came full circle to reap my penance.

I stared at the protective case that used to store the Book of the Dead, warded with a Ghul curse. The Dark Lord shattered the glass like it was nothing, just like his servant, Nelle, reached inside my mind and stained it with his darkness. I felt it ferreting around in my head, a secret I hid from the world, or lose the trust of my mentor, the Gildron Council, friends, and bonded for good.

“Are you paying attention, son?” Venellan asked from beside me, holding a coffee mug in his hand instead of nursing his evening whisky tumbler—a constant companion with his recent stress.

“Huh?” I blinked and slanted my gaze to him.

He brought me to the library, where a group of conjurers surrounded the parchment recorded from Luna’s mind, interpreting the glittering symbols. I just wanted to be alone and turned down an invitation earlier that afternoon to go tothe bar for drinks with my brothers and bonded. Saying no to my mentor was a little more complicated when he saved my ass more times than I could count, and I owed him my life as debt.

He gestured his mug in the direction of the wards. “The wards have deciphered three of the six symbols representing earth, water, and fire.”

I stiffened. Elements of the djinn species that, up until two weeks ago, were mine to command. Cotton scraped and burned as I rolled up my shirt sleeves, exposing the bare skin missing the collection of djinn markings, the color faded like it left my life. Replaced by the dark tail of a serpent, polluting me with their sinister power. A funnel Camus used to steal my magick with the intent to enter the djinn realm for whatever sinister purpose he contrived. I closed my hand in a fist.

Venellan’s gaze dipped to my arm, but he had the grace not to address it. “What do you think the sixth element is?”

I bit back the sting as I rolled my sleeves over the darkness burned into my skin, taking root in my being. Flexing my hand in and out was the only way to rid myself of the cold burn of the serpent tattoos.

I wracked my mind to go over the last thirty minutes. “An element beyond death, perhaps.” The word triggered ice to crumble in the void inside me.

I missed the comfort of rolling flame balls over my fingers. Missed my connection to my sacred flame and reading the emotions of others.

Concern won out, and Venellan ground out, “We’re working on a way to purge you of the last of the serpent’s scourge.”

Daily visits to the Tarnaks’ wing for treatment failed to budge the branding, and I lost hope that I’d ever be free of it. A stark reminder that despite the spellcaster’s death, her curse remained, and the only magick in all the gantii realms capable of deactivating it was taken from me by Camus. I had to figure outhow to get them back before it was too late. Before he abused my stolen powers to harm my djinn family.

I forced myself back to the previous conversation, cleared my throat, and asked, “What about the last three symbols?”

Venellan deposited his empty mug on the table, steepling his fingers, eyes intent on the map. “We can’t find any reference to the last three symbols anywhere. Our working theory is that their meaning is contained within the Book of the Dead, and that’s why Camus stole it.”

Or in Luna’s mind. I kept that one to myself to protect my bonded at all costs. The wards scoured her mind map for answers. Let them find it there.

“We need to identify them to understand what Camus will do if he secures it.” The headmaster turned to me, and I sensed a command coming on. “Can you visit the rogue and see what he knows?”

The icy burn spread to my shoulder. “I… I can’t.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Gable. He became a reliable ally, and we inched closer to friendship. I just didn’t feel safe.

My mentor rested a palm on my shoulder, the heat of him at odds with the desolation in my veins, eliciting an icy burn. “I know you’re anxious about leaving the Academy, son.”

An understatement. Anxiety clawed at me. These walls protected me. Protected the world from what I might do. Magick within the premises was the only thing to control the darkness from spreading and multiplying like a virus. The Dark Lord failed to convert Luna to his servant, and he kidnapped me with that express purpose. Dark magick waited for the moment to completely infect me if given the chance, and I couldn’t leave these walls and risk it. Every time they forced me out on Veil repair missions, the darkness inside me fortified, and it might completely assume control.

Venellan’s fingers sank into my shoulder, preventing me from leaving the library. “You won’t be alone. You can take Talon with you.”

The cold burn hit my chest, and more than ever, I needed the fire of the djinn. “No! Get Talon to do it. He’s competent.”

Needles of ice sank into my flesh from his grip. “You need to get out of here. You can’t stay holed up in here forever. It’s not healthy.”

“I can’t, I’m sorry.” I hunkered down, hoping he’d respect my decision.

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