Page 13 of Rites of Passage

Nikolai touched the runes he’d etched into the floor and retracted his spell. The pillar of light winked out, the shadows at the edges of the chamber coming to life once more. Gregory rushed to his sister’s side ahead of the army medics and coven healers.

Alicia walked over, picked up the item Agnes had regurgitated with a tissue, and cleaned it. It was a small, antique, bronze skeleton key.

“Is she…” Gregory gulped and gripped Agnes’s hand, “is she going to be okay?”

“She’s just unconscious,” Alicia said absent-mindedly as she studied the key.

“Are you sure?” Gregory mumbled.

Alicia lifted her head and made a face. “Look, kid, I would have eaten her soul if she’d been dead.” This caused several soldiers to blanch. She noticed Nikolai’s expression and shrugged, unabashed. “What? It’s the truth. And, FYI, the guy was right. His sister would have died by sundown if you hadn’t exorcised that ghoul.”

“Thank—thank you!” Gregory stammered at Nikolai, his gaze swimming with gratitude.

“It was nothing,” Nikolai murmured awkwardly.

His legs trembled with exhaustion where he stood, Alastair drooping weakly atop his shoulder. It had been this way the other time they’d tapped into a ley line source too. Though the power it gave them supercharged their souls, the hangover from the magic-induced high was all the more extreme. Nikolai studied his shaking fingers uneasily.

We have to find a solution. Otherwise we’ll be sitting ducks for our enemies every time we access a ley line.

Alastair made a soft, concurring noise on his shoulder.

Alicia brought the skeleton key over.

Nikolai’s scalp prickled at the sight of the ornate details etched into the metal. “May I?”

She handed it to him. Heat scorched his palm when it kissed his skin. He sucked in air, his eyes widening.

Alicia tensed. “What’s wrong?”

“This thing has magic in it,” Nikolai mumbled.

Rita’s head whipped around from where she’d been tending to Agnes. “What?”

Nikolai ignored the witch, his attention focused on the object in his hand. It was difficult to ascertain exactly what it was he was feeling. That the key possessed magic of some sort was undeniable. He just couldn’t tell what kind it was.

Mae might know.

He observed Agnes uneasily while the medics and healers checked her over under Gregory’s watchful gaze, the young woman’s warning echoing through his mind.

“What was that about?”

Alicia arched an eyebrow. “You mean the ghoul?”

Nikolai made a face. “Well, yeah, that too.” He frowned at the skeleton key. “I meant this.”

“I have no idea.”

He hesitated. “That’s the first time I’ve seen a ghoul.”

“It’s rare for one to possess a human.” A calculating look dawned on Alicia’s face as she scrutinized the unconscious woman and the dog carefully licking her face. “Maybe I should look into it.” She met Nikolai’s troubled stare. “See if this was just a coincidence or another one of Barquiel’s diabolical plans.”

He nodded, grateful.

The chamber doors slammed open, metal clanging violently against concrete and making them all jump. Jared Dickson appeared at the head of a group of frowning, uniformed men and women.

“The heck was that, Lisha?” the Immortal snapped.

Nikolai blinked at the nickname.

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