Page 76 of Rites of Passage

Nadia and a host of healers were working on the two men. Tarang and Alastair’s injuries had already been healed by Marlena and they lay sleeping on the floor next to their masters, still exhausted from the fight. Though April’s coven headquarters had a hospital less than a mile and a half from the hotel, Nadia and Marlena had deemed most of the injured too unstable to move yet.

Mae still wasn’t sure how Barquiel had been able to wield Charlotte’s soul magic and why it had made him so strong. She clenched her jaw.

We need to find out the answer to that question or else we may never be able to defeat him and the Sorcerer King.

There was something else that puzzled her. And that was what Oscar had said to Barquiel before they escaped through the portal.

I thought Barquiel was just there as a distraction so Oscar could get his hands on the skeleton key.Mae chewed her lip.What did I miss?

It didn’t help thatNullifyhadn’t worked when she’d cast the spell shortly after the battle ended. It had failed to detect black magic users in the vicinity of the hotel.

They had to be close.Mae knitted her brow.Which means they’ve either found a way to counter my spell or there’s something else at play.

The golden light blazing from Nadia’s hands and the pale illumination coming from one of Marlena’s sorcerers caught her eye. The magics the Councils of the Moon and the Sun possessed were the best at healing among all the covens. Moon Magic and Sun Magic, Bryony had called them. She could sense their difference from conventional magic.

I should study them in more detail when I have time.

Bryony appeared in the doorway of the lounge. Her face tightened as she looked around the room, her gaze lingering on Nikolai and Vlad.

She crossed the floor to Mae. “Ephra wants a word.”

“How are Violet and Miles?”

“They’re okay.” Bryony sighed. “They’re just upset they couldn’t be of more help.”

Relief loosened the knot in Mae’s belly. She was glad some of them had escaped the encounter with Barquiel relatively unscathed.

“And April and Regina?”

Bryony rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about those fools. It would take an act of God to kill them.”

Mae swallowed a smile. She could tell Bryony was hiding her relief.

Raven joined them as they exited the room.

“Any news on Isabelle?” Bryony asked the young witch.

“Her injuries aren’t life threatening. She’s being treated by her coven healers. She asked after Linus.” Raven gritted her teeth. “I can’t believe we missed the signs. They were there all along!”

“We all missed them, Raven. Linus was never the most talkative person in the first place. His silence at High Council meetings was nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Still, the fact that he slipped Mae that note and was brave enough to fight Oscar in the end speaks volume for the kind of man that he is.” Raven faltered. “I’m not sure I could have done the same in his place if the life of someone I cherished was at stake.”

The witch’s stilted words hung awkwardly between them.

They reached Bryony’s room. Ephra, Karin, Gerard, and Derrick were inside. They hadn’t moved from the table whereSoul Shieldhovered, the light of the spell painting their pale faces with shades of crimson as they stared at the soul orb floating within it.

Ephra turned. Mae met the witch’s stricken gaze.

“How long?” she asked numbly.

Mae swallowed a tired sigh. “How long has she been dead? I wouldn’t know without seeing the body.” She hesitated, raking her hair with her hand. “But the brightness of her soul tells me it was likely in the last seven to ten days. Before you guys had that meeting with Bryony.”

“I spoke to her delegation.” Karin’s voice was dead, all the vim and vigor Mae had witnessed since she’d met the witch drained by the reality of what they had witnessed. “They didn’t mention anything untoward happening recently. But her aide did bring up one thing. Charlotte disappeared for three hours, about a week ago. No one could reach her. She claimed she had a private medical matter to attend to and hadn’t wanted to make a fuss.”

“Then her body is still in Atlanta,” Mae said flatly. “If it’s there, I’ll find it. Probably.”

“How?” someone said behind Mae.

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