Page 50 of Claws for Celebration
"Maybe I can't destroy you," Moira admitted, feeling the last of her magical control slipping away as power continued building beyond sustainable levels. "But I can make sure you never get what you want."
"Moira, what are you thinking?" Lucien asked urgently, apparently recognizing something dangerous in her expression.
"I'm thinking that if my magic is what gives this thing power, then maybe the solution is to make sure there's no magic left to steal," she replied.
The grimoire's whispers rose to a shriek of fury as it realized what she intended, but Moira was done listening to ancient evil disguised as family legacy.
Some choices were worth any price, even if that price was everything she'd discovered about herself since arriving in the town that had become her home.
29
LUCIEN
The golden flames that surrounded Moira shifted direction with terrifying precision, flowing toward the ancient grimoire like liquid light seeking its target. Lucien watched, hope warring with dread, as her magic engulfed the Shadowheart Codex in fire hot enough to melt steel.
For a moment, the ancient tome seemed to writhe within the magical flames, its leather binding blackening at the edges. Then came a sound that made every supernatural being in the destroyed bookstore flinch with instinctive terror: the grimoire's shriek of fury, high and piercing like nails on glass amplified beyond mortal endurance.
But when the flames died away, the book remained perfectly intact.
"No," Moira breathed, staring at the unmarked grimoire with disbelief. "That should have worked. I put everything I had into that attack."
The grimoire's pages fluttered open, revealing text that appeared in elegant script even as they watched.
Did you truly believe three centuries of preparation could be undone by a child's tantrum? I am bound to your bloodlineby magic older than your ancestors' memories. I cannot be destroyed by the very power I helped create.
"Incredible," Viktor murmured from his position near the shattered window, his pale eyes fixed on the undamaged tome with obvious fascination. "A self-preserving magical artifact with that level of consciousness. The applications are limitless."
But even as he spoke, the vampire leader's attention was drawn to the continuing magical chaos around Moira. Her power hadn't diminished with the failed attack on the grimoire. If anything, it seemed to be building toward another explosive release.
"We need to leave," one of Viktor's remaining coven members said urgently. "The witch's magic is destabilizing everything. If she loses control again..."
"Indeed," Viktor agreed, though his pale eyes remained fixed on Moira with predatory hunger. "But this is far from over, Miss Marsh. What we witnessed tonight proves you're more valuable than we initially calculated."
"The only thing you're going to witness is how fast you can run," Lucien snarled, his panther pacing restlessly as golden energy continued to crackle around Moira in unstable surges.
Viktor's smile revealed fangs that caught the flickering magical light. "Next time we meet, we'll come prepared for your full power. And we'll bring incentives that might make our offer more... compelling." His gaze flicked meaningfully toward Lucien. "After all, everyone has pressure points."
"Get out before I decide to test out how easily vampires burn," Moira said, her exhaustion evident but also a dangerous edge that made even Viktor take a step backward.
As if to emphasize her threat, another wave of golden fire erupted around her, this one directed toward the vampires with deliberate menace. Viktor's coven scattered like shadows,moving with inhuman speed toward the broken windows and doors.
"Until next time," Viktor called out as he retreated, his cultured voice full of promises of future conflict. "And there will be a next time, Miss Marsh. Count on it."
The vampires melted into the darkness beyond Hollow Oak's borders, but Lucien's enhanced hearing tracked their movement until they were well beyond the town's protective wards. Only then did he allow his attention to return fully to Moira, who was staring at the undamaged grimoire with an expression of growing despair.
"It can't be destroyed," she said quietly. "Everything I tried, all that power, and it didn't even singe the pages."
"We'll find another way," Lucien said, moving toward her with careful steps that wouldn't startle her further. "There's always another way."
"Is there?" Moira looked up at him with brown eyes that held too much weight for someone so young. "Lucien, what if there isn't? What if the only choice is between letting this thing manipulate me into freeing ancient evil or destroying myself trying to prevent it?"
Before he could answer, Elder Varric's voice cut through the destroyed bookstore like a blade. "That's exactly the choice you're facing, Miss Marsh. Though the situation is even more dire than you realize."
They turned to see the Council leader standing in the doorway, his long silver braids catching moonlight as he surveyed the magical devastation with grim assessment. Behind him stood Maeve, Emmett, and Miriam, all bearing expressions that suggested the emergency Council meeting Lucien had been dreading was about to begin.
"How much did you hear?"
"Enough to confirm our worst fears about the grimoire's true purpose," Varric replied, stepping carefully through the debris that littered the floor. "And enough to understand that our previous approach to this crisis has been fundamentally flawed."
