Page 81 of Ignited Spirits
At least I was able to retrieve that for my mate.
I walk over to the back wall and look around for anything that stands out. “It should be in a hidden compartment somewhere along this wall.” When I don’t find it visually, I let my magic out. It crawls along the wall until it sinks into a hidden compartment. “Found it.”
Nothing happens for a moment. Then a loud creaking sounds before part of the wall flies off and hurtles across the room right at Izzy.
She just stares wide-eyed at it before Legion grabs her hand and yanks her out of the path of the debris.
I grit my teeth as I mentally berate myself for almost injuring Izzy like that. I should’ve been more careful, but I am grateful for Legion yanking her out of the way.
It’s hard to adjust to the fact that Izzy now has ananguismate.
Anguisare little more than legend aroundInfernus.While we know they exist, they’re seen so rarely that they’ve become a boogeyman of sorts—a story parents tell their children to scare them into behaving.
I don’t think in my wildest dreams I imagined the king of theanguiawould be in my mate group, but I’m grateful for the extra power he has to keep my mate safe.
Legion’s brows are furrowed in concern as he looks Izzy over for any injury. “Careful, mate.”
“Sorry,” she mutters as her cheeks flush in embarrassment. “And thanks.”
His eyes crinkle slightly at the corners as he smiles down at our mate. “You are welcome.”
After watching them for a moment, I turn to root through the hiding place I discovered. The hole in the wall is dark, damp, and filled with spiderwebs. I use my magic to pull out the singular object in the cavity—a simple brown leather journal.
I flip through the pages and see the same messy handwriting that I saw in Giles’s memories. I skim the pages until I find the spell that was in his memories. I’m not as familiar with mage magic as Izzy or Bishop, so I’ll leave deciphering it to them.
When I finish looking through the leather-bound book, I look up to find Izzy already watching me. “I think I found what we need, so we can get out of here.”
She tries not to let the relief that we can leave show on her face, but she doesn’t succeed. “Are we bringing Giles with us? And should we check the rest of the council offices to make sure no one else is there before we skedaddle?”
“Yeah, we should definitely check the rest of the offices,” her brother agrees. “We can’t afford to leave any of the council alive and able to help Lua execute her plans. Bishop and I can handle that, though, if the rest of you want to focus on getting Giles back toInfernus.”
I’m pretty sure Rhys is trying to spare his little sister from having to see any other gruesome scenes like the one in the first councilman’s office. She’s been through so much in the space of less than an hour, and for most of her life, honestly, so I’m all for taking that burden from her.
I expect Izzy to argue, but she doesn’t. With an exhaustion that’s not just physical seeming to weigh her down, she shrugs. “Sounds good to me.”
When Izzy doesn’t object, Rhys’s shoulders slump in relief. He jerks his chin at the door, wordlessly telling Bishop to follow him. Izzy’s mage pulls her into his arms for a lingering hug before following her brother.
She stares after them contemplatively before turning back to the rest of us. “So, what now?”
“Now, I’ll need you to open a rift back to the room we left from.” I’m continually amazed at all Izzy can do. Even Hades himself can’t portal within fifteen miles of Acheron with the blocking charm activated. Yet my mate can do that with ease, which is endlessly impressive.
Giving me a nod, Izzy says, “One portal straight to Hell coming up.” She looks extremely proud of herself when her quip makes her alpha wolf’s lips twitch up in amusement.
Closing her eyes, Izzy concentrates for a beat before her purplecuramagic flows out of her. After swirling around, it forms a rift that no one from Earth should be able to open. Creatures of this planet simply don’t have enough magic to power a connection between realms, but Izzy does.
“Excellent job, little raven,” I praise when she opens her eyes.
Her full lips curve into a satisfied smile before she sobers. “So, who’s drawing the short straw and carrying Giles back toInfernus? Because I’d really, really rather not need to touch him.”
Before I can offer, Legion jumps in. “I will take him through the rift for you, mate.”
She smiles at him. “Thanks. I’m going to wait here for Rhys and St. James, but the rest of you can go through if you want.”
Predictably, none of us takes her up on that offer. As if we’d leave her alone to deal with any threats that she could face in this office. Legion is the only one to go through her rift, but that’s because he needs to get Giles through. The rest of us stay on this side with her.
The alpha wolf crosses his arms and stares down Izzy. “You’re not getting rid of us that easily, wildcat.”
“I wasn’t trying to get rid of you,” she tells him with an eye roll. “I just figured you wouldn’t want to be in mage council HQ any longer than necessary. I don’t know if it’s all the evil things they’ve done here or just my general hatred of the council, but I get the heebie-jeebies being here.”
