Page 75 of Ashes of Gold
Heads nod.
“Bri, get your gadgets to scan for magic ready. Zora, you will follow behind. I want our eyes on either end.”
“Good plan, Jelani,” Zora says.
“You feel better now, Z?” I ask in a whisper to her.
“Yes, much. If she breaks her word, she’ll reap death upon herself. And it’s Zora.”
“I like Z.”
“But it’s Zora.”
“What is it with y’all not liking me shortening your names?” I nudge her shoulder playfully.
She smirks. “A name is important. Every letter is intentional, has meaning, a piece that makes up the whole. Saying it fully is a way to show respect.”
“Aah, okay, I feel you. Understood.” I gesture at the crowd. “Keep an eye on things. I’ll be down there to deposit the spell. If it takes more than fifteen minutes, come after me. Alone.”
“Still don’t fully trust them, huh?”
The Seer’s words echo in my head. “I trust no one.”
“Wise, Jelani.”
It’s a lie. There is one. If I can trust no one else, I know I can trust him. And having him by my side here is long overdue. With the Seer’s prophecy, I need someone next to me Iknowbeyond a doubt has my back. I flick up on my watch and my fingers are lightning fast.
Me: Gimme about fifteen. I’m coming to get you.
Taavi and I head back down through the trapdoor and into their lair. I read while we walk, checking for how to imbue an object with magic.
“The lead goes through this entire place, right?”
“Yes, except for that one area… where…”
Her mother.I clench my jaw. The way she handles her just doesn’t feel right, witch or Seer or whatever she is. It doesn’t sit well with me. They’re family!
I run a finger down the page.
Find the weakest spot of the object, usually at one end, and say the spell.
The weakest spot is definitely the cellar where she keeps the Seer. “Take me to where the lead stops, at your mother’s wooden door.”
We head back down the winding corridor. I read the spell three times as we walk to be sure, chanting the words in my head. Enunciation is key, and I don’t wanna screw this up.
Taavi still rubs her arms. “Do you know how long it will hurt?”
“I don’t. Never did a blood oath before.”
We stop at the bottom. I press the wall and shudder with a chill.
“How thick is this? Must have taken a long time to get it down here like this.”
“We have Totsi to thank for that. She used spells to melt down the lead into sheets. Then she magicked them to be weightless. My guys did the rest. Once the Chancellor got wind of large amounts of lead going missing, she was looked into and placed on restriction. That’s when I knew she’d never be able to help us using magic again. It was too risky. And Imbuing spells are expressly prohibited.”
“I remember.” Saw that on, like, day one of trying out my magic. That rule is plastered everywhere. And how hypocritical whenImbuing is precisely how the Chancellor fills onyx with magic. Of course he wouldn’t want anyone toying with that spell. He knows its power.
“If they suspected Totsi anymore and came looking, we feared they’d find us.” She pats the wall. “In many ways this was her life’s greatest accomplishment, preparing this place for us. Protecting us.” She looks away, and I hear the faintest shuffle behind the door. The Seer knows we’re here.
