Chapter Twenty Nine

The trip back was uneventful, thankfully, but just as we passed through the door, Vlad dropped a bomb on me.

“We will need Narcissus flowers, Spinel stone, and most importantly the Vivirein. I assume you have some?”

Staring in a mix of incredulous surprise and amusement, I huffed. “Why would I have one of the most securely guarded herbs of our people on hand?”

He raised a brow. “Because you brought me into this so I assumed you have the necessary spell components ready.”

Fair, but he was forgetting something. “I didn’t know this spell would be needed until today and I’m not a Mortuus mage, so how would I know what components were needed?”

He paused, turning that over in his head, before acknowledging my point with a nod. “Then we have a problem. That herb is vital to the spell and cannot be substituted.”

Seraphina stepped forward before I could curse, her lips tugged into a frown. “Where all is it? Surely not all of it is under lock and key by the council?”

Vlad shook his head. “It is. The only others who may have some would be those who had an abundance before it was deemed illegal. They could have hidden it when the decree was given.”

Great, because that’s just what we needed right now. Vlad was the oldest mage I knew and I was the oldest one Sera knew.

“Dang it, we don’t have time for this. The council will never approve us taking some, not to the Vladimir and the ‘Useless Mage’. I doubt even Seraphina is in high enough standing with them to get some.”

Her being a seer could theoretically pull enough clout, but she’d have to put in a formal request and that’d take forever. We didn’t have time for it.

If the herb we needed was any other, it wouldn’t be such a problem, but Vivirein was mostly used for dark arts and spells that would cause mass destruction. Ironically the only non­­-lethal use for it was the one we needed it for.

Looking around at each person in turn, I tried to think of anyone who might have such an herb. Only for Dimitrius to speak up next, eyes curious on Vlad.

“What of your mother?”

Seraphina’s eyes lit up as Vlad’s darkened, a scowl turning his lips down as he immediately denied. “Trust me, she wouldn’t help us. It’s far more likely she’d give us something counterproductive just to watch us fail.”

Well, wasn’t that a ringing endorsement.

Dimitrius stepped forward, face a serious mask. “But do we have another option?”

Dead silence rang out as we exchanged long looks. No, we didn’t and we all knew that. Running a hand through his hair, Vlad heaved a sigh.

“We don’t, but I don’t like this. I’ve only attempted to speak to our mother once in the past decade and the response was so icy I didn’t try again.” Melancholy and an old ache twinged in his tone, Sera putting a hand on his shoulder even as she shook her head.

“It get why you don’t want to–parents’ rejections are a bitch–but we have to at least try. Besides, if this does turn out to be some kind of ‘end of the world as we know it’ thing, then she’d be threatened too. It’s in her best interested to help us.”

He swept a jaded look over each of us, but didn’t argue. “Let’s hope that is the case.” So saying, he stepped back, before glancing around. “Do you have something to hold water in?” He asked, chin tipping to Dimitrius.

A nod and his staff were a furry of movement, fetching a bowl and placing it in front of Vlad. Within minutes he was crushing various herbs, dropping them into the bowl of water as his magic pulsed sharply through the air. His voice rumbled lowly, power flaring up to brush my skin.

“Contactu.”

The water glowed, rising up to form a sheet of mirror-like ice. Instead of Vlad’s reflection though, a far more feminine one with nearly the exact same features came into clarity. Sharp cheekbones, bronze skin and a scowl of disgust decorated the woman’s features as she flicked a dismissive glance over Vlad.

“Oh, it’s you.” The utterly unimpressed tone made Seraphina and I bristle in sync, but Vladimir gestured out of sight of the mirror for us to settle. I did, reluctantly. We needed to ask her for a favor so we couldn’t afford to get prickly over her attitude.

Didn’t mean I couldn’t fantasize about stabbing her a few times.

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From the corner of my eye, I caught Elle’s gaze and the mutinous look on Sera’s face. A silent agreement passed between us in the space of a breath. After this, we were pulling Vlad into the fold. If the closest thing he’d had to family was this then it was no wonder he’d been ecstatic to see Sera again.

Forcing the protective rage back, I listened as Vlad explained the situation to the bored looking woman.

Apparently he’d inherited next to nothing from his mother aside from skin tone, but Sera looked like a younger version of the woman, minus the pink hair of course.

It was weird, seeing an older lookalike of my friend, but I supposed there were weirder things in my life to focus on. Shaking that to the side, I tuned back into the conversation just as Vlad explained why he’d called.

The bored look that’d been firmly planted on his mother’s face melted away for the first time, interest taking its place as her eyes narrowed.

“So he’s making his move then? I knew it would be soon, but not now…Very well, you may have the herb you seek.”

Wait, she knew who was behind this? Before I could ask for more information, the woman continued, catching Vlad’s shell shocked expression.

“Do you believe that an army of magically immune people is nothing of concern to me? Why do you think I birthed you and your sister? Centuries ago, I had a vision that this very situation would come to pass. You two would be integral parts in this chess game. Seraphina would lead the Useless Mage to the problem and you would raise the ghoul who holds the information you seek. Without you two, she would fail and thus the world would burn.”

And we’re back to being comic book heroes, great. I wasn’t going to be dodging that title after all…

Forcing back the rising irritation with the new status, I questioned. “You know who’s behind this?” We wouldn’t need to revive the ghoul if she did!

Ancient eyes leveled on me, my skin crawling under the attention as she seemed to stare straight through to my soul. “Yes, I have watched him for many centuries. His name has been forgotten to time and I can give you no more information on this topic. Accept that and go forth. You have no time to waste.”

Then, without even giving me a chance to ask anything else, the spell dissipated and the water fell back into the bowl. Groaning, I glared at it.

“Good God, it’s like having two Seraphina’s giving me cryptic jobs to do!”

Said seer shot me a glare, even as one of her shoulders raised in reluctant agreement, Vlad stepping forward as the water in the bowl evaporated to reveal a tiny sprig of herb. Its prickly exterior was blood red and Vlad picked it up as if it were made of glass.

“It will take me hours to prepare the spell, after that we can leave to the site of the woman’s burial. Our mother was correct that we must make haste.”

We all nodded, Dimitrius coming up from behind to wrap his arms around me. “If the preparations are things a non-magical can do, you can leave it to my staff. Once you revive the woman, whoever is behind this will be alerted to our plan and then time will be of the essence.”

He paused, looking at each of us in turn. “The woman holds information for who our enemy is, but after that, it is up to us to find them.”

Which would probably be a long and irritating task. And now we had confirmation that it was one incubus behind it all too, at least if the seer’s words were to be trusted. Fucking great.

Sighing through my nose, I leaned into him and nodded. “You’re right, though I don’t know of any locating potions or spells that can work without DNA. Vlad?”

He shook his head, “Neither do I, though we may be able to use the DNA of one of the children whom the incubus sired.”

Wait, what? Furrowing my brow, I asked. “There’s a spell that allows tracking through second generation DNA?”

Vlad paused, shooting a way glance around the room, before shaking his head. “There wasn’t before I made one. I invented it when I was trying to find my mother. For now, let’s focus on raising the ghoul to receive the information we need. While it appears the person behind this is a singular incubus, it isn’t uncommon for seers to only see part of a whole picture. Never trust visions to give you the whole truth of the matter, it will get you dead.”

At that, Sera snorted. “Damn right, the number of times I’ve had a misleading vision is insane. After we verify with the woman that whoever is behind this is the only one then we can use the DNA of one of the kids to track him.”

A soft creak dropped the room into silence, all heads swiveling to the small form hovering by the entrance with wide, scared eyes. Avery.

“You’re going to use me to find someone, the man who took us?” His voice shook, fear in every syllable digging a dagger into my heart. Vlad’s expression shifted into a remorseful but determined one, Dimitrius stiffening behind me with protectiveness.

Before Vlad could speak up, I cut him off with a lethal glare. “Not unless you agree to it.”

All heads spun to face me, Avery’s eyes losing some of their terror as relief edged in. Sera grimaced, muttering low.

“Julian-.”

I shook my head, glaring her and her brother down. “No, I refuse. Fight me on it, we’ll be here all day. If he doesn’t want to take part in this spell then we’ll ask the others kids we rescued. It’ll take a bit longer that way since we have to contact their parents, but I don’t give a shit.”

Locking eyes with Vlad, I finished, all but daring him to contradict me. “Avery has been through enough, had his choices ripped away too many times. I won’t allow anymore of it.”

Dimitrius’s hands grazed my back, offering silent support as he towered behind me, the silent sentinal comforting as Vlad glanced between us and Avery. After a long, tense minute, he nodded.

“Very well then. There are bound to be others who would offer aid.” His put a hand on Sera’s shoulder when she went to argue. “She’s right, it would make us every ounce as monstrous as our adversary if we forced a child into this.”

Any arguments she had ripped away, her frame losing its fight as she heaved a sigh. “Fine, fine you have a point.”

Avery, for his part, relaxed. Inching out from his hiding place behind the door, he bolted to Dimitrius and I, arms thrown around our waists as his face buried into my side. I barely heard his next words, muffed through the fabric.

“Thank you.”

And there went my heart strings ladies and gentlemen!

Gently patting his shoulder, I nodded, not saying anything as the boy pulled back to hover at our sides. Dimitrius offered him a smile as well, arm firmly around my waist as he spoke to the room at large.

“Let us relax for now. After tonight, the battle will truly begin. We must be sure we are prepared and well-rested, for who knows what all heads in our direction.”

Tension sparked through the air and I nodded. “Then let’s get to it.”