Of Mettle and Magic (The Magicsmith Book 5) by Braden L. R

Author:Braden, L. R. [Braden, L. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Published: 2021-05-14T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

SOL TAPPED A button on the keyboard. The screens went blank.

I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the empty monitors that now reflected my own shocked expression. I couldn’t process what I’d seen . . . what it meant. “If they were that powerful, why drag out the fight? Why not just kill the police when they first hemmed them in and be done with it?”

“Darius wanted the Purity soldiers, wanted to see what they could do.”

“You think he got cornered on purpose?”

“I think that situation played out exactly the way Darius intended.” Sol patted me on the back, then turned to address the people gathered behind us. “He’s not just a rifter. Darius is a necromancer. Which means every battle he wins, every person he kills, makes him that much stronger.” He looked at Nicki. “It also means we need to account for every body missing from that mess in Rome.”

I hugged myself. My limbs felt weak, my torso hollowed out. How could we stop someone who could raise the dead? I looked at the ceiling, vaguely aware of the shuffle of feet behind me as the other watchers exited the room.

The first vampire was born from a necromancer father, and all the later vampires shared a piece of that original demon-tainted soul. That’s how they healed so fast, and why they had to drain the life from others to survive. Did being a necromancer mean my father was basically a vampire now? Was he absorbing the lives of innocents to keep himself strong?

I turned and found James staring at me. Our link was muted, but the steady reassurance that I was not alone let me breathe a little easier. I crossed the room in three long strides and stepped into his open arms, relishing the illusion of safety as he wrapped me up and squeezed me tight.

Sol expects me to stop him. I buried my face against James’s chest. Even if Marc brings the werewolves . . . Even if the PTF sends every agent they have . . . Even if Sol’s practitioners can hold off the rest of the rifters . . . He expects me to deal with my father.

An image flashed through my mind of James writhing on the ground as he and his demon nearly tore their shared body apart when I disrupted their delicate balance. Would that same type of disruption, done on purpose, work against a necromancer? But it wasn’t just the thought of fighting my father that made my heart race. Demon-possessed megalomaniac or no, now that I knew he was alive, I was filled with a gnawing desire to speak to him—to say all the things I’d been too young to say when he left.

The door closed behind David as he followed the other watchers out of the communications room, deep in conversation with Sol. Nicki and Garrett remained, talking in low tones. The woman I’d noticed earlier was still slouched in the corner with her arms crossed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.