Assassin of Curses: (The Coren Hart Chronicles Book 3) Jessie Eaker (best reads txt) 📖

voice sounded clear and strong. Considering his obviously weakened state, I briefly wondered how—his mouth barely moved. Then I saw the jewel at his throat and realized he had some type of myst amplification.

He had also not acknowledged Fumiko. In diplomatic circles, this would be considered a grave insult. I opened my mouth to correct him when Fumiko touched my hand. I glanced her way, and she subtly gave her head a quick shake. I frowned. She didn’t want me to antagonize our host. Including her in our conversation had been risky, but to push it more would be rubbing his nose in it. And based on what I had seen, this could come back to haunt us.

I pasted on a smile. “It is an honor to finally meet you in person,” I said. I bowed, and those with me followed my example—except Fumiko. I guess she felt she should at least return the slight.

Advisor Yonge chose not to notice. “Now you can see the reason I could not travel to you. This body of mine has an inherited wasting disease and requires significant maintenance to keep me alive. It is unfortunately close to its end.” He managed a weak smile. “Without my myst tools, I would be completely at a loss.”

“I understand,” I said. I wondered about protocol, but I really wanted to get these bracelets off. I hope he didn’t think I was rude. But he beat me to it.

“You are no doubt anxious to have me look at the items we’ve spoken about, so you can get your betrothed back to you. I can completely understand. First off, do you have the Griffin’s Key?”

I held out my hand to Spraggel. He dug in his special pocket, and a moment later, laid the silver cylinder in my hand. “We do indeed.”

Yonge’s eyes locked on it the moment it came into view. The man smiled. The first time he had shown any expression since we had entered the room. “Will you, Sir Coren, Princess Zophia, and Mistress Bryst step up on my platform. Let’s see what I can do about these nasty charms.”

I gripped Zofie’s hand more tightly. This was what we had come for. Doubts nagged at me. Would Zofie be all right? Would she return to normal after being exiled so long from her body? All sorts of worries nagged at me. I took a deep breath. There was nothing else to do but go forward. I glanced at Zofie’s impassive face. I’m sure that’s what she would want.

Beside me, Cabrina looked nervous, and for a moment, I was afraid she would balk. The Dark Avenyts inside her was about to lose all her leverage over Zofie and me. We could even kill her once the charms were off, and might likely try, if we could separate her from her host.

She looked over to me and held my gaze for a moment. To my surprise, she reached out and took my free hand. She held it tightly and gave me her signature grin. “Don’t worry. I won’t fight you. You have my word.”

Together, we stepped forward, and Fumiko moved to go with us, but a heavy hand came down on her shoulder. One of the huge guards had silently maneuvered behind her.

“My dear Fumiko,” said Yonge. “Surely you understand why I can’t let you, of all people, close to me. You do have a history for revenge, and I don’t plan on dying just yet.”

Fumiko gave him an ice-cold stare and shook off the guard’s hand, but did not try to follow.

We stepped up onto the platform and stood beside his couch.

“Place the key in my hand,” he said.

I looked down at the silver cylinder, unable to shake off the feeling I was missing something. I was making a deal and didn’t really understand everything’s value. Plus, Fumiko said not to trust him.

But did I have a choice?

I put the key in his hand. His fingers slowly closed over it, and I thought I saw him give a tiny sigh of relief.

“Thank you,” said Yonge. “Now, all of you hold out your bracelets.”

We did as he requested.

“Hmmm. I can see the component that will kill you if they are removed.” He studied them for a moment. “That’s odd. I see that you and the princess have some type of connection through your curses. Most unexpected. I wouldn’t have thought that was possible. That is likely interfering with the charms.”

Rourke had suggested something similar when he had first examined them. I remembered he had emphasized that charms and curses don’t mix well.

Advisor Yonge seemed perplexed. “Sir Coren, did you have any effects from the charm? It should have affected you the same as it did Princess Zophia.”

I shook my head. “For me, the only thing it did was lock away Abhulengulus. It was like my curse took the hit for me.”

Yonge frowned in contemplation. “Odd. I wouldn’t have expected that.” He gave a weak shrug. “It’s not important. Now, I think I can release the worse parts of the charm, but I can’t let you take them off just yet. The entrapment portion is entangled with your curses. I will need to study them some more before I can safely do that.” He glanced up at me. “Will that be acceptable?”

I grinned. “Of course. I think we can live with that for a while longer. Anything to get Zofie back.”

He seemed strangely amused. “Then let me work for a moment.”

He closed his eyes, and I felt myst gathering. A violet glow enveloped the charms, gentle at first, but gradually growing in intensity. I felt my wrist begin to tingle. To my surprise, the tingling shifted to a burning hot, reminding me of the times Zofie and Abe had tried to warn me of some danger. Yonge frowned, but it quickly