The Prof Croft Series: Books 0-4 (Prof Croft Box Sets Book 1) Brad Magnarella (ink book reader txt) 📖

“The Order received your communication.”

I’d thought his scheduled visit might have something to do with that. I sat carefully.

“Let me hear it from you,” he said.

“Okay.” I cleared my throat and started into a verbal account of what I’d sent the week before. Bringing my mother’s hair to Lady Bastet, the mystic’s murder, the residue found on the slaughtered cats, my attempt to cast through said residue and the resulting encounter with the dark mage, the vision in the scrying globe of my mother’s murder … I told him everything. Even the part about the mage stealing my blood. Blood I had given to Lady Bastet willingly.

My only omission was Arnaud’s claim that Grandpa had stolen the wizard artifacts.

When I finished, Chicory watched me for several long seconds, fingers digging into the hair on Tabitha’s crown. Sweat dewed over my brow. For a moment I was back in Romania awaiting Lazlo’s verdict: train me or destroy me. I flinched as the repaired air conditioner huffed on.

“You violated a cardinal tenant of the Order,” Chicory said at last. “Several, in fact.”

“Several?”

He arched a bushy eyebrow. “Summoning a shadow fiend?”

“Oh, c’mon. You’re going to stick that on me? I was under a vampire’s control. I didn’t have a choice. And in case you didn’t notice, I took care of the vampire in question. The shadow fiend, too.”

“Yet another example of giving your blood willingly,” Chicory said.

“What, you think I offered Arnaud my neck? ‘Here, turn me into one of your mindless undead. Enslave me for all eternity. I’m begging you.’” I sighed at the ridiculousness of it.

“The point, Everson, is that you contravened the rules. Something you’ve done time and again. Your potential for magic is enormous, but so too is your potential for causing great harm. You dabble in things you shouldn’t, despite any and all warnings to the contrary. You’re a danger to yourself, your city, and to the Order of Magi and Magical Beings.”

I could tell by his tone he was building up to a verdict. I made a circular motion with my shaking hand. “Just cut to the chase, please.”

“Everson, this is the part of my job I least enjoy…”

“You’re giving me more preamble,” I said.

Chicory let out a heavy sigh. “The Order is through issuing warnings. The penalty this time is … severe.”

“Death?” The word scratched from my throat.

I remembered the sensation of falling into the In Between, that realm of luminescent darkness and haunting gatekeepers. I hadn’t been ready to pass then, and I wasn’t ready now.

“Possibly,” Chicory answered.

“Possibly?” I stared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Tabitha stirred on his lap and murmured, “Less talking, more scratching.”

“The dark mage’s name is Marlow,” Chicory said. “He was once a member of the Order. A lot like you, in fact. Curious. Headstrong. Impetuous. And it was this last quality that got him into trouble. He discovered an old book by Lich, the member of the First Order who aspired to the power of his siblings and opened the seam to the Whisperer. The book contained Lich’s original notes. Notes on his spell experiments as well as pages of invective against the First Order: their iniquities, their disproportionate power. The charges inflamed Marlow’s mind. He formed a splinter group known as the Front to ascend to the power of Lich.”

“Why didn’t the Order stop him?” I asked.

“Marlow kept his activities well cloaked. When the Order began to suspect him, they sent an agent to infiltrate the Front to learn more.”

“My mother,” I said.

Chicory nodded. “It’s why the Order kept no records on her. Rest assured, Everson, I’m told she performed her job very capably. But all it took was one intercepted message, apparently.”

“And they killed her.”

“Marlow sent the Order her ashes in a trash bag.”

My face burned. “So why in the hell wasn’t he punished?”

“Marlow and the Front went into deeper hiding. By that time, they had acquired sufficient power to stay hidden.”

“Even against the Elders?” I asked, incredulous.

“I’m afraid so.”

“I thought you said there had only been one rebellion against the Order.”

“Yes, but a second is coming,” Chicory said. “Of that the Order has little doubt. It just hasn’t started yet.”

“So what does this have to do with my sentence of possible death?”

“The Order believes there was a reason Marlow didn’t want you to learn about your mother’s murder.”

“And what was that?”

“He knew you would want to come after him.”

I barked out a laugh. “Why should that bother him? The Elders can’t even touch him.”

“This is different, Everson. As a descendant, you would be able to penetrate his veiling and defensive spells in ways others can’t. Perhaps even get close to him unnoticed.”

“Descendant? What in the hell are you talking about?”

“Based on the information you shared,” Chicory said, “the Order believes Marlow is your father.”

For a vertiginous moment, my soul seemed to leave my body. Far away, I felt the ice-cold brush of the AC, heard Tabitha’s chopping purrs. And then I was back, my heart resuming its hard, flip-flopping rhythm.

“How sure are they?” I asked.

“That’s what they want to find out. And that’s where your sentencing comes in. As of now, the Order is suspending your other activities. Your new mandate is to find Marlow and destroy Lich’s book. It’s where he derives his power. If Marlow is your father, you should succeed in the first.”

I didn’t like the qualifying should. “What about the second?”

Beneath the wiry shelf of his brows, Chicory’s eyes turned dark. “Marlow is also known as the Death Mage. There’s a reason for that.”

I nodded, fully present now. I didn’t care what his name implied. This was bigger than my mother’s murder, bigger than vengeance. I would be picking up where my mother had left off, countering a threat to the Order, to humankind. This was about legacy.

I met Chicory’s waiting gaze.

“When do I begin?”

Death Mage

Book 4

1

I staggered, my breaths coming in ragged gasps. The trees on all