Jack said, “if the objective is to get the book into his hands, then it doesn’t really matter if he gives us Abigail, so long as you have another plan to rescue her.”
Alexander nodded with his eyes closed. “I do, I think.”
“That’s not as reassuring as I’d like.”
“No, but it’s all I’ve got right now.”
His headache persisted until he fell asleep that night. He was anxious to move his plan forward, but he was also determined to be cautious with his new power, at least until he knew if it could actually kill him or not.
The following morning, while he lay in bed wishing that his leg would heal faster, Bragador approached. He was starting to become familiar with the sensation of danger that he felt when she was near. This time it was different … there was another with her.
She stopped at the door to his Wizard’s Den and shoved a man to the floor, her eyes flashing with fury.
“A small boat entered our waters in the night,” she said. “Twelve men and one of Phane’s abominations he calls wraithkin. All are dead save this one. I have questioned him, but I do not believe the answers he has given me.”
The man looked up at Alexander, a mixture of fear and determination in his eyes as he fixed his gaze on the Sovereign Stone.
“What’s your purpose here?” Alexander asked, knowing the answer before the man spoke.
He hesitated the way a man does when searching for a plausible lie.
“Did you come for this?” Alexander asked, touching the Stone. The man’s colors flared with anxiety.
“Was this the only thing he sent you for?” Alexander asked. Again, the man’s colors shifted and rippled with fear and deceit, though he held his tongue.
“You will answer his questions or I will rip your arm off and eat it while you watch,” Bragador said.
He glanced back and flinched at the coiled rage boiling in her golden eyes.
“Prince Phane sent us for the Sovereign Stone, your head, and any books in your possession,” the man said, his voice cracking. “He has my wife and son. I’m just a sailor, nothing more.”
Alexander sighed. “He speaks true.”
“Very well,” Bragador said. She fixed the sailor with an angry glare. “You will carry a message to your master from me. If he or his agents invade my home one more time, I will call forth every dragon in this mountain and we will wage total war against him. You will tell him that my patience for his meddling is at an end.”
With that, Bragador grabbed the man by the throat, lifted him from the floor and carried him outside the Wizard’s Den where she transformed into her true form, still holding the terrified sailor, and launched into the sky.
“I don’t envy him,” Jack said.
“No, I don’t either,” Alexander said. “But he did confirm that Phane is aware of the lich book.”
“That doesn’t change anything, does it?”
“I don’t think so,” Alexander said. “The Sky Knights should be here today. We’ll proceed as planned.”
“Can we destroy that terrible book now, My Love?” Chloe asked.
“No, Little One. I’m not sure why, but I feel like it might still be important.”
***
Alexander appeared before a startled Isabel.
“Hi,” he said.
“I was beginning to wonder if you’d forgotten about me.”
“Not a chance. There are some other things happening that required my attention, and I’ve discovered, rather painfully, that I can only project over such distances for a short period of time without hurting myself.”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I haven’t spoken to anyone since you left and I’m starting to go a little crazy.”
Isabel thought she was putting things mildly. She’d discovered that being alone was the most difficult. Azugorath seemed to sense her idle mind and choose those times to push against her will, sometimes hard, forcing Isabel to devote everything she had to resisting, other times slow and steady, forcing Isabel to be vigilant over long periods of time. Those attacks were the worst—she didn’t dare try to sleep because the nightmares would be bad.
When she was on the move, with a goal in mind, something to focus on, she could keep the Wraith Queen out of her head much more easily, but here … she had nothing to do and no one to talk to. It felt like Azugorath had been stalking her for months—she was exhausted.
“I wish I could stay and keep you company,” he said.