away again and again. You probably didn’t believe anyone could really enjoy your company. I bet your position on the council feels pretty hollow, doesn’t it? You still have a chance to turn it all around. You know what you’re doing is wrong and it’s only going to hurt you to force familiars to stay with their wizards.”
“Are you going to let her say all that to you, mate?” Albert said.
“Hell no,” Piers said. “If you want me to be a Sinistral warlock, I’ll show you a Sinistral warlock.”
“Relinquish the covenant!” I cried. I was giving it everything I had in my soul, but I just couldn’t match his power. Demoralizing him didn’t work. Sheer force didn’t work.
Damnit…
I pressed the tip of my wand to my palm. My Hapsburg blood…
I was so fucking scared. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to hurt Bevan either. But the fate of all the familiars was in my hands. I never asked to be in the center of all of this, but of course I was. My blood led me here.
The hesitation cost me dearly. The archivist pulled out a different spell written in stone and Piers read the words. It wasn’t Cyprium. It was the dark magical tongue. Piers shouldn’t even have known that.
“T’haht ger…olum…Bara ir dararan!” He spat the words, gritting his teeth, and a huge demon tore into existence from Sinistral. Standing eight feet tall or perhaps more, he even towered over Byron. He was a creature with black horns and sleek gray skin and bright red eyes, dripping with masculine force and a certain charm that many demons possessed, including my demons…but it was much more of a terrifying charm, one that would suck us all in and consume us.
“What petty place have I been summoned to?” the demon snorted, waving a hand and knocking over an entire bookshelf just to show off.
Byron growled.
“I summoned you,” Piers said, and he was too cold to show any fear even though the demon seemed quite unhappy to be here. “Lord Variel, the Devourer.”
“That is my name, though hearing it on your lips does it no favors.”
“I have a gift for you on behalf of the Ethereal warlocks. The covenant of the House of Soundhunter.” He held out the stone and forced my hand.
“No!” I screamed as the demon took Bevan’s covenant in his two massive hands. “By the blood of the House of Hapsburg, I declare the end of all of these covenants! Every covenant! As I spill my blood—so shall—”
Lord Variel had opened his mouth to reveal his sharp teeth and he bit off a chunk of the stone and ate it. Like it was a piece of gingerbread or something.
Bevan let out a silent scream, crumpling on the floor like he was being devoured himself.
Marisa tried to strike him with a spell and it barely seemed to bother him. She hissed. “A demon lord…”
“So shall…the covenants break!” I gasped desperately, unleashing the spell.
It was all happening at once. Bevan’s life in the hands of a demon. My spell of sacrifice searing through my body.
“My Hapsburg blood…,” I begged. “I don’t want what it represents. I don’t want to be a queen, a princess, a baroness, or even a witch with a power I never earned. I just want to be me. Helena…so take it. Please take it. It’s time for all of this to end. We don’t live in the world of kings and queens anymore, and I want the familiars to choose their masters now, including if their masters are just their own selves…take it!”
Pain seared through me. I coughed up a mouthful of blood. And then another.
I could feel all the strength draining out of me. I could hear Bevan gasping, trying to scream, fighting the spell and losing. Or maybe he was dying with me. Yes. Maybe I was bringing him a more merciful end.
As I grew cold and numb and darkness filled my eyes, I still felt Byron’s hand on my shoulder, and at least I knew I would not die alone. I wondered if I would die before I ever knew whether the spell worked. Talk about unfinished business.
Maybe I would be Byron’s ghost lover instead of the other way around…
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Graham
Their bed was empty. They weren’t eating breakfast with the Sullivans.
I didn’t say anything until I found the note taped to the bathroom mirror.
I had to leave to save Bevan and all the familiars. Byron is with me. I don’t want the