Phoenix Academy - Lucy Auburn Page 0,65

the ends of the earth and back. She won't be safe until he's dead.

"Your mission is even more pressing now, Ari," Towers says, which is an understatement. "Whatever bond your father forced on your sister, you have to break it. For the good of her soul and the good of the world."

That's an understatement. "Auerbach, do you have any insight? What could be this link that makes her burst into flames and somehow teleport to wherever he is?"

"A temporal link," he says, voice excited. There's the audible sound of pages being turned in what is no doubt an old, leather-bound book. "It makes a certain amount of sense. He's dead, or was dead, and so was she. If he bound their beings together at the moment of her death, then he can psychically connect with her and pull her towards his location. It would only work within a certain distance, though—pull a temporal link too far and it breaks instead of stretching."

"That tracks with what I know. The one time my mom and I captured one of his followers, he stopped being under his spell the moment we got him far enough away."

Maybe that's what I should've done to his other followers. If I had been able to capture them somehow, then travel somewhere with them... but no, I didn't have the resources or the time. They would've escaped and killed us. I just can't stop thinking that there's something wrong with me for killing so many with the simple touch of my magic.

It'll plague me for the rest of my life.

So I hope the Heretic's death is the last one I'll have on my hands. The final bloody moment to transcend it all.

All of the blood and anguish is worthwhile if I can get Lizzy to safety and prevent her from being used.

"How do I break the link without wrestling her away from him? Because I don't think she's going to come willingly, and she's too strong to force."

Auerbach flips through a few more pages, the sound of paper bending the only answer to my question. Sighing, Dani steps in to mutter, "He's gone full nerd. You won't hear from him until he's found whatever spell or rune or curse fixes this thing, as usual."

"Sounds like him."

"By the way, how do you like that gift I gave you? Did you use it today?"

Glancing down at the bracelet, I admit, "I don't know. I wasn't paying attention during the fight to notice whether it got warm while I summoned my magic or not."

"Remember: it's very powerful. It should be able to help you with this Lizzy thing, and with that bastard of a father you've got. So don't let it sit idle. I fought very hard to get that dumbass piece of jewelry."

Laughing, I promise her, "I'll use it, Dani. Don't worry about that. Just as soon as I find the Heretic, he's going to taste its power."

"Good."

"Ah-ha!" As if on cue, Auerbach's voice cuts in, rising in excitement at having discovered something key to our fight, as usual. "There is a way to sever this kind of connection, though it requires more than one magical element. Two runes are involved: one for sever, and one for freedom. In addition, a searing, concentrated heat must be used to physically break the tether. Hmmm. I suppose a hot poker could work for that..."

"Yohan taught me how to summon a sword made of flame. Tell me where the runes are in the rune book, and walk me through the steps of the page."

Auerbach rattles off two page numbers. "You'll have to combine the runes by putting them side-by-side. One is convex and one is concave so they fit well. Then get your sister into the rune circle somehow. Her tether to the Heretic will be forced to manifest physically by the runes. You simply cut it with a great deal of heat—a flaming sword will be perfect for this—and the magic of the runes will do the rest. Simple enough."

Simple.

Except for the part where we have to somehow keep my sister in the middle of a rune circle against her will.

With something like a plan sketched up, the runes memorized, and our supplies at hand, we're ready to hunt Lizzy through the woods and free her once and for all.

First, though, a few loose ends have to be tied up.

"I don't like this," I confess to Xavier, watching Reggie and David spread gasoline around the perimeter of the abandoned church as well