The reprieve was short. In the morning, Lindell’s worries were coursing through his mind again. Cory barely touched his porridge, pushing it around his bowl absently with his spoon.

  “All we know about the Rune Master is that he has a cloak from Skarn,” Lindell said. “He might be a noble, to have the kind of money to buy a cloak like that. He knows a lot about plants, and he’s a rune witch.”

  “A lot of nobles in Arkose don’t like the duke,” Cory said, “but I’m not sure the current laws would drive a witch to murder.” He frowned. “I’m also not sure they wouldn’t.”

  “He didn’t curse Pearl or Irwin,” Lindell said. “Pearl is pregnant, so maybe he didn’t want to risk hurting the baby.” His heart clenched. “He wouldn’t have known about Eireen.”

  Cory nodded. “Irwin doesn’t live in Arkose, though he’s been making such a nuisance of himself, the Rune Master may well curse him soon.”

  Lindell thought for a moment. “The curses on the duke’s allies and on us weren’t intended to kill, but the Graveblossom could have killed the duke. The Rune Master didn’t mind risking killing him.”

  “That’s why I was thinking about the duke’s laws,” Cory said. “Would that be enough motive to kill him? Why not just leave Arkose? It seems personal. He’s been cursing the duke’s allies one by one, and now he’s threatening to kill the duke.”

  Lindell hesitated. “Wilson has the perfect motive, since he was in love with Giselle and friends with Julius. He admitted he has a red cloak, but by the sound of it a lot of nobles have one.” He shook his head. “Other than his motive, I can’t think of anything solid to suggest it’s him. We don’t even know if he is a witch, and the witch we’re looking for likely didn’t report their magic to Donovan.”

  Cory frowned hard at his porridge. “Maybe we should be careful what we tell Wilson, just in case. We would need solid evidence to talk to Donovan about this, since he trusts Wilson.”

  “I think Wilson was closer to Julius than he is to Donovan,” Lindell said, “but I agree.”

  Neither of them said anything more, finishing up breakfast before leaving the office. They went down to the harbor, though they had no idea how to even go about finding a lead. There was talk all over the harbor even that early. Irwin had spent the night loudly telling people Lindell was a monster.

  “No one is going to listen,” Cory said. “Everyone knows Irwin hates you. And at the moment, you look entirely human.”

  So far that seemed to be true. The people at the harbor glanced at Lindell curiously, but they seemed more amused than afraid. The general consensus seemed to be that Irwin had been drunk the night before. Donovan joined the three of them at the harbor wall.

  “The duke is getting impatient,” Donovan said. “He’s locked himself in his house and has demanded the knights guard him day and night.”

  “He was angrier that Lovro was cursed than any of the other nobles,” Cory said.

  Donovan nodded.

  “I’ll help,” Tabitha said, joining them where they stood, and standing in the shade of her parasol. “However I can.”

  Donovan sighed. “I don’t know what good it will do, but let’s see if anyone saw someone wearing a red cloak. Or if anyone has seen anything at all suspicious.” He didn’t sound hopeful it would work.

  They split up into the crowd. The Rune Master hadn’t cursed Tabitha, but if he planned to curse her, there seemed to be little they could do to stop it. Lindell doubted she would agree to stay locked in her shop until this was all over. He caught sight of Cory in the crowd and saw his eyes flicker purple again. How out of control was his magic? Was it getting worse? Lindell hoped Vedrix would be there soon. He asked around at the harbor, but no one had seen someone wearing a red cloak or anything suspicious. A man laughed when Lindell asked if he’d seen anything odd.

  “Just that noble running around drunk last night,” the man said. “He was telling anyone who would listen that you’re a shadowy monster with red eyes.” He shook his head, still laughing as he walked away.

  So that was what Irwin had seen. Thankfully, Lindell didn’t see Irwin at the harbor. Around sunset, Lindell took a break, stopping by Hector’s house and talking to him through the door, but there was no answer. He wasn’t sure if Hector would hear him, but then he wondered how good Hector’s hearing and sense of smell were. Hector had said Wilson smelled strongly of lavender, something the rest of them hadn’t smelled. Lindell focused on the thought that he would ask Hector about it after they destroyed the rune stones.

  Cory came running into the alleyway, breathing hard, his eyes wide and purple. “Tabitha was cursed. I need your help getting her to the healer’s!” He ran.

  Lindell ran after him. Tabitha lay near the harbor wall, further along the harbor, just out of sight of the crowd. Her parasol lay beside her, and her skin was already red from the sun. The two of them got Tabitha to her feet and took her to the healer’s. Delia sighed when she saw them, but helped them get Tabitha onto a bed. Irwin lay unconscious on a bed. When had the Rune Master gotten to him?

  “It’s the same as the curse on the nobles,” Cory said quietly, his eyes staying purple and getting darker. Dark purple splotches spread under his skin before disappearing again. He closed his eyes, turning away from them.

  “Are you alright?” Lindell asked.

  “I…need to get back to the office,” Cory said, his voice shaking.

  Lindell and Cory left the healer’s. There was nothing they could do for Tabitha, other than find the rune stones and destroy them.

  “The Rune Master is running out of people to curse,” Lindell said.

  “The duke won’t undo his laws,” Cory said, his voice strained.

  Lindell shivered. There was a deep heaviness in his heart.

  “Maybe Vedrix can still help,” Cory said, but he didn’t look hopeful. “He is the God of Magic.”

  “If the duke doesn’t do as the Rune Master says…” Lindell hesitated. “I think he will kill Belanger, and he must at least suspect by now that Belanger is a witch hunter.”

  Cory sighed. “He may kill the duke, or he may kill the cursed nobles to put more pressure on the duke.”

  At the office, Cory went straight to the kitchen, to the cupboard where he kept thistle. Lindell lit a fire in the hearth. There wasn’t time to make a cup of thistle tea. Cory tossed several sprigs of thistle into the fire and sat in front of it. His eyes faded back to gray, then he slumped to the floor, already asleep on the rug. Lindell paced in the kitchen. It could be a while before Cory woke up.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Lindell left the office, locking the door behind him. He went to the library, on the west side of town, near the forest. It was close to sunset, so it wouldn’t be open much longer, but hopefully there was time to find what he was looking for. The librarian, Remy Bray, was the only one Lindell saw among the shelves. The fifty-five year old worked alone in the library. His long dark hair was streaked with white and tied back. The center of the library was a dim maze, the shelves blocking the light from the windows, lit instead by dim candles in the chandeliers overhead.

  “Can I help you?” Remy asked, looking at him curiously.

  “Do you have any books about Graveblossom?” Lindell asked.

  Remy raised a brow. “Possession of Graveblossom would get you locked away for many years. Using it against another would warrant execution.” He sighed. “I heard about the duke. The Graveblossom tea craze happened here in Arkose, but that was a very long time ago. I have only one book that mentions the plant. Wilson May has already been in to ask about it. He said he believes the Rune Master truly will use the plant to kill the duke if the duke does not rescind his laws.”

  Lindell hesitated, but his earlier thoughts were nagging at him. “Does Wilson come here often?” That was somewhere one could learn all about plants.

  Remy nodded. “He is one of the library’s most frequent visitors. He has read every book on plants we have. The only other person in Arkose who has done that is Tabitha Hope.” He glanced at a window. “I’m sorry, but it’s time to close the library.”

  “Thank you,” Lindell said. He hurried back to the office, deep in thought all the way.

  Cory was still asleep on the rug in the kitchen. Lindell waited, but it was getting late and he was tired. He would talk to Cory about Wilson in the morning. Besides, Wilson having read all those books on plants still wasn’t enough to go on, not enough to talk to Donovan about this. It could just be a coincidence. Lindell had a quick dinner and went up to bed.

  He lay awake again that night, shivering, his mind full of dark thoughts. What would the Rune Master do now that he had cursed the duke, his allies, and all the members of Phoenix? Then he thought about Irwin, the reason Ricliri was gone. Lindell had thought he’d seen the last of Irwin when he left Shale. He could almost see the fear in Irwin’s eyes again and feel that strength flowing into him. He could almost feel how good it had felt to draw on that fear.

  A terrible pressure rose inside of him. Lindell cried out as his muscles clenched and pulled. He tried to get up and fell to the floor. The pressure inside of him was his magic, the part that was free of the binding. It was a cold, angry thing. Lindell cried out again as his magic pulled at him from within. It flowed through his bones, his skin, and his hair. It was everywhere. He barely heard the knock on the door and someone calling his name.

  A single thought settled into Lindell’s mind, cutting through the pain. Fear. He needed fear. The door opened and Cory was standing there, worry in his eyes. Lindell could feel his fear. He lunged at Cory, whose eyes turned purple. Someone moved between them. The magic in the air flared amber, a blast that threw Lindell back. He hit the far wall of the room, but he barely felt it through the fear and magic. He hungered for the magic almost as much as the fear.

  The man took a step closer, his eyes glowing amber. Some of his long pale purple hair had come loose from its tie. Vedrix’s expression softened. Lindell tried to stand, but he fell back to the floor. He cried out again as his magic pulled and tore at him. He had become shadowy again, not fully solid.

  “I cannot stop what’s happening to you,” Vedrix said. “Only you can stop it. Think of Eireen, Hector, and Cory.” He knelt, but he stayed back from Lindell. “Think of everything you will lose if you become a demon that feeds on fear. Only you can bring yourself back from the edge.” His eyes faded from amber to their usual light gray.

  Lindell tried to think past the desire for fear and magic, past his cold magic flowing through him. He closed his eyes, thinking of Eireen, but that only made him think of her lying in the bed at the healer’s. That made him think of the Rune Master. Lindell heard a deep growl, like some sort of angry beast. That sound had come from him. He pushed back against his magic harder. He couldn’t help against the Rune Master if he lost himself. He couldn’t help anyone if he lost himself.

  The magic pulled back suddenly. Darkness closed in.

  -- --

  When Lindell woke up, the sun was rising. He was lying on his bed. For a moment, he dared hope the night before had been a terrible dream, but then he sat up. He was sore all over. His magic stirred, still feeling cold and wrong. Lindell shivered. He got dressed and stumbled over to the door, looking out into the hall. Cory’s door was open a crack. Voices carried up from downstairs. Cory’s and Vedrix’s voices.

  Lindell hesitated, but he didn’t want to hide from them. He went downstairs to the kitchen. Vedrix was sitting across from Cory at the table, and they were both frowning hard. Vedrix’s eyes were glowing amber, and Cory’s eyes were purple, but they weren’t darker than they should be. Lindell sat on the bench, still exhausted from the night before and from everything that had happened lately.

  Vedrix turned that hard frown toward Lindell. “Most spirits don’t have a corporeal body like you do. It would be a disaster if you became a demon in the way spirits can. You would survive just long enough to harm many.”

  Lindell didn’t know what to say. He had come back last night, but could he do it next time? How much longer could he last with the Rune Master’s curse?

  “If you give in or are lost, I will have to end you,” Vedrix said. He sighed, shaking his head. “The curse complicates things. Like all spirits, you need magic to survive. You would have been drawing on it from your surroundings unknowingly. I looked at the curse last night. It will make it difficult for you to absorb magic. Last night, you almost gave in.” The cold look in his eyes seemed to suck out what little hope Lindell had left.

  Did Vedrix mean Lindell wouldn’t survive long as a demon because becoming a demon would kill him, or because Vedrix would kill him?

  “We don’t need a lecture,” Cory said, his voice hard.

  Vedrix frowned at Cory.

  “We need your help,” Cory said, his eyes turning a darker purple. “We don’t have any idea who the Rune Master is. He picked us off one by one, and we can’t break the curses without the stones.”

  Vedrix looked away, his eyes turning light gray again. “I have never seen curses like these. Mixed with Graveblossom root to make them more effective.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, Cory. You are right.”

  Cory’s eyes were a lighter purple again, but they were still purple.

  Vedrix looked at Lindell. “I must give you magic, or you may not have enough to sustain you for much longer.”

  Lindell stood. Vedrix couldn’t help them. Not even the God of Magic could break the Rune Master’s curses. “We’ll have to do it later.” His magic was fighting him again. He didn’t want Vedrix to touch him right then.

  Vedrix’s eyes narrowed. “You’re losing control again.”

  “I just…” Lindell looked away. “I need to be away from you right now. I need to see Eireen.” He left the kitchen.

  “Lindell!” Vedrix called after him, his voice commanding and more than a little frightening. “Come back here!”

  Lindell didn’t go back. He left the office and headed for the healer’s. He needed to be away from Vedrix, and he needed to see Eireen. He knew it was unreasonable, but he had a sudden fear she wouldn’t be there when he reached the healer’s. That she would have somehow disappeared. He wasn’t paying attention to where he was going, but he was alone in the lesser used alleyways. He heard something behind him, then hands grabbed him and forced him to the ground.

  His magic started to surface, but his captor forced him to drink something hot and foul smelling. Lindell tried to spit it out, but a hand on his mouth and nose stopped him, leaving him no choice but to swallow. Everything went hazy and blurry. He had felt this before, back when Irwin had taken him. These were the same herbs Irwin had used, but it wasn’t Irwin staring down at him. As everything slipped away, Lindell saw the red cloak, the hood pulled low.