ora

anticipated. Rows of crystal retorts, silver cauldrons of various sizes, and

kept the doors bol

ercent of the supplementary herbs could be gathered from the high-end apothecary districts in Atheria, the core foundation of the potion, the Lunamere Shard, remain

ed to be reading introductory history texts for

d sandwiches, I found him lying flat on his stomach across

ng three inches above the wood, surrounded by a l

. "What did I tell you about messing w

, tapped the bottom-left corner of the bronze frame,

n looking up. "It was cutting-edge three years ago. Anyone running a mid-tier Aegis scanner could isolate the freque

iolently, turning from opaque

rialized in

one pale cheek. Freya Sinclair was sitting in front of a massive wall of magical scrying or

nking through th

anted audio matrix, sharp and loud. "Aurora? Who is this tiny goblin that just punche

ng the stylus from his mouth. "I

ut a sharp bark of laughter. "Her brother? The mythical little brother she hides like stolen jewels? Kid, y

my hand on his head. "And he's starting school on Monday.

ed two sandwiches from the plate, gave Freya a cheeky two-finger sa

ion vanished. She leaned in closer to her end

ible behind me. "I ran the magical signature on your relay origin. You're inside Lela

," I said, pulling a high-backed wooden chair up to the desk and sitting

hrough the Shadow Matrix. Old Lady Augusta is on her deathbed. That's a fifth-tier death

hed for her. "Which is why

her control terminal. A sequence of floating parchment m

currently within the continent. It surfaced from an ancient excavation in the northern barrows two week

pyrean

ditary purebloods, guild masters, and high-ranking council members were granted access. The security

he auction

ate bidding. Gold and barter only.

o

blood houses in Atheria have their eyes on it. There are whispers that some of the most dangerous factions in the up

stone. I needed it to cure Leland's mother, and I wasn't going to le

side," I t

s under the Sinclair merchant branch an hour ago. I knew you wouldn't back down. Tomorrow at eight