Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“After you, Emmaline,” he said darkly.
Dr. Mafi looked like she wanted to raise the gun again and shoot him, but instead, she pocketed it inside the folds of her black-and-gold-trimmed abaya. “Follow me.”
They moved to the exit like specters in the night, stealing away in the hallways and maneuvering through the sprawl of King Louis’s house. The enormity of it hit Kierse in the chest. Not because she wasn’t aware of how big the location was, but because the longer they followed Dr. Mafi, the farther they tracked from the vault.
Finally, Dr. Mafi stopped in front of a door. Her fingers rested upon the handle, and she spoke a few words. A stream of silvery light encased her hand, the lock clicked, and she pushed the door open. Kierse had known Mafi was a witch, but it was the first time she’d ever seen her use magic.
“Wow,” she breathed.
“Parlor tricks,” Graves scoffed before striding inside.
Mafi had already entered the bedroom, and she closed the door behind Kierse. The room was sparse: just a small bed in one corner, a side table, and a desk across the room with two chairs.
“If you’re not here for me, what are you really doing here?”
“First, can we discuss you selling your soul to King Louis?” Graves said.
Mafi looked like she wanted to rake his eyes out with her nails. “I did no such thing.”
“No? Just your medical integrity?”
“What are you talking about?” Kierse asked in confusion.
“Emmaline sold your blood to King Louis,” Graves said.
Kierse felt sick. “You sold my blood?”
Mafi sank onto the bed across from them. “It wasn’t like that. I was doing some under-the-table work for some politicians. Louis got wind of it and blackmailed me. I would have gone to jail. He had me under his thumb, and there was nothing else I could do.”
So she was just like everyone else in King Louis’s world, beholden to him and unable to escape. It didn’t excuse her giving King Louis Kierse’s blood, but it made her just another victim in a long line of victims.
“What did he want with her blood?” Graves asked.
“He was looking for blood with magical components. He believed it would make him stronger, enough to win this war. So, I told him that I would find candidates with different blood from people who came through the hospital.”
“And does it make him stronger?”
Mafi rolled her eyes. “Of course not. Her blood is like any other blood, but he wouldn’t listen to me.”
Graves paced away from her. “Why didn’t you come to me?”
Mafi laughed. “I owed you a favor. I couldn’t owe you a second.”
Graves looked like he wanted to say more, but Kierse stepped between them. “The world is a hard place. It makes monsters of us all.”
Mafi’s face fell at those words. “It does, doesn’t it?”
“We should tell her,” Kierse told him.
Graves shook his head. “We’ve spent enough time here as it is.” He turned to Mafi. “You should get out of here while you can. Get to my brownstone, speak to Edgar. He’ll give you everything you need.”
“Why are you helping me?” she asked skeptically. “You only ever do things for your own aims.”
His gaze cut to Kierse’s, and she nodded, understanding sinking into her stomach. “Because I should have done more the first time.”
Mafi reared back in shock. Her eyes flickered between the pair of them. “Maybe you have changed,” she said thoughtfully. “Fine. I’ll get out of here. But you two should as well.”
“That’s the plan,” Kierse said. “We just need one more thing before we do.”
“I can’t change your mind about whatever you’re about to do?” Dr. Mafi asked.
Kierse shook her head. “We’re set on it.”
Dr. Mafi sighed. Her gaze cast to Graves. “How much of the blueprints have you seen?”
“I know my way around,” he assured her.
“Of course you do.” Then she stood and held her hand out to him. “Just in case, check against my map.”
He stared down at her hand as if he couldn’t believe she was offering it to him. “You want me to read you?”
Dr. Mafi tipped up her chin and met his eyes. “I want you to get her out of here so she’s not more collateral damage.”
Graves stiffened. “She isn’t.”
“Then let me help.”
He straightened to his considerable height and then slowly wrapped his hand around her wrist. This was the first time Kierse had ever seen Graves read from someone, since it never worked on her. She knew that he did this as part of his business, but now she could see it.
The gold light of his magic flared to life at the contact: a shimmering, mesmerizing aura that smelled strongly of leather with just a hint of fresh paper. Kierse could hardly fathom that he was currently reading her mind. Even if he claimed it wasn’t that. That he could only skim what people were thinking, and Mafi was clearly showing him a way through the hallways. Laying a map she was familiar with over the one they had been studying to get inside.