“Riots?” My voice comes out a little shaky. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
A memory appears in my mind’s eye. I’m nine years old, sitting on our old ratty couch back in Lower Purgatory. Far-off explosions and screams rip through the night air. I curl into Mom’s shoulder, my entire body trembling with fear. Walker sits in the armchair across from us, his colorless face set into grim lines. If the mobs reach our street, he’s here to portal us away to safety. Outside our living room window, the night sky’s horizon is lined with shifting shades of red. Purgatory is burning.
Mom guesses my thoughts and worries. “Don’t get too concerned about rioting for now,” she says soothingly. “You two focus on working with Walker and getting things going again. Just, you know, quickly. Like a few days. Maybe a week, tops.”
“Sure, Mom. We’ll do the best we—”
All of a sudden, the sound of ethereal singing fills my head. It’s high-pitched, childlike and lovely. I press my fingertips to my temples. This shouldn’t be happening now. I didn’t summon any igni.
Still, the music continues. My brain fills with sweet voices that only I can hear. These are the light igni, the power that draws souls to Heaven. Evidently, they’ve decided that now is a good time to converse via somewhat-sappy music inside my brain. I exhale a slow breath. At least, unlike the dark igni, I can listen to their singing without wanting to scream.
Lincoln gives my hand a gentle squeeze. “What’s going on?”
“The igni have a message for me. They’re singing, right now, inside my head.”
Mom leans across the table, her eyes widening. “What are they saying?”
I close my eyes to better focus. “They’re are saying something about the Furor. A Furor necklace. And the Furor Empress, too. It’s her amulet. They want me to find it. I think the dark igni were singing about this before.” I open my eyes, and the music fades from my mind. “Does anyone know what they’re talking about?”
Mom shakes her head. “Never heard of it.”
Dad’s face becomes still as stone. “What do you know about the Furor?”
“Not much. All I learned in High School was sucking up to ghouls.”
“Furor have magic casters,” explains Dad. “They’re a tribe called the Hexenwings. They create enchanted stones; no one really knows how they manage it. Royalty have specific stones associated with them, to give them special powers. Rubies for the Emperor, Opal for the first-born daughter, Obsidian for the first-born Prince…”
I can see where this is going, and I don’t like the destination one bit. A tension headache crawls around my temples. “And the Empress?”
“Bloodstone.”
My world freezes for a moment. Don’t panic, Myla. It could be a coincidence.
Mom lets out a soft gasp. “I heard about this thing called the Bloodstone Curse. It sucks away a Scala’s powers and gives it to someone else. Are the Curse and this necklace related?”
“I’m afraid so,” says Dad.
Okay, time to panic. My heart starts pumping a mile a minute. The igni asked me to find something associated with the Bloodstone Curse. Is this their way of telling me that I have it? Could they possibly be giving my powers to someone else?
“The last time a Scala couldn’t move souls, I was there,” explains Dad. “I’ve a broad knowledge of demon lore, so whenever someone’s stuck with a mystery ailment, they call me in. We didn’t know what was wrong until we borrowed the Bloodstone Amulet. It’s unique. Shows the Empress the status of her powers. We tried it with the patient and discovered that his igni were slipping away, moving to the Scala Heir on their own. That was, oh, two thousand years ago now. Today, most people probably remember the Curse and not how it got its name.”
“I’ve read everything I can find on Scalas,” I say. “There’s always something about the Bloodstone Curse, but no mention of any amulet.”
“Those damned ghouls,” exclaims Mom. “They wiped out all our libraries, all our records, especially anything to do with the Scala.”
The firm lines of Dad’s face soften with sympathy. “This isn’t the first time someone’s talked to you about the Curse, is it?”
“No. Well, not directly anyway. Today, Adair asked me if I wasn’t moving souls because I didn’t have the power anymore. I think she was hinting around about the Curse.”
Dad’s eyes glow angel-blue. “How dare she? I saw you send Armageddon straight into Hell with your powers. You freed me from his prison, something I never thought could happen. You’re strong, Myla. And your bond with your igni is strong. There must be another reason why they want you to have the necklace. We’ll figure it out.” He reaches across the table and sets his hand on mine.