An ugly smile rounded Jonas’s mouth. A heartbeat later, his bone crawler skittered out of the incision and onto his shoulder.
My stomach heaved with disgust. I’d seen these creatures before, back at the Midnight Cloister. Like all the others, this bone crawler had a centipede’s body and long twitching antennae. The outer segments of its exoskeleton were covered with a thin, indestructible layer of bone.
The creature soaked in more magick from Jonas’s spell. Blue mist seeped into its segmented body. After that, the bone crawler completely transformed. I’d never seen anything like it. The creature’s many segments stretched and multiplied. Soon, Jonas was covered in bone crawler armor.
I blinked hard, not believing my own eyes. I knew the Fantomes all had bone crawlers inside them. Back in the gallery, I’d seen one move inside Kamilla, but nothing like this. My breath caught as the realization struck.
The Tsar was gone now. The Fantomes really were working on ways to use the bone crawlers to their advantage.
And to my defeat.
Alarm rattled through me. This wasn’t good. Bone crawlers were indestructible. My armor wouldn’t last long.
Neither would I, for that matter.
Jonas lunged at me, pinning me to the ground with his heavier weight. His right hand wrapped around my throat, shattering the armored plate around my neck. The insect gauntlets he wore twitched against my skin. I couldn’t breathe.
With his left hand, Jonas tore through my breastplate as if it were made of paper. His grip tightened on my throat. Pain shot through my neck. My lungs ached. All my thoughts about spellwork disappeared. My enchanted armor fell to dust around me. I could only think about one thing.
Air. I need to breathe.
I wrapped my bare hands around the Jonas’s. For the first time since I fought the Tsar, my palms touched a bone crawler made with hybrid magick.
Suddenly, a different kind of power shot through me. Purple light flared around my hands and neck.
My body went on alert. This level of power was something I’d only felt once before—when I was fighting the Tsar. That had been the one time I used hybrid magick. Afterward, I’d never been able to repeat the casting. Now I knew why. When I fought the Tsar, I’d been holding a bone crawler. Somehow, that had helped use with both Necromancer and Caster power. Excitement flared through my bloodstream.
I could counterattack.
On reflex, I pushed against the mage. He flew off me like a rag doll.
I stared down at my hands. The purple light still danced across my skin.
This was hybrid magick. Again. And it was mine to command.
Jonas slowly rose to his feet. “How did you do that? The bone crawler answers only to its host and the Tsar. And they never transfer power.”
In truth, I had no idea why the bone crawler would give its hybrid magick to me. Jonas didn’t know that, though.
“Come closer, Jonas. I’ll show you.”
“I’ve a better idea.” Jonas tilted his head and spoke a quick incantation. The incision along his neck glowed blue once more. His bone crawler armor shrank to its regular size and then wiggled back inside his neck. “I’ll keep my bone crawler of reach for now. Once we have you in our control, we’ll find out what you’re really up to.”
“I’ve got different plans for the evening.” I released more of my hybrid power. Purple mist flew off my left hand and wrapped around Jonas’s body. The haze solidified into a winding sheet that tightened around him, secure as a mummy. He stared at me for a moment, dumbfounded, and then toppled backward.
I stepped up to loom over him. This kind of angle worked the best during interrogations. “Where are the other Necromancers being held?”
Jonas writhed beneath me. “What Necromancers?”
“The ones you’ve been draining.” I snapped my fingers, and the winding sheet tightened around Jonas’ body. He wheezed.
I leaned closer. “Not being able to breathe is unpleasant, isn’t it?”
It took him a few gasps to reply. “Bitch.”
“What kind of attitude is that?” I rolled my eyes. “Don’t make me cast something more painful. I’ve already had a tiring day.”
The purple light was fading from my hands. I didn’t have much longer to use my stolen hybrid power. I loosened the winding sheet ever so slightly, just enough to allow him to speak more easily. “Talk.”
“You’ll see for yourself where they are, considering that you’ll soon be drained too. We haven’t had a mage of your quality in ages. The Vicomte will be so pleased.”
The last wisps of purple light faded from my hands. My hybrid magick was gone. A chilly sense of awareness crawled up my skull.
Someone is watching me.
Bit by bit, I angled my head to look behind me. A pack of Fantomes stood at the other side of the small clearing, their hooded forms barely visible in the moonlight.
Gods-damn it. I didn’t know if I had enough power to fight one mage, let alone eight. All my Necromancer magick was gone, and my hybrid power had been expended as well.