I anxiously scanned the other Fantomes. The ones who knew I could use a bone crawler for power were already dead. Would the others figure out what was happening?
All the Fantomes stayed still in the moonlight. If they knew what was about to take place, none of them informed their Tsar.
Yes, yes, yes.
Quinn paused to stand between the Tsar and me. More cleverness. With the Tsar behind him, Quinn’s movements would be hidden in shadow. When this was all over, I vowed to hate Quinn a little less.
Quinn set his hand against his neck, drawing a dark line that was still hidden in the shadows. All the muscles in my body tensed, ready to act. I’d seen a Fantome take out his bone crawler before. Only a few more seconds, and I’d have Quinn’s creature and its hybrid magick at my call. My breaths came in short gasps.
The bone crawler began to wiggle out. My stomach churned with disgust, yet my head felt light with joy.
So close.
The Tsar stepped forward. His brows lifted as he saw Quinn’s bone crawler wriggling free. Quick as lightning, the Tsar pulled a dagger from the folds of his black cloak and jammed the blade through Quinn’s neck.
“No!” I cried.
Quinn crumpled forward onto the ground, moaning. For a moment, I saw a glowing, spectral face appear above the mortal one. Quinn mouthed two words. I’m sorry.
Here it is. Another failure.
I knew my plan to get a bone crawler was tricky at best, but at least it was something. Now, what were my options? How could I fight a mage who was this powerful… Especially when he had access to hybrid magick and I did not?
The Tsar stepped up to Quinn’s dead body, yanked out the dagger, and wiped off his bloody blade on his robes. “I’d suggest no more attempts at murder or escape. It’s tiresome. I had a lot of time to contemplate how things went wrong before. There was only one way you could have activated your hybrid magick. My bone crawlers. Well, with the power of all the Necromancers now concentrated in my soul, I don’t need those insects to control my people anymore. And the need to round up mages for draining is over as well. So let’s get rid of that little temptation, shall we?”
I wanted to threaten to pound elegant face into dust. Somehow, I managed to keep quiet, however.
The Tsar raised his hands again. A ball of purple fire appeared between his palms. He looked down into the sphere of flame. “Destroy all the bone crawlers in my entourage.” The fire shot out from his grasp, bouncing from Fantome to Fantome. Each time it reached someone, some of the flames burrowed inside their shoulders.
The result of the spell was nothing less than disgusting. My stomach heaved as the bone crawlers crept out of their hosts. The Fantomes watched in on in shocked silence as the bone crawlers tumbled to the ground, their exoskeletons glowing as they burned up from the inside out. None of the Fantomes moved. Within seconds, the bone crawlers had all turned to dust.
The Tsar turned to the Fantomes. “My beautiful entourage. I can see worried looks on some of your faces. I’m a gracious man. Rest assured, my magick will keep you alive and bound to me. I’ve no plans to kill you.”
Somehow, I didn’t believe him.
As the Fantomes murmured their thanks, hopelessness pressed in around me. The bone crawlers were my plan to activate hybrid power. That wasn’t possible, so I tried once more to pull regular Necromancer energy into me. The Fantome who held me still had me blocked. Gods-damn it.
The Tsar rounded on me again. “You told me once that you were trained by Petra. If so, then she did a horrible job of it. I can read your emotions easier than a child’s.”
My gaze fell on Rowan’s unmoving body. A shudder rolled across my shoulders. I’d never seen the man so pale and lifeless.
Still, I swallowed past the knot of grief in my throat. I had to focus on the success that had already come from my mission. Yes, the Tsar had me. He could kill me. And it was likely that he’d already murdered Rowan. But Ada and the others were safe. Rowan said his people had taken care of them. I’d saved the last of the free Necromancers.
I forced my face into a mask of calm once more. As long as the Tsar was wasting time with me, he wouldn’t be going after my friends.
The Tsar rubbed his square chin. “You think your little Necromancer friends are safe, don’t you?”
His words struck me like knives. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“They’re done for, you know.”
I worked hard to keep my features calm. He was lying. Had to be.
The Tsar snapped his fingers. “Bring forth our audience. It’s time Elea saw her admirers.”
More Fantomes stepped out of the darkness. My knees turned rubbery as I saw who they brought with them. The Fantomes had bound and gagged all the freed Necromancers. They shuffled along in a lopsided line, most of them barely conscious. It seemed even more cruel for them to be bound and gagged, when they struggled to stand upright.