Page 185 of Of Masks and Fury

Isi had been working on it for long enough I was worried about her, her nose crusted with drying blood from the second ward’s retaliation. I felt every muscle in her body coiled with concentration.

“Talk me through it,” I said quietly, keeping my voice level despite the stress winding through my chest.

“It’s different from the others.” Her hands paused mid-gesture. “The first two were defensive. This one is…” She fluttered her fingers in the air, frowning. “I think it’s not trying to keep people out. It’s trying to identify who’s trying to get in.”

“A blood ward, maybe?” Kerralyn asked. “I read about them, how they only recognize certain people.”

“It could be.” Isi’s hand dropped to her thigh, her frustration palpable. “But if it is, I don’t know how to get us through it without offering blood.” Her gaze met mine. “I sense the ward wants to know if I’m blood-related to whoever set it. If I’m not, it’ll probably kill me.”

My hands tightened on Lakast’s spine spike. “Then we’ll find another way.”

“There is no other way.” She turned that stubborn set of her jaw on me. “And if this is my mother’s place, well, I’m blood. It’ll let me pass.”

“We have no idea if this is the property she may have owned,” I growled.

“I’m going to try.”

I wanted to snarl and make her stop, but if I tried to suppress her, I’d break her. I’d stomp her down just like her father.

The realization gutted me.

Pherin chirped from her shoulder. Gavelle shifted his weight on her other shoulder, his own support flowing through our connection.

“Ifyour mother owned this place,” I said, finding it wasn’t so hard to speak them. “It might work.”

“In theory.”

“I hate theory.”

“So do I.” Her hand came up again, her fingers spreading as she studied the invisible lattice. “But it’s all we have.” She glanced up at me. “That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

This was another reason I loved her. She truly did know me.

“It wasn’t easy,” I grumbled, but followed it up with a quick smile.

She stroked my face before getting back to work, and I was mesmerized despite my concern. She stunned me all over again with her total focus. Her lips moved as she counted threads or patterns or whatever veil-seers saw when they looked at magic. Competence radiated from her, the kind that came from trusting your abilities even when they were terrifyingly new and fear whispered you’d fail.

She could do this.

“If it goes wrong,” I said. “I’m killing whoever’s responsible.”

Her smile flickered briefly. “It won’t.” She looked up at me, and the heat in her eyes made my chest ache. “Have a little faith, King Trewyn.”

“I have complete faith in you. It’s the ward I don’t trust.”

“Smart man.” She returned her attention to the magic, her shoulders straightening. “Everyone stay back. If this gets messed up, I don’t want anyone else caught in the end result.”

Kyreth and Wairen drifted farther away, giving us space.

Isi took a deep breath and released it slowly. She pricked her palm with a blade and after blood welled, she reached forward, pressing her hand flat against empty air.

Light exploded from the point of contact, brilliant gold shot through with silver, spreading outward in a web that became visible even to me. The ward’s structure revealed itself, layers upon layers of interwoven magic that must’ve taken years to construct.

Marlane had been incredibly powerful.

Blood ran from Isi’s nose again, bright against her skin. But she didn’t pull away or flinch. She kept her hand pressed against the ward as it examined her, tested her, and tasted her blood to read her lineage.

“Come on,” she whispered. “Recognize me. Please.”