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    • Chapter 28 Cover
      by Starscribe — Lyra approached Akiko slowly, half a dozen spells rising to her mind. Why would Aiko invite Tempest out of her cell, where she wasn’t contained by the wards? This woman already tried to kill her more than once—she’d been willing to sacrifice Bonnie’s life to her invisible masters—and as many mages as she could kill in the process.“Do the Guardians know she’s here?” Reagan asked, voice low and nervous. “We weren’t just keeping her in the Sanctum for our sake.”“They never knew my…
    • Chapter 30 Cover
      by Starscribe — Lyra faced the newcomer, lowering her fingers very slowly from her magical tool. Normally she would’ve just drawn it—there was nothing a gun that small could do to a shield as powerful as hers. But the one holding it—if she moved that fast, her own punch probably hit harder than a bullet.Ventus never moved like that. She thought longingly of Capper, or Bonnie for that matter. Either one could back her up in a fight with a vampire. “Sorry about the delay,” Reagan said. She remained behind Lyra,…
    • Chapter 31 Cover
      by Starscribe — Lyra did not charge blindly into an enclosure of powerful predators hoping to deal with any encounter as it came. The power of any mage came from preparation, so she prepared. She lingered in the doorway for a few seconds, muttering a few words in Atlantean and drawing with her knife. Rainbow looked up from the glass to watch, fascinated and amused.“I am larger, I am stronger. This is my territory. You will respect me and let me pass.” She said it, and it was so. Though nothing about her appearance…
    • Chapter 32 Cover
      by Starscribe — “That could be simple...” Reagan said, leaning towards the vampire. “We could find almost anyone. We need a name, a photo, maybe something they owned. Some hair or fingernails or blood would be great too.”“The last one we can do,” Volita said. “Her name is Jaqueline Kessler. I sent her to do something, and I haven’t heard back from her in a very long time. But I know her kind well enough to know they don’t die easily. I’d like to help her, but I can’t do that if I can’t find…
    • Chapter 33 Cover
      by Starscribe — Reagan and Tabitha returned at some point that day. Lyra wasn’t exactly sure when—long enough that she didn’t feel so tired, or too anxious to stalk along behind them as they came inside. Tabitha went straight down the hall to the Sanctum’s luxurious indoor spa (her own addition, of course), while Reagan made her way to the kitchen.Lyra followed her inside, hopping up on the counter to watch as Reagan worked. Disinterested at first, until she took a fresh fish from the fridge along with a knife.…
    • Chapter 34 Cover
      by Starscribe — Lyra shuddered as she stepped through the ghostly portal, the chill of the Underworld seeping through her. They walked through fog for a long time, with only the occasional flash of dark stone or the glow of a candle flame to suggest light in this place. After a few minutes spent hiking nearly blind, she worked a little magic. Being a cat in a place like this would make her too weak, and unable to wield most useful weapons. But if she changed her ears, made them able to move independently and follow any…
    • Chapter 35 Cover
      by Starscribe — If the Autochthonous Depths were unwelcoming, setting foot in the Dead Dominions was like venturing onto the surface of an alien planet. Lyra kept as close to her group as she could, magical tool ready in one hand and the words of a spell on her lips. Not that it would matter—most of her magic wouldn’t even work on the dangerous ghosts of this awful place.The Dead Dominions, or at least this one, was a battlefield. The ground was mud and broken stone, lined with trenches and dotted by foxholes.…
    • Chapter 36 Cover
      by Starscribe — Lyra waited while the stranger finished eating. She’d never known hunger that desperate in her life—but she’d felt that craving from plenty of animals. While she ate, that strange spirit watched Lyra with the same curiosity. It flowed closer to her, circling her in the narrow confines of the cave. Even if they never touched, she felt the awful creeping of death following behind it. Her Spirit magic wouldn’t affect this creature, not without more knowledge of Death. What would she do if it attacked…
    • Chapter 37 Cover
      by Starscribe — Lyra met the second time with the “civilized” vampires while carrying a little black cat in her mouth. She deposited the creature on Volita's lap with all the pride any feline could demonstrate.That close, her animal senses betrayed even greater discomfort than she felt while human. Humans were big and intimidating, but at least they were alive. Nothing should smell like that; no fingers should feel so cold and stiff in her fur.“If I thought you would obey my instructions in this manner, I…
    • Chapter 41 Cover
      by Starscribe — Lyra kept still under Rainbow's boot. This was less about the deception—she had no illusions about her ability to prove she was too weak to fight. But if she struck out too soon, or too powerfully, she might prompt Rainbow to kill her.These vampires have other powers too. I can't think they only have their strength to turn on me. She had felt some of that during the fight—strikes that hit her friends, or that their armor deflected. Someone had used blood as a weapon at one point, ripping through cloth…
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