Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
“What are you making?” she asked Austin.
He put some spinach on the counter before straightening up. “Protein smoothie. Lady’s request. You?”
“A big omelet. It’s his favorite after he’s done too much magic.”
Austin grunted in acknowledgement before moving away. “Any surprises in making it?”
“Maybe.” She gave him a hoity one-shouldered shrug, lifting her nose into the air. “Not like I’ll tell you.”
He huffed with a grin and began prepping his ingredients.
She smiled, looking over at Sebastian for him to keep talking.
“Well, so she’s always had brute strength,” Sebastian said. “I can manage for a while, but eventually—in close range, at least—her spells overcome me and would eventually kill me. But they don’t drain me as much because it’s basically blocking and casting, blocking and casting. Her new spells, however, are not only powerful, but also incredibly complex. The blocking is not as simple, and her defenses aren’t as straightforward. It takes more energy to counteract one of her spells now. It’s exhausting. And…” He propped up onto an elbow. “The complexity of her spells is odd. Not like I’m used to. Like any mages are used to, I’d wager.”
“It’s those Ivy House books,” Nessa said, pulling out a cutting board. “They’re from a time lost.”
“Yeah.” Sebastian’s voice drifted away, obviously thinking that through.
Nessa chopped the ham and then pulled over a bell pepper. The red of that reminded her of Tristan and the wound he’d taken in getting Sebastian to safety. He hadn’t balked or even flinched. He certainly hadn’t backed away. He took the pain and pulled Sebastian to safety without a moment’s hesitation.
He deserved a really chocolatey dessert.
“You should’ve seen the spells she did in that battle the other day,” Sebastian said, laying back down on the table. “They were hardcore. Like, I haven’t seen spells that grisly ever. Mages can be horrible, but they don’t dream up spells like that.”
“They would if they could, I bet,” Nessa said, taking the seeds out of the tomato. “The Guild would throw money at her for those spells.”
“Yeah,” Sebastian said again. “I’d wondered if they were outlawed. I mean, Nessa, they were that bad. Death on delivery. Boom! But according to her, mages don’t outlaw stuff, and she’s right.”
“Maybe not now.” Nessa sliced up the tomato. “But the Guild and mages as a whole weren’t always this corrupt and vicious. They weren’t always the bad guys. There have been times throughout history when they’ve regulated magic for the safety of the user.”
“Yeah,” Sebastian repeated.
Austin pulsed the blender before wiping his hands on a kitchen towel and dragging his phone from his pocket. He tapped it a few times before giving it to Sebastian.
“I thought Niamh would’ve shown you this,” he said, heading back to the blender. “She’s had her hands full, though. That’s a video from an onlooker at a pack we aided. It was right before we went to help you, actually. That day, Jess was trying out some of her Ivy House spells.”
Sebastian tapped the screen to play it. The sound had been turned off so Nessa couldn’t glean what was going on. That was, until Sebastian started reacting.
“Good God,” he whispered, his eyebrows pulling together. He leaned away from the phone, then leaned back in. “Holy hell.” He squinted an eye, his face screwing up in horrified humor. “Jesus…phew.” He flinched. “This is way worse than the other day. This is like a spoof horror movie or something.”
He put the phone in front of him before picking it up to watch it again. This time he’d analyze. Then he’d alter. Then he’d likely make something even deadlier but more effective in some way, reducing energy or hitting more people or who knew what.
“You definitely do not see spells like this anymore,” he murmured, stopping the playback for a moment and tilting his head in thought. “We’ve seen a decline in overall magical power through the ages. Meeting Jessie and learning about the books in Ivy House has made me realize this. Jessie is the most powerful mage—or sorceress, whatever—in the world. That we know of, obviously. I’m a close second, and then that team of twins Momar has is more powerful than me, maybe Jessie, when they work together. In general, on average, we don’t see brute strength like Jessie, anymore. And Tamara Ivy might’ve lost some power when transferring her magic to the house. I can’t do the higher-level spells Jessie can do. But to create actual books with those types of spells in them, they would’ve had many people who could.”
Austin poured his concoction into a glass. “There could be any number of reasons why the power level dwindled through the generations. Maybe it happened because of mage in-fighting—the powerful killing each other in political maneuvering or power plays. Not to mention the fact that the mages we’ve met haven’t been family-oriented people. They seek money and power and don’t spend their time procreating. Not the powerful mages, anyway.”