Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
My brow furrowed as I glanced at Niamh, then back to Nessa. “Are you serious? A portal, like…teleporting?”
“The hint is in the name,” Phil said dryly.
Nessa shrugged. “I’m researching it, but wouldn’t that be awesome?”
“But she wouldn’t get all her mountains of snacks when she traveled by plane,” Niamh drawled.
I ignored her. “Yes, it freaking would!”
Nessa’s smile stretched. “Right? Anyway, in answer to your question, Kingsley had a ley line passing close by. Momar was able to pull the power from the ley line into his mage-made infrastructure. That’s why it took so many people to bring it to life. If it were on a nexus, it would’ve been ten times easier and faster to make that same thing happen.”
Cold ran through me. “Do we have a map? We’ll want to see what packs are on a nexus.”
“I’m looking into it, don’t worry. We all have different jobs, Jessie. You don’t need to worry about this right now.”
I took a sip of my wine. She was right. We had too much going on to all do everything. We had to divide and conquer.
“Okay, so here’s what’s really cool about my magic—that could work with your magic, but we’re not allowed to talk about that yet.” She patted my arm. “I can work within the ley lines. Well…assuming I can fully manifest this magic. I was plateaued for a while, but I think I just had a breakthrough.”
My head was starting to buzz as I tried to process all of this.
“Anyway,” she went on exuberantly, “I can feel the ley lines and nexuses, which…whatever, right? That’s not that cool. Pull up a map, you know? One of my kind has already done all that.”
I couldn’t help but notice the note of pride in her voice when she mentioned one of “her” kind.
“I can also anchor a line and stabilize the flow. That is mighty helpful for spells and maybe portals, if that’s real. I can prevent dangerous surges and unpredictability. Or I can manifest surges to help boost a spell. So, at Kingsley’s, I could’ve surged the power to help the mages create the spell quicker.”
“If you were a bad guy,” Phil said.
“Right. Obviously.” She held up a finger. “But I can also do the reverse. Again, assuming I can figure out how with the resources at my disposal.”
“We need to find more of ye and get ya some training,” Niamh said, tapping her fingertips on the bar.
Nessa took a deep breath. “All good things come to those who wait.”
“And other clichés and stuff,” I said off-handedly, quoting Tristan from earlier.
She laughed. “Exactly. So, assuming I can do it, I should be able to redirect energy. As a good guy at Kingsley’s, I could’ve tapped into the ley line and disrupted the flow. I could’ve sent the energy away from the area and deflated the spell. Done at the right time, it could’ve saved…” Her eyes turned mournful. She didn’t say the name.
“And maybe killed yerself in the process,” Niamh said.
I looked at Nessa hard.
She shrugged. “Disrupting the flow comes with a lot of risks, yes. To me, personally. But with great risk comes great rewards. And other clichés and stuff.”
I took a deep breath. “Well. Hopefully we won’t need to make you prove that you have the ability.”
Austin moved in behind me. He picked up the chair, turned it a little, and pulled me so that my back was leaning against his front, crooked in the chair. He slung his forearm over the chairback.
“There are also rituals that can be used to augment my magic,” Nessa went on, nodding hello at Austin. “Oaths, sacrifices, celestial timing, stuff like that. Anyone can use those, and have throughout the millennia, but without the right magic, that’ll only afford one so much power. Mine would be a boost and doesn’t need a goat.”
“A goat, me arse,” Niamh said. “We’d sacrifice a crooked mage if we did anything.”
“What did I just walk into?” Austin asked.
“Nessa is getting ahead of herself,” Niamh said. “She has a few books, like. She’s a far cry from making a portal.”
“What did I walk into?” he repeated, leaning harder against me so he could see Nessa’s face.
“I need a lot more information.” She waved Niamh away. “I’ll get there, I’ll get there.”
“What did you want to talk about, Niamh?” Austin asked.
“Too late,” Niamh murmured as Tristan walked into the bar.
I glanced around at the seats. “We should’ve met at Ivy House. We don’t have enough room here.”
“Nonsense.” Niamh motioned for Nessa.
“I’ve been working on it.” Nessa winked at me. “It’s fine. This time they won’t have any idea why they moved.”
“Until they think back to what ye just said that they overheard,” Niamh murmured.
“A kiss and a stab, that’s all it takes to ward off a bully,” Nessa responded.
“Not even remotely.” Tristan’s whiskey voice made Nessa flinch and then suddenly go rigid. Her face turned crimson and she looked away, reaching for her drink so she’d be turning her back to Tristan. “Especially if the bully is me.”