Song of Blood and Reign

Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Onyx eyes glowing, Dark Lyv's smile was just as bright, almost sickly sweet as she stared at her. She was standing opposite Lyv, just a few feet in front of her, and in her hands was the large leather text that had turned to ash in Madame Dewridge's office.

"Oh, are you surprised to see this? You thought it was destroyed?" Dark Lyv questioned, caressing the edges with her fingertips. Taunting. "Something with this much power within its pages will never be destroyed. The thing is, there's a trick to finding it again. It definitely has some handy spells within its pages that might help you in what you seek. Too bad the dark magic within you is too entwined with your own to really do anything about it anymore. Only those who completely surrender to the dark can find it or even read it. The mistress was one of the very few who figured out how to read it before she turned dark. Just give it time, though, and you will, too."

Lyv shook her head quickly, refusing to believe what she was saying. "That can't be true."

She laughed. "Please, you know it is. You feel it, hear it calling, know it's fighting tooth and nail to get out of those chains you and your crown prince mate put it in. And you still carry that bit of the mistress's magic as well. You've noticed how the obsidian stone continues to keep growing in brightness, don't you?"

They both glanced down at her arm as she held it up, the stone pulsing once at the mention of it.

"If you were able to read it, you would find that there is no way to destroy a stone once it's inside someone," Dark Lyv continued. Her tone wasn't as mocking as it had been just a moment before. It was quieter, more subdued. "The only way for it to leave one's body is for the magic within it to not need it for support within the host. It will continue to grow in brightness until it burns right through the skin of your forearm and it is no longer needed by the dark magic to survive the integration with your own."

Lyv traced her finger over where the stone was. "But the one within Mik..."

"The conduit's stone is of a different sort. I thought you knew this by now."

"I have, but..."

"Once his stone leaves his body, forcefully taken by the mistress and that bitch of a human female she made far too many promises to and has no intention of keeping, he will be completely drained of all magic. And you know what happens when someone is completely drained of their magic."

Lyv thought back to a conversation she'd had with Gideon what seemed like several lifetimes ago, about how he'd watched so many of those he knew fight with everything they had in them until their magic was drained. A burnout, which ultimately took their lives and lead them into the land of light and shadow.

A flicker of a thought entered her mind, one she then tucked away so not even Jai could see it – was there a loophole with the dark magic? Could she get Dark Lyv to answer? She had to try.

"So, you could burn out after using all of the dark magic, too? Just like someone could burn out their own and die?"

Dark Lyv's onyx eyes narrowed slightly. "I don't know, actually. I don't see why not...but there will always be some kind of darkness in the world. There is mention of the dark magic's weaknesses in the grimoire..."

"Grimoire?"

She wiggled the large leather text in her arms. "The book Madame Dewridge showed you, the one the mistress found and learned about the dark magic from. You do realize there is a reason it was destroyed, though. The mistress didn't want anyone else to touch it. But it cannot be completely destroyed. You will find it again and in the one place you are already in search of. And by that time, you will be able to read it yourself."