recently that if Jayna wanted a position with the ASD, all she had to do was approach Kooper Griff, the Director.
I could see plainly in her face, however, that she wanted revenge against Cayetes and the twins as much or more than I did. Her family died on Vic'Law, and she was determined to do something about it.
"We have information," Caylon appeared nearby. "Morid Belancour, who took a short trip away from Grey Planet with a Grey House wizard, has been kidnapped and the wizard with him was wounded severely. They need Quin immediately to heal the wizard so he can tell us what he knows."
Chapter 3
Grey Planet
Quin
The ship—and lunch—had to wait. I found myself transported quickly to Grey Planet, where the wizard lay mortally wounded in their tiny, family-run hospital.
Caylon, Sal, Ilya and Zaria stood nearby as I placed my hands on the blast wound in the wizard's chest, exerting all my healing talent to bring him back from certain death. After a while, I felt it when Zaria joined her talents with mine; she worked on the lower chest while I repaired the upper.
If she hadn't helped, I would have been drained completely after the healing, the wounds were so severe. Whoever had leveled the blast—and I suspected another wizard or warlock—had intended for this one to die.
"He needs to sleep so his body can adapt to the sudden changes," Zaria mumbled after she and I pulled away. Our combined work had been seamless, which astounded me. She was powerful as a healer; that much was evident.
"I need to ask questions," Caylon growled.
"I've seen everything he knows in his face," Zaria retorted. I blinked at her—she'd done already what I should have done. "Here," she held up a hand and formed a two-dimensional display of what the wizard had witnessed.
I wasn't surprised to learn that Daris had snatched Morid Belancour at a restaurant, while Deris leveled a blast at Morid's wizard companion, nearly destroying his heart. If another wizard hadn't arrived to place the wounded one in stasis, he'd have died before Zaria and I could heal him.
"Fuck," I heard Ilya mumble. "What the hell do they want with him? Morid wouldn't make Second-level as a warlock."
"Information," Zaria sighed. "Damn, I'm tired."
* * *
Caylon transported us back to Queen Lissa's palace to deliver the news we had; that Morid Belancour, Marid's eldest son, had been kidnapped on Tulgalan by the twins. Zaria and I—we'd seen the same thing in the wizard's face—that Daris and Deris had demanded information while exerting power on Morid. Morid claimed he didn't have the spell they asked about, so they'd taken him and tried to kill his companion.
"What spell?" Queen Lissa asked. I didn't know.
Zaria did.
"You need to hide that coffin in the dungeon at Avii Castle," she said. "It belongs to them and there's something hidden in the base they can't get to without the spoken words of a spell Marid of Belancour laid years ago. Likely at Vardil Cayetes' command," she added. "The coffin will destroy itself if the proper words aren't spoken to open it."
"To keep the twins in their place and in service to him, no doubt," Lissa huffed. I could tell she was angry. "Well, let's move that infernal thing to my dungeon. I'd like to see them get past me to get to it."
"Thank you," I breathed. I'd suddenly felt terrified for Justis and everyone else in Avii Castle. They had no way to combat a murderous witch and warlock, bent on taking what they saw as theirs.
"Do you know what's in it?" Lissa asked, turning back to Zaria and me.
"It's empty," Zaria shrugged. "Except for a ring and a book."
Lissa went perfectly still. "What ring?"
"It's important to them in their bid for the Karathian throne—that's all I saw in my vision of Daris and Deris."
"Oh, dear God," Lissa muttered.
* * *
Justis and I watched as the coffin was pulled out of the cell in the castle dungeon, before Lissa's Falchani mates transported it to a similar cell