Page 79 of Fate Unchained
Hazel didn’t grab on to his arm, instead she tried to help carry Zann. “I don’t know.”
Brooke pointed to her right. “Go in the white house there.”
Hazel wobbled forward and opened the door. Kyril passed into a wide foyer with a red rug but didn’t pay much attention to the furnishings. He and Finn shouldered forward until they got to the living room, where a big couch lay against one wall. They laid Zann on it. He mostly fit.
Kyril put his hand on Zann’s chest. It rose and fell more steadily now.
Hazel dropped to her knees beside him and took his hand in both of hers. “We need Briony. What happened?”
“He was hit by the blast.” It was the only thing he could think of.
“But he was in the alley, wasn’t he?”
“Nope. He was coming after you.” Not a lie. Zann had gone after her.
Hazel put one of her hands in her pocket and closed her eyes. She muttered under her breath. A soft blue light coated the two of them. Zann inhaled deeply, and Hazel’s shoulders relaxed. “I don’t have much healing ability, but I did what I could. He’s going to be fine.”
“Can you scry for Lilah?” Kyril turned into his vulk form, his claws lancing out to their full six inches. “We need to find her now.”
Hazel nodded and got to her feet, tucking Zann’s hand on his chest. She took a crystal out of her pocket and waved it until a small portal appeared. Reaching inside it, her arm disappeared. When she pulled it back, she had the scrying bowl.
“Nice trick,” Brooke said. She stood next to Finn, the vulk glowering at her.
Hazel muttered under her breath, and purple flames shot up in the bowl. “Show me Lilah.” The flames became blurry. Hazel slumped. “She’s with Morana, and Morana’s cloaking her.”
Ice seized his heart. “What about Boris?” An image of Boris racing along the rooftops appeared in the flames. “The spell worked.”
“Of course it worked.” She leaned forward. “All right … where is he going?”
“Will Morana kill her?” All Lilah had to defend herself with was the dagger.
Hazel shook her head. “I don’t think so. If Morana wanted her dead, she wouldn’t have sent her an invitation. She wants something.” She glanced at him. “Did you know Lilah is a descendant of Nihova?”
Kyril froze. “What?”
Hazel nodded. “That makes her and Morana cousins.”
His throat went dry. “But didn’t Herskala kill Nihova and his family?”
“Apparently not all of them.”
Lilah’s research into her father’s adoption … she’d said she was researching the bloodline because she wanted to explore a possible connection to others. She must have meant Nihova.
His hands fisted. He needed to get to her. Now. “Stay focused on Boris.”
They continued to watch Boris as he scrambled through Coromesto. Kyril growled. The image kept rotating, and he couldn’t find the suns to figure out the direction Boris ran in.
“When Lilah told me how she used the rune in the grimoire, I should have questioned it,” Hazel said. “It will only truly work for someone with Herskala’s blood, and it worked for her.”
Kyril snarled. “The Herskala line killed the Nihova line. Morana will want to kill her.”
Hazel shook her head. “I’m not so sure. If Boris came to her with the grimoire, it was on Morana’s orders. They wanted her to use it for a reason, and most likely, Morana’s about to tell her what it is.” Hazel looked at him. “Lilah’s smart. She’ll know what to do. We have time.”
His heart rate slowed a fraction. Hazel was right, Lilah knew what she was doing, and she had both the blade and her power—or she would once night fell. But he didn’t intend to let Lilah stay with Morana until dark. He’d find her before then.
Hazel’s lips tightened into a straight line. “The only thing I’m worried about is that Lilah doesn’t know much about magic. I should have explained more to her about how enchanter magic works. It’s all words. Morana can twist the things she says until you believe everything she says is the truth. She can use your fears against you and get you to do her bidding. You become her puppet.”
He snarled. “Let’s find her before that happens.”