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KADE CLOSED THE FRONT door, then spun around to face Sorcha. Her blonde eyebrows rose when she sensed his excitement. “What did Ms. Evora want?” she asked, eyeing the container he was holding.
“She just gave me the final ingredient we need to cast the spell on the silver tablet,” he replied. He crossed the foyer to give her a kiss, then handed it to her.
Sorcha lifted the lid to take a look inside. “It’s an alpha’s heart?” she asked, then shut the lid again and handed it back to him.
“It certainly is,” he confirmed excitedly.
“When do you want to cast the spell?” Sorcha asked as they headed for their conjuring den. A second worktable had appeared for her after she’d moved in.
“There’s no time like the present,” Kade decided. He was anxious to see if the enchantment was going to work. If anything went wrong, or if he made any mistakes, he would ruin their chance to use the silver artifact.
They entered the den and he crossed to the cupboard where he’d stored the tablet, the spell and the other ingredients he needed. He gathered them all together and walked over to his worktable. Sorcha took the page with the instructions on how to use the tablet from him and read it. “This is going to be complex,” she said with a frown. She’d forgotten how intricate it was.
“I’m glad you’re here to help me,” Kade said nervously. He wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers, then began sorting the ingredients into the correct order. He needed to use the heart while it was still fresh, so they couldn’t put this off for long.
Sorcha double checked the order of the components to make sure everything was perfect. They read through the spell together a few times to familiarize themselves with it, then exchanged glances. “Are you ready?” she asked.
Kade nodded, but she could sense his nerves. “As I’ll ever be,” he replied, then he went to work. With the sorceress at his side, he doubted he would fail. Sorcha had honed her skills at crafting spells and enchantments. She was just as keen to get this right as he was. “Let’s cast the spell together,” he said.
Sorcha was glad he wanted her input. It just showed that they were a team. “Okay,” she agreed, then harnessed her magic. Kade did the same, then they entwined their power and began the enchantment.
Following the instructions exactly, they took turns mixing the ingredients into a bowl. Most of the components were fairly mundane. They each chanted a line of the spell as they continued, while infusing the bowl with their combined magic. The unicorn hair was the most magical item by far. A rush of power swept through the room when Sorcha levitated it into the bowl. Neither of them had wanted to sully it by touching it.
“Now for the alpha’s heart,” Kade said after Sorcha chanted the next line of the spell. He carefully opened the container and poured the heart into the bowl. A different type of energy rose and was mixed into the potion. The container vanished just as Xiara had warned him it would. It had only stayed with him until he’d no longer needed it.
The enchantment now required four elements to activate it, beginning with fire. Kade levitated the bowl with one hand and fire appeared on his palm. He held his hand beneath the bowl for a few seconds. Sorcha stepped forward when he was done and held her hand over the floating vessel. She called up earth and dirt sifted into the mixture. Next, the warlock channeled a small amount of air into the container. Finally, the sorceress encased the bowl in ice.
When the ice vanished a few seconds later, Kade set the bowl down on the table. He carefully added a drop of precious dragon blood to the mixture. They held hands and chanted the final line of the spell. Power pulsed from the bowl and they exchanged nervous glances. “This is it,” Kade said. He reached for the silver tablet, then dropped it into the concoction. The moment the artifact landed in the container, bright silver light blazed from it. The warlock covered his eyes with his hand and peeked through a crack between his fingers while Sorcha also shielded her eyes. He could just make out the artifact morphing into a new shape, but he couldn’t quite tell what it was.
When the light suddenly faded, they both blinked to clear their vision, then looked into the bowl. The ingredients were gone and so was the tablet. In its place was a silver stake that was covered in the same runes that had been on the tablet. It was about eight inches long and two inches wide at the top. It tapered to a wickedly sharp point.
“We should have known it would turn into a stake,” Sorcha said wryly. “It was created to kill a master vampire, after all.”
Kade gingerly reached into the bowl and picked up the stake. He could feel magic emanating from it, but they weren’t quite done yet. “We need to invite Sebastian over so we can finish the spell,” he said.
“Can Eden come, too?” Sorcha asked.
“Of course,” Kade agreed. “She’s a part of this and she has a right to be here. I guess we should also invite Raum.”
The former assassin made a face at that suggestion, but she didn’t argue with him. Like it or not, the demon was a member of their triumvirate. He had as much of a right to be there as Kade and Sebastian did.
Kade sent letters to his allies asking them to come to his mansion. Sorcha headed downstairs to wait for them while the warlock remained in the den. His house was impenetrable by enemies, but he didn’t want to take his eyes off the artifact until they’d completed the instructions. There was now only one step left before it would become the deadly weapon it was intended to be.
