A Court of Souls and Shadows

30. Raven

I busied myself with the stack of books on the table before me. Lucien was sprawled over the couch to my left, flicking through the pages of the book in his hand with a bored look on his face. I think we were both trying not to think about Azriel and Elain. They'd been holed up at the townhouse, working on their connection, with Nesta supervising. It had been a few days since our date, and I had barely seen him. I could tell he was exhausted, and trying his best, and I felt awful for the jealousy swirling in my gut that would not go away. I tried not to think about what they might be doing in that moment. He hadn't said much - it was an awkward subject between us after all - but from Nesta's accounts, things were going well. I could tell it bothered Lucien as well. We hadn't felt any tremors in days, which meant Elain's episodes had lessened, likely due to the extra time my boyfriend was spending with her. Gods, I hated it. And I knew Lucien did, too. Which was why we were both still poring over hundreds of books in the library under the House of Wind, looking for the pesky unlinking spell that continued to evade us. As soon as we found it, we wouldn't need to rely on Azriel's connection with Elain to bring her back from the brink - her link with the Cauldron would be broken altogether, once I performed the spell.

Lucien snapped the book in his hands shut with a loud thud, startling me from my own reading. "I have read the same damn sentence ten times," he said, throwing his book down to the floor. I raised my eyebrows at him in question. "What do you think they're doing, right now?" he said, his eyes locking with mine. I groaned and dropped my face into the open book on the table before me. "Don't want to talk about it," I grumbled, my voice muffled by the pages of my book.

"Do you think they wonder the same thing about us?" Lucien continued. "We have been spending a lot of time together alone," he added sarcastically. I lifted my head from my book to glare at him. He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and I rolled my eyes.

"Nothing is going on between them, Lucien," I said, dialling up the intensity of my glare. Lucien threw his hands up in surrender. "I'm just saying," he said. "Well don't," I snapped. "I hate this as much as you do."

"Doubt it," he muttered, a scowl marring his features. I stood to join him on the couch, but accidentally bumped my hip against the table, sending my stack of books clattering to the floor. I cried out in pain, clutching my hip with my hand as I staggered forward. Lucien lurched forward from the couch, catching my shoulders with his hands and righting me. "Are you okay?" He asked, his eyes wide with alarm. I swore under my breath as I rubbed my hip. "Fine," I grumbled. "Fucking hell, that hurt."

I looked down to where Lucien was already kneeling on the floor, gathering the books I'd knocked off the table. My gaze snagged on the pages of a book that had fallen open, just as Lucien reached for it. "Stop," I said, as I felt my entire body still. I reached for the book, taking it into my trembling hands as my eyes scanned the open pages furiously.

"What is it?" Lucien asked, standing to look over my shoulder at the pages. "Is that what I think it is?" He whispered over my shoulder. I gripped onto his arm, my nails digging in as I looked into his eyes. "It is," I whispered, hardly believing it myself. "The unlinking spell."

* * * * * * *

Lucien and I raced up the stairs from the library into the house, talking over each other excitedly. We burst through the door at the top of the stairs and raced up the hallway to the armoury in search of rope. From my quick scan of the spell, I gathered I'd have to master the spell on knotted rope before using the rope as a conduit to unlink more powerful magic, like what plagued Elain. Lucien stuck his head out of an overfilled trunk, a large bundle of rope in hand. "Got it!" He called out triumphantly and I grinned back at him. "We should probably go to the roof, in case I fuck something up," I said, nodding towards the ceiling. Lucien chuckled and threw the rope over his shoulder. "Lead the way, Deathbringer," he said sarcastically, bowing before me. I made a face as I shoved past him, leading the way to the rooftop. He knew I hated that nickname, even more than Soul Stealer. I made a mental note to come up with something ridiculous for him.