Legacy of the Necromancer [Legacy, BK1 - Completed]

Chapter 11.1

I swallowed past the pain my throat before glancing around the basement. Panic gripped my chest. "Where's Poe?"

Kastem padded over to a small amount of concrete rubble.

"I didn't think you would want him to get hurt more," John said and made a flicking motion with his fingers.

A small flash of relief flared through me as the pile of rubble moved to show Poe, untouched by the fight with Louca. I struggled to stand, my body nearly refusing outright.

Picking him up was difficult as I tried to use my injured hand. The burn had already blistered and broken, the wound weeping.

"What about your necklace?" John asked, standing over where it still lay smoking on the floor.

What was I supposed to do with it now?

After getting Poe settled in the crook of my arm, I walked back over to where John stood. Bending down carefully I held my good hand out over the ruined chain, trying to see if it was still as hot as the pendant. It was warm but not unbearably so. I held it by the chain, careful not to touch the pendant.

"We need to find the others," John said, exhaustion in his voice. "They might need our help."

John led the way with Kastem and me in his wake. We ran into Dad on the stairs, his eyes going wide when he caught sight of us.

"I was just coming to find you, what happened? I thought you were right behind us."

"We were," I said. "But then-" The words left me, I couldn't think of how I was supposed to say it. Dad hadn't known exactly who Poe was., I'd never had the chance to tell him about it.

John spoke for me. "Ezra heard something in the basement, so we went to check it out. We found Nathan. He tried to kill us."

"He got Poe." I clutched the bird tighter to my chest. "It was my fault."

Dad stepped forward and pulled me into a hug. "And Liam? Was he down there?"

I shook my head. "We didn't see him."

He swore. "We've searched the rest of the house. Liam isn't here. Nathan must have taken him somewhere else."

"What about the missing girl?" John asked him. "And the others? Are they ok?"

"Yes, they're safe-"

"William," Lyssa called from the landing on the second floor. "You better come see this."

I dismissed Kastem, noticing the satisfied look in his eyes, before following Dad upstairs and down a long hallway to a set of double doors. On the other side was an office - desk, computer, a few bookshelves. Avery was looking over papers in a file folder with Thea.

"You're okay," I said with relief. I trusted Dad's word, but seeing it with my own eyes just made it real.

Avery looked up and dropped the file on the desk in front of her. She rushed over to me. "Gods, what happened to you?"

"Nathan got away," I said grimly.

"This isn't going to make you feel any better," Lyssa said and passed the files to Dad. He started skimming through them. His eyes grew wide, his hands holding the files shook.

"What is it?" I asked.

Thea looked at me with tears in her eyes. "Liam's been working for Nathan."

I couldn't believe her. I didn't want to. I stumbled back, dropping into a leather armchair. "Not possible."

John took the file from my father's loose grip and opened it flat on the desk.

He frowned at me. "They're right, copies of emails between Nathan and Liam." John shuffled through the papers. "He detailed events-"

"Rituals that only a Stanwood would know, things that I taught him!" Dad shouted.

John continued. "And some handwritten letters, signed by Liam."

Was Liam working with Nathan? Did he even know what it was Nathan was up to? I stared at the mess of papers before me. What could I do?

Avery's touch on my shoulder pulled me from my thoughts. "Ezra?"

Everyone was looking at me like I had not answered the first few times they tried to get my attention.

"Are there any other files like this?" I asked.

Lyssa held up a stack that would rival any college students require reading. "Got them all here."

Dad nodded. "We should get back then. I want to send out an alert. Nathan, Liam, and any other Necromancer working with them are not to be trusted."

Avery hovered close to me. "Are you able to get us home?"

The thought of another spell exhausted me, but this was something that only I could do, and I didn't much feel like spending the night in the house of my enemy.

I staggered to my feet and nodded, "Yeah."

Taking a few steps back away from the others. "Everyone ready?" I started the spell using the doorway as a frame. Reaching for my talent wasn't the hard part nor was I struggling to find the energy. Focusing was nearly impossible. Trying to settle on an image, a place to come through on the other side, my mind just would focus like it should have.

Avery's hand rested on my outstretched arm, her presence helping me hone in on exactly where I needed to go.

The portal opened before us, and everyone but Avery filed through Avery took my free hand and led me through, but I don't remember making it to the other side.