He blinked at one of the earlier names that was underlined, had to reread it again to make sense of it.
Cornus Clover.
It couldn’t be. Clover was a known Healer. Born on a new moon… unless he was like Emory. Born a Healer, only to become a Tidecaller.
His heart pounded. Cornus Clover, the author of his beloved book, the man who was believed to have written himself into his story. The scholar who could walk through worlds.
… magic runs in his veins as he runs through worlds like rivers to the sea and blood through arteries.
That very same passage was written in the journal, right in the margin next to Clover’s name. Below it, someone had scribbled in bold letters: AINSLEIF’S MAGIC = KEY. USE AS VESSEL.
Vessel.
It sounded like what the drowned gods had needed to escape their prison in Song of the Drowned Gods. A key to unlock the door to the sea of ash, four parts of a whole to take their place inside it. Blood and bones and heart and soul.
Four parts like the four types of magic that Emory could call upon. The four Tides, the four lunar houses, the four tidal alignments within each house—all of them a part of her, all hers to command.
She’s the key my dad and Keiran’s parents never found, Artem had said. The answer they never even knew they were looking for.
Baz swore. “He’s going to get her killed.”
“Who?”
“Emory. Keiran and the Regulator who did this to us… They think she’s the key to waking the Tides. A vessel of some kind.”
All that talk of restoring magic to its former glory… Artem really did believe it, that the Tides could be woken. That the fabled deities were real. It was crazy, surely not possible, but after seeing what Keiran was capable of… Whether it was plausible or not didn’t matter—if they were willing to go to such lengths to do something so unfathomable, the only thing that mattered was that Emory was in danger.
“I have to stop her from going back to Dovermere. We need to grab Dad and get out of here.”
There wasn’t a chance in the world that he was leaving his father here for one more second with everything going on, especially when he hadn’t even done what he’d been accused of.
Jae shoved all the ledgers and documents into their bag. The three of them pushed out the door into the corridor. They rounded a corner—and came face-to-face with Artem.
Kai swung at him with lethal speed.
“Stop,” Artem said simply. “Don’t move a muscle.”
Kai stopped.
All of them stopped, rooted in place by some compulsion—Glamour magic, Baz realized, spotting the Waxing Moon sigil on the Regulator’s hand, the blood dripping down his fingers. He’d called on his magic through bloodletting.
Artem walked toward them with slow, arrogant ease, a look of pure hatred in his eyes. There was no one else in the corridor, the place completely evacuated as the alarms still blared loudly. A knife hung from Artem’s hand. Vivianne was not with him, a fact that set off its own alarm in Baz’s mind.
Artem had wanted Vivianne to wipe their memories. And if he’d come back without her in tow, maybe he’d decided to finish the job another way. There was no one here to stop him.
The cruel curve of Artem’s smile lent credence to that sickening thought, and as he lifted the knife, it became clear he didn’t intend any of them to walk out of here.
There was a sudden movement behind Artem—and with a growl, someone knocked him over the head.
The Regulator fell limply to the ground.
Theodore Brysden stood over him with a metal tray. “Someone deactivated the wards,” he said with a satisfied smile. “Can we go now? I’m quite tired of this place.”
They left Artem on the corridor floor and hurried out of the building. Vera was waiting for them in the wooded area where she’d hidden her motorbike. She didn’t bat an eye at Theodore and Kai in their Institute garments.
“Where to?” she asked.
“Aldryn?” Baz suggested. “Dad and Kai can hide in Obscura Hall while we figure this out.”
Kai gave him a death glare. “I’m not fucking hiding. I’m coming with you to Dovermere.” He raised a brow at Baz’s stricken expression. “That’s where you’re going, no? To stop Keiran, save Emory.”
“Yes, but—”
“Then I’m going with you.”
“You’re still branded. Without access to your magic… it’s too dangerous.”
Kai balled his hands into fists. “I have these, and I’m itching to punch Dunhall Thornby in the face for what he did to me. It’ll have to be enough.”
Baz looked at the brand on the back of Kai’s white-knuckled hand. That idea again took shape at the edge of his mind, bloomed into something that felt impossible yet right.
“We can bring your dad to the Veiled Atlas,” Vera suggested. “No one will think to look for him there. And I know Alya won’t mind.” She winked at Jae. “No matter how much she pretends otherwise, she’d do just about anything for you.”
“Then let’s go,” Baz relented.
Vera relinquished her motorbike to an all-too-eager Kai—she would go with Theodore in the car Jae illusioned into being. “Be gentle with her,” she screamed at Kai as he revved the engine. Baz held on tightly to him, throwing his dad and Jae one last look before they tore toward Dovermere.
* * *
The wind howled around them when they got to the beach. On the far side of the cove, the cave mouth was still visible, the tide having just slowly begun to rise.
A storm brewed on the horizon.
“I should have known you’d Collapsed,” Kai huffed.
“How could you? Even I was in the dark.”
“It was that fucking nightmare of yours. I always thought there was something odd about it, a truth hidden beneath it that you couldn’t see and I couldn’t quite puzzle out.” Kai shook his head in disbelief. “And to think how scared you were of Collapsing.”
Baz could see the resentment beneath Kai’s grim smile. His thoughts raced faster than his pulse. “I think… I think there might be a way for you to get your magic back.”
The wind tore Kai’s hair loose from the ponytail he’d tied it into. “What are you saying, Brysden?”
“If Jae and I both survived Collapsing… If we could live with it our whole lives and still stay in control, then maybe everyone else can do the same. You could, too.”
Kai shoved his branded hand in front of him. “Little late for that.”
“What if I reversed the seal?”
Time time time time time time time time
Possibility crackled between them. Kai stood very still, his face impassive as Baz explained: “I could turn back time to when the seal hadn’t yet touched your skin or put your magic to sleep. I could probably turn it back further still so that you’d never even have Collapsed in the first place.”
Kai shook his head. “No.”
Baz deflated. The world truly had to be upside down for him to suggest something so reckless that Kai refused. “You’re right. This is crazy.”
“No, I mean I don’t want you to reverse my Collapsing,” Kai clarified. “But the seal? Fuck yes. Get that thing off me.”