Page 29 of Fallen Court

I tried to nod.

“What—”

The door to my room swung open, cutting him off. Ciara stormed inside, pointing a shaky finger at me. “What the hell were you thinking?”

Apparently, that was the question of the hour.

“He wasn’t,” Fiona answered for me, appearing at our sister’s side.

I held up my hands in surrender, relieved that my fingers were already fully healed thanks to the apple. But Ciara continued her rampage. “I have spent the last few days trying to convince every creature in New Orleans to help you, overtasking the city’s magic on a spell we aren’t sure will even hold, and then you go and pull something like this!”

Fiona crossed her arms over her chest, lifting a brow.

“Go ahead,” I grumbled.

But she glared at me. “Saying I told you so gets us nowhere. Now, if you could learn from one of your mistakes, that would be helpful.”

“Let’s not get ambitious,” Roark said, a half smile playing on his lips as he watched them attack.

I gripped the chair and hauled myself to my feet.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Ciara demanded.

“Back to the Infernal Court. I’d rather deal with Bain.”

Ciara drew a sharp breath, her face mottling red with rage. “If you so much as—”

“Whoa.” Roark grabbed her by the shoulders. “He’s not going anywhere.”

He sent a sharp look in my direction. Roark would stop me. He was probably the only one who could.

“I’m not going through all the trouble of putting a bona fides ward on this city for you to get yourself killed,” she snapped.

Nope. Roark was clearly right that she planned to do that herself.

“A ward?” I asked. Someone had to steer this conversation in a different direction. “What good will that do?”

Despite her fury, a smug smile lit up her face. “A bona fides ward,” she repeated, “and for starters, it will keep the Wild Hunt out of New Orleans.”

“Really? You came up with that?” I looked at Roark for confirmation.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Ciara said in a wounded voice.

I quickly shook my head before she exploded again. “I’m not. I had no idea that was possible.”

Her smile faltered. “A familiar gave me the idea. I’ve been meeting with the covens for days, trying to convince them to help us. The spell draws off magic from all three parishes and projects out like a shield to the city limits. At least it’s supposed to. We’re still getting it stabilized.”

“What kind of magic does it use?” I asked. It was a good idea, but relying on the covens for help was delicate business, and judging by Ciara’s deepening frown, it wasn’t going smoothly.

“Several to make it hard to unravel,” Roark told me. “It’s tied to the location as well as a loyalty oath, blood, and some other stuff.”

“And they’re actually cooperating?” I was impressed. Ciara might not believe she could handle taking my place, but clearly, she could.

She grimaced. “They’re already complaining that it’s draining the city’s magic, and we’ve only shielded to this side of the river. Every creature in New Orleans that isn’t of our bloodline has until midnight to take the oath. After that, it should stay up.”

“And if they don’t take the oath?” I asked. As a rule, we kept track of every creature that entered the city, but some occasionally slipped past us.

“They’ll find themselves very uncomfortable,” Ciara said, scrunching her nose. “The magic will mark them as dissidents physically. They’ll want to leave town.”