The Silverwing's Sorceress: THe Shadow Slayers, Book 2.5 by Cassi Carver Read Free Book Online Page A

tricky, and manipulating them with magic was even trickier. Sometimes she had to mix ingredients for a spell. Sometimes it was saying the right words. But successful spells depended on the power of the witch, too.
    Abbey wasn’t a weakling, but she wasn’t exactly high-priestess material. On the scale of witchy awesomeness, there were sorceresses on one end, people who had the bloodline—but not the magic spark—on the other, and then there was Abbey somewhere in the middle. “I don’t know if you realize how cool it is that you guys have a sorceress on Mercury Island. Most people say they were wiped out with death magic.”
    “She doesn’t wield nex veneficus , of course. There is no way in hell the Mercury Lords would allow death magic on an island of Demiáre. That would be as smart as feeding your wings through a wood chipper.” Jaxon paused when Abbey brought her fingers above another book. “Any luck? As much as I appreciate these beautiful burrows, I much prefer a wide-open sky above me.”
    “Not this one. Just one more minute.”
    She eyed the third book. It was bound in black with red slashes on the cover, intricate enough that she couldn’t tell if it was a design or another foreign word. But it didn’t matter what it said on the outside. Not when she was getting such a strong feeling of what was on the inside. Its energy was dark and seething, but it purred to her—a silent, contented vibration—as her hand drew near.
    “I can only take one, and unfortunately—” she carefully lifted the black tome from the rough surface of the stone pedestal and held it up for Jaxon to see, “—I think it’s this one.”
    He met her eyes, his gaze cautious in response to her somber tone. “Why ‘unfortunately’?”
    “Because to take down the mountain’s protection, I’ll need the focal point. And I‘m pretty sure it’s this— The Book of Death .”

Chapter Four
    Jaxon didn’t look happy. “At least now we know what your uncle was hiding—the bastard. Your entire coven could be held responsible for this. Even being in possession of a book of death magic is enough to get you killed.”
    “Calm down. All I did was pick up a dusty, old manual. It’s no big deal.”
    “There’s a reason nex veneficus is called death magic, Abbey. It’s one of the few ways witches can kill my people. Demiáre like to believe they are invincible, and they don’t take kindly to spells powerful enough to end an immortal’s life. The discovery of another handbook of nex veneficus is a ‘big deal’ to every clan on this side of the Shadowland.”
    As she walked across the small room, the floor began to suck at her feet, and the soil around them quivered. “It’s getting sticky again.” She lifted her knees higher in an attempt to break the bonds of the magic pulling at her.
    “Hurry,” Jaxon commanded.
    “I am hurrying.”
    But there was only so fast she could move when every step felt like dragging foot-long magnets over raw iron. And at the same time, the roof started to shake and large chunks of rock began to cascade down all around her.
    “Oh, crap.” She was almost there. Almost…
    As soon as her elbow cleared the doorway, Jaxon grabbed her and yanked her hard, just as the roof gave way. She spun, and with wide eyes witnessed the soil and rocks pour in behind her, building until the doorway was completely blocked. She expected the dust to billow out around them, but it seemed the same spell that kept Jaxon out kept the debris in.
    “Are you hurt?” he asked.
    “No. I’m okay. But I guess I really don’t get a second book now, do I?”
    He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. She took a few steps into the corridor and scratched her scalp with one hand while the other arm cradled her prize. Thanks to the shaking ceiling, she had enough grit in the part of her hair to plant a row of corn. She blinked her eyes, trying to clear the dust from them. “What? I know that cranky look you get, like the