“From Ramsey?”
Ethan answered with a small shrug. “In a way. Ramsey used a spell to turn Mariz against me, the same way he made Gordon attack Will Pryor. Mariz and I battled with spells, and since Mariz had warded himself, my spells didn’t do much more than knock him back a step or two. But as I cast a fire spell, Ramsey removed Mariz’s warding.”
“So you did this to him.”
Ethan met her gaze. “Aye. It wasn’t my intention, but I did it.”
“And the bruises on his face?”
“Those I did intend. I didn’t want to use conjurings to subdue him, so I beat him.”
She nodded. “You don’t appear to be hurt; are your spells that much stronger than Mariz’s?”
“Not at all. Ramsey didn’t remove my warding; that’s the only reason my spell worked when Mariz’s didn’t. And as for not being hurt, I’m reasonably certain that your friend here broke one or two of my ribs.”
Sephira smirked. “Remind me to increase his pay.”
Ethan’s laugh quickly turned to a wince.
“You haven’t healed yourself?”
He shook his head. “Mariz’s injuries are worse than mine. And I’m responsible for them.”
“I don’t pretend to know much about your witchery, Ethan, but from all that I gather, you’re not responsible. Mariz attacked you. Isn’t that right?”
“Well, yes.”
“And you thought that he was protected when you cast your spell, didn’t you?”
“Aye, I was sure of it.”
“Ramsey is terribly clever,” she said. “And as much as I hate him, that’s a difficult admission for me.” She ran a hand through her knotted curls. “Your greatest weakness has always been that you’re too kind, too sentimental.”
“Aye, you’ve told me as much.”
“And Ramsey is using that weakness to his advantage. You’re not responsible for the things he does, even if he uses your magicking to do them. But you’re so racked with guilt, you can’t see that.”
“Are you trying to help me, Sephira?”
She scowled. “It’s the hour. If the sun was fully up, I’d be more than glad to see you suffer.”
Ethan smiled. He removed his hands from Mariz’s burns and leaned closer to see how they had healed.
“He should be all right,” Ethan said.
“The burns on his coat are blackening my daybed.”
“Aye. You can take it out of his increased wage.” He cut himself a third time, and lifting his shirt, rubbed some blood on the skin over his sore ribs. He could feel the broken bone-a clean break. He’d been more fortunate than Diver.
“Remedium ex cruore evocatum.” Healing, conjured from blood.
Sephira watched him, her eyes luminous in the candlelight.
“So what do you suggest?” Ethan asked, avoiding her gaze, feeling oddly uncomfortable with her eyes upon him.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t suffer from this particular malady-guilt and kindness don’t come naturally to me-and so I have little experience with banishing them from my thoughts. But that, it seems to me, is what you need to do. These are Ramsey’s crimes, not yours.”
Ethan felt the bone knitting beneath his hands. After a few moments more, he was able to move and draw a deep breath without too much pain. He pulled down his shirt and stood.
“We need to wake him.”
A frown furrowed Sephira’s brow. “The night Gordon beat that boy, you were afraid to wake him lest he renew his assault.”
“I remember. But if I’m to defeat Ramsey, I’ll need Mariz’s help, and I can’t afford to wait another day. We’ll wake him, and if I have to, I’ll use a spell to put him to sleep. Ramsey removed his warding; I don’t think he put it back in place.”
Sephira did not look happy. “I don’t want a conjuring war in my sitting room.”
“Neither do I.”
He pushed up his sleeve and cut his forearm, allowing the blood to well from the wound. “Wake him,” he said.
Sephira eyed his knife and bloody arm the way she might a pistol in the hands of a rival. But she knelt beside the daybed and gave Mariz a gentle shake.
“Mariz, wake up. I need to speak with you.” He didn’t stir, and she glanced up at Ethan again.
“Try again,” Ethan said. “Use my name.”
Her frown deepened. “Mariz, Kaille is here. He wants a word with you. Wake up now. You need to speak with him.”
Mariz gave a low moan, his eyelids twitching but not opening.
“Mariz-”
“Yes, Senhora,” he said, sounding groggy. “I hear you. You say that Kaille is here?”
Sephira looked at Ethan again. “That’s right.”
Ethan tightened his gripped on his blade.
“That is good,” Mariz said. He opened his eyes, squeezed them shut, but only for a second. His eyes found Sephira first, then shifted to Ethan. He sat up and touched the burns on his face.
“Ramsey set me against you,” he said.
Ethan nodded and allowed himself to relax. “Aye, he did.”
“He should not have. I know where he is.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Ethan hardly dared hope that he had heard the man correctly. “How is that possible?”
“I sensed his conjuring, as I would if he had cast the spell on his own rather than through you. I do not know why I was able to-perhaps because to control me in that way he had to use both his power and yours. But I believe I can lead you to him.”
“Where?” Ethan asked. “Where is he?”
“In New Boston, near the spur of land that juts into the Charles River.”
“Barton’s Point?” Sephira asked.
“Yes, near there.”
“There are shipyards there,” Sephira said to Ethan. “Warehouses. There’s also a rope yard along Wiltshire.”
“Aye. He and his crew could be in any one of those.”
She stood. “Nap, Gordon, and the others will be here before long. We’ll go with you.”
“No,” Ethan said. “I can’t risk taking anyone with me. Ramsey will use my power to control you, and we’ll wind up fighting each other instead of him.”
“We’ve fought each other before,” Sephira said. “We’re rather good at it.”
“I’m serious, Sephira.”
“So am I. Do you honestly believe that you can defeat him on your own? Despite all evidence to the contrary?”
“I don’t know. But I’m certain that if I have you with me, or Mariz, or Janna, or anyone else, it will be more difficult to fight him rather than less.”
“There must be some way for you to ward yourself against him,” Mariz said. “All spells can be defeated; our task is to determine how.”
“I’ve tried different wardings, and to no avail. He knows my conjurings too well.”
Mariz stared back at him, his eyes widening a bit.
“He knows my conjurings too well,” Ethan said again, excitement seeping into his voice. “But not yours. What if you were to put a warding on me using the herbs I bought from Janna. The spell would be every bit as strong, but because it wasn’t mine, Ramsey might not find a way past it.”
“This could work,” Mariz said. “Although, I was warded tonight as well, and he mastered me using your power.”
“I had forgotten that.” With the memory, came a dampening of Ethan’s initial enthusiasm.
“Still, Kaille, it might slow him, even if only for a moment. Perhaps that will be enough.”
It wasn’t much; it was hardly anything. But it was all they had, and Mariz was right. If they could confound Ramsey, even for the briefest instant, it might give them the advantage they needed to destroy him. He pulled the pouches of herbs from his coat pockets, removed three leaves from each, and handed the leaves to Mariz.
The conjurer placed the leaves in his palm and opened his mouth. But then he closed it again. “I am not sure of the wording,” he said after a few seconds.
“Your warding on me,” Ethan said. “Sourced in the herbs. That would be simplest. And use my name. The more specific the spell, the more powerful it seems to be.”
“Yes, all right.” Mariz held out his hand again, the leaves piled in his palm. “Meum tegimen pro Kaille, ex verbasco et marrubio et betonica evocatum.” My warding over Kaille, conjured from mullein, horehound, and betony.