LISA

With Ava out to purify the large mass of corruption she calls a taint, and Lucas busy being Alpha, I''ve been stuck in Kellan''s cabin, surrounded by ten werewolves in tactical gear and impassive faces.

They don''t talk, no matter how much I try to be friendly to them. Maybe they''re the kind of wolves who don''t like humans. Or maybe they''re just really professional.

They aren''t holding me hostage or anything, though, so I learn to ignore them. Eventually they follow me to the Grand Sage''s cabin.

Thick gray smoke curls from his chimney, letting me know that it will at least be warm inside. Maybe no tea or food, though. Ever since Elverly''s been working in the kitchen to feed the pack, his cabin''s turned into a bit of a bachelor pad.

My boots crunch on the path to his home, shoveled free of feet of snow thanks to someone Kellan assigned to the task during the last round of snowfall.

I duck through the doorway into blessed warmth.

Only two of my guards follow me inside. The others spread out around the cabin''s perimeter like silent shadows in tactical gear. At least I won''t have ten pairs of eyes boring into my back while I''m in here.

Hopefully they know to keep their mouths shut, too. Almost no one knows the Grand Sage is actually a gnome. Everyone just thinks of him as the eccentric Dr. Blackwell.

The two who entered position themselves by the door, weapons at the ready. Their faces remain impassive, but I catch the slight wrinkle of their noses. The Grand Sage''s cabin smells like a mix of burning metal, ozone, and something vaguely medicinal.

It''s ever-changing, depending on what he''s working on.

"I was angry. Very angry. I wanted to see her burn, and I wanted her to die miserably." Now that I''m so far removed from the moment, it''s crazy to me that I could have that level of anger toward another person. Even someone who hurt my friend.

"Are you sure I can''t use magic? Because that didn''t feel normal. It felt like... like that power came from me, not just the brace."

"Unfortunately, no. You cannot generate or manipulate magic. However, your magical affinity can influence certain bondings, such as with your brace."

"Bonding?" I pounce on that word. It''s his second time using it now. "You never told me I was bonded with it before." Or he did, and it was lost in all the words he likes to use when he gets excited. It''s certainly a possibility.

"Ah, perhaps I should clarify." He sets down his quill to regard me with a thoughtful stare. "It''s not a bond like what you''ve seen between mates or pack bonds. Think of it as a natural reaction. The brace becomes sensitive to its wearer over time, affected by mental state and purpose."

"But how does that work if I can''t use magic?" Magitech is already something way over my head. The fact that some of my blood can power a magical item is already bonkers. Having something that can somehow read my mind is crazier still. It was already weird to me that visualizing what I wanted out of my brace would cause that shape to materialize; this is on a whole different level.

"While you cannot release the magic within your blood, what exists in your body can still be affected by you. In fact, there was actually a fascinating case in history—a Fae-blessed human woman who transformed her blood into a type of poison. She became a walking toxin. No one fully understood how she managed it, but she became a much sought-after assassin. I hear she was beautiful, too."

My stomach turns. "That''s disgusting." I stare at the brace with new wariness. "Wait, are you saying this thing has some kind of sentience? Because that''s creepy as hell." Artificial intelligence, but with magic.

The Grand Sage chuckles. "No, no. Not sentience. Think of it more as an extension of your arm. It responds to your intent, your emotions, just as your muscles respond to your brain''s signals."

"That''s... not as comforting as you probably think it is."

"Yes, I suppose it wouldn''t be."