“But…the soulless cannot procreate,” he muttered.
Usan’s only response was to quirk his eyebrows in a query.
Blaise just stared. His brain seemed to have become disabled, as if the information was so powerful it caused a circuit overload. Suddenly, one clear thought streamed through his consciousness.
Isi. Maybe it was easier to accept the truth—whatever that truth was—from a peer versus Usan.
Isi was the link to Saint, and to valuable information. Isi had showed some improvement in the last few days, and even had spoken a few words in a thin, raspy voice. Aubrey advised against using any type of telepathy on him in order to gain information, saying Isi was too vulnerable at the present time. But in time, Isi would heal. He’d be able to tell Blaise some of the secrets Saint wanted him to understand. Somehow, Blaise had come to believe Saint possessed the answers he needed for this conundrum with Isabel. Isi held the key—
“Isi?” Usan asked, sitting up straighter. Too late, Blaise realized he’d been so thunderstruck by Usan’s news, he hadn’t taken care to guard his thoughts from the Magian. “Are you referring to Isi, who is one of Saint’s Iniskium warriors?”
Blaise did a double-take when he noticed the shock on the Magian’s face. He had never seen Usan look surprised at anything. Never.
“Isi is here…in London?” Usan demanded.
Blaise knew it was too late to deny it. Usan had already claimed the truth from his mind. “I’m shocked you didn’t know before,” he said. “I forbid you to see him. Morshiel and the revenants nearly murdered him. He’s been recovering, but slowly. Usan,” Blaise bellowed when Usan turned and headed toward the door.
“It should have been impossible for Isi to come to London,” Usan said, pausing. “The change in Saint’s nature has made the impossible possible, it seems. The princes’ followers have never before been able to leave their sire’s territory. Nature has taken yet another unforeseen path. I will not place an obstacle in this particular alteration.”
“What do you mean?” Blaise shouted.
He was destined to continue to be frustrated, however. The Magian strode swiftly toward the exit, his strange robes billowing out behind him. As he grew closer to the door, he faded from view. Blaise was left standing there alone.
The Old Man really did make it his mission to bewilder and infuriate him at every turn.
In the midst of his chaotic thoughts, he sensed Isabel awaken in her bed. He paused, his face turned toward her even though walls and a great distance separated them.
Isabel is pregnant. You are the father, Blaise.
A sweat broke out on his brow.
Do not believe it, he warned himself. Humans would have said miracles abounded in Blaise’s world, but for him, life was an endless, gray duty. Isabel had lit up his world with her presence, showed him a whole new spectrum of color, infusing his world with life.
>
Her presence was all the miracle a being like him could ever hope for. The fact that she wanted to touch him, that she curled into his arms like a contented kitten when he went to her, still remained a matter of pure amazement to him.
He sat down on the couch, and placed his forehead in his hand. His body seemed to strain toward Isabel while his mind kept recalling in vivid detail the malaise that consumed her, the illness he had caused. Usan was right about one thing—he could not leave her now. He would continue to try and comprehend these inexplicable events, but he must endeavor to stay away from Isabel until he was more certain of what was happening. He would go to her only as Royal, for she still had not made the heinous realization that he and the animal were one.
As for Usan’s claim in regard to her pregnancy, the news tore at his consciousness.
Miracles didn’t exist, and certainly not for creatures such as he. Recalling the stunned look on Usan’s face caused a worm of sick anxiety to squirm in his gut.
If Usan was worried, Blaise had a thousandfold reason to be.
Chapter Fourteen
Aubrey had recommended to Blaise that the crystal be stored in the apex of Sanctuary—at the very tip of the pyramid, where the power from the earth was the strongest. The apex room had always been a comfortable retreat where the Literati liked to go to relax and meditate. He often went near dawn, when the rest of the Literati slept. That, and the magical ward he placed on the door, assured his privacy while he performed his rituals.
It wasn’t a church, of course, but considering how aware the Literati were of the earth’s sublime soul, it made sense that this room, which burrowed down farther than any other, would be held in special regard. Now that the crystal was housed in the apex room, it made the location a hundred times more powerful.
Aubrey chanted the ancient words and inhaled the pungent scent of incense into his nose. Summoning a demon was always tricky magic, but tonight the challenge was exponentially greater. It was the first time he’d attempted the spell within Sanctuary’s magical protection.
He opened his eyes, breaking his deep trance when he finally felt her presence beside him.
“I’ve been watching you,” Shirian’s voice whispered in his ear.
He smiled, despite her taunting tone. A thrill of excitement coursed through him. He’d done it. His spells had allowed Shirian to enter Sanctuary.