and we got it. Jaxson Laurent said that the Order should take it, but seeing as
I don’t know them from Adam, and since Kahanov is bent on using it to cut
out my soul, I thought I would ask you where the safest place to keep it
would be.”
My family might be mild lunatics and weapons manufacturers, but they
had been fiercely loyal to me. My aunt would know what to do.
She leaned forward and inspected the knife. “May I?”
I nodded in assent.
She picked up the blade and turned it over slowly in her hands. “Very
interesting. And dangerous.”
I bit my lip. “To be clear, I’m not asking you to hide it in the house. I’m
certain Kahanov will come looking for it, and I don’t want you two or Uncle
Pete to be in danger. I’m just looking for advice.”
She put the blade back on the table. “I have a place, but the Order’s vault
is more secure. Rumor has it that it’s absolutely impregnable.”
I stared down at the wicked blade. I could feel the wrongness of it with
every nerve in my body. It wasn’t just that Kahanov was probably going to
use it to sever my soul—the blade itself was evil, I was certain of it.
I reached out but stopped my hand. “Actually, is there any way we could
destroy it…maybe feed it to the Sphere of Devouring?”
My aunt smiled sadly. “That’s a very good idea, but I’m afraid it’s
extremely hard to destroy an artifact like this. It’s not ephemeral like a spell
—it’s magic made manifest. But I think I have a better idea of where to put
it.”
“Where?”
She picked up the knife by the blade and handed it hilt-first to me. “Right
in your hands. I imagine, considering what you’ve accomplished already, that
this is the safest place.”
I kept my hands on the table and didn’t move a muscle to take it. “No
offense, Aunt Laurel, but that’s a terrible plan. He’ll just take it from me. It’s