“Everything. The power becomes easier to access, so anything you want to do with it becomes easier, too.”
I stared at her for a moment, stunned at the very thought. The wonderful, wonderful thought of being able to use my power without wanting to throw up afterward. Or being so exhausted I was staggering. Or getting killed because I was tapped out at the wrong time.
Like when someone’s life hung in the balance.
“They probably want it to even the score,” Rhea said softly. “They’re not as strong as you. Or even as strong as Myra,” she added, talking about Agnes’ former heir, who, thankfully, was no longer a problem.
Unlike this group.
“So how strong are they?” I whispered, my eyes on the bottle in the acolyte’s hand. “Like right now, for instance?”
“I don’t know.” She bit her lip. “Without the Tears, probably all five wouldn’t even equal Myra’s abilities.”
“And with them?”
She didn’t say anything.
Yeah, okay. Now I really wanted that potion. Not that that was looking too likely.
“You’re war mages,” the redhead was saying. “Figure it out! Or I’ll be sure to tell the master exactly who it was who let him down.”
“Stop threatening me,” the big mage warned.
“Then stop giving me a reason! Open the safe and you’ll get what you deserve. Fail . . . and the same is true.”
The big mage said a bad word. And then he looked at the smaller one. “Go get that son of a bitch.”
“Which one?”
“What do you mean, which one?” He gave him a shove. “The one we left in the stairwell!”
“What are you talking about?” the acolyte said sharply.
The mage shrugged. “One of the old bastards they got guarding this place was going out when we were coming in. He saw us, so we had to put him out of commission.”
“Put him . . .” The acolyte looked dumbfounded. “What am I supposed to do when someone notices he’s missing?”
“That’s your problem—”
“I’m making it yours!”
“What do you care? You have to get out of here soon anyway. New sheriff in town, isn’t there?”
One of the other women cursed, but the redhead stayed on point. “We can’t leave yet! We won’t have everything in place until the end of the week!”
“Then say you don’t know. Say he went somewhere. Or don’t say any damn thing at all and let them figure it—”
The door slammed back open. “Will somebody fucking help me already?” the smaller mage gasped. “He weighs a ton!”
He was also fighting, a gray-haired old man with blood on his face and a great well of it blooming on his left side. He could barely breathe, but he was fighting.
Until one of the mages hit him in his wound, and he suddenly went white and limp.
Rhea gripped my arm when I jerked. “Lady—”
“I’m not going to do anything stupid,” I whispered harshly.
Rhea didn’t look like she believed me. “Part of an acolyte’s training is how to pull out of time freezes,” she told me grimly.