The manacles and the chain between my wrists hinder every movement as I pile a collection on the desk. I don’t know why Flanagan bothered to order me chained again. It’s not like I could ever overwhelm little Laasya, even if I wanted to. It’s all for that Belanger woman’s sake.

The last book on my pile carries the title Valentin Sabel. The Son of Three Species. Another biography. Quinton’s certainly prolific.

“Flanagan told me the Warlock’s daughters were executed,” I say, not sure why that should occur to me.

Laasya stands after retrieving a massive grimoire from the bottom shelf. She slaps it on top of her others and swipes her hands to clear the dust. “Yes. Thank the Goddess.” Her response surprises me.

“Isn’t that a bit harsh? It’s not like children are at fault for their parents’ power-crazy antics. Or were they as unhinged as their father?”

She shrugs. “They were teenagers when General Belanger killed them. He caught them on the run to the temple and killed both girls on sight.”

I stare at her, dumbfounded. “So they were murdered?”

“They were executed. A cross-species law was agreed after the war that all Sabel children of either gender should be terminated on sight without trial.”

“That’s barbaric.”

“Well, yes, I suppose it is. But the supernatural world produces very dangerous creatures, and the law needs to be clear-cut about dealing with them. The infamous Anlu’kyr experiments—feeding Sabel-bloodline Whisperers with Jade water—produced the most dangerous creatures of all. We don’t want another zombie-raising Warlock.” She grabs a new fat tome from a shelf and rifles through its pages.

I stare at my pile of books while I process her words. Seems to me the Warlock was as much a victim as a perpetrator if he was experimented on and fed something against his will. “What’s Jade water?”

She thumps another book onto her pile. “Waters from the Jade Lake. Renowned for gifting whoever drinks them with immortality and exponential power. Sounds great, but most of the crazy people who drink the waters die. The rest go quite mad.”

“Or turn into megalomaniacs,” I add, and she chuckles. “What’re you looking up?” I ask her.

“I’m trying to find a precedent for dealing with the Blood Call. A spell that might free you from Alexei’s influence.”

“You think there is such a thing?” I’m not sure how I feel about being spelled, but freedom from a lifetime under Alexei’s yoke sounds good.”

“Mind training will probably give you your best chance, but there might be something to reduce the strength of Alexei’s pull. A talisman maybe or a brew of some kind. Councilor Quinton will come up with something. I’m sure of it.”

“Of course you are,” I say with a wink.

She wrinkles her nose at me.