Free Heritage: Book Three of the Grimoire Saga by S. M. Boyce Page B

blood on the hallway wall and followed it inside. It wrapped around the doorframe and slid to the carpet. Halfway up the wall and shy of the smear was a bloodstain the size of a torso. Drip lines covered the stain, blurring its edges.
    Kara’s stomach clenched. She gasped and took a step back. The rug dipped, and she fell back into the wall behind her. She spread her arms to regain her balance.
    Black soot marred the rug beneath her feet. Melted fibers formed an oval a quarter inch lower than the rest of the floor. Rays of burnt carpet stretched away from the burn spot like light glinting off a lake. Kara glanced back to the bloodstain and took a stunned step forward. Her foot landed in the middle of the burnt carpet. Gold dust sprang from under her feet.
    She cursed and shuffled toward the bed. Despite everything she already witnessed, this had to be something she wouldn’t want to see. She cringed as the dust enveloped her. It was too late to escape the memory now.
    The room brightened—not only from the golden glow of Agneon’s memory, but also from an influx of sunlight that didn’t exist in Kara’s time. Everything in her grandparents’ old room reset itself. The flowers on the floor bloomed and jumped back into their vase. Droplets of water split away from the dark spot on the carpet and filled the pot, all before the vase returned to the dresser. The soot in the carpet dissolved. Wrinkles appeared in the bedspread, and a corner flipped back to reveal the sheets. A curtain opened, letting in more light.
    Agneon appeared beside Kara, standing on the once-scorched carpet. He frowned and yelled at the wall near the bloodstain.
    Miriam appeared as well, her frown just as deep as her husband’s. Her red hair curled around her face, and she yelled right back. “Ellen will not become a tool!”
    “You’re not listening, woman!” Agneon shouted.
    “I have done nothing but listen for fourteen years! I listened to your stories of how Niccoli shoved you into battle. I listened as you confessed to all those murders. How many thousands have you killed? Hundreds of thousands? It’s effortless to you, and it will be effortless to Ellen when she’s old enough to survive being awoken as an isen. Niccoli won’t let her live a normal life. He will make her a slave, just like you!”
    Agneon reeled back as if she had slapped him in the face. Kara bit her lip—that had been a low blow.
    “You think I don’t know that?” he asked.
    Miriam grimaced. Tears poured from the corners of her eyes. “Of course you know that. But you don’t care! We aren’t safe here, Agneon! Niccoli is biding his time until Ellen is old enough to turn. He’ll be unstoppable if he controls you both. Let me take her some place safe!”
    Agneon tightened his fists. “Niccoli knows where you are, and that’s the only thing keeping either of you safe. I know what he wants, and I have a plan to protect you both. But you have to be patient! Our family’s safety depends on him keeping tabs on Ellen. On me. The moment either of us disappear, he will kill you!”
    “I don’t care. All I want is for Ellen to be safe.”
    “I don’t have a choice, Miriam!” Agneon screamed.
    Green light pulsed once along his skin, much like it did in the memory attached to the medallion where he’d killed so many Kirelm soldiers. It flickered over his arms like lightning, but Miriam didn’t seem to notice his anger. She took a step closer.
    “My parents will look after her. Niccoli doesn’t know where I came from. When he tries to find us, he won’t know where to look. My plan will work!”
    “I have a plan, Miriam, but I need you to trust me.”
    “You’ve had eleven years. I think that’s enough time. What’s to stop Niccoli from turning her when she’s fifteen? Twelve? What’s to stop him from taking her now? I can’t let my baby become a monster!”
    Both Kara and Agneon flinched at the insult.
    “JUST LISTEN!” Agneon roared.
    The green light