Ghost Omens Read Online Free

Komnene used to prepare. Maybe it was a smoke bomb.” She shook her head. “Or maybe he was so drugged out of his mind that he thought it was a smoke bomb.”
    “Drugged?” I said. That explained the glassy eyes, the dilated pupils...and the frothing madness that made them think a dead Emperor had commanded them to kill us. 
    Levinius returned with a length of rope, and Halfdan and Corvalis went to work, binding the stunned captives before they regained their wits. Caina occupied herself by moving from man to man, examining them and smelling their breath. I had seen firsthand how she deduced secrets from the smallest details, and I wondered if she would find anything on the men.
    “Not drunk, then,” she muttered. “Would smell it on their breath, otherwise. They’ve been near the mortuary temple, though, recently.”
    “How did you know?” I said.
    She pointed at their feet. “The dust on the boots. The temple’s hill is granite, but most of the town is built on sand.” She grinned. “I suppose it is just like a magus not to notice the obvious.”
    “If you say so,” I said, stung. 
    “I do,” said Caina, straightening up. “The magi are the cause of everything that is wrong in the Empire. Maybe these men were mind-controlled, driven to attack us like beasts goaded by a barbed whip.” She glared at me. “Maybe you did it. You betrayed us in Catekharon. Why not betray us here?”
    I flinched. “I didn’t. I’ve never seen these men. And I’ve never set foot in Mors Septimus before today.”
    Her anger frightened me. I had only ever seen her angry, truly angry, once before, when I had convinced Corvalis to side with Mihaela. 
    And that anger had been justified, given how Mihaela had almost killed us all.
    “Damned magus,” spat Caina. “Damned magus! I should have killed you in Catekharon! I should have let Mihaela feed you into her damned Forge!”
    Levinius blinked at her.
    Halfdan looked up, frowning. “Daughter, this is hardly the place to discuss such things.”
    “It is their fault!” said Caina, her voice rising to a shriek. “They killed my father! They did this to me!” Her blue eyes, cold no longer, turned to me. “The magi have killed so many...and I will not rest until they are stopped! Until you pay for what you have done!”
    She yanked a knife and lunged...and realized that she was going to kill me. 
    I reacted on sheer panic and flung out my hands, summoning raw arcane power and unleashing it in a psychokinetic blast. The spell knocked Caina off-balance, and she fell to one knee with a growl. She glared at me, lips pulled back from her teeth in a snarl, her eyes glittering with fury.
    Her dilated eyes.
    Halfdan and Corvalis stared at her, shocked.
    “The powder!” I said. “The powder was a drug!”
    Caina launched herself at me with a scream.
    Halfdan caught her right hand and twisted, and the knife fell from her fingers. She spun around at him, her free hand flying for his face, but Corvalis caught her other arm. Together they held her fast, even as she fought and shouted.
    “Let me go!” she snarled, “let me go, she deserves it, she is a magus, she deserves to die, she deserves…”
    Maybe I did. I wondered if the drug was a poison, if it would drive her mad until it killed her. Then I remembered something I had learned at the Motherhouse in Artifel.
    “Mustard,” I said.
    “What?” said Halfdan.
    I ignored him and looked at Levinius. “Do you have any mustard?”
    “Yes,” he said. “An entire pot. Why…”
    “Bring it here!” I said. “Now, quickly! Run!”
    He scurried away. Caina cursed at him, jerking against Corvalis and Halfdan.
    “I trust you have an idea?” said Halfdan.
    “I think so,” I said. “Father was always terrified of poison. So he kept a jar of raw mustard in his office in case he was ever poisoned. If he was…”
    “He would eat enough of the mustard to make him vomit,” said Corvalis, “which would purge the drug from his