The Legendborn Cycle, #3
Oathbound
by Tracy Deonn
Contents
Chapter 31
Overview
Bree successfully reaches Mikael’s basement and disables surveillance long enough to subdue a warlock guard, proving how far Erebus’s training has sharpened her stealth and combat. Her theft attempt is derailed by a blackout and the arrival of another masked thief, whose ability to dissolve Bree’s root constructs undermines Bree’s confidence in her supposed invulnerability. The chapter ends with a major mystery: the thief knows Bree by name, suggesting a hidden connection and turning the crown heist into a direct personal threat.
Summary
Bree reaches Mikael’s basement by elevator and relies on Elijah’s drilled knowledge of the estate layout to move quickly. Using a handheld mirror, Bree sends purple root smoke into the hallway to cover the security cameras, copying a technique Erebus once used. Bree remembers Erebus’s warning that Mikael and his warlocks cannot easily sense her aether if she uses it sparingly and out of sight, but Bree knows the camera interference gives her only a short window.
Bree follows the carpeted hall toward the storage rooms and spots a warlock guard outside the room holding the auction items. Treating the encounter as another test of Erebus’s training, Bree attacks from low to the ground and strikes the guard’s knees with root. Bree traps the guard in a protective sphere, but the barrier also cuts off his air, forcing Bree to drag him into an empty room and collapse the construct before the guard suffocates. Bree confirms the guard is alive but unconscious, then hides his earpiece and phone.
Bree breaks through the keypad and searches the dusty storage room, but the ordinary boxes and crates make Bree suspect the crown is not there. Bree notices a nearly hidden door and enters a cleaner, more secure display room full of labeled artifacts, gems, glass cases, and velvet boxes. Before Bree can search properly, the power goes out throughout the estate, emergency red light comes on, and footsteps approach.
A masked, broad-shouldered thief enters with a flashlight and begins searching the shelves, apparently after something specific. Bree hides, then attacks while the thief is distracted. The two fight fiercely in the dark, each trying to stay quiet enough not to alert the chaos upstairs; the thief proves unusually fast and strong, and Bree eventually calls up her root to break his hold.
When Bree attacks with root-powered fists and weapons, the thief reveals a startling ability: he can extinguish or dissolve Bree’s constructs with his hands, reducing blades and weapons to purple fragments. Bree keeps escalating, but the thief repeatedly counters her magic and throws her back. After a final grapple, the lights return, revealing a young man with blue eyes behind the mask; he orders Bree to stop, recognizes her by name, and leaves Bree stunned as Bree asks who he is.
Who Appears
- BreeInfiltrates Mikael’s basement, subdues a guard, searches for the crown, and battles a mysterious thief.
- Unidentified masked thiefBreaks into the artifact room, fights Bree, dissolves her root constructs, and recognizes her name.
- Warlock guardGuards the auction storage room until Bree traps, nearly suffocates, and hides him unconscious.
- ErebusAppears through Bree’s memories as her Bloodcraft mentor and source of tactical guidance.
- ElijahReferenced as the person who forced Bree to memorize Mikael’s estate layout.
- MikaelOwner of the estate and auction; his security and cameras shape Bree’s infiltration risks.
- ZoeBree’s infiltration partner upstairs, whom Bree must return to after the basement mission.