Dark Apprentice (Fall of Magic, #1) by Val Neil -- Starting June 5th 2021

[Jenn]

A psychopathic wizard. An immortal mage. An epic battle of wills.

Nikolai doesn’t want much out of life: sex, immortality, and the power to disembowel anyone who crosses him. But with dark magic forbidden, his only option is Medea–a mage so deadly even the Enforcers give her a wide berth. Despite dire warnings that her apprentices don’t survive, Nikolai won’t stop until she agrees to train him. After all, he’s a killer himself.

Barbaric and brutal, the training is a far cry from what Nikolai expects. When a mysterious illness strikes Nikolai down, he suspects he’s found the secret to Medea’s longevity. He resolves to find out what happened to her previous apprentices. If he can locate the source of her power, he can turn it against her.

Medea swore off training dark wizards–none of them take the craft seriously and the ungrateful bastards always try to kill her. This one definitely seems the backstabbing type, but magic is dying out and she hasn’t felt such magical strength in centuries. If she can control the boy, show him that magic is more than curses and necromancy, he might obtain the power he desires. If not, well . . .

What’s one more dead apprentice?

[Vippi]

Hi! I am a bit late on my schedule... I will start within a few days. Sorry for the delay!

[Trisha (semi-hiatus)]

Vippi wrote: "Hi! I am a bit late on my schedule... I will start within a few days. Sorry for the delay!"

I'll be starting a bit late too, so no worries!

[Trisha (semi-hiatus)]

Started some time back up to 38%(view spoiler)[I really don't think she's dosing him....I think it's possible it might be something of his own, like a condition?
I also didn't completely understand what she meant with the whole 'souls have self preservation' thing, does that mean that she's using the power of her opponents, or that she's using the environment to power her spells? (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha (semi-hiatus)]

64%
(view spoiler)[I am absolutely loving this, and I don't even get why. I don't even know whether I hate Nikolai or just put up with him, in a way. And now that Medea thinks that he's actually doing stuff because it was meaningful, aka Fahrenheit 451 (I thought it was 1984 when he first heard about it, but I get both of them frequently mixed up, and haven't read either), and he doesn't even know why she's doing it XD
I also want to know more about this curse, and at times I want to slap Nikolai for not guessing what Medea is clearly laying out clues for him. (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha (semi-hiatus)]

91%
(view spoiler)[If, for one second, Nikolai could believe, or even entertain the notion that so many things that he dismisses as useless might actually be useful, like the boiling water, healing, and the mounds of other helpful stuff she does but he interprets as her trying to kill him. (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha (semi-hiatus)]

100%
(view spoiler)[I absolutely loved this! Glad to see Nikolai finally sees that Medea was not out to get him, and I'm hoping that in future books Nikolai ends up accepting Medea as an ally. Hopefully they'll take over the world together ;) (hide spoiler)]