Magic's Divide

by Serena Lindahl

  Alec nodded. “Yes. She’s high level in every subject. Anatomy, chemistry, physics, coding, engineering - you name it.” Pride oozed from him, and Eden questioned why.

  “But that’s nearly unheard of,” Jenira argued. “Even my sister has a subject she can’t master. For her, it’s physics. She hates it and has difficulty grasping it despite her ultimate mastery of every other subject.”

  Alec shrugged. “According to the standard tests, that’s what I’ve found. I don’t know how well she’d do with any real-world application without schooling or the background knowledge to support her, but she’s definitely a techie.”

  Eden sighed. While it was fun to sit here and play ‘guess the emotion,’ she was tired of them talking about her like she wasn’t present. But Alec was right. She had no experience with magic or tech and couldn’t offer anything worth saying. She glanced at Gideon. He had been strangely silent throughout the conversation. He perched serenely on the mantle, his eyes nearly closed. She might have thought they were boring him to sleep if she couldn’t sense how aware his mind was. He was listening and interested but had nothing to add. She pushed aside her frustration and waited for the story to continue.

  Alena continued. “While the mystery of the locket and Eden’s status as a Magitech are important factors, they aren’t the most pressing issues.” Eden felt Alena’s stress and exhaustion flood the room and had an overwhelming urge to comfort her. She slid her hand closer to Alena, and the older woman grasped it absently. “I went into the precinct this morning to file some paperwork and the chief called me in. He told me Eden’s apartment building had burnt down, and they suspect a mage is responsible. One of the tech students that lived downstairs was burnt severely; his father is screaming for a mage’s head on a stake. They want to bring Eden in for questioning. Since her magic is free now, she’ll be suspect. She’s a felon, now, and the government will find it extremely interesting how she managed to test talentless all her life. Add in that she’s a Magitech, and she will become a science experiment. Also, I am convinced that the people after Eden are not backing down. The entire thing might be a ploy to get her in a place where they can kidnap her.”

  Silence filled the room. Davin stared at nothing. At some point, he had taken Jenira’s hand. She held it while their emotions turned. Eden had sensed the fear in her the moment Alena had mentioned the necklace, and it hadn’t left her. Davin was harder to read. She wagered the combination of his tech and magic made his emotions more complicated and harder to identify.

  “Can we see the necklace?” Jenira asked.

  Eden shifted uncomfortably, not liking the warrior woman’s mindset. Without looking, she could feel Alec sharing another concerned look with Alena. Eden’s eyes narrowed as she studied Jenira’s aura. There was something there…she nearly crowed with relief when she caught it, like a fly buzzing around in the air between them. She hesitated only a moment. These people were getting her entire life story; they could at least share their fears with her.

  “The necklace scares you,” Eden said slowly. “You’ve been frightened recently by something similar.” She flinched after the words were spoken. She hadn’t thought it would sound so…weird. Jenira’s eyes were bright blue glass as she studied her. It was amazing how two people with similarly colored eyes could look so different. Alec’s gaze was always soft and inviting, but Jenira’s was the opposite.

  “Mind reader?” Jenira questioned, her aura offended.

  Eden laughed. “No.”

  “Emotion reader,” Alena answered.

  Davin’s brows rose, but Jenira nodded. “I knew an emotion reader in the village where I grew up. As an old woman, she could practically read thoughts because she’d had so much experience deciphering feelings. Emotion readers and mind readers are very similar, actually. It also explains why our shields mean nothing; it’s almost impossible to shield against an emotion reader.”

  Intelligent woman, Gideon murmured. The first words he’d spoken since the new mages had arrived nearly shocked Eden into jumping, but her mind was elsewhere. She didn’t want to be a mind reader; it sounded like a horrible gift. Gideon looked at her with something akin to sympathy, and she had an awful premonition. She pushed the idea away before she could consider it more thoroughly.

  Jenira continued, oblivious to the silent communication. “The necklace does scare me.” She looked at Davin, a question in her eyes. He nodded briefly. “A couple weeks ago, my sister was kidnapped in an attempt to lure me out of hiding. The mage that kidnapped my sister was wearing a necklace that shielded his magic. He had a techie device that did something horrible to my magic. Since I couldn’t shield against it, the fracturing of my magic paralyzed my body. I was almost killed.” Eden gasped. She couldn’t imagine anyone getting the better of this woman.

  “This necklace isn’t quite the same, but…” Alena started but stopped with a shudder. Her hand tightened on Eden’s.

  “There’s something very wrong with it,” Eden continued. “It feels evil. Alec had it in his office this morning, and I couldn’t stand to be in the same room. When I was wearing it, I couldn’t feel it, but after it came off…” she mimicked Alena’s shiver. “I don’t want to be around it,” she said in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

  “Then you shouldn’t have to be. I can look at it with Alec later,” Davin said, finally rousing from his thoughts. “Jenira will have to join us since she was the only one that saw the other necklace, but if it affects the mages so strongly, they should be kept away.”

  Alena nodded. “I agree.”

  “Do you have any idea who might be following Eden?” he asked Alena.

  “No. My first thought was that it might be a techie cult that hates and hunts mages. Stories of them were passed down to me from my mother and father, but this seems different. They seemed more fanatic than organized, and they couldn’t know about Eden’s magic.”

  Davin considered her words. “I have heard of this group. That was always my understanding; they are a disorganized bunch. I don’t know why they’d have an interest in a Magitech. The mage that targeted Jenira admitted he was part of a larger organization. They were responsible for the mage killings that you may have heard of in the news recently. He told Jenira he was working with techies to take over the tech world, but we think there’s something larger happening. I think we’re looking at techies and mages working together.”

  “And Magitechs,” Eden said, surprising everyone, even herself. She looked at Davin. “I mean if I exist and you exist.” She stopped. Davin’s emotions struck her abruptly, although the anger was directed toward Alec. “No one told me you are,” she explained quickly, defending Alec from the huge man’s rage. “I can tell by looking at your magic. I can sense techies, too.”

  Davin’s brows rose. “You can sense techies? What about mundanes?” Eden almost laughed. It was similar to Alena’s line of questioning. His rage morphed into techie curiosity seamlessly.

  “I haven’t met a mundane since my magic was released. Techies, like you and Alec, are soft and gray. Well, he’s softer than you are,” she amended. Davin seemed to think this was funny and smirked at Alec. She chalked it up as a guy thing and moved on, eager to say what she was thinking. “About what I was saying…if there’s the two of us, there are probably more. Maybe there’s a Magitech playing both sides. He, or she, can appear to the techies like a techie and to the mages like a mage. He could be promising both sides the same thing and bringing them together in a plan to pit them against each other in the future. I don’t know what they’re trying to accomplish, but it’s possible.”

  Davin was nodding. “I guess I’m not as unique as I thought,” he said. Jenira seemed to find that amusing but didn’t say anything. “Eden has a point. We can’t guess the motives of our enemies clearly, which makes fighting back hard. I assume if they wanted Eden dead that would have been easy?”

  Eden swallowed hard. She had gotten used to the idea of a stalker. The possibility of
someone wanting to kill her was entirely different. Alena didn’t look surprised by the question though. “I believe that’s correct. She could have been killed easily while in the mundane world. The locket didn’t seem to place any protection spells on her body, just on its removal. We have to assume they want her for something.”

  “We’ll need to look at the locket. I can’t honestly say what we can do to help at this point, though. Do you know the name of the techie that’s gunning for Eden?”

  “The kid’s dad? Sure. It’s Guthrie.”

  Jenira and Davin shared a look Eden didn’t miss. Davin sighed. “If it’s the same Guthrie I know, he has some clout among the techie elite, and he’s a known mage hater. But I can take care of him and convince him to look the other way. We’ll decide the next course of action after that.”

  Eden didn’t understand the meaning behind the look he shared with Jenira. He seemed concerned over several things and had far more on his mind than the necklace and the emergence of another Magitech. Once she was less frightened of Davin, she’d like to ask him why he hid his Magitech nature, and why he was so concerned about keeping it secret. She understood why Alec was scared for her, but Davin already had money, a reputation, and considerable influence in the techie world. If he was frightened of his secret being revealed, even with those advantages, maybe she should take the threat more seriously.

  “Might as well look at that locket before dinner, then,” Alec said, standing up and stretching. Eden averted her eyes from the lean muscles rippling beneath his t-shirt, releasing Alena’s hand and grabbing the last cookie. She had eaten several cookies already, and she wasn’t sure she was hungry, but Bette wouldn’t allow her to skip. Alena and Alec shared a glance which Jenira caught easily.

  “Is your house br- uh - mage particular about meal times?” Jenira’s eyes sparkled. Alec grinned, revealing the dimple Eden adored.

  “Yes, she is, especially dinner. She’ll let you know if you’re welcome to join us. She has probably already made up her mind,” Alena said.

  “If her cooking is anything like her baking, I wouldn’t mind,” Davin said, surprising Eden. Bette could tame a beast with her food. She would have to keep that in mind. He and Jenira nodded to Eden, and they left the room in search of the locket. Eden leaned back in the settee with an exhausted huff. So much had happened. She welcomed the shielding power of the sitting room, free from all the swirling magic, thoughts, and emotions. Peace, for just a moment.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Alena

  Alena led Alec and the two mages up the stairs. She felt better about their presence in the house. They did seem to want to help. Despite being one of the most famous techie Elites in the East, Davin seemed to be as much mage as techie; maybe even more.

  She was concerned he and Jenira might think Eden had something to do with the mage killings because of the necklace similarities, but they would have to see she’d been an innocent pawn since a small child. Even if Davin could take care of the techie trying to blame Eden, that was the least of their worries. If a powerful Magitech were leading a two-sided campaign, it would mean war and complete chaos. She had been raised to distrust Magitechs. Despite Eden and Davin being sane, she didn’t know what to expect, and the lack of control irritated her further.

  Alec broke off from the group to retrieve the necklace as Alena led the mages toward Alec’s office. Alena was halfway there when Charity skipped out of a room. Alena rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. She had suspected a similar event but hoped Charity would prove her wrong. She kept expecting the young woman to be as mature as Eden since they were so close in age. Eden had matured faster, accepting the lessons of her tough life. Charity might never learn.

  “Oh, Alena,” Charity exhaled breathily, batting her eyelashes at Davin who stood just behind Alena. “The twins were wondering when they could come in from outside.” It was a sorry excuse for interrupting them.

  “They can come in whenever they want,” Alena said. Now, she worried more about her visitors than her charges. She didn’t want to sic the nosy teenagers on Davin and Jenira.

  Charity barely waited for the words to come out of her mouth. “Oh my. Are you Dr. Rennert? Whatsoever are you doing at a mage house?” Her voice was pure innocence, cultivated to be perfectly persuasive. She pouted her perfectly shaped, glossy lips and batted her eyelashes again.

  “He’s an old friend of Alec’s. Now, run along and tell the girls they can start getting ready for dinner.” There was an edge to Alena’s voice. Charity heard it but still intensified her pretty pout. Alena turned halfway to watch Jenira step out from Davin’s shadow. Nearly a foot taller than Charity and with twice the muscle, Jenira didn’t even need to give Charity a dirty look. Charity’s light blue eyes widened and flashed down to the daggers wrapped around Jenira’s thighs, then the scar bisecting her cheek. The smile she directed at the younger girl wasn’t a nice one. There was a predator in that smile, and Charity, thankfully, received the message.

  “Yes, I’ll go see if the girls are ready,” she said, all artifice gone. With one last look at both visitors, she squeezed past them and ran down the stairs. Alena opened the door to Alec’s office.

  “Sorry about that,” she said as soon as they were inside the room. “Charity’s gift is persuasion, and she uses every opportunity to practice it. I wish I were nearly as good at getting her to run off as you are,” she told Jenira with a wry smile. “The girl hangs on Alec like a flea sometimes.”

  Davin laughed, a deep and dark sound that matched his appearance. “I imagine Alec has a difficult time with that. He’s always been a shy one.”

  Alena nodded. Jenira placed a hand on Davin’s arm. “It’s for her own good that she ran off. Davin would eat a girl like that for breakfast.” Davin and Jenira shared a smile. Alena wouldn’t be surprised if it were true.

  “How many mages do you have here right now?” Davin asked curiously, looking around the office.

  Alena counted in her head. “Three teenagers, three young adults, and Eden. That’s not counting the staff, Bette, Alec, and me. This room has similar protections as the sitting room. They aren’t as strong, but similar enough that anything we say in here will stay in here. Bette also has precautions against electronic surveillance near and around the house.”

  Both Davin and Jenira nodded. Alec entered with a velvet pouch. Alena could immediately feel the repulsion of the necklace within, but she was interested in watching Davin and Jenira’s reaction. Jenira’s face twisted like Alena’s. Davin’s face remained impassive, but Alena was convinced the man showed little expression. She wondered if his tech nature lessened the spell of the necklace, and she asked him. He frowned, considering the question.

  “Maybe?” he replied after careful consideration. “Right now, I feel like it’s a dark object and not something I want to touch. What do you feel?” He asked Jenira.

  “Pure revulsion. It not only feels dark to me, it feels evil like Eden said.”

  Alena nodded. “I have a similar reaction. Whereas Alec…” She looked at him, and he grinned sheepishly.

  “Just a piece of metal,” he said with a shrug. “I can feel the tech in it, but it’s fairly benign. It’s high-level and beyond my understanding, but not evil or bad. But then, almost all pure tech is neither good nor malignant. Those are characteristics reserved for mage objects. Do you still want to look at it?”

  Jenira and Davin nodded, and they crowded around the desk. Alec dumped the pouch upside down, and the necklace clinked to the wooden surface. It looked normal to the naked eye. It was a little more than an inch long and oval-shaped. The moonstone on the front was pretty, swirling with magelight that only a strong mage could see. It shifted colors as they stared at it, and Alena thought for a moment that it might be a sentient being aware of their presence. She shivered and figured it was just a quirk of the moonstone or the light. The back of the moonstone was plated in silver, and Alec turned it over. He didn’t touch the actual pendant but
used the silver chain. Davin leaned closer and sucked in a breath.

  Not even bothering to hide, a tiny computer chip was set into the center of the back of the pendant. “That’s high-tech,” Davin breathed. “Not many companies have perfected chips that tiny and intricate. What exactly did the pendant do?” He looked up at Alena.

  “It burned me when I tried to touch it, but I don’t know if that was spell or tech. Every time Eden tried to focus on it, her mind would slip away, like in a powerful redirection spell. It appeared physically uncomfortable for her when I was questioning her about it. It was obviously shielding her magic and tech ability. She was able to live as a talentless mundane and had a job in one of your factories. As far as I could gather, no one suspected anything until Zar brought her to my attention. It might have done more, but I couldn’t know. Since the spell was so complicated, even Eden might not have known if it did more.”

  “I’d like to take this back and have Cat look at it,” Jenira said.

  Alena looked up at her, one eyebrow quirked. “Who is Cat?” She’d thought the two might want to take the necklace with them, and she wasn’t going to argue. She wanted it out of her house, but she also wanted more information.

  “Cat is Jenira’s sister. She’s a brilliant techie, especially in the computer field. She also has no mage blood, so it shouldn’t affect her. She could take it apart to evaluate the components separately. Once the tech is separated, maybe a mage could unravel the spells to determine the signature or identify the spells.”

  “I’ll have to think about it,” Alena said and immediately felt like an ass. Once she had their help with Eden, they could have the necklace. She didn’t want to take the chance of them running off the minute they had the Magitech amulet.

  Davin studied her face. “We’re not going to take the necklace and run. In my opinion, Eden is even more interesting than the necklace. I do want to help her.” His words seemed earnest, but Alena didn’t know him. Davin grinned and looked at Jenira. “She’s almost as stubborn and distrustful as you, Jen.”