Deception of the Magician (Waldgrave Book 2)

by A. L. Tyler

  Cheryl had remained by Devin’s bedside almost constantly, helping the doctor with whatever was needed; Lena was glad for this, because her political career had stepped into a rapid pace since Griffin’s departure. He hadn’t contacted her since leaving, and she had felt it necessary to fetch Darius from the Channings, with Howard’s help, only two weeks after Griffin had left because there was blatant evidence that people were doubting Griffin would ever come back. She had written him several times in the first few weeks, but he had only ever sent her money transfers in response; his cell phone had been disconnected.

  The world went on without him, but Lena still missed him terribly. He had filled an emptiness in her life for so long, and while the wounds surrounding her father’s death were mending over, she found that Griffin had created a new niche in her soul next to the one that her father had left. She didn’t miss him as she had feared she would—his protection, his leadership, and the way he always seemed to be there to catch her. They were strange, the things she missed; the way he would cross his arms and look at her when he got into one of his moods, the way he had constantly one-upped her in the quest for household dominance, his presence at the dinner table, even the small smile that would creep onto Cheryl’s face when he yelled at her from across the house because she had left a note telling him to put his own damn cloths away.

  She had spoken to Hesper about it, but she was of little use on the subject; Griffin had never felt much more than disappointment and indifference toward his sister. She had retreated back to Australia with her husband and family; they were still living with Eric’s parents, which suited both of them nicely. Greg had healed up and talked with Lena over the phone once or twice; she couldn’t wait to see all of them again. The Council meeting was growing ever closer, but until then, Lena sought Serena and Hesper’s help over the phone for issues related to Waldgrave’s new charge.

  Darius was a happy little boy who still resembled his older brother; at times this troubled Lena because she knew there would never be any chance of hiding him, and at others it troubled her because of how much she missed Griffin despite his moodiness. The child was extremely intelligent and eager. He was just starting to walk and had enough words and expressions to get his message across, which kept the tantrums to a minimum. Lena entrusted him to Mrs. Ralston, who seemed to enjoy having a baby around, even while she tried twice as hard as usual to get all the cooking done because no one had brought any help with them due to the heightened fear of human-born assassins. Darius would sit and watch from his high chair, playing with anything too big to swallow, as Rosaleen, Pete, Cheryl, and on occasion Howard or Lena, did dishes and prepared meals.

  There was a moment of worry, several weeks down the road, when Devin’s body had botched the repair on his intestines by trying to regrow the lost sections, clouding them full of regenerative scar tissue; the doctor had excised the offending material, and while he believed Devin was in the clear, he warned them that there would probably always be a risk of rampaging regenerative tissue from time to time. He was finally graduated part time from I.V. nutrients to liquids, and then there came the day that the doctor gave permission for his first solid food in two months. Lena took a day off from politics to throw him a small party with Cheryl; given that the vote had just come through, and Lena was free to travel with Howard’s permission, she thought this might also be a good opportunity to have a serious discussion with Cheryl regarding her past.

  But while they all sat around eating toast triangles, she couldn’t help but notice that Cheryl didn’t seem to be enjoying herself as much as she ought to. She had been so worried about Devin the whole time, and just when he seemed on the brink of full recovery, she was still nothing but somber. She kept trying to keep the situation light and friendly, but Cheryl absolutely refused to join in.

  “So what do you want to do when you finally get out of bed, Dev? No, seriously, anything you want.” Lena flicked a toast square off the nightstand, barely missing Devin’s face.

  He picked it up and tossed it back at her, sighing. His small, lopsided smile crept onto his face. “You know, I think I’d like to take a break from saving each other’s lives, if that’s at all possible.”

  Everyone laughed but Cheryl, who only looked at the floor. “That’s not funny Devin.”

  Devin’s smile fell slightly. “Alright, I’m sorry.”

  Lena quickly cleared her throat and threw the piece of toast back at Devin. “She’s right, Dev. Not funny. Saving each other’s lives is much better than the alternative…”

  “Yeah, I guess. You need to stop getting yourself into trouble.” He threw it back with a wink.

  Lena caught the toast and went silent for a minute. She looked carefully from Devin to Cheryl, and let her gaze hang on the young teenager. “Speaking of trouble, there’s something I need to talk to Cheryl about. It’s something I found out recently, or relatively recently, that I think we should discuss between the two of us. I think it might be best if we kept it a secret.”

  Much to Lena’s surprise, Cheryl gave her a terrified look. Her jaw dropped a little and she stood up off the chair she was sitting in, going pale. Tears ebbed into her eyes. “Lena, I’m so, so sorry…I thought it was for the best!”

  The distraught girl looked over at Devin. Clenching and unclenching her fists as though they had minds of their own. “Devin, I’m just so…so…”

  She choked up and then turned and half ran out of the room. Lena gave a puzzled look at Devin, who nodded in Cheryl’s direction and Lena got up to follow her. She was already gone when Lena got to the hallway, but she took a moment to think and then went straight to the servants’ quarters on the first floor; sure enough, Lena could hear her muffled crying from the doorway.

  Lena had never actually been in the servants’ quarters before. It was poorly lit by a few ceiling light fixtures, but otherwise very large and very clean. The walls were white and the floors were grey linoleum. The room itself was large enough to sleep around fifty people comfortably if they kept the aisles between the cots modest. At the moment, all of the cots were folded up and pushed up against one of the walls, making the space feel even larger than it really was. Rosaleen had set up a few privacy screens around the permanent beds to make smaller, cozier bedroom areas.

  Mrs. Ralston and Howard had seen to it that there were comfortable sleeping arrangements for the regular staff in the form of twin size beds; both Mrs. Ralston and Cheryl had been offered regular rooms when Master Daray had died, and both had refused because they had grown so attached to the situation of rooming with each other and the other staff when they were around. The offer remained open to this day, in case if Cheryl had ever felt that she wanted more privacy, but Lena understood how close human-borns were to each other; they were family without asking or even knowing each other. Close enough to risk their lives for one another.

  Cheryl was curled up on her bed across the room, face pushed into her pillow as her sobs slightly shook her body. Lena walked over, still not sure why Cheryl had suddenly become so hysterical, and sat on the bed next to her. Cheryl turned her face to the side. Her eyes and cheeks were all red from being so upset. Lena reached out and ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it out of her face.

  “Cheryl, what’s wrong?” Lena asked. “Did I upset you somehow?”

  Cheryl only emitted a high pitched noise and sniffled, turning her face back into the pillow. I’m so sorry. I can’t even tell you how sorry…You’re too good to me for not telling them. I’m going to be in so much trouble.

  “Okay,” Lena still didn’t understand why she was so upset—she was acting ridiculous, but there was clearly something that she had missed. “Okay, come here. It’s okay.”

  Lena hoisted Cheryl up to a sitting position so that she could put her arm around her shoulders. Cheryl leaned her face into Lena’s shoulder, and Lena used her other arm to brush her hair out of her face again.

  “It’s okay. We can fix it. Why don’t you just te
ll me what this was all about?”

  Cheryl gave another sniffle. He told me no one would get hurt. That’s why I did it. He told me no one would get hurt.

  Cheryl was shaking. Lena felt her stomach drop; she thought she already knew what Cheryl was about to tell her. It was Rollin. “Cheryl, what did you do, exactly?”

  Cheryl took pause before answering. I stole your itinerary from your trip and some emails off of Howard’s computer and gave him some bank account stuff, too. He said the money was for hotels to get human-borns out of bad situations, and after Marie and everything…I’m so sorry! He never told me he wanted to buy guns and kill people!

  Lena tried to remain calm. Rollin had alluded to a spy inside Waldgrave; after so long, Lena had started to believe it had been an idle threat or an intimidation tactic. She knew Cheryl was sorry, and that she wouldn’t have done it if she’d known how crazy and violent Rollin really was; he could be deceptively diplomatic and charming when he needed to. She also knew the Council would kill her if they ever found out, given the current climate with regards to human-borns. She cleared her throat; it had gone dry. “You’re not still in contact with him, are you?”

  Of course not! But oh, my God, if he ever finds me…He sent me an email after he killed all those people and you got away, and he wanted me to find a way to sneak people in here at night, and I said I wouldn’t do it and he said I was a traitor and that he’d kill me! After what he did to Devin…he’s a monster. I’m afraid, Lena. If I stay here, he’ll find me eventually, I’m sure. And I can’t leave because he’ll find me then, too.

  Cheryl went silent. Lena’s mind was buzzing. There was only one thing to do about it. “Cheryl, I need you to tell me and show me everything you gave to him. All of the emails and which bank accounts. Can you do that?” Lena tilted Cheryl’s chin up so that their eyes met.

  Cheryl nodded. She wiped at her eyes and whimpered. “Lena, it wasn’t just me. It was a lot of people, at the last Council. He said if we just took a little from everyone, then none of the Council members would notice. So many of the bills and shopping and stuff gets handled by the house staff, they all had the information, and everyone knew they had it, and Rollin is so hard to say ‘no’ to. He said it was fair to take it because so many people were getting turned out their houses, and they were hungry, and they needed money. I thought the money was to feed people, not for guns…”

  Lena took a deep breath; Rollin was sadistic. He claimed to be a human-born, but he ran the show like he wasn’t. He knew how to use their empathy against them to get whatever he wanted. He shot people not to kill them, but to make them suffer. She was beginning to wonder if he was empathic at all, because he seemed to enjoy tricking and torturing people so much; she wondered, with fear in her heart, if there was such a thing as a Silenti who could enjoy feeling the angst he put others through—a Silenti psychopath. “Okay. I can fix this. And I’m going to keep your secret if you can keep one for me. As far as him finding you goes, there’s something else I need to talk to you about. I’m planning to go on a trip soon, and I think you should go with me, if it’s what you want after we finish talking. Do you know Master Astley?”

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  A.L. Tyler is a longtime writer. She lives in Colorado, and started her writing career in high school by creating plays for the drama department. She has a BA, MA, and MLS, and has worked for pay or life experience at a water park, a candle dipping enterprise, a federal research agency, and an evidence room. Through it all she has written several novels.

  She can be found on her blog at http://addisynltyler.blogspot.com/.