The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans (Consulting Magic Book 2)

by Amy Crook

  Julian nodded. "Yes, ma'am. You'll call me if the plants need me, though, right?"

  "I will, I promise," she said.

  "Ye ain't quite done here, yet, anyway," said Con's voice, from the vicinity of Alex's ankle. "I had me a good look around, and there's something you'll be wanting t'listen to."

  "Just me, or both of us?" asked Alex. Con hadn't been visible when he started talking, but, he was now, with a tinkling trio of Horace's damaged feathers hanging down the front of his clothing, looking huge and gaudy but somehow fitting in with the rest of the little curls and bits of metal holding the scraps of cloth and leaf together.

  The earth sprite thought about this for a moment. "Both's probably best," he said, gesturing. "C'mon, it'll take yon agent a bit to get free."

  Julian quite liked the little earth sprite, and not only because his timely information had helped save their lives. "Will you come back with us for dinner?" he asked, following the small faerie. Con always seemed to move faster than the eye could quite follow; his gait and pace looked like a leisurely walk on stubby little legs, but his actual progress kept up with Alex just fine.

  "Would that be a guest's invitation?" asked Con cheerfully. "If so, aye, I always do like a bit of tea an' bread at yours."

  "Of course," said Julian, and Alex echoed the sentiment.

  They stopped by the unfortunate bed of ex-clover, the plants splashed with darkened red and the earth nearly black where the blood had soaked it. "Now," said Con, walking over the crime scene without leaving a trace of himself, "listen right here, but down."

  Alex nodded, taking Julian's hand in his, with his watch fob held between their palms. He'd explained its use to Julian, and now Julian thought of the green gold as plant tendrils cradling the strange fruit of the volcanic diamond. He felt that new sense sharpen, and when Alex held up his tuning fork, Julian smiled and pinched the tines the way he'd been shown, starting up a soft, clear tone.

  The plants here were in much worse distress than the greenhouse plants had been, physically damaged as well as magically. Julian's heart contracted, but he couldn't do anything for the ones in the middle of the crime scene or Lapointe might have his head. Instead he pushed that aside as Alex was teaching him to do, learning to recognise the feeling and move past it. He sank his awareness deeper into the earth, following a very soft, quiet thread.

  "Oh, there's a seed!" he blurted out.

  "It's very powerful, they must have put all the charge they got into it," said Alex. "Can you tell what it is?"

  "'Tis wormwood," said Con.

  "That would give really strong protection, or it could also be for a binding," said Alex worriedly. "I'll let the techs know it's there, do you think we should dig it up?"

  "No!" said Julian, then his brows knit. "Oh, it doesn't want you to," he said, flushing a little. "Which probably means you should."

  "Ye'll put a crimp in somebody's plans if ye do," said Con, with a wicked grin. "That's all I found that ye hadn't already covered. Good job with yon pretties, by the by, I thought some of those were gone for sure."

  Julian practically glowed at the praise, which felt very sincere coming from a real faerie. "Th- um. I'm glad you think so?" he fumbled, remembering almost too late that fairies didn't like to be thanked.

  Con just looked amused. "Ye're starting to think of me like a person," he said.

  Julian nodded. "Yes, I suppose that's it. Fairies were just something for tales and traditions for me before I met Alex, I hadn't really interacted with any of them. Now that you're real, it's hard to remember to do some things differently."

  "Con's our friend, so it's hard to think of accidentally obligating him," said Alex with a smile. "Our house-brownies are very tolerant, and have set up a whole system for discharging thanks-obligations from their idiot humans."

  Con snorted a laugh. "Aye, I bet they have, at that."

  Alex did the little quiet whistle he did when he was listening for something, then tugged Julian's hand. "Lapointe's over this way, probably with Ms. Eberly, which is convenient as they'll both want to hear our discovery."

  "August is a strange time to be planting, isn't it?" asked Alex as they walked.

  "Well, not as much in the nursery, we keep it warm here so things grow even in winter," said Julian. "Or they could've put a spell on it, to grow faster or slower. It could sleep under the earth until spring, gathering more power and sickening the rest of the plants, or it could use the power it's got to shoot up and be ready to harvest faster."

  "Do you do that, make plants grow faster?" asked Alex, intrigued.

  "Not very often, it's hard on the soil and the plants, and you have to use a lot of extra care to make sure it's got everything it needs," said Julian. "We've had a couple of people ask, and Mary Margaret let me help on the one she agreed to, which was a rare seedling he needed nurtured quickly past the fragile stage."

  Alex kissed his hair. "Oh, I remember that, that was the one you brought home for a weekend so the butterfly fairy could sit with it, right?"

  "Right," said Julian, giving Alex's hand a squeeze. They were still holding the little bauble, and it made him feel more open, giving him a sense of all the plants as they passed them. "I really like your watch fob, I should look into finding something like this for myself."

  "I couldn't make one quite like it," said Alex honestly. "The materials are too rare, and my little workshop's not set up for gem-cutting, but I might be able to do something that's different but with a similar function more suited for you."

  "You don't have to," said Julian, though he added honestly, "I would love it if you did, but you know I can afford to buy charms, too."

  Alex smiled down at him. "I know you can, but I find myself itching to do some more custom charms for my loved ones. James and Jacques say their amulets are doing well, and having them cross-contribute has really helped mesh their magic at a new level."

  Julian giggled. "I still say they should've given each other..." He trailed off his bawdy suggestion when they rounded a rack of ferns to find Lapointe and Eberly deep in discussion over some paperwork.

  Alex sniggered. "Now, now, you know that's not really allowed."

  "A shame," said Julian, kissing the back of Alex's hand. "They don't know what they're missing."

  "What else did you find?" asked Lapointe, spotting them.

  "And what is that?" said Eberly, backing away a step from their group and pointing.

  "Oi, now, that's not sporting," said Con indignantly.

  "This is a friend of ours, he's an earth sprite," said Alex. "I asked him to look around because he can interact with the plants and the earth in ways we can't."

  "He found something for us, too," said Julian, wanting to defend the faerie. "There's a wormwood seed planted under the sacrifice, that's what they were putting the power into. You'll want to dig it up and have someone look at it."

  "Don't leave it to sprout, not even overnight," warned Alex. "And don't replant it."

  "A seed?" said Lapointe. "All this for a plant?"

  "All this for a very magical plant," said Alex. "Like the espresso of magical plants, concentrating its properties, so whatever they do with it will be super-powered."

  "So it's like that movie we saw," said Julian with a grin, "where they killed the guy to get his eye and hand to get in and get the one piece of technology that was the start of their doomsday device."

  Murielle laughed. "God, that was awful," she said. "I hope this isn't about a doomsday device."

  "Me, too," said Alex, "but it's a good analogy."

  Julian preened.

  Alex kissed his hair, then turned back to Lapointe. "Anyway, can we steal you yet? I'm hungry."

  "Nat and Alys promised something good," said Julian coaxingly.

  Eberly laughed. "Two sets of puppy eyes," she said. "You're doomed." She seemed to have overcome her discomfort mainly by pretending Con didn't exist, which was annoying but worked for the moment.

  "Do you need an
ything else from me?" asked Lapointe, trading a few papers from her pile for a few from Eberly's much neater clipboard.

  "I've got your number, go on," she replied, shooing them off. "I can handle what's left to do here, which is mostly digging up your boys' magic seed now that we've processed the scene."

  "Not mine," said Alex, hands up as if in surrender. "That is so not my style."

  Julian giggled. "It really isn't, Alex is more of the saving people sort."

  "Well," said Lapointe, and they exchanged looks.

  "Not Armistead," said Alex, Julian and Lapointe in unison.

  Eberly was still laughing as they made their way up front and out to Lapointe's car. Con told them he'd meet them there and vanished, which made Lapointe stare and Julian laugh.

  "He doesn't like all the cold iron," said Alex. He took shotgun, as usual, to accommodate the long legs Julian was so very fond of. Not to mention the cane he still used, though these days it was mostly for magic. It was also a little bit for show, not that Alex would admit it.

  "I hope Alys made enough for everyone," said Julian, though he wasn't really worried. The fairies tended to make plenty of extra, just in case, and any leftovers were put to good use. Julian and Alex had set up a tablet computer for them so that they could order groceries to be delivered using Alex's bank card, and so far they'd kept the household running neatly under budget. Alex assured Nat regularly that even the fanciest food deliveries cost less than his old takeaway habit, not to mention the estate-grown ingredients that Victor and Emmy both sent over on a regular basis.

  Julian still missed the St. Albans chef sometimes, but he loved all the magic in his life now. Besides, they visited Emmy every week or so, and Jacques even brought by sweets sometimes when he and James came over to visit. "When are James and Jacques coming over next?" Julian asked Alex, when they were all buckled in.

  "A week from Friday, I think, why?" asked Alex, curious.

  "I was just thinking about Jacques' cooking," said Julian with a grin. "I'm hoping for another Opera cake."

  Alex laughed, turning to look at Julian fondly, which made Julian warm to his toes even after living together for months. "I'm hoping for something with fruit in it, remember that plum pie?" said Alex with a happy sigh.

  "Ooh, yeah, that was really good. Did you send him over some of the last shipment of berries and peaches from Emmy?" asked Julian. With the brownies' permission, they sometimes sent Jacques fruit or herbs from the two estates for his own cooking, when he wasn't busy on a job.

  "I did, along with plums and those tiny early apples from Victor," said Alex, smug.

  "You guys are making me hungry," said Lapointe crankily. "I haven't had much but cookies and tea all day."

  "We'll feed you," promised Julian. He let the conversation go back to the case, leaning back against the comfortable seat and trying to ignore that this time the facts of the case pertained to him. It was a little too much like his disastrous Courtship; he'd already lost his future with Cecil, and didn't want anything to threaten his future with Alex.

  Con was waiting by the door to the flat when they arrived, looking smug to have beaten them there. "I was wondering when ye'd be arriving."

  "There was traffic," protested Lapointe, but she was smiling.

  Alex let them all in, though he had to pause to whistle at his very fancy wards to let Con in. They liked the cheerful faerie, but everyone agreed he couldn't really be trusted with carte blanche entrance into the flat, and Con was never offended. He seemed to enjoy securing his guest-rights every single time, anyway.

  "Nat, Alys, we're home!" said Julian. "We have Con and Murielle with us for dinner."

  Alys poked her brown head out of the kitchen. "Welcome," she said with a grin. "Dinner's almost ready, we'll eat with you."

  The two brownies had only recently begun to socialise with Julian and Alex. They seemed to relax more when Con was visiting, but still hid from James and Jacques. The two Guardians were intimidating to more than just humans, even when they were off duty.

  Julian grinned. "Good," he said, getting an amused look from Con. "I did say I was learning."

  "That you did," agreed Con, taking a seat on the couch without seeming to climb up. "So, mage, are we doing our usual trade, two bits of information for one of the bent feathers?"

  Alex grinned. "We are, I still have four left," he said.

  Con's expression showed he'd already been perfectly aware of what was left to be claimed. "You're a good 'un, holding 'em for me."

  "You always bring good information," Alex replied. "I don't know what I'll do when I run out."

  "We'll think of something," said Con slyly, which suggested he already had a thing or three in mind.

  Julian giggled. "I bet you will," he teased.

  "Given how often you give information on cases, we might be able to do something with destroyed evidence from the Agency," said Lapointe thoughtfully.

  Con froze, then looked over at her with avid interest. "Might we?"

  Alex chuckled. "We'd have to make sure it was completely decommissioned, but yeah, magical evidence is usually destroyed instead of being stored, so there'd be parts."

  Con grinned hugely. "I ain't never been so glad t'get caught as when ye did it."

  Alex and the faerie shared a laugh, and they talked with Murielle about magical parts while Julian faded into the background a little. Everything was so different from his old life, it was at moments like this that it hit him again, just a momentary wash of sadness for his lost Cecil and the future they'd planned with each other. He had brownies making his food and cleaning his house instead of a human staff, and magic all around, but sometimes he missed his home and the familiar orchards and hiding places.

  Julian smiled softly when Alex's arm curled around him, pulling him close. Alex pretended to be cold and unfeeling, but he was always ready to warm Julian with his kindness. Julian snuggled into Alex's warmth and let himself be sad, just as Alex always encouraged him to, which meant he felt ready to let the feeling go instead of having to choke it down when Alys called them in to dinner.

  Alex's kitchen table had been replaced when they redecorated as well, and now there was a lovely drop-leaf table that could seat six even when three of them weren't fae. The brownies were the tallest, the size of toddlers, with Nat coming up to about Julian's waist and Alys just a bit shorter. Con was even smaller, not quite a foot tall, but he managed to get around by using magic as readily Julian breathed air. Con preferred to sit on the table, but Nat and Alys had tall chairs that Nat himself had carved from apple wood provided by the St. Albans estate.

  The food was served family style tonight. At the centre of the table there was a beautiful roast chicken stuffed with lemon and fresh thyme, the skin golden and crackling. There was a dish of cheesy potatoes, one with bright green spears of asparagus, and a salad of beans and herbs and new peas straight out of the shell. She'd set out a basket of fresh, warm bread, a dish of soft butter, and two different pots of honey, one from each of their estates. Alys didn't make gourmet meals like his old chef had, but everything she made was as good as Julian could ask for.

  She waved one hand negligently and the bird began to slice and distribute itself, with a leg to Alex who enjoyed them, and mostly white meat for Julian. The other food did the same, a strange little dance of dishes where the spoons were merely imaginary, and soon enough everyone had what they needed, including the butterfly fairy, who got some cheese sauce as well as honey and cream in the divided child plate that Alex had acquired for her. Con contentedly munched on a chicken wing big enough to look more like a turkey leg in his small hands, and Alys settled back when the dishes did.

  "May our house always be so blessed," said Alex formally, something Father Stephen was starting to instil in him. The Guardians never insisted, though they did look pleased whenever Alex remembered.

  "So mote it be," said Julian, and they all toasted with their drinks, mostly tea, though Con likely had a bit of whisky
in his. Julian remembered guests of his parents who would do a whole elaborate blessing sometimes, but he rather liked this version. It helped to remind him how grateful he was for the life he had now, even if it wasn't what he'd planned on having.

  Murielle looked amused as she always did, but didn't tease. She'd been trapped in one of Alex's long philosophical debates with Father Stephen and had spent the whole time shooting Julian puppy eyes to try to get rescued from the conversation, and then pointedly never brought the subject up again. "So, this case," she said.

  Julian huffed. "Enjoy your food, Agent."

  "It's very good food," said Alex teasingly. "We'll talk about the case afterward. I have to do some research later anyway, there's a lot of details that might point to a suspect or at least a more specific motive."

  Murielle chuckled. "Fine, then, how's your work going, Julian? Oh, wait, that's about the case, too," she said.

  "Brat," Julian replied, sticking out his tongue. "It's going really well, Mary Margaret says I'm good at it beyond my natural talent, and Alex has been helping me get attuned to my magical senses."

  "How does that work, I mean, how can you sense magic and not know it?" she asked curiously.

  "Well, for me it's not really magic, I mean, not like Alex or Geoff, it's just plants. And it's like I feel what they're feeling, and a little bit about them, so I know if it's a tree or an herb or a flower, and if it needs water or sunlight. So, before I was around Alex, I felt the trees at home and the flowers and things, and sometimes I'd tell someone if a flowerbed needed water or a tree was looking diseased, but I never really knew that I was feeling stuff from the plants. I thought it was just intuition and noticing little details." Julian let the wistful, nostalgic smile stay, not bothering to hide his feelings from his friends. "I still miss that, sometimes, just being ordinary."

  "You were always exceptional," protested Alex, kissing Julian sweetly. "We'll visit more often, I'm sorry, I always get caught up, don't I? You should put it in our calendar more."

  Julian chuckled. "I let you, though, so it's not your fault, really," he said. "I'll make sure Emmy drags us out more often like she's been threatening."