Magic Below Paris Complete Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 8): Trading Into Shadow, Trading Into Darkness, Trading Close to Light, Trading By Firelight, Trading by Shroomlight, plus 3 more

by C. M. Simpson

  “When you’re moaning fit to wake the dead and your whole body is shuddering like you’re either in the middle of a fever or you’re trying to run but just can’t move, it’s a little bit more.”

  Marsh put a hand on her hip and cocked her head. “You’re going to tell me what you mean sometime today, right?” She gestured at the courtyard where the rest of the caravan had almost finished forming. “Because these people really need to get somewhere safe before nightfall, right?”

  “My point,” Master Envermet explained unhappily, “is that I couldn’t wake you.”

  “And my point is that I could feel your terror and couldn’t get into your head,” Roeglin added.

  Marsh stilled. Now that they mentioned it, her dreams had been different the night before, but she couldn’t remember why.

  “You want to try?” Master Envermet asked, and it was more an order than a request.

  Marsh was about to do just that when she froze. Truth be told, she didn’t want to try. Whatever had stalked her through her sleep, she didn’t want to remember it now.

  “How about after we get these folk safely home?”

  Roeglin’s presence slid into her mind like early-morning sunlight through a window. How about I take a look around and see if I can find the memory?

  Even though part of her screamed that this was a really bad idea, Marsh agreed. Sure, why not?

  Master Envermet’s presence arrived shortly after. Mind if I join the search?

  No, really. The more, the merrier. Even to herself, she sounded sarcastic.

  Master Envermet flashed her a smile, and Marsh rolled her eyes. It was both a relief and an intrusion when Mordan joined them, and she leaned against the wall. To her surprise, the kat didn’t join the search, but came and sat beside her—in her head and in the real world.

  Marsh dropped a hand to the kat’s head. “Thanks, Dan.”

  I could not reach you, the kat told her, and you were being hunted.

  She was?

  It was not a good hunt, the kat informed her. I could not find its source.

  Its source? Marsh asked.

  Some hunt in the old homes and the caverns. Some hunt in other spaces, the kat explained.

  Master Envermet’s presence circled back to her. Explain.

  Mordan laid her ears back and hissed at him. You should know, shadow hunter.

  I do, but I thought... His presence gave a sigh that Marsh heard reflected by the man beside her. I thought I was the only one.

  That’s a trick you’re going to have to teach me, Roeglin told him.

  Master Envermet’s reply was immediate. No. It’s not.

  As they talked, Marsh came to another realization. You lied!

  I beg your pardon? Master Envermet’s startled reply sounded almost offended.

  You had no trouble reaching Roeglin last night. Roof, my ass!

  Mordan rose to her feet with a hiss and swatted the shadow captain out of her head. Roeglin laughed, and abruptly stopped when the kat turned toward him. Marsh watched as the mind and shadow mage’s presence backed up, hands raised as though to ward off the kat.

  Mordan flicked her tail and stalked after him.

  Now, Dan. You know I wouldn’t... He paused and tried again. You know how I feel about her.

  That last was uttered with enough of a plea that the kat stopped. Marsh watched as the big beast sat down and cocked her head.

  And you believe him?

  He is your mate.

  Marsh glared at her. Not yet, he isn’t!

  Hey! Roeglin sounded upset.

  You stay out of this.

  Oh, sure, because it’s not like I’m standing right here, is it?

  If I open my eyes and find you’ve traveled through the ruins on your own, I’m going to...

  No need. No need. Roeglin hastened to reassure her. I’m right where I’d said I’d be, even if I almost came to find you last night. If Master Envermet hadn’t stopped me—

  He’d have been here when you woke, Master Envermet finished for him, his presence returning to Marsh’s head, raising a hand as Mordan spun toward him with a snarl.

  So, did you find anything? Marsh asked as the two of them faced off.

  Master Envermet shook his head, and Roeglin echoed it.

  Can I have my head back, then? Marsh stated, daring either of them to deny it.

  The two men exchanged glances, and Master Envermet’s presence faded. Roeglin turned to Marsh.

  I’m worried, he told her. I can sense traces of someone else having been here but can’t find anything—and there should be at least a memory of whatever nightmare you had last night.

  Dan? Marsh asked, nudging the kat.

  Show me. Mordan stood and followed Roeglin.

  Marsh did her best to follow them, but there were some paths her consciousness did not want to tread. That was strange, but Marsh didn’t push it. Who knew what was going on?

  All she could do was trust her mind’s instincts and be on guard. Something wasn’t right, but until she—or Roeglin or the kat—could work it out, she had to follow her instincts.

  Nothing happened, but it was still a relief when they returned moments later.

  I could pull the memory to the surface, Roeglin told her, but it won’t harm you, and you have other priorities right now. Mordan will guard you when you sleep, and we’ll deal with it when you return.

  Or I could deal with it when we reach Ariella’s. Master Envermet was back.

  Not if it would delay my return, Marsh told him, and his eyebrows raised in surprise.

  I could just order you.

  That stopped her, and she sat back and stared at him. Are you?

  Am I what?

  Going to order me to stay.

  He shook his head. No.

  Marsh caught the glance he tossed toward Roeglin and the kat. You will be safe.

  Marsh was glad someone thought so.

  Don’t be here too long, Master Envermet instructed her. You have a portal to open.

  You what? Roeglin’s protest met empty space as the shadow captain left.

  We’re going to try to cut the travel time, Marsh informed him.

  But the energy required— Roeglin began.

  Marsh laid a mental finger over his lips. I promise I won’t overdo it, but we have to try.

  His presence briefly wrapped around her. Don’t be gone too long, he told her, and vanished out of her head, the touch of his lips on hers fading as abruptly as it had come.

  I won’t, she promised, surfacing to hear the words echoed in her own voice.

  “Won’t what?” Master Envermet asked.

  “Won’t be gone too long,” Marsh replied, daring him to argue.

  Master Envermet nodded and led the way back down to the courtyard. “Let’s see how much we can shorten the journey.”

  6

  Time to Move

  Marsh followed Master Envermet down to the courtyard. When she reached it, he had already called the shadow mages, the Ariella’s Grotto warriors, and the caravan guards over.

  “You are shitting me.” Henri wasn’t impressed, and Izmay’s slap was more absentminded reflex than open rebuke. He still scowled at her and rubbed his arm, but his attention was on Marsh.

  He didn’t say anything, though, just looked from her to the gates and then at Izmay. If Marsh didn’t know any better, she would have said Henri was worried.

  Ignoring him, Marsh locked gazes with the shadow guards. “Last night, someone suggested we use a portal to get everyone to the caverns. We did it once before, so there’s no reason we shouldn’t do it again.”

  The guards nodded, the looks on their faces saying they wished she’d get to the point.

  “Anyone have any questions?”

  “Where do you want it?” Izmay asked, and Marsh pointed to the wall opposite where they’d gathered the caravan.

  “Three feet in from the wall.”

  Henri cleared his throat. “So, let me get this st
raight,” he began. “You’re going to make a portal out of thin air.”

  “Yup,” Marsh told him, wondering what he was driving at.

  “A shadow portal.”

  Ah, now she got it.

  “Shadows are just air that’s in the dark,” she told him, “so our magic works wherever there is air, not just where there are shadows.”

  The travelers stirred restlessly, and Marsh looked toward them.

  Evan met her eye. “Is that how you called the lightning?”

  From the look on his face, her calling the lightning out of a clear sky had been bothering him. Seeing the expressions on the faces of those arrayed behind him, Marsh realized he wasn’t the only one.

  It was a pretty violent display, Master Envermet told her and showed her a quick image of the faces of everyone who’d seen her end the man trying to kill the ex-guard.

  She figured it had looked a whole lot worse from Evan’s angle.

  Yup.

  No, don’t! she snapped in case Master Envermet tried to show her what that had looked like.

  He chuckled and directed her attention back to the crowd.

  “Yes,” Marsh said, answering the ex-guard’s question about the lightning.

  “So, it doesn’t have to be at night?” He sounded as though he didn’t believe it, and this was both a worry and a relief.

  “No,” Marsh replied gently and waited for his next question.

  Evan nodded. “Okay, then.”

  Marsh waited a little longer until it became apparent that the man didn’t have anything else to add. She switched her attention back to the shadow guards.

  “Shall we begin?”

  Izmay cocked her head and put her hand on her hip. “You’re sure about this?”

  Marsh nodded.

  “And you’re sure you can open a portal to Shamka, even though the captain can’t reach Sulema?”

  Marsh frowned but nodded again. “It works differently.”

  Izmay straightened and faced the area they were going to open the gate in. She sighed. “Fine. Let’s get this over with, then.”

  The woman sounded like they were wasting their time, or like getting everyone to Shamka early was an extremely bad idea, but Marsh didn’t argue.

  “We’ll do it just like the last time,” she told them. “Just think of the town square and stepping out into it.”

  Together, they formed a line and raised their hands, each sketching the outline of a doorway before them. The rest of the caravan waited, their eyes on the space the doorways were supposed to appear in.

  Marsh worked to keep a perfect image of Shamka’s square in focus. She twisted her hand in the air as though twisting the invisible shadows into shape, but nothing happened. Frowning, she tried again.

  The air rippled, and she heard several in-drawn breaths behind her. The picture in her head shuddered. Marsh tried again, reaching for her magic and trying to feel how it was working. Maybe if she could figure out what was stopping it?

  The shadows refused to answer, and the air felt like glass beneath her fingers. Marsh tried again, and the resistance flattened to rank refusal. Her head spun, and a tremor of weakness passed over her.

  With a sigh, she dropped her hands. “It’s not working,” she admitted, and Henri snorted.

  “Now tell us something we didn’t know.”

  “I’m a shadow off kicking your ass.” She turned in time to see his lip curl.

  Behind him, Izmay shifted stance, swept his ankles, and pulled his legs out from under him. He fell with a roar of protest, and the shadow guard chuckled.

  “Any more smart-ass remarks, my love?”

  Henri scowled at her and then lifted his hand for help. “Not a one, sweetheart.”

  “I think I’m gonna be sick,” Gerry muttered, and Brigitte nodded.

  “Yeah,” Tamlin grumbled. “Not even Marsh and Roeglin are that bad.”

  Master Envermet cleared his throat and the laughter died. “It looks like we’re going to have to do this the long way.”

  “Do you know why it failed?” Evan asked, disappointedly.

  Marsh shook her head. “No. We did what we did the last time, but the shadows would not answer.” She looked around. “At least, that’s how it was for me.”

  “Me, too,” Izmay confirmed, and Gerry nodded.

  “Yup,” Tamlin said. “I could see Shamka but the portal wouldn’t open.”

  “Maybe we were too far?” Master Envermet’s voice rolled across them.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just that distances on the surface seem to work differently than they do in the Caverns.” He looked at the sky and then at Evan. “Do you remember how long it will take us to reach Claire’s Corner?

  Evan reddened at the reminder of who he’d been, but he nodded. “Most of a day.” He glanced at the sky. “If we travel at yesterday’s pace, we’ll reach there close to dusk.”

  “And the dangers?” Master Envermet pressed.

  “Remnant and wolves.”

  A protesting growl met his words, and his gaze traveled to where the pack stood by the gates. Bristlebear and Silvermoth were standing with their heads cocked, looking puzzled.

  Evan hastily amended his words. “Although I think the wolves will be on our side this time.

  This was greeted by the paired sweep of two tails, and the wolf leaders turned back to the gates. Master Envermet walked over to join them. “Marsh.”

  Marsh went to stand beside him. “Yes?”

  “Can you scan what lies beyond the gates?”

  Marsh faced the gates and took a deep breath. Closing her eyes, she tweaked the shadows, asking them to reveal what lay beyond the outpost walls. They showed her ruined buildings and a landscape devoid of threat.

  When she searched for signs of life, she saw nothing more than the scurrying forms of rats, the bouncing lives of rabbits, and the furtive movement of birds keeping to the bushes. Had something spooked them?

  Marsh searched farther but found nothing else. Remembering the mantids from the night before, she tweaked the shadows again. This time, they took a little longer to answer, and their answer, when it came, left her puzzled.

  The mantids had come out of their hole but remained in their building. From what the shadows showed her, the bug-men had no plans of leaving the shelter.

  “I think they’re going to stay there,” she told Master Envermet when he asked her for more details.

  “But why?” Tamlin asked, having crept closer. “Where did they come from?”

  Marsh shrugged. “I didn’t ask.”

  “Not that you could,” he retorted, and she scowled at him.

  Master Envermet intervened before she could find a reply. “Whatever their reason,” he decided, “they’re not going to come out and attack us, and that is all we need to know.”

  He signaled Henri forward, and together they lifted the locking bar on the gate.

  “Time to move. Obasi, if you would send out the scouts?”

  Obasi’s eyes flashed green, and the wolves bounded forward. “We will stay on the flanks,” he told the captain. “Your guards are exhausted.”

  It wasn’t until he’d said it that Marsh realized how right he was. She was exhausted. Master Envermet’s brow furrowed as though he’d only just started to realize how much energy he’d spent. Izmay swayed.

  Henri wrapped his arm around the shadow guard’s waist and gave Obasi a suspicious glare. “Are you doing this?”

  The Grotto warrior grinned. “No, but if we’re going to make the Corner by nightfall, I think we’d better put them up on the mules.” His smile faded, and he turned to Master Envermet. “Unless you think it would be better to spend another day here?”

  Master Envermet shook his head and put a hand on Marsh’s shoulder to steady himself. She used it as a point of balance. The shadow captain didn’t seem to notice.

  “No. We need to get everyone to the caverns.” He glanced over his shoulder, where the wolves wait
ed on the path leading back up to the ridgeline. “Where it’s safe.”

  They brought the mules forward while he was speaking and the shadow guards mounted, relinquishing the reins to someone who’d lead them. Marsh shared a saddle with Tamlin and was surprised when Aisha took the reins.

  She looked around for the adult who was going to walk with the girl and realized there wasn’t one. Tamlin snickered. “She’ll be fine,” he assured Marsh. “See?”

  At the sound of his voice, Aisha had turned around, her eyes blazing green. The mule ducked its head and nibbled her shoulder. The child giggled and kissed its nose. “I know they’re heavy, but you can do it.”

  The animal snorted as though it wasn’t sure, but Aisha turned away and pulled on its reins. “Don’t make me come in there.”

  “In where?” Marsh wondered, and Tamlin replied.

  “Into its head,” he told her. “She has no mercy.”

  “Uh-huh.” Marsh wanted to know how he could be so sure but decided it was better she didn’t. The child might feel a need to demonstrate, and she was certain she didn’t want that.

  It was still a relief when Mordan and Perdemor came to walk alongside her. Master Envermet didn’t approve. “Apprentice, ask the kats to—”

  His request was met by twin snarls. Perdemor’s was a little lighter than his mother’s, but the meaning was the same. Master Envermet’s eyebrows rose, and Aisha cocked her head.

  “Kats say no,” she told him. “Dan says the wolves will take the perimeter, and she and Perdy will stay with the pride.”

  It made Marsh wonder what the kats knew that the rest of them did not, but she didn’t push it. Master Envermet pursed his lips.

  “Very well,” he conceded.

  Not that he had much choice. Marsh could feel the defiance through her link with Mordan. The kat was adamant. Marsh tried to see what made her so stubborn and was surprised when Mordan’s presence swept over her, engulfing her in reassurance.

  We are here. You must sleep. You cannot call the lightning if you are too tired.

  The lightning? Marsh wanted to ask why the kat thought they would need it, but Dan pushed her gently back into her own head and closed the link.