by Linsey Hall
“Not a problem.” He smiled. “Thank you, Nara.”
She waved a hand. “Whatever, just pay me, pretty boy.”
“Happy to.”
Nara picked up the glowing orb with two fingers, a look of distaste on her face as she walked to the fireplace. I shifted my spot in the room, moving on silent feet so I could have a good view of her as she worked.
Only then did I notice that the room was an ornately decorated masterpiece. It looked like it was straight out of the Gilded Age—all fancy furniture, golden accents, and navy walls draped in silk. I was almost as interested in history as I was in marine biology. Though I mostly just read about the subjects, I still had a pretty good background. And this place screamed old money.
And it was built right into a cave, I remembered.
Wild.
Unceremoniously, Nara tossed the rock into the fire.
I reached out, a shout almost escaping my lips. I bit it back.
Declan didn’t seem too concerned. Vibrating with tension, I watched Nara reach for a small jar on the marble and wood mantel. There were over a dozen, and she chose a blue one. Carefully, she sprinkled powder over the flames, turning them blue.
She returned the jar to the mantel and grabbed a red one. Her hands moved fast as she sprinkled powders of various colors on the flames, all different quantities of the sparkling stuff. The fire changed color and even smell as she worked, and her face glowed in the light of the flame.
Finally, she quit with the powders and crouched down. An image began to shimmer in the flames.
Ah, so that’s what she was up to. Nara was a rare type of PyroSeer, one who was able to see images in fire.
I squinted into the flames, making out the shape of a skinny man with no hair. His eyebrows were wild, so bushy and long that they swept back almost to his ears. He muttered under his breath as his eyes blazed with an internal light. His hands, which he held up near his chest, glowed with blue light. Slowly, an orb began to form in front of him, crimson and bright.
Shit. The guy who’d made the orb that had enchanted my friends.
“Well?” Declan asked.
“Shh.” Nara hissed, then squinted into the fire.
Declan shut his mouth, but I didn’t blame him for asking. I was dying to know who the guy was, too. What kind of magic was he making?
Finally, Nara sat back. The image had stopped changing. “That’s all I’m getting.”
“Who is it?” Declan asked.
“Mauritius the Dark, a dark mage who only works for a hefty price. He was once the Arch Magus, though he was replaced by someone far more powerful.”
Lachlan Munroe. I actually knew the current Arch Magus—the most powerful mage in the world—though not well. He was a decent guy. Not like this Mauritius, who made magic that turned people to stone.
“Can you tell what type of magic he’s put into the sphere?”
I leaned forward, keen to hear the answer. Declan’s gaze shot in my direction, and I stiffened.
Had he seen me?
No way.
But heat suffused me.
His gaze only lingered for a moment, then he looked back at Nara.
She shook her head. “Not a clue. But you can find him in Toronto.”
Jackpot. I’d been right to follow Declan.
But, Toronto? That was almost an entirely human city. Very few supernaturals at all. A dark mage wouldn’t normally hang out there. But then, Mauritius didn’t look normal. He looked like an evil bastard who probably had a lot of supernatural enemies.
Better for him if he spent his time away from everyone else.
“Thank you, Nara.” Declan moved toward the door, turning back briefly. “I’ll have the money to you by tomorrow.”
“See that you do.” She smiled, and it was warm this time.
Declan slipped out the door, and I turned to follow.
“Wait a moment.” Nara’s voice was low and clear, quiet enough for only me to hear.
I stiffened, glancing back.
There was no way she could see me.
Oddly, Nara was bending toward the fireplace. She reached into the flame and grabbed a handful of fire, then hurled it at me.
It all happened so quickly I couldn’t even blink. One second, she was doing something crazy like sticking her hand into a roaring fire, and the next, the ball of flame was flying toward me. I was so close that it took less than a split second to reach me, slamming into my chest.
Heat enveloped me, immobilizing me. My heartbeat thundered wildly in my head, nearly deafening.
Oh hell, I was in trouble.
3
Orange fire flicked all around me. Panic flared, until I realized that it really wasn’t that hot. Just really warm. I was frozen solid, bound within its grip.
Nara strolled over, interest on her face. She stopped in front of me, reaching up to flick the hood off my face.
She pursed her lips and nodded, her gaze on mine. “You’re the one he likes.”
“Ah, what?”
“The flame reveals all.”
“About me?” What the hell was going on?
“Some about you, some about me. Some about Declan.” Her gaze flicked to the door. “Who is gone, by the way. So no help is coming.”
I hadn’t even thought of calling out for help—it just wasn’t my usual instinct—and that flame had come at me so fast that instinct was the only thing that would have helped.
Though my heart was thundering and my skin was chilled, I didn’t sense a lot of danger coming off of Nara. She was a bitch, but I liked bitches. Bitches got stuff done.
I raised a brow. “Do I need help?”
“Maybe.” Nara shrugged. “Why are you following Declan?”
I considered bluffing, but apparently she could see stuff in the flames. Such as the fact that he liked me, whatever the hell that meant. “That magic has turned my friends to stone. I want to turn them back. Declan has the only clue, so I’m following him.”
And he was getting away. I struggled against the flames that bound me, but they held tight.
“You’re connected to him somehow.” She gestured to the flames that flicked around my body. “The flames never lie.”
“Why the hell do you care?”
“I was curious.”
“So you went straight to fire prison?”
“You snuck into my place of business. You’re lucky I didn’t hit you with some real flame.”
“Thanks for that.” I actually didn’t want to become a barbecue special.
“I just wanted to get a look at you. See what the flames were talking about.”
“They were talking about me and Declan? What were they saying?”
“That you would be together. But then torn apart.”
Oh shit. That was a loaded concept. “What the hell does that mean? I hardly know him.”
“I’m not sure. But it’s interesting, isn’t it?”
Interesting was a word for it, but mostly it just confirmed my desire to stay away from him. I couldn’t trust him, and what was the point anyway, if we’d be torn apart?
Nara waved her hand. “You’re free to go. And you’d better hurry, if you want to catch Declan.”
The flames that bound me snapped, and suddenly, I could move. I gave Nara one last look. She stood silhouetted by the flames, a seer surrounded by the mystery of her art.
I turned and hightailed it out of there, flipping my hood up as I ran.
Declan had a lead, and I needed to catch him.
I hurried out onto the street in Nottingham, leaving the weird little cave bar behind.
Declan was gone.
And it was raining.
A cold drop of water splashed on my forehead. I darted back under an overhanging roof that had been built right into the cliff behind me.
“Shit.”
Agreed. The voice sounded from below, and I looked down.
Wally looked up at me, flame red eyes burning. The smoke that
formed his fur wafted in the breeze.
“You saw all that?”
He nodded. A bit embarrassing at the end.
“Sure was. Want to go to Toronto?”
Not really.
“No?”
It’s Canada, in the winter. He sounded utterly appalled.
“Good point.”
And Canadians are as nice as they seem. Most go to a nice afterlife. Not many souls hanging around for me to eat.
“Fair enough.”
But if it gets exciting, I’ll turn up.
“By exciting, you mean, if I almost die?”
Yep.
He was a cat of few words. “See you later, pal.”
I reached into my pocket for a transport charm, and hurled it to the ground. The cloud of silver smoke burst up, and I stepped inside it, letting the ether suck me up and spin me through space. The ether spat me out on a freezing street corner in downtown Toronto.
With the time change, it was earlier in the evening here, but there still weren’t many people out. Probably because it was freaking freezing. I shivered hard and tugged my jacket around me. This damned thing was better for invisibility than warmth.
All around, buildings soared high in the sky. Every single one looked super modern, all chrome and glass. Snow twinkled in the streetlights, swirling above.
Wally had been right—too cold in Toronto.
The streets themselves were wide and clean, and so empty it was almost apocalyptic. Where the hell did this Mauritius live?
I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket, grateful to see that I had a few bars left. My comms charm only worked with Mari, the person who wore its mate. Everyone else got a phone call.
I scrolled down the numbers and pulled up Ana Blackwood, my friend in Scotland and the partner of Lachlan Munroe. Maybe the current Arch Magus would know a bit about the former one.
She picked up on the fourth ring.
“Ana?” I asked.
“Do you know what time it is?”
“Shit o’clock?”
“Exactly.” She groaned. “But it must be important. You’ve literally never called me.”
“Can I speak to Lachlan?”
“You wake me up to speak to my boyfriend.” She made a disgusted noise. “Figures.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah. And good luck with whatever it is that’s worth calling about. I’m there if you need me.”
I smiled. She was grouchy, but she had my back. My kind of person.
“Hello?” Lachlan’s voice was groggy with sleep.
“Hey, Lachlan. Got a sec?”
“I do now.”
Man, these two were not cheerful risers. “Do you know where Mauritius lives in Toronto? I figured you would since you took his spot as Arch Magus.”
“That weasel?”
“The very one.”
“Little bastard lives in a tower downtown. Looks like a super villain’s lair. Stupid, if you ask me.”
Really stupid, considering that this was a mostly human city, and he’d bring the Order of the Magica down upon his head if he alerted them to the presence of magic in the world.
I looked up, scanning the horizon. More than a dozen massive buildings competed to be the tallest, but only one had a bunch of black spikes at the top. “Does his building look like it wears a big evil crown?”
“That’s the one.” Lachlan scoffed. “Moron. He’s on the top floor, heavily guarded. Owns the whole building and sells dark magic out of it.”
“Know any of his weaknesses?”
“Aye, actually. Most of his magic is stolen and stored in a vessel that he keeps near him. He uses it to do most of his work.”
“Weird. What kind of vessel?”
“Don’t know. Too big to carry on his person, but not enormous. Should be in his office. At least, that’s the rumor. Without it, he’s a normal mage with average powers. Below average, even.”
“Thanks, Lachlan.”
“Good luck.”
I hung up and hurried across the street, hoping the run would warm up my blood. Snow pelted my face as I cut down the wide avenue toward the tower of evil. A few cars were out, but almost no people.
As I ran, I tapped my comms charm. “Mari?”
“How’s it going?”
“Got a lead. You find Claire yet?”
“Still on the hunt.”
“Me too.”
“Safe hunting.”
“Safe hunting.”
As I neared the building, I slowed to a walk. They couldn’t see me in my ghost suit—it was never any good for guards to spot you racing up to their boss’s evil lair—but I needed to scout the lay of the land.
How would I get in? And how far ahead was Declan?
As I neared the front doors, I spotted the guards first. There were a half dozen of them, all mages. Demons, I could handle. Mages were another thing entirely. They could have any kind of magic, and six of them were risky.
Not to mention the prickly sensation that sparked along my skin.
I’d bet a vat of General Tso’s chicken that the prickling feeling was a charm that would strip away my invisibility. Any evil mastermind worth their salt would have that one in their lobby.
So, the main entrance was out. I scanned the rest of the building and spotted a quieter street to the right. Away from the guards. Probably my best bet.
I sprinted over, as much to keep warm as to catch up with Declan.
A quick survey of the building revealed no doors on this side. But there was a second-floor office with a light on. The walls were made entirely of glass, and I spotted a man sitting hunched over a desk. He would do nicely.
The second part of my plan was harder. I needed something heavy that could break the window, but could also look like it’d been picked up off the street.
Except the streets were so damned clean in this city.
In the end, I had to climb a damned lamppost and pull off the heavy metal top that sat over the glass globe. In a pinch, someone might believe it had broken a window. It probably wasn’t big enough or heavy enough, but I didn’t need the ruse to hold for long.
I lined myself up beneath the man’s window and set my chunk of metal on the ground, then called my mace from the ether. Its weight was comforting in my hand as I gripped the chain and gave the spiked ball at the end a few practice swings. Long, overhead throws like this were tricky.
Once I had it moving the way I wanted, I swung it at the second-floor glass window above. It crashed through, and I ducked as the broken glass rained down upon me.
The building alarm began to wail.
As I’d hoped, the mace had caught at the metal lip of the glass wall, providing me with a handy chain to climb up. I tossed the metal lamppost top up into the room and scrambled up the mace chain, using it as a rope.
I climbed to my feet inside the room, barely avoiding some nasty cuts from the glass. I pulled up my mace chain and stashed the weapon in the ether.
The guy at the desk stood, his messy hair askew and his eyes wide. I was invisible and so was my mace, but he’d just seen the window break and then the metal object had flown through a few seconds later. No wonder he was confused.
“What the hell?” He moved to the window to look out, brow creased.
I could have tried to just slip through, but this had a better chance of success. Guards could be here any minute, so I needed to work fast.
I scanned the desk behind him. It was covered in ancient books, and his fingertips were stained with black ink. They looked like grimoires, and he was obviously working on them for Mauritius. Weird to be doing such ancient work in a modern building.
I nicked my finger with my thumbnail and let the blood rise. Quick as I could, I darted toward him and swiped my finger over his forehead. He flinched at the touch, though he couldn’t see me.
I imbued my words with the power of suggestion. “A vandal threw that piece of metal through the window and ran off down the street.”
/>
Slowly, he nodded, his eyes blank.
I smiled. That would do nicely.
He sat back down at his desk to wait for the guards, and I turned to leave, making sure that my hood still covered my face, ensuring that the invisibility spell was working. I hoped that the charm that stripped invisibility was limited to the lobby. Probably was. Those things were so expensive and difficult to make that even the wealthiest didn’t imbue their whole homes with them, much less a giant office building.
The halls were quiet as I left, most people having gone home for the night. I needed to get to the top floor, but where were the stairs? I’d avoid the elevator if I could help it.
I sprinted through the halls on silent feet, searching for stairs. It took me ten minutes to finally admit defeat.
“There are no freaking stairs,” I muttered. What a hazard.
But it only confirmed that Mauritius was obsessive about security. If people could only use the elevator, he could monitor that. So what if there was a fire? He was a dick who didn’t care if his employees burned. It wasn’t like the Order of the Magica had health and safety regulations. Our magical government did a few things right, but not a lot. And I’d bet big bucks that if the human health and safety department ever made it in here—doubtful—that he enchanted them into giving him a passing grade.
I returned to the elevator and pressed the button to go up. A red light flashed, and I noticed the card swipe.
Shit. You needed an access card to ride.
I hurried back toward the office I’d broken into. With any luck, the guards would still be there. A moment later, I rounded the hall to see them striding out of the office, annoyance on their faces.
Two mages, undetermined skill set. Both were men in their mid-twenties, looking nearly identical with buzzed blond hair and green eyes.
“Idiot kids,” one muttered.
“Fucking hate vandals,” said the other.
Perfect, they’d bought it.
Carefully, I made sure to get my magical signature under control, drawing it to me as I approached them. I didn’t need them getting a whiff or a taste of my magic and figuring out there was someone nearby. One of them hesitated as he neared me, his gaze searching the area around my face. Then he shook his head and continued on.
