“As I thought.” Comenius’s eyes blazed triumphantly as he returned the little pouch to its hiding place up his sleeve. “Someone has treated this drug with a chemical or process that makes shifters susceptible to it.” He folded his arms as he sat back.
My mind reeled at the implications. “But that doesn’t make any sense,” I protested. “Surely I would have heard if there were drug dealers running around Shiftertown? That kind of thing can’t be kept a secret for long.” But my heart sank as I realized that for the last couple of months I’d spent most of my time between tending bar in Rowanville and taking on what few Enforcer jobs I could. It had been many moons since I’d spent any length of time in Shiftertown.
Comenius shrugged. “It could be a relatively new thing,” he said. “Something that’s still being tested on the market. But it is interesting that this is being peddled by humans.”
“Sure,” I said, waving my hand impatiently. “But I don’t see what this has to do with the silver murders.”
“Think about it, Naya.” Noria leaned forward, excitement gleaming in her dark eyes. “You said that when you examined Roanas’s glass, you didn’t detect any silver in it. And yet he died of silver poisoning.”
My jaw dropped as the implications of that dawned on me. “Are… are you saying that you think the cerebust is being laced with silver?”
“That would certainly explain why you were affected by it,” Comenius pointed out. “If it was a small enough dose, the silver would weaken you just enough to allow the drug to affect your system. And since you’d be high, you wouldn’t even notice.”
“So whoever’s manufacturing the drug, could also be behind these poisonings.” My mind was racing now. “That rhino shifter –”
“Could have been overdosing on a silver-laced drug,” Noria finished for me. “Unfortunately we’ll never know since you incinerated him, but Comenius and I have been looking through the papers and have found evidence that Rhino-boy wasn’t the only shifter who’s had a psychotic break like that in the last few months.”
Antsy now, I jumped up and started pacing in front of the fireplace. “I have to get out of here,” I said, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to solve these murders if I’m stuck behind these walls.”
“Don’t be in such a rush, Naya,” Comenius said hastily. He rose to his feet as well, squaring his shoulders as if prepared to restrain me. “We haven’t conclusively determined whether or not there actually is silver in the cerebust. Noria has an alchemist friend who is going to run some tests –”
“He’s a chemistry student,” Noria corrected, shooting him a testy glare. “Alchemy is magic.”
Comenius snorted. “Well excuse me.”
I couldn’t help it – I laughed. “My incarceration seems to have had a positive influence on you,” I told him. “I’ve never seen you so sassy before.”
He sobered a little. “You haven’t been incarcerated yet, Naya. And if I have my way, you won’t be.”
Tears pricked at the corner of my eyes, and I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “Thanks,” I whispered. “You guys are the best friends I could have.” I threw my arms around Comenius, then reached out and snagged Noria as well for a group hug.
“We know,” Noria said, the grin clear in her voice. “And that’s why I sent a message to Rylan asking him to break you out.”
“Noria!” Scandalized, I broke free of the hug, my eyes darting around wildly. I expected the guards to come rushing in any minute, to cart her away so that she could be questioned about the Resistance’s whereabouts. “You can’t say that shit in here, not when we’re being monitored!”
“Don’t worry,” Noria said, pulling something from her pocket. “As far as they’re concerned, we haven’t been saying anything at all for the last ten minutes of our conversation.”
She tossed the object in her palm to me, and I caught it, then held it up to the light. It was a small, handheld electronic device with a glowing blue light, and it smelled of magic. “What the hell is this thing?”
“It’s a jammer,” Noria said proudly, folding her arms across her chest. “Interferes with magical wavelengths when it’s activated, which I did before we started talking about the murders. Anyone listening to us via a magical spell wouldn’t have been able to hear a damned thing. I’ve already tested it out a few times, so I know it works.”
I gaped at the tiny gadget, amazed. “How the hell did you manage to come up with something like this?”
Comenius scowled at Noria. “She’s been experimenting with combinations of magic and technology with a college friend of hers who happens to be a mage,” he said. But though the disapproval in his voice was clear, I detected a glimmer of admiration in his eyes. “It’s going to get her killed one day, if the Mage’s Guild finds out.”
I arched a brow, impressed. “You actually found a mage who was willing to collaborate with you?”