“Late start, huh?” I said.
They lived in Magic’s Bend, which was in Oregon. It had to be a good nine hours behind France. That would make it about 11 p.m. when they were headed out for the night.
“All the good parties start late,” Mordaca said.
“So true.” Aerdeca laughed, tapping her white nails on the surface of the table. “But it sounds like Lachlan needs our help more than Count Vladimir needs our attendance at his party.”
“And he’ll pay well for the privilege.” Mordaca’s dark eyes glinted with greed.
These ladies charged a fortune for their work, but they were worth it. Their shop, Apothecary’s Jungle, was one of the most sought-after magic shops in the world. Hiring their services was sure to put a person into a lower tax bracket.
“So you think you can track the blood on the blade?” Lachlan asked.
“Of course, silly.” Mordaca laughed. “And for you, we’ll only charge half.”
My gaze darted between them. Interest gleamed in Mordaca’s eyes, which she couldn’t keep from dragging over Lachlan. Since he was in the business of making dangerous spells, they should have been in competition.
But apparently Mordaca wouldn’t let a little thing like work get in the way of her pursuit.
Aerdeca looked just as interested, in fact. I leaned against the counter and sipped my coffee, eyeing the plate of croissants on the other side of the room, licking my lips.
Mordaca stood. “Shall we get this show on the road? I’d like to make it to Vlad’s before the meal starts.”
“Of course.” Lachlan stood, then led them from the room. I trailed behind, snagging a croissant off the kitchen counter as I went.
I bit into it as we crossed the lawn, then stopped dead in my tracks and stared at the croissant as buttery goodness exploded over my tongue. Wow.
So that was what a croissant was supposed to taste like. No wonder the world was obsessed. Too bad one had to come all the way to France to eat a decent one. I stuffed the rest of it in my mouth and vowed to go back for more.
Lachlan led the sisters to his workshop in the back. In the daylight, I could see the rolling vineyards all around. They were dormant now, the vines barren of leaves, but in the summer, it would be beautiful here. A river burbled by on the left. That was probably the water he’d been trying to control last night while testing his magic.
Lachlan, Mordaca, and Aerdeca stepped into the workshop. I lingered outside for half a moment, calling on my magic, hoping to see if it still worked.
It sputtered inside of me, like a candle flame in the wind. I sucked in a deep breath and focused, trying to draw it to the surface as I held out my hand and envisioned a shield forming.
Come on. Come on.
I needed my magic. Without it, we didn’t stand a chance.
A tiny flare of magic burst to life and exploded outward from my hand, creating a puny shield that wavered weakly.
I managed to hold it for a minute before it died.
That was weird.
So it wasn’t fully gone.
I stocked the info away, hoping it would come in handy later, and joined the group in the workshop. Aerdeca and Mordaca were bustling around, going from table to table to gather supplies. Hundreds of varieties of herbs hung from the ceiling. I hadn’t noticed them last night, but they smelled divine.
“That’s the thing I like about working with you, Lachlan,” Mordaca said. “We never have to bring our own materials.”
I joined him at the side wall, pointing upward at the herbs. “Did you collect all of these?”
I had a hard time imagining him out in the fields picking flowers, then conducting the painstaking work of drying them.
“No. The housekeeper did. She knows what to look for.” He smiled. “It’s one of the main reasons I chose this place. Not only is it remote, it’s also an excellent location for crafting dangerous spells, but the housekeeper is a brownie. She does all the work I don’t want to do.”
“And you focus on making the things that go bang.”
“Essentially.” He smiled. “A good system.”
“Yeah. None of the boring parts.”
“Exactly.”
I turned my attention to Mordaca, watching as they dropped brightly colored potions into a stone bowl. The sisters hovered over it, one light and one dark, like two halves of a balanced whole. Their magic filled the air. Aerdeca’s sounded like chirping birds and felt like a light breeze, while Mordaca’s tasted of whiskey and smelled like cigar smoke. Together, they stirred it with a silver knife, then added droplets of their own blood. Last, they dipped my dagger into the mixture, melding some of the mage’s blood with the solution.
The liquid smoked and burned.
My nose wrinkled.
From my position, I could only see Mordaca’s face. Her brows rose as she stared at the smoke, which twisted and turned. I couldn’t make out a pattern in it, but she clearly could.
“The blood bearer is in an ancient place, torn down by heat and the rage of nature. An ancient place of conquerors and villains that has grown again.”
Wait—what?
“Could you clarify?” Lachlan asked.
Mordaca blinked, jerking her head back as if she were coming out of a trance. “There’s an encryption on the bearer’s blood. A concealment charm. That was all I was able to get.”
“So the game continues.” I looked at Lachlan. “ Whoever stole from you is working hard to cover their tracks. The rest of the teams will need to stay on this, then. There are a hundred ways to interpret that.”
Lachlan frowned. “At least a hundred.” He turned his attention to Mordaca and Aerdeca. “Is there anything else you can tell us?”
“Only that whoever put the spell on this guy’s blood is damned powerful,” Mordaca said.
Yeah, I could have guessed that. But I kept my trap shut.
“I’d be afraid of them,” Aerdeca said.
Oh shit. Aerdeca wasn’t afraid of anyone.
Mordaca nodded. “I’ve never seen anything quite like this. It’s intensely powerful and very dangerous.”
Well, that wasn’t good.
“Thank you,” Lachlan said.
“You’re welcome,” Mordaca said. “We’ll put it on your tab.”
“Feel free to tip.” Aerdeca grinned, and it was shark-like.
I winced. That was going to be expensive.
We said goodbye to them.
Once they’d disappeared, Lachlan looked at me. “We need to go to the Protectorate. Tell them everything has changed.”
8
We arrived at the Protectorate an hour later. Since Lachlan’s magic was gone and he couldn’t make a portal, we had to use one of his transport charms. They were rare and expensive, but this was kind of an emergency.
Unfortunately, because of Protectorate security, we couldn’t transport directly within the walls. We chose the front gate, instead. The wind whipped across the mountains behind us, cutting through my leather jacket and thin dress. As I walked, my boots crunched down on icy layers of snow.
I clutched my bloody clothes in a plastic bag as I walked to the enormous wooden gate and pressed my hand to it. Magic flared briefly—the castle’s magic, not mine, fortunately, since that was mostly gone—and the gate creaked open.
I gave the surrounding mountains one last glance—the Highlands really were the most beautiful place I’d ever been—then stepped through the gate.
Lachlan followed, and we made our way quickly toward the castle.
“Most of the staff will be gone,” I said. “Off hunting the clue.”
“Hopefully they’ll be close enough to portals to return quickly,” he said.
As we neared the courtyard in front of the castle, I saw more people than I expected. Lavender and Angus—two of the other students—along with our friends Caro, Ali, and Haris.
Caro looked at me from across the courtyard, her face pale. Ali and Haris didn’t look any better, their dark complexions several shades lighter than normal.
I frowned. “Something is wrong.”