Moonshadow (Moonshadow #1)

Most of all, she wanted to get back down to the business they had begun last night before he had so precipitously walked away.

Throwing up her hands, she shrugged out of his hold. She said, “If you want to pay me for a month of consulting work, I’d be happy to take your money, but I don’t have a work visa.”

“I’ll add it to the amount we’re paying you for rent,” Nikolas told her. He turned to watch her with a sharp frown as she sidled away from him. “Fifteen thousand.”

The British pound was worth more than the dollar, and adding ten thousand pounds to cover her consulting fees was more than she would have made in LA. But it wasn’t so much over the top that it caused her conscience to twinge.

From a distance of six feet away, she gave Nikolas a thin, not-altogether-friendly smile. “You want to hand over your money? Fine, I’ll be happy to take it.”





Chapter Thirteen





Having come to that agreement, they got down to business. In short order, they had the table completely cleared and various items unwrapped from the packages Gawain had brought in. Sophie had already brought her vial of colloidal silver out to the kitchen, and she collected the rest of the things she wanted from her bedroom—pieces of magic-sensitive silver, a pen and pad of paper.

“Making your own colloidal silver generator is the easiest thing in the world,” she told the two males who were focused so intently on her. “It’s like learning to park a car. Once you know it, you know it. You need a power source, alligator clips, silver, distilled water, and containers. Silver colloidal enthusiasts who believe in using it for medicinal purposes might also use a regulator diode, because the theory is, as the electrical current grows, it strips larger particles of silver off. That’s not good for their purposes, but that’s great for ours, so we’re not going to use a regulator diode. We want the larger particles because that’s what makes magic-sensitive colloidal silver so viable.”

As she talked, her hands moved over the various items, arranging them to her satisfaction. She connected the batteries to each other, then to the alligator clips, to two of the pieces of the magic-sensitive silver she had brought, set it all in the container, and filled it with distilled water.

“And that’s it,” she said. “We’re done. The solution will be ready in several hours when it has a yellow tint to it. We can check it again this evening, and it will probably be viable then. Like I said before, there’s a way to make a generator without batteries, just by using sunlight, but I’ve never used that method before. If you’re interested, I can dig up some instructions.”

Nikolas took several photos of the apparatus while both men asked her questions. She answered them readily enough, and when they seemed ready, she pulled out her vial of viable colloidal silver.

“You’ve already seen the end result to the process,” she said. She took her pen and drew the rune on the paper, then flipped it for them to see. “And this is the rune I use.”

“Is that Nordic?” Nikolas asked as he angled his head to study the rune.

“Yes.” She paused uncertainly. “That’s not an issue, is it?”

He shook his head. “No. I’m just not as familiar with the Nordic runes as I am with the Celtic.”

“Once you know the technique, you can get creative with your spells and use the runes you’re more familiar with,” she told him. “Drawing the rune and infusing it with the magic spell is the same technique that jewelry makers use when they create magic items. If you know how to put a cloaking spell on your sword hilt, you can do this too.”

“I understand. It’s the silver in the solution that holds the spell.”

“Exactly.” She smiled. “I use the rune Algiz for this particular spell. It’s a rune of protection, which might not seem to fit, but it can also be used for channeling energies a certain way or for turning something away. Together with the null spell, it combines to turn away or negate magic. It’s a negation, not a destruction, so the magic can always return. Get it?”

Gawain murmured, “You are one of the cleverest women I have ever met.”

Surprised by the compliment, she felt her cheeks turn warm. “Thank you. I’m not, but—thank you. Remember, I learned a lot of this from other people. I’m like a magpie. I love picking up bits and pieces of things. Then I start playing with them, and sometimes they go together in surprising ways.”

“You may have learned a lot of this from other people, but you’re the one who put it together,” Nikolas said. “Gawain said it was almost like a temporary tattoo, and he was right. You’re creating temporary magic items.”

“Yeah,” she said, pleased with the description. “And you know, painting magic spells on someone isn’t a new technique—tribal shamans do it all the time. Painting them with magic-sensitive silver just means the spells can be stronger and more durable. There’s a limited application for this, and I make magic jewelry too, amulets and such, but I like painting certain spells on my skin. You can lose a necklace or a bracelet in a fight, and rings can catch on things—I know someone who lost a finger that way—but you’re much less likely to lose a spell that’s glued onto you.”

At Gawain’s blank look, Nikolas told him, “She’s referring to the spells she used against the Hounds in the attack. They were painted on her skin with…”

When he glanced at her, eyebrows raised, she grinned. “It’s a different solution than this. I put tiny magic-sensitive silver shavings in clear nail polish.”

“Like I said. Clever, clever woman.” Gawain patted her shoulder.

Nikolas practiced working the null spell on Sophie until he cast it competently. Then it was Gawain’s turn to practice on her while Nikolas wore a null spell. By the time both men felt confident in casting the spell quickly, it was almost noon.

“We owe you a gun, along with silver bullets,” Nikolas said.

She straightened her shoulders from bending over the table. “Yes, you do.”

He picked up the last package Gawain had brought in and pulled out a metal micro gun vault, along with boxes of ammunition. She opened the vault, saw the Glock nestled inside, and patted her chest again. “Be still, my heart.”

Gawain laughed, but Nikolas didn’t. He watched her intently. “Now show me you know how to use it,” he said.

She felt a brief impulse to irritation, but it faded almost immediately into a certain kind of appreciation. He was being careful, and it was one of the things she liked best about him. He didn’t leave things to chance.

Not looking away from his face, she disassembled and assembled the gun by touch alone. It took her seconds. Then she loaded it while the men watched every move she made. She explained, “Because you should be able to do it in the dark, if need be.”

Nikolas gave her a fierce, approving smile. “Yes, you should.”