The Spirit Siphon (Magebreakers Book 4)

by Ben S. Dobson

  “What did you want to ask me?” Stennig inquired with a frown. “I don’t think I know anything that would be useful to you.” Again, Indree got the impression he was hiding something; his face found the right expression of mild worry, but his eyes were empty.

  Indree started simple, to create a base for his reactions. “You are the Doctor Ludo Stennig who works at the military hospital here in Stehlin, correct?”

  Stennig nodded. “I am.”

  “And you have been treating a patient by the name of Rolf Ungren, who was injured in the recent airship crash?”

  “He was my patient, yes,” Stennig said.

  “Was, you said.” Indree leaned forward. A slip of the tongue, or something more? “So you’re aware he passed earlier today. According to the visitors' log, he was alive when you last visited.”

  Stennig didn’t blink. “The hospital contacted me after it happened. A tragedy. He was doing well when I checked in. I’m told he dislodged several of the artifacts maintaining proper organ function due to unrest in his sleep.”

  “Strange that it happened now, though, isn’t it?” Indree said. “He’d been strapped to his bed to stop just that, as I understand it.”

  “Well, that only goes so far. You would be surprised how much a man can move about while restrained.”

  That was a fair point—Indree had cuffed and restrained enough people to know how true it was. But Stennig’s answers were too quick, too prepared.

  “Can you tell me what precisely was the cause of death, Doctor Stennig?” she asked.

  Stennig’s expression didn’t change, but he hesitated for a long moment, and then, “Oh, well… A combination of factors. Hard to ascribe.”

  “Of course. I’m sure it’s very complicated.” Is he hiding something, or does he really not know? And that pause before answering. A pretty basic question for a doctor, I’d think, but he wasn’t ready for it. She was starting to wonder if she was talking to the real Doctor Stennig. She’d half expected him to have fled before they arrived.

  Maybe he had.

  Indree glanced at Berken, who was watching impassively. Any obvious spells were out of the question, but a divination could be subtle. A risk, true, but something was off here, and she needed to know what. She was trained in subtle lie detections—part of the job.

  Reaching out, she touched the Astra with her mind. It was like joining her consciousness to a sea of knowledge, an expansiveness that for a brief moment always made her feel set adrift. And then she focused in on her immediate Astral surroundings, and that momentary helplessness was replaced with purpose. Access to the truth of the universe, to information beyond what any non-magical senses could offer. She found Stennig easily, and reached out to access his thoughts and emotions.

  What she found was a placid, still pool where most people’s minds roiled like an ocean in a storm. No highs, no lows. The Astral signature was there, but it said nothing at all.

  What is this? She tried a question to prod some kind of response. “Did Mister Ungren ever speak to you about the crash?”

  “No, we didn’t speak much,” Stennig said. “When I’m with a patient, I prefer to focus on their health, not chit-chat. Perhaps the nurses would have more to say.” A perfectly rote answer. His signature didn’t so much as ripple.

  It wasn’t a masking or blurring—her read was perfectly clear, it just told her nothing. And it wasn’t the sort of control Tane had either, the ability to hide a lie non-magically. That would still appear as some sort of emotional reaction, even if it was a faked one. It’s like his mind is completely blank. She’d never seen anything like it before.

  There’s something wrong with this man. A kind of energy ran up Indree’s spine, the familiar feeling that this wasn’t going to end peacefully. Who is he? Her eyes strayed down to the tea-table between them, the kettle covered in a fine layer of dust. I wonder.

  She got abruptly to her feet. “I’d like to take a look around.”

  Berken gave her a curious look, but stood as well. “If you wouldn’t mind indulging the Inspector, Doctor Stennig?”

  Stennig considered them for a moment, and then nodded slowly. “Not a problem.” He got to his feet. “This way, please.”

  He led them to the kitchen first. He had an artifact stove in the corner rather than a wood-burning one, which probably cost quite a lot on this side of the channel. It was covered in a thin layer of dust, and so were the countertops nearby, which gave Indree’s theory the traction she’d been hoping for. She opened a few cupboards at random, and the stacks of dishes were similarly unused. This place hasn’t been properly used for days, maybe a week. Footprints here and there on the floor proved someone had been present, but whoever it was hadn’t been doing any of the actual business of living.

  But Stennig has been at the hospital. They know him there—an impostor would have been noticed. What does that mean? Is this man just here for our benefit, covering the real Stennig’s escape? She didn’t have an answer, but the longer she followed him around the house, the more convinced she was that this man had not been living here regularly. The same sorts of signs were there everywhere, in the halls and the study and the bedroom.

  It was the bedroom where Indree decided she’d seen enough. “Doctor Stennig, stop right there.” She put her hand on her baton under her coat.

  Both he and Berken turned to look at her. Berken stood beside her; Stennig was between her and the bed, having just led them into the room.

  “Is something wrong, Inspector?” Stennig asked. His face showed no expression at all; he didn’t bother to attempt surprise this time. His Astral signature was as still as ever.

  “I think you know what’s wrong. You haven’t been living here.” She pointed at the perfectly made bed. “No one has slept there in days. The dust on the floor hadn’t been moved until you walked in. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I don’t believe that you are who you say you are.”

  Berken gave a crisp nod in agreement. “I’d noticed that as well.” She took a step toward Stennig—or whoever it was—and her hand went to the restraints on her belt. “Doctor Stennig, I’m going to ask you to come with us. If you resist—”

  Before Berken had crossed half the distance, Ludo Stennig’s eyes flared with silver light. He moved faster than any human man should have, charging Berken with his shoulder down. The impact hurled her from her feet, sent her crashing into the wall.

  Berken grunted with the impact, but had enough presence of mind to shout, “Magecraft!”

  Indree drew her baton from under her coat. She’d only seen that kind of speed and strength once before.

  In the victims of Felisa Thorpe’s elixir.

  “Stand down, Stennig!” Berken barked, fumbling for the nullifier artifact at her waist as she pushed herself shakily off the wall.

  Stennig didn’t answer, didn’t give so much as a grunt, just moved with ferocious speed. He was on Berken again before she could recover, hammering her against the wall once more with the weight of his body.

  Indree lunged at him from behind, swinging at the back of the man’s head. Her baton connected with a solid crack.

  He didn’t so much as flinch. Whirling on her, Stennig leapt, grabbed her around the waist with an impossibly solid tackle. They flew halfway across the room; she landed on her back on the bed, mussing the impeccably tucked bedspread.

  Stennig was on top of her then, pinning her. She struggled, but he was too strong. His hand wrapped around her throat, cutting off her air. She tried to speak the words of a spell, Berken be damned, but couldn’t force them out. Her vision blurred.

  And then something struck Stennig in the side of the face, hard. It didn’t appear to hurt him, but he turned to face his attacker, released Indree’s neck. She tilted her head to look, expecting to see Berken.

  Tinga was standing at the side of the bed, the handle of a heavy teapot clenched in both her hands. She swung it again. “Get off!”

  Stennig caught the te
apot, tore it from her grasp. Tinga barely dodged aside as he threw it back at her, didn’t have time to regain her footing before he leapt from the bed toward her.

  He didn’t reach her.

  Berken took him in the side, colliding with him and carrying them both to the floor. In one hand, she clutched her nullifier artifact. She flipped the switch with her thumb, and Indree felt the field envelop her, felt the unpleasant emptiness as her connection to the Astra was blocked.

  The silver light in Stennig’s eyes didn’t go out. Thorpe’s elixir didn’t work like any spell—it was Astral energy pulled from the other side and imbibed directly. Cutting off the connection to the Astra couldn’t negate energy that had already crossed the divide into the physical world.

  Stennig tore the artifact from Berken’s hands and hurled it away; it crashed through the window and out of sight. Indree’s magic returned as abruptly as it had left.

  Berken was flat on her back, her hands battering against Stennig’s face and chest to no avail. He wrapped both hands around her neck and squeezed, just as he had with Indree. Tinga leapt onto him from behind, raining tiny goblin fists down on his back and neck. He didn’t seem to notice.

  The elixir was too strong. There was only one way to stop him now.

  “Berken, I’m casting a spell! Arrest me after, if you have to!” Indree focused on the thread of power that connected her to the Astra and chanted a quick entreaty in the lingua magica. A feeling she could only describe as cool warmth spread through her as the magic answered. “Tinga, move!” She reached out toward Stennig, and spread her fingers.

  Tinga leapt out of the way as silver-blue tendrils burst from Indree’s hands and wrapped themselves around both of Stennig’s arms. With a flick of her wrist, she tore his grip free from Berken’s neck.

  He pulled back, strong enough to actually tax the spell’s power, but Indree barked another word in the lingua and the tendrils doubled, binding him at every joint, circling his neck and waist. Yanking against his resistance, she lifted him from his feet so that he was suspended in the air in front of her.

  Tinga had retrieved her teapot, and held it out at Stennig as she moved to Indree’s side. “Do you have him? I can hit him again.”

  Indree just glanced at her and said, “You were supposed to stay in the carriage.”

  “I know, but I heard something!” Tinga said defensively. “And you can’t say you didn’t need the help.”

  “I suppose I can’t,” Indree admitted. “I have him. Help Berken.”

  Stennig was still struggling, the light in his eyes glowing bright as his efforts grew stronger. Indree wasn’t worried. She knew what was coming. The elixir granted incredible strength and speed, but it was too powerful. Those who drank it inevitably burned from within, especially when they pushed themselves like this.

  But Ludo Stennig surprised her.

  He didn’t burn. Instead, he went limp all at once, sagged against the grasp of her spell. The light in his eyes faded.

  Berken was getting to her feet with Tinga’s help, gripping her throat. “Was that your magic?” She asked hoarsely. “Did you kill him?”

  “No,” Indree said, concealing her confusion. “He’s still breathing. He just… stopped.”

  Berken’s hand went to the restraints at her waist. “You must end this spell at once.”

  “Fine.” Indree wrenched Stennig’s wrists together with a twist of her hand. “But you might want to restrain him.”

  Berken considered her for a moment, and then turned to Stennig and clasped the cuffs around his wrists. They were magically reinforced; Indree hoped that would be enough. She released her hold on the Astra, and the silver tendrils vanished.

  “If you have to arrest me, I’ll go peacefully,” Indree said. “I didn’t see another way.”

  “What?” Tinga whirled on Berken. “That spell saved your life. One more second and he would have crushed your throat. You’re not going to arrest her for that!”

  Berken didn’t answer either of them immediately. Her hand lingered on the livid marks Stennig had left on her neck, and she looked to the restrained man for a long moment. “No,” she said at last. “I think… I think it can be justified. This time. He would have…” She looked up at Indree. “Thank you, Inspector Lovial. I owe you a debt.”

  That was more reasonable than Indree had expected, from a member of the Belgrian Guard. “If you’re not taking me in, we’ll call it even,” she said. “Right now we need to deal with him.” She advanced on Stennig, grabbed him by the chin, lifted his head. He was conscious; he looked back up at her without a trace of silver left in his eyes. How? Has Endo refined the elixir? It’s as if he just turned it off.

  “I surrender,” he said. “I’ll tell you everything.”

  “What power was that?” Berken demanded. “Clearly you are using illegal magic. Are you a mage?”

  Stennig shook his head. “No, no. It was a black market enhancement charm. In case anyone came looking for the things I’ve been taking from the hospital.”

  Berken didn’t look convinced. “My nullifier had no effect on it. How is that possible?”

  “They said it was made to get around that. I don’t understand the magic myself.” Stennig glanced at Indree as if daring her to contradict him.

  I can’t explain how the elixir works. That leads to Endo. And he knows it. “We can worry about black marketeers later,” Indree said. She had to aim at a different lie, for now. “You’re the one in front of us right now. Are you saying you thought we were here about goods stolen from the hospital?” That couldn’t be true—she wasn’t even certain this was Doctor Stennig at all.

  “Aren’t you?” Stennig asked. “What else?” Before Indree could ask for more, he volunteered it himself. “I was taking medicines and artifacts that I could get out without being noticed. Recording them as prescribed to patients, or lent out for home use. Ungren woke up and saw me hiding some in my coat. He was hardly lucid, but I couldn’t take the risk.”

  “You mean to say you killed him for that reason alone?” Indree said. “This had nothing to do with the crash of the Gerthine?” She didn’t believe that for a moment.

  “Of course not!” Stennig exclaimed with an aggrieved expression that still didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m not a traitor, just… I needed the money. If you don’t believe me, check under the bed. There’s a loose board.”

  “I’ve got it!” Tinga said. She scurried under the bed, searched around for a moment, and then came up. “Here!” In one hand she held several small medicinal vials; in the other, some sort of artifact that Indree didn’t recognize, but whose long copper tube ended in a clearly recognizable hollow-tipped needle.

  Not an impostor, then. Or if he is, he’s an impostor with access to those supplies. Except the whole story still felt wrong. He’d fought back hard enough at first, but even so the confession was too easy. Indree glanced at Berken; the other woman was frowning doubtfully at Stennig. She sees it too.

  Someone was offering Stennig up to them as a distraction. But a distraction from what?

  Indree’s mouth went dry. “We need to contact Tane and Kadka. Now.”

  Chapter Nine

  _____

  TANE PUSHED THROUGH the embassy doors to find Indree and Tinga waiting for him in the reception hall, with Ambassador Althir towering behind them. He didn’t take the time to form words, just rushed across the floor, wrapped his arms around Indree, and pulled her close.

  “Ree,” he breathed in relief. “Are you alright? Spellfire, you had me worried. From your sending, I wasn’t sure—”

  Indree returned the embrace, holding him tight. “I’m fine. Tinga was watching my back. I told her to stay in the carriage, mind you, but she came in just when I needed her.”

  Tane drew back just enough to kiss her before finally letting go to look at Tinga. “For once I’m glad you don’t listen.”

  Tinga gave him a smug smile. “I told you I’d be useful.”

  �
��I was more worried about you and Kadka,” said Indree. “I’m glad you’re safe. I’m sorry I couldn’t say more earlier. I didn’t want to use more magic than I had to with Lieutenant Berken around. I already pressed my luck with her enough today. But I had to warn you, make sure you weren’t in trouble.” Shortly after the near miss with the artifact at the crash site, she’d contacted him by sending. Tane still wasn’t entirely clear on what had happened with Doctor Stennig, but whatever it was, it had made Indree fear that he and Kadka might be in danger.

  “Was a bit late,” said Kadka, grinning slightly. “Trouble finds us first.”

  “So I hear,” said Indree. “What happened?”

  “Someone left a present behind for us,” Tane said. “But I want to hear your story first. Whatever happened with Stennig might shed some light on what we found.”

  Indree summarized the encounter quickly, and the information the Belgrian Guard had found afterward. “They verified that he’s not an impostor. And he did need money—he has an impressive amount of gambling debt. He claims he was working alone, and insists the strength and speed and silver eyes were nothing but a black market charm. As far as I can tell, the Guard is taking that story at face value.”

  Tane frowned. “That makes no sense. Even they must know enough about magic to understand that no charm is going to work under a nullification spell. Anyone who claims otherwise is trying to sell something.”

  “I don’t think it’s a matter of ignorance,” Indree said. “If the problem comes from within the country, it means someone here caught the Guard with their pants down. I get the feeling there’s pressure from higher up to deny any findings that suggest Audland’s innocence. Blame the foreign mages so they can save face. But Stennig is definitely lying. I know Thorpe’s elixir when I see it. And I think Berken suspects as much, too. She stayed at the detention center to question him further when Tinga and I left to meet you. I’m hoping she’ll listen to reason if I work on her—she didn’t arrest me for using magic in front of her when she could have.”