Elania huffed. "I must admit, I loathe that one the most, as we witches get accused of that as well. As if I could possibly sacrifice a child." She placed a hand over her distended belly, a troubled look entering her eyes. "I do hope that we won't be bringing our children into a world where magic users are hated universally."
"Of course we're not," Comenius said, gathering his wife into his arms. "A certain amount of enmity is normal when there is a shift in government like this. Sunaya and Iannis will make sure the transition goes smoothly. There is no reason to fret." He shot me a fierce look over the top of Elania's head as he rocked her gently.
"Right." I cleared my throat and stood up, taking the hint. "I'll get going now. Thanks for the brew, Elania."
I left some coins on the counter for Comenius, then grabbed my purchases and left. Dammit, why had I asked Elania about the rumors? I could have gone into any of the bars or coffee shops I frequented if I wanted to know the local gossip. There was no need to stress out a woman pregnant with twins and make her second-guess whether she was doing the right thing by bringing them into this world. No wonder Chen hadn't wanted to tell Sunaya. Was I even doing the right thing by telling her myself? Should I do some digging first, to make sure that these stupid rumors had some truth to them before I told her about them?
As it turned out, I didn't have to make that decision.
"Sorry, Annia," Nelia, Sunaya's cheerful assistant, said when I popped by the Mages Guild. She was sitting in the anteroom outside Sunaya's office, screening the piles of mail that came in daily for Solantha's most popular shifter. "Sunaya's out right now, testing students and interviewing teachers for the new school. Would you like to leave a message for her?"
"Just let her know that I came by," I told her. "She can send Trouble to find me when she gets back." I gathered that Nelia, too, was under orders not to upset Sunaya—hence, she had to screen all her mail. If I told Nelia about the rumors, there was a fifty-fifty chance she’d redirect them to Director Chen instead.
I left the pregnancy potion Elania had given me with Nelia, then headed to the library, which was located near the Mages Guild. A huge room with soaring ceilings and towering bookshelves, it was the best place to go if you needed to research anything magical. It was also usually inaccessible to anyone but mages.
"Hey, Janta," I said, greeting the head librarian. Her silver hair and fine-lined features were a bit unusual for mages, since they liked to use magic to disguise their ages, and I found the lack of subterfuge refreshing. "Do you think you could help me with some research?"
"Good morning, Annia," Janta said cordially. She put aside the giant tome she’d been reading and looked up at me through her spectacles. "And yes, I'd be happy to assist. What exactly are you looking for?"
I lowered my voice, leaning in a bit so the mages sitting at the study tables wouldn't overhear. "I've heard rumors of a mage who's been enhancing his power by killing and stealing the life force of other magic users," I told her. "I was hoping I could look through the records to see if I can find any traces of him."
"Is that so?" I was afraid Janta would disapprove, but on the contrary, she looked intrigued. "I haven't heard of such a case, but I would be happy to help you research any crimes that fit that description. I must ask, though, is this an ongoing case? If it is, then perhaps the Mages Guild should handle it. A non-mage would have very little chance going up against such a monster, if he does indeed exist."
"No, it's not an ongoing case. In fact, it's not even a local one. If I actually come close to finding this guy, I'll definitely involve the Guild, but for now it's just research. I heard about him when I was abroad and promised a friend I’d keep an ear out for any more information, but so far I've turned up nothing. That’s why I was hoping you could help me out." I gave her my best smile.
"There's no need to butter me up, Miss Melcott," Janta said, a hint of amusement in her voice. "I'm more than happy to help you. I don't get very many unusual or interesting research requests anymore, not since Fenris moved away. His visit last night was a breath of fresh air."
"I bet." Fenris had lived in the palace as an unofficial advisor to Iannis for a long time—an unusual arrangement since he was a shifter. He'd spent most of his days in the library researching magical lore under the guise of being a magical scholar, when in fact he was expanding on his centuries of knowledge as a mage and also trying to figure out how to expand his own limited magical capabilities.
"If there truly is such a mage, and he's been doing this for centuries, he must be very long-lived indeed," Janta said. "Mages already live for hundreds of years as it is, but a mage who makes a habit of siphoning the life force from other magic users could extend their lifespan by thousands of years."
"Yeah, I know." Garalina had explained as much to me when we'd first gotten together, and the thought worried me. If Ortanos really was thousands of years old, it would make uncovering his true identity extremely difficult. "How far do the records here go back?"
"Only about fifteen hundred years," Janta said ruefully. "But there are guilds on the Federation's east coast with libraries that date back further than that, and we librarians are very good about cooperating with one another. There are even older record collections in countries outside the Federation, which we can try to contact if necessary."
The door swung open at that moment, and a mage entered the library. "Excuse me—" he started, then paused, his green eyes widening with recognition. "Miss Melcott! What a pleasant surprise."
"Mr. ar'Segil!" He was dressed in simple navy robes today rather than formal wear, but there was no mistaking the flirtatious mage I'd sat next to last night.
"Please, call me Percon." He smiled as he leaned against the desk, ignoring Janta completely. "I wasn't expecting to run into you here—normally humans aren't granted access to the Mages Guild library."
"We've made an exception for Miss Melcott, since she is a close friend of the Chief Mage and his wife," Janta said. "Is there something I can do for you, Mr. ar'Segil? And, if so, how urgent is it? I'm in the middle of helping Miss Melcott with a research project."
"Oh! My apologies," he said, having the grace to look abashed. "I merely came to browse the historical section, but that can wait. It is obvious that you are researching something important. Perhaps I can offer my assistance? I served as my brother's research assistant for many years."
Janta and I exchanged a look. "I suppose there is no harm in it, so long as Miss Melcott is amenable."
"Sure," I said. "We're looking for a mage rumored to hunt and kill magic users so he can siphon their abilities. Ever heard of anyone like that?"
Percon's eyebrows shot up. "I can't say I have... Where did you hear of such a mage?"
"When I was traveling in Southia," I said, and then fed him the same story I'd given Janta.
"How fascinating!" His green eyes sparkled with interest. "Of course, it could very well just be an urban legend, but I would be delighted to—"
"Ah, there you are, Percon," Troilan said, walking up behind him. "I've been looking for you for the past hour. We need to leave now—we're running behind."
"Ah, yes, that dratted luncheon." Percon sighed. "I'd already forgotten. I apologize, Annia, but I must take a rain check on our research date. Forgive me?" He took my hand.
"There's nothing to forgive," I said, bemused when he pressed a kiss against my knuckles. His lips were warm and soft as they skimmed across my skin, and sparks of electricity skipped through my veins. "We didn't exactly have a date."
"An error which I shall correct another time," Percon promised, mindful of his brother's impatient glare. "For now, I will do some research of my own and contact you if I should find anything of note. My family has an extensive library, which we've recently just finished unpacking."
"Indeed.” Troilan grabbed his brother by the elbow. "Good day to you," he said cordially to Janta and me as he dragged Percon out.
"How odd," Janta said after they'd left,
tapping the end of a quill against her chin.
"What's odd?" I asked, a little apprehensive at the troubled look on her face.
"Oh! Nothing." Shaking her head, she gave me a rueful smile. "It's just that back in my day, a mage would never openly court a human, especially not in the heart of the Mages Quarter. But times are changing, which of course is a good thing. It will simply take some time for an old bird like me to get used to it."
Janta questioned me about Ortanos for a bit longer, and I gave her every detail I could without compromising my secret with Garalina.
"This should be enough to go on," she said, closing her notebook with a satisfying snap. "Why don't you go about the rest of your day, and I'll contact you when I need you."
"Huh?" I blinked. "You mean you don't want me to help you with your research?"
"Of course I do, when the time comes," Janta said. "But it will take me time to gather the pertinent books and records, and there is no sense in you hanging about. Go catch some criminals and leave me to it." She gently shooed me out the door. "I will send word to you via ether pigeon when I am ready for you."
"All right." I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but I did as she asked. After all, we all had our strengths, and it was clear to me that Janta thought I'd only be underfoot. Besides, I didn't want Terpan to think he'd chased me away. Might as well use the time to clear a few bounties off the boards and show him once and for all that I wasn't going anywhere.
8
After stopping off at a cafe to grab a quick sandwich, I headed to the Enforcer's Guild to check the board in the main lobby. Sure enough, there were half a dozen new cases waiting, four of which had hefty bounties.
"Annia, look at this one," Garalina said, tugging my attention away from a robbery.
"This one?" I plucked the bounty off the board. A newly rebuilt grocery store in Rowanville had gone up in flames yesterday, after hours, when it was supposedly locked up and empty. It was one of the buildings that had been destroyed by the quake, so the Canalo government itself was offering a hefty bounty, since they were bankrolling all the rebuilds. "Okay, yeah, it's a lucrative gig. But what's so special about it?"
"It's an arson case," Garalina said. "Weren't the mages last night saying that the anti-fire wards had been tampered with? What if this is the work of whoever is responsible?"
I frowned. "You think their first target would be a grocery store?" But then again, why not? They might be starting off small, testing the waters. "All right, we'll look into it." I’d said I would dig into the rumors before going to Sunaya, hadn't I? Maybe this was my chance.
I grabbed the file from the clerk and had just sat down in the lobby to peruse the details when a hulking shadow fell over me.
"You again," Terpan sneered, folding his arms across his massive chest. "What's with you, Melcott? You're always going after the same bounties as me and my crew."
I shrugged. "Maybe you and I just have good taste in cases," I said, trying to go for the high road. Maybe if I didn't take the bait, he'd back off.
"Pah. Other guys might fall for your sweet talk, but not me." He bared his teeth at me. "Back off, Melcott, and let my people handle this. We already started investigating this one early this morning."
"Guess that means I'll have to work hard to catch up then, doesn't it?" I flipped a page in the file, not bothering to look up at him. "Now please get out of my light so I can read."
"You snarky little bitch," Terpan growled, making no move to leave. "You think you can run around with that protection amulet and pretend that you're on even footing with me?" He jabbed a clawed finger at my torque. "You're a cheater, Enforcer Melcott. And I'm going to prove it."
Slowly, I set my file aside, then rose out of my chair. Even at my full height, I barely came up to Terpan's chest, but that didn't stop me from leveling the full force of my glare at him. "You don't get to sit here and bitch about unfair advantages when you were born with superior strength, speed, and hearing," I said. "Especially when the only reason you even have any of those abilities is because of the mages who created your kind." I tapped the torque around my neck.
"How dare you bring race into this!" Terpan's eyes bulged, and he looked like he wanted to strangle me. His nostrils flared as he scented the burst of fear rushing through me, and it took everything I had to stand my ground. "It's ignorant statements like that that keep humans and shifters divided," he said, his chest heaving.
"Maybe, but hypocritical assholes like you don't make it better." Fed up with this argument, I snatched up the file and pushed past the angry wereshifter. "Stay the hell away from me and focus on your own shit, Terpan. Maybe then you'll actually stand a chance of beating me."
I stormed out of the Guild, not caring that I was breaking the rules by taking the file with me. I needed to solve this case for Sunaya's sake, if nothing else, and I couldn't do that with a jealous shifter getting in my face.
* * *
“Well, this was a giant waste of time,” I grumbled, standing amongst the charred remains of the grocery store. I’d just spent the past six hours interviewing the owner, the manager, and the employees, and I hadn’t come up with a damn thing. “Are you sure you don’t see any traces of magical interference, Garalina?”
“I do not,” she confirmed, sounding a little put off herself. Her dark eyebrows bunched together as she floated over the debris, invisible to everyone but me. Today, she’d chosen a simpler look, her long black hair plaited down her back, her curvy figure dressed in a white dress embroidered with blue and gold beading. “If any mage was involved, they made sure to cover their tracks very well.”
I pursed my lips. “The fire brigade had two shifters on their team, and neither of them scented any magic either.” They’d managed to prevent the fire from spreading to other buildings—a miracle, considering how close the neighboring buildings were—but the grocery store and its contents were a total loss.
Frustrated, I flipped open my notebook and reviewed my notes to see if there was anything I'd missed. The file hadn't contained much info, so I’d interviewed everyone who'd worked at the shop yesterday, hoping one of them was either responsible or had seen something suspicious that day. None of them had any idea who would have set the fire, and all of them had iron-clad alibis for last night.
I'd dug a little deeper, trying to see if the owner might have been trying to commit insurance fraud, but I didn't get that vibe from her—she'd seemed genuinely devastated, and though the insurance company would give her the funds to cover the loss, it wouldn't come for several weeks. Meanwhile, the schools and local hospitals who'd ordered food stores for the week would have to be reimbursed out of her own pocket, and her premiums would go up.
For once, Terpan and his crew weren't being an incompetent bunch of assholes. There really weren't any strong leads.
"The lack of magic at the crime scene suggests that the perpetrator was human," Garalina said as I finished searching the debris for clues. "And yet, if the criminal was truly just an arsonist looking to have some fun, there were much easier targets in the area."
"That doesn't mean the crime is connected to the tampered wards," I pointed out. "After all, the wards don't prevent all fires. There's a reasonable motive somewhere, Garalina. I just need to figure out what it is."
With nothing more for me to look at here, I left the crime scene and headed back to Rowanville. As I walked along Dove Street, which ran along the east side of Maintown, I noticed that the neighborhood was becoming less Northian and more Garaian in nature. The signs on the storefronts we passed were written with Garaian characters instead of the Western alphabet, and the restaurants and shops we passed offered Garaian teas, candies, and other merchandise more commonly found in the east.
Weird. I slowed down so I could take it all in. Maintown had had a small Garaian section when I'd left, but it had grown significantly since then. Had we recently experienced an influx of Garaian immigrants? Strangely, the aftermath of the quake seemed
to be attracting newcomers.
"Like that handsome mage," Garalina purred, and an image of Percon popped into my head. Slowly, she began stripping him out of his robes, revealing a toned, muscular torso, and...
"Oh, stop it." I banished the image before she could get him naked. "Keep your dirty fantasies out of my head."
"But then how will I convince you to sleep with him?" Garalina pouted. "Come on, Annia, it's obvious that you need to blow off some steam. You are wound so tightly I'm amazed you haven't snapped already."
"Excuse me, Miss." A boy popped out of the store I was passing, interrupting me just as I was about to deliver a scathing retort. He couldn't have been more than fourteen, with mousy brown hair and a gangly frame that he was still growing into. "Are you an enforcer?"
"I am." The worried look in his large blue eyes tugged at my heartstrings, temporarily driving my own problems from my head. "Is there any trouble here?"
"There are bad men on this street," he whispered, glancing left and right as if to make sure no one would overhear him. "They come to my boss, to the owners of all the shops, and threaten to beat them up or set fire to their buildings if they don't pay them."
I scowled. A protection racket? "Is your boss in right now?"
He nodded. "I'll get him for you."
I followed the boy into the shop, which turned out to be a stationary supply store. Unlike the others surrounding it, this place wasn't run by Garaians, which made me think it had been here before this area was hit with this influx of immigrants. A balding man stood behind the counter, dressed in a crisp white shirt and tan trousers. Judging by the nice watch he wore and the quality linen of his clothing, I gathered he was the owner.
"Good afternoon, Miss," he said, giving me a cheerful smile. "How can I help you today?"
"My name is Annia Melcott." I glanced at the boy, who was standing off to the side, his shoulders hunched as if he expected to be whipped. "I've been hearing rumors of a group of thugs fleecing the area." I flashed my enforcer bracelet so he’d assume this was an official investigation. "Do you know anything about them?"
Tempted by Magic: Mischief and Magic: Book One Page 9