Alena cleared her throat, and Alec jumped and grinned apologetically. He had been so caught up in studying the tech and thinking about the potential problems that he’d completely forgot she was there. Wrapping the amulet again, he placed it on the top shelf of the bookshelf, as far away from Alena as it could get. When he looked back at her, she had noticeably relaxed. The tech might be fascinating, but Alena’s reaction suggested it was dangerous.
Kissing her gently on her soft, rose-scented curls, Alec sat beside Alena and cleverly manipulated both monitors to run different searches. One focused on devices that suppressed magic, and one searched for information on Magitechs. Just as Alec guessed, the last search didn’t bring up anything besides conjecture. If there were any Magitechs, they died young or went so deep into hiding they were never heard from again. Alec knew the information wasn’t entirely accurate. Davin had proven the theory wrong. Alec knew there were others like him and Eden, others that hadn’t had their abilities suppressed but weren’t crazy.
“We don’t even know if she is Magitech,” Alena growled after they scanned through several frustrating articles on inevitable madness.
“We’ll know when she wakes up and is feeling better,” Alec said. He wouldn’t tell her about Davin until he absolutely had to. He had promised his old friend, but he also hated keeping secrets from the woman he loved. “All we need to do is test her.”
Alena’s brows rose. “Like the tests they did on her in school? The ones that told her she was a mundane non-techie?”
“Well, yes, but hopefully they’ll work this time. I’m guessing Eden’s magic and tech abilities were suppressed during the tests. She might not have had the necklace yet, so it’s also possible the spell was performed on her right before mandatory testing.”
“I have no idea what a techie test entails,” Alena mused. “I never went through it since my designation was obvious.”
“My designation was obvious as well, but they still made me test,” Alec replied with a wry grin. “There are resources on the web for parents to test their children, so I’ll use one of those. If she passes those easily, I’ll bring up one of the tests created by Elite techies. They like to retest their kids if they're not happy with the results.” He clicked out of the Magitech search, and Alena spelled Eden’s whole name. He hadn’t intended on snooping into her background, but it made sense to gather as much information as they could. The search yielded several results, and they both leaned forward to read.
The first was the national registry everyone could access. It was simple and expected. Edania Eidahl, age 23, parents unlisted. Both parents were listed as deceased mundanes, the father when Eden was three, and the mother when Eden was five. After their deaths, she’d been placed into the mundane system and adopted by a lowly factory worker. The man had probably applied because he wanted the stipend for her care.
Eden was listed as “Talentless mundane, no magic, no tech.” Alec frowned at the classification. Even if Eden had never shown any mage talents, he would never call the young woman talentless. In fact, he utterly despised the word talentless. Mundanes contributed a lot to both the mage and techie societies, and Alec was a firm believer in equal rights for all. It was one of the reasons he participated in the Eastern mage underground. He hated that the government judged children on such specific criteria. Even mages and techies were sorted into levels based on their skills. No one should be forced into drudgery and discrimination simply because they were born a certain way. Alena shared his disgust for the description.
Alec clicked on the next link, and an image burst onto the screen. The burnt, twisted scrap of metal might have been a car at one point, but it was hard to reconcile that with the picture. The photo had been taken from a high vantage point, maybe a hill. Blackened grass formed a ten-foot ring around the barely recognizable hunk of metal. The headline read “Two Teens Injured in Car Accident.”
Alena and Alec read in silence. There wasn’t much information. The teenage boy had taken his father’s car out and crashed it off a high hill. He’d been thrown from the vehicle and suffered minor injuries. Eden had lost over half her arm, sustained multiple broken bones, and a concussion. The teenage boy’s father had declined to comment, and there were no photos of the teenagers.
“Wow,” Alec breathed, staring at the picture. His heart ached for a younger Eden. It must have been a terrifying experience. Alena said she still had nightmares, and his sympathy increased. He wanted to make everything better for her, but he couldn’t fix her arm. He could protect her in other ways, though, and he was determined to do so.
“Yeah,” Alena echoed. “It’s amazing she walked out of there. It’s also surprising that the other kid only had minor injuries. It certainly looks extreme for just a fall from a hill, right?”
“Definitely; the car shouldn’t have exploded like that. They’re not built to explode on impact. The boy's dad is listed as a techie; all techie cars are safeguarded for safe driving.” Alena had a car, but it was only because of her connection to the police department. Alec had to work hard to keep the monstrosity working. Still, even Alena’s piece of crap car wouldn’t have burst into flames like that.
“I wonder if her magic affected the crash. I did sense a connection to the elements.”
“It would make sense,” Alec replied. “Even if her magic was suppressed, it might have leaked during a stressful event. It might have also reacted unpredictably under pressure.” He closed the page. The other entry was another rehash of the accident with no new information. This one had photos of the teenagers - school pictures taken before the crash. The boy was short haired and handsome for a 17-year-old. His smile was the cocky grin of a bully or a spoiled brat; Alec had known enough of them in his high school years to recognize it. The younger Eden didn’t look much different than now. Her black hair formed a halo around her bronzed face. Her eyes were wide and haunted. The photo cut off above her neck, so they couldn’t determine whether she’d had the necklace already.
“She looks sad, and this was before the accident.”
Alec nodded in agreement. “I imagine growing up with an adoptive family wasn’t a piece of cake.” He turned to the other search, bringing it to the monitor closest to Alena with a swipe of his fingers. He’d explained the invention of touch screens to Alena, but she had listened half-heartedly, tuning out when he said they only worked for techs.
There was a lot of information about amulets, tech necklaces, and spells to suppress magic that were short-term and weak, but none seemed to combine all three. Nearly an hour later, Alena sat back and rubbed her aching neck. Alec was used to spending a long time on the computer, but she wasn’t. Her body didn’t like the position.
“Can you post on any mage sites about the necklace?” Alec asked, his tone also tired. It had been a difficult night, and his heart was breaking for Eden’s past. He rubbed Alena’s neck with his free hand, and she groaned in appreciation.
“There’s no way I’m going to reveal we have a Magitech necklace to the mage or techie community,” Alena argued, but her voice didn’t hold as much defiance as it usually did. She wanted information just as much as Alec did.
“Of course not. It can be vague, about a necklace with magic suppression abilities. We’ll screen the answers.”
Alena shrugged and directed Alec to a website that acted as a computerized bulletin board for mages. It was deceptively simple; even a mage could use it, but Alena always had Alec do the navigation. She told him what to say, and he typed “looking for any information about an amulet that can suppress magic and shield it from magic sensors.” They stared at the words on the screen, and Alec felt his gut churn. A necklace like Eden’s could be a powerful tool in the wrong hands. Alena must have thought the same because she grabbed Alec’s arm.
“No, take it off,” she demanded. He deleted it from the public forum with a click, ready to do so anyway. “The necklace is too powerful and could be used for the wrong reasons. I don’t want anyone know
ing about it until we know more.”
“I agree. It’s gone now. A master hacker could find it in the temp files, but they’d really have to be looking for it, and I don’t know why a techie would be looking for a mage suppression amulet.” But he did. The results of a techie suppressing a mage’s power were enough to make him shudder. If they added the technical suppression, it was a bomb waiting to explode. Alena’s eyes were troubled as she considered the same things.
“Come on, let’s go to bed.” She pulled him away from the computer, snuggling next to his body as they walked to their bedroom. Alec tucked her against him, enjoying her familiar comfort and warmth. It distracted him from all the things that could go wrong, and probably would, before this entire mess was resolved.
Chapter Twelve
Jenira
Jenira joined Davin in his office to discuss the latest news they’d uncovered when Cat burst into the room, followed by Andrew. Davin’s nephew followed her sister around like a damn puppy, and Cat hardly noticed. Jenira knew it wasn’t that Cat didn’t like Andrew, she just had more on her mind than romance and love. She didn’t have the libido or interest that Jenira had.
Her thighs clenched together as she glanced at Davin. Sitting behind the desk, his tailored shirt pulling against his muscles, she was reminded of last night. She didn’t spend every night with him because she didn’t like leaving Cat alone in their new apartment one floor below Davin’s penthouse. When they got together, though, their magic lit up the darkness. Even now, it danced between them. Jenira had never planned on being so tied to another mage. She had avoided sex with them because of this very possibility, but damn if Davin hadn’t gotten under her shell and then into her pants. Thankfully, she had him wrapped around her finger. If Andrew was a puppy, Davin was a pit bull - her pit bull.
“We have a development!” Cat bounced happily, waving her digipad in the air. Jenira hid a smile as she watched her sister. The month since Marcus had kidnapped her had been beneficial for Cat in every way. She felt valued, stimulated, challenged, and happy. Her work kept her busy, she’d managed to make friends among the Integration team, and they were getting closer every day to understanding the construction of a Magitech device. It frustrated Cat that they hadn’t made any significant breakthroughs, but she told Jenira it was just a matter of time.
Davin sat up straighter, and Jenira noted the excitement in his aura. “On the Integration project or our other problem?” He had developed a soft spot for Cat. It was a good thing, or Jenira would have left regardless of how much her magic protested the separation.
The door closed behind Andrew, and they both approached the desk. “The other problem,” Cat stated. It still bothered her that Marcus had managed to coerce her so easily. While Jenira and Davin focused on hunting for clues about the Magitech mastermind behind the mage murders, Cat and Andrew discussed theories about the device which had shattered Jenira’s magic. They also speculated about the necklace Marcus had worn which made him impervious to the same device’s effects.
Cat looked at her digipad and swiped a finger across the screen. After pushing up her glasses, she began. “At 10pm last night, a query was submitted to the mage community bulletin board. It was deleted seconds afterward which is why we were delayed in tracing it. It didn’t stay long enough on the boards to trigger our ping, but we performed another search this morning, and it popped up. The message was sent from a poorly protected system on the outskirts of a town called Canton.” Cat scrunched her nose. “I’ve never heard of it.”
Davin sat back in his chair, intertwining his fingers over his hard abs. “I have a factory there, but it’s a small town about two hours south of here. There is nothing spectacular about it, except…” his voice trailed off and Jenira wished that the desk wasn’t between them. She wanted to kick him in the shin so he'd continue.
“Except what?” she prodded.
“An old friend of mine lives there, last I knew. I don’t know if he’s still there, but he is involved in the mage community. What was the message?”
“Looking for any information about an amulet that can suppress magic and shield it from magic sensors,” Cat read aloud. Jenira sat forward at the same time as Davin, her interest rising. That sounded very similar to what the killers had used to enter the mage’s homes before they killed their victims in their sleep. It wasn’t exactly like the necklace Marcus had been wearing, but it bore too much similarity to their interests to ignore.
“The message was removed immediately?” Davin asked.
“Ten seconds, roughly.”
“IP address? Name of the user?”
Cat smirked. “Like I said, they weren’t shielded well. They’re not in the business of subterfuge. I’m assuming this is something they stumbled on. If it's a trap, it’s a horrible one. The computer is registered to Alec Carlisle. The IP address is clear and traceable, but it leads to a dead space.”
Davin’s gaze was thoughtful, so Jenira jumped in before he could respond. “Dead space?”
“Yeah, there’s no house where the IP address originated. I can narrow it down to a five-mile radius, but there aren’t any houses at all. The satellite images show distortion, like a blank field, or a muddy interference that is nothing but static. It’s like there’s a computer in the middle of a pasture, which doesn’t make sense. So, the user isn’t as smart as they think or the house is heavily warded by magic. That would be strange if there’s a computer involved.”
“But not impossible,” Jenira reminded her sister. They had lived together, a mage and a techie, their entire lives. Jenira glanced at Davin, but he was still staring into the distance. Since she couldn’t kick him physically, she used her magic to pinch him on the arm. He jumped and glared at her.
“You know I hate it when you do that,” he growled. Jenira smirked. He loved it sometimes, especially when she tweaked more sensitive places.
“What are you thinking?”
“Alec Carlisle is the old friend of mine. This could be a trap, just like Cat said; someone might be using the name of my old friend to draw me out. Or, it could be that Alec stumbled on this. Last I heard, he was helping his girlfriend run a safe-house for unregistered mages, so that’s not an entirely impossible scenario.”
Cat tapped a finger on her chin. “And that would explain the house’s invisibility. If it’s meant to shield mages, it would be heavily warded.”
Jenira stood. “Well, let’s go, then.”
Davin shook his head, surprising her. “No. Let’s wait.” When Jenira started to argue, he held up a hand. “Not forever, Jenira, just long enough to see if Alec comes to me.”
“Why would he come to you?” Her words rang with irritation. This was the best lead they’d had in a month and Davin wanted to sit on it for a day?
“He knows what I am,” he answered simply. “If he’s encountered something magical that has the potential to hide from electronic sensors, he’ll call me.”
Jenira sat back down and drummed her fingers on her thighs. She would have taken out her daggers, but Davin didn’t like it when she played with her blades in his office. He worried about his expensive leather chairs and unscratched mahogany desk. Sometimes, she intentionally ignored him. Make-up sex with Davin was even better than regular sex. Also, it was very telling that this unknown Alec knew Davin’s secret. She was curious to hear how that had happened.
“Keep monitoring that IP address, I want everything. And if we can find him, others can too. If I don’t hear from him in 24 hours, I’ll go down there myself,” Davin told Cat.
“We’ll go down there,” Jenira corrected, and he sighed but nodded. Cat agreed and waltzed from the room, Andrew following behind her again. He hadn’t said a word the whole time he’d been there. When the door had closed behind them, Jenira cocked an eyebrow at Davin. “So? You trust this guy?”
Davin hesitated but nodded. “I do. He’s a good man, one of the best; but he can also be naïve and optimistic. If he did just happen on this
amulet, it could be dangerous, but I am curious to see if he’s going to call me first. We haven’t talked in years; anything could have happened between then and now.”
“I agree, but you do understand the risk if we choose to wait and something happens in that time?” She rose slowly from her chair and rounded the desk to sit on the shiny surface in front of him. He looked up, his large hands wrapping around her thighs below her dagger holsters.
“I understand, but we should go to that rally today instead of heading straight down to Canton.”
Jenira sighed and pinched her nose. She had no desire to see Travis Davenport. The man was a slick, notorious playboy, and their last meeting hadn’t gone so well. Since he showed up at the gym so suspiciously, she and Davin had been keeping an eye on him. He’d announced his bid for a council seat in the last week, a move that surprised everyone in the techie Elite. To many, it was a joke, but to Davin and Jenira it made a lot of sense. If the man was involved in the Magitech domination scheme, holding clout in a high political position was a strategic move. On the other side of the border, Marcus’s father was preparing to do the same, and they had no doubt the events were related.
“I have no desire to see that pansy,” she muttered.
“I know, but we should make an appearance. I am one of the biggest political donors in the Eastern Territory. Not only will he be ecstatic when I show up, but I want to see his face when I show up with you.”
It had taken Jenira several weeks to feel comfortable going out in public. At first, she hadn’t believed the murder charges against her were actually rescinded. She'd been worried she would find herself on the first train to the border. Slowly, Davin had coaxed her out. He was putting himself in the spotlight more, as well. They wanted the public to know his character if his Magitech abilities were revealed.
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