by Jami Gray
Stephen looked as if his head would explode. He slammed his fist on the tabletop, rattling nearby cups and pens as he looked daggers at Leander. “You stole our research to bolster your thrice-cursed experiments.” At his outburst, shadows deepened along the edges of the room, and I thought I heard whispering.
As the surrounding shadows thickened, magic rasped against my skin layering my growing unease. My own magic rose in an invisible response, a sensation akin to armor sliding into place. Out of the corner of my eye, a faint shimmer of blue sparked. Next to me, Zev leaned forward. His hands, lined with a subtle glow of magic, were held in a casting position. On the other side of the room, the brunette and blond did the same as they prepared to defend those seated at the table. Their reaction exposed them as Arbiters.
Red-faced, Leander shoved back his chair and braced his hands on the table. Outside, an eerie wail tore apart the calm summer and hard winds slammed against the windows, rattling the glass in their frames. Inside the conference room, the uncomfortable press of magic rose in sync with the two men’s aggression. I wasn’t sure if Leander was going to launch himself at Stephen or upend the table. I scooted forward to perch at the end of my chair, just in case I needed to jump between Sabella and Leander.
Before the trembling threat could snap to life, Sabella’s sharp “Enough!” sliced through the tension-filled air, cutting both men off at the metaphoric knees.
The wind outside disappeared as if a switch had been flipped, and the whispered-filled shadows snapped away into nothing. The intense burst of Sabella’s power ripped across my already stinging skin. I swallowed down a hiss of pain.
“I will happily seal both of your tongues if you two cannot behave,” Sabella said.
It wasn’t an idle threat. She could turn them both into jackasses fairly easily if she wanted to, which I thought would be amusing and highly satisfying. But I was doomed to disappointment when Leander, with clear reluctance and ill grace, retook his chair. Stephen locked his jaw so tight the bone showed white beneath his flushed skin. Neither one dared to disobey.
“Now,” Sabella said into the taut silence. “We are not here to rehash this argument. It has already been accepted that Dr. Kaspar, prior to her death, did violate her NDA contract with Origin by promising to deliver various pieces of her research to someone purporting to represent LanTech. In an effort to unlock the hexed drive containing this information, someone made an attempt to kidnap her son, who, as her heir, had the ability to unlock the security hex on that drive. That attempt was tracked back to LanTech by Jeremy’s guardian, Emilio Cordova, who also noted that a separate retrieval team had been hired by Origin to track the drive, and they, too, went after Jeremy.”
“Those supposed LanTech representatives acted on their own,” Leander said, his frustration clear as he looked at Emilio. “This was recently verified by your Arbiter. Your prior decision to bankrupt LanTech cost many innocent employees their livelihoods. Your nephew is unharmed and alive.”
“As are you.” Unmoved, Emilio held Leander’s hard stare. “LanTech is one of many in your financial portfolio. Be grateful we kept our vengeance contained to bankrupting a single company.”
“And what about him?” Leander motioned to Stephen. “Representatives”—he sneered the word—“from Origin also targeted the kid. Yet his business is still standing.”
“Not for long.” Emilio’s smile gave me chills and added weight to the whispers that Origin was perched on the crumbling edge of ruin.
I had a feeling it soon would join the rubble of LanTech. Emilio’s ruthless decision to undercut both LanTech and Origin’s military contracts, as payback, had scored direct, devastating hits. Lara may have divorced Emilio’s brother and left their son, Jeremy, behind, but Emilio still considered her family. And if there was one rule you didn’t break with Arcane Families, it was that you didn’t fuck with family.
Stephen’s face drained of color, leaving him pale and drawn. “Cordova, we already offered our apologies and promised to rectify the situation. As I explained, we were attempting to retrieve our property, and what happened to your nephew was the result of a miscommunication and poor judgment.”
Miscommunication and poor judgment? Really? That failed kidnapping attempt had put both LanTech and Origin in the Cordovas’ crosshairs and drop-kicked me right in to the middle of Arcane politics. Of course, the only one who knew of my involvement was Zev, and possibly Emilio. I was really hoping my unwitting role wouldn’t be dragged into whatever mess was on the table at the moment.
“Gentlemen, need I remind you, we are not here to discuss that situation,” Sabella warned. “Leander, I read the claim you submitted on behalf of the Clarkes and LanTech. You believe someone systematically targeted your former employees?”
“Yes.” Leander sat back in his chair. “Of the two remaining members of the research team assigned to the Delphi project, one died under questionable circumstances, and one is currently missing.”
“Origin has recently uncovered a similar pattern,” the brunette sitting off to the side said, gaining the attention of those at the table.
A slight frown marred Sabella’s face. “Are they fatalities or missing, Imogen?”
Imogen shared a look with Stephen before answering. “Fatalities. If you count Dr. Kaspar, Origin has lost two researchers with connections to the Delphi project. The third and final member of the research team is currently under protection twenty-four seven.”
Stephen drummed his fingers on the table and turned to Emilio. “Did you kill my researcher, Cordova?”
A slight frown marred Emilio’s forehead, but his voice was ice-cold. “As I’ve stated previously, I am not behind your loss of personnel. Nor do I appreciate your continued campaign to mar my house with false accusations. Killing your people gains me nothing.”
“I disagree,” Stephen shot back. “You’ve made it very clear why you’ve left Origin with a faint pulse and all but buried LanTech in financial ruin. It’s your version of payback.”
“It is,” Emilio said with no sign of remorse. “In fact, the financial implications to date have been fairly satisfying, but no amount of money can repair the emotional injury you dealt my nephew. While I have no issue with ensuring that you and Leander bear the brunt of our wrath, I have no desire to target your employees.”
“Don’t you?” Leander said. “Eliminating the two research teams working on the Delphi project means your family becomes the sole entity with access to Dr. Kaspar’s initial research— research that was key to moving the Delphi project forward.”
“If we wanted to silence your researchers, we would simply offer them double their previous or current salaries,” Emilio drawled, unruffled by the accusation. “As for Lara’s contribution, her will was clear. Her research and any commodity resulting from that research belong to Jeremy. Any future decision utilizing that research remains with him.”
“He’s a ten-year-old boy.” Stephen glared at Emilio. “You’re his guardian. You can’t tell me that you’re going to ignore what you have? Her research holds the key to taking Arcane powers to the next evolutionary level.”
Stunned by ramifications of his claim, I almost missed Emilio’s response. “That’s a rather lofty statement, Trask. Especially as both the Arcane Council and I were under the impression the Delphi project was still in its initial stages. Is that not the case?”
Stephen sidestepped the question and blustered, “Initial stages or not, our research showed indications of—”
“Lara’s research,” Emilio cut in, his voice taking on a silky, lethal edge, “showed statistically minor indications of success but nothing that was worth pursuing. It will take years of dedicated research to make the Delphi serum a reality. My family is not interested in pouring money into a mythical serum that will likely never work.”
Clearly at the end of his rope, Stephen all but shouted, “It does work, and we had a prototype serum until one of your or Leander’s people stole it.”
Stephen’s pronouncement dropped like a bomb, leveling those gathered at the table, but their shock didn’t last long, and they ignited like a lit fuse. Leander and Stephen exchanged vicious accusations and equally vehement denials and almost came to blows. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair as the argument gained strength. It didn’t take long before Stephen and Leander turned their ire and frustration onto Emilio, both equally determined to drag him into the escalating argument.
Not that it worked. With remarkable restraint, Emilio sat there, his expression inscrutable, his gaze dispassionate, as each of the two fighting men tried to talk over the other. Next to me, Zev watched the unfolding scene with an occasional exasperated headshake.
Witnessing the disintegrating conversation and the lack of reaction from the other Arbiters made me wonder if this was normal behavior for such meetings. If so, I totally understood Sabella’s reluctance to play mediator. Who wants the headache of dealing with grown-ass adults masquerading as overgrown, whining, spoiled adolescents with control issues?
Sabella’s polite mask didn’t waver, but I caught the subtle movement of her hand over the table. I didn’t need the accompanying brush of magic to clue me in to the fact that she was about to guarantee a civil conversation. Sure enough, Leander and Stephen’s mouths snapped shut midword. In almost comic unison, both men’s spines snapped straight, and with stilted stiffness, they turned to face Sabella. Belligerence and unchecked temper painted their faces red while their hands were balled into useless fists, but they remained blessedly silent.
“Sit,” she ordered without raising her voice.
They sat.
I looked down in an effort to hide my grin. Next to me, Zev shifted in his seat, and I snuck a glance just in time to catch him trying to hide the quivering edge of his amusement.
“Now,” Sabella began quietly. “I do not like to repeat myself. Each of you will keep a civil tongue in your head. My time is valuable. I am not here to parent any of you through your personal grievances. You requested my presence to ensure that your three Families could come together to share information on a threat to your people.”
She shared a hard look with those gathered at the table before settling on Stephen. “If I am to believe Stephen’s statement, he thinks his lab has already created a possible serum. A serum that even in theory, may I remind you, threatens Arcane society as a whole. Is that correct?”
Under her glare, Stephen’s bluster leaked away and was replaced by wariness. He swallowed and gave a jerky nod.
Sabella’s voice turned frigid. “That is unfortunate.”
Stephen paled.
“I will be sure to inform the Arcane Council of this development in the very near future,” Sabella said.
Stephen turned so pale he became downright translucent at the barely concealed threat. I didn’t blame him. The idea of answering to the ruling body of the Arcane world would give anyone nightmares, no matter how much power was at their disposal.
When Stephen remained silent, Sabella continued, addressing the table at large. “Apparently, you need a reminder that when you and Leander initially petitioned the council, they decreed that the Cordovas were well within their rights to refuse sharing Dr. Kaspar’s research with either of you. While the council recognized they could not force LanTech or Origin to abandon their respective areas of research, they were quite adamant that both companies were to discontinue the Delphi project. Furthermore, the council unanimously believed any results from said possible serum would be too volatile to risk.”
What kind of results did the council consider “too volatile”? It wasn’t a question I dared to ask now, because I was perfectly happy standing on the sidelines. However, I would be asking Sabella about it later—much later.
Sabella turned to the still sick-looking Stephen and mutinous Leander. When she spoke, her icy voice took on a lethal edge. “Now, in regards to your claim of producing an actual serum, Stephen, I have a few questions, some of which I expect Leander will also be able to address. Can I expect both of you to answer them in a clear and cohesive manner, or shall I call in an interrogator?”
She waited for Stephen and Leander’s reluctant nods then released the silencing spell. Both men drew in harsh breaths but otherwise stayed mum. A heavy quiet permeated the room. Sabella left it there for an endless moment as the two Family leaders fought to gather their composure.
When the tension neared a breaking point, Sabella said, “Stephen, would you like to explain your statement.”
Stephen didn’t mistake her comment for a question. “Before Dr. Kaspar’s death, the Origin team had drafted a theoretical serum that would target identified sections of the brain utilized when an individual used magic. In theory, the serum would trigger a switch in a mage’s brain. In the on position, it could activate latent abilities or boost existing ones. In the off position, a mage would be blocked from accessing his or her ability.”
The ramifications of this theoretical serum were jaw-dropping and beyond frightening. He was talking about controlling an individual’s access to magic. It wasn’t just an abhorrent violation at a personal and spiritual level—it also raised a firestorm of nightmare scenarios that would tear Arcane society apart. What made it even worse was the fact that the knowledge was being pursued by Arcane society’s powerful. Since I, like ninety percent of the Arcane world, wasn’t one of those, it scared the shit out of me and made me wonder what other world-altering secrets were being kept from the masses.
Stephen wasn’t quite done, and although he made an effort to tone it down, resentment still simmered underneath his level voice. “Based on this theory, we ran a series of experiments during our initial research phase. I’m sure they were similar in nature to those LanTech ran. While the Delphi project may be shelved at the council’s request, that doesn’t erase the research done to date or the documented successes.”
“Successes with rats,” Emilio cut in derisively. “Rats who were dead within days after scientists flicked your so-called mental switch and basically caused a magical overload that turned their brain matter into soup.”
The graphic image made me flinch, but Stephen ignored Emilio and stayed focused on Sabella. “Based on those initial results, and despite the setback of not having access to the remainder of Dr. Kaspar’s research, we continued to move forward with our limited resources. A few weeks ago, the Origin team believed they’d created their first potentially viable serum, and shortly thereafter, that sample disappeared.”
Sabella’s hand curled into a fist in her lap. “You moved forward with the project in clear disregard of the council’s position.”
A muscle ticked in Stephen’s taut jaw, but he gamely replied, “Our research showed we were on the right path.”
As a defense, it sucked. I doubted the council would consider that a good enough excuse for what basically amounted to sedition on his part.
Leander, who remained silent up to this point, leaned forward, his eyes alight with something uncomfortably closed to zeal. “Sabella, some lines need to be crossed. For decades, Arcane society has searched for a way to harness our abilities in an effort to provide stability to our society. If we can understand how our abilities are accessed and what determines our magical strengths and weaknesses, we then have a chance at stopping those mages that turn violent and wreak havoc on those around them. This research is a way to find those answers and reduce the tension between those with magic and those without.”
There was so much wrong with Leander’s statement that my brain stalled.
Emilio didn’t have the same problem. “And once we have those answers, how soon before they get exploited?”
For a moment, I was stunned by the possibility that someone like him, the head of a powerful Arcane Family, would be so altruistic.
Then he added, “Or before someone figures out how to turn it against us?”
Yep, there’s the self-serving arrogance I expected.
“
It’s too late to shove the cat back in the bag, Cordova,” Stephen said. “It’s obvious word about the Delphi project is out. Why else target the research team? Whoever is behind these deaths is intent on using the research for their own agenda. To salvage the situation, it’s in our best interests to stop that from happening.”
Emilio glared at Stephen. “There would be no situation to salvage if you hadn’t gone against the council’s decree and created the damn serum in the first place.”
Stephen’s mutinous expression remained, but he didn’t bother denying Emilio’s accusation.
Emilio visibly reined in his temper. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, he turned to Leander. “Since you have not yet leveled baseless accusations against my family, who do you think is behind this?”
Leander shared a look with the blond sitting next to Imogen and heaved a weary sigh. “While I have my personal opinion on who is targeting the project, our investigation has stalled. My family felt it best not to aggravate you and yours further at this time—hence our request for this meeting.”
Emilio’s eyebrows rose in haughty disbelief. “So you do think we’re behind it?”
“No.” Leander’s denial escaped on a frustrated growl. “I think we’re all targets of the same group.”
“Not this again,” muttered Stephen, rubbing the back of his neck and looking disgusted.
Leander shot him a sharp look. “You believe what you will, but I know my history.”
Sabella spoke up before another argument could start. “You think whoever stole this potential serum and killed your people is working with the Cabal.”
Leander’s jaw took on a stubborn slant. “I do.”
This sounded like a recurring conversation between him and Stephen. I waited for Sabella to wave off Leander’s paranoia. Most of Arcane society considered the Cabal an urban myth, a rogue group of shadowy, power-hungry mages and scientists with money, supposedly intent on mixing science and magic into some bastardized mix in an effort to rule the world. Typical evil-villain shit. If the Arcane history books were to be believed, the Cabal started back when the original twenty-seven Arcane Families shipped out to the new world, but the group didn’t really flex its muscles until the world wars, when biological and chemical weapons and all sorts of sick shit became reality. Of course, history claimed they were defeated and nearly destroyed, but information I’d recently acquired made me question that account. So when Sabella gave a grave nod, my breath escaped in a quiet rush as dread curled around my spine.