"Why put the mage in the pit, then?"
"To weaken him." Rose scowled. "But all it did was make him angry."
Robert rubbed his hand over his face. "I need more information. Come, let's get you back to the coven. And make sure everyone sees you so there's not a single doubt that you were in Demerest last night."
“No, not the coven,” she wailed. “I’m not due back there until tomorrow night.”
“If you were anyone else, Bret would have brought you straight back there. You’ve had two days with us. That’s more than most mages get in a month.”
She clamped down on her protests. After all, there were people who had just burned to death and even more people homeless. Still, she refused to give her brother a hug good-bye as he escorted her through the sterile white doors of the coven.
But when her brother left her alone with the coven guards, she regretted her petulance. However, when she turned back to chase after him, the guards blocked her way. She wouldn’t be granted leave to see her family again for months.
Glaring at the guards, Rose knew better than to try and get around them. They were heavily armored and wearing amulets that would deflect most spells. Also, the electric prod they carried was a pretty good deterrent as well, even if it made her feel like cattle.
Her small room was just as she left it. The narrow bed was still unmade and books were scattered over her desk. Unlike her bedroom at home, there wasn’t any room for anything other than those two pieces of furniture. It was in the coven’s best interest to make her living area uncomfortable. Then she’d be forced to spend her time in the luxurious libraries and classrooms where the mages were encouraged to write spells and copy them into scrolls for traveling merchants to sell. At best it was unpaid labor, but Rose thought of it more as a type of slavery.
Getting into her bed, she tried to get some rest. Rose was still worn out from yesterday. Her thoughts kept returning to Bret and the hateful look on his face. Had he recognized her? They had been intimate in every way, a thin black mask covering her face shouldn’t have fooled the great bounty hunter for more than a few minutes. Then again, he might have been groggy from the spell. She tossed and turned and eventually drifted off to sleep.
A few hours later, loud knocking on her door woke her up. By the darkness of the room, she must have slept through dinner.
“What is it?” Rose asked, opening her door up a crack. She blinked in surprise at the harried looking coven matron at her doorstep.
“We have an emergency ritual to perform. We need you sky clad and ready in a half an hour.”
Half an hour?
“What’s wrong?”
Rituals were scheduled months in advance. An emergency ritual that required her to be sky clad meant she had to be naked because they were performing sex magic.
The matron pursed her lips and shook her head, but there were tears in her eyes. “We need to set up fire proof wards over the town.”
Rose’s breath caught in her throat. “Fire protection. Is everything all right?” Did the battle mage follow her?
“Just be there. And don’t you dare try and escape while we’re distracted.” The matron shook her finger at her. Her piggy eyes were narrowed in anger. “Or I will empty the garrison to bring you back and let them do with you as they please.”
Mouth gaping in shock, Rose could only stare at her.
“Things are going to change around here,” the matron continued. I’m tired of you making me look incompetent when you take advantage of my good nature. If you perform an inch below your capabilities tonight, I will chain you to the stocks in the courtyard for the guards’ pleasure.” The matron spat and turned on her heel and left.
Chapter Six
The coven worked all night and well into the morning to build up protective spells over protective spells. If a blast of magical fire hit one barrier, there was another below it to take the next blast. Shaky and exhausted, the practitioners were allowed a night to visit their families so they could shore up their home defenses in the case of a siege.
After sleeping most of the day away, Rose returned to her parents’ home and reassured them that Demerest was safe as the coven could make it. However, she strengthened the wards and protections around their house and Robert’s just in case. She noticed that a pair of coven guards followed her at a discrete distance and when she walked over to her brother’s home again to invite him for dinner, a different pair kept her in their sights.
Fair enough, she was a flight risk. But the matron’s threats echoed in her mind. Rose’s family’s status and wealth had protected her from the stocks, but for some reason that influence was no longer good enough. Rose would level the coven before she allowed them to bind her head and hands while anyone who wanted would be encouraged to rape her while she was bent over, helpless to protect herself.
After dinner, Rose sat out on the balcony off of the parlor when she heard voices. She wasn’t in the mood to speak with anyone right now. She had to come up with a plan to save herself if she was ever forced into the stocks.
The voices came closer and she heard the merry sound of laughter. Her father must have invited his friends over to play cards. She couldn't bear anyone's company right now, but at least she was out of the coven until the morning. Her body still ached and throbbed in intimate places from the spells they had to cast and weave to make the city wards.
The rituals had been a combination of blood and sex magic. Rose’s arm throbbed where the sharpened athame drank from her vein. There wasn’t a mark, as it had healed magically, but she was tired from the blood loss.
The sex magic was only satisfying if you were the conduit. And luckily, the position of the conduit was voluntary. One male and one female mage were put inside the circle. Their bodies were oiled up and their erogenous zones stimulated. Two other men and two other women brought them to orgasm, while the other seven members of the coven watched and chanted attraction spells to up the intensity of the acts. The chanters denied themselves orgasms to power the energy of release into the spells.
Afterwards, the coven guards were allowed to help the mages satiate themselves once the spells were locked in place. In some covens, the mages didn’t get to choose. She’d heard stories how some guards thought it was a job perk to choose the mage who was near insensate from denial and take them while they were powerless to do anything but feel. Rose always refused assistance, and her family had the power to make sure her virtue remained intact. At least, they used to.
She’d never allow her guards to touch her, especially when she was that vulnerable. And because of that, there were a few who would line up if she was ever in the stocks. Rose shuddered and pushed that thought from her mind. She didn’t want to taint the arousal she still felt with any more fear.
Sometimes the mages went off together when it was permitted. There were a few Rose might have approached, but it felt like a betrayal of Bret, even if they didn’t have an agreement or ever even talked about exclusivity.
Unfortunately, her fingers hadn’t helped ease the gnawing hunger she felt and Rose shifted in her seat with discomfort. Part of her wanted to leap off the balcony and run. Run far away where there wasn’t any covens or mage hunters. Maybe find a ship and stowaway to Solace. Each time she escaped to rescue a mage, she went a little farther than she had the last time. Unfortunately the farther inland Rose went, the worse it was for mages who didn’t have protection.
Would Robert smuggle her to Solace? She knew he could, but his business would be destroyed if anyone found out. They would have to plan it carefully so his sailors never knew she was onboard.
But if she left, who would be The Seeker?
Rose nursed a glass of brandy and hoped the excellent spirit would ease the tension in her body. She stole the bottle from her father's personal stash. Staring in the direction of Divintry, she wondered if it was her imagination or was there still a glow on the horizon? Mage fire could burn a long time, but surely it was out by now.
Would the mage be passed out from exertion or would he be lit up inside from the power feeding back into him? It's what the law makers were afraid of. A mage who could cycle the killing force and wield magic like a siege engine was a threat to life as they knew it. It didn't matter that ninety percent of magic users would never fuel more than a cooking fire with their power. It was the ten percent that terrified the world.
"Rose?"
She whirled as Bret stepped out into the balcony and closed doors behind him. She had to blink to make sure he wasn’t a figment of her overheated imagination.
"Bret." Rose ran to him and hugged him tight. He was all right. He was here. He was safe. He hadn't gone after the battle mage. She looked him over, checking for any damage. But aside from a weary droop to his smile, he was just fine.
He stroked her hair. "Missed me, huh?"
She should have been annoyed with his arrogance, but she was too relieved to see him. With tears in her eyes, she pulled his head down to hers and kissed him.
He groaned low in his throat, tangling his fingers through her hair.
Even better than seeing him safe and sound, Bret would be able to help her with the lingering effects of the ritual spell. She sighed in contentment and cuddled closer.
“I’m so glad you’re all right,” she said when they came up for air.
“Of course, I am.”
Her hands dropped to his buckle. “But I’m in a terrible way. The coven had us doing sex magic.”
Rose’s body thrilled at the anger that flashed in his eyes and the sudden clench of his jaw. Was he jealous?
“I wasn’t the conduit,” she assured him. “So I need you. I need you now.”
“Sweetheart,” he whispered, desire making his voice thick.
“Fuck me over the balcony.” Her voice shook with excitement. He could make it quick and satisfying. She knew that from experience.
His jaw dropped as she pulled out his cock, already hard from their kissing.
"You're going to get us caught," he muttered, pushing her away and tucking himself back in.
"I don't care."
"I do. Your father would hang me in the barn for defiling his precious daughter." He reluctantly put her at arms' length and then adjusted himself.
She allowed herself a small smile at his discomfort. "Need a hand with that?"
"Not the body part I need, no."
Crooking her finger, she sank to her knees.
Bret whipped his head around, checking to make sure they were still alone.
"They can't see through the door." She could see that he was tempted.
He let out a shaky sigh. "You’re going to be the death of me.”
“Please?” she asked, pouting a little because she knew he liked it.
Leaning back against the door, he gave a soft laugh. “Later, my little wild mage.” He held out his hand to her. “I'll sneak up to your room once everyone’s asleep."
Rose clasped his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She took a swig of her brandy before handing him the rest. "I'll come to you. I know my way around the house better."
"You'll come all right." His eyes darkened when they looked over her.
She shivered a little at the promise in his voice, her body strumming to life. Rose studied him again as he drained the expensive liquor in one swallow. He cut a fine figure in his brown leather armor. Tall and wide chested, he stood like a shield in front of her as his gaze darted over the balcony wall looking for danger. Bret was armed more than usual and lines creased his brow and his mouth.
"Why are you here?" she asked, afraid that if she didn’t break the silence she would stare at him for hours and be happy for the privilege. She could wait to ease her lust, if the reward was a night with him.
"I had to warn you," he said.
Pressing a hand to her racing heart, Rose feigned indifference. "Warn me?" Could he have recognized her after all?
"You need to promise me something." Bret gripped her by the upper arms and the intensity in his gaze frightened her.
"Talk sense," she said, with a nervous laugh.
"Two night ago, the town of Divintry was attacked by a fire mage. He set two elementals loose."
Rose flinched. That explained the intensity and duration of the fire. An elementalist. No wonder the coven had panicked. She sagged as her knees wobbled. It hadn't been a war mage at all. It was a power-hungry rogue. One of the mages the mundanes offered up as an example to oppress all mages.
Bret walked her back to her chair and kneeled beside her. "Promise me, you won't leave Demerest and the coven until he's caught. They're going to be killing rogues left and right for what happened to Divintry."
"How did this happen?" she asked.
Dear Gods, an elementalist. They were crazy. All of them. They spoke to spirits who commanded Earth, Air, Fire and Water and it turned their minds inside out. They forgot what it was like to be human. If the mage she rescued had been a fire elementalist, the earth pit was the only way to trap him. And she had freed him.
"That outlaw, The Seeker, set him loose on the town.”
Rose had to bite her tongue. Even though Bret just mirrored her own thoughts, it still stung. She got him out of the pit. She didn’t tell him to flambé the town of Divintry. “What was he doing there?” she forced out instead.
“The Seeker must have been in league with the mage. The elementalist had belonged to the Divintry coven, but he was studying the elements in secret.”
That would explain why the coven had been down one member. Robert’s information had been wrong. The Divintry’s mage hadn’t been killed in the fire, unless that’s what the Divintry coven was telling everyone to stop a widespread panic from erupting because the coven had been brewing an elementalist.
“When the coven found out, they put him in an earth pit until his powers drained. But before that could happen The Seeker rode in and freed him. The elementalist took his vengeance out on the town. Burned everyone and everything to a crisp.”
Rose closed her eyes at the image. The mage had been awaiting execution and he turned the verdict around on the town. Even worse, he was now free and the elements were probably controlling him. It wouldn't just be fire. Tornadoes would spring up when Air took hold of him. People would drown and ships would sink when Water rode the elementalist, and the ground would tremble and split apart at his command when Earth wrested control of his power. More people would die unless he was put down. A sob escaped her and she crumpled.
Bret caught her before she fell off her chair. Lifting her up, he sat down with her in his lap and rubbed his cheek against hers. “Promise me, you’ll stay safe. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll take you to the fair. I’ll get the permits to travel. Just please, don’t leave this town. You’ve warded it against fire so it will be safe if the elementalist comes here next.”
She didn’t deserve to be safe. Gritting her teeth in frustration, Rose wished she could ask him things The Seeker knew, but Rose the mage couldn’t know. “Were you in Divintry?” she asked.
“Yes, I was tracking a mage who ran off with a traveling band of minstrels. I was hired to bring him back to his coven, but Divintry claimed him. So, while I was fighting the bureaucracy of that, The Seeker attacked.”
That made sense. The minstrel never got into the pit. He had been immediately whisked away into the coven to fill the hole that the elementalist left when they caught him fooling around with forces beyond his control.
There was no way, Divintry would have let an elementalist be in a pit unguarded, though. Yet, she knew it was just Bret on watch that night. “What about the guards
? Why didn’t they stop The Seeker?”
Bret grimaced sheepishly. “They were in the bar. The elementalist was too weak to escape. I wanted to earn some points with them, hoping they could help me get my bounty back from the coven. So, I said I would babysit the bastard.” Bret rubbed the back of his head. “The Seeker knocked me out when I wasn’t looking. I’m lucky to be alive.”
Rose wanted to scream, but she had to pretend to be impressed and worried about The Seeker’s attack on him. “You poor, brave man,” she managed to force out without sarcasm.
“I have sworn to bring him into justice. And you know what I’m like when I’m tracking someone.”
Going back for more brandy, Rose slugged it down in one swallow without appreciating its vintage. She knew all right. Not only did she have to stop a crazed fire elementalist from burning the countryside down, she had to do it while dodging the coven guards who were dogging her every move. Not to mention the local hunters who were looking for an excuse to kill, maim and torture mages. And Bret would be breathing down her neck the entire time.
Piece of cake.
Rose poured more brandy.
Chapter Seven
The rest of the evening passed by at a snail’s pace while Rose waited for her parents to retire. She had truthfully claimed a headache and paced her room wondering what she was going to do about Bret’s claim to bring The Seeker to justice. Everyone else wound up playing cards, so it was after midnight before she heard her parents climb the stairs to their suite of rooms. In a few more hours she could go to the guest room and let Bret fuck her mindless so she could stop thinking and just feel. She blew out a long sigh.
She could stop being The Seeker.
Shaking her head, Rose sighed. No, she couldn’t in good conscience stop helping mages who were being persecuted.
She could run away for good this time.
Sure, she would miss her family and Bret. But if she ran long enough and far enough and kept hidden until her trail went cold, she could start another life and become another outlaw under a different name.
The Seeker Page 3