“You wouldn’t. You want to know what’s in there just as much as the Council does. Maybe even more, for some unknown reason.”
“Don’t test me, Alex.” My chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. Adrenaline raced through my veins, and I had to restrain my magic or there was a very real possibility I would accidentally burn the papers.
Alex didn’t back down. His yellow eyes stared into mine with a ferocious intensity.
“Guys, let’s just take a minute here.” Nicole stood between us, physically forcing us to step back. “I don’t know about you, but it’s been quite a while since we ate. Never make a decision on an empty stomach. You all know better than that. What we have here are a bunch of hungry people. So here’s what we’re going to do. No decisions need to be made now. Alex and I are going to go grab us some food. Whoever’s after us doesn’t care about the human and the shifter. Kat, you and Millhook stay here, and if the mage shows up, Millhook can make you a portal out of here. If we come back and you’re gone, we’ll assume that’s what happened and we’ll figure something out. Sound good to everyone?” She looked between all three of us and didn’t wait for an answer. “Good. Now come on.” She took Alex by the wrist and marched him to the door. I didn’t resume my seat on the bed until the door shut behind them.
When I could no longer hear them walking down the hall, I gathered up the papers.
“You two shouldn’t be fighting like this,” Millhook said. “The cat has a good point. I might not always like them, but the Council’s good people. You’d be safer there.”
“I know you’re trying to be helpful, but this is something I have to do. Maybe you can help me understand her notes. You know more about magic than I do.”
“I know about fae magic but hardly anything about mage magic.”
“Well, I’m sure there are some universal principles at play. Besides, you have to know more than the girl who didn’t even know she was a mage or that mages existed until a few weeks ago.” Dear god, had it really only been a few weeks? What madness was that?
“All right, I’ll help, but don’t expect too much.”
As I reached for the notes, a movement to my left caught my attention. A little marble rolled across the floor. It must have entered the room when Nicole and Alex left. Other than an actual marble, there was only one other thing it could be. As soon as I took notice of it, it floated up into the air and expanded to reveal the face of the mage Millhook had pointed out on the street.
I scrambled to hide the notes underneath the bed sheets. I didn’t want anyone knowing anything about what had been in my mother’s vault.
“Ah, Kat Thomas, we finally meet.”
My first instinct was to run and my second was to glean as much knowledge as I could. That second instinct won out when the man spoke again.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Sibelius Sydarthan.”
Chapter 23
For a moment, I forgot to breathe.
Nothing could have prepared me for this. When my aunts had told me about Sibelius, I had assumed I would never meet him.
“Judging from your reaction, I take it you’ve heard of me,” Sibelius said, his voice amused.
“Oh yes, I’ve heard of you.”
“From your great-aunts, no doubt. I hope they were complimentary.”
“You might say that.” I spoke slowly, wary of his intentions.
“I loved your mother very much. Her family saw that. Hopefully you’ll trust me, just like your family does.”
“I don’t see how I can trust someone who’s been hunting me.”
Sibelius laughed. “Hunting you? I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood. If I were hunting you, I’d be there right now instead of using this communication orb.”
“I thought a communication orb only worked between people who know each other or who have given their consent.”
“This is a modified tracker communication orb. That’s how I was able to get to you. All I want is to talk. I’m sure you have many questions about your mother. She was an extraordinary woman. I promise, I’ll answer any questions you have for me. I’ve waited a long time to meet you.”
Of course I wanted to talk with him. The desire had to be written all over my face. That I wanted something from him and didn’t know anything about where he was or what his intentions were put me at a disadvantage. He came at this from a position of power, and my sincere desire for what he offered left me vulnerable. The worst thing I could do was blab to him, get caught unawares and give him too much information. He wasn’t seeking me out from the goodness of his heart. He wanted something from this, and I didn’t want to unwittingly give it to him. I needed to take control of the situation, set my own terms.
“I’m willing to talk with you, but not now.”
Sibelius’s face registered surprise at my response. “Why not now?”
I needed to come up with a reason that didn’t make me appear uncooperative and also didn’t reveal too much about my situation. I didn’t want him to know that I was here alone with Millhook. “We don’t have any privacy. I can slip away from the others later.”
“And when do you think you’ll be able to get away?”
I needed time for Alex and Nicole to get back, time to talk with them to develop a plan, and time to eat. “Let’s meet for coffee in the morning.”
“I don’t want to wait that long.”
“You said you’ve been waiting a long time to meet me. Surely one more night is nothing. I want to talk freely without any interruptions. Right now everyone’s in the next room. They won’t like it, me talking to you.”
Sibelius’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. My heart banged in my chest. If he got too suspicious and came here now, my only hope would be for Millhook to port me to safety, and that would mean being separated from Nicole and Alex for who knew how long.
“I suppose you’re right. I’ll see you at eight o’clock tomorrow morning at the café on the corner.”
Sibelius’s face disappeared. The orb went dark and fell to the ground. I snatched it from the floor and looked for a place to put it. My eyes caught on the tellenium box on the bed. He wouldn’t be able to use the orb if it was in there. After I put the orb in the box, I shoved it in the dresser for good measure. With that done, I sat on the bed, but I couldn’t keep my hands from shaking a little.
“Furball isn’t going to like this,” Millhook said.
“That’s his problem. I bought us some time, and I wasn’t stupid enough to talk to him on my own. When Alex and Nicole get here, we’ll come up with a plan. You start thinking of what you can do to help. In the meantime, I’m going to go through these and see what I can find.” It would be more dangerous to meet in person than to talk through an orb, but I had done the best I could on the spot. I picked up the papers next to me and thumbed through them, but my eyes wouldn’t focus on the writing—they kept darting to the clock on the bedside table. No matter how mad Alex was, he wouldn’t stay away for long. It wasn’t safe.
After another ten minutes of obsessively checking the clock while trying to ignore Millhook’s annoying humming, it occurred to me that Alex and Nicole might have been caught. They didn’t have the information Sibelius or anyone else wanted, but they were vulnerabilities that could be used to get to me.
“Millhook?” I turned to look at the imp, and his humming mercifully stopped. “Do you think—”
The door to the room opened, and in walked Nicole followed by Alex carrying bags of food.
“We found this great takeout place. Or at least this lady on the street told us it was great, and it smells pretty good. Given that we haven’t eaten anything since breakfast, I’m guessing it’s awesome. Also,” Nicole said once Alex set the bags down on the table, “Alex has something to say.”
Alex glared at Nicole for a moment before turning his attention to me. “It was explained to me that since you’re the one whose life is being threatened, I should be more understanding of your irrational ways. I�
�m sorry I wasn’t aware of this rule earlier.”
Millhook howled with laughter. “Oh, Furball, stay single all your days or you’ll end up dead.”
It wasn’t the best apology in the world, but I had to give him points for effort. Besides, given what I was about to tell him, I couldn’t be too judgey. “I accept your apology.”
Alex huffed, but before he could say anything, Nicole said, “What did you two get up to while we were gone?”
The smells coming from the food containers Nicole was unpacking made me consider putting off telling them until after we had eaten, but we didn’t have much time to figure out our next course of action.
“Sibelius contacted me through a communication orb. Turns out he’s who we saw earlier today.”
“That’s him?” Alex asked.
“Sibelius?” Nicole’s forehead crinkled at the unfamiliar name.
“Sibelius is the mage my mother and the entire family was in love with. The one who got away.”
“Why is he following you?” Alex asked. “I don’t understand why he wouldn’t just come and knock on your door.”
I didn’t understand it either. “That’s a great question, and I can ask him. He wants to talk. He could tell I wanted answers from him, so I decided to delay. I wanted a chance to develop a plan with you guys first, but he’s planning on meeting me at a café in the morning.”
“You agreed to talk with him?” Alex’s question came out equal parts angry and perplexed.
“Yes. He’s the one person who could have answers for me.”
“And you trust him? What reason would he have to tell you the truth?”
“What reason would he have to lie? I may have started to come around to the fact that my mom wasn’t the best person, but everyone I’ve run into sings the praises of Sibelius. He knew my mother in a way no one else did. I can’t pass up an opportunity like that. Sure, every word that comes out of his mouth might be a lie, but I’ll hate myself if I don’t at least listen.”
“This is an insane risk.” Alex’s anger mounted. “He wouldn’t be doing this unless he wanted something from you. He wants to continue whatever work your mother was doing.”
“That’s why I had the good sense not to talk to him right then. I’m telling you guys so we can work out a plan. I have no intention of giving him any information he doesn’t already have. I’m in control here. And I bought us a few hours, so if it turns out it is an insane idea, then we can run again. But I think it’s worth taking the chance. If he meant us harm, then he’d be here already.”
“Meant us harm?” Alex’s eyebrows shot up almost to his hairline. “He’s already killed a guard tasked with protecting you.”
“We don’t know that it was him. And we’re certainly not going to find out just sitting around here talking when I could be discussing this with him. Now, let’s eat and come up with some ideas.”
I hoped that eating would calm Alex down a little. I had never seen him so frazzled.
“Have you been able to get anything from the notes?” Nicole asked.
“Not really. I’ve only glanced over them.”
“We should take the notes and go back to the Council,” Alex grumbled.
“I told you, I’m not ready to do that yet. There’s a chance my mother hid a talisman or something else here. I want to stay in Vienna at least until the deadline to see if I can find anything else or if her notes lead us in a different direction.”
“I don’t know that I can protect you here.” Alex got to the root of his problem. “Sibelius found you despite our best efforts. I know you say he doesn’t mean you any harm, but that might not always be true.”
“And how am I any safer in Elustria? As you so aptly pointed out, my guard turned up dead. That’s not what I’d call a safe environment.”
Nicole played referee again. “How about you two eat? Let the food help you think of something to improve our situation, because right now the two of you are going at it like cats and dogs in one big circle, and you’re not helping anyone. You’re just bothering me and Millhook, who are trying to have an enjoyable meal. I understand it’s a stressful situation, but letting your food get cold won’t improve it.” Nicole glared at me until I raised a forkful of noodles to my mouth. Then she turned her attention to Millhook. “And what do you think about all this, Millhook?”
“Thank you, Nicole. Finally, someone asks for Millhook’s opinion instead of just ordering me around like I’m here for your convenience. I’ve got lots of thoughts of my own, you know.”
After a beat, Nicole urged, “And they would be?”
“Oh, I agree with Kat.”
A bigger woman than I might’ve suppressed the self-satisfied smirk, but I was no such woman. I let Alex have the world’s smuggest smirk.
“Don’t look so proud of yourself,” Alex said. “He’s only siding with you because he hates shifters.”
“I take offense at that statement.” Millhook puffed up his chest. “I have no problem with shifters. I’ve been consorting with you, haven’t I? Just because I come in with both eyes wide open and take proper precautions around your kind doesn’t mean I have a problem with them.”
Nicole’s eyes widened as she looked between Millhook and Alex, shocked at this blatant prejudice. “Well, Millhook, do you have any ideas on how we should proceed?”
“I don’t see the harm in having her meet with this Sibelius character. I’m curious myself as to what he has to say. If I sit still, I can make myself invisible. I can port her out of there at the first sign of trouble.”
“Can he track you if you port?” Nicole asked.
“No, the teleporting I do isn’t traceable.”
Having cleared my plate, I felt it safe to jump back into the conversation. “I think we should find another hotel or somewhere else that we can meet up. You and Alex go there and wait for me and Millhook. We’ll port to you after the meeting, and if there’s trouble, we’ll port a little early.”
“No, I want to be there.” Alex was back to his calm yet firm demeanor. “If this crazy meeting is going to take place, I want him in my sights the entire time.”
“That makes no sense.” I appreciated his protectiveness—it had kept me alive this long—but his presence would only endanger me. “He’ll know something’s up. I delayed him by saying that I needed privacy and you were in the next room. Plus, I need you to take all of my mother’s things. I don’t want them with me at the meeting. I’m not going to give him a chance to snatch them.”
“I still don’t like it.” Alex sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.
“You don’t like it because you’re not in control of it. There’s nothing wrong with this plan, and you know it. This is my best chance to get information, which means it’s my best chance to fulfill the Council’s orders and live a free and happy life in Elustria. The sooner all of this is done, the sooner you can go back to being a panther with a giant stick up your ass.” Everything Alex did seemed to get under my skin. Why couldn’t he be on board with this?
“Whoa, let’s all just calm down.” Nicole spread her arms out between me and Alex as if we were on the verge of lunging at each other. “You’ve both brought up very good points, but I think we should go with Kat’s plan. If Millhook can teleport her in the blink of an eye and this Sibelius guy won’t be able to trace it, I don’t see what the harm is.”
“The harm is she can give him information that can be used against us.” Alex spoke as if I were an ignorant child.
“Oh, thanks for the confidence. I wasn’t a bumbling idiot before you found me. I was about to graduate college.” I stopped myself before I went into detail about how I was also our guild’s raid leader and managed to juggle the complexities of a forty-man raid just fine. That might not help my case here.
“Let’s come up with the questions you’re going to ask him, and the information you’re willing to give him,” Nicole said. “We can probably figure out what he already knows and have you no
t reveal anything else.”
With that, Alex and I entered an uneasy truce.
The next morning we had a list of questions and safe topics to talk about, and we’d found a suitable hotel to meet at on the other side of Vienna. Nicole had the satchel full of my mother’s things, and we were ready to go. Alex opened the door and Nicole and Millhook filed out. But when I moved to exit, he shut the door.
“I don’t want you leaving with things the way they are between us.”
“Then pull the stick out of your ass.” It wasn’t just that he was annoying, it was that I needed him, and I hated not having his full support.
“I’m sorry I’ve been difficult, but I only want you to be safe. You’ve kind of grown on me. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”
“I’ll be fine. In this case, Millhook can do a better job protecting me than you can. I need you to protect Nicole. None of this is her fault, and I shouldn’t have dragged her into it. She’s my best friend. My only friend really, besides you. It’s hard enough having to cut her out of my life. So that’s what you can do for me right now.”
“All right. Stay on alert, remain calm, and think everything through. And remember: you’re a mage, think like one. If worse comes to worst, if Millhook becomes incapacitated, you know how to throw fire from your hands. Do it. We’ll worry about the consequences later.”
I nodded. “Thanks. And I forgive you for being such an ass. I’m sorry I haven’t made things easy on you either.”
“Well, I did sort of start this whole thing. We’ll say we’re even.” Alex pulled me into a hug that smoothed the tense line of my shoulders. I could take care of myself, or at least I liked to believe that, but I still felt safer when he held me.
“I can’t be late. I need to get there before he does.” We’d decided that would give me a necessary advantage.
“You’re right. I’ll see you at the rendezvous point.” He opened the door, and we joined Nicole and Millhook in the hall.
Magic Unknown (The Elustria Chronicles: Magic Born Book 2) Page 13