He said that like it would discourage me to have Señor Mort nibble me to death. Fine. I nodded to Ian. “Walk with me.”
I headed down the arched hall towards my room. “How bad were her injuries?”
“Not too bad. She disliked me touching her.”
I glanced at him. “She doesn’t dislike you nearly enough.”
He smiled mildly. “Is it possible for her to dislike me enough to suit you? Even her dislike if intense would inspire your jealousy. How do you do it?”
“Jealousy comes easily.”
He laughed, low and golden. “How do you allow Zach to be so close to her? You must be able to see his emotions.”
I frowned at him. How to explain something I barely understood myself? “Zach loves Pitch. He’ll always love her. Right now he’s feeling frustrated and maybe he’s taking out his emotions on Penny, her Chem girls, but Zach isn’t going to change his mind or his heart about Pitch. He is steadfast. That’s why I trust him with Penny. Also, she loves me.”
“Interesting. Some mages can feel things for more than one witch.”
“You.”
“Me.”
“It’s hard enough to care for one witch, much less two.”
“But Penny is special. You don’t think he’s ever thought of her that way?”
Penny said he smelled like bread and cookies. That probably meant that he had desired her at some point, but she’d been wearing black lipstick at the ball. Zach had been thinking of Pitch, not Penny. “No. Zach wouldn’t ever betray me or Pitch. What about you? Will you betray me?”
He sighed. “I’d like to say no, but you know my weakness. Make certain that you marry her soon.”
“I’ll do that. What have you been up to lately? I haven’t seen you around.”
He glanced at me. “As though you’ve been around. I was making some new friends.”
“New friends? Should I be jealous?”
He studied me intently. “I was approached by a Darkside mage, Mitch, someone who was apparently friends with Penny’s old friend.”
I grabbed his throat. “What threat is he?”
He pushed me off him and straightened his shirt. “None of that. You’re supposed to rest, remember? He’s trying to make friends with all of Penny’s mages. I’ve been looking into him. Seems he was raised in Dayside.”
“Not much of a Darksider then.”
“I wouldn’t say that. He made my skin prickle. He’s got a lot of strength. I would say that you definitely need to be cautious with him.”
“He hasn’t approached me.”
“You haven’t been spending a lot of time hanging out where he could. I make a point of always being available. I’m seeing him again tonight. Do you want to come? You’d have to promise not to beat him up. Not that he wouldn’t be honored. He speaks of you very highly. The green mage with absolutely no fashion sense. It’s very Darksider of you.”
I stared at him shocked and outraged. “He thinks I have no fashion sense? What I do is art. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to look good when I wear the things I wear?”
“Like wolf ears?”
I reached up and pulled them off. “Exactly.” I stared at them while I couldn’t help but smile. “Ian, have you ever felt like that, like everything you’ve ever wanted was within your grasp? I’m far too happy. The happier I am, the greater the fear that it will all end in a miserable avalanche of despair and anguish. Not really, it’s actually greediness I feel. I want every moment to be so bright and brilliant.”
“Like when her hurters melted off your flesh?”
I snapped my fingers and pointed at him. “Exactly.”
“That’s why you’re marrying her, isn’t it?”
I shrugged. “That and Zach promised to give me her bond. I’m slightly possessive. Shall we go and see this mage? I’m very intrigued by him.”
“And by what he may be able to tell you about her.”
I grinned at him. He knew me far too well. “Should I dress up, or do I look okay like this?”
“You’ll wear the jacket no matter what I say. You haven’t taken it off since you’ve gotten it. You waste so many spells on cleaning it and glamouring it to look like your uniform. I’m jealous.”
I ran my hands over the thick fabric. “You should be. If Sooth hadn’t sicced the TMD on her, they’d find out soon enough because she’s just too brilliant to hide.”
“Sooth?”
I glanced at him. “Let’s not talk about him. He’s terrible. I need to figure out a way to make my mercenaries all swear fealty to me so I can give them some of my immunity.”
“Good luck with that.”
“It’s a work in progress. Now this mage, shall we?”
He smiled and stepped Throughside. I followed close behind, coming out in the alley beside our trusty tavern.
“How will I know him?” I asked as we walked over the uneven cobblestones.
“He’s hard to miss.”
With that helpful statement, I pushed open the heavy wooden door leading inside the low-ceiling room. A mage sat in the center drinking a barrel of ale to the chanting and cheers of his companions who all looked like the most disreputable Darksiders. His clothing was a mishmash of yellow and violet, colors not often found in Darkside particularly in that intensity.
I applauded politely when he slammed the barrel down on the floor to the howls of the other patrons before I walked over to the booth we usually inhabited.
“Hey, you’re a Daysider, aren’t you? Can you drink that much?”
I paused before I turned and stared at the mage. He seemed young, but he reeked of magic. That’s what the crowd around him was, Darksiders who could sense his magic, maybe feed off it.
“No. Very impressive. I couldn’t possibly hold my own with that kind of single-minded consumption.”
I turned and continued my way to the booth where Ian was already settling down.
“You’re the green mage, right? You’ve been fighting in random battles all over Darkside.”
I gave Ian a look before frowning at the mage. He was acting like a freshman who had no idea what he was getting into when he approached Drake Huntsman. “I didn’t know that anyone paid attention to me. Like you said, I’m just a random mage.”
He put a hand on my table. “Can I buy you a drink?”
I stared at that hand for a long time. His hands were slender, well-articulated, too soft and straight to be Darksider hands. He was a Darksider, though. I shouldn’t forget that. He’d learned to adapt to Dayside. I looked up, meeting his mismatched eyes with mine. “I would be honored to have you share a drink with us, but please, allow me to buy.”
His eyes narrowed just a hair before he grinned and slid into the booth beside Ian, leaning his elbows on the wood. He snapped his fingers and I could feel the protection spell tighten around us.
“So, you’re friends with Poppy,” I said with my own smile.
His eyes brightened fractionally. “I’m not sure you could say that. Poppy only had room in her life for one friend.”
“I see.”
We stared at each other while my skin ached and my fingers curled, this close to turning into claws.
“I’ve never met your witch,” he finally said, leaning back.
“You never will.”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t know. I think she’d like to meet me, take a few feet of my flesh to turn into gloves. I hear she’ll dye them purple.”
“That’s ridiculous. Penny Lane would look terrible in purple. Pink or gold, maybe green, is much more likely.”
He shrugged. “Her other mage says purple. He seems to be closer to her than you are.”
I raised an eyebrow. This was supposed to bring my jealousy to a furious boil and reveal my hand. “He is. They live in the same building. That does not mean that he understands her fashion sense better than I do. Why do you want to meet her? She’s not an entirely gentle creature. She may very well shatter your handso
me face.”
“We share a common enemy. He’s sometimes called Sooth. He’s your enemy as well, isn’t that right?” His voice was carefully neutral, but there was rage underlying it.
“Sometimes. I mean, yes, of course, but sometimes he worms his way into being my master instead. It’s very irritating.”
“Irritating?” His golden eye narrowed at me. Such a pretty eye. “Irritating?”
I glanced over at Ian who shrugged and glanced away. He didn’t know what to do with an overwrought Darksider, either. Usually emotions were buried beneath a world of waiting violence. I stood. “That reminds me, I need to get back to work. It’s been such a pleasant experience sharing these few moments with you. Make certain to stay away from my witch or I won’t skin you, I’ll eat you. Raw. Whole. And it will give me indigestion, so please, don’t.”
I turned away, but Mitch grabbed my arm. “Wait. You don’t understand what’s at stake.”
I gripped his wrist until he flinched and took it off me. A Darksider flinching from something like a crushed wrist? How bizarre. He wasn’t a very good Darksider. “I don’t? That is unfortunate. Very well. I’ll sit back down and give you two minutes to make things clear.”
He scowled at me as I sat down and fingered my drink. I wasn’t about to consume anything around this new threat.
“He wants to kill her, your witch.”
“Wrong. He wants to capture her and use her alive. Anything else you have wrong?”
He blinked for a moment while his lips thinned. “What does he want with her?”
My head ached. This mage might be sizzling with magic, but he had absolutely no subtlety or sense. Penny would probably like him if she wasn’t busy killing him. That thought made me smile, Penny killing this mage. “What do you want with her?”
“I want to ally with her against Sooth. I want her help recruiting others like us. She’s a beacon of…” He frowned suddenly. “What is she? A beacon of possibility.”
Possibility? Interesting. “Others like you?”
“Darksiders hidden or raised in Dayside to protect us until we could grow into our gifts.”
“Protect you from Sooth?”
He shrugged and nodded. “And others like him.”
“So, you’re in so much danger that you feel it necessary to come into a notorious tavern and attract as much attention as possible in both behavior and dress? I suppose that makes sense.”
I glanced at Ian again and he gave me a glimmering smile. No, this mage wasn’t the brightest light bulb in the chandelier.
Mitch shrugged and relaxed back against the back of the bench. “I’m tired of hiding.”
“You would stand up and become a target, and take my witch with you. I should kill you now.”
His eyes narrowed. “You should, but you won’t.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Why is that?”
“You like to fight, not kill. You specifically avoid dealing death blows if you can help it.”
“Really? Well, it’s a matter of practicality. We’re always hiring good fighters. It’s inefficient to destroy something that could be turned into an asset.”
He nodded. “Exactly. You think like a sorcerer, not a mage.”
I blinked at him and laughed. “I’m a Daysider. Daysiders don’t ever become sorcerers. Everyone knows that. Look, I’d love to chat, continue this fascinating conversation, but like I said, I have things to do. You’ve met me, sated your curiosity, I expect to never hear about you again.”
His eyes glimmered, the two colors like flashing warning signs telling me to tread carefully. “I’m giving you the opportunity to ally with me.”
“And I’m giving you the opportunity to walk away.”
We stared at each other for a few more seconds before Ian laughed and slapped Mitch’s shoulder in a friendly assault. “He’s too modest to mention it, but Drake already has more allies than he knows what to do with. He has a special forces team that could easily wipe out a continent at a word from him. I’m not talking about his mercenary armies, either. He has an entire school full of mages begging to work with him. What you offer, while I’m sure you mean well, comes off as a bit braggadocio. Give him a way to contact you in case he changes his mind. It could happen. Huntsman is always practical and rarely lets personal reasons stand in the way of business.”
Mitch looked at Ian before glancing down at the hand on his shoulder then nodded and pulled out a coin. He tossed it at me and stood. I caught the coin, wrapping spells around it just in case, but it was a simple coin that didn’t seem to have anything interesting about it at all. “Break it in half, and I’ll come. If you’re ever in a face-to-face battle with Sooth, I’d be honored to assist you.”
And there would go Huntsman Manor in a pile of rubble. I gave him a flat smile.
He got up and disappeared in a puff of yellow smoke that smelled of sulphur and bananas.
Ian wrinkled his nose. “That has got to be the worst combination of scents possible. He’s like that with everything, don’t you think?”
I nodded. “Certainly a mess of a mage. Penny would probably like him if she weren’t determined to destroy him. What do you think he really wants?”
Ian studied me for a long time. “Everyone wants a piece of Penny. It’s a good thing she’s going to marry you, be under the protection of Huntsman. How many days?”
I took a deep breath and tapped my mug, filling it with a much more appealing beverage. Orange bergamot tea, actually. “I have no time to count. I need to run. Wish me luck.” I stood and threw back the hot tea. Ow.
“Good luck, Drake. Happy hunting.”
If only hunting were on my agenda, no, it was enslavement. Such a bother.
Chapter 21
Mage
I went directly to the battlefront, dropping in on the tent where a Huntsman commander was leaning over the folding table, frowning at a map.
“Good evening,” I said after a few minutes when he didn’t notice me.
“Sit, Master Huntsman.” He didn’t sound like he worked for me.
I went to the camp chair, spelled myself safe and promptly fell asleep. I woke up a little while later and listened to the commander arguing with the lieutenant.
“Our contract with Briarfar Mage specifically allows us a day off every seven days, but these reports show consistent battling for three weeks. The hours seem consistent, but we’ve missed our day off three weeks running and you haven’t noticed?”
I sighed. “His name’s Sooth. He has his claws in Huntsman. Either I disband all our armies or get the commanders to swear fealty. And you thought I was here to enjoy the hospitality of your remarkably comfortable camp chair.”
The Commander stared at me unblinking, his black eyes coals that burned brightly for a moment before he turned to his lieutenant. “Dismissed.”
The lieutenant, a blond and pasty Daysider mage who couldn’t be more than twenty two scurried off. Why did I think he was a child when he had me by four years? I was clearly a bit mixed up.
“Master Huntsman, we haven’t sworn fealty for hundreds of years. You’re suggesting taking us back into the dark ages.”
I pointed at him. “Exactly. Your grasp of matters is remarkably astute. I’m also considering going away from indoor plumbing but that’s iffy in Darkside anyway. I believe if you swear fealty to me and your men swear fealty to you, that should be sufficient.”
He picked up the contract and put it back down. “You have immunity to the sorcerer?”
I nodded regally, well, as regally as I could from the camp chair in bedazzled pants.
He scowled at the space between us while he worked through the options. Interesting. I’d expected Pruitt to discount it immediately. He particularly disliked me. “No contract, just sworn fealty. Would you maintain the conditions stated in the contract?”
“I have no intention of trying to personally control hundreds of mages who are ambitious and cunning enough to make Commander in Huntsman’s mer
cenaries. It’s terrifying, the idea of having to be responsible for murderous cutthroats like you, Pruitt.”
He glowered at me. “Tell me what this sorcerer has been doing.”
“If you’d like. I’m so very obliging, but you won’t remember. Perhaps you should take notes so that the next time I see you, I can refer you to them and maybe we can make some headway.” He didn’t say anything, just nodded and waited for me to continue, not taking notes. Sigh. “Jasper made a deal a very long time ago, power in exchange for connection to this sorcerer, Sooth, who was supposed to be long dead.”
“Sooth is dead. It would probably be his progeny we’re dealing with.”
I shrugged. “Either way. That breach is what this sorcerer is using to manipulate our armies. Manipulate as in every battle we’ve fought for the last month has been on the side opposite our contract. Mages are paying us to fight against them, and we haven’t noticed.”
He got a look of ‘aha’. “He’s interfering with your business. Now I understand.” Pruitt thought that the only thing I was good for was business. I’d kind of wanted him to think that. It’s easier when people have low expectations.
“Exactly. We can’t have some uppity Darksider sorcerer interfering with Huntsman business. Well, Pruitt? Are you up for it?”
“If I swear fealty, you’ll be responsible for my safety and well-being, including my family’s if anything happens to me.”
I blinked at him. I considered my mercenaries to be my responsibility anyway. “Of course. That does sound pleasant. How is the witch? The kiddos? Don’t you have a son who graduates from Blackheart this spring? He’s very good. Hopefully we’ll have everything cleared up by then. I don’t think it’s wise for us to take new recruits until this whole thing is resolved.”
I smiled at him cheerfully while my stomach churned at the idea of being personally responsible for other mages, their health, happiness, as well as anything psychotic they chose to do. His son was rash. That was most of why I’d beaten him so badly at the Winter’s Tourney. That and Teddy kissed Penny.
Pruitt’s eyes narrowed as though he’d heard about it. “I’ll consider your offer.”
Blooming Black: Rosewood Academy of Witches and Mages (Darkly Sweet Book 4) Page 18