Magic Below Paris Complete Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 8): Trading Into Shadow, Trading Into Darkness, Trading Close to Light, Trading By Firelight, Trading by Shroomlight, plus 3 more

by C. M. Simpson

  The “crunchy red ones?”

  Obasi sent her a picture of one of the mantid-like bug people.

  Oh.

  Obasi passed the message on to the rest of the team, but despite the wolf’s assurances, they kept a wary eye on their surroundings, especially when the path led them to an ancient junction where five roads met.

  The woods around them were alive with small birds and animals, but the roads and the rusting remains of an iron fence were the only signs that humans had ever dominated the area. That changed as they stepped into the junction.

  It was as if the roads formed a border. On the one side, trees grew in thick array, and bushes choked the understory. On the other side, the Devastation marched outward, the outlines of its ruins softened by undergrowth and vines and broken by small groves.

  Shattered blocks of ancient pavement showed where roads and paths ran, and crumbling walls formed cliffs. Ahead of them, the cliffs ran parallel, forming the mouths of two canyons running at an angle to each other.

  Bristlebear approached one, head raised and his ears pricked. He moved confidently, his pack fanning out to either side. Aisha trotted with him, a stone shield floating beside her and a stone spear in her hand.

  Obasi trotted behind, not trying to close the gap, but close enough that he could intervene if they were attacked. Henri and Izmay ran on his left, and Brigitte steadied Gerry on his right.

  Tamlin jogged alongside Marsh.

  They traveled that way for another half-hour, turning into another wall-lined roadway and heading south before Marsh thought she recognized the terrain.

  “That way,” she said right before Bristlebear took a sudden left between two buildings.

  They followed and soon stood outside the assassin’s hidden cottage. At first glance, it was exactly as they’d left it, but the gate sported a new padlock, and Mordan stopped them at the door.

  Smells wrong, the kat informed them. Something has been done to the... She sniffed delicately at the door frame. Here.

  Marsh noticed she was careful not to touch the stonework and reached along the link between them. The information the kat was receiving through her nose made no sense, but it was enough for Marsh to understand that whatever was “wrong” with the door involved the stonework.

  I will fix. Aisha’s words intruded quietly inside her head, and she realized that she and the child were linked similar to the way she and the kat were linked.

  “Are you sure?” she asked, grabbing Aisha by the arm before she could reach the door.

  The little girl pulled her arm free and scowled. “Course. Watch this.”

  This time, Marsh didn’t interfere as the child stepped up to the door. She noted that Aisha stepped to one side of the kat and poked Mordan’s shoulder.

  “Move, kitty,” the little girl commanded, and Mordan laid back her ears. Aisha set her hands on her hips. “I mean it, Dan.”

  Marsh’s eyes went wide at how much the child sounded like her. Half-smothered chuckles reached her from where the rest of the guards had gathered, but she ignored them, watching as Aisha raised her hands and held them parallel to the wall.

  At first nothing happened, but then the stone shuddered, flowing from the wall around the block Mordan had sniffed. Marsh tensed, watching as the suspect block was encased and then carried out of the wall and down the path.

  Aisha followed it, looking thoughtful as she guided the rocky mass across the narrow lane and into a hollow halfway up the wall of the ruin opposite. Releasing it, the little girl raised a hand and sealed the hollow by drawing the stone from the surrounding wall over it.

  “There!” she declared when she was done. “All safe now.”

  “Thanks, kiddo,” Henri said, patting her shoulder as he approached the door.

  Mordan stopped him with a growl, and Perdemor came to interpose himself between his mother and the guard.

  “Hey!” Henri protested, and the kit hissed at him, ears flat against his skull, tail lashing.

  Seeing that her offspring had the situation under control, Mordan approached the door a second time and sniffed it carefully. She was soon joined by Bristlebear and Mousekiller, who inspected the entry with similar thoroughness.

  Henri watched them, one hand on his hip.

  “When you’re all quite done,” he grumbled after the sniffing had gone on for several minutes.

  The animals froze, then lifted their heads to regard him. Henri looked away first, but the wolves and kats held their unblinking stare for a few seconds longer before giving the doorway another perfunctory sniff.

  Henri stayed perfectly still, as if he was afraid the slightest breath might make them take longer. They gave the area one last sniff and turned away, but not before Bristlebear had lifted his leg to mark the wall to one side.

  “Bear!” Aisha protested, but Henri just shook his head.

  “Nice touch, wolf. Real nice.”

  Bristlebear ignored him and trotted off to inspect the rest of the garden, leaving Henri to lead the humans inside.

  The minute they stepped through the door, it was obvious someone had been there. The floor had been swept, and the chairs were tucked neatly beneath the table. A new runner had been laid on the table, and freshly cut flowers stood in a vase in its center.

  “Well, someone has a real cleaning fetish,” Henri observed, and Izmay snorted.

  “Pity it isn’t you,” she teased.

  “Cleaning is—” Henri stopped, glancing from his partner to Marsh and then at Brigitte and Aisha. “It’s important,” he finished lamely.

  Brigitte smirked. “You’ve got better survival instincts than people say,” she told him.

  Henri looked shocked. “People say that?” he asked, and shock turned to anxiety. “What else do they say?”

  Brigitte arched her eyebrows. “Never you mind.”

  Henri gave Izmay a worried look. “Do you know what they say?”

  Her face lit in an evil grin. “They say a lot of things, Henri. Not all of them true. I ignore most of them.”

  For some reason, this didn’t comfort him. “What don’t you ignore?”

  “None of your business,” Izmay retorted. “Now go find something useful to do.”

  Henri headed toward the kitchen. “I wonder if they know how to bake?”

  Marsh followed him and noticed the benches and tables had been wiped. She ran a finger over a bookshelf as she came to the kitchen door and found no dust there either.

  Gerry, Brigitte, and Obasi walked past her, with the shadow mistress taking the corridor to the stables and the two men opening the door to the small bedroom and office at the back of the cottage.

  “Someone was definitely here,” Gerry confirmed. He emerged a few moments later. “The bed’s made.”

  “I’m surprised it isn’t trapped,” Tamlin commented.

  “Maybe they didn’t think we’d be back,” Gerry answered, but Marsh saw Izmay give the room a contemplative look.

  “Just don’t eat anything you find here,” she advised and glanced toward the kitchen, raising her voice. “Do you hear me, Henri? Not one bite. Aisha doesn’t want to be healing your ass!”

  “And nothing else,” the child added. “No getting sick.”

  “And open drawers with care,” Tamlin added, slapping a shadow shield up in front of himself before he opened a chest in the corner of the room.

  Obasi emerged from the back room. “He didn’t have any ‘guests’ this time around,” he reported, “and he’s cleaned out his wardrobe and desk.”

  “So, he’s not coming back?” Marsh asked.

  Izmay opened the cabinet that had held a variety of herbs and powders. A few jars and bouquets of herbs remained, but most of the shelves were empty. “Maybe.”

  “Stables are clean,” Brigitte reported, coming in from the corridor. “Judging by the fresh stuff in the mullock heap, there were at least two mules, maybe three.”

  “Is any tack missing?”

  The shadow
mistress shrugged. “I didn’t see any tack, so maybe?”

  Movement caught Marsh’s eye, and she glanced over to see Mordan standing at the front door. The kat surveyed the activity inside, wrinkled her nose, and turned away.

  I wonder what that was all about?

  Mordan reappeared as she was thinking it. The kat’s face was full of curiosity, and her tail twitched.

  “You coming in?” Marsh asked, and the kat looked at her. “Well?”

  Mordan stared at her a few heartbeats longer and then blinked before returning to the garden. When she stepped away, Perdemor came to stand in her place.

  Marsh was about to ask him the same question when Aisha spoke.

  “Bear talked to the scout wolves. A man came two nights ago. He left this morning.”

  “This morning?” Brigitte asked. “Did they say which way he went?”

  Aisha stared into space, her eyes shifting from blue to green. “He went toward the sun.”

  “In the morning?”

  “Yes.”

  “Today?”

  Aisha frowned and put a hand on her hip. “Yes. I already say that.”

  Marsh noted the impatience in her voice. “I had to be sure,” she explained. She looked at the others. “That’s toward Briar’s Ridge, isn’t it?”

  Brigitte nodded.

  “So he could be anywhere between here and there,” Marsh pressed, and Brigitte nodded again.

  Marsh dropped to her knees in front of Aisha, putting her hands on the girl’s shoulders and looking into her eyes.

  “Can you talk to Master Envermet?” she asked.

  The little girl gave her a puzzled look. “Master Envermet is not here.”

  “No. Talk to him like I talk to Roeglin. With magic, in your head.”

  Aisha’s eyes grew round. “Oh. I can do that.”

  “You can?”

  “Yup. Watch this.”

  Marsh was about to ask Aisha what she meant when the child opened a link between them.

  11

  The Eviction

  We saw no one, Master Envermet told Marsh.

  The wolves said he left at dawn and headed east, Marsh repeated.

  Then he either kept traveling, or he hid and watched us pass, although the wolves didn’t mention anything.

  Marsh relaxed. That’s good, she told him. Maybe he took a different route and went around the forest instead of through it.

  It’s possible, Master Envermet told her. He was quiet for a moment and then added, Are you on your way back?

  We’ll leave shortly, Marsh replied. There’s nothing for us to find here.

  Make sure you check the garden, the shadow captain ordered. It’s locked for a reason, and we need to know what it is.

  Understood.

  And be careful. Lioma says the wolves reported humans in the area. To be more precise, “humans not from this territory.” He paused. Ask Bristlebear to scout for you.

  Will do, Aisha replied, and Master Envermet turned his attention to the child.

  And well done, apprentice.

  A burst of happiness rippled from Aisha’s presence, and Marsh smiled.

  Master Envermet cleared his throat. Now, if there’s nothing else?

  No. Thank you, sir.

  Then I look forward to seeing you in a few hours. The wolves will show you where.

  Yes, Master Envermet.

  The shadow master broke the link, and Marsh gently pushed Aisha out of her mind. “You did good, Aysh.”

  The child gave her a bright smile and abruptly sat down. “Want Scruffy,” she said, and the pup appeared like magic, washing her face with his tongue.

  “No, Scruffy, no!” Aisha tried to push the pup away, and he danced around her until she threw her arms around his neck and dragged him against her chest. “Want cuddles.”

  The pup went limp for half a second and then twisted his head to lick her face.

  “No more!” the child snapped, and Scruffy stopped.

  He eyed the girl’s face and huffed out a sigh, settling in her arms even though he clearly didn’t want to. Aisha leaned against the pup.

  “Are you okay?” Marsh asked, and the child nodded.

  “Yup.”

  Tamlin nudged her with the toe of his boot.

  “Here,” he offered when she snapped her head around to glare at him. “Have a cookie.”

  “Where’d you get that from?” Marsh demanded, worried he might have picked it up in the cottage.

  Tamlin smirked and waggled his eyebrows at her. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Before she could reply, the smirk vanished, and he gave her the answer she was looking for. “Not from here, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “That’s what I needed to know,” Marsh confirmed and left it at that.

  Aisha, however, didn’t miss a trick. “Where?” she inquired, and Tamlin smiled.

  “It’s a secret,” he informed her.

  Aisha settled her chin on Scruffknuckle’s head and gave a sigh. When the child didn’t say anything more, Marsh figured the kid was more tired than she was willing to admit.

  “We need to check the garden,” she told the others.

  They’d gathered while she and Aisha had been speaking to Master Envermet.

  Henri raised his eyebrows. “And?”

  “And he’s expecting us back in a couple of hours.”

  “And?” Obasi pressed, echoing the guard’s question.

  Marsh huffed out a sigh. “And we need to ask Bristlebear to have the wolves scout for us because there are other humans in the area and they ‘don’t belong in this territory.’”

  “Raiders?” Izmay asked.

  Marsh shrugged. “I don’t know. He didn’t say.”

  “Let’s do this, then.” Henri headed for the door, tapping Brigitte, Izmay, and Obasi on the way past. “Gerry, take care of the kid.”

  “I’m coming, too.” Tamlin’s tone dared the man to exclude him.

  Henri raised an eyebrow, but he jerked his chin in the direction of the gate. “Keep up, then.”

  Marsh watched them go, then gave Gerry a thoughtful look. “Are you okay?”

  The man paled. “F-fine,” he stuttered, his eyes wide.

  “Uh-huh.” Marsh took a step toward him and he skittered backward. “You sure? Because you seem pretty nervous to me.”

  He nodded rapidly, his throat working as though he was trying to swallow his fear. Marsh stopped moving and he relaxed a little, leaning against the wall he’d come up against.

  Ducking her head so he couldn’t see her eyes, Marsh asked the shadows what was wrong. None of the threads responded, and she frowned. “Show me what is new about him,” she ordered and was again met with confusion.

  Trying to watch him without lifting her head, Marsh rephrased the question. “What is new about Gerry that was not new two days ago?”

  That didn’t work either, so she stopped and tried to scan his life force instead. It was hard without lifting her head; impossible, in fact, so she took a step back and studied him carefully.

  To her surprise, Gerry huffed out a quick breath of relief and closed his eyes. Placing a finger over his lips, he turned slowly to face the wall, letting her see the scarlet glow of a second life nestled in the center of his back.

  “Oh,” Marsh murmured and took two swift steps to kick his legs out from under him.

  He gave a startled shout and tried to roll away, but she dropped onto his legs, trapping them under her knees.

  “Stay still!” she ordered, even as she shouted for help inside her head. Master Envermet! Obasi!

  What is it?

  Are you safe?

  She let them see the incriminating lump nestled under Gerry’s shirt even as she fought to keep him beneath her.

  Sons of the Deep! Master Envermet cursed.

  Shit! came from Obasi.

  What do we do? the shadow captain asked, as if she had an idea.

  Normally, I’d ask Roeglin for help, Marsh admitte
d, but...

  I can reach him, Master Envermet told her. We might not be able to get through to Sulema or the Grotto, but I was able to speak to him this morning.

  Marsh pushed aside the disappointment that he hadn’t thought to invite her and concentrated on the problem. The lump beneath Gerry’s shirt didn’t move, and the shadow guard showed no signs of discomfort.

  When had the bug gotten to him? Her mind traveled back to the remnant attack, and she wondered why he hadn’t noticed.

  I don’t know, but we can’t just pull it off. Roeglin’s voice was accompanied by a shock of relief and worry.

  Didn’t we check everyone?

  I thought they’d mention it if they’d been bitten. Master Envermet was just as puzzled, his mind voice full of chagrin.

  Gerry reached back, slapping at her knees before trying to draw a dagger from his belt. Marsh pulled a short staff from the shadows and hit him over the head.

  Can we fix it? she wanted to know, a lump forming in her throat.

  She couldn’t take her eyes off the lump on the man’s back, and she didn’t want to. What if it detached and tried to get onto her?

  Do you remember the mage in Briar’s Ridge? Roeglin countered.

  What about him?

  Do you remember what we found inside his head, and the tentacles attached to his spine?

  Marsh’s heart sank. She remembered. She’d gone into the mage’s mind with Roeglin, and they’d been attacked by scarlet tendrils. When they’d killed the creature attached to the man’s spine, it had been attached with a multitude of tentacles that had been embedded deep in the man’s flesh.

  So, how...

  Can Aysh help?

  I don’t know. She’s pretty tuckered out. Do we really need her?

  We could try to do it without...

  I here. The fact Aisha had reverted to baby talk was not a good sign, but Marsh could feel the stubbornness radiating off the child and decided not to argue. She called the kat instead.

  Dan, can you help with the cub? she asked when Mordan slid into her head.

  The kat said nothing but went to stand beside Aisha’s presence.

  Don’t you dare, Dan, the child challenged, and Mordan swiped the side of her face with her tongue. Yuck!