Another of the boys leaned forward with a leer. “I’ll be happy to show you
all
my filthy skin, sweetling, if you wanna wash it. C’mon then, give us a kiss.” He puckered and moved his lips, which set off his friends again into gales of laughter. But instead of pulling back in disgust or snapping a reply, she raised one delicate bare hand.
A roaring filled Tal’s ears and water began to swirl through the air, pulled out of nearby doors and windows so fast and furious that there was no time to react. The water twisted at the witch’s mental command, surrounded the trio of boys and lifted them into the air until they were yelling for help. She kept them there for a long moment as they splashed and sputtered, and then dropped the spell abruptly, causing the boys to fall to the ground with a thud.
“Well, that was impressive,” Tal whispered and Jason nodded.
“Like I said. Magic to spare and they’re not shy about putting on a show.” He motioned with his head back to the group. The boys were picking themselves up, their faces filled more with awe and excitement than anger and fear.
The young girl spoke and raised her hands skyward with closed eyes. “Now you are clean. Praise be to Demeter.”
“Where’d you get all that magic, then? How’d you learn to do that?” The redhead was smiling … no, more
grinning.
The woman smiled gently and reached out to touch his hand. “We are the chosen. Demeter blesses us with magic so we can show others the path. We have many master witches among us, who are happy to train young believers.” She held out her hand. “Come. Be filled with food and magic. Elevate yourself to your potential in the craft … as I have. As we
all
have.”
Jason shook his head as the boys eagerly followed the pair to the procession and were handed robes which materialized from thin air. “And so three more join their ranks. You see how easy that was? The equivalent of a street corner half-pence show and they’re suddenly true believers. But the Sacred Tree has abandoned us, so people scrabble for something …
anything
to provide hope that we’re not yet another endangered species about to end our time on this planet.”
Tal furrowed his brow, thinking. “But where is the magic
coming
from?”
The other man shook his head. “Dunno, mate. That’s the question, isn’t it? If I didn’t worry I’d be bargaining with the devil, I’d consider joining up me own self. They’re certainly a happy lot.”
“So, where do we go next?” The procession had started on their way again, with two new voices joining in on the chanting.
“Next we go visit my cousin Chauncy.” He reached into the pocket of his cloak and then got a panicked expression, suddenly patting his hands up and down his body.
“Lose something?”
“Damn it! I must have left the box in my other jacket. We’ve got to go back to the shop. Bleedin’ hell.” He started walking that way, not stopping to see whether Tal was going to follow. He lifted the sweater from his wrist to check his watch and then started muttering under his breath angrily.
“Anything I need to know?” Keeping the suspicion from his voice wasn’t easy, but this was no time to be so trusting of
anyone
that he wound up the subject of an O.P.A. trap. “What’s in the box?”
Jason must still have caught some note of suspicion because he abruptly laughed. “It’s not like that, Tal. I haven’t turned you over. But Chauncy’s getting ready to take the next gate out of here and
he’s
the one who knows where most of the illegal gates are here. After all, I
am
an agent. You’d be surprised how many of my old lads stopped talking to me after I got my glove. The box has topsider chocolate in it. He’s got a right fat sweet tooth on him, that bloke. And if I forget the chocolate—” He tipped his head and raised his brows.
Tal completed the thought. “No chocolate … no information.”
The other man nodded. They were now in nearly a sprint, boots pounding on the cobbled sidewalks and echoing down the silent streets. “Right-o. I gotta tell ya, though—I feel like a blinkin’ idiot showing up at his door with a box of sweets every few weeks. Like I’m courting me own cousin.”
Tal’s laugh was abruptly cut off when the sounds of a scuffle came from around the final corner. Three men were surrounding a woman menacingly, just outside the butcher shop about three blocks down. It was still too far to see much other than movements, but the fighting style of the woman reminded him very much of his sister. One man lunged for her but she sidestepped, grabbed his arm, and did something to it that made him drop to the ground screaming. It wasn’t a move Tal recognized, but it was certainly effective. He rolled around, clutching at his hand as the other two moved in.
They’d already increased their speed, in an unspoken agreement to assist the woman, but when Tal heard
Mila’s
voice echoing down the street, he put on an extra burst that left Jason struggling to catch up.
“You really don’t want to do this,” Mila said as she circled opposite the men.
“Oh, but you’re wrong, sweetling. You and us … we’re gonna have a
party
. And you’re gonna
pay
for hurtin’ Ralphie.” He lunged forward and grabbed her arm. But instead of screaming, she lashed out … delivering a vicious kick to the side of the man’s knee. It sent him to the ground, but he held on, taking her down with him.
Without a second thought, Tal raised the opal focus and shouted,
“Karalt!”
A blast of liquid fire caught the man in the chest, ripping his hand from her arm. “O.P.A.! Remain where you are.” Mila turned in shock just as the third man decided he had better places to be and took off running down the street. Ralphie had likewise gone, when she had delivered the kick—rightly figuring she was a bit too much of a fighter for his taste.
Normally, he’d run after or cast a net of fire to contain them, but he really didn’t
want
them to stay. He didn’t have a place to put them.
“Tal!” Mila’s face brightened and she rushed forward the last few steps, throwing her arms around his neck as he slowed to a stop. It surprised him, but he couldn’t deny it was what he’d hoped she’d do. Both of their hearts were pounding from exertion and a fine trembling was running through her body that spoke of too much adrenaline in her system. He let himself take a few moments to just hold her until they were both calmer. The scent of her hair, the heat as their magic met and mingled—they overwhelmed his senses.
It’s only been a day. It shouldn’t feel like this
. But even as he thought it, he felt his arms tightening around her until she let out a sigh.
It wasn’t until Jason cleared his throat uncomfortably that he realized he’d lost track of time with her in his arms. He pulled back and cupped her chin in his palm. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, moving his hand. “Fine … now. I was okay with the first two, but I was running out of steam. They generally don’t throw
three
attackers against you in defense class. I should have conserved my energy a little more at the start. I was afraid I was going to have to start injuring them.”
He let out a little frustrated breath. “You need to
always
be willing to hurt an attacker. You can’t rely on them running off.”
Her face took on a similar frustration. “No duh. But when you break skin, people get
mean
in return. It escalates really fast, and then they aren’t
willing
to run away. Three against one is still really sucky odds.”
He couldn’t deny the logic, and was about to comment when Jason again reminded them of his presence. But this time his voice came from a different direction and he sounded slightly out of breath. “Tick-tock, mate. Thought you’d be done fussing with the bird by now. Got the chocolate. Let’s go.”
Mila raised her brows. “The
bird?”
The dark man dipped his head in apology and gave a small bow. Tal couldn’t decide whether or not he was being sarcastic. “The
young lady,
then. No offense meant.”
“This is Mila, Jason. Mila Penkin. She’s the
person
I was supposed to meet later.” What he couldn’t figure out was how she’d come to be here. And Jason apparently thought the same thing.
“She’s a
topsider?”
He stared at her incredulously. “How did you get here?”
She rolled her eyes. “Long story.” Then she looked at him with excitement and touched his cloak while she pulled a paper from her pocket. “Tal, you’ll never
believe
what I found out about Vegre in the vault. It changes
everything
, and I might know where the portal is.”
“Vegre?” Jason’s face dropped into serious lines, and his arms crossed over his chest. “Vegre Peircevil? The dark mage in Rohm Prison? What does he have to do with anything?”
Mila looked at Jason then, apparently realizing she’d spoken out of place. She shut her mouth, but the tall man wasn’t going to sit still for her silence for long. Tal sighed and backed away from Mila, then waved his hands quickly to settle everyone down. He’d hoped not to explain everything to Jason, since the lack of information might be all that was keeping his friend safe. “Okay, okay. We all need to calm down. We’ll do this in order. Jason, is there anywhere nearby we can sit down and have some privacy? I’d hoped not to involve you in this any deeper, but—”
“But … I can assure you we won’t be taking another step toward my favorite cousin until you do.” Jason crossed his arms over his chest and stared for a moment. Then he turned and crooked his finger. “C’mon then. We can talk in my folks’ flat above the shop.” He flipped his arm again to reveal his black leather watch. “But try to make it fast. I can’t afford to lose my job up there.”
As soon as his back was turned, Mila shoved the paper in her hand toward Tal. He opened it as they walked, but while he understood what he was seeing on the document, he couldn’t quite grasp the significance. He looked at her questioningly before passing it back.
She motioned with her thumb toward Jason and spoke out of the side of her mouth as they slowly followed him back to the shop. “Can we trust him?”
It nearly made him laugh, because he had no doubt Jason would ask the same about her. Of course, that left him considering whether
either
of them could be trusted. He’d been roommates with the Fomorian in the guild academy—yet never thought he was
capable
, either magically or morally, of crafting an illegal gate. And he’d known Mila for only a day. Or had he known her all his life?
I can’t tell up from down, nor right from wrong lately.
“Yes, I think so.”
At least, I hope so.
M
ila took another sip of juice while she decided how to respond, marveling at the taste and smell of the drink. It seemed to contain every fruit in the world in tiny sealed bits that she could individually identify.
What do I say to them?
She wasn’t certain Tal would want his friend to know about the connection they had. She was also reminded of the line from a Harry Potter movie about even in the magicking world, hearing voices wasn’t a good thing. “Let’s just say I found the gate the same way you survived the first encounter with Vegre.”
Jason simply looked confused, but Tal … he looked abruptly shaken and somewhat panicked, his face growing ashen in the pale amber light from the stone. “You were able to reach me?”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t communicate. I could only see and hear. But yeah.” There really wasn’t any way to convey the feeling of helplessness and frustration she’d had. “I tried to talk to you when you were near the fire door, but it was like you couldn’t hear me. But I was able to recognize the painting on the wall near the gate once I got to the library.”
“What in bleedin’ hell are you two talking about?” Jason pointed at her. “Are you saying you eavesdropped on our conversation in the library? How? I shielded that room from listeners. What did you use to break through me best spell?”
His Irish accent was increasing the more agitated he got. “How do you have an Irish accent anyway? I thought
black Irish
just meant dark hair and eyes.”
He shook a finger in front of his face. “Oh, no. You won’t be shakin’ me teeth from this bone with fluff and nonsense questions, lass. What spell did you use?”
“It wasn’t a spell.” Tal’s voice was quiet, nearly a whisper. He was staring at the opal’s swirling colors, but then looked up and blue eyes met the other man’s brown ones. “Mila is the Tree spirit, Jason. She’s the voice in my head. She saw the library
through
my head.”
Apparently, Jason understood what Tal was saying, but scoffed after a moment of thought. “Bollocks, mate. You’ve heard the Tree’s spirit in your head since you were a boy. That was in the fourteenth century. This lass is a guildercent. She can’t be more than twenty-five or thirty. Who was speakin’ to you before her? Answer me that.”