We’re soaring over Surrey when she starts shivering, the movement so violent her teeth clack together. Even though it’s summer, at the altitude we’re cruising the air is bitterly cold.
Adjusting myself in my seat, I throw my cloak around the both of us, but she continues to tremble, her backside bumping against my crotch.
“Christ, Chan,” I snap, trying not to think about the heat of her body against mine, or her scent wafting off the skin of her neck, or the movement that’s happening down below. There’s a very embarrassing reflex happening that I’ve no control over, and the shivering isnothelping. “Will you stay still already?”
“Cant…help…it…” she says, perfectly oblivious to my torment. “It’s…so…cold…”
“Well, I told you to wear—”
“Shut it, Briggs.” She’s still chattering. “Or I won’t…hesitate…to push you off.”
I narrow my eyes at the back of her head. “And lose the extra warmth from my cloak? You wouldn’t dare.”
She snorts, but doesn’t respond. All she does is wriggle back against me more firmly.
Goddammit.
It’s not long before we’re descending, our hair streaming in the wind, and we land in a remote corner of the Briggs estate. Fortunately, Father and me traveling by dragon is a common enough occurrence that we have special stables set up for such trips.
Gwendolynne immediately slides off, putting a few meters of distance between us. As I drop to the ground, her gaze flicks down to my trousers, then away. She flushes.Fuck.She wasn’t so oblivious after all.
The house is still and quiet, which is not surprising since Father’s recently taken to doing overtime at the Magecorp offices. His study is at the end of a long corridor, a good distance from the bedrooms, and as usual it is locked.
Gwendolynne hovers in the shadows behind me as I try my master key—but frustratingly, it doesn’t work, even though it used to.
“It’s locked.” I give an exasperated sigh and lean my shoulder against the wall.
Yesterday in the library, when I’d been perusing the WTS website, a striking detail had suddenly become clear. The dates and locations of the power surges correlated almost exactly with places my father frequented. Not precisely, of course, but pretty closely. And it seems so obvious in retrospect, but he’s been acting strangely—so strangely—for months now. Staying late at work; trying to mask his signs of obvious stress.
And now? Now he’s gone and changed the bloody locks.
My suspicions, which were once as hazy as shifting smoke, are solidifying within my mind. I’m certain Magecorp, and my father, are connected with the magical surges somehow. It would make sense, since Magecorp is the biggest worldwide manufacturer anddistributor of magic. It would also explain why Percy, who until recently was the CEO’s familiar, was one of the first animals to suffer from magiphilia.
Perhaps they’ve lost control over the magical harvesting system and are trying to cover it up by leveling accusations at the MLO.
Whatever the reason, if Father truly is hiding something in this study that could affect me, affect Gwendolynne, even affect the entire world, then I have to stop at nothing to find it.
Thinking hard, I unlock my strap screen, tapping out a quick message to one of my less…savory…contacts.
“What are you doing?” Gwendolynne asks, her eyes narrowed.
“Definitely nothing illegal. Now hush.”
She watches me suspiciously as I continue texting back and forth. Finally, after what feels like a million years, there’s thepingthat tells me the spell has arrived in the inbox of my burner account.
I hurriedly download it. The magic unfurls in my fingertips, feeling warm—a tingling caress. They glow as I reach forward, my hand hovering midair. Then, squinting at the doorknob and summoning all my concentration, I deliberately rotate my hand.
The lock clicks and the door unlatches, settling slightly ajar.
Gwendolynne makes a surprised noise from somewhere deep in her throat. “What? How?” she stammers. “That was—”
“Aresigniospell,” I murmur, pushing open the door. It swings wide, completely silent on its hinges.
“But that’s…It’s impossible, it’s—”
I arch an eyebrow at her. “Illegal?”
She crosses her arms and raises her chin. “Well…yes.”
