“Yes.”
The fact he’d answered her this time showed some improvement at least. “Is it a spell?”
“Yes.”
“How does it work?”
Sighing, Wilde set aside the pocket watch he’d dissected and picked up a fork. “Isn’t your uncle a mage?”
“Sure, but he doesn’t work magic in front of me. I think he works it all in his tower.”
One pale eyebrow arched at the mention of the tower. “Interesting.”
“I didn’t think you needed all of this”—she waved at the mess—“to work magic. I thought you just kind of … poof.”
“Depends on the magic. Since I’m working on a more complex spell, I need something to focus the energy.”
“So you’re enchanting a pocket watch?”
“No.”
She waited for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, she poked his side. He squirmed away, eyes widening in shock at her audacity. “Details, sir, or I’ll tickle you.”
“What kind of threat is that?” he demanded.
“The kind that has made Trey pee his pants more than once when I didn’t get my way.”
An odd look crossed Wilde’s face at the mention of his erstwhile boyfriend. A mix of longing, curiosity, and heartbreak. He picked up one of the emptied pocket watches and toyed with it. “Sometimes magic is inherent: you think of what you want to happen, and magic makes it so. Sometimes it needs guidance. Components to feed the spell, or items to anchor it to. I’m using clockwork to guide the spell, but I’m not anchoring the magic to the pocket watch. I don’t want to risk anyone destroying it.”
“And Trey’s father taught you all of this?” Delilah asked skeptically. When her cousin had confessed his role in the Lord of Grimnight’s plot, he’d specifically emphasized that his father wasincompetent. Trey’s whole plan hinged on the idea that the Lord of Grimnight would be an ineffective evil overload.
“No, I learned most of the basics from Melvin the Magnificent.”
He said the title with such a straight face that Delilah couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. “Melvin the Magnificent?” she repeated, her delight raising the pitch of her voice. “What kind of evil mage title is that?”
“He wasn’t an evil mage,” Wilde said. “He was a tavern performer.”
Every time she learned something about Wilde it only generated more questions. “And he taught you magic? But I thought the Lord of Grimnight was your master?”
Wilde’s hands stilled. “He’s the only teacher I accepted as my master, he’s not the only person I learned from.”
“Why would you accepthimas your master though?”
“It’s getting late.” Wilde scooped his clockwork pieces into his pockets. “And we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
“But I’m not done—”
Wilde disappeared.
“—interrogating you.”
Delilah huffed and crossed her arms as she settled back against her seat. If she could reverse time, she would have gone back to the first day she’d arrived at the lair and followed Wilde around, pestering him with questions, until she knew everything about her cousin’s boyfriend.
Chapter Thirteen: Wilde
Five Days Later
The Lord of Grimnight’s Evil Lair
