Page 61 of The Thief's Mark

“You seem to have recovered well enough from your injury. Not that you made any effort to inform me. For all I knew, you could’ve perished after I sent thispartnerof yours away with that poultice.”

Griff’s lips tightened. “You’re right. I should have sent word. I’ve been preoccupied with this case.”

Nathaniel huffed, turning back to his workstation. “No doubt it’s as vitally important as all the others. At least, I hope so if you decided it worth rousing an old man from his bed. So, what’ll it be this time? Do you have another playing card for me to divine?”

Cal stilled, his shocked gaze shooting to Griff. Wasthathow the inspector had tracked him down? Eternal Dark, Cal should’ve known better. Leaving a calling card was the sort of arrogant move Kelsith would’ve made.

Griff snuck a quick glance at Cal, then crossed his arms. “A memory enhancement. Cal saw something that might be vital forour investigation, but he can’t quite remember the details. I was hoping you could coax it out of him.”

Cal frowned at that. They hadn’t really discussed how Nathaniel was going to help before now, and he wasn’t entirely sure he liked the sound of unfamiliar magic messing with his mind.

Nathaniel, however, merely sighed and gestured to the cot in the middle of the room. “If that will get you out of my home quicker so I can rest. Should be simple enough.”

Conscious of the other two watching him, Cal shoved down his unease and slowly approached the cot. His trepidation grew with each step. When he reached the bed, he hesitated beside it. Griff must’ve sensed his reluctance because he stepped forward, resting a hand on his back.

“It’s all right. This kind of magic is routine—Nathaniel has performed its like thousands of times. It’ll be completely painless.”

Swallowing, Cal nodded, meeting Griff’s eyes. If this was what it took to correct his mistake losing the void orb, then he’d gladly do it for Griff. He managed a tenuous grin. “Well then, who am I to refuse?”

As he slid onto the cot, he caught the keen glance Nathaniel cast between him and Griff. But whatever the old Sunkeeper thought, he kept it to himself as he approached the cot and offered a gnarled hand.

“Here, take it. I need a physical connection to establish the link.”

Sucking in a deep breath, Cal glanced at Griff’s calm face to rally his courage, then reached out and grasped Nathaniel’s hand. Almost instantly, a strange tingling began to spread along his arm. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant—more like the way a limb felt when you tried to move it after a long bout of inactivity.

The sensation extended up his arm and into his shoulder before rising along his neck and tingling across his scalp. When it reached his head, he noticed a faint golden glow begin to emanate from his skull. His grip tightened around Nathaniel’s hand.

“Is that normal?”

“Quite,” Nathaniel said. “That’s the dawnflame settling into your mind. You may not consciously recall what you saw, but the information is buried there nonetheless. It just needs a little nudge. When you’re ready, focus on what youcanremember from that moment. How you felt, what you saw, your other senses: every bit helps.”

Shifting on the cot, Cal tried to put himself back in that moment after the gala. It had been so quick, his fleeting recognition there and gone. Eternal Dark, what if he reallyhadimagined it and was now blowing it way out of proportion out of sheer desperation for a lead?

Nathaniel gave an impatient grunt. “You have to focus.”

“Iamfocusing!”

Nathaniel fixed Cal with a deeply unimpressed look as tingles continued to ripple up his arm like marching ants. “No. You’re not. You’re distracted. If you can’t clear your mind, then we’re wasting our time here.”

Cal frowned, annoyed. “You know, you could really stand to work on your bedside manner.”

“My patients usually don’t arrive pounding on my door in the middle of the night. But if you’d rather call it quits and abandon your investigation, that works for me.”

Nathaniel started to release Cal’s hand, the tingling fading. Cal clutched at the sage’s retreating fingers.

“No! Sorry. I’ll…I’ll see what I can do.”

He felt a hand on his other arm, and looked up to see Griff standing there, smiling at him. “You can do this, Cal. I believe in you.”

Warmth flared in Cal’s chest, along with a newfound determination. Fighting down a grin pulling at his lips, he took a deep breath and tried again to focus. He remembered the night air, so refreshing after being cooped up inside the ballroom for so long. His exhaustion, then his irritation with Griff. The press of the crowd around him. And through the bodies, a fleeting glimpse of a cloak…

He was so focused on remembering that he didn’t realize anything had happened until Griff suddenly squeezed his arm. Cal straightened his back, peering about. “What? What is…?”

He trailed off, his eyes widening when he saw the image that now hovered above his and Nathaniel’s linked hands. Comprised of pure golden light, it was nevertheless recognizable as a figure wrapped in a cloak. As he watched, the figure lurched forward with an odd, shoveling gait.

Yep, definitely the same protector who’d picked up the void orb from Bald Locke. He leaned closer, squinting at the figure. Now if only he could make out their face better…

He startled, almost toppling off the cot as the golden image abruptly shifted, zooming in on the figure’s face. Eternal Dark, hadhedone that with a mere thought? The detail on the face was astonishing. It was hard to believe so much had been stored somewhere in his subconscious.