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“Iliana,” Nic said with wariness, tempered by a note of happiness.“I never expected to see you here.”
“Hi, Nic,” the redhead replied.“It’s good to see you again.”
“And Han,” Nic said, “I remember you, too.Everyone had you pegged to manifest as a wizard at any moment.”
The blond young man winced.“That did not turn out as ‘everyone’ expected.”
“We’ve all left Convocation Academy,” Alise put in.
“Left?”Nic asked, pouncing on that.
Alise grimaced.“Yes, well… that’s also a long story.”
“You were the one to caution us that we needed to know the particulars before involving House Phel,” Nic reminded her.
Alise glowered, looking very much the annoyed little sister.“I know that,” she snapped, then sighed and rubbed her forehead, exactly as Nic often did when feeling overwhelmed.
“We’re familiars,” Iliana spoke up, then smiled up at the young man.“Well, you’ve known I’m a familiar for a long time, Nic, but Han is, too.”She paused a moment.“And we’re in love.”
Nic stilled.Even though they were no longer touching, Gabriel sensed her sudden alarm.“In…love?”she repeated incredulously.
“Yes,” Han answered, without any sign of shame or guilt.“I only recently manifested as a familiar.We’d hoped I’d be a wizard and could take Iliana as my familiar.I’m a late bloomer,” he added glumly, and Gabriel felt for the lad.A young man likely only five or so years younger than himself.
“I repeatedly cautioned you on how unlikely it was that I’d be assigned as your familiar, even if you had turned out a wizard,” Iliana broke in, and he kissed her on the forehead before turning back to them.
“As Alise indicated, it’s a long story, but… the short version is that circumstances were such that we faced a terrible fate.”
“Let’s not dance around it,” Iliana reproved Han.“They need to know the details of our circumstances.Lord and Lady Phel, the truth is that one of our classmates, Sabrina Sammael, recently manifested as a wizard—and she’s always wanted Han.She’d had House Sammael draw up a contract to bond Han to her if he manifested as a familiar.If he manifested as a wizard, she intended to bond me, to force him to be her lover.”Iliana retained her poise, but emotion throbbed beneath her words, her eyes bright with unshed tears.
“The contract also ensured that if I became Sabrina’s familiar,” Han inserted, pale with anger, “Iliana would be given to House Sammael as an unbonded familiar to be used at will—also to ensure my compliance.”
Fury burned in Gabriel’s gut.He loathed how the Convocation treated familiars at a baseline level, but this was another order of monstrosity.He bore no love for House Sammael—in particular, he hated Sammael’s heir, who’d treated Nic so badly—and this only added fuel to his determination to take revenge on them.Clearly cruelty ran in that family, and they deserved to suffer some of the punishment they so gleefully doled out.
“That’s ridiculous,” Nic burst out.“No house, even House Sammael, can acquire familiars by fiat.There’s a process for wizard–familiar matching for exactly that reason.”
“House Sammael has ways,” Alise said, shaking her head slowly.“I believed Sabrina would do it, which was why I agreed to help them.”
“Do tell,” Nic replied icily.
“I talked Alise into breaking us out,” Iliana inserted, giving Nic a hopeful smile.“I didn’t know what to do, so I asked Alise to bring us to you.”
Nic was uncharacteristically flabbergasted, staring in what seemed to be very real shock from Alise to Iliana and back again.“Tome?”she squeaked.
“Because Alise told us about your escape,” Iliana said frankly, her gaze going doubtfully to Gabriel and quickly ducking away again.“Or aborted escape?Anyway, we—that is, I, because this was entirely my idea—”
“I went along with it,” Han said staunchly.
Iliana beamed at him with the perfect trust of first love.Gabriel nearly groaned at their naivete, and he was the idealist compared to Nic’s practicality.Iliana turned back to Nic, speaking earnestly.“We heard that there were people you contacted to, ah…” Her gaze flicked warily to Gabriel.
“You can speak frankly in front of Lord Phel,” Nic said in a resigned tone.“I assume that escape route no longer exists?”
Iliana shook her head, glancing at Alise for confirmation.“Papa told me he shut it down,” Alise said quietly.“He’s in quite the rage, Nic.”
Gabriel set a hand on the small of Nic’s back, but she only nodded at Alise.“Believe me, I’ve received that message.”Alise smiled back sadly, the sisters sharing a moment of communion.Nic turned back to Iliana and Han.“I’m still unclear on what you think I can do for you.”
“We thought you could direct us to an alternate escape route,” Iliana replied.“And…” She hesitated, glancing at Gabriel.“Well, we didn’t know what your situation was here,” she said in a rush, “but with the rumors about you being collared and, um, some of the tales about Lord Phel—no offense intended—we thought you might want to come with us.”
Nic gave Gabriel a wary and assessing look, one he returned with a gentle smile.This conversation, at least, didn’t set off whatever crazed, wizard-nature jealousy beast that lived inside him.He was secure in the knowledge that Nic no longer wished to escape him.
