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“And sending someone to steal the piece back wouldn’t?”
“I wasn’t supposed to get caught.” A regretful sigh whistled through her beak.
“I take it Magnarella has a magical security system that turned you into a swan.”
“Wrong again,” Gun said. “You really should stop trying to guess and let us finish the story.”
“Then tell it faster.” Patience wasn’t one of my virtues.
“I was offered a deal,” Dusty said. “Magnarella would let me off the hook if I agreed to participate in an experiment.”
“She signed a contract without consulting me first,” Gun added, with a disapproving glare at his sister.
“What kind of experiment?” I asked.
“I don’t know all the details. Only that I made it to the patch test phase, which involved drinking an elixir,” Dusty said.
“And that elixir turned you into a swan?”
She nodded. “Which means I failed the patch test.”
“What was the elixir supposed to do?”
“Imbue me with the power of a god.”
I balked. “That sounds like a dangerous elixir.”
Dusty spread her wings. “Do I look dangerous to you?”
“I assume you were meant to have the power of Zeus.”
She flapped her wings. “Sadly, this is all I got of him. No lightning bolts or anything cool. Not even a thunderclap.”
“And you can’t change back?”
“We’ve tried,” Gunther answered. “The elixir doesn’t work like a typical potion.”
“And Magnarella can’t reverse it?”
Dusty honked. “He can, but only if I’m able to find someone to take my place who can complete the experiment.”
“Why not change you back and let you complete the experiment?”
“Because I failed the patch test. That means I can’t continue, but he amended the contract to say that I’d turn back into a mage if and when someone else completed the experiment in my place.”
“Like a feathered Cinderella at the stroke of midnight,” Gun added.
“What a cunning prick. He’s leveraging his own failure against you.” I looked at Gun. “Why can’t you complete the experiment for her?”
“Because I’m a member of the Assassins Guild. We have certain limitations when it comes to Magnarella. Honestly, if Kane knew about any of this mess, he’d go ballistic.”
Kane Sullivan was the overseer of the Assassins Guild. The demon prince of hell was as feared as he was revered, and with good reason. I’d seen his flaming sword and his inner monster. Both were as terrifying as they were impressive.
“Dusty isn’t a member of the guild,” I said. “Why would Kane care that she tried to steal from Magnarella?”
“Because she’s my sister. He’d consider it a violation of his gentleman’s agreement with Magnarella to stay out of each other’s way,” Gun said. “My guess is Magnarella knew we’d want to keep Kane out of it and used the opportunity to make Dusty his lab rat ... or swan.”
Wiley bastard. “Just out of curiosity, why ask me for help?”
