A Stroke of Brilliance (Arcane Hearts Book 2) by Nazri Noor

Author:Nazri Noor [Noor, Nazri]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

15

Getting hauled into SEER headquarters wasn’t nearly as violent or traumatic as I thought it would be. There was a grudging civility to the way Reza treated me that caught me off guard. His teleportation spell brought us just a few steps away from the front door, the wisps of smoke dissipating in a soft breeze that blew across the station steps.

Somewhere in the scuffle, possibly even mid-transportation, Reza had somehow thrown me into a pair of cuffs. He’d even slipped my backpack off my shoulders. It hung limply from his hand, dragged down by the weight of the Gauntlet so that it looked like a handbag.

I craned over my shoulder, struggling to see the cuffs, feeling the weird sensation of tingling against my skin. Enchanted, of course, probably some kind of nullification to make sure that magically-skilled captives couldn’t use their spells to fight back. Reza could have clapped me in plain old handcuffs and they would have done the job just fine.

“Impressive,” I said.

Reza tugged on the ends of his bomber jacket, shrugging and smoothing out the creases. “Thank you. This was hardly the manner in which I’d hoped to bring you in for questioning, but don’t let it be said that I acted unprofessionally.”

I scoffed. “All I said was how impressive it was that you got me in these cuffs so quickly. For the record, I still think you’re an asshole.”

He winced. “I really wish you would stop with the sass, especially once we walk into HQ. Others might not be as lenient with you, not when they hear you talk like that.”

Like clockwork, my mouth flew open to sass him again – but he was right. I clenched my teeth and set my jaw, fighting the impulse. I held my head high as we stepped into HQ, even though my insides were steadily wilting.

Reza nudged me down the corridor, indicating where to go with one hand, guiding me by the shoulder with the other. Gazes lowered as we passed. Whether or not anyone recognized me didn’t really matter. I’d tried to harden myself against judgmental looks over the years. Sometimes it didn’t work. I guess I could at least be thankful that I didn’t have any parents to embarrass anymore.

My lips pursed as I thought back over my conversation with Reza. Or was it an altercation? Fine. So maybe I blew what he’d said about Mom and Dad out of proportion. Still, all that crap about the jar was way out of line.Why would I want to rig a jar of sand, of all things, to explode?

There was enough evidence that something bizarre was going on in the bowels of the Ringing Hollow. The only way this could have been pinned on me was if the Second Voice had made up some story to stop SEER from poking around in their foundries.

Fuck’s sake. This was as much Reza’s fault as it was Irina’s. But that was exactly how much power the guilds wielded in the Black Market.

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