Bound by Darkness by Annette McCleave

Author:Annette McCleave
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: PENGUIN group
Published: 2010-05-18T14:00:00+00:00

11

As Lena brushed past him and headed for the stairs, Brian stared at the mage.

“Go with her, Murdoch,” he ordered. “But for God’s sake, don’t say anything that might make her change her mind. I’ll be up in a sec.”

A heavy set of boots followed Lena up the stairs.

Stefan returned his stare, completely nonchalant.

“What the hell did you say to her?” Brian demanded, raking a hand through his hair. Nothing he’d said to Lena had even come close to convincing her to give up the coins. An hour with Stefan, and presto, she cracked. That didn’t sound right at all.

“I didn’t threaten her, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Did you hex her?”

The mage grimaced. “Of course not.First of all, on your instructions, I placed a mystic gap spell over the ranch, and second, I don’t use magic against Gatherers.”

“Never?”

Stefan shrugged. “The odd spell for training purposes, nothing more.”

“Then why is she suddenly ready to talk?” Brian stabbed a finger in the mage’s direction. “And don’t tell me you had nothing to do with it, ’cause I’m not buying that crap.”

Sitting back in the armchair, Stefan crossed his feet. “Just before you walked in the door, we were discussing the merits of experience over formal education—”

“Bullshit.”

“—and the consequences of the choices we make.”

Consequences. Now, there was a topic Brian could teach at university level. But hadn’t he covered that with Lena already—the cost to the world of allowing the coins to slip into Satan’s hands? “You talk specifics?”

“No. Generalities.”

“Then why does she look so upset?”

The mage scratched his ear. “I think the discussion stirred up a few bad memories.”

Brian stared at him. The little bastard was holding out on him. He knew it. But his time was probably better spent checking on Emily and listening to Lena’s story than trying to browbeat the truth out of Stefan.

“This convo ain’t over—just warning you,” he said. The mage and his wife, Dika, had their mobile home parked behind the training arena, across from the goldfish pond. Dika occasionally joined them for gettogethers, but seemed to prefer her own company. “You can go out to your caravan, but we’ll be picking this up again when I get the chance.”

Stefan stood. “I look forward to it.”

Brian had one foot on the staircase and a hand on the maple railing when he remembered one of his other problems. “Did Carlos come back to the house?”

“No.” Stefan sighed. “In fact, there was a disturbance up by the tennis courts about a half hour ago.”

Shit. He sure as hell hoped the kid hadn’t taken his rage out on the new fencing or the clay court. The house was insured, but he hadn’t upgraded the policy since the tennis courts went in. “What kind of disturbance?”

“Mystical.”

“How could it be mystical? Didn’t you just tell me that your gap spell made that impossible?”

“It’s a very complex spell. I was only able to blanket a thousand-yard radius.”

Brian glanced at Stefan’s face, but it was bland. Hard to know if a mystical disturbance was better or worse than a bent fence or graffiti spray.

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