Hot Off the Presses: The Art of Corruption by Jay Aury & Amanda Clover

Author:Jay Aury & Amanda Clover [Aury, Jay]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2022-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

House Calls

It was getting late.

Ireen Igral yawned as she flicked her finger, the glow of the OPEN sign turning off with a hiss. Handy little cantrip. But that was what most of her products were. Simple things easily used. That was where the real money was. Smiling to herself, Ireen shut the curtains and reached for the handle of the door.

Only for it to turn.

The door slide silently inward.

A cold wind breathed into the shop. Ireen shivered, taking a step back. A man stood in the doorway, hood pulled low and shadowing his face.

Of course, none of this was unusual. Ireen ran a magic shop, and one of the ones that didn’t vanish the next morning, leaving some poor sap holding a monkey’s paw or item of arcane ironies. Strange, mysterious figures in dark cloaks showed up all the time. But this one was different. Ireen could sense it as innately as she could the web of magic defences that burned around her.

“We’re just closing,” Ireen said.

“Even for me?”

Ireen gasped as the hood went down, revealing a sharp face with a short goatee and toothy grin.

“Loris Lynch!”

“The one and only. You’re a tough woman to find, Miss Igral.”

Ireen blushed. “Sorry. I mean, I didn’t expect…”

“That I would take an interest? Nonsense. You’re a fascinating woman, Ireen. I knew it the moment you and your friend entered my workshop. The painting you both made thrilled me in ways I cannot express.”

Ireen’s smiled nervously, fidgeting with her ring. “What ah… what can I do to help you?”

Loris slid past the door, into the shop. “I was hoping you and your friend might assist me with something. A new piece. I hope…”

Loris trailed off, his eyes glued to the far wall. A low thump echoed through the air. He seemed to stiffen, and Ireen glanced that way too.

The sculpture Lacey had left with her sat atop the counter. Ireen stared at it. Hadn’t she put that in the back? She felt sure she had. She’d never leave an artifact of potential menace lying around.

Ireen felt a cold tendril of fear claw through her belly. She looked back to Loris, who was looking at her again. But she didn’t like that look. It was too intense. Too fixed.

Too…

Hungry.

“My,” Loris breathed. “That is an interesting artifact you have there, Ireen. Where did you come across it?”

Ireen took a wary step back. “That? Oh, a ah… a sailor pawned it off. You know how it is.”

“Would you believe that I do?” Loris said, still smiling, taking a step after her. “Would you be interested in selling it?”

“Oh, I couldn’t part with it,” Ireen said as she reached the towering dragon sculpture in the corner, one of the lynchpins of her shop’s defense.

“How convenient. I was hoping you might come with it,” Loris said.

Loris stepped closer, the threads of her wards sparking, slipping off him with flickers of deactivating magic. Ireen’s eyes widened. She had suspected he might be a sorcerer of some kind, but an untrained one.

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