Protector by Nancy Northcott

Author:Nancy Northcott [Northcutt, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: urn:ean:9781455599660
Publisher: Hachette Book Group, GRAND CENTRAL PUBLISHING, FOREVER
Published: 2013-03-05T05:00:00+00:00

A few minutes later, the other mages rejoined them in the rear exit of reeve country, a wide lobby with benches that served as a staging area. Edie tried hard to control the shakes. Now that the danger had passed, reaction was setting in. Davis performed quick introductions.

Without saying anything, Josh put his arm around her. She leaned into the comforting warmth of his body.

“They’re gone,” Sybil Harrison reported. The petite blonde looked solemnly at Josh, Edie, and Harper. With a nod to the tall, dark-haired mage standing across from her, she said, “You can thank Griffin, here, for anticipating the ghouls would go for the three of you who were outside.”

“They like to take hostages if they’re going after something they know they can’t reach otherwise,” Griffin commented.

Josh said, “Like an orb in a heavily guarded building.”

“Exactly.” Griffin shook his head. “They want that thing very badly, to risk attacking here. With only a couple dozen in their group, they must’ve expected surprise to carry the day.”

“How did they get onto the grounds?” Edie asked. “I thought Collegium properties were heavily warded.”

“When they took out the front gate, that opened a gap in the ward,” said the tall, tawny-haired woman who’d been introduced as Valeria.

Josh shook his head. “That doesn’t explain how they reached the trees, which are pretty far from the front gate.”

Griffin and Valeria traded a grim look.

“Traitor mages,” Harrison supplied. “Ghouls can’t translocate, and the wards were not breached. We would know if they had been.”

“Something else weird,” Davis noted. “The bodies of the ones we killed spontaneously combusted.”

“We don’t know what they’re up to,” Harper said, “but there were rumors they were doing some kind of experiments.”

“Let’s hope they don’t learn to translocate,” Griffin commented. “They’re enough trouble already.”

“I’ll leave that to you,” Harper said. “I have patients to examine. Let’s go back to the quarantine suite.”

The group began to break up. Walking away, Edie heard Valeria ask Griffin, “How did the sword work?”

“Ran out of juice.” His carefully neutral voice seemed to cover great disappointment. “It’s not the same without my own fuel.”

“We’ll find something,” she assured him.

What was that about? Edie glanced at Josh, but he showed no sign of having heard. She dismissed the subject.

When they reached what Edie’d come to think of as her and Josh’s suite, Harper seated them on the sofa.

“Close your eyes, Josh,” he directed. He held his hand up, palm out, fingers spread, in front of Josh’s forehead. The doctor’s eyes lost focus.

After a long moment, he lowered his hand.

“The inflammation is less.” At last, he withdrew his hand. “But your power level doesn’t feel right. Have you been recharging?”

“Before the fight.” Josh glanced sideways at Edie. “I feel stronger.”

“So do I,” she agreed.

The doctor nodded acknowledgment. “Good. It seems the rite will work if we can perform it fully, but only trying to destroy the orb will confirm that. We won’t try again until you’re free of its influence. Edie, let me check you.”

He reported the same results with her.

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