The Mage and the Monster by Barbara Ann Wright

Author:Barbara Ann Wright [Wright, Barbara Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2022-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Vale felt something tingling at the edge of her conscious mind as she watched Gisele and the Vox. Neither moved or spoke, but an invisible force surrounded them, making the air feel as heavy as it did before a storm.

“What’s happening?” Roni asked.

Vale startled, putting a hand to her chest. She’d forgotten Roni was there. She exhaled slowly. Funny, she’d gone most of her life as a non-mage, but after the Scourge had found her and made her aware of her gift, non-mages felt a little…flat. Nothing hummed through the air around them, all their energy contained wholly within their bodies. Maybe if she found out more about this aura reading, she might feel differently.

“Are you okay?” Roni asked, concern in her voice.

Vale smiled, embarrassed by her thoughts. Roni might not be a mage, but she cared about others and deserved to be considered in the best light. “Sorry, yes. Just a little on edge.”

“You were staring at them pretty hard.” She nodded at Gisele and the Vox. “Getting anything?”

“Just a kind of…sense.”

Roni snorted a laugh. “That’s a very mage-y answer.” Before Vale could try to elaborate, Roni held up a hand. “It’s all right. I really only asked because it’s been a few minutes, and if Gisele breaks the Vox…” Her look turned thoughtful. “Or vice versa, actually, Zara is going to be pissed.”

Vale considered that for a moment, comparing it to the image she’d kept of Zara, the soldier who’d tried to save her, even though she would have been a burden. “She won’t…hurt you?” The two visions didn’t match, but the capacity for violence seemed to hide in so many people.

Roni drew back sharply, brows tightly drawn. “Of course not. What the fuck kind of question…” She rolled her lips under, and when Vale tried to apologize, Roni waved it away and took a deep breath before speaking softer. “No, I’m sorry, Vale. There was a time in my life where I would have asked the same thing, when everyone in the world and the gods themselves seemed like they wanted to give me a slap.” She patted Vale’s arm. “I’m sorry that your life seems like that thus far, but please believe me when I say there are many people out there who’d never raise a hand to you.” She nodded toward Gisele and then touched her own chest. “Like us. And Gisele’s sisters and Serrah Nunez, too.”

Vale nodded slowly, though several voices inside her said it couldn’t be true. Nastier ones said that it didn’t matter because she had deserved a few slaps in the past and would no doubt deserve a few more.

She clenched her fists. No, she could believe, looking at Gisele now, she could believe. Gisele had pursued her into this forest to make sure she was safe. Even if Vale had no desire to be kept safe somewhere far away, the sentiment had to count for something.

And there were more people who would likely never hurt her, Cristobal and some of the other mages.

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