Three Mages and a Margarita (The Guild Codex: Spellbound Book 1) by Annette Marie

Author:Annette Marie [Marie, Annette]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781988153223
Publisher: Dark Owl Fantasy Inc.
Published: 2018-09-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Beyond the unnecessary gifts the guys had lavished on me, my Saturday-night adventure produced an added bonus. When I arrived at the Crow and Hammer on Tuesday for my shift, my entrance was met with cheers. Before I knew what was happening, a dozen semi-familiar faces surrounded me, offering congratulations on kicking mythic ass and asking how I was doing. My black eye had faded to yellow-green, but it was still too hideous to hide.

I eventually made it into the kitchen, blinking stupidly. Ramsey looked up from the counter where he was slicing tomatoes.

“How are you doing?” he asked. “Heard about your escapade over the weekend.”

“How does everyone know already?” I grumbled, stashing my purse and new hot-pink umbrella in the office. “You guys gossip like seniors at a bingo hall.”

Ramsey flicked his dark hair out of his eyes. “News travels fast. Sin told the other alchemists, who told the sorcerers, who told everyone else.”

“Sin?” I repeated warily. “What exactly did she say?”

“The story I heard is that Aaron was ambushed and outmanned when you saved his butt with nothing more than an umbrella and a stolen artifact.” Faint skepticism crossed his features. “Did you really attack six mythics on your own?”

I twisted my mouth, embarrassed by all the attention. “I suppose, but what else was I supposed to do? Let them drag him off?”

“You’re one tough cookie, Tori.” His expression grew oddly intense. “What artifact did you steal?”

“Huh? Oh, you mean the card.” I finished tying my apron, then pulled the Queen of Spades out of my pocket. “I snatched it from a sorcerer. He used it to shoot Aaron’s fire back at him.”

Abandoning the tomatoes and stripping off his latex gloves, Ramsey took the card and examined it. “A reflector spell?” He whistled. “That’s rare stuff. What’s the incantation?”

“Uh. Ori repercutio.”

“Wow. Crazy.” His eyes brightened. “I specialize in this kind of Arcana—weapons to counter other magic—and this thing is throwing off arcane vibes like you wouldn’t believe. It’s no minor trinket.”

Frowning, I slid the card from his hands. “Throwing off arcane vibes? It feels like a regular card to me.”

“It’s safe to say you have no latent arcane talent, then, but anyone can use an artifact like this. You don’t need magical ability.”

“It’s not very reliable. It only worked once when I tried it.”

“Different spells work in different ways.” Leaning against the counter, he gestured at my card. “Arcana harnesses the energies of the natural world and gives them shape and purpose. Building spells can take hours, weeks, months, or even years, depending on the complexity of the result.”

Huh. How long had the Queen of Spades spell taken to make? “That doesn’t sound practical.”

“It isn’t, which is why combat sorcerers rely on specific tools, the most common being hexes and artifacts. A hex is a cantrip that—sorry, let me back up. A cantrip is a single-rune spell that can be cast with a brief incantation. Here, I’ll show you.”

He stepped into the office, grabbed a sticky note and a pen, and drew a strange symbol on the paper.

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