Ascending Mage 4 Nothing Broken: A Modern Fantasy Thriller by Frank Hurt & RaeLea Hurt

Author:Frank Hurt & RaeLea Hurt [Hurt, Frank]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hurtdidit
Published: 2019-06-15T16:00:00+00:00

17

Brass Monkeys

It was just as well that the journey to Nekoma was another 160 miles. The long drive gave Ember time to digest Barnaby’s melodramatic message. At least she thought he was being melodramatic.

The ghost had been unable to teach her more about the highest-level Aura Shield. She would, once more, need to figure it out on her own. She tried pressing him on the Cranial Liquefaction Spell, even as terrible as the name suggested. That only served to make him grumpy. Grumpier than usual, at any rate.

The Druw High Council would be making their determination for formal charges this week. Her friends would be moved from the long-term, high-security Safeguard Complex and into less restrictive holding in Minot. They would receive formal counsel and visitation rights while the Department of Investigation produced evidence and collected witness testimony.

Ember was still uncertain how she was going to deal with Geoff Shadbolt’s absence. He would be the star witness, the one who could not only exonerate the nine changelings but also condemn the leadership of the Viceroyalty. She tried summoning his spirit each day using the man’s Gibson mandolin, without success. Grateful as she was that he must still be alive, it was troublesome that he couldn’t be found. Jackie Roberts was still turning up no trace of the three African mercenaries who kidnapped him.

But for the moment, at least, Ember would focus on the welfare of her imprisoned friends. She relished the thought of telling them the good news. She practiced the announcement for her ears. “Brilliant news, guys! We’ve unlocked a cure for you. You get to be whole again. Isn’t that fab?”

The promise of at last having their disabilities wiped away would serve as a beacon. A reason to maintain hope. Strength against the spiraling pit of despair. Maybe this would be enough to sober Kenny up.

She nosed the Ranger up to the prison’s chain-link gates. A blast of cold wind slapped her when she stepped out of the pickup. Ember squinted at the sky to find deep blue clouds arriving from the northwest. Flakes of white collided with her face, melting on impact.

The front gate watchman took pity on her and arrived even before she had the chain unclasped. It was the same man from her previous visit. The changeling called out to her, his voice tacking through the crosswind. “Cold one today, huh?”

“Brass monkeys, yeah!”

“Huh?”

Ember shook her head. It was too damn cold for translation. She produced her identification card and passed it through the crack in the gate.

He used his body to block the handheld scanner from the weather. He handed the card back to her and said, “I’ll get the gate, ma’am. You can get back in your pickup and follow me to the main building.”

She didn’t try talking him out of it. Ember slipped behind the steering wheel. The wind slammed the door shut behind her. “Bloody hell. It’s not even formally winter yet!”

She pitied the guard then, riding a small ATV in this wind.

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