Kendrick blinked. "Right. Anyway. There are only a handful of witches it could be, and I know all of them. If I can determine who it is, I can take the steps needed to ensure that this virus or any other like it never happens again."
Micah frowned. "But by creating this virus and infecting people, killing people, wouldn't the witch who created the virus turn feral and lose their magic?"
Kendrick shrugged slowly. "Welcome to Magical Ethics 101."
Serenity groaned. "It falls into a grey area doesn't it?" When she was studying for her exams she and Kendrick had gone round, for round discussing magical ethics. He always played devil's advocate and she usually ended up screaming at him. His favorite arguments took full advantage of what he liked to call 'grey areas'. Scenarios that were neither right nor wrong. Neither white magic nor black magic. Neither overtly helpful nor harmful. Just a vast, bleak, grey zone where some good was done, but mostly bad.
Kendrick nodded. "Technically, the virus in and of itself is harmless. The witch who created it didn't infect anyone." He held up a finger. "Now here's where it gets even trickier. DeLaFontaine is the one who distributed it, yet he's not feral. Why?"
Micah closed his eyes and shook his head. "Because he wasn't the one who created the virus." He opened his eyes to stare at Kendrick. "That's one of the most brilliant loopholes I've ever seen." He paused before continuing. "Who in the hell is behind this?"
Serenity stared down at the table. What Kendrick was doing made a lot more sense. If they could figure out the witch, they could use them to trace this back to whoever was pulling the strings. She glanced back up at Kendrick. "Whoever is behind this used one of the oldest Founding Family heads as a pack mule," she whispered.
Kendrick nodded. "I knew you'd see the depth of this issue quickly."
"They must have solid brass balls," Micah murmured.
Serenity rolled her eyes. "What makes you think a man is smart enough to do this?"
"Hey," Kendrick and Micah protested.
She grinned. "Just saying." She walked over to the table. "Earth magic huh?" she said pointing down to the bright green tray.
Kendrick nodded. "I can use the twins to stabilize the magic in the virus, this should also help make it more visible."
"The boys?" she asked feeling anxious. She didn't want them anywhere near this magic.
Kendrick patted her shoulder. "They are grown now Serenity, you can cut the apron strings." He chuckled. "Besides, they rival me for earth magic power."
"Their test scores were barely passing," Serenity argued. There was no way Nigel and Neil had the same amount of power as Kendrick.
Kendrick rubbed the back of his neck while Micah chuckled. "I may have taught them how to hide their magic for the exams," he confessed.
Serenity looked to her mate. "You said something similar, about fudging your test scores."
Micah nodded. "Most witches who want to continue to serve as unit warriors have to hide their abilities to get lower scores or they would be contracted out by Storm Keep to earn money for the city. If you have mediocre scores they allow you to remain a warrior since the city is obligated to provide warriors for the units. It's why Leif and Travis were hiding out in Vegas. They accidentally displayed their magic when they prevented that mudslide while visiting home a while ago. The test administrators wouldn't have been fooled. Magnus did everyone a huge favor getting them reassigned back to Noctem Falls and their tests cancelled."
Serenity clenched her teeth in frustration. Instantly Micah was wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. "What's wrong? What's upset you?"
She looked up at him tears in her eyes. "They barely even tested me because I'm not a full blooded witch. 'Half-breeds' are assessed at two-hundred and fifty years old instead of five hundred years old like full blooded witches. I had half the amount of time to study. They gave me the score they thought I should have. At the time, I fought for every point thinking I had a chance at working for the council, but after I received my score I was informed that although I had potential they were reserving those open positions for other candidates, in other words, you need not apply."
Kendrick nodded sympathetically. "I never did put much faith in their scoring system."
Micah rubbed her back soothingly. "Look at this way love, Kendrick's been sabotaging the system for centuries, that shitty score they gave you is meaningless." As the words tumbled out of his mouth they turned to each other, then to Kendrick who began to whistle and stare up at the ceiling as if he weren't single-handedly responsible for ruining an entire social structure.
Micah chuckled and Serenity wiped her eyes. "In a way I'm glad they turned me down. They initially asked me to act as a low-level secretary in the Magi
cal Academy. I was stubborn and deliberately moved to the Lower City to take the position as the Water Temple head." She exhaled. "Thank the gods for whoever insisted on keeping the temple there, otherwise a lot people would have been denied care. Since it's in the Lower City the temple was hard pressed to fill positions. The placement board thought it was an appropriate assignment for me." She smiled. "It has allowed me to help so many people and has made my life so full that I can't imagine working in the Magical Academy, even if it is in a nicer part of the city."
"You've done a lot of good work, you should be proud," Kendrick said giving her a rare compliment.
"I get to work with Laelia and Radclyffe and I was able to help the boys," she listed.
"Speaking of the boys," Kendrick looked to Micah who took down the soundproof spell. Kendrick picked up his walkie-talkie from the table. "Frick, Frack, report to lab as soon as possible."
"On our way," one of the twins responded.
Kendrick put the walkie-talkie down. "I can never tell them apart over these things."