Nic knew that.She didn’t even know why she asked.“Take care of him, will you?”
Asa smiled ruefully.“As if his parents would let me do anything less.”Then he frowned.“Watch yourself with Sammael.”
“Excellent advice.”She realized Jadren had also come to fetch her.“Ready to establish the wards?”
He dipped his bearded chin, wizard-black eyes serious.“No one will get through.In fact, unless Sammael brought a ward-breaker, the entire warded area should be invisible to any searchers.”
That was as good as they could get.Alise was waiting for them in the outer offices, turning to walk by Nic’s side without comment.Jadren and Alise flanked Nic as they walked together to the main hall, then out to the front porch.Sage and Quinn were waiting there, along with a cadre of other wizards and their familiars.Even Dahlia, the Ophiel wizard, was in attendance, and Nic wanted to ask if she planned to swath Sammael in fabric to slow any aggressive moves.
Alise met Nic’s questioning gaze and shrugged.“They wanted to bear witness, at least.”
Bear witness to what, exactly?
Dahlia moved forward as Nic did.“Lady Phel, may I?”She held up a hand sparkling with magic.“For the pride of the House,” Dahlia added, by way of explanation, and Nic nodded permission.The gown shifted around her, changing to a heavier, more expensive fabric.A gleaming silver taffeta, it was embossed with slightly lighter and darker moons tumbling across the expanse in subtle shimmers.The taffeta itself had subtle waves that rippled like water in moonlight.The style changed somewhat, too—the neckline higher, the sleeves longer.More formal, she supposed.More impressive Lady Phel.
At least she looked it on the outside, even if she felt like a fraud inside.
The carriage came into view, the largest she’d ever seen, and ridiculously gilded.She knew that coach well: It had conveyed Lord Sergio Sammael to House Elal.Heir apparent to House Sammael—though not officially heir, as the current Lord Sammael was cagey about keeping his progeny on tenterhooks—Sergio had been Nic’s first suitor, and first lover, if one could dignify their copulation with that word.For the first time since Gabriel had collapsed, Nic was fervently glad for his unconscious state.If Sergio Sammael was in that carriage, Gabriel might have carried out his threat to kill the wizard.
It might not be Sergio,she reassured herself.
Wishful—and foolish—thinking.The carriage drew to a halt in the circular drive, the elementals powering it gliding the enormous thing to a smooth and soundless stop.Magic crackled in the air, emanating mostly from her motley collection of partially trained wizards, but with a powerful charge throbbing off the Sammael conveyance.They’d come prepared to fight.
Alise’s spirits hovered near Nic, unseen but prepared to protect her.Nic was desperately afraid they could do nothing to save her.Certainly not at a price Nic was willing to pay.
The doors slid open with a silken hiss that whispered of money and power.And out slunk a bevy of hunters.Beside Nic, Alise gasped, quickly swallowing the reaction.For her part, Nic flinched internally, though she refused to show any sign of weakness.Why did House Sammael have hunters at their command?Had the Convocation given them to Sammael in order to exact punishment?This did not bode well.
An unnatural creation, the hunters stood on two legs, had long, canine snouts, and moved like weasels.They sported fangs and claws, and couldn’t be killed by normal methods, as Nic knew from personal experience.The only thing that had completely nullified them was an enchanted blade Gabriel had made, and the illegality of that artifact infringing on House El-Adrel’s license had enabled Lady El-Adrel to strongarm them into taking on Jadren.Unfortunately for them at this moment, that lady had retained the knife as damning evidence against House Phel.
Really, that seemed like the least of their problems now.
The other method of disposing with hunters involved chopping them up into pieces so small that they couldn’t do any harm, although nothing seemed to stop them from regenerating again.It suddenly occurred to Nic that she had no idea what Gabriel had done with the pieces of the lone hunter that had pursued them from Wartson.Hopefully that wasn’t a bigger problem waiting to happen.
The hunters slunk out into a slavering circle, cutting off any avenue of escape for Nic, except for the house behind her.Well orchestrated, though they made no other move toward her.From the recesses of the carriage emerged a young woman with sleekly bobbed blond hair and wizard-black eyes.Correction: She was hardly a young woman, truly little more than a girl, though her arrogant mien well exceeded her youth.Nic didn’t remember Sabrina Sammael from Convocation Academy, but her resemblance to her older brother was unmistakable.
Speaking of the odious fellow, Sergio Sammael emerged behind his younger sister, golden hair the same shade, though artfully tousled, his eyes equally as black.His self-satisfied smirk was the twin of hers, though he slid it greasily over Nic, lascivious gaze reminding her that he’d been inside her.Nic returned the look coolly, refusing to care, appearing not to remember how he’d treated her.
“Why, Alise,” Sabrina cooed.“Imagine finding you here.”She tapped a polished nail against her bow-shaped pink lips, then pointed it at Alise, the digit trembling with her anger.“I justknewyou’d run to your outlaw sister withmyfamiliars that you stole.Sergio, arrest them!”
Sergio threw his sister an irritated look.“Sabrina, darling, we can’t gallivant around the countryside arresting people simply on your say-so.We must have a warrant from the Convocation.”He smiled at Nic, not nicely at all.“The warrant we have isn’t forAliseElal.”
Nic’s blood ran cold.Sergio, noting the reaction she hadn’t quite suppressed, grinned in self-satisfaction, savoring her fear.
Sabrina pouted prettily, though her wizard-black eyes were hard on Alise.“Return my familiars, you bitch, or I will make you suffer.”
“I wasn’t aware that you’d bonded a familiar,” Alise replied with Elal poise, “much less several.Isn’t that illegal?”
“You know perfectly well I’d arranged to bond Han and take Iliana into House Sammael,” Sabrina hissed, her magic like a static charge in ozone-tainted air.House Sammael was unusual among the Convocation houses in that they accepted wizards with a variety of magic specializations.Anything suitable to punishment worked for them.The core family, however, tended toward high MP scores in psychic magic along with various elemental affinities.From the feel of her, Sabrina had the psychic magic in spades—no doubt part of why she wanted Han so badly with his strong Hanneil magic—along with something uncomfortably metallic.
Alise had widened her eyes, evincing innocent shock.“The Convocation already matched Han?He’d only just manifested as a familiar when I took a short holiday to visit my sister.By the way, have you met Lady Phel?Nic, this is Sabrina Sammael, a student wizard at the academy.I don’t believe you knew her there.”
“No,” Nic replied politely.“But then, I paid little attention to the younger students.”
“And whereisLord Phel?”Sergio asked lazily, eyes caressing Nic, as he didn’t even bother to look around.With increasing chill, she realized Sergio wasn’t expecting Gabriel to appear.He knew House Phel was largely undefended.“I find it quite rude,” Sergio continued with a smirk, “that he hasn’t bothered to greet us.I can’t imagine he expects me to suffer conversation with a familiar, no matter how well titled she found herself.”
“Lord Phel is otherwise occupied,” Nic answered with regal boredom.That was her story, and she’d be cursed if she’d admit otherwise.“Did you have an appointment?I saw nothing in his calendar.”
“I don’t need an appointment,” Sergio replied haughtily, waving his fingers dismissively.“Fetch your master, Familiar, if you can.You’ve already wasted enough of my time.”