Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
“I was knotted inside her at the time of Hemmen’s death,” Raptor drawls. “She couldn’t have done it.”
Rooster gasps.
“Knotted?” Hawk echoes.
“God-touched,” Raptor says, as if that explains everything.
It does. Hawk’s eyes widen and he shakes his head. “Damn. That’s rough.”
Sparrow makes a startled sound, followed by a quiet “My goodness.”
My face gets incredibly hot. I want to pinch his arm for blurting out something private like that, but I remain calm and unruffled. Yes. God-touched. Knots. All very normal conversation.
Rooster’s face seems even redder than mine. He flutters a hand over his sash, adjusting it, and then gives me—and Raptor—twin disapproving scowls. “Students should not be fornicating. There are no rules, exactly, but there should be. It’s highly inappropriate.”
Raptor just looks over at me and winks. “If it makes you feel any better, Head Guild Master, I was told to watch her at all times. I take my job very seriously.”
It takes everything I have to keep a straight face.
Hawk clears his throat. “Considering that Gwenna was targeted by someone, we have to assume it’s the same people who attacked Hemmen. It’s also entirely possible that Hemmen was responsible for the graffiti in the books and the artifact that was planted in her bag.”
“Both of which Gwenna could not be responsible for, as I was with her constantly when both instances occurred,” Raptor points out. His pinky finger brushes against mine, and I want to shower his face with kisses for having my back so ardently in the face of Rooster’s blustering scowls.
“Yes, well, now we have one less suspect. If this little gathering is to make me feel any better, it is not,” Rooster continues with a sniff. He straightens a pair of scrolls on his desk and then eyes us again. “Why did you request for us to meet?”
My stomach clenches.
“I requested it,” Raptor says. “I have an idea, but it requires an open mind.”
“I have a very open mind,” Rooster declares.
Hawk coughs.
Rooster glares at him and then focuses on Raptor again. “Just tell me what the idea is.”
Raptor shifts in his seat, and then leans forward. “We ask Hemmen who he was working with.”
“The dead boy?” The guild leader seems confused. “How do we do that?”
“I have a contact in the city who knows a friend of a friend.” Raptor waves his hand in the air, as if it’s all attached to someone very distant and not at all me, sitting right here next to Raptor. “He knows of a way to speak with the dead safely. If that’s the case, would you use it?”
Rooster sits up, all attention now. “Genius. Sheer genius. I love this idea. The sooner we resolve this the better, and if you know someone who has the right sort of artifact to speak with the dead, I think we should use it. We don’t even know the kinds of artifacts we’re bleeding at this point. Our students are getting frightened. We’re on the cusp of losing good teachers—”
Raptor holds up a hand. “What if it’s old magic?”
The bushy brows of the guild leader go down. “What do you mean?”
“What if someone is using old magic?”
He doesn’t seem to grasp it. “Not an artifact?”
“No, artifacts are legal.”
Rooster’s eyes go wide. “Mancing?”
Raptor nods.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’m very serious.”
Rooster’s eyes narrow. “How, exactly?”
Leaning back in his chair again, as if he has complete control of the situation, Raptor gives a casual shrug. “Didn’t ask. It’s not important. What’s important is that this person is willing to use their magic to help us, but they want assurances of protection.”
“We can’t protect a mancer,” Rooster blusters.
“It was an idea, and the best one we’ve had so far.” Raptor shrugs again. “Getting the mancer to cut through the muck and get answers from the dead? Seems better than remaining stumped forever while this rogue band bleeds the guild dry of artifacts and kills our fledglings.”
Rooster wipes his brow, and I realize, to my surprise, he’s sweating. “Mancing is outlawed, but I hear what you’re saying. I…I need to think on this. I must consult the archivists. The advisors. I need to think.”
“I’d keep it quiet,” Raptor tells him. “If we expose this person, they’re going to run from Vastwarren City thinking they’re going to be burned at the stake…and then we’ll never get answers.”
Rooster shoots a frantic look at Hawk. “And you approve of this?”
“It seems as good an idea as any.” Hawk keeps his expression neutral. “The mancing is the lesser evil in this situation.”
“I did some research, actually,” Sparrow chimes in. “Prior to the guild’s rise to power, people would consult mancers to help them retrieve missing items or even kidnapped people. I think it can be a good power for the guild to have, if used judiciously.”
Rooster puts his head in his hands. “I must think on this. On all of it.”