A Burning in the Bones (Waxways #3)

Chapter 30 Nevelyn Tin’vori

30 NEVELYN TIN’VORI

Nevelyn was listening as Josey made a friend.

It was charming to hear them talk. Asking each other about their favorite spells. She heard her ward lie at least three times in less than ten seconds. It was not the devious sort. Just the typical bragging that any child fell into when faced with a peer who was also bragging.

“I almost cast a stun spell the other day.”

“I did cast a stun spell the other day.”

“Yeah? Well… I might get tattoos!”

The girl’s eyes swung over to where Dahvid stood and she instantly blushed when he met her gaze. Josey was quick to set a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. He’s friendly.”

That drew a snort from Dahvid. Nevelyn couldn’t help smiling.

“High praise there,” she whispered.

A crowd of roughly twenty people had already gathered inside the western wing of Beacon House. Half of their surroundings were wooden and paneled. A beautiful maple that caught every light and threw it back on the gathered guests. The other half of the room was all glass. It overlooked the nearest street and offered a glimpse of the city. A gradual darkness made it hard to pick out the details. The buildings were quietly converging into a single entity, all capped by the fading crimson of sunset.

They’d almost decided to turn down the invitation, but Ava had insisted they go. Knowledge was power, and this meeting would hand them priceless information about the city as a whole. Not just what they’d personally witnessed from their limited overlook. Nevelyn wasn’t really sure what to expect. Would people keep arriving all night? Did the immune number in the hundreds? The thousands? Or was this group of twenty or so people closer to the final count? She suspected they would have an answer before long.

Nevelyn had quietly set her heart-shaped necklace to the darker side. She was not actively casting the spell, but she knew that even when she wasn’t consciously using it, the magic still affected how people saw her. If anyone at the party glanced in the direction of the Tin’Voris, their eyes would undoubtedly land on Dahvid. It would take much more focus for anyone to even notice his sister, watching them from the background.

“Did you see the paladins?” Dahvid whispered.

She nodded. “They’re all lightless.”

An important clue. Nevelyn suspected that the rest of the city’s de facto police force had been impacted by the plague as well. After all, the viceroy would want to display whatever strength he possessed tonight. If there were still paladins in possession of magic, they’d be front and center. Visible enough to show the houses and the rest of the city that he held some sway. The fact that they’d been transformed into glorified butlers didn’t bode well for their status. Nevelyn was still following that breadcrumb trail in her thoughts when a woman marched right up to them.

“Hello. You’re an image-bearer?”

Dahvid nodded. This was nothing new. His magic always drew the eye.

“And what about you?”

She was pointing at Josey. Nevelyn’s protectiveness flared.

“Who’s asking?”

Her tone caught the woman off guard. Nevelyn watched her blink a few times, as if she’d only just noticed Nevelyn was there. She was shorter with fire-bright red hair. The bags under her eyes told Nevelyn she hadn’t slept in some time. She also wore a pair of double-thick leather gloves. She recovered quickly from her initial shock, tapping an emblem on her chest. It showed two hummingbirds in flight, carrying a small ribbon between them.

“I’m a doctor over at Safe Harbor.”

Nevelyn nodded. “Does he look sick to you? That’s actually why we’re all here, isn’t it? Because we didn’t get sick?”

The forcefulness of Nevelyn’s questions drove the girl back a step.

“Of course. I’m just gathering data.”

“Try gathering it from someone else.”

Another step back. “I… I’ve been studying the place. Tracing the disease back to its point of origin. I was only trying to figure out if there’s a connecting thread between the immune. The more we know about…”

“The more you know, the more you can use it against us,” Nevelyn countered. “We do not know you. Respectfully, take your survey elsewhere.”

The woman held up her gloved hands innocently and backed off. There was a sadness in her expression that Nevelyn could not make herself feel any pity for. A moment later, and the supposed doctor was with another group, asking the same questions. Nevelyn watched for any sign that she was not who she’d said she was. Josey had fallen back to chatting with his friend. A third child their age had seemingly appeared out of thin air. A sharp-looking boy with moon-wide eyes who was clearly trying to figure out how to insert himself into the conversation. Dahvid glanced back at Nevelyn.

“I’d forgotten how good you are at making friends.”

She winked back at him. They were not here to make friends. They were here to find out what the hell was happening, and then they would take that information and use it to make sure that House Tin’Vori survived and thrived. That was her only true concern. Nevelyn was about to take another sip from her drink when she spied movement outside.

Two people, freshly arrived from the waxways. She saw their bodies suspended briefly in the air. One was taller with bright blond hair. Pretty, but very distinctly not her type. A boy who looked far too easy to break. The other had straight, shoulder-length hair. She possessed beautiful features, but Nevelyn suspected there weren’t many people who would have chosen that as the first word to describe her. So many others fit better: focused, purposeful, obsessive. The girl’s right hand clutched a familiar horseshoe wand. It was almost enough to make Nevelyn smile.

Of course you survived.

“Speaking of friends. Some of ours just arrived.”