Chapter 7 #2
Before he’d started working for Ben, he’d never thought vampires were a romantic breed.
He knew about the sub-sect of vapid humans who thought being turned into a bloodsucker was romantic, but that was different; that was the draw of immortality and falling for brilliant PR.
But having seen Ben’s devotion to Ashley, and Robin’s for Simon, he’d reconsidered his views.
He helped Karl hand out the champagne as the guests offered up their congratulations.
Alex had a list in his head he would now have to start implementing.
Not that he’d thought Ashley would really say no, but until he’d heard the words, he was holding off on the key tasks for the celebration, including the invites.
He doubted many would decline, but that didn’t mean he could be complacent and would recheck his calculations to ensure there would be no risk of running low on anything.
Redbourns were known for their extravagance; he would not let the standards slip on his watch.
Alex handed Robin a drink, his magic crackled, and he couldn’t explain the sensation.
Nothing he’d describe as malevolent, but not something he’d detected around Robin before and he was left with a sour taste in his mouth.
It might have been a further development of the bond he had with Simon, but he wasn’t sure, as he wouldn’t have thought that would have manifested in a negative way, and the flavour was wrong for Simon’s magic.
There wasn’t a sense of trying to push him away, which might have been expected with destiny vows, but the sensation wasn’t like anything he remembered experiencing before.
He wouldn’t press for now; they were in the middle of a celebration, but he would have a word with Ben when he next emerged after celebrating with Ashley.
This wasn’t something that should be ignored.
He looked between Robin and Simon; there was nothing there apart from the usual adoration they had for each other, yet he couldn’t shake the thought that the crackle he’d felt from Robin wasn’t normal, although Simon didn’t seem to have any concerns.
Robin would be exposed to all sorts of magic and creatures due to his job, and maybe it was the magic of the bond reacting to something, or Robin had encountered a spell that had left an odd residue. He would get Karl to check.
Karl must’ve noticed his change in demeanour, and he raised an eyebrow, which Alex responded to with an eye glance to the left. He walked over to the side of the room to talk to Karl. “What’s wrong?”
“Can you find a reason to get close to Robin? Maybe serve his next drink? I felt something I could try to explain, but can’t even put the right words together to describe whatever it is.”
Karl frowned. “Seems odd. Are you sure it wasn’t relevant to his connection with Simon? Vampire-fae are not well studied; it could be a phenomenon not observed by an outsider.”
He didn’t think that was the explanation. “I would think I would have recognised his signature in there as being different from usual, and there wasn’t anything in that vein. That’s not to say you aren’t correct, but I would value your opinion.”
“Of course. I’ll go around to top up the champagne.”
Alex didn’t like not having the answers. He had witnessed so much over the years that even if he hadn’t had the direct experience, it was adjacent enough to make a call. This was different.
Karl moved around the guests, and if Alex hadn’t been watching like a hawk, he’d have missed the way Karl’s eye twitched as he topped up Robin’s glass. Moments later, they were back in their huddle.
“You’re right. I’ve only come across one thing similar, and that was an interception curse designed to interfere with a spell or a person’s core magic signature. But those are disruptive and malevolent; this didn’t give off that sort of energy.”
“I don’t think I’ve come across one.”
“Not surprising. They are specific magic and take a great deal of skill. I’ve seen a couple of demon deals using one as they’re good for revenge, but I can’t say I’ve heard of a contract with one for many decades. There are many easier options.”
This did not sound good. “I don’t want to disrupt this evening, but we need to make Robin aware,” Alex said.
“It might be something completely different.” Karl glanced back at the guests.
“I’ve tried to take a trace, and I’ll run a diagnostic, but it will take a day or two.
I would wait until we have the results of that to see if we can give some sort of pointer.
Simon’s magic will be the target, so it might be better to contact him rather than Robin.
We don’t want to cause unnecessary panic without doing our due diligence.
Robin would have no way to counter whatever it is, although I suspect Simon would. ”
“Agreed. It doesn’t appear that Simon has picked up anything, so perhaps there is a temporary situational aberration. The hall does have a habit of burping up pockets of rogue darkness to piss me off.”
Karl laughed. “I don’t think that happens to piss you off. If Crofton Hall didn’t like you, you’d have known about it by now. But I hope whatever is going on with Robin isn’t deliberate, because it would be monumentally stupid to try and intercept vampire-fae magic.”
“We should narrow down the suspects. There’ll only be a certain number of creatures who would be capable of doing this.”
“I doubt I can give a name from the trace I took. It’s too subtle for that.”
Alex thought there was more than one way to hunt a suspect down. “Do you think you can narrow it to species level?”
“Possibly. If it were deliberate. But we shouldn’t limit this to magic users, as this could be a professional working on someone else’s behalf.”
Alex had been part of an elite group for hire.
If the price was right, there’d have been nothing they’d have baulked at, unless it would have been considered a suicide mission.
He’d met a lot of stupid people in his time, although they hadn’t thought themselves so, and he didn’t think whatever was going on with Robin was an accident or a coincidence.
Prince Simon would not be happy. From what he’d heard, he was already annoyed about the amount of time Robin spent working and who he continued to work with.
Add in this additional constraint, and Alex was going to have to deal with the mother of all strops.
“Then we need a list of people who might be holding a grudge.”
“I wouldn’t know about Simon. We’d need fae assistance for that, but for Robin, that would be a huge list. There must be hundreds of wannabe actors, writers, and directors who, over the years, have been dismissed by Robin.”
Alex grunted. “Let’s start with the trace. If there’s an issue, then Simon and Robin will be informed, and they can suggest suspects.”
He rubbed his temples. For now, he was going to make sure the guests had a pleasant rest of the night and worry about a potential new clusterfuck tomorrow.