Chapter 9 The Vault #2
The alcove is small and holds only a few cabinets.
I head for the furthest one, scanning for magical and mundane traps, but there aren’t any, and the door appears to have a standard locking mechanism.
Pulling out my tools, I carefully pick the lock and gently pull on the handle.
Several dozen scrolls are piled on shelves, and I examine each one but don’t find any that mention Kas.
I put the scrolls back and close the door, pressing until there’s a click of the lock re-engaging.
Moving to the next cabinet, I start the lock picking process again as a loud thunderclap overhead rattles the windows, urging me on.
The storm is close, if it hasn’t already arrived.
It takes the better part of half an hour to find the scroll I need.
Far longer than I’d hoped. Now it’s time to make as quick an exit as I dare.
I securely tuck the scroll into my cloak and carefully retrace my steps, mirroring everything I’d done to get in.
No sense making it painfully obvious that someone was here.
They’ll find out soon enough when they discover the dead bodies.
When I get to the side door, I ease it open and peer into the darkness.
Rain is falling steadily, which will help cover my exit, but the courtyard is turning into a muddy morass.
It’ll slow my progress and possibly leave a trail.
There’s no help for it, though. I send more magic into my cloaking spell and wait until a guard moves past, counting a few additional heartbeats for good measure, then slip outside.
As quickly as I dare, I cross the courtyard and crouch down next to the wall of an outbuilding, waiting to see if I’ve been spotted.
No shout goes up, even though there are still several guards on the rooftops.
Thankfully, the steady rain has them only half-heartedly paying attention.
They’re more intent on hunkering down under cloaks, trying to avoid getting soaked.
I pull my own cloak around my shoulders and creep toward the archway that opens to the main road.
I’m almost through when I spot a guard heading straight for me.
Lightning streaks across the night sky, striking a metal plate on the arch right above my head.
The air fizzes with a massive electrical discharge, and I gasp as it rolls over me, snuffing out my magic like a candle.
Fucking hells! It’s not painful, but it is disconcerting and worrisome.
It might be worse if I hadn’t grown accustomed to lower magical powers on Earth.
But why didn’t I know this was a possibility?
I can’t be the first person this has happened to.
Not too many people get this close to lightning strikes, but someone else has to have experienced this before me.
The Shabah should have warned us. Though my gut says if the Shabah knew about this, they’d use it to their advantage.
Maybe they’re keeping it as a secret weapon.
Does Kenji know anything about this? I crouch low and shake out my hands as a second strike lights up the sky.
This time, without my cloaking spell, the nearby guard sees me.
Maybe the Founder is watching over me, or perhaps it’s pure luck, but as the guard unsheathes their sword and opens their mouth to shout the alarm, a crack of thunder booms directly overhead, and their words are lost to the storm.
I draw my knives. The guard is too close and the road too muddy to make running an option.
A head-on attack with daggers against a sword isn’t a viable plan either.
I hurl one of my knives at them, aiming for their shoulder. It won’t be a death blow, especially with the wind gusting as it is, but it will disable them enough to provide an opportunity to do further damage close up.
As the blade finds its mark, and the guard hesitates, I speed across the space between us, slashing upward with my dagger, slitting their throat.
Yanking my blade from the body as it drops into the mud, I dash down the road, escaping into the storm.
The other guards will eventually find them, but I’ll be long gone by then.
Between the weather and increased caution because of my lack of magic, it takes an hour to reach my inn.
About halfway back, the onyx in my tattoos begins to tingle.
Once I hit the more populated parts of the city, my magic is back to full strength.
It’s something I definitely need to speak with Kenji about later.
As someone who can control weather, they would be the most logical person to ask.
All witches are aware that using too much magic can result in burnout.
No one ever mentioned a similar effect from lightning.
And I wonder how we can use it to our benefit.
Entering through the back door, I take the rear stairs to my room, carefully checking the floor in front of my door for small bits of paper.
None have fallen from where I set them, so I pull them free and enter my room.
Closing the door quietly, I throw my rain-drenched cloak and gloves onto the chair, then toss the scroll on the table and kneel by the hearth to cast a flame spell onto the cold charcoal left from the last fire.
Once the lumps rekindle, I add more wood and begin thawing myself out.
I hadn’t expected to make it out of the Vault alive.
At the very least, I assumed I’d be injured.
There were so many traps, magical and mundane, and so many things that could have gone wrong.
But I survived. And found the contract. It’s almost surreal.
Now I need to focus on the next phase of the plan.
Pushing to my feet, I glance at the parchment that hopefully holds all the answers I need.
Most importantly, who was involved in Kas’s death, and why?
I lean against the edge of the table and tug off my soaked boots, tossing them near the fire to dry before peeling off my armor and setting it aside.
With care, I place my knives on the table to clean and sharpen later.
There’s only so much patience I can manage right now, and with the answers possibly within my grasp, I can’t wait any longer.
I snatch up the scroll and throw myself onto the bed to read.
As expected, the contract was between Onyx Guild Master Cosimo Vitorio and Lorenzo Medina.
There are signatures of Guild Master Hans Keller from the Ruby Guild and Guild Master Alexey Rostova from the Diamond Guild, as well as four other lower-ranking members of the Onyx and Diamond Guilds as witnesses.
My pulse thunders in my ears. Three powerful guild masters and the most senior House Representative in the Assembly all plotted to eliminate one Specter.
Why these people? How do they relate to Kas?
Why did he need to die? As I continue reading, my questions are answered, but my brain struggles to comprehend the new information.
Kas was the son of Lorenzo Medina? Kas said he never knew who his father was.
In Amagi, that isn’t a problem. There’s no stigma attached to being born to unmarried parents like there is in many cultures on Earth.
It is an interesting piece to the puzzle, though.
I scan the contract, searching for anything that tells me why he had to die, and when I find it, I stare at the words, then reread them.
Then read them a third time, because none of it makes sense.
According to the contract, Kas had political ambitions and allied himself with a coven who supported bringing refugee witches to Amagi, and advocated for allowing their non-magical family members to come with them.
The whole story is unbelievable. Kas didn’t have a political bone in his body.
He hated politics. He wasn’t against bringing refugees here, but he didn’t have a strong opinion one way or the other.
He said picking a side interfered with his ability to complete his contracts.
And that wasn’t wrong. It’s what a lot of the Shabah believe.
And anyone who knew Kas would see this for the lie it is.
Especially me. We’d been incredibly close.
We’d shared everything. I would know if he’d changed his mind about any of that.
Had Kas known who his father was? We never talked about it.
Shades never talked about the families that were left behind.
It was too painful. And as we grew, they became less and less important to our survival.
Shying away from those memories, I finish reading, wanting every detail.
Lorenzo bribed Cosimo to carry out the execution in exchange for House Vitorio gaining favor with the most senior House Representative in the assembly.
He also promised to make Cosimo Grand Master, a new position that would publicly oversee both sides of the Onyx Guild.
Something that hasn’t yet happened. I wonder what the delay is and how Lorenzo is keeping Cosimo in line.
My anger rises as I continue to read and come to the crux of the contract.
Lorenzo Medina’s own ambition is the reason Kas is dead.
He wants the chancellor position. No surprise there.
He intimated as much at the tavern meeting all those weeks ago.
But a son in direct opposition to everything Lorenzo supports could undermine him.
And if Lorenzo believed Kas’s affiliation with the coven was true, he’d consider him a threat.
Even if he had his doubts about the rumor, strategically it would be better to eliminate the possibility.
It’s what I would have suggested under different circumstances.
Better safe than sorry. Especially since Lorenzo had no emotional connection to Kas.
And covens are independent of the Guild network.
Something the guild masters have always hated.
If Lorenzo promised to eliminate unaffiliated covens, he’d gain Guild support.
If he has the backing of the Guilds, he’ll be in a position to win the chancellorship and could reward the guild masters with almost anything.
So far, he has three of the major guilds in his pocket.
I throw the scroll across the room and scrub my face with my hands.
It seems fate has decided what I should do about Nico.
That’s more than I’ve accomplished on my own since our night together.
I successfully focused on retrieving the contract, but for the past few weeks, more often than was comfortable, I’d been plagued with images of silver eyes and a deep voice, hands that know just how to touch me and where.
It’s the reason I haven’t sought him out since.
And good thing. Because all of that is impossible now.
As Lorenzo’s nephew, there’s no way for me to be sure if or how much Nico knows about the assassination or Lorenzo’s plans.
He can’t be trusted. Ignoring the dull ache of disappointment, I consider next steps.
My plans need to be reprioritized and expanded now that I have a complete picture of who my targets are.
I’d prefer to go after Leonardo first since he wielded the dagger that killed Kas.
But as a high-ranking member of House Keller, killing him could mean increased security around Guild Master Keller.
So eliminating him will have to wait. But it makes sense why he was the one sent after us.
Keller probably volunteered him. I could go after Lorenzo.
He’s the most dangerous, but he’s also the highest profile and even more difficult to reach than the guild masters.
It would be easiest to take out the four lower-ranking members of the Onyx and Diamond Guilds first, but it might alert the others and prompt them to increase protections.
Which leaves Cosimo as the first target.
Regardless, I’ll have to wait between each assassination to avoid anyone making a connection.
But I have no other commitments and nothing to distract me now that Nico is truly off limits.
I close my eyes and try to clear my mind and calm my racing heart.
I should sleep. And when I wake up, it will be Guild Master Cosimo Vitorio’s turn to die.