Chapter Four #2
Both of them had seen firsthand what it was like to be powerless and alone. Despite her reservations about Sylvia’s methods, Katherine understood Sylvia’s reluctance to go back to that.
The spell seemed to drag on longer than normal, seconds stretching like a rubber band as Katherine ground her teeth in fear that someone would somehow break in and see what Sylvia was doing. But finally, Sylvia released the ordinary’s hand.
“How do you feel?” she asked.
“A little dizzy.” Mustache pushed up out of the chair, then immediately sat back down. “A lot dizzy.”
Sylvia chuckled, the sound like wind chimes. “That’s normal, don’t worry. It’ll fade in a moment.” She reached for her caster again, cutting into the skin of her palm with a smooth hand. “Rest while I perform the secrecy spell, then you should feel fine.”
She moved quickly with the secrecy spell, not bothering with the fake theatrics.
The gold rune flared on her hand, then settled into Mustache’s chest as she pressed her palm against him.
The secrecy spell was a key part of keeping magic under wraps—it would prevent Mustache from telling anyone what was done in this room, no matter how hard he tried.
If he pushed hard enough, his tongue would fall out. Not that he knew that.
The spell done, Sylvia reached into her desk drawer, pulling out a piece of gauze and passing it to Mustache. He took it and wrapped it around his hand before standing up. “You’re right,” he said. “I’m not dizzy anymore.”
Sylvia stood as he walked toward the door, coming around the desk and shaking his hand. “I’m happy to help.”
He ran a hand along his mustache, his cheeks flushing. “You wouldn’t want to grab dinner or—”
Sylvia reached around him, opening the door and giving him a light tap on the shoulder to push him into the hallway. “Have a good day.”
Sylvia shut the door behind him, rolling her eyes before going back to her seat. Katherine moved back into her rightful seat, which, she noted happily, did not reek of the ordinary’s tobacco.
Sylvia handed Katherine a piece of gauze as well. She wrapped it around her fresh cut, pulling tightly as she bit her lip.
“Are you sure you should be doing that so close to Noctis’ visit?” Katherine asked. “You know what’ll happen if you get caught.”
Sylvia waved off the idea of permanently losing her magic like it was nothing.
“It’s fine. Divakar is useless,” she said, referencing Divakar Sen, the rep from Noctis who had visited every October for the last ten years.
“The one thing he’ll do is check that the main wards are still being maintained. I can now do that.”
Katherine nodded, yanking at the gauze again, savoring the burst of pain.
It was her fault Sylvia had to make these sacrifices.
If she was smarter, better at intricate magic instead of brute force, she’d be able to strengthen the wards herself.
But she wasn’t, and so Sylvia was forced to find another solution.
Forced to take risks she shouldn’t have to take.
“Hey,” Sylvia said, reaching for Katherine’s hand and taking it in hers.
There was no magic running through them now, but it still felt like there was.
Soul-level understanding was a magic of its own, Katherine supposed.
“Don’t beat yourself up because you can’t do ward work.
I know focus is tough for you. Hell, even I couldn’t manage spells that complicated until I was in my thirties. ”
Katherine let out a wry chuckle. “Yeah. Because you had to learn how to do them all by yourself. I have the best teacher in the biz and I’m still useless.”
“You flatter me. Try flattering yourself sometimes too.” Sylvia gave Katherine’s hand another squeeze before letting go. Katherine felt lighter, some of her guilt clearing.
“So,” Sylvia said. “Give me the case against Joe for the meeting tonight.”
Katherine ran through the list of evidence she’d gathered against Joe—from fingering him with a spell to track altum residue at their last coven meeting to following the mysterious payments she’d found when she hacked Joe’s bank records (not exactly aboveboard, but witch courts were less stringent than ordinary ones).
All culminating in the eyewitness account of him selling the drugs that morning.
“All very good,” Sylvia said. “Thank you. That’ll be a great case for us. Divakar will be elated at how well we’re following procedure.”
Katherine laughed. “You know how much he loves procedure.”
“Indeed.”
Katherine paused. Selling altum was a serious crime for any witch, but Aestas took it with an extra degree of solemnity. Both Katherine and Sylvia had personal experience with how devastating the consequences of the drug could be to the people they worked so hard to protect.
Still, though, it was nerve-racking to voice her suspicions to Sylvia out loud. Considering that the consequences of what she was about to say could be devastating as well.