Lisa Shearin - Raine Benares 01 by Trouble Found Magic Lost

just inside the open back door to her shop, my black and white
cat Boris cradled comfortably in her arms. Boris liked Tarsilia more than he
did me, but then he saw Tarsilia more, and to my knowledge, she’d never almost
set him on fire. The elven mage and my cat looked at me with similar
expressions in their leaf green eyes. I don’t think anything I do shocks either
one of them. But then it would take a lot to shock them both. Tarsilia was like
a lot of people I knew in the Sorcerers District—people who had a past, and
just preferred it stayed there.
    Piaras
gave his grandmother a light kiss on the cheek and darted past her into the
shop before she could stop him. I knew I wouldn’t escape questioning so easily,
but then neither would he. Tarsilia would corner him later.
    Tarsilia
was older than Garadin. How much older, I didn’t know, and I’d never seen the
need to ask. I did know that I’d be happy if I aged half as well. Slender, fine
boned, with barely any wrinkles visible in a still-flawless complexion,
Tarsilia must have been drop-dead gorgeous in her younger days. She still
turned heads of all ages. Must be a Rivalin family trait.
    She
took note of my blood-stained clothing. “Busy night?”
    “You
could say that. Piaras said you had visitors.”
    “I
didn’t have visitors,” she said. “You did. No one got in, but it wasn’t for
lack of trying.”
    What
my visitors had wanted wasn’t in my rooms, but that didn’t keep me from not
wanting them there. On the rare occasion an intruder has been more persistent
than my wards were powerful, nothing and no one has ever gotten past Tarsilia.
She may be small, she may be old, but I wouldn’t cross her.
    “Are
Alix and Parry still here?” Garadin asked.
    “They
just left,” Tarsilia told him, turning to go inside. Her silvery hair swung in
a practical braid down the length of her back. “Alix has to open her shop in a
few hours, and since she’s been on shaman watch all night, she wanted to get
some rest.”
    Garadin
and I followed her. I closed the door, latched it, and passed a hand over the
lock to reactivate Tarsilia’s wards. Someone who trusts you enough to have you
know their wards trusts you a lot. My movement wasn’t lost on her.
    “Feeling
a little skittish?” She took a not so delicate sniff. “I guess goblin blood
does that to a person.”
    “And
goblin shamans on your doorstep.”
    “Open
your cloak. Let’s see how bad it is.”
    I did
as told.
    “Any
of that yours?” she asked.
    “No.”
    Tarsilia
dumped Boris on a nearby chair and pulled a burlap sack from under her
worktable. She tossed it to me. “When you go upstairs to clean up, put any
clothes you can’t salvage in that. My last shipment of newtwort came in it. The
stink from that will cover up anything. Tom’s coming by this afternoon to pick
up some things I need for him to burn. He’ll dispose of it.”
    I
just loved her. “Thank you, Tarsilia.”
    She
shrugged off my sentiment. “Can’t have you leaving evidence lying around for
the next goblins who pay us a visit to find.”
    “Hopefully
there won’t be any more.”
    “You
holding your breath on that?”
    “Not
really.”
    “Good.
I’d hate to see you disappointed.”
    She
shut the door leading into the shop. She needn’t have bothered. Piaras already
had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
    Her
green eyes leveled on me. “Now what are Khrynsani shamans doing visiting you at
nearly two in the morning?”
    “I
have something they want.”
    “Is
it in your rooms?”
    “No.”
    “Do
you have it on you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Do
you want to give it to them?”
    “I
can’t.”
    “Then
you have a problem.”
    I had
to agree with her on that one. “Yes, I do.”
    “Want
to tell me about it?”
    I
thought for a moment. The last thing I wanted to do was drag everyone I cared
about into the mess I found myself in. The fewer people who were in this with me,
the better. Piaras knew some of it, but not