bargain struck for him to investigate the mage plague.”
“A stray doesn’t have that kind of pull.”
“Brand was a stray herself once.”
Scarlet scoffed. “Not really.”
“Her House burned to the ground.”
“Word is Brand lit the match herself.”
Cari put her arm around Scarlet’s shoulders and led her to the door. “Please, Scarlet. This investigation is on behalf of all our Houses, so of course he is going to have allies we don’t share. And if those allies are powerful, then he must have earned them, which means the likelihood of our finding the source of the plague is greater.” And, to cover all of her stepmother’s objections. “I promise to guard against his formidable powers of seduction.”
He did have a cool car and had claimed to be—Cari would never forget—good with his hands.
Cari eased Scarlet out the door. Then shut it on her protest.
For the love of Shadow, her stepmother was going to drive her insane. Cari was the Dolan now, responsible for all of them, the house, the company, but she didn’t think the rest of her family recognized the distinction. She didn’t know whether to hug them or demand a little respect.
She went back to the table to concentrate on the membrane tissue again. A prototype was nested in a box. She lifted out the vial, formed out of the thinnest, most delicate of lab-grown membrane. It was shaped like a palm-sized teardrop, black with magic. DolanCo was going to call their new product Umbra. The logo was a stylized U representing the unusual vial.
It would be her father’s legacy. Her throat tightened just thinking of him.
Perhaps if she could see the Shadow and the containment more clearly, she could figure out what was wrong.
Maybe . . . ?
Why not.
Cari drew from her Shadow within, just a little, but once again, she received too much. The power submerged her in waters of possibility and promise, making her feel strong, when she knew she should be tired, and it made her feel invincible, when she’d had very recent proof that even the mightiest mage could fall.
Maeve giggled as Cari reached for power like a newborn kissing the sea for a drink of water. Maeve paced along the bank, restless and wanting.
Child, yes, take it. Draw deep. This is your inheritance.
Cari could open her lips wide and fill her belly.
Want more? Why resist? Indulge.
Dolan. Dark House. Revel House.
Royal House.
Cari Dolan, daughter of Shadow, be not afraid.
Welcome me and we will rule together.
Cari turned abruptly. “Who’s there?”
Her Shadow-logged vision swam with murky fronds of magic, a ready, ecstatic kind of feeling, like the build-up to a climax. But the alarm that zapped her system stung, and she concentrated on that.
Someone was definitely in the room. She’d just heard them. She turned again.
Nothing. Just drifting Shadow, warping her senses.
Cari felt like she was swimming in circles. Whoever was with her remained hidden behind her. She wanted a mirror to see what or who was in back of her, playing a game.
The feeling made her skin tingle, her neck tense. She’d felt this before, in the courtyard at DolanCo. This sense that someone was with her, watching her. There had been rumors about the fae crossing into the mortal realm. And since this had happened only when Cari attempted to use Shadow, then yes, her stalker had to be fae.
Her panic swelled: first there was fighting among magekind, then the angry attention of humanity, and now something altogether different . . . within Dolan House?
“Who are you?” she demanded aloud.
I’ve been with Dolan since the beginning. And will be to the end.
The answer came from within Cari, in her own voice. She had to grip the back of a chair to keep herself upright.
“Are you fae?” Cari already knew the answer. Dolan House, like any other mage House, was on the brink of the Twilight wilds. Curious fae were going to come; they were to be treated like dangerous guests and directed elsewhere
“A stray doesn’t have that kind of pull.”
“Brand was a stray herself once.”
Scarlet scoffed. “Not really.”
“Her House burned to the ground.”
“Word is Brand lit the match herself.”
Cari put her arm around Scarlet’s shoulders and led her to the door. “Please, Scarlet. This investigation is on behalf of all our Houses, so of course he is going to have allies we don’t share. And if those allies are powerful, then he must have earned them, which means the likelihood of our finding the source of the plague is greater.” And, to cover all of her stepmother’s objections. “I promise to guard against his formidable powers of seduction.”
He did have a cool car and had claimed to be—Cari would never forget—good with his hands.
Cari eased Scarlet out the door. Then shut it on her protest.
For the love of Shadow, her stepmother was going to drive her insane. Cari was the Dolan now, responsible for all of them, the house, the company, but she didn’t think the rest of her family recognized the distinction. She didn’t know whether to hug them or demand a little respect.
She went back to the table to concentrate on the membrane tissue again. A prototype was nested in a box. She lifted out the vial, formed out of the thinnest, most delicate of lab-grown membrane. It was shaped like a palm-sized teardrop, black with magic. DolanCo was going to call their new product Umbra. The logo was a stylized U representing the unusual vial.
It would be her father’s legacy. Her throat tightened just thinking of him.
Perhaps if she could see the Shadow and the containment more clearly, she could figure out what was wrong.
Maybe . . . ?
Why not.
Cari drew from her Shadow within, just a little, but once again, she received too much. The power submerged her in waters of possibility and promise, making her feel strong, when she knew she should be tired, and it made her feel invincible, when she’d had very recent proof that even the mightiest mage could fall.
Maeve giggled as Cari reached for power like a newborn kissing the sea for a drink of water. Maeve paced along the bank, restless and wanting.
Child, yes, take it. Draw deep. This is your inheritance.
Cari could open her lips wide and fill her belly.
Want more? Why resist? Indulge.
Dolan. Dark House. Revel House.
Royal House.
Cari Dolan, daughter of Shadow, be not afraid.
Welcome me and we will rule together.
Cari turned abruptly. “Who’s there?”
Her Shadow-logged vision swam with murky fronds of magic, a ready, ecstatic kind of feeling, like the build-up to a climax. But the alarm that zapped her system stung, and she concentrated on that.
Someone was definitely in the room. She’d just heard them. She turned again.
Nothing. Just drifting Shadow, warping her senses.
Cari felt like she was swimming in circles. Whoever was with her remained hidden behind her. She wanted a mirror to see what or who was in back of her, playing a game.
The feeling made her skin tingle, her neck tense. She’d felt this before, in the courtyard at DolanCo. This sense that someone was with her, watching her. There had been rumors about the fae crossing into the mortal realm. And since this had happened only when Cari attempted to use Shadow, then yes, her stalker had to be fae.
Her panic swelled: first there was fighting among magekind, then the angry attention of humanity, and now something altogether different . . . within Dolan House?
“Who are you?” she demanded aloud.
I’ve been with Dolan since the beginning. And will be to the end.
The answer came from within Cari, in her own voice. She had to grip the back of a chair to keep herself upright.
“Are you fae?” Cari already knew the answer. Dolan House, like any other mage House, was on the brink of the Twilight wilds. Curious fae were going to come; they were to be treated like dangerous guests and directed elsewhere
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