The Dreamer's Curse (Book 2) by Honor Raconteur Page A

and
the very frame of the building moaned under the force of it.
    Sevana jerked to her feet and tore down the hallway,
scrambling in her pouch for a shielding charm and a wand with her free hand
even as she ran. Sarsen followed closely at her heels, yelling, “Jacen?! Are
you alright? Answer me!”
    The flames still licked along the floor in little puddles at
the very end of the hallway, silently indicating where they needed to go. Sevana
skidded to a stop in front of the open doorway, avoiding the larger chunks of
wood that used to be the door. She took in the sight with wide eyes and a
whistle.
    Pre-explosion, this had probably been Jacen’s potions lab or
something along those lines. Three tables sat in a large “I” shape, with the
remains of vials, mortars, bottles and the like spread out along the surfaces.
She couldn’t begin to guess what he had been working on judging from what
little had survived the explosion, but the blue-green fire indicated that the
highly volatile substance of captured shiranui had been involved somehow.
    The brunet Artifactor huddled underneath the tables in the
fetal position, hands around his head, eyes screwed shut. He didn’t even looked
singed, so the explosion must have gone up and outward, the tables protecting
him.
    She and Sarsen sighed at the same time, “Jensen.”
    The man on the floor tentatively lowered his hands and opened
his eyes. “Yes?”
    Sarsen waved his wand over the room, snuffing out what
remained of the flames, before sinking down onto his haunches so he could meet
the other man’s eyes. “Jensen, how did this happen?”
    “Ah, well, the book I wanted to show you was in this room on
the back shelf—”
    A shelf under very heavy shields and wards, Sevana noted in
amusement, likely to prevent Jensen from touching them or inadvertently
destroying them.
    “—but I knocked into the corner of the table accidentally,
and when I did, something fell over. I lost my balance and went straight to the
floor, so I can’t tell you what it was, as I didn’t see it, but flames
immediately went WHOOSH! ” his hands spread out in demonstration. “What
was that?”
    “Shiranui fire and something else,” Sevana supplied, a grin
slowly spreading over her face. Oh, Jacen would be livid when he saw this mess. And he had no one to blame but himself, in a way.
    Jensen slowly climbed out from under the table and gained
his feet. He looked around the room from one corner to the other, taking in the
destroyed tables, the scorch marks on the wooden floor and (previously) white
walls, the way the wards on the bookshelves still flickered in defense, and his
face fell in open dismay. “Jacen’s not going to be happy about this.”
    “Understatement,” Sevana assured him, finding great pleasure
in all of this. Visiting this place never got old.  
    Sarsen sighed, and having pity on Jensen, offered, “We’ll
help you clean this up, as much as we can.”
    “Oh, would you? Thank you ever so much.” Jensen went toward
the main table with outstretched hands. “What should we do with all of this, do
you—oops.”
    Several remains of glass bottles and vials fell from the
table and crashed to the floor in a loud spray, sending glass shards in every
direction. Jensen froze, hands poised over the table, and gave them a sheepish
look.
    Sarsen looked at Sevana and muttered, “Do you think that if
I shake him really hard, he’ll switch over to Jacen?”
    “Not a chance,” she denied pleasantly. “But I’d pay good money
to watch you do it.”

Jacen was indeed not happy when he came back to himself.
Jensen switched out after the worst of the mess had been cleared away. Sevana
knew almost instantly when the switch had been made because the other
Artifactor stopped mid-motion, blinking as if coming to himself, and he took a
good look around the room as if he hadn’t seen it before. Then his head fell
back and he groaned, “ What did Jensen do this time?”
    “Welcome back,