The Wizard's Secret by Rain Oxford Page B

returning Vactarus’s hat to him and, although I wasn’t
an expert on her, I had learned a lot about her. She could talk all day, even
though she didn’t have memories of her life.
    “Your family is a very tangled web,” Asiago
commented.
    “So, you know who I am?” Sonya asked, appearing right
beside me.
    Since I was used to her, I only shrieked a little.
“I’m certain you’re the daughter of Livia and Magnus.” Obviously, she heard
every word I said to Vactarus. When I had discovered the picture, I chose not
to tell her about it without speaking to Livia first because I didn’t want her
to learn about Veronica until she had a chance to meet her mother.
    “And my sister was the one who killed me.”
    Thinking back, I probably should have told her before her mother was kidnapped by her murderous sister. “We need to find whatever
object you locked your memories and power into in order to save your mother.”
    “Is there anything in the house that you feel
attached to?” Asiago asked her.
    She shook her head, but her eyes weren’t focused, as
if she was completely lost in thought. No doubt she was struggling with the
same problem I was; we had to give more power to the sorceress or Livia would
be killed. “One thing I don’t understand is what she wants with your magic. You
had only wizardry and she has only sorcery. She can’t use your magic even if
she could get her hands on it.”
    She nodded. “If we find it, maybe we can use it to
get my memories back and give the magic over in exchange for Livia.”
    “I’ll start looking for it. Asiago, do you think you
can use your necromancy to get a clue out of her mind?”
    “I can try.”
     
    *          *          *
     
    I started to think I was going insane, because no
matter where I was, whether I was alone or not, I would hear someone
whispering. I tried to pass it off as the age of the manor, but no one else
could hear it, and it was happening before I even got to the mansion. It
sounded suspiciously like the chimera was trying to communicate with me, but
since I didn’t have the syrus, I didn’t know why. I kept it to myself.
    Over the next three days, I scoured the house. I
found the doll the first day, but Asiago assured me it had no mystical
connection to Sonya. I tried to make my staff find Sonya’s object, but each
time, it pulsed with a deep red glow, telling me that it was sorcery. Although
I couldn’t see how, I trusted my staff to know. I really hoped Magnus would at
least forgive the sorcery I’d used up until this point. I couldn’t expect to
get away with using it frivolously. Mira and Vactarus also searched, but they
didn’t find anything, either. Skilled or not, Mira didn’t have any magic, and
Vactarus couldn’t manipulate reality, only the perception of it.
    On the third day, I asked Vactarus to make all
magical objects glow. That wasn’t the best idea, because Vactarus had a huge
collection of magical objects from Caldaca and other worlds. Nevertheless, we
started the whole search over, specifically focusing on glowing objects.
Vactarus assured me that even concealed and disguised objects would glow. On
the other hand, things that were disguised glowed even if they were not magical
themselves.
    One of the strangest objects I found was a small,
jewel-encrusted treasure chest. It glowed from Vactarus’s spell brighter than
anything, but I couldn’t open it no matter how hard I tried. When I pointed it
out to Vactarus, he assured me it had nothing to do with Sonya. He said it had
a blood lock on it and was impossible to open for anyone except the person who
sealed it. Something about it called to me.
    At the top of the main staircase was a large gargoyle
I had passed many times without thought, so it was a bit of a shock to me when
I saw it glowing deep, fiery yellow. It was made of stone with a muscular
frame. Although it stood on two legs, its arms were longer than a person’s in
proportion. Its head was